Gaza Under Fire: Israeli Escalation Aims to Sway Talks, Enable Displacement
Massive ground and air assaults hit Rafah and northern Gaza as Israel targets Hamas and ramps up displacement efforts, leaving hundreds dead and thousands wounded.
Watan-In recent hours, Israel has intensified its military escalation in Gaza as part of an operation launched by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following the collapse of the ceasefire agreement. This move was justified by claims that Hamas failed to respond to a proposal by U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Wietkov, a claim the movement denies.
Israel expanded its aggression by launching a ground operation in Beit Hanoun and the outskirts of Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip, and a similar one in the Tel al-Sultan neighborhood in western Rafah in the south. This came alongside extensive aerial bombardments targeting all areas, including assassinations—the latest of which, at dawn on Sunday, killed senior Hamas political bureau member Salah al-Bardawil and his wife.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, since the latest Israeli escalation began last Tuesday, around 673 people have been killed and 1,233 injured. The total death toll since October 7, 2023, has now reached 50,021, with approximately 113,300 wounded.
Local sources spoke of the dire conditions civilians faced in Rafah after Israel launched a sudden and surprise military operation, not allowing families to evacuate normally. According to the sources, Israel set up a military checkpoint aimed at conducting mass arrests by separating men from women, with widespread abuse reported against Palestinians.
Sources and eyewitnesses also reported field executions carried out either by Israeli ground forces or drones targeting any movement on the ground—particularly vehicles, whose movement had been banned in the areas of ground operations. No official statistics are yet available on the number of casualties from the military operation in Rafah, which has now been turned into a closed military zone along the border with Egypt.
Iyad al-Qarra: This is Part of Israel’s Displacement Policy
Gaza’s Civil Defense Directorate issued a warning about the imminent threat to over 50,000 civilians trapped in the al-Baraksat area west of Rafah, after being surrounded by Israeli forces. Some Palestinians linked the new Israeli military operations—which are said to be used for negotiation pressure—to displacement plans. This follows statements from Israeli Security Minister Yisrael Katz about activating an immigration department aimed at facilitating the emigration of Palestinians from Gaza. This aligns with the religious-nationalist Israeli right and the Netanyahu coalition’s interest in implementing former U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposal to “voluntarily” relocate Gazans after the failure of forced displacement through firepower and war.
Objectives Behind Israel’s Escalation in Gaza
Political analyst and writer Iyad al-Qarra stated that all these developments are part of Israel’s broader strategy of applying a policy of displacement and killing in Gaza, using this as a negotiating tactic. He explained that this approach is intended to pressure Hamas into accepting Netanyahu’s demands in a deal, without Netanyahu paying any political price—such as moving to the second phase or fulfilling the rest of the agreement. He added that this escalation reflects Israel’s belief that increasing pressure will eventually force Hamas to engage with Wietkov’s proposal, which in essence is an Israeli plan.
Israel’s escalation in Gaza fits into Netanyahu’s government’s displacement agenda, but, according to political analyst Mohannad al-Farra, the plan remains difficult to execute due to Palestinian resistance, Arab rejection, and a lack of international cooperation with such proposals. Al-Farra also noted that the U.S. is aware that Netanyahu’s actions are partly driven by internal political dynamics and divisions within the Israeli government. While Washington may tolerate this—even at the cost of Palestinian lives and destruction—it is unlikely to support a full return to large-scale warfare due to broader strategic interests unrelated to the Palestinian people.
Three Main Goals
Meanwhile, political science professor Hussam al-Dajani of Ummah University in Gaza said the Israeli escalation serves three key objectives:
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Passing the state budget by offering political concessions to far-right ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich.
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Intensifying killing and revenge operations as a prelude to implementing the displacement plan.
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Applying pressure on negotiations to keep them confined to the first stage.
Al-Dajani added that Netanyahu wants the ceasefire agreement to remain limited to the first phase and not evolve into a comprehensive ceasefire or a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. He believes that Palestinians must respond to this military campaign with unity, stronger diplomatic and media efforts to expose Israel’s plans, and continued resilience—while adhering to the ceasefire agreement, which has gained international legitimacy through the relevant UN Security Council resolution.
