Analyses Archives - Page 19 of 32

Analysis – Israeli Army Can Only Move at Night

CrossFireArabia
October 20, 2024

Military and strategic expert, Maj-Gen Fayez Al-Duwairi said the Israeli occupation army is not able to advance in northern Gaza Strip except at night, indicating this is creating new challenges for the Palestinian resistance.

Differences this time

Al-Duwairi explained the differences between the current Israeli military operation here, and its previous operations, highlighting the new tactics followed by the occupation army and the challenges posed to Palestinian resistance groups.

He pointed out while there are ongoing battles and heavy Israeli losses including the destruction of vehicles and the killing of their soldiers, he believes the occupation’s success in isolating the Jabalia camp from all four sides has created a different reality this time around.

Moving at night

But he stressed most of the occupation’s main advances take place at night, attributing this fact to the resistance’s lack of night vision weapons with infrared rays. He pointed out this allows the occupation forces to set up barricades and achieve additional progress, even at limited distances ranging between 50 and 70 meters.

The military expert added this situation has created a new problem for the resistance it has not been exposed to before, despite its success in inflicting heavy losses on the occupation forces.

He drew attention to the seriousness of the humanitarian situation, noting there are about 150,000 Palestinians trapped in an area of no more than two square kilometers, with Israeli tanks standing at the doors of shelters.

Human shields

Al-Duwairi believes it is as if the Israeli army is using civilians as human shields, making it difficult for resistance fighters to carry out their duties without risking harm to these civilians, considering this situation as one of the biggest challenges facing fighters, which they did not face in previous military incursions.

Commenting on the video shown by the Israeli army of the leader of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) Yahya Sinwar – which he said shows him with his family in a tunnel on the night of 7 October, 2023 – Al-Duwairi pointed out this video represents a “glorification of Sinwar and not condemnation of him.”

Not a 5-star hotel!

He explained the video shows the Hamas leader and the main planner of Operation Flood of Al-Aqsa living a difficult life inside the tunnels, not in a 5-star hotel, adding that he is the head of a family and is being directly targeted, and it is natural for him to seek to put his children in safety.

Al-Duwairi added the fact that Sinwar and his children lived for a year in the tunnels represents a sacrifice that must be appreciated, and he believed that the occupation’s attempt to use this video to condemn Sinwar may backfire, as he can be seen as a resistance leader who sacrifices his personal life for his cause.

Al-Duwairi believes that this video refutes the accusations directed at Sinwar and other Hamas leaders that they live a life of luxury, and that what appeared is that these leaders are not looking for a life of luxury, but seek to liberate the land, protect its honor, and are ready to die for the sake of God according to Al Jazeera.

Analyses

Israeli Media: We Are Waging a ‘War of Brains’ With Hezbollah

CrossFireArabia
October 15, 2024

Israeli media revealed new details about the circumstances of the attack that targeted a military building in the Binyamina area south of Haifa. Israeli military analysts and experts said the incident casts doubt on the ability to intercept Hezbollah drones, and that the army is waging a war of brains with Hezbollah.

Military affairs correspondent Itai Blumenthal of Channel 11 said that the two drones that targeted the building in the base arrived via the northern maritime zone, where one of them was intercepted near the city of Nahariya, while the other disappeared from the field of view of Israeli fighters and helicopters just before hitting the building.

Blumenthal confirmed that the drone did not fire missiles, noting that this type of drone is known to the Israeli army and is manufactured in Iran and is available to Hezbollah, which raises further questions about the army’s ability to effectively detect these drones in the current war.

In the same context Nir Dvori, military analyst for Channel 12 said that this incident caused great disappointment, especially since the recent period witnessed some progress in the army’s ability to intercept drones. He added this incident completely turned the picture upside down, and revealed the gaps in the Israeli defense system.

A war of brains

Dvori explained this war of brains is witnessing a continuous development of capabilities on both sides. He added the Israeli army is working to improve its interception capabilities, while Hezbollah continues to develop the low-flying and high-speed techniques of its drones, which makes it more difficult to detect and shoot them down.

For his part Eitan Ben Eliyahu, former commander of the Israeli Air Force, confirmed that there is a war of minds taking place in real time between Hezbollah drone operators and soldiers operating Israeli detection and interception systems.

He described this battle as similar to a computer game, with each side trying to outdo the other in real time.

Yossi Yehoshua, a military affairs analyst for Channel 24 and Yedioth Ahronoth, pointed out that last deadly incident added to a series of injuries sustained by Israeli soldiers in the past two weeks since the start of the ground operations in Lebanon.

He said hundreds of soldiers were injured as a result of the use of anti-tank missiles, mortar shells, and drones by Hezbollah.

A surprise attack on the Golani Brigade training camp, located about 80 kilometers deep in southern Lebanon, Sunday, resulted in the killing of four soldiers and the wounding of 67, including eight in critical condition. The Israeli Army Radio described this attack as the deadliest incident against the army since the start of the current war.

Israeli media reported at the time that the drone fired a missile at the training camp, before crashing into the dining hall inside the camp, where soldiers were eating according to Al Jazeera.

Analyses

Hamas Derails ‘Generals’ Plan’ in North Gaza

CrossFireArabia
October 13, 2024

Military expert Dr. Nidal Abu Zeid has confirmed that despite separating the northern Gaza Strip from Gaza City, the Israeli army has not succeeded in implementing the so-called “generals’ plan” so far.

He added that what is happening on the ground can only be classified as “tactical success but strategic failure in light of the heavy losses suffered by the Israeli army in northern Gaza.

Abu Zeid added to Jordan24 that the resistance is still operating in pockets close to the separation line established by the occupation, while it seems that the Netzarim axis model is being repeated in northern Gaza, which puts the occupation in a fragile position and vulnerable to the strikes of the resistance, which has exchanged geography for losses, meaning that it has given land to the occupation but inflicts losses in wide areas of deployment.

Failure with Hezbollah

Regarding what is happening in southern Lebanon, Abu Zeid said the equation of proportionality and gradualism is still prevailing in military with Haifa has become opposite equation to the southern suburb and Tel Aviv to Beirut in targetting and bombing.

He added that this is while the occupation forces have yet failed after 13 days of ground fighting to achieve any significant progress, and everything the Israeli army is doing falls within the framework of reconnaissance operations by force in an attempt to determine the weak points of Hezbollah, which is defending in an unconventional manner on the front edge of the battle zone.

Iran Stop!

Abu Zeid pointed out that events are accelerating, as indicators of the Israeli response to the Iranian response have begun to increase and its features have begun to become clear, which will change the equation of the conflict in light of an American desire not to expand the circle of conflict as much as it is a desire to clip Iran’s nails in the region.

Analyses

‘Generals’ Plan’ in Gaza Maybe Stopped If Hezbollah Pressure Hikes

CrossFireArabia
October 10, 2024

Military Dr. Nidal Abu Zeid said the Israel occupation is trying to displace and strangle northern Gaza with fire and prevent the entry of any aid, in an attempt to implement what is known as the “generals’ plan” that has so far failed.

He noted that the Israeli army is now trying to implement such a plan by brute military force but the resistance groups have yet succeeded to thwart this pernicious project.

Abu Zeid added to Jordan24 that the current ongoing battles in Gaza are linked to the military operations Hezbollah fighters are waging in southern Lebanon.

He pointed out the missile barrages launched by the party, Wednesday, were the largest, with 200 missiles in one day, according to Israeli sources. This is in addition to Hezbollah’s success in penetrating the early warning and reconnaissance systems in the north of the occupied territories through its “Hudhud”.

Abu Zeid confirms that Hezbollah’s operations and activities are not random, but disciplined with sequential movements in a clear plan that begins with the unconventional defense of the forefront of the battle zone supported by missile barrages and reliance on the principles of proportionality and gradualism.

Therefore he added, we see Haifa being bombed whenever the southern suburb is bombed, with a gradual increase in type, quantity and range.

Regarding the Israeli response to Iran, Abu Zeid said that the indicators are escalating as the Israeli response approaches, the latest of which is Biden’s phone call to Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Galant’s visit to the Military Intelligence Division. These are indications that the integration of the intelligence position is awaiting a green light for implementation.

The “generals’ plan” is based on besieging the northern Gaza Strip, stopping humanitarian aid, and evacuating the population with the aim of “forcing all Palestinians in the northern Gaza Strip to leave and turning the north into a closed military zone.”

Analyses

Demolishing Gaza

CrossFireArabia
October 10, 2024

Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor has released a comprehensive report marking one year since Israel launched its genocidal campaign against civilians in the Gaza Strip on 7 October 2023. During this period, Israel has committed grave war crimes, with the explicit complicity of the international community.

De-Gaza

Titled De-Gaza: A Year of Israel’s Genocide and the Collapse of World Order, the report details the most prominent crimes committed over the past 12 months, thoroughly documented by Euro-Med field teams. It traces the clear elements of genocide perpetrated by the Israeli army, explores the legal frameworks defining the crime of genocide, and scrutinises both the context and ongoing circumstances. The report also addresses the international judiciary’s response, and, significantly, the global community’s complicit role in allowing the genocide to continue.

The report sheds light on the appalling conditions and systematic atrocities Israel has inflicted upon the occupied Palestinian territory, with a particular focus on the Gaza Strip. These long-standing crimes include the illegal blockade, the deliberate isolation of Gaza from the rest of the Palestinian territory and the world, the systematic deprivation of basic human rights to the Strip’s residents, and the deliberate destruction of essential services.

Israeli army genocide

Since the start of the genocide in Gaza, more than 50,000 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli army, including around 42,000 recorded by the Gaza Ministry of Health, the majority being women and children. In addition, approximately 100,000 have been injured, with thousands of bodies still lying under the rubble and in the streets, unreachable by rescue and medical teams.

An estimated 10 per cent of Gaza’s population has been killed, injured, reported missing, or detained as a result of Israeli military assaults. Of the 50,292 Palestinians killed—including those still buried under the debris—33 per cent were children, and 21 per cent were women. Thousands more have been forcibly detained, with 3,600 still languishing in various Israeli prisons and detention centres.

Around 3,500 families have suffered multiple losses since October 2023. Of these, 365 families have lost more than ten members, while over 2,750 families have lost at least three.

The report details the systematic acts of genocide committed in Gaza, such as the targeted killing of civilians in homes, shelters, displacement camps, and humanitarian-declared zones. Civilians were also killed by military vehicles and tanks, in field executions, through drone strikes, in crowded markets, and even while waiting for aid at relief trucks.

Ugly tactics

The report notes the Israeli military’s starvation tactics, the deliberate killing of prisoners and detainees, and the assassination of humanitarian workers, qualified professionals, and Palestinian elites.

The Israeli army employs explicit methods designed to inflict severe physical and psychological trauma on the population. These include launching thousands of systematic military assaults on civilians, dramatically increasing deaths among people of reproductive age, separating families, targeting the healthcare system, and imposing brutal living conditions marked by starvation and malnutrition.

The obstruction of humanitarian aid further exacerbates these atrocities, creating life-threatening situations for thousands.

The root cause of this persecution—the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory since 1967—has created conditions for the ongoing genocide, as confirmed by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in its advisory opinion of 19 July 2024, on the legal consequences arising from Israeli policies and practices in the occupied Palestinian territory.

Both the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip are internationally recognised as Palestinian territories that were occupied in 1967.

Up until 2005, the Israeli occupation army maintained internal and external control over Gaza by stationing military forces within and outside the Strip, establishing settlements on its land, a situation still seen in the West Bank today.

In 2005, Israel declared a unilateral “disengagement,” evacuating its settlers from Gaza and withdrawing its military forces. However, despite this declaration, Israel continued to exercise control over Gaza, maintaining real authority over critical aspects of governance. The ICJ upheld this position in a recent advisory opinion, reflecting the near-universal international consensus on Israel’s continued occupation.

Even after its military withdrawal, Israel retained control over the essential governing elements of Gaza, including its population registry, borders (land, sea, and air), and the regulation of movement for both people and goods. Israel also continued to collect taxes on imports and exports and maintained control over the buffer zone.

Brutal

Following the 7 October 2023 attack, Israel declared a state of war, with its President, Prime Minister, and other political and military leaders at the forefront. The declared aim was to eliminate Hamas, secure the release of hostages, and restore security. Thus began Operation Iron Swords, a brutal military offensive that intensified the suffering of Gaza’s civilians.

Euro-Med Monitor concluded with a set of recommendations after a year of genocide in Gaza, emphasising that all states, both individually and collectively, are still obligated to work towards stopping the ongoing genocide by all available means. Preventing and punishing this crime is an international legal obligation incumbent upon all states without exception, and it is an obligation of absolute authority towards all.

Euro-Med Monitor calls for the imposition of a total arms embargo on Israel, the termination of all licences and agreements related to arms imports and exports (including dual-use materials and technology that could be used against Palestinians), and an end to all military and intelligence cooperation.

In addition to imposing travel restrictions and freezing Israeli government assets, Euro-Med Monitor calls for political and economic sanctions on Israel and its accomplice states. These measures are intended to pressure the responsible parties into upholding international law, ensuring non-recurrence of crimes against Palestinians, and compensating the victims of these atrocities.

The organisation further calls for the halting all forms of support to Israel in connection with its genocide and other crimes against Palestinians. This includes withholding investments, cancelling or suspending political, diplomatic, economic, commercial, and academic ties, and curtailing support from the media, legal, and other sectors that might contribute to the continuation of these crimes.

Key measures include ensuring the Israeli occupation army’s full withdrawal from Gaza, dismantling all military installations, barricades, and checkpoints, ending the imposed military and geographical divisions, restoring the Strip’s geographical unity, and guaranteeing the safe and swift return of forcibly displaced individuals to their homes. Furthermore, the recommendations call for the protection of freedom of movement, travel, and access for all citizens of Gaza.

EuroMed Human Rights Monitor