What does occupying Gaza accomplish for Israel?

As Israel ramps up its war in Gaza with plans to occupy Gaza City, the escalation may worsen the humanitarian crisis and isolate Israel internationally.

Gaza City is "one of the last areas of the territory not yet under full military occupation," said NPR, and is home to "tens of thousands" of refugees from the war, as well as Gaza's "last partially functioning hospitals." The occupation aims to "root out Hamas," said Axios. "We intend to control all of Gaza," said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. But the operation could backfire: Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir warned that it might "trap the military within the enclave and put the remaining hostages at risk," said CNN.

Taking control of Gaza City risks ending in a "strategic dead-end," said Patrick Kingsley at The New York Times. Israel ultimately intends to hand Gaza to "Arab forces that will govern it properly without threatening us," said Netanyahu. But Israel's army is "depleted" after fighting the "longest high-intensity war in the country's history." Fewer reservists are reporting for duty while munitions and spare parts are "running down." By overriding his generals, Netanyahu has again "prioritized his political needs by choosing to extend the war."

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

'Complete dismantling' of Hamas

The only way to prevent Hamas' resurgence is its "complete dismantling as the effective ruling entity in the Gaza Strip," said Kobi Michael and Yossi Kuperwasser at Tel Aviv University's Institute for National Security Studies. "The aim is to convince Gaza's public that Hamas will not return." Until that happens, "no real reconstruction process in the area can begin." The burden on Israel's army, though, would be "substantial."

Netanyahu should heed the IDF's warnings and "avoid the Gaza occupation swamp," said The Jerusalem Post editorial board. The prime minister asserts the "full occupation" of the Palestinian territory would "signal the end of Hamas," but "experience and military analysis suggest otherwise." Occupation would allow Hamas to "go underground and regroup" in an asymmetric fight, bogging Israel down in a "costly, open-ended war with no end in sight." That would be a "long-term disaster for Israel."

'Self-inflicted injury'

Hamas and Netanyahu "both want to keep the Gaza war going," said Jonathan D. Strum at The Hill. The prime minister and his "ultra-nationalist" backers are following a "vision of a Palestinian-free Gaza," which is why they continue the war despite military advice that further fighting serves "no military purpose." Hamas, meanwhile, wants to survive as a "political force" and can best do that while Israel continues the "self-inflicted injury" of a prolonged war.

Occupying Gaza could be a "political tactic to pressure Hamas" for ceasefire negotiations, said PBS NewsHour. Netanyahu has set out an "ambitious goal," said David Makovsky, the director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy's Project on Arab-Israel Relations. But the dynamic could prove tricky if Hamas does not return to negotiations. "We just don't know yet."