The political scientist explained the reasons for Israel's expansion of operations in Gaza

The current Israeli leadership does not want to allow the Palestinian radical movement Hamas to negotiate on the Gaza Strip. This was announced to Izvestia on May 19 by Grigory Lukyanov, senior lecturer at the National Research University Higher School of Economics, researcher at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

He recalled that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates set the issue of resolving the situation in Gaza and recognizing a Palestinian state as an indispensable condition for normalizing relations with Israel and developing dialogue with the United States. The political scientist stressed that Israel is not impressed by this position.

"In this regard, there is a growing understanding in the Israeli right—wing camp that the solution to the Palestinian problem in the direction that they consider the most beneficial, the only right one for Israel, lies entirely with the Israeli armed forces," he said.

Lukyanov clarified that the Israeli leadership seeks to eliminate the Hamas movement as a political or any other association in order to prevent it from participating in the negotiation process, including as part of a unified Palestinian government.

Peace order: Hamas is set for a partial deal on Gaza

Positive dynamics have emerged in the negotiations mediated by Egypt and Qatar.

"Politically, of course, this offensive shows the continued reluctance of the government [of Prime Minister Benjamin]. Netanyahu will participate in any negotiations with the Palestinian side in the foreseeable future," the expert said.

He recalled that Israel has a sufficient number of hostile "neighbors." Despite the lull on the part of Lebanon, the Syrian direction remains very problematic for Israel due to the fact that the country's new government is not yet able to control all existing groups within the state, the political scientist stressed.

"The threats to Israel are so great that we have to keep large forces on the border. Against this background, the resumption of military operations in Gaza requires the involvement of serious human and military material resources, which, of course, does not strengthen the security of the perimeter of the Israeli borders," Lukyanov concluded.

On May 17, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) press service announced plans to expand a ground operation in the Gaza Strip to destroy Hamas.

A day later, the IDF announced the launch of a large-scale ground operation in northern and southern Gaza. It is reported that over the past week, the Israeli Air Force has hit over 670 Hamas targets throughout Gaza.

On the same day, Israeli Air Force strikes on the southern Gaza Strip killed at least 36 people.