Immediate occupation: Israel faces isolation due to attempted takeover of Gaza
Israel may find itself in economic and political isolation after the start of the operation to capture Gaza City. Middle Eastern countries are already discussing the possibility of freezing the Jewish state's membership in the United Nations. And a commission established by the UN Human Rights Council accused Israel of four of the five acts of genocide in the strip. Against this background, new sanctions are being threatened in Europe, and some Western countries intend to recognize Palestinian sovereignty. Meanwhile, the number of victims of the new IDF operation is growing: during the first hours of the operation, at least 68 civilians were killed, including children, Arab media reported. How to stop a new round of escalation in the Middle East and what forces Hamas will use to confront Israel is in the Izvestia article.
Israel has launched an operation to capture Gaza
The escalation of the conflict between Israel and Hamas reached a new round on the night of September 16, when IDF units entered Gaza City with the clear task of taking it under full control. The operation is called "Gideon's Chariot - 2". The American portal Axios was the first to announce the beginning of the Israeli invasion. According to this information, the operation began late on Monday evening, a few hours after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Prime Minister of the Jewish state Benjamin Netanyahu and senior members of his team.
The media writes that the administration of Donald Trump supports Israel in its intention to occupy the city of Gaza, but expects that the operation will be quick.
"The gas is burning. The Israel Defense Forces are hitting the terrorist infrastructure with an iron fist, and its military is fighting bravely to create conditions for the release of hostages and the defeat of Hamas. We will not back down or weaken our efforts until the task is completed," Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz wrote on his page on the social network X. According to the Israeli side, Hamas is holding over 40 hostages in Gaza, 20 of whom are alive.
On the morning of September 16, Netanyahu officially confirmed the start of the operation, noting that one of the goals was to defeat Hamas. He made such a statement right before the start of his testimony in court in a case in which he is suspected of corruption. The Israeli prime minister said he would be busy from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. and asked for the postponement of regular hearings with his participation.
According to the Israeli press, the military will occupy the city gradually, and the principle of ensuring the safety of soldiers will be prioritized over the rapid achievement of the objective of the operation. Two divisions are currently operating in Gaza City, and a third will join in the coming days.
— Gaza, as one of the most densely populated cities of the exclave, is characterized by both dense buildings and the presence of a large number of hidden communications under it (including tunnels, shelters), which seriously complicates the advance and cleanup. The Israelis, apparently, intend to use their numerical and technological advantage again to occupy key areas and dissect the main defense nodes of the underground," says orientalist Leonid Tsukanov.
According to Ilya Shcherbakov, an employee of the Department of International Relations and Integration Processes at the Moscow State University Faculty of Political Science, Israel is now trying to completely seize the initiative in the military confrontation with Palestine and exhaust Hamas.
Currently, at least half of the Hamas battalions are still combat-ready, while the Palestinian side is making statements about the increased flow of volunteers, said Loenid Tsukanov. The Palestinians have the strength to resist, but the struggle due to the difference in equipment will be more likely to be in the nature of guerrilla skirmishes. The IDF estimates that there may be about 2-3 thousand Hamas fighters on the battlefield.
The humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip
Even before the start of the operation, Israel called on Gazans to evacuate, and the military dropped leaflets with warnings in Arabic from the air. According to estimates by the Jewish state, more than 350,000 people have already left the city, heading for humanitarian zones in the south of the sector. But about 700,000 still remain in their homes, The Times of Israel writes.
Since the start of the operation, at least 68 civilians have been killed, including children, Al Jazeera reported.
Medical facilities are overcrowded and operating at the limit of their capacity, according to the Ministry of Health of the Gaza Strip. Hospitals are experiencing shortages of medicines and important supplies, and blood donations are running out.
By the time the operation began, more than 3.6 thousand buildings, including residential buildings, had already been completely or partially destroyed in Gaza. In addition, about 13,000 multi-bed tents were destroyed, which housed refugees who had moved to Gaza, mainly from the northern parts of the strip. A few hours before the announced massive attack on the city, the Israeli Air Force bombed and then completely leveled the city's tallest building, the 20—storey Al-Gafri Tower. Hundreds of families lived in this high-rise, as well as offices of most local media and many commercial structures.
"I believe that Israel will not be able to achieve its goals in the shortest possible time," said political analyst Farhad Ibragimov. — This means that the humanitarian catastrophe will be very serious. Hamas is very well-versed in the construction of Gaza City, unlike the Israeli forces. We know that a huge number of people are under siege, and they are not receiving the most basic humanitarian aid — food, supplies, and clothing. The situation is difficult, but that's exactly what Israel wanted. It is also difficult to say how long the cleansing of Gaza will take, because Hamas does not intend to give up.
Against this background, the UN made a loud statement. A commission established by the UN Human Rights Council has published a 72-page report stating that Israel has "committed four acts of genocide" (referred to in the 1948 Convention) in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023. They blamed the Prime Minister and the top leadership of the Jewish state for this.
The UN Commission's report describes the bombing of civilian homes and shelters, and the killing of children, women, and the elderly. In addition, the report mentions torture and sexual violence against Palestinians, as well as the blockade of access to food, water, electricity and medical care in the Gaza Strip. The Commission also notes Israel's reproductive violence against Palestinians in Gaza, in particular the attack on the sector's largest IVF clinic, which resulted in the destruction of thousands of embryos.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry called the report "fake" and "completely based on the lies" of the Hamas movement, and also stated that the three authors of the document "are known for their openly anti-Semitic position." "Israel categorically rejects this distorted and false report and calls for the immediate abolition of this commission," the agency's Telegram channel says.
Israel's isolation
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry said that the new Israeli operation may indicate "a desire to turn the city into a mass grave and a willingness to endanger the lives of hundreds of thousands of civilians." They called on the international community to intervene: as a result of the offensive, almost 1 million Palestinians will be forced to leave their homes. Russia had previously condemned the Israeli government's decision to expand its military operation in the Gaza Strip in early August. Moscow has repeatedly drawn attention to the humanitarian disaster in the exclave.
— The offensive on Gaza began in an accelerated manner, and is designed not to give Hamas a break after the strike on the Hamas leadership in Doha on September 9. Netanyahu wants to do as much as possible before the final week of the UN General Assembly (the last decade of September)," orientalist Leonid Tsukanov explained to Izvestia.
At the UN General Assembly, a number of European countries plan to recognize the sovereignty of Palestine, including Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the United Kingdom and Canada. According to Murad Sadigzade, president of the Center for Middle East Studies, Israel is in a hurry to take military action due to strong international pressure. Judging by the statements of the leadership, the Jewish state is already preparing for political and economic isolation. On September 15, Netanyahu announced that the Jewish state needs to adapt to an economy based on self-sufficiency.
Arab and Islamic countries have called for coordinated efforts to suspend Israel's membership in the United Nations. On September 15, the countries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the League of Arab States gathered for an emergency summit in Doha to discuss the response to the Israeli strike on the capital of Qatar on September 9, which was aimed at destroying members of the Hamas negotiating group.
European commissioners plan to adopt a package of measures against Israel this week, including the suspension of certain trade agreements. Back in August, French President Emmanuel Macron warned Netanyahu that Israel would face increased isolation in the event of an expanded military operation in the Gaza Strip. At the end of July, German Foreign Minister Johann Vadefuhl issued a similar statement.
— On the one hand, the chance to be alone is really present, especially against the background of Tel Aviv's growing regional ambitions and the deterioration of its relations with Europe. A few days ago, Netanyahu even said that it makes sense to gradually prepare for life in conditions of "economic isolation" and build his "super-Sparta." At the same time, despite diplomatic pressure, no one is putting any real obstacles in the way of Israel's operation in Gaza. And some countries, like the United States, even use it as an instrument of pressure on Hamas," says Leonid Tsukanov.
In any case, the current situation only moves the parties away from the end of the conflict. It is possible to transform the military confrontation between Israel and Palestine into a post-conflict settlement phase only after a significant change in the political programs of the conflicting parties, where the mutual coexistence of the two states will be an important element, Ilya Shcherbakov believes. Given that there have been no such changes since 1947 (after the creation of the Israeli state), it is advisable to expect the preservation of the conflict node between Israel and Palestine, which today, in a certain sense (not without the participation of a number of Middle Eastern states) has become a confrontation between the Arab world and the military actions of the Israeli side in the region, the expert believes.
Murad Sadigzade is confident that it will be possible to quickly end the fighting only if the opposition comes to power in Israel, in particular, former Prime Minister Yair Lapid. Then the far-right, led by Netanyahu, will go into opposition. Now, according to the expert, the main problem that prevents a settlement is specifically the person of Netanyahu and his coalition. Of course, a significant part of Israeli society supports the current war, as nationalist sentiments have increased in the country in recent years.
Nevertheless, if the conflict drags on, Israel's economic and military resources will be depleted, serious sanctions may be imposed, and European allies will begin to move away from Tel Aviv. This could provoke discontent in Israel and protests, the expert concluded.
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