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Mint
a day ago
- Politics
- Mint
Gaza takeover plan exposes constraints on Israeli military
Israeli authorities say the occupation of the entire Gaza Strip threatened by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is to start with a narrower goal—seizing control of Gaza City—reflecting serious resource constraints that are likely to limit the pace and scope of military operations. After nearly two years of intense conflict sparked by an assault on southern Israel by Palestinian Islamist militant group Hamas that killed around 1,200 people, Israel's troops are exhausted, and a large majority of citizens say they want a deal to end the war and free hostages still held by Hamas. Netanyahu said Thursday that Israeli forces would take over the entire strip, a Palestinian enclave of roughly two million people along the Mediterranean coast, in order to disarm Hamas and remove it from power. The plan was approved by the security cabinet, which said the military would start with Gaza City. Israel hasn't said when the operation would begin, how long it would take or how many troops it might require. Military analysts said it could play out over weeks or months. Aid groups say they worry any offensive would further curtail efforts to supply food and medical care to residents. Gaza City is the biggest population center in the northern part of the strip, home to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. Its dense urban landscape—with a web of underground tunnels used by militants—makes it a difficult battlefield. Some surviving Israeli hostages are thought to be held there. A rapid advance would require several army divisions with tens of thousands of soldiers, said Amir Avivi, a former Israeli defense official who is close to the current government. It is likely Israel will opt for a more gradual operation that puts less stress on manpower, he said. 'Israel is trying to find a balance, not conquering everything but concentrating on a critical area," he said. Some analysts said Israel appears to hope the increased military pressure will bring Hamas back to the negotiating table on its terms and could pause the operation at any point. But it is a big gamble given the pressure on the military and the risks to Israel's international image and internal support. With the threat of a full takeover, Israel may have 'bitten off more than it can chew," said Yoel Guzansky, a senior fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies, a think tank based in Tel Aviv. Israel's own military has expressed doubts about the idea. Military chief Eyal Zamir has opposed the idea, warning of falling into traps set by Hamas and the need to give his troops a rest. Since a cease-fire collapsed in March, Israel has taken over about 75% of the Gaza Strip, and parts of Gaza City are already under its control. On Thursday, the military ordered two more neighborhoods—Al Daraj and Al Tuffah—to be evacuated in response to what it said was rocket fire from the areas. Manpower shortages are among Israel's chief constraints, Israeli officials say, as the military has been fighting for almost two years across multiple fronts in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, and the West Bank. Commanders say it is becoming more difficult to persuade reservists to show up for new rounds of fighting in Gaza. Their service isn't optional, but there is some give and take in Israel, which tries to be accommodating of family circumstances or financial pressure, particularly given the long deployments. In recent weeks, the military has pulled troops out of Gaza to give soldiers some rest. Several reservists told The Wall Street Journal they wouldn't return to Gaza if called again. The stress on soldiers has contributed to flagging public support for the war. Polling in Israel has shown for months that a large majority of the population supports ending the war in exchange for the hostages' release. A recent survey by the aChord Center at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem found that 79% of Israelis feel ending the war in Gaza is the most urgent national task. Families of hostages taken by Hamas also fear military operations in areas where people are still being held could put them in danger. If Israeli troops push into Gaza City, it would likely order evacuations, enlarging the numbers of displaced people and worsening the humanitarian situation. The United Nations says starvation deaths and malnutrition are rising. So are deadly incidents near aid distribution sites and convoy routes, where Israel's military has acknowledged firing toward crowds of Palestinians it says got too close to its positions. Israel's plan risks deepening its international isolation. Germany, a close Israel ally, will formally suspend sales of arms that Israel could use in the Gaza Strip until further notice, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Friday. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Israel made a bad decision to expand the war and pressed it to reconsider. Arab governments are asking the U.S. to help stop the offensive from moving forward and get the parties back to the negotiating table, people familiar with the efforts said. President Trump has expressed concern about starvation but said a decision to take over all of Gaza is up to Israel. Netanyahu suggested on Thursday that while Israel planned to take control of all of Gaza, the enclave would eventually be administered by Arab forces. Arab governments, which have pushed various plans for postwar Gaza and a path to a Palestinian state that Israel has resisted, are reluctant to step in and be seen as foreign conquerors bailing Netanyahu out. Regional neighbors also worry that the plan could ultimately push more Gazans to seek refuge within their borders, the people said. Analysts expressed doubts over whether the threat of occupation would be enough to break the logjam in talks to reach a cease-fire. Israel and the U.S. pulled their teams out of the talks last month, saying Hamas didn't appear interested in reaching a deal. Hamas has said it was negotiating in good faith. 'Maybe Israel is in a way rushing to military methods, which might at the end of the day be a mistake, but they don't have a lot of options," said Israel Ziv, a retired Israeli general who once headed Israel's Gaza division. Write to Feliz Solomon at
Yemen Online
24-07-2025
- Politics
- Yemen Online
Israel Opens Yemen Front Amid Escalating Regional Tensions
Aden — Israel has officially designated Yemen as a new front in its military engagements, responding to recent missile attacks launched by Houthi forces targeting Israeli infrastructure. The announcement came hours after a series of ballistic missiles originating from Yemeni territory struck areas near Ben Gurion Airport, prompting temporary flight suspensions and heightened national alert. The Israeli Defense Ministry stated that the attacks signify 'a new strategic threat,' and that military operations against Houthi positions inside Yemen are already underway. 'Gaza and Yemen are now our primary fronts,' said Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant in a televised briefing. 'We are preparing for a long-term confrontation, and we have a comprehensive target bank within the Yemeni theater.' In retaliation, Israeli drones conducted precision strikes on the port city of Hodeidah, a key logistics hub for the Houthis, aiming to degrade their economic and military capabilities. Israeli military sources indicated that further operations are being planned in coordination with regional intelligence. Strategic Implications Yemen marks a significant shift in its security doctrine, linking the Yemeni conflict to its wider confrontation with Iran. The Houthi movement, widely seen as an Iranian proxy, has intensified its military activities beyond the Arabian Peninsula, signaling a willingness to engage directly with Israel. 'The Houthis have made it clear that their ceasefire with the United States does not apply to Israel,' said Dr. Miriam Tal, senior fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies. 'This opens a volatile new chapter in Middle Eastern dynamics.' Humanitarian Concerns International organizations have expressed concern over potential humanitarian fallout, especially in light of ongoing crises in Gaza and southern Lebanon. UN officials urged restraint and emphasized the need to avoid further destabilization in an already fragile region.
New Indian Express
21-06-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Does Trump believe that Iran will not give up its nuclear programme
In this episode of Global Express, we will talk to Danny Citrinowicz, Research Fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies, Tel Aviv, who explains Iran's nuclear situation and why Donald Trump has taken a firm stance against the country.
New Indian Express
20-06-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Iranian missile strikes Israel's 'crown jewel of science'
Iranian scientists were a prime target in a long shadow war During years of a shadow war between Israel and Iran that preceded the current conflict, Israel repeatedly targeted Iranian nuclear scientists with the aim of setting back Iran's nuclear program. Israel continued that tactic with its initial blow against Iran days ago, killing multiple nuclear scientists, along with top generals, as well as striking nuclear facilities and ballistic missile infrastructure. For its part, Iran has been accused of targeting at least one Weizmann scientist before. Last year, Israeli authorities said they busted an Iranian spy ring that devised a plot to follow and assassinate an Israeli nuclear scientist who worked and lived at the institute. Citing an indictment, Israeli media said the suspects, Palestinians from east Jerusalem, gathered information about the scientist and photographed the exterior of the Weizmann Institute but were arrested before they could proceed. With Iran's intelligence penetration into Israel far less successful than Israel's, those plots have not been seen through, making this week's strike on Weizmann that much more jarring. 'The Weizmann Institute has been in Iran's sights,' said Yoel Guzansky, an Iran expert and senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies, a Tel Aviv think tank. He stressed that he did not know for certain whether Iran intended to strike the institute but believed it did. While it is a multidisciplinary research institute, Weizmann, like other Israeli universities, has ties to Israel's defense establishment, including collaborations with industry leaders like Elbit Systems, which is why it may have been targeted. But Guzansky said the institute primarily symbolizes 'Israeli scientific progress' and the strike against it shows Iran's thinking: 'You harm our scientists, so we are also harming (your) scientific cadre.'
Mint
20-06-2025
- Business
- Mint
Israel's war on Iran is costing hundreds of millions of dollars a day
Israel faces steep costs to repair hundreds of buildings damaged in Iranian missile strikes, including in Tel Aviv. Israel's conflict with Iran is costing the country hundreds of millions of dollars a day, according to early estimates, a price tag that could constrain Israel's ability to conduct a lengthy war. The biggest single cost are the interceptors needed to blow up incoming Iranian missiles, which alone can amount to between tens of millions to $200 million a day, experts say. Ammunition and aircraft also add to the price tag of the war, as does the unprecedented damage to buildings. Some estimates so far say that rebuilding or repairing damage could cost Israel at least $400 million. The mounting costs add up to pressure on Israel to wrap up the war quickly. Israeli officials have said the new offensive could last for two weeks, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has shown no indication of stopping before Israel achieves all of its goals, which include the elimination of Iran's nuclear program and its ballistic-missile production and arsenal. But the war is expensive. 'The main factor which will really determine the cost of the war will be the duration," said Karnit Flug, a former governor of the Bank of Israel and now a senior fellow at the Jerusalem-based think tank Israel Democracy Institute. Flug said she thought Israel's economy could sustain a short campaign. 'If it is a week it is one thing," she said. 'If it is two weeks or a month it is a very different story." An interceptor responds to an incoming missile this week in the skies above Tel Aviv. Over the last few days, Iran has launched more than 400 missiles at Israel, according to the Israeli government, which require sophisticated air-defense systems to stop. More missiles usually means more interceptors. The David's Sling system, developed jointly by Israel and the U.S., can shoot down short-to-long range missiles, drones and aircraft. It costs around $700,000 each time it is activated, assuming it uses two interceptors, normally the minimum launched, according to Yehoshua Kalisky, a senior researcher at the Tel Aviv-based Institute for National Security Studies. Arrow 3, another system being used, shields against long-range ballistic missiles that leave the earth's atmosphere, at a cost of around $4 million per interception, Kalisky said. An older version of the Arrow, known as Arrow 2, costs around $3 million per interceptor. Other military expenditures include the cost of keeping dozens of warplanes, such as F-35 jets, in the air for hours at a time some 1,000 miles away from Israeli territory. Each costs around $10,000 per hour of flight time, according to Kalisky. The cost of refueling jets, and ammunition including bombs such as JDAMs and MK84s, also must be factored in. 'Per day it is much more expensive than the war in Gaza or with Hezbollah. And it all comes from the ammunition. That's the big expense," said Zvi Eckstein, who heads the Aaron Institute for Economic Policy at Reichman University in Israel, referring to both defensive and offensive munitions. According to an estimate by the institute, a war with Iran that lasts one month will amount to around $12 billion. The arrivals hall at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv was largely empty on June 13 after Israel closed its airspace to takeoffs and landings. Israeli military spending has gone up since the war began yet economists don't foresee a recession at this point, Eckstein said. Much of Israel's economy has shut down in recent days as a result of the Iranian strikes. Only workers in essential industries were called to work, and many businesses such as restaurants were closed. The country's main international airport was closed for several days and has now opened for limited flights back to Israel for those stuck abroad. On June 16, S&P released a risk assessment for the Israel-Iran escalation but didn't change its credit outlook. Israeli markets rose to record highs Wednesday, continuing to outperform U.S. benchmarks despite the conflict with Iran, betting that the war will end in Israel's favor. Some economists say that the markets appear to think that Israel's economy will prove resilient as it has demonstrated over the past 20 months of war in Gaza. Still, the damage inflicted by Iranian missile attacks will add up. Engineers say that the destruction caused by the large ballistic missiles is unlike anything they have seen in recent decades of war in Israel. Hundreds of buildings have been destroyed or heavily damaged, and they will cost hundreds of millions of dollars to rebuild or repair, said Eyal Shalev, a structural engineer who has been called to assess the damage to civilian infrastructure. Shalev estimated it would cost at least tens of millions of dollars to repair a single newly-built skyscraper in central Tel Aviv, which was affected by the strikes. More than 5,000 people have been evacuated from their homes because of missile damage, and some are being housed in hotels paid for by the state, according to Israel's National Public Diplomacy Directorate. Targeting of critical infrastructure has been a top concern in Israel. Two strikes on Israel's largest oil refinery in northern Israel led to its shutdown and killed three of the refinery's employees. Some employees who work in sensitive or critical infrastructure industries have been told in recent days not to come to work, according to Dror Litvak, CEO of ManpowerGroup Israel, which supplies over 12,000 employees in Israel to different sectors. On Wednesday, Israel's home front command said it would partially lift a ban on gatherings—allowing up to 30 people in total to meet—and that workplaces in much of the country could reopen as long as there is a nearby shelter. But with schools still closed, many parents are struggling to juggle working from home and entertaining their children amid yet another military campaign. Ariel Markose, 38 years old, a chief strategy officer for an Israeli nonprofit, now holds her morning work calls from a park in Jerusalem where she spends several hours with her four young children. She heads home at around 4 p.m. and continues to work while her husband takes over with the children. 'There are families that are completely collapsing under this," she said. Iranian missiles have hit critical Israeli infrastructure, and some homes have been damaged, as in Ramat Gan. Write to Anat Peled at
