An Israel-based journalist says while
Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) hope the intensity of the fighting against Hamas
will soon decrease, they are fully aware that more difficult battles against
Hezbollah loom.
The IDF-led rescue of four hostages last week has brought heightened attention to Israel’s war with Hamas, a hope that the end may be near – whether in Israel’s accomplishment of goals or, in the case of the U.S. and United Nations, a ceasefire. But as Israel buried the chief commander of the successful raid, Caroline Glick – the senior contributing editor with the Jewish News Syndicate – warns of the more dangerous next front in her country’s war for survival. According to news reports in Israel, the IDF estimates another three weeks of heavy fighting against Hamas in Rafah, Glick said on Washington Watch Monday. According to the journalist, when the IDF is satisfied with the destruction of Hamas it will turn its attention quickly to another Iranian-funded enemy: Hezbollah. “We’re already moving forces up to the north where we expect to have a much larger war starting soon,” Glick told show host Tony Perkins. An estimated 100 missiles and drones were recently shot into Israel from the north – from Hezbollah – Glick said.
After October 7, roughly 60,000 Israelis were evacuated from their northern-border homes as a precaution against their possible kidnapping. Actual numbers, when available, will far exceed 60,000, Glick said. “Right now, the assessment in Israel, I think by the public and the leadership together, is that we have to steel ourselves for a much bigger war and a much more difficult war in Lebanon. The Hezbollah forces are much more powerful than the Hamas forces that we’ve fought at such cost until now. The only way that Israel is going to be able to allow anybody to come back safely to their home is by massively degrading Hezbollah’s capabilities along the border with Israel, and the only way that you can do that is through a ground operation,” Glick said. “We’re talking about a very difficult front in the north.”
For now, Hamas remains the focus for Israel, which saw an estimated 1,200 citizens killed and another 250 kidnapped by Hamas on October 7. If the IDF is correct on its three weeks’ estimate for continued Rafah fighting, the war against Hamas would downshift to lower-intensity fighting, more rooting out of terror cells, more guerilla-type warfare, Glick said.
For much of the world, the focus is the number of deaths among Palestinian civilians being used as cover by Hamas against IDF troops. The U.S. asked the U.N. Security Council to back a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and an Israel-Hamas hostage deal, increasing pressure on Israel, its top Middle East ally, to better protect civilians. The U.N. Security Council passed a Gaza ceasefire proposal that was drafted by the U.S. The vote was 14-0. The draft was approved by President Biden and was the result of almost a week of negotiations among the 15-member council, NBC News reported.
Israel claims it’s doing all it can to protect civilians, most of whom it says are Hamas sympathizers, or worse, active participants against Israel in the war.
Following the rescue of four hostages from a Central Gaza holding place Biden said, “We won’t stop working until all the hostages come home and a ceasefire is reached. That is essential.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says his government will continue to pursue war goals of destroying Hamas’ war-making capabilities, securing the release of all hostages, and ensuring there is no continuing threat to Israel from Gaza.
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