Israel’s ‘Scorched Earth’ Strategy
The hope held by many, especially in the West, was that with the beginning of Ramadan in early March, a temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas would come into effect. With more than 34,000 dead (mostly civilians) and starvation now a reality, negotiators, meeting first in Paris and then in Doha, hoped to bring relief to Gaza’s population, harried by more than six months of fighting.[1] After the scheduled deadline, the Tel Aviv government, as it had previously threatened, felt empowered to invade the town of Rafah. It was the last patch of the Gaza Strip they had not yet occupied, where more than a million Palestinians were living, having fled from war-torn areas. The goal was to eliminate the last four active Hamas battalions and to take Yanya Sinwar, the mastermind of the terrible attack on the Israelis on October 7, 2023, together with his associates, dead or alive.
Negotiations have continued frantically in Doha, Cairo and Amman, under the aegis of the United States, even in the absence of official representatives: the proposal was for a six-week truce and the release of a number of Palestinian prisoners, in exchange for the release of 40 Israeli hostages. The demands of the two sides were, however, irreconcilable. Hamas demanded a final cease-fire and the withdrawal of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) from Gaza, thus sparing its leadership, in exchange for the release of the hostages (who would now number about 100). The Israeli government, for its part, opposed a prolonged ceasefire out of fear that the militiamen would regroup.