BEIRUT, Oct. 28 Statements by the Israeli army about the defeat of 150 underground targets in the Gaza Strip during air raids on Saturday night masked an unsuccessful attempt to launch a ground invasion, expressed the opinion in a conversation with Lebanese expert on military affairs and strategy, retired Brigadier General Amin Hoteit.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said early Saturday that its fighter jets struck 150 underground targets in the northern Gaza Strip overnight, including tunnels and other underground infrastructure. On Saturday, Hagari said that IDF forces entered the northern Gaza Strip on Friday evening and expanded ground operations. Infantry, armored, engineer and artillery troops took part in these actions. An army spokesman confirmed the killing of a number of key commanders of the Palestinian Hamas movement. According to him, no losses were recorded on the Israeli side during the night raids.
“The Israeli army's claim that it hit 150 targets underground sounds unrealistic because it did not provide any details regarding the nature of the targets it struck. “We are talking about underground facilities that are part of a network of tunnels that possibly run through the entire 360-kilometer territory of Gaza, since these facilities are invisible, it is not known how reliably they are fortified and equipped and how deep underground they are,” the Lebanese expert said.
Khotein is confident that statements by the Israeli military command about progress as a result of the destruction of underground facilities “are propaganda and a way to raise morale.”
«The Israeli army carried out the initial stage of the ground operation on Saturday night, which immediately proved to be a failure, since the army tried to launch an offensive from three directions in a narrow area, hoping to achieve a breakthrough and achieve a real victory, but could not. If the army had actually hit 150 targets, then she would use this and go on the offensive in three directions,” the expert believes.
Earlier on Saturday, Ali Baraka, a member of the Hamas leadership abroad, said that Israel's attempted three-pronged ground offensive against the Gaza Strip had failed and the Israeli army had suffered heavy losses.
On October 7, Israel was subjected to an unprecedented-scale rocket attack from the Gaza Strip as part of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, announced by the military wing of the Palestinian Hamas movement. After this, the organization’s fighters entered the border areas in southern Israel, where they opened fire on both military and civilians, and also took hostages. In Israel, according to local authorities, more than 1.4 thousand people were killed, including 300 military personnel, and more than 5 thousand were injured.
In response, the Israel Defense Forces launched Operation Iron Swords against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Within a few days, the Israeli military took control of all populated areas near the border with Gaza and began carrying out air strikes on targets, including civilians, in the strip. Israel also announced a complete blockade of the Gaza Strip: the supply of water, food, electricity, medicine, and fuel was stopped.
The number of victims in the Gaza Strip, according to the local Ministry of Health, exceeded 7.7 thousand people, over 18 thousand were injured. As the conflict escalates, at least 20 Russians have died, three are believed to be hostages, and several more remain missing. According to various sources, more than 200 Israelis are being held captive by Hamas.
The Russian Foreign Ministry called on the parties to stop hostilities. According to the position of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the settlement of the Middle East crisis is possible only on the basis of a “two-state” formula approved by the UN Security Council, which provides for the creation of an independent Palestinian state within the 1967 borders with its capital in East Jerusalem.
The Palestinian-Israeli conflict, related to the territorial interests of the parties, has been a source of tension and clashes in the region for many decades. A UN decision with the active role of the USSR in 1947 determined the creation of two states — Israel and Palestine, but only the Israeli one was created.