Israel faces immense risks as it prepares for massive invasion of Gaza

A sweeping operation from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) into the coastal enclave will almost certainly intensify the humanitarian crisis there, along with civilian casualties.

It also risks costing the lives of Israel’s soldiers, turning global and domestic sentiment against Israel — as well as opening a second front in the war.

But Israeli leaders have pledged to conduct the operation, known as Operation Swords of Iron,  to destroy the Palestinian militant group Hamas for a deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel that claimed the lives of 1,400 people.

“Our maneuvers are going to take the war into their territory,” Israel’s Southern Command officer, Yaron Finkelman, told soldiers this week. “We’re going to defeat them in their own territory.”

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Air strikes alone have already killed more than 3,000 Palestinian civilians — more than 1,500 of whom were children, according to Hamas officials. And more than one million people who have been forced to flee their homes have nowhere to go, trapped in southern Gaza without a corridor out.

David Cortright, professor emeritus at the University of Notre Dame’s global affairs school, said fighting in Gaza carries an immense risk for Israel’s standing, suggesting they should instead “convene an international tribunal to bring to justice” those responsible in Hamas for attacking Israel, while seeking a political solution with the Palestinian people.

“It is understandable that Israelis are outraged and vengeful after the heinous terrorist attacks of Hamas, but the continued siege of Gaza will only cause more death and destruction and will widen the war, and could end up benefiting Hamas,” Cortright said in an emailed statement.

“Already, public sympathy and attention around the world are shifting from the innocent Israelis who were butchered by Hamas gunmen to the children of Gaza who are dying under Israeli bombs,” he added. “It is a trap that Israel must avoid.”

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In the 2014 Gaza War, Israeli infantry battalions fought in a northern neighborhood of Gaza City, a battle that killed more than 1,600 innocent bystanders and wounded more than 10,000 in a little more than a month — with Israel eventually retreating with no significant strategic victories.

The upcoming military operation is threatening to be even more deadly, with Israel’s leaders vowing to eliminate Hamas outright.

Alp Sevimlisoy, a millennium fellow at the Atlantic Council, said Israeli forces must designate “small success parameters” district-by-district if they want to overcome the many traps and obstacles within Gaza.

The Israeli public is enraged over the deaths of nearly 1,400 people at the hands of Hamas, and the roughly 200 hostages taken by the group, driving widespread support for efforts to defeat the militants in Gaza.

A poll by Israeli daily newspaper Maariv published Friday found 65 percent of citizens support a ground invasion, while 21 percent are opposed.