A convoy of Israeli tanks is deployed at Israel's border with the Gaza Strip. Israel has launched its ground assault on Gaza City. Photo / Menahem Kahana, AFP
Some Israelis hailed the military’s ground advance in Gaza City as a critical step to defeat Hamas.
Others feared for the hostages and were sceptical about the Government’s motives and the chances of success.
“No stopping until victory!” proclaimed a group of reserve soldiers who call themselves the “Victory Generation” and support the continuation of the war.
“We won’t leave a single terrorist alive anywhere in the Gaza Strip and we will restore security to all the citizens of Israel.”
The Defence Minister, Israel Katz, said the Government wanted to take over Gaza City because if the city falls, so too would Hamas.
The city “is the main symbol today of Hamas’ governance,” he said while visiting one of the divisions manoeuvring in the Gaza Strip.
But after nearly two years of war, many Israelis say they doubt that the Government’s stated goal of eliminating Hamas is attainable.
Polls show that a majority would prefer a negotiated deal that would secure the release of the remaining hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and an end to the war.
Critics of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu say he has prolonged the war to keep himself in power by mollifying the far-right members of his governing coalition.
Drawing out the conflict has also staved off a public reckoning over the government and intelligence failures ahead of the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which set off the war.
“It’s unfortunate that the Prime Minister says there is no choice,” said Danny Elgarat, the brother of a hostage, Itzik Elgarat, who was killed in captivity.
“We say there is a choice,” Elgarat added.
“Move aside and let’s bring in another prime minister who will end the war and bring the hostages home.”
Elgarat was among a small group of protesters who had gathered near Netanyahu’s private residence yesterday to support other relatives of hostages who had camped outside the apartment block.
Israel believes there are about 20 hostages still alive in Gaza, as well as the bodies of others who have been killed.
Megaphone in hand, one of the protesters chanted: “There’s no atonement for time spent in the tunnels”. Other protesters responded: “We won’t abandon them”.
Michael Gilad, 53, said he had come to join the demonstration from Netanya, a coastal city north of Tel Aviv.
“What else could happen that hasn’t already happened?” he said of the prospects for success in defeating Hamas in this new phase of the war.
“Total victory for Netanyahu means staying in power,” Gilad said. “We aren’t of interest to this government. Nor are the hostages or the soldiers.”
In the immediate aftermath of the Hamas attack in 2023, most Israelis supported the war as a necessary act of self-defence.
More than 60,000 Palestinians have since been killed in the war in the enclave, including about 18,000 children and minors, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, whose count does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
Hunger is rampant and Israel has reduced large parts of the territory to rubble.
About 1200 people were killed in Israel in the 2023 attack, most of them civilians, according to the Israeli Government, and about 250 hostages were taken to Gaza.
Dozens were released during two brief ceasefires and a small number were rescued alive in military operations.
Divisions within Israel over the war have deepened as negotiations for a truce and the release of hostages have foundered.
The Government has made any deal conditional upon the effective surrender of Hamas.
Hamas, already severely weakened, wants a deal that ensures its survival.
Throughout the war, the Israeli military has returned multiple times to parts of Gaza that it had already seized, after the troops moved on and Hamas resurged there.
Forces entered central Gaza City in the first months of the military’s ground invasion in late 2023 and the early months of 2024. They left for other areas, allowing Hamas fighters to regroup there.
Israel now says Gaza City is one of Hamas’ last strongholds in the territory.
The military has said that it will advance cautiously to try to avoid harm to Palestinian civilians who have not fled the city, to hostages who may be held there, and to its own forces.
Those assurances have done little to allay the fears of many Israelis. Hamas has threatened that hostages will be killed by their captors if Israeli troops draw too close to their hiding places.
“A lot of innocent Gazans will also be killed,” said Aya Arad, 40, who was protesting near Netanyahu’s residence. “I don’t believe this serves our country or our values.”
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
Written by: Isabel Kershner
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