The IDF's casualties in the battle for Gaza continue to mount, bringing the accusations and criticism of the Netanyahu government to a climax. Netanyahu's government cannot afford to turn a blind eye to the pressure from the people at home. Recently, an Israeli government official revealed to the outside world that Israel's goal for the battle in Gaza has not changed, that is, to completely eliminate Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups, free all the hostages, and complete control of Gaza. However, judging from the current situation, Israel's desire to achieve these three goals seems to be a bit of a "fool's dream". It may be seen that some people here will ask such a question: As the "little hegemon of the Middle East," Israel's overall military strength is second to none in the world, and there are also the United States and Western countries behind it to stand on the platform, why is it unable to win this Palestinian-Israeli conflict? In the past, Israel single-handedly confronted the entire Arab world in the Middle East, but now why is it struggling so much in the battle for Gaza? In fact, this situation is mainly influenced by the following three factors:
First, the decline in the strength of the IDF. The IDF, which once single-handedly defeated the Arab coalition, may only exist in the hearts and minds of the Israeli people, but now the IDF is understaffed, the proportion of new weapons and equipment is low, and the intelligence information is outdated. Through the video materials released by Hamas and other Middle Eastern media, it can be found that except for the air force, the performance of other Israeli units is very bad, and the entire battlefield is basically in a state of being beaten throughout the whole process, and there are even cases of accidental injuries between IDF units, which also makes the outside world wonder how much combat effectiveness this IDF still has today. Second, the pressure of the international community. Although Israel launched an attack on Hamas as a victim in the early days of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, after the successive military operations were launched, Israel's identity changed from a victim to an executioner, and the international community and many international organizations and institutions only criticized and condemned Israel, which directly led the United States and Western countries to decisively "draw a clear line" with Israel, emphasizing that Israel's military action has nothing to do with it, and even the largest supporter, the United States, is also advising Israel to "not play too much."
Third, the intervention of external forces. In addition to Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups, Israel faces Allah in Lebanon, Shiite militant groups in Iraq, Houthi armed groups in Yemen, militias in Iran, and the Syrian resistance. It is clear that Netanyahu's government has received a war letter from the six countries, and Israel is one against six this time. If it had been placed in the past, Israel would certainly not have taken these stragglers to heart, but no one can guarantee whether the IDF will be able to win now. It is understood that several main combat brigades of the Israel Defense Forces have been withdrawn from the Gaza battlefield one after another, and these units have basically lost their combat effectiveness, and it will take at least 3-5 years to return to the battlefield, but the worst thing for Israel now is time. However, compared to the fighting between Israel and the six Middle Eastern countries, the outside world is actually more concerned about military operations in the Red Sea region.
The recent destruction by U.S. Navy helicopters of three Houthi speedboats in the Red Sea, killing 10 Houthi members, has also heightened tensions in the Red Sea region, and there are fears that the head-to-head exchange could turn into a new regional conflict. And against this background, Iran is strongly involved. On January 1, a destroyer of the Iranian Navy entered the Red Sea region for a cruise. At the moment, it is not clear to the outside world what the real purpose of the deployment of the Iranian destroyer in the Red Sea region is. Considering that after the US military sank the Houthi speedboat, the British side made an urgent call to the Iranian foreign minister to ask Iran to restrain the dangerous actions of the Houthi armed groups, some Western media people believe that the Iranian destroyer's trip should be to be a "crisis mediator" to ensure that there will be no further firing and prevent the crisis from continuing to expand. But there are also objections that the Iranian destroyer's presence in the Red Sea is aimed at bolstering the Houthis, which have long been considered by the West to be the biggest supporter of the Houthis. Now that the "little brother" has suffered a loss in front of the United States, the "big brother" has to help the "little brother" regain some face. Moreover, you must know that Iran and the Houthi armed groups are highly consistent in their positions and attitudes towards the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and both regard Israel and the United States and Western countries behind it as the "biggest threat".
It is worth mentioning that on the same day that the Iranian destroyer entered the Red Sea, the US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier "Ford" planned to withdraw from the eastern Mediterranean, and then it and the escort ship will return to their home port for rest and recuperation, and then start a new round of deployment operations. The Biden administration allowed the most powerful and largest aircraft carrier of the US military to leave the Middle East at this time, and some media people believe that this may be a soft signal released by the United States on its own initiative, that is, it is unwilling to break out new conflicts and confrontations with Iran and other countries in the Middle East. Although the United States is not afraid of the threat of Iran and the Houthis, it is clear that the United States does not want to be mired in a Middle East war again, so an early withdrawal is not a wise choice.