#时事热点头条说#
The new round of Palestinian-Israeli conflict has lasted for more than 100 days, and Israel has not only failed to achieve any of its set strategic goals, but has also gradually fallen into the quagmire of war in Gaza. Two days ago, the Israeli army had its "deadliest day" on the battlefield in Gaza.
According to the Israeli Defense Ministry, 24 Israeli soldiers died in one day, the highest single-day death record for Israeli troops. In addition to the three Israeli soldiers killed in the Khan Younis area, 21 soldiers were attacked by Hamas. At that time, the soldiers had planted explosives in two buildings in central Gaza to blow them up.
At that moment, two Hamas fighters suddenly fired rockets at nearby Israeli tanks, triggering explosives in the building. A large number of Israeli soldiers were killed as a direct blow up, and some Israeli soldiers were killed by the collapsed buildings. In the chaos, Hamas militants retreated.
The Israeli defense department senior brass expressed condolences to the Israeli soldiers who died in the attack, and the spokesman of the White House National Security Council, John Kirby, also sent condolences, saying that the Israeli army had a "terrible day" on the battlefield.
US White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby
Despite Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's insistence that Israel will carry its military campaign into Gaza to the end until final victory, the Israeli government has begun to seek peace talks with Hamas. At present, Israel is proposing ceasefire conditions to the top level of Hamas through Qatar, Egypt and other countries.
According to a report by Huanqiu.com on January 25, a source familiar with the situation in the United States revealed that Hamas and Israel are "close to reaching" a 30-day ceasefire agreement. Israel agreed to allow more food, medical supplies, drinking water and other aid to enter Gaza, and Hamas agreed to release the remaining hostages.
However, differences between Israel and Hamas over a permanent ceasefire in Gaza have led to another stall in the talks. Netanyahu's government is only willing for a temporary ceasefire and opposes ending the war with Hamas in Gaza.
Hamas, for its part, demanded a "ceasefire before releasing the hostages" and said that Israel and international parties needed guarantees that the Israeli army would not launch an active attack after the release of the hostages. Since these demands of Hamas have not been met, the Hamas High Representative has not agreed to sign a temporary ceasefire agreement for 30 days.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was so unhappy with this outcome that he even relied on the mediated United States and Qatar, saying that Qatar supported Hamas and that the United States did not exert pressure on Qatar, which led to the ceasefire agreement not being reached as soon as possible.
It should be noted that Netanyahu's government wants to suspend the conflict even more than Hamas, for two reasons. On the one hand, Hamas has some 130 Israeli hostages at its disposal. Since the Netanyahu government has not taken action to free the hostages, a large number of hostage families have set up tents in front of Netanyahu's private home to protest.
Some of the hostages' family members even stormed the Knesset, demanding that the Israeli parliamentarians take immediate action to rescue the hostages. A large number of Israelis supported the demands of the hostages' families, and they staged multiple demonstrations to exert intense pressure on Netanyahu's government. To salvage the dismal approval ratings, Netanyahu needs to get Hamas to release the hostages as soon as possible to quell discontent at home.
On the other hand, the Israeli army is already exhausted by the conflict, and members of Israel's wartime cabinet are struggling with how the war should end. In areas occupied by the Israeli army, Hamas militants have been harassing Israeli soldiers through tunnel warfare and other means, and Israel has not been able to provide an effective response to this.
As more and more Israeli troops withdrew from Gaza, the Israeli army began to shrink its front, "voluntarily abandoning" large swathes of northern Gaza that it had previously controlled. If the Israeli government does not find a way to end this conflict "with dignity", Israel will be mired in war for a long time, losing blood in the fight against Hamas, and the security of the Israeli population will not be guaranteed.
As a matter of fact, the new round of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has now begun, and many Israeli officials have clearly realized that the Israeli army may not be able to achieve its operational goal of "completely eradicating Hamas." U.S. officials have suggested that Israel could adjust that goal to "weaken Hamas's security threat."
Whether Netanyahu's government chooses to fight to the end or lowers its objectives, it will not be able to salvage its own dismal approval ratings. As the United Nations has repeatedly emphasized, Israel needs to implement a two-state solution, and a two-state solution is the only way to achieve peace in the region.