Although the United States has issued an ultimatum to Israel and the United Nations is admonishing Israel, for the time being, Israel, which has vowed not to give up until it has achieved its goal, has no intention of stopping its military operations. Israel's goal is clear: to continue the siege of Rafah in order to eliminate Hamas once and for all.
At least 35 people were killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza on May 11, including refugee camps, according to the Palestinian News Agency. The United Nations revealed on the 12th that about 300,000 people have been forced to flee Rafah in the past week, and these displaced Palestinians now have no safe place to go.
The Israeli Ministry of Defense confirmed that the Israeli 99th Division launched a military operation in Gaza, and in addition to killing Hamas fighters, the Israeli army also discovered underground tunnels and found a large number of weapons. The Israeli 162nd Division is also besieging Rafah, and dozens of Hamas personnel have been killed.
For the time being, Israel has the absolute initiative militarily, but this does not mean that Israel can rest easy. In the past few days, Israel has ushered in at least three bad news, and Netanyahu has encountered difficulties.
First of all, Hamas refused to surrender, and Sinwar was nowhere to be found. On the 12th, Hamas's "Qassam Brigades" and Jihad's "Quds Brigades" said that they had fired rockets and launched an attack on Israeli forces entering Rafah.
In addition, Hamas has stepped up its attacks on Israel itself. Allah in Lebanon also fired rockets at Israel.
Iraqi pro-Iranian forces said on the 11th that they had attacked Israeli air bases with missiles.
Israel's two most important military objectives right now are to eliminate Hamas forces and to find Sinwar. Israeli intelligence indicates that Sinwar is not in Rafah at the moment, and is likely hiding in a tunnel in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza.
Previously, a large number of Israeli troops had gathered in southern Gaza, but Sinwar had not been found. It can be seen that Sinwar is very good at concealment.
At the moment, the United States intends to provide Israel with Sinwar's specific location in exchange for Israel stopping its full-scale siege of Rafah.
In other words, what the Mossad can't do, the Pentagon might be able to do. Israel believes that Sinwar is the mastermind who caused Israel to pay a heavy price, and that Sinwar must be made to pay the price.
Israel knows very well that once Sinwar is "beheaded", Hamas's morale will inevitably be affected, and Hamas, who is "leaderless", will be better to deal with than it is now. As of now, Hamas does not intend to surrender to Israel, and Sinwar's choice is either a ceasefire or fight to the end, but Hamas will never give in to Israel.
The second thing is that Israel is in turmoil. Netanyahu believes that both Simbert and the Mossad should be at his command. But Israeli Defense Minister Gallant, as well as Israel's Chief of the General Staff, Al-Halevy, have a different view.
Al-Halevi argues that Netanyahu's failure to develop a "post-war management plan for Gaza" has led to the Israeli army carrying out futile military missions.
"How to manage Gaza after the war" has become an issue that Israel has to consider. Netanyahu is reluctant to allow Fatah to take over Gaza, and the United States is trying to get Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries to help rebuild Gaza. But Israel has its own considerations on how to do it.
Israel is very worried about one thing, after the elimination of Hamas and the withdrawal of Israeli troops, Hamas will come back, or a new Hamas will appear. What Israel wants, therefore, is to be able to send troops to Gaza again, if necessary, in order to eliminate the armed forces that threaten Israel's security. But Arab countries such as the UAE seem reluctant to let Israel do the same.
Israel's internal divisions have actually confirmed one thing: Netanyahu faces a difficult choice. One of the important reasons why Netanyahu insists on besieging Rafah is that once Israel stops its military operations, what awaits Netanyahu is likely to be forced to step down, or even liquidated by the opposition.
The third thing, third countries enter the war, rockets fly from Syria to the Golan Heights, Israel launches missiles at Syria. For Syria, now is one of the best opportunities to lay siege to Israel and retake the Golan Heights. If Allah and Syria send troops to Israel, or attack Israeli troops deployed in the Golan Heights, Israel will be at pain.
Of course, for the time being, Syria does not have the courage to launch a large-scale military operation against Israel, and even if it wants to strike at Israel, it will only be a retaliation with "thunder and rain".
The reason is simple: in the face of a disparity in strength, Syria fears that Israel, after defeating Hamas, will directly target Syria.
According to this trend, it is only a matter of time before Hamas is eliminated, and there will be a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, which is severely short of supplies. In the end, Israel may find that the Palestinians' hatred of Israel has deepened. In time, a new Hamas may emerge.
Israel should think twice about whether to stop the military campaign and give hope to the Palestinians, or whether to continue the siege of Rafah.
The people of Gaza are still suffering, and it is really too difficult for the Palestinians.