“In any asymmetric conflict, like the one between Hamas gangs and the regular Israeli army, it all starts with the air force striking all known targets and then focusing on the targets of opportunity. This is the phase we are in.” General Leonardo Tricarico, former Air Force Chief of Staff and President of the Icsa Foundation, defines “the work of the Israeli Air Force as very intense compared to issues like Hamas, where there is a certain “The transience of gangs exists.”
Is the ground attack starting now?
“Everyone expects the message to go to the tanks and special forces. I hope not. The Air Force will continue its work, particularly with drones, but leaving the say almost exclusively to land forces would pose certain risks of escalating the conflict. It is a turning point that everyone fears. Netanyahu made the announcement without saying when or how. If they intend to use the ground forces as a dragnet to drag everything away and destroy a human ecosystem, and if they reach the northern city of Gaza, in the heart of the Gaza Strip, the first to intervene will be the other triumvirs: alongside Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah, with cutthroats and militants.”
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What should Israel do then?
“Israel has the right to defend itself, but it is hypocritical to expect it to do so with respect for the rules and human rights.” Everyone knows it is impossible. Many innocent people will lose their lives, this must be made clear so as not to be outraged later.”
What would be the alternative?
“However unlikely, Israel could serve revenge or justice like a cold dish, not blindly, by pursuing a lengthy strategy and taking every precaution for the lives of non-combatant Palestinians.” It should select the targets and the Hamas leaders clean as she already does. The Israelis have the technological resources, professionalism and knowledge of the region at home that are even superior to those of Hamas. They can count on an impressive network of informants, scores of Palestinians willing to become informants, as well as their own intelligence services and those of their allies. The path to justice should be designed and articulated on military interventions that prioritize the protection of civilians so that victims are only the result of mistakes and not of deliberate attacks.”
Hamas says 50 hostages have already died in Israeli raids, and then there’s the issue of the tunnels…
“The numbers given by Hamas cannot be trusted, we saw it with the 500 deaths in the hospital, a surreal number.” Israel has equipped itself with bombs that are capable of reaching a depth of 50 to 60 meters hit, some say even at 100 meters. The difficulty depends on the fact that the tunnel mouths are close to the hospitals. There will be massacres on the surface. The hostages are not concentrated, but rather distributed among different gangs. With the right intelligence, we may be able to prevent too many from losing their lives.”
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on Il Messaggero