The Israeli Regime's Dilemma: Prolonging the War or Facing Near Doom

By: E. Mahdavi 

For years, the Zionists have been eager to destroy the resistance forces in the besieged Gaza Strip, a Palestinian enclave of 2.2 million. They see the current situation as an opportune moment to achieve this objective. However, the window for launching an all-out ground invasion of Gaza may be closing.

The right-wing Israeli leaders, led by Benjamin Netanyahu and driven by personal interests, play a crucial role in this context. Many observers believe that after the war, Netanyahu will be unable to endure the humiliation of the defeat he has brought upon the Israeli regime, and his coalition government will ultimately collapse.

As a result, he may attempt, albeit in vain, to obliterate Hamas as a means of compensating for this ignominy. Nevertheless, Netanyahu hesitates to issue the final order for a ground assault on Gaza. With the great casualties suffered by the Zionists thus far, the disastrous implications of entering Gaza loom on the horizon.

If the Israeli military and security establishments have been unable to anticipate Hamas's surprise onslaught, it becomes increasingly challenging for them to predict the formidable perils that await them in Gaza.

Today, Hamas boasts a well-trained military force numbering in the thousands, as demonstrated on October 7th. Their extensive subterranean network of tunnels and secret caches in Gaza remains shrouded in mystery. Should the Zionist ground forces enter Gaza, it is highly expected that they will face a second defeat following their initial setback on the morning of October 7th. A plethora of experts concur that the unknown arsenal held by Hamas presents an element of surprise that may confound the Zionist army.

On the other hand, the United States is deeply concerned about the initiation of ground operations by the Israeli regime against the well-fortified Gaza. The Biden administration fears the potential repercussions of this move, including the escalation of the conflict and the opening of new fronts. Currently, the White House has no intention of embroiling itself in fresh conflicts in the already volatile Middle East region, as its focus lies towards the East, particularly on China. However, the conflagration of a conflict in the oil-rich Middle East could impede this geostrategic direction. Hence, Biden and his team are exerting pressure on Tel Aviv to refrain from launching a large-scale ground operation in Gaza.

Another concern revolves around the involvement of additional players and the expansion of the theater of war. Presently, the Israeli regime apprehends threats along its northern borders. Since the onset of Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, fierce, but intermittent, clashes have erupted between Hezbollah and the Israeli regime's forces along the occupied Palestine-Lebanon border.

These clashes have resulted in the deaths of several Zionist soldiers and the destruction of their military equipment. The escalating tensions with Hezbollah have even prompted Israeli settlers to evacuate the areas near the border with Lebanon.

As mentioned above, Tel Aviv is extremely anxious about Lebanon's Hezbollah joining the conflict. The Zionist officials are aware that the military might and firepower possessed by Hezbollah surpass those of Hamas and Islamic Jihad by hundreds of times. Thus, in the event of a widespread war with Hezbollah, the dynamics on the ground would undergo dramatic changes.

The members of the Iran-led Axis of Resistance, including Syria, Iraq, and Yemen, play indispensable roles in deterring the Zionist regime from launching a ground attack on Gaza.

In recent days, these regional players have issued clear warnings to both the Israeli regime and the United States, unequivocally stating that if attacks on Gaza persist and the Zionists proceed with a ground operation, the expansion of the conflict and the opening of new war fronts will become inevitable.

Widely regarded as the last warning, the Yemeni government has launched rockets towards the occupied territories. Yemen's Prime Minister has also declared that if the Israeli regime's brutal and barbarous aggression against Gaza continues, Yemen will target Israeli ships in the Red Sea and, more dangerously, near the strategic Bab-el-Mandeb Strait.

Meanwhile, the Iraqi resistance forces have threatened to attack American bases unless the Israeli regime ceases its relentless assaults on the civilians in Gaza. This unprecedented threat materialized in the past few days when these Iran-backed resistance factions waged drone and rocket attacks on several American bases in Syria and Iraq.

In Syria, the conflict could erupt from the occupied Golan Heights if the Israeli war crimes continue to escalate. If the tensions along the northern borders of occupied Palestine intensify, it is anticipated that the Golan Heights will witness another war front against the Zionist army.

It is abundantly evident that the Israeli regime finds itself locked in something of a hopeless stalemate: whether to expand the war or bring it to an end. The Israeli authorities are fully aware that launching a ground assault would have dire consequences, potentially exacerbating the losses suffered until now. Moreover, it could embroil them in a large-scale regional conflict where victory would be quite elusive. It would be remiss to not mention that since the 33-day war with Hezbollah in 2006, the Israeli army has not engaged in a major conflict, rendering them more vulnerable.

Alternatively, the Israeli regime could choose to accept defeat and salvage itself from certain destruction. Its leaders must recognize that prolonging this war, which increases the likelihood of its expansion, will only hasten Israel’s inexorable doom.