The Irish Times view on the Gaza conflict: Israel’s war takes on a new dynamic

The new year has, it would seem, brought a new dynamic to the Gaza war. But, as Israel significantly reduces its troop numbers, for rest and retraining, fighting continues remorselessly, casualties continue to rise – 23,000 Palestinian have been killed – and its leaders insist there is no question of unwinding operations, which are expected to last months longer.

“The goals of the war require prolonged fighting, and we are preparing accordingly,” the Israeli defence forces spokesman Rear Adm Daniel Hagari has told reporters. Prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu insisted that although Israel was increasingly isolated on the world stage and at the UN, it retains US backing.

Observers see signs of a shift in tactics, however, with a more focused, less indiscriminate bombing campaign, a response, they say, albeit one not acknowledged by the Israelis, to pressure from US president Joe Biden to take a more surgical approach to the war, using special forces to attack the leaders and infrastructure of Hamas. The drone attack on Tuesday on the Beirut offices of Hamas, killing several senior commanders, would appear to confirm that shift.

But the beleaguered, increasingly starving people of Gaza, 85 per cent of whom have been driven from their homes according to the UN, will take little comfort from the supposed change of approach. Nor will Israel’s increasingly critical friends internationally. Talks brokered by the Qataris and Egyptians about increased humanitarian aid, hostage releases and a potential ceasefire, now appear again to be on hold.

Biden pauses arms shipment to Israel amid dispute over Rafah attack

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Protesting students will not be shamed, badgered or bribed into silence

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Gaza: Israel seizes control of Rafah border crossing, shutting down vital aid route

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Relief agencies say closing Rafah and Kerem Shalom crossings into Gaza has virtually cut enclave off from outside aid

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There is also a danger that hitting targets in the heart of Hizbullah’s base in Lebanon may yet ignite a wider regional conflagration. Israel already sees itself as being under attack in a “multi-arena war” from Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Iran. Should Tehran, in particular, commit itself directly, the US, already fighting its proxies in Iraq, may find itself drawn into the escalation.

While the circumstances remain unclear, the explosion at a cemetery in Iran on Wednesday, where a ceremony was being held to mark the 2020 assassination of a senior army commander, is further evidence of the volatility in the region.

Netanyahu and his hard-right government also face problems on the home front. The increasingly unpopular prime minister has faced a huge rebuff from the supreme court in its striking down of a contentious law to overhaul the judiciary which had ignited months of mass protests last year.

Judges said they had taken their decision because of the law’s “severe and unprecedented harm to the core character of the state of Israel as a democratic country”, the first time the country’s top court has struck down part of one of Israel’s quasi-constitutional basic laws.