What Is the Israeli Army Waiting For Before Attacking Gaza City?

By Elijah J. Magnier –

Israel’s Chief of Staff, Eyal Zamir, believes he has already completed the first mission entrusted to him. Operation Gideon’s Chariots was designed to prepare the ground so that the government could negotiate from a position of maximum strength, bring the war to a close, and secure the release of Israeli prisoners. Yet just as Zamir sought to consolidate these gains, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu abruptly shifted the goalposts. He has now ordered the army to embark on a second, far more perilous stage: the occupation of Gaza City.

Operation Gideon’s Chariots was carried out across the Gaza Strip, but its main focus was in the north, around Gaza City. This is where Israel concentrated its bombardments and limited ground incursions, aiming to destroy tunnels, weapons depots, and command centres used by Hamas. At the same time, Israeli forces operated along the border areas to create buffer zones and secure their entry points. The operation was never intended as a full invasion.

For Zamir, the risks are glaring. Urban warfare in Gaza is unlike any battlefield Israel has faced. The city’s narrow streets, vast tunnel networks, and a civilian population deeply embedded with resistance fighters transform it into a lethal maze for any conventional force. History offers sobering warnings. In 2002, during Operation Defensive Shield, Israeli troops suffered unexpected losses in Jenin. In 2006, Hezbollah’s resistance in southern Lebanon inflicted heavy casualties and exposed the limits of Israel’s military superiority in dense terrain.

The lessons are not only historical. Over the past two years of fighting in Gaza, Israeli forces have repeatedly stumbled into ambushes laid by a resistance that has proven both highly disciplined and tactically sophisticated. Palestinian fighters, operating in flexible formations from small strike cells to larger coordinated units, have shown not only fierce determination but also an intimate grasp of the Israeli army’s modus operandi. Time and again, they have turned Israeli advances into carefully prepared kill zones, transforming the army’s technological advantage into a liability rather than a shield.