What’s the Significance of Israel’s Raid on Al Shifa Hospital?
Israel’s initial raid on Gaza’s Al Shifa hospital in November was one of the most controversial moments in the war. Now the IDF has returned, saying that Hamas regrouped in the hospital.
The army was telling the truth when it said that Hamas’ regional brigades and battalions in the northern Strip were disbanded. But in their place, small terrorist networks are gradually re-emerging, seeking to prepare for further friction with the IDF.
The raid on Al Shifa serves as a warning to terrorists hiding in Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis and other hospitals in the southern Strip and central camps. More operations like this are in the works.
…war – like nature – abhors a vacuum. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, has refused to discuss seriously any realistic plans for governing in Gaza after the war and is apparently content to allow swaths of the territory to slide into chaos in the weeks or months Israel achieves his stated war aim of “crushing” Hamas.