Why Israel is set to invade Gaza

If reports this evening are correct, Israel is stepping up its ground operations in Gaza. The Jerusalem Post quotes IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari saying: ‘In the last few hours, we have severely increased our attacks in Gaza.’ For two weeks, a threatened ground invasion has failed to materialise. The Israeli press attributes the delay to diplomatic efforts with Washington and the need to assess the IDF’s capability for fighting on two fronts should Hezbollah decide to invade or shell from the north. Israelis, particularly though not exclusively on the political right, have been urging Benjamin Netanyahu to get a move on. ‘Tnu tzahal lenatze’ach’ runs the old Second Intifada era slogan. ‘Let the IDF win.’
 
The delay has been to Israel’s disadvantage diplomatically. Enough time has passed that the horrors of 7 October are fading from western minds, or at least those minds that felt horror in the first place. The rising death toll in Gaza, as claimed by Hamas and accepted uncritically by journalists and NGOs, has brought political pressure in countries with sizeable Muslim populations, as seen in the efforts to browbeat Sir Keir Starmer into an anti-Israel stance.