How Would You Clean Out Gaza

Netanyahu says he will destroy Hamas in Gaza.  But how exactly will he do that?  Other than leveling the whole place with artillery how can you accomplish that?  I’m assuming he wants a method that allows him to separate women and boys under military age from the men before delivering ordinance to the areas to be cleared.

My thought is to announce ahead of time what buildings are going to be leveled.  That way everyone gets out.  Once a good chunk of the city is rubble, the women and children will be living on the street and in order to survive they will be forced to turn themselves in to the Israeli authorities for warehousing separate from the combat zone in Gaza.  I suppose eventually all of Gaza will look like Bakhmut; a bombed out hellscape.  Of course, even that won’t be thorough enough.  The Palestinians have built extensive tunnels that go to Egypt and under the walls into Israel.  So, even the debris will have to be removed to search for tunnels.

Now how will the Israelis differentiate between Hamas fighters and the rest of the men in Gaza?  I guess they can’t.  Does that mean they will kill all the adult men in Gaza or only those found under arms?  And if they allow surrender what will be the ultimate fate for these Gazans?  Will they execute them?  Will they imprison them for life?  These are not trivial considerations.  There are about two million Gazans.  If even 25% are adult males that’s five hundred thousand men.  In a country of seven million, that is like 7% of the population incarcerated for life.  That’s a staggering number and an enormous expense.

And if they intend to go building to building looking for the hostages then it’s a hopeless plight.  They’ll lose thousands of men during these endless frontal assaults on the high rises of Gaza.  I think my original idea is best.  Drop leaflets all over the city posting the schedule for which buildings will be leveled on which day and let the occupants be responsible for avoiding death.  That combined with a blockade on supplies will bring the Gazans to their knees in a few weeks.

The Siege of Gaza.  It sounds like an historical battle from the Roman era.  Who knows, maybe the Israelis will lose their nerve.  They will be vilified by Ivy League student organizations and the United Nations General Assembly.  And all those Gulf States that have begun diplomatic relations with them will turn on them too.  Maybe they’ll only make some symbolic attacks and instead build higher walls and add additional missile defense batteries.

But if they do, they’re doomed.  This will be the beginning of unending attacks from Gaza and the West Bank and Hezbollah in the north.  If they allow their women and children to be massacred with impunity it will break the Israelis’ belief in the strength and competence of their defense forces and it will ultimately undermine the stability of the nation.  Israel is an island of modernity surrounded by an ocean of medievalism.  To live with the barbarians always at the gates you have to have confidence that your leaders have developed a system to keep that ocean safely behind strong walls.

So, I think Netanyahu has no choice but to eliminate Hamas from Gaza.  But I’ll be damned if I know how, the hell, he’s going to do it.  I wish him luck.