Vittert’s War Notes: Why Israel’s waiting on an invasion and what could be next

NewsNation’s Leland Vittert provides expert analysis and insight into the Israel-Hamas war in the Oct. 10 edition of War Notes.

(NewsNation) — It appears it is taking longer than expected for Israel to begin its ground invasion; that is likely because of the signs of what it might encounter.

Hamas has had years to turn Gaza into a hornet’s nest, not to mention a treasure trove of new Iranian toys to make things far more dangerous for Israeli troops than in 2010 or 2014. The mile or so “buffer zone” put in place by Israel between the fence and Gaza proper is now Hamas’s buffer zone. 

Once Israeli tanks get into Gaza, they face an unthinkably difficult urban environment — tight streets, alleys, tunnels and Hamas fighters with the high ground. Not to mention Hamas has the ability to drop munitions vertically with drones onto Israeli tanks. All of this will severely limit Israel’s tactical advantages (technology, command and control and weapons).

The Israelis know the longer they wait, the more they lose public opinion, and therefore, push for “cease fire” or humanitarian pause or whatever is already coming.

The World Health Organization now says medical supplies that had been pre-positioned in seven hospitals in Gaza have already been used up, as the need for them balloons in the wake of Israel’s military strike against Hamas.

Why were there medical supplies pre-positioned? Because they knew Hamas would strike, and there would be a war, but that is beside the point. Give it a few days and we will see a lot more stories and pictures of violence in Gaza and “Israeli war crimes” than we do of what Hamas did in Israel. This will be used to create pressure on Israel to slow down, stop or negotiate.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech Monday spoke to that. The Israeli government believes the only thing to do is to destroy Hamas completely. It has also been reported that Netanyahu told Biden, “We need to restore deterrence.” In other words, Netanyahu believes Iran and their proxies view Israel and the United States as weak and thus vulnerable.

To that point, we must remember that much of Gaza was a pile of rubble long, long before Saturday morning. What we see is a mix of old and new damage. If it is not smoking and burning with dozens of rescuers looking around, it is likely old.

Every time we say that there is an Israeli siege of Gaza, we should remember there is and has been for a long time an Egyptian siege of Gaza. Cairo has completely closed off humanitarian corridors for citizens to escape.

The chance of some “grand deal” on a prisoner exchange seems unlikely at best, as does the chance of any hostage rescue. The hostages that are alive are likely now deep in tunnels and bunkers spread throughout Gaza. Hamas has been planning this for years, and they gained experience with Gilad Shalit — they kept him hidden for five years.

There appears to be zero appetite within the Biden administration to get involved. We even saw that through President Biden’s statement yesterday. There was no language about holding Iran or Hamas leaders responsible for the lives of Americans.

That extends to the Qataris who give Hamas and its leaders safe haven and banking. Where is the United States saying we will hold our allies responsible for the American hostages?

The images we are now seeing of Hamas hunting down Israelis, particularly Jewish Israelis, rounding them up and killing them are eerily similar to images of Nazis doing the same thing. The difference now is how Hamas is treated by the American and international media. The Nazis also said they were “fighting” for the German people just like Hamas says they are “fighting” for the Palestinian people. Their stated goals of exterminating the Jewish population are the same.

CNN and others continue to air claims by Palestinians that “no civilians were murdered.” They never allowed this kind of “both sides” fake news when it came to Russia’s war in Ukraine. Why do they allow it with Israel?

Moreover, in terms of domestic politics, the Robert Malley story is just getting started. It is increasingly clear the chief architect of United States foreign policy toward Iran was an Iranian spy, or at the very least, had mixed allegiances.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and not of NewsNation.