Vittert’s War Notes: Israel gets warning even before ground war begins

(NewsNation) — Today’s main bar headline of the Wall Street Journal reads, “Hamas Invasion Rewrites Rules in Middle East.”

They are right, and that is terrifying.

Until the ground invasion begins, it will be like Groundhog Day, with lots of rockets and bombings but no real movement. For those interested in what the ground invasion will look like, the Financial Times outlines exactly what Israeli troops face on the ground. And that might be the point — nobody but Hamas exactly knows what Hamas has waiting for them.

Israel can turn Gaza into a parking lot if it wants — the question is of political will. The more difficult the fighting, the more aggressive Israeli tactics will get, the more political pressure to stop will come.

We are already seeing the discussions of a “humanitarian disaster” inside Gaza. This will only intensify over time. This is supposition, but good supposition, that Israel is holding back a lot of the “worst pictures” of Hamas atrocities so they can release them when public opinion starts to turn.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken just said, “How Israel does this matters.” That means that even before the ground invasion of Gaza begins, the administration is setting the table to tell them to stop. The headlines are always, “We stand with Israel, blah blah blah,” but even President Biden’s speech about intentional law is a dog whistle to Palestinian talking points. It presupposes that Israel might not abide by international law.

As we pointed out last night on the show, when it comes to hostage rescue, the issue is often not what the Biden administration is saying, it’s what it is not saying. That is heard loud and clear in Israel, Gaza, Tehran and Qatar.

The ground war will be ugly beyond words. I know I keep saying that, but we should lean into that and warn people of what is to come both on the ground and from a political discussion standpoint.

For all of the discussion of a humanitarian disaster in Gaza, some undeniable facts must be kept in mind:

• The Palestinians elected Hamas as their government.
• Hamas and, by extension, Iran is solely responsible for what happens in Gaza
• Asking Israel to provide power, food, medicine and fuel to Gaza would be like asking Britain and the allies to provide Nazi Germany with fuel during World War II. It’s absurd on its face, but Israel is held to that standard for some reason.
• It is widely reported that the United States is arranging for a humanitarian corridor out of Gaza for Americans and other Western nationals via Egypt.
• To that end, why is Israel’s blockade of a hostile territory considered a war crime, but it is not when Egypt does it? Egypt too could offer food/fuel/medical supplies, but it won’t. 
• The same can be said for the Qataris and Iranians and Saudis and everybody else who supports Hamas — they say they support the “Palestinian people.” Okay, but why are they supporting a terrorist group that oppresses those people?
• And let’s not forget the celebrations in the streets on Saturday. The very same people who celebrated the slaughter of Israelis are now complaining they aren’t getting electricity from Israel? And Israel will now have to fight down the very same streets.

The Israelis are usually pretty sensitive to international pressure and even domestic political divisions on the issue of the Palestinians. That appears to be gone. My sources inside the Israeli government/military are totally unconcerned — this is a major departure.

This morning, it has been widely reported that IAF planes bombed the Damascus airport. That appears to have been to deter the landing of an Iranian plane carrying the foreign minister and heavy weapons and fighters for Hezbollah. As we know, this isn’t the first such time IAF jets have bombed Syria; it has happened dozens, maybe hundreds, of times since the Syrian civil war began.

The plane turned around.

What’s interesting here is the lack of response from Syria. The Syrians and Iranians were told a few days ago that Israel would target (kill) Assad if Hezbollah got into the war. So far, that threat appears to be working.

For those asking about a Northern Front to the war with Hezbollah, my analysis remains the same, and yesterday’s events prove that out: Forcing the Israelis to plan for a second front is more effective than fighting one.

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