IntelBrief: Israel Presses Offensive in Southern Gaza as Hopes for Renewed Truce Fade

Bottom Line Up Front

• With 70 percent of Gaza’s 2.2 million people now in the southern part of the territory, especially after the IDF urged civilians to travel there, densely packed areas will remain at extremely high risk for civilian deaths and collateral damage.
• Echoing his own experience leading U.S. troops throughout the two-decade-long Global War on Terrorism, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin noted, “In this kind of a fight, the center of gravity is the civilian population. And if you drive them into the arms of the enemy, you replace a tactical victory with a strategic defeat.”
• Israel’s stated objective to eradicate Hamas and the entirety of the group’s military infrastructure is at cross-purposes with the responsibility to protect civilians from harm.
• With Israel now beginning to receive more ardent pushback internationally, including from its staunch ally in Washington, there have been preliminary discussions about a timetable for ending the conflict.