Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza is nothing like what it’s faced before

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned his country that a “long and difficult war” lay ahead. 

The Israeli Defense Forces, after launching the largest military mobilization of troops in its history, has now entered into the “second phase” of its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The IDF is supplementing heavy aerial bombardment of the besieged territory with what’s been described as a ground incursion, the details of which have been kept closely guarded.

The airstrikes began in response to the Oct. 7 attack by Palestinian militant organization Hamas – designated a terrorist group by the U.S. and EU – on southern Israel that killed more than 1,300 people and saw more than 240 taken hostage. And the IDF’s long-held strategy of retaliation is in full force, with more than 8,500 people killed in Gaza in just over three weeks, according to Hamas-run health ministry authorities there.

In the first six days of the war alone, Israel’s military said it dropped 6,000 bombs on Gaza – a blockaded enclave roughly the size of the city of Philadelphia. Now, ground troops are moving into the territory. 

“Our soldiers have been operating in Gaza City for the past few days, surrounding it from several directions, deepening the operation,” the IDF’s Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said Thursday. “Our forces are in very significant areas of Gaza City.”

A ground offensive is necessary to achieve Israel’s goal of eliminating Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, the IDF says. A prolonged invasion, however — should it become that — will be bloody and costly not only for those living in Gaza but for the Israeli military as well, military veterans and analysts say.