Growing domestic and international pressure may force Israel to either accelerate its ground offensive in the Gaza Strip at the risk of causing a sudden regional escalation or abandon its stated objective of fully destroying Hamas. An article published on Nov. 3 in Foreign Policy cited sources within the Israeli army who suggested that Israel would focus on targeted raids and airstrikes to weaken Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza, rather than launching a full-scale offensive across the entire strip. This report aligns with the Israeli military's early ground maneuvers in the strip. Since commencing ground operations on Oct. 27, Israel has concentrated on isolating Gaza City, the largest city in the strip, and conducting limited operations aimed at dismantling key Hamas strongholds and restricting the movements of Hamas and other militant groups. These operations have involved only a fraction of the mobilized forces on the Gaza-Israel border. Israel's...
