A military expert answers… 6 questions news that summarize what’s happening in Gaza right now

Military expert, retired Major General Mahmoud Ertisat, said that losses in terms of equipment and soldiers increased in the last days as the Israeli occupation army penetrated into Gaza City (north of the Gaza Strip) and between its buildings. The war with the Palestinian resistance has become a process of “finger-biting” for both sides, implying that Israel has not revealed the true toll of its losses.

Erdisad also said – in Al Jazeera Net exclusive reports – that Israel will pay a heavy price as a result of the carnage in Gaza, the withdrawal of part of Western political support, under popular pressure and demonstrations. Change in political conditions at the level of European cities, and some European governments.

The military expert also gave a read on what’s happening on the “northern front” between Hezbollah and the occupying army, hinting that both sides currently don’t want a conflict and that some form of escalation is possible. It will not be an all-out war between the two fronts.

• Where did the occupying army’s ground forces move into the Gaza Strip?

From the ground invasion, Israeli forces attempted to enter from three axes: a northwest axis from al-Adatra and Beit Lahia, a northeast axis from Beit Hanoun, and then a final axis from east to west, from the soft side. Agricultural areas in the northern part of Wadi Gaza, especially from the Zuhr area towards al-Deeq, Salah al-Din road and then to the sea on al-Rashid road.

In the last three days, the siege has ended, as the forces have almost besieged Gaza City (only the northern part of the force) and the forces have come from the east of the Strip to Al-Rashid Street, and then turned north towards Gaza. Port and beach camp to meet forces coming from north-west of Bait Lahia.

Whenever the occupying army penetrated into densely populated areas, there were opportunities for insurgents to escape from tunnels and use buildings to hide vehicles and soldiers.

The siege was first carried out by bombardment, but now I believe Israeli forces on the ground have besieged the city and are infiltrating inland towards Al-Shifa Hospital and the Indonesian Hospital. Inland towards the Al-Karama and Al-Rimal regions.

Here, the losses of the occupying army are high and it faces strong resistance, as whenever it penetrates into built-up and densely populated areas, there are opportunities for resistance to emerge from tunnels and cover land and buildings. Hunt for vehicles and soldiers.So, in the last few days, we have seen an increase in losses in vehicles or soldiers. Equipment or even soldiers, because “Israeli forces have been steadily infiltrating residential areas. I believe the resistance has been prepared through tunnels and using land to resist the occupation.”

At this point, there is a process of “biting the finger” on both sides, but I see that the opposition is in a position to make the biggest loss, and it “wins because whenever it makes a loss to the enemy, it is a gain to the opposition.”

• Are there statistics on these losses?

According to a recent report issued by Abu Ubaida, a spokesman for the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, according to the Israeli side, the offensive losses in vehicles amounted to about 160 vehicles, including armored vehicles, tanks and bulldozers. In terms of human casualties, the numbers reported by the occupation army were 45.

After the dust of war settles, we will see occupation losses far higher than the reported numbers, whether in vehicles, equipment or soldiers

I believe Israel has lost more than that and is hiding the true number until the families of the dead are notified. But in general, the number 45 was a large number from the Israeli point of view before this war, but now Israel suffered a very large loss at the beginning of the war (al-Aqsa flood), so these numbers became normal, but in the custom of the Israeli army and history, such numbers were considered very large. After the dust of war settles, I believe we will see occupation losses far exceeding this figure in vehicles, equipment or soldiers.

As for the opposition side, it looks at the results, not the losses of the fighters. It doesn’t see the sacrifices, because ultimately these people want to be freed, so the price must be paid, and that’s “everyone who kills a sacrifice for freedom in thought.” But at the same time, “the more fighters there are in the resistance, the greater their ability to fight the occupation.”

• Has the occupying army succeeded in displacing residents of the northern Gaza Strip?

So far Israel has not succeeded in the way it would have liked, as it generally wanted to evacuate northern Gaza, including Gaza City and some of its surrounding suburbs. It wanted to vacate the area as a scorched earth and alternative buffer zone from the Gaza enclave, which was flooded by protests last October 7 during Operation Al-Aqsa.

Israel is trying to provoke Hezbollah, especially with the presence of US aircraft carriers and warships in the eastern Mediterranean, and the massive political and material support given to it in this war.

As a result of the blast people were found in the open, they were dying in the streets, some of them may have left, but those who were adjacent to the area did not, and many are still there. In Gaza City, and in the northern Gaza Strip, they are not displaced.

• Are there numbers that reveal the true number of people left in northern Gaza?

I can’t give numbers, but there is still a large number in the north, if we talk about the fact that there were more than a million people in northern Gaza, I believe there are still more than half of this number in the north. Gaza Strip, and “this number is moving, initially a large group left, but a large part of them came back,” so this number will change.

• What political costs will aggression bear as a result of this war?

The occupation will pay a heavy price. At the start of the attack, the occupation justified the bombing and destruction by saying it was in self-defense after the October 7 incident, and said it wanted to “wipe out Gaza at every opportunity.” Off the map, it tries to do so, but it says “he can now.”

Israel will pay a political price it has never paid in its 75-year occupation of Palestine

Early on, “we saw all the Western colonial countries standing by the Israeli enemy and supporting them with everything they had,” not just political support, but material and military support. “We saw a bridge – and it continues today – from the United States to compensate the enemy for every bullet and every piece of equipment he loses,” but this political support began to wane, beginning in Third World countries and reaching Europe. Now, “this political support began to withdraw under popular pressure.” Under the demonstrations in all European cities from Madrid to Paris, London, Berlin, Sweden and Denmark and the USA itself. Since yesterday we have seen political positions at the level of European governments that this war must stop and the massacres must stop.

This leads us to say that “Israel will pay a political price that it did not pay during its 75-year occupation of Palestine,” for several reasons:

1. The crimes committed in Gaza through the occupation, destruction, killing of children and the targeting of schools, hospitals, shelters and UNRWA centers are all prohibited under international law.
2. Cutting off food, medicine, electricity and water from the Gaza Strip are all war crimes and crimes against humanity.
3. Communications and social media, especially among young people who would not have heard of the Palestinian issue 10 or 15 years ago, have not reached a level that is unreachable today.

• Will the Northern Front witness an escalation between Israel and Hezbollah?

In my assessment, I don’t think Hezbollah and the occupying army want to clash at this point, we may see some kind of escalation, but there won’t be a full-scale war between the two sides, because “there is no direct interest. Iran and Hezbollah in this war”, and it may be a general assessment that this is not the final war, and Israel also doesn’t want to open another expansionary front until it destroys Gaza as much as possible, and it doesn’t have the inclination to do so, especially as political support has waned over the past couple of days.

Another reading is that Israel is trying to provoke Hezbollah, especially with the presence of US aircraft carriers and warships in the eastern Mediterranean, along with the massive political and material support given to it in this war. It wants to end both arch-enemies at the same time.