Retired Lieutenant colonel and military expert Wasif Uriqat does not exclude a new round of aggression against Gaza; however he exclaimed “Israel after failing at three wars has to answer a big question: what will it gain from a new war.”
Uriqat summarizes in an interview with the PIC the fears that prevent Israel from waging a new war against Gaza such as “the far-fetched victory in this war the fading impact of the United States in the Middle East the rise of tensions between the major powers the lack of international support for such a war and the world’s lack of ability to cover Israeli actions the rise of Palestinian resistance the decline of Israel’s political status due to the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions campaign the internal Israeli tensions and control of Israeli settlers over the society.”
Uriqat stressed that if the Israeli occupation waged another war on Gaza it needs to regain the reputation it has lost in the past at a time the Israeli media is saying “Israeli soldiers are fighters in the morning and are involved in prostitution at night.”
Escalation or war
The Israeli leadership does not want to pay the price of a new war according to expert Uriqat as regional changes the imbalance of powers and the tension in the region run contrary to its interests.
He added “All previous wars happened with a complete American support and partial European support; but Europe is currently angry with Israel and is imposing international isolation against it and the new American president Donald Trump will not give Israel a complete support as many speculate.”
According to the military expert the reality on the ground in Gaza reveals that Israel prefers to have a limited escalation such as launching airstrikes and limited incursions and the Israeli strategic report for 2016-2017 has listed Gaza as the fifth most dangerous place for Israel.
He added “My evaluation is that the Israeli occupation does not have the exact and needed information about the readiness of Palestinian resistance in Gaza in terms of quality and quantity at a time the Israeli domestic front is experiencing divisions between Jews who came from various racial backgrounds.”
Tunnels and borders
The strength of Palestinian resistance tunnels lies in the fact that it is an unknown enemy to the Israeli army and Israel fears its unknown enemy the most and the unknown theater of operations according to the expert Uriqat.
He adds “Until now and despite spending billions of dollars and using American military technology and during the latest war on Gaza one of the Israeli ministers asked Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu about his plan to solve the issue of Palestinian resistance tunnels. He answered him that there is no plan which reveals Israel’s increasing inability to face the issue of tunnels.”
He noted that since the last war on Gaza in 2014 ended Israel responds to any projectile attack from Gaza on the western Negev region with excessive shelling which primarily targets Palestinian resistance tunnels and watchtowers at the borders.
Uriqat stresses that Israel considers Palestinian resistance tunnels and watchtowers a primary target because monitoring the theater of operations increases the strength of resistance and serves as the Palestinian resistance’s monitoring eye to shell Israeli sites; therefore Israel always tries to target these watchtowers but as for tunnels they target empty fields mostly.
As for the sea of Gaza Uriqat noted that Israel has always used it to target Palestinian civilian and resistance targets as Israeli war vessels are considered a basic weapon used in all wars and battles against the besieged enclave.
He added “The invasion of Lebanon in 1982 started by shelling the city of Sidon by Israeli warships which was followed by a landing operation at the Rumaila area. Such tactic has not yet been used against Gaza but might be used in the future against Gaza as part of a comprehensive operation.”
He noted that calm in the Gaza Strip and South Lebanon is satisfactory to all parties at present except for the Israeli military institution that knows the coastal enclave is going through further preparations and trainings.
He also mentioned the new cyber-warfare waged by the Palestinian resistance which is causing big concern for the Israeli occupation army.
Uriqat does not rule out the possibility that Israel might move still waters through targeting the Gaza Strip by launching assassinations to win the support of the Israeli masses as the Israeli leadership is currently experiencing growing crises and the morals of Israeli soldiers are increasingly worsening.
