Iron Swords: How to Evacuate the population from Southern Gaza? One possibility is American-Managed Camps in the Negev

In order to complete the eradication of the Hamas organization in Gaza, a ground offensive in southern Gaza will be required. A serious challenge in executing this offensive is that the majority of the population, following their evacuation from northern Gaza, is now in the south, effectively doubling the population in that area. If Israel is to deprive Hamas of its last defenses against the IDF, continue its impressive compliance with international law, and fulfill its commitment to the Americans to conduct a war based on shared values, it will have to move the Gazan population away from expected combat zones in urban areas of the south. As Egypt will not accept the use of Sinai as a haven for Gazan citizens, other solutions are being considered, including establishing protected areas in the South or relocating Gazans back to the north. But it might also be worthwhile to advance a plan led by the Americans, with international and regional participation, to establish temporary accommodation camps for the residents of Gaza in the Negev. This plan would also involve international assistance for returning Israeli residents of the Gaza envelope.

Israel Must Confront the Jihadist Desire for Immortality

Israel’s security policy decision-makers must take into account the desire of Israel’s terrorist adversaries to achieve immortality through violence. Israel must be cautious about projecting conventional human rationality upon Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, and others of their mindset if it is to combat them effectively.

Implications of the Swords of Iron War on South Korea

The surprise military attack by Hamas on Israel on October 7, 2023, and the war that began after this attack, should lead policymakers in South Korea to reconsider their defense policy toward North Korea – particularly border defense and defense against missile and drone attacks.

The “Unclassified Secret”

The Hamas attack on October 7 was formulated based on intelligence gathered by the terrorist group in advance, a significant proportion of which was unclassified civic or non-strictly classified military information. This reflects a broader phenomenon defined as "unclassified secrets" - information which, while not classified, nevertheless holds considerable or even critical value to an adversary. To establish guidelines to deal with this phenomenon, its complexity has to be acknowledged. Due to the open availability of such information, any means of controlling it will require a nuanced approach that balances democratic concerns about freedom of information and the public's right to know with security needs.

How the United Nations, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch Launder Terrorism

On October 7, Hamas Islamic jihadists infiltrated Israel and inflicted the largest massacre on the Jewish people in a single day since the Holocaust. Hamas terrorists tortured, abducted and murdered people with the utmost sadistic cruelty and recorded both the pain of their victims and their glee at their own actions. Yet from the day after the massacre, these killers have enjoyed ever-increasing support from large crowds in otherwise enlightened countries. Much of this hostility against Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East, stems from ignorance and hatred bolstered by propaganda either originated or amplified by “human rights” organizations. Professors, media personalities, politicians and “activists” bolster lies and other forms of misinformation, whether they mean to or not, by citing well-known agencies obsessed with demonizing Israel. The anti-Israel agenda is part and parcel of an anti-West industrial complex in which three key players - the United Nations, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch - validate Islamist propaganda and launder terrorism to the detriment of all civil societies.

The Limits on Technological Superiority

Nir Reuven
November 20, 2023
Paper No. 2234

After Israel’s disengagement from the Gaza Strip and the entrenchment of the Hamas terrorist organization there, a war of attrition commenced between Hamas and Israel that has lasted for almost two decades. As Israel’s defense doctrine leans heavily on technological superiority, it has depended primarily on its numerous technological assets to manage this conflict. By contrast, Hamas, which is significantly disadvantaged in terms of technology, has pursued a strategy designed to neutralize Israel’s technological superiority through the use of terror tactics against civilian populations and the employment of low-tech and readily available means of warfare. The success of the surprise attack initiated by Hamas on October 7, 2023, demonstrated that Israel’s overreliance on technology in a conflict like this one was a flawed and even perilous concept.

Swords of Iron: The Problem of Hostages and Missing Persons

Until the end of the seventies, Israel's policy on hostages, prisoners and missing persons was based on national considerations. The Entebbe Doctrine permitted no negotiations with terrorist organizations that involved comprehensive deals for the mass release of prisoners as doing so would amount to a surrender to terror. Israeli hostages would be released either through operational means, local negotiations, or prisoner exchanges after fighting was concluded. But over the past four decades, ever since the Jibril Agreement of 1985, there has been a change in Israel's policy on this matter to involve wholesale prisoner releases. This has caused Israel profound strategic damage. Negotiating with Hamas for the release of the hostages in Gaza through comprehensive, all-inclusive deals mediated by Qatar (“everyone for everyone”) would undermine Israel's strategy in the Swords of Iron war. It's time to make a fundamental change in Israel's policy on this issue and readopt the Entebbe Doctrine, which can save the lives of the current hostages and prevent the taking of more in the future.

Fuel Supply in Gaza – Needs and Uses

This article provides an overview of the current fuel supply situation in the Gaza Strip. It examines how much fuel is needed for Gaza’s basic humanitarian needs, how much fuel is held by Hamas, and who is responsible for providing more fuel once it runs out. It concludes that Israel’s denial of fuel supply into Gaza offers relatively marginal tactical advantages since Hamas has enough diesel stored away to last for several months. Diesel denial mainly affects the operation of hospitals and water supply to Gaza’s population, adding to international pressure against Israel to end its military campaign.

The War in Gaza and the Implications for Energy in the Eastern Mediterranean

After the War, Israeli Military Governance Might Be Temporarily Required in Gaza

Infiltrations of armed militants for the purpose of killing and looting are nothing new in the troubled history of the Gaza Strip. The attack by Hamas on October 7, 2023, which led to the deaths of approximately 1,500 people, most of whom were Israeli citizens, is just one link in the chain of suffering between Israel and the Gaza Strip. Only when a determined governing authority held full control over the Strip, as Egypt did from 1956 to 1967 and Israel did from 1967 to 1993, could the development of the western Negev and southern Israel thrive. Israel has spent 17 years trying to disengage from Gaza without success, and there has been round after round of fighting. Despite its economic dependence on Israel, Gaza has remained a significant security problem that only worsened over time. The Swords of Iron War could be an opportunity to change the reality in the Gaza Strip, but it might require the return of Israeli military governance until, with the help of regional and local actors and international support, a solution is found - a solution that does not merely establish temporary quiet but that ensures peace and stability in the Gaza region for all.

Perspectives Papers