Israel called up its military reserves Sunday to prepare for a massive new operation, “Gideon’s Chariots,” in which it plans to reconquer Gaza and eliminate Hamas, neighborhood by neighborhood, over several months.
The Israeli government says that it will carry out the operation if Hamas does not agree to a hostage deal by the end of the forthcoming visit of President Donald Trump to the region, which will be from May 13 to 16.
Military analysts describe “Gideon’s Chariots” as a classic “clear, hold, build” strategy to root out Hamas and create new, credible, demilitarized civilian authorities to govern the Palestinian communities in Gaza.
Israel plans to use military pressure to rescue the remaining hostages in a new way: not by pressuring Hamas leadership, which has been unwilling to compromise, but to isolate Hamas cells that are holding captives.
Israel plans to keep the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in Gaza indefinitely. U.S. President Donald Trump has suggested taking control of Gaza, once the Israeli military has removed Hamas, without U.S. troops involved.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of Trump 2.0: The Most Dramatic ‘First 100 Days’ in Presidential History, available for Amazon Kindle. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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