Middle East & Africa | The end of the beginning

Israel’s current large-scale operation is the last one in Gaza

Generals prepare for a lower-intensity campaign against Hamas

An Israeli tank drives through rubble in Gaza City.
About to shift into a lower gear?Photograph: Ziv Koren /Polaris /Eyevine
|Jerusalem

AS ISRAEL’S OFFENSIVE in Gaza ends its tenth week there is little sign that it is lessening in intensity. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) have deployed an entire airborne division in and around the southern city of Khan Younis, where it believes that senior leaders of Hamas, which on October 7th murdered 1,200 Israelis and took 240 people hostage, are now holed up. Three armoured divisions are still operating in the northern sector. Fierce fighting has been occurring in the Shujaiya and Jabalia areas of Gaza city. The IDF is destroying tunnels, where Hamas fighters take refuge, and infrastructure, both military and civilian, in the city and its outskirts. Israel’s bombardment continues: more than 18,000 Gazans, mostly civilians, have died.

Explore more

This article appeared in the Middle East & Africa section of the print edition under the headline “The end of the beginning”

From the December 16th 2023 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

Discover more

A man inspects the damage at the site of an overnight Israeli airstrike that targeted the Shayyah neighborhood in Beirut's southern suburbs on November 26, 2024

Israel and Hizbullah strike a fragile deal to end their war 

Joe Biden’s last roll of the dice on peace in the Middle East

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant hold a press conference in Tel Aviv

The arrest warrant is a diplomatic disaster for Netanyahu

But may also undermine the International Criminal Court


Food distributed to displaced Palestinians in Gaza

Israel’s hardliners reckon Gaza’s chaos shows they must control it

Only 11 out of a recent convoy of 109 aid trucks managed to get in


Why GM crops aren’t feeding Africa

Despite decades of research, few countries grow them there

A genocidal militia’s quest for legitimacy

A warring party in Sudan claims it wants to talk peace

Get ready for “Maximum Pressure 2.0” on Iran 

The Trump White House may bomb and penalise the regime into a deal