Three Questions from the Israeli Attack on Southern Gaza
The conflict between Israel and Hamas, which has been going on for two months, is the longest and most destructive conflict in the Gaza Strip to date.
After eight weeks of bombing and launching ground attacks, Israeli troops began to move south, resulting in hundreds of thousands of Palestinians having to flee and live in extreme conditions.
Fierce fighting took place in Hamas defensive positions both in the north and south. However, the conflict, which has so far claimed 17,000 lives in Gaza (including 7,000 children) according to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health, appears to be far from over.
It is estimated that 137 hostages from Israel, out of a total of 245 people kidnapped by Hamas on October 7, are still in Gaza. Until now there has been no agreement to release them.
Since the war against Hezbollah in 2006, Israel has never faced such a long and fierce conflict. Therefore, a series of questions arise, what does Israel want to achieve in the second phase of its attack on the Gaza Strip? Who will manage Gaza when the war ends? What will happen next?
1. What is Israel's strategy in the southern part of the Gaza Strip?
On December 1, Israel continued bombing and ground attacks in the northern to southern Gaza Strip.
The attacks mostly centered on the city of Khan Younis because Israeli forces believed the city was a hiding place for several high-ranking Hamas officials, including the leader of Hamas' political wing, Yahya Sinwar, as well as the head of the Hamas armed group, Mohammed Deif.
However, attacks also continued in the northern part already occupied by the Israeli army, especially the Jabalia refugee camp and the Gaza City residential areas of Zaytoun, Shejaiya, Al-Daraj and Al-Tuffah, according to BBC correspondent Rushdi Abu Alouf.
According to him, the war had entered a "more complex stage."
Hundreds of thousands of people still live in these areas so the number of civilian deaths is very likely to continue to rise.
2. Who will manage Gaza after the war?
This is one of those questions that has so far been impossible to answer.
Israel has repeatedly stated on many occasions that their main goal in Gaza is to eliminate Hamas.
At least in the first few weeks since the war began, Israeli authorities assured that they had no intention of regaining control of the Gaza Strip, despite the fact that some extreme right-wing members of the government were considering this possibility.
3. What could happen on the border with Egypt?
With the Gaza Strip's population increasingly pushed south, pressure on the border with Egypt has become increasingly extreme.
According to the BBC's correspondent in Gaza, Adnan El-Bursh, tens of thousands of people flocked into the city of Rafah, which has become a large refugee camp. There was no food there and there were constant power cuts.
