As the war between Israel and Hamas enters its third week, President Joe Biden is walking a tightrope and trying to accomplish three objectives simultaneously: ensure Israel has everything it needs to defend itself in what Israeli defense officials admit will be a long and grueling campaign; remind the Israelis that civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip should be kept to an absolute minimum; and prevent the Israel-Hamas conflict from spiraling into a regional conflagration.
It’s the geopolitical equivalent of a high-wire act, and success is by no means assured.
To date, the Biden administration has managed to thread the needle decently enough. The Israeli military not only has the equipment, military platforms and personnel to take the fight to Hamas but also has spent weeks hammering Gaza with thousands of airstrikes. Hundreds of thousands of Israeli ground troops are stationed near the Israel-Gaza border waiting for the order to root out Hamas infrastructure and kill the organization’s political and military leadership. According to a running tally by The New York Times, 13 Hamas officials have been killed since Israel began bombarding Gaza on Oct. 7.
The second objective, limiting Palestinian civilian casualties, has been less successful. The Israelis are dealing with an extremely complicated operational environment, with Hamas militants setting up their positions amid civilians. Gaza is one of the most densely packed places in the world, and the Palestinians who call Gaza home are limited in where they can go. Due to strict border security measures from Israel and Egypt, the more than 2 million Palestinians in the area are in a state of desperation. They have two options: Stay in their homes and hope they don’t get bombed and buried under the rubble or flee south, as the Israeli army has instructed, and risk getting killed along the main evacuation routes. That Hamas has apparently blocked some Palestinians from leaving Gaza’s northern half only adds to the misery, as does Israel’s initial decision to cut off food, water and fuel supplies to the area,
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