The barrage of rockets on the southern city of Netivot on Tuesday must force Israel to pause and rethink its decision to withdraw some of its forces from the refugee camps in central Gaza. The IDF should at least finish its task to solidify its control on the area.
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The launching of 50, granted short-range, rockets requires at least three or four launchers that are synchronized from a command and control center by high-ranking local commanders. Such an operation usually has early warning signs that the military intelligence was supposed to identify after forces had already been fighting on the ground.
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Aftermath of a rocket attack on Netivot on Tuesday
(Photo: Fire and Rescue Authority )
As long as launch sites and command and control locations are active in Gaza, the IDF's job is not complete and Hamas terror infrastructure remain intact, without which there can be no safety for residents near the Gaza border. The military should examine if there is a need to go back and complete the mission.
While in the south the IDF has been allowing troops some time away from the war to rest, recuperate and retrain, in the north tensions are growing increasingly high, partially at least because of the pressure on decision-makers from residents of the area, who say clearly that they would not return home until Hezbollah is removed from the border and life there can return to normal, safely.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant have promised that that would be the case but for now, they are allowing the diplomatic efforts of Amos Hochstein, U.S. President Joe Biden's special envoy, to continue.
Hochstein was in Beirut over the weekend and, according to the Hezbollah-affiliated Al Akhbar newspaper, he told his hosts that they must move Hezbollah back to at least 7 kilometers (4.3 miles) north of the Blue Line marking the frontier, and that the Lebanese military should deploy to the area to act as a buffer between Hezbollah's elite Radwan force and other armed groups, and the Israeli communities in northern Israel.
The American envoy, according to the newspaper, told the Lebanese officials that if this does not happen, Israel would begin a war against South Lebanon that would likely spread further north.
On previous visits Hochstein said the U.S. was opposed to an Israeli attack. His words were understood to mean that the White House would block such a move, fearing a wider regional conflict. Now, apparently after a specific demand from Gallant, Hochstein drew a different picture to the leaders in Beirut, one that describes a massive attack from the land, air and sea, that would come when Israel decides is the right time and not under Hezbollah's conditions.
This may not be an idle threat. The head of the IDF Northern Command revealed the military exercise of a reservist brigade in preparation for an offensive in Lebanon. Among forces being taken out of Gaza are special units and regular service forces that would be prepared for any scenario, including a war in Lebanon, if Hochstein and French officials fail in their diplomatic efforts. Members of the War Cabinet hope the message was received by the Lebanese.
But the situation in the north should have no bearing on the war in Gaza or the pressure the IDF has been putting on Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar to agree to a deal for the release of hostages. The military has trained and supplied for a multi-front campaign and the achievements on one front should not be compromised for the other.