The Trump administration recently stopped a military operation Israel had planned to carry out in Gaza, according to a first report. The plan was discussed at Israel’s highest political and security levels, but once the Americans were briefed on the details, they expressed displeasure and asked that it not be implemented at this time.
Instead of the shelved operation, the IDF has in recent weeks been working to achieve what a foreign diplomatic source described to Channel 13 News as a “slow and quiet annexation” of areas in the Gaza Strip. The source said this is being done without a public confrontation with the international mediators involved in the talks.
According to the source, that approach is possible because the mediators are angry with Hamas over its conduct in the negotiations. The group, the source said, is not fulfilling the commitments it made to the Trump administration and to the Arab mediators.