The Trump administration recently stopped a major Israeli military operation that had been planned in the Gaza Strip, Channel 13 reported. The plan had already been discussed and approved at Israel’s highest political and security levels, but at the last minute, after the Americans were briefed on the details, Washington expressed clear opposition and asked Jerusalem not to carry it out at this time.
Following the American veto and the freezing of the planned offensive, Israel shifted the center of gravity of its activity. In recent weeks, the IDF has instead been working on the ground to implement what was described as a strategy of “creeping and quiet annexation” of large areas inside Gaza, in place of the cancelled intensive operation.
A foreign diplomatic source told Channel 13 that the current IDF activity is being carried out “under the radar” and without a public confrontation with the international mediators. According to the source, the relative silence from the mediating countries and their tolerance of Israel’s moves on the ground stem largely from their anger at Hamas over its conduct in the negotiations.
The source said Hamas is not honoring the explicit commitments it made to both the Trump administration and the Arab mediators, which is eroding its international credit and leaving Israel with quiet room to maneuver on the ground.
