The sense of futility surrounding the Gaza operation was further underlined earlier this week by a top White House official, who said the United States did not think Israel could achieve a “total victory” against Hamas, in a clear rebuttal of the promises of Mr Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister.
Washington does not think that a “sweeping victory… is likely or possible,” Kurt Campbell, the US deputy secretary of state, told an event on Monday.
Tensions between Mr Netanyahu, to whom fresh pockets of Hamas activity are evidence of the need for a “total victory” in Gaza, and his critics, who are alarmed by his refusal to allow a new civilian administration to oversee the enclave, have exploded into the open.
Yoav Gallant, the defence minister, broke ranks on Wednesday to challenge Mr Netanyahu, urging him to “make tough decisions” and come up with a strategy to absolve Israel of the task of occupying Gaza – something seen as vital for ending the war.
At the same time, fighting has intensified on Israel’s northern border, raising serious questions about where the war is going.
Army left vulnerable by political indecision
The lack of a clear set of political objectives or criteria for ending the war appears to have put the Israeli military in a vulnerable position, forcing it to react to threats rather than pre-empt them.
“Our Israel army doesn’t know what to do: If you want us to create a military regime, please tell us; if you want us to occupy this area, we need to understand that we have to take the responsibility for the civilians,” Yohanan Tzoreff, a terrorism expert and former Israeli government adviser on Gaza, told The Telegraph.
“That’s the reason why the IDF left Gaza City in the first place. And when you leave a place, the terror organisation will come back and want to show they’re still in power.”
In comments echoing those grievances, Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, said on Wednesday that Israel needed a “clear and concrete plan for the future of Gaza” as “we cannot have a vacuum in Gaza that’s likely to be filled by chaos”.
But Mr Netanyahu snapped back a few hours later, saying it was “pointless to talk about the day after while Hamas is still intact”.
“There is no substitute for military victory,” Mr Netanyahu said. “There is only one substitute for victory – defeat. My government will not agree to this.”
Deja vu
But frustration with the elusive war goals is felt on the front line, too.
During most of this winter, Israeli troops took their time to regroup and focus on the remaining area under Hamas’s control including Khan Younis, which was captured in April, and Rafah, where the IDF started operating only last week.
Israeli troops largely withdrew from the north and centre of Gaza, having decimated Hamas battalions there and destroyed what at the time was thought as most of their infrastructure, including tunnels used to store weapons and provide shelter for the fighters.
But the IDF has had to scramble and go back to several of those areas in recent weeks and go back into battle with Hamas cells.
In mid-March, the IDF had to deploy to Gaza City’s Al Shifa Hospital to wrestle back control of it from Hamas as they discovered regrouped Hamas forces there, including a senior commander who was subsequently killed.
On Saturday, the IDF issued evacuation orders for Jabaliya and went back to the densely populated neighbourhood following intelligence indicating Hamas forces were gathering there.