Pierre Razoux: "A punctual Israeli ground intervention in Gaza is always possible"
In the northern Gaza Strip on May 14, 2021. REUTERS - MOHAMMED SALEM
Text by: Murielle Paradon Follow
4 min
Israel shelled the Gaza Strip overnight from Thursday to Friday, May 14, with airstrikes and artillery fire.
Hamas, the Islamist movement in power in the Palestinian enclave, also fired rockets into southern Israeli territory.
The balance sheet since Monday shows 119 dead in Gaza, 7 dead on the Israeli side.
Interview with Pierre Razoux, academic director of the Mediterranean Foundation for Strategic Studies and author of “
Tsahal, new history of the Israeli army
” (Perrin).
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RFI: Israel massed tanks and armored vehicles on Thursday on the border with Gaza. Can we fear a ground intervention?
Pierre Razoux:
We can always fear a one-off land operation.
It has happened in the past, over the past ten years.
It eliminates leaders of the military wing of Hamas, rocket production centers, command centers, fire centers, etc.
But basically it's not going to solve the underlying problems.
It will not allow the Israelis to take control of the Gaza Strip, it is impossible to occupy and (...) there is no alternative other than a hard power against Israel, since Fatah of Mahmoud Abbas (President of the Palestinian Authority, Editor's note) is completely delegitimized within the Palestinian population.
► To read also:
Israel pounded Gaza as the deadly conflict worsens
Hamas is firing a lot of rockets into Israeli territory, where is it firing its weapons from
?
There has been no massive exchange of fire since the 2014 war. This means that in 7 years, Hamas has had time to replenish its stocks and manufacture rockets.
It is often tubes, explosives, chemicals which arrive by diverted channels, by tunnels of the Sinai peninsula (…).
Above all, these rockets are handcrafted.
These are not very long range missiles like those held by Hezbollah in Lebanon or Iran in Syria.
There, it is about rockets which make it possible to reach targets in Tel Aviv, Beersheva, the south of Jerusalem.
These are not the same type of threats as Hezbollah or Iran, Hamas' arsenal in Gaza is almost semi-homemade.
► To read also:
After having said to have entered the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army retracts
How long do you think these operations can last?
If on one side or the other, the belligerents cross red lines, for example massacres on populations on both sides, as during the last two intifadas, it can launch a new intifada which can last a long time. But for now, I don't think we're there. In recent days, we have seen the multiplication of calls from Hamas for a ceasefire, the presence of Egyptian negotiators in Israel to try to negotiate a ceasefire. The international community is mobilizing, not just the United States, Russia and China as well, to call for an end to the escalation, because in the end economically it does not suit anyone. And politically it does not play the game of people except ultra who want to stay in power on both sides.
► Also to listen: Middle East: "No pacification can come from the actors present"
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