Military Expert: Israeli Escalation Aims to Create Permanent Conflict Reality in Gaza
Analyst warns that Israel’s objective is to establish an escalatory reality that blocks any path toward stability—whether in Gaza or Lebanon
Palestine, PUREWILAYAH.COM – Brigadier General Hassan Jouni, a military expert, stated that Israel’s ongoing military escalation in the Gaza Strip reflects a clear intention by Tel Aviv to keep the enclave locked in an open-ended confrontation, without moving to the next stage of the agreement reached with the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).
Jouni noted that Israel views the agreement as limited solely to the first phase—prisoner exchanges and the retrieval of bodies—while showing no real commitment to the second phase, which includes security arrangements and the formation of an international force.
He explained that the Israeli army’s behavior on the ground confirms this strategy. Instead of treating the “yellow line”—established under the ceasefire and prisoner-exchange agreement—as a withdrawal line separating the two implementation phases, Israel has transformed it into an active combat frontier.
According to Al Jazeera, this line demarcates the division between the area under Hamas’ control and the buffer zone controlled by Israeli forces, which constitutes 53% of Gaza’s territory and is marked by yellow concrete blocks.
Fabricated Pretexts Used to Expand Target Bank
Jouni affirmed that Israel’s ongoing airstrikes are tied to continuous efforts to expand its “target bank” since the very first day of the agreement. This expansion, he said, is facilitated through field conditions accompanying the prisoner exchanges and body transfers, as well as by exploiting any incident—real or fabricated—to justify new attacks, such as Israel’s repeated claims of its soldiers coming under fire.
On Wednesday, the Gaza Ministry of Health reported that 25 Palestinians were martyred and more than 77 others injured by Israeli army fire in Gaza City and Khan Younis since the morning. Israel attempted to justify those attacks as a response to alleged targeting of its forces in Rafah.
Jouni stressed that the targeting of civilians, displaced families, and children is part of Israel’s broader strategy aimed at “exerting pressure on the Palestinian environment and society” to influence Hamas—similar to what Israel is doing in Lebanon, where it targets Hezbollah cadres under the pretext of preventing capability rebuilding, while in reality pursuing a policy of collective punishment.
Escalation Designed to Block Stability and Pressure Hamas Over UNSC Resolution
According to Jouni, Israel’s objective is to establish an escalatory reality that blocks any path toward stability—whether in Gaza or Lebanon.
He added that the recent Israeli strikes also carry a political message related to Hamas’ rejection of the latest UN Security Council resolution, particularly the clause concerning disarmament.
Earlier this week, the Security Council approved an amended US draft resolution endorsing President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war in Gaza, calling for its full implementation and for maintaining the ceasefire.
The ceasefire itself began on October 10 under the Sharm el-Sheikh Agreement, brokered by Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey, following two years of Israeli genocide. The deal includes a 20-point framework for halting aggression and regulating subsequent phases. (PW)