alks

[G]round fighting continues to rage on between Palestinian resistance groups and Israeli armed forces in the Gaza Strip. At least 41 Israeli soldiers have been confirmed killed since the beginning of Israel’s offensive in Gaza, Israeli media reported, while the army claimed to have killed 30 Hamas fighters in the past day, including the head of Hamas’ amphibious forces unit. Hamas has yet to confirm or deny these reports.

Two weeks into Israeli sending ground troops into Gaza, Haaretz reports that Israeli commanders estimate it would take “a time frame of months” to achieve their goal of defeating armed Palestinian resistance in the northern Gaza Strip, but that Washington, D.C. — Israel’s staunchest ally — was “signaling that there won’t be more than a few weeks, even after a limited deal for the release of captives.”

“After that, the U.S. is pressing for the fighting to take place in a different format,” Haaretz wrote.

Despite its continued stance in favor of Israel’s right to so-called self-defense in public, United States officials are balking — privately and publicly — at the ruthless and, some say, unrealistic methods pursued by Israel.

US Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Gen. Charles Q. Brown said on Thursday that Israel’s aim of toppling Hamas was “a pretty large order,” urging for Israel to limit the length of its war in Gaza. “The faster you can get to a point where you stop the hostilities, you have less strife for the civilian population that turns into someone who now wants to be the next member of Hamas,” he said.

Israel’s goal to eradicate Hamas was also dismissed by Palestinian Authority officials — which itself have been embroiled in conflict with the group ruling in the Gaza Strip over the years.

“Hamas is not only in Gaza, Hamas is an idea,” P.A. Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh told France 24 on Thursday. “Hamas is in the West Bank, in Lebanon, in Syria, Hamas leadership is in Qatar… so to say the goal is to eliminate Hamas is totally not going to happen.

Meanwhile, CNN revealed on Friday that U.S. President Joe Biden had received “stark warnings” from American diplomats in the Middle East and North Africa that its continued support for Israel was having a devastating impact on Washington’s standing in the region, “losing us Arab publics for a generation.”

Palestinian armed resistance groups have claimed rockets fired towards Israeli towns in the Gaza envelope as well as Tel Aviv in the past 24 hours, while groups in southern Lebanon were exchanging fire with forces in northern Israel. Armed groups in Iraq and Syria claimed strikes on U.S. bases in the country in retaliation for U.S. support of Israel.

Violence also continued unabated in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem. Armed confrontations between Israeli forces and Palestinian resistance groups reportedly took place in Jenin, Balata refugee camp, Qalqiliya, Beit Furik, Jabaa, and al-Askar refugee camp.

snippet taken from this Mondoweiss article