GAZA: MILITARY OR POLITICAL SOLUTION?

This is the dilemma that senior military commanders and political leaders have traditionally faced when resolving a conflict. There are situations in which the military prevails, as in the Second World War; and others in which a political compromise is reached, as occurred in the Korean War.

Gaza is a small enclave to which the status of a major conflict cannot be applied. It is not an international war, and therefore an intermediate solution could have been reached through negotiations that have lasted for years.

The Gaza Strip is 41 kilometers long and between 6 and 12 kilometers wide, with a total of 360 km², where almost 2 million people lived. We say "lived" because it is confirmed that 50,000 Palestinians have died. 1,950,000 would remain in the small territory; Not counting those who have managed to escape.

It turns out that the military solution is the one advocated by a politician: Prime Minister Netanyahu. It is also advocated by Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir and Defense Minister Israel Katz, although the latter lacks the intransigence of the head of government.

The one who defends the military solution, as the only possible one, is Netanyahu. He is the one who most desires to militarily defeat the Hamas radicals and occupy the territory. It is his obsession; if they could eliminate not 50,000 tomorrow, but twice that number, this man would be satisfied.

A war over 360 km² should have been over in a short time, but the problem is that one of the contenders is a group classified as terrorists that has no shortage of human resources. They have neither planes nor tanks, but Israel, which has everything, has not yet suppressed them.

It is the political solution that should have been implemented in Gaza through negotiations and mediators. It seems incredible that the negotiations failed (it was impossible to move on to the second phase of the peace plan) and the mediators, Qatar and Egypt, devoted all their energy without convincing the Jews and Hamas to reach a compromise.

Gaza is therefore a case study for analysts. The key lies in the hands of Netanyahu, who wants to win the war, no matter the cost. Only he believes a military solution will be reached, even if it means searching for the last Hamas man under the rocks.