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As the presence of Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip increases with face-to-face clashes with members of the armed wing of the fundamentalist group Hamas, the northern front is heating up even more, and on Sunday several bursts of projectiles were fired from Lebanon against the towns of Kiryat, Shmona and Nahariya in northern Israel. Despite the gradual lifting of the telephone and internet blackout and the growing influx of aid trucks, Gaza is going through one of its worst moments in decades and is desperately calling for a ceasefire after 23 grueling days.

The all-out war against Hamas is accompanied in Israel by the internal battle over responsibility for the colossal failure that enabled the worst terrorist attack in its history. October 7 marks the past, present and future of Benjamin Netanyahu, who is experiencing his lowest hours as prime minister.

The Israeli army merely reveals that more forces have entered the Palestinian enclave and disseminates images of tanks on the Gaza coast without giving the exact location or number of its soldiers, tanks and armored cars. The size is smaller than in a full-scale ground offensive, but larger than the words "expanded ground actions" might suggest. For the time being, Israel prefers ground attacks in and from the northern Gaza Strip directed against Gaza City to a full-blown invasion. A formula advised by the US and forced by the situation of the hostages and the possibility of Hezbollah intervening. That is, gradual and slow advances supported by intense fire from above.

Dozens of militants were killed and two Israeli soldiers wounded in clashes in the coastal area of Gaza or at the exit of one of the numerous tunnels dug by Hamas precisely to thwart the advances of its hated enemy. Israel has stepped up its military pressure on Gaza with the aim of encircling it in the coming days. For this reason, it has intensified its increasingly urgent requests and warnings for residents and health centers to be evacuated from a city that could become a theater of war.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society denounced the Israeli army's "threats" to immediately evacuate Al Quds Hospital in Tal Hawa (southern Gaza), indicating that the surroundings were "deliberately" bombed as a form of pressure. The big question is what will happen to Al Shifa Hospital. On the one hand, it is the one that treats most of the wounded and concentrates Gazans seeking refuge from the incessant bombardments. On the other hand, its underground area is, according to Israel, the command center and hideout of the Ezzedin Al Qassam Brigades.

The U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) reported on Sunday the looting of aid supplies. "Thousands (of Gazans) broke into some warehouses and took wheat flour and other basic survival items," he said. According to one of its officials in the region, Samer Abdeljaber, "It's a sign that people are losing hope and are becoming more and more desperate. They are hungry, isolated, and have been suffering violence and immense distress for three weeks."

Unlike on other occasions, the military offensive is not challenged by the internal clock (general consensus on the destruction of Hamas as a militia and regime) and diplomatic clock (support from President Joe Biden, who this Sunday spoke again with Netanyahu to show his support but reminded him of the priority of "the protection of civilians" and the increase in humanitarian aid). The only clock now ticking in Israel's military plans are the families of the 239 kidnapped in Gaza. Popular pressure to put his release before decapitating Hamas has increased with the start of the second phase of the war, which the government ordered when it became convinced that Hamas was not seeking an immediate exchange but "wasting time to delay the ground offensive."

The campaign against Hamas's tunnels was compounded by an underground war in Israel over responsibility for the greatest defensive failure in its history. On social media X News, Netanyahu denied that he received warnings that Hamas wanted to start a war and stressed that all security agencies felt that Hamas was deterred and willing to remain calm. "It was an assessment delivered over and over again to the prime minister and cabinet by the security agencies and including intelligence on the eve of the war," he wrote in a message that caused a huge uproar.

Many, also on the right, criticized his attempt to hold the officers accountable in the middle of the war. In the security agencies, the anger was noticeable, but they preferred to remain silent, claiming that "the most important thing now is to put an end to the terrorists". As requested, for example, by the centrist leader and number three in the cabinet, Benny Gantz, Netanyahu deleted the message and even intoned an unprecedented mea culpa: "I was wrong. I said things in the wake of the press conference that shouldn't have been said and for that I apologize. I give full support to the heads of the security agencies. I support the Chief of the General Staff and all the officers and soldiers who are at the front fighting to defend our home. Together we will win."

Hamas, hit hard by the bombs but not as hard as the Gazans who have suffered a daily hell since October 7 with more than 8,000 dead according to the Islamist government, intervened in the controversy by pointing out that Netanyahu's decision to write and delete the message "reveals again the division and confusion that affects his government".

Behind the controversy is frustration and anger over Black Saturday and fear of the day after the war when Israelis will demand accountability. "Now is not the time to look for culprits, but to put an end to Hamas. When the war is over, it will be thoroughly investigated with questions for everyone, including me," promised Netanyahu, who a few months ago received the alert from military intelligence ("enemies detect a historical point of weakness") in reference to the unprecedented internal crisis surrounding the ultraconservative government's controversial judicial reform plan.

Hamas took advantage of this point of weakness. In interviews from Qatar, Iran and Lebanon, the leaders of the fundamentalist group face a contradiction: they praise the "success" of October 7 and deny the massacres of civilians even though they were documented, in part, by the perpetrators. Hamas leader Khaled Meshal went a step further. In an interview with Egyptian television, he revealed: "The Russians told us that what happened on October 7 will be taught in military schools." He also said that China and, above all, Russia have benefited from the war between Israel and Hamas, which is now entering its fourth week.

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