In the turmoil shaking the region following the deadly drone attack on the World Central Kitchen food aid facility in Gaza, Israel is faced with a delicate situation which leaves it appearing weakened, disoriented and isolated as rarely before.
The Israeli ultra-right has squandered its capital of sympathy on October 7. The West, initially affected by the Hamas attack, distanced itself from a government perceived as lacking in accountability, unwilling to compromise and lacking a long-term plan.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who recently deplored that his traditional allies are ganging up against him out of “ignorance and anti-Semitism”, appears to have been forced into significant concessions after a warning from US President Joe Biden conditioning the continued military support of the United States to Israel to respect criteria aimed at minimizing civilian harm and violence against humanitarian workers.
After months of obstructing or destabilizing relief missions and threatening to invade the southern city of Rafah, Israel withdrew all its troops except those guarding the barrier between north and south of Gaza, and reopened at least two crossing points for relief trucks.
National commentators are struggling to explain this unannounced change of direction. Netanyahu tried to downplay the situation, saying it was a preparatory measure for possible hostilities, but with the US rejection of the Rafah operation, it appears to have aborted.
At the same time, fractures have opened within the ruling coalition, with some of the most extreme ultra-nationalists, notably Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Internal Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, having expressed their disagreement with this impetus for humanitarian aid and aspiring to intensify military actions.
Their absence from the security meeting that adopted the new political line, apparently because they were not informed, constituted an extraordinary departure that provoked strong protests from Gallant.
Under American pressure, the failure of Netanyahu’s promise to “destroy” Hamas and force the release of its hostages after six months of fighting as well as the incessant and aimless massacre of non-combatants, the far right seems having lost his control.
The threat of two new war fronts in Lebanon and Iran, as well as the weakening of Netanyahu’s power undermined by multiple controversies and failures, also looms darkly over national sentiment.
The strikes against the World Central Kitchen appear to have been the straw that broke the camel’s back for the United States, which had earlier taken the unprecedented decision to abstain in a UN Security Council vote. UN on ceasefire in Gaza.
The strikes could not have been more provocative, and their supposed redress was intended to stoke criticism – a botched investigation leading to a few mid-ranking firings and a “formal warning” to a brigadier and a general.
The observation of serious errors of identification and coordination at least recognized a certain Israeli responsibility. But no details have been provided about who exactly did what, and there’s no indication whether there was a high-level plan or just a low-level botch.
Netanyahu’s deeply felt response that the deaths were the “hazards of war” – mocked by World Central Kitchen founder José Andrés as “Oops! We dropped the wrong bomb!” – betrays his underlying dissatisfaction that aid officials did not have to be in a conflict zone.
The proven fact is that no Hamas fighters or accomplices were among the World Central Kitchen staff, and none carried weapons.
With Hamas, small and poorly equipped, remaining standing after six months of massive bombardment that destroyed 70 percent of Gaza’s buildings and killed 33,000 people, including 13,000 children, Israel’s reputation as the invincible master of the war precision is indeed undermined.
But the World Central Kitchen operation appears to have been carried out with precision, without the use of unguided munitions. Several circumstances suggest a calculated, almost surgical methodology, in which vehicles were neutralized one by one.
Not one, but three drone strikes spaced 1,600 meters apart occurred. After the first, the survivors, some injured, headed towards the second vehicle, only to be attacked again. Those remaining were killed in the third strike, with the last vehicle leaving the road in an apparent attempt to escape the ruthless pursuers.
Al-Jazeera cites reports that Israeli authorities were informed after the first two strikes.
Their terrifying precision also involves the use of a surveillance drone, meaning the control room would have had “full visibility” of the World Central Kitchen convoy and its prominent logos, according to Chris Cobb-Smith , British weapons expert. “It’s hard to see how this could be an accident,” he added.
Photographs show that a missile passed through the large logo on the roof of one of the vehicles. In response to an allegation by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) that the operation took place “at night in confidence…