Deal or No Deal? Why Israel Launched Ground Attack in a Gaza City It Hadn’t Entered Since War Began 

Israel Defense Forces have pushed into a central Gaza city for the first time since Israel’s war with Hamas began following the militant group’s Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack on Israel. 

Tanks rolled into the southern and eastern areas of Deir al-Balah on Monday. The city holds one of four “central camps” in Gaza, the Jerusalem Post reports, and many Gazans have fled to this city since the start of the war. Due to the lack of military activity in the region, the Post reported Hamas is thought to have a presence in the area. 

Israel likely decided to begin conducting military operation in Deir al-Balah to pressure Hamas to accept a proposed deal that would see 10 living hostages set free, according to Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, a former IDF spokesman and a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.  

The IDF operation is “basically telling Hamas that if you don’t agree to the deal, then the other option will be the military one, where the IDF will go in, conquer the entire Gaza Strip, and fight against Hamas until Hamas is totally defeated with all the additional consequences of that,” Conricus told The Daily Signal.  

There are still 50 hostages in Gaza, 20 of whom are thought to be alive.  

“Israel is operating in Deir al-Balah to achieve the dual objectives of the war—defeat Hamas and return the hostages,” Daniel Flesch, a senior policy analyst for the Middle East and North Africa at The Heritage Foundation, told The Daily Signal.  

Israel, through Operation Gideon’s Chariots, is seeking “to deprive Hamas of the means to control Gaza,” Flesch said. “This requires a military presence across much of the strip, including Deir al-Balah.” 

On Friday, President Donald Trump said he thought 10 hostages held by Hamas would be released “very shortly.”  

Ahead of the ground and aerial operation in Deir al-Balah, Israel dropped leaflets on Sunday, warning civilians to evacuate the area.  

One reason Israel is reported not to have carried out military operations in Deir al-Balah until now is because the IDF thinks Hamas might be holding some hostages in the city. In June 2024, the IDF rescued four hostages—Noa Argamani, Shlomi Ziv, Almog Meir Jan, and Andrey Kozlov—from an area nearby.  

“As we’ve seen from the previous ceasefires and IDF retrievals of hostages, it is the IDF’s presence and increased military pressure that has been a deciding factor in seeing the hostages released from Hamas captivity,” Flesch said.  

The IDF is taking “additional special precautions” to ensure the operation does not harm hostages who might be in Deir al-Balah, according to Conricus.  

While the ceasefire and hostage deal currently on the table would bring 10 Israelis home, Conricus says in his assessment, that is the only good thing about it. 

“Other than that, it’s a very bad deal because it allows Hamas to stay in power and to continue to effectively fight against Israel and to exist in Gaza,” the former IDF spokesman said.  

Hamas’ decision to accept or reject a deal with Israel will, according to Conricus, show what the terrorist group’s “true priorities are—their own survival or the well-being of people in Gaza.”  

“My assessment is that Hamas will prefer their own survival,” Conricus said, “and they will continue, and they will find an excuse not to agree to a ceasefire, and by doing so, they will really determine the fate of the Gaza Strip, and sadly also, possibly, of the Israeli hostages.”  

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