Israel, which is changing the pace of war, offers several explanations at home and abroad

As the gap between Israeli and international perceptions of the war against Hamas in Gaza widens, Israeli leadership has crafted differing messages for the two audiences on how the war will be waged in 2024.

Israeli officials have begun telling international news media that their forces are moving to a less intense phase of operations, especially in northern Gaza, amid growing international alarm over the scale of destruction and civilian casualties in the area.

On Monday, Israeli military spokesman Vice Admiral Daniel Hagari said in an interview with The New York Times that the war had entered a new phase, with Israel withdrawing its troops, focusing on Gaza’s southern regions and increasing airstrikes. Hours earlier, Defense Secretary Yoav Gallant told The Wall Street Journal that Israel would soon move from “intense maneuvering” to “different types of special operations.”

But after these comments were published, both men sought to reassure the Israeli public on Monday evening that Israel remained committed to a long-term war in Gaza even as military tactics changed.

In his daily Hebrew news conference on Monday evening, Admiral Hagari responded to a question about his interview with The Times by saying that the goal of dismantling Hamas remained in place, and that the “semantics” of whether the war had a new dimension got. phase “does not serve the Israeli public.”

Separately, Israeli news media reported that Mr. Gallant told fellow right-wing lawmakers at a closed-door meeting that the war would continue for “many months,” and for that to happen, Israel needed a “margin for international maneuver.” Mr Gallant’s office confirmed the comments.

The comments on international news media also appeared to be an attempt to meet calls from the United States, Israel’s strongest ally, to ease the fighting, and they came hours before US Secretary of State Antony J .Blinken, landed in Tel Aviv for discussions about the war. The Biden administration is under pressure to scale back its support for Israel, and Mr Blinken has previously called on Israel to use more precision in its attacks on Gaza.

Yoav Limor, a military commentator, wrote in Israel Hayom, a right-wing daily: “The Israeli government locked itself into contradictory obligations: the obligations it made to the Israeli public, saying there would be no time limit and the war would continue as long as necessary until victory; and the commitments it made to the world, primarily to the government in Washington, saying that the war was now moving to a new phase of the war of lower intensity.”

Analysts said the messages are not incompatible: The pace of war can slow without the conflict ending completely. But they said they reflected the Israeli government’s efforts to appease an international audience in the short term so it could pursue its long-term goals.

While a majority of Israelis want Hamas destroyed after the brutal attack on Israel on October 7, international public opinion has turned against Israel. More than 23,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Israel began its offensive, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which makes no distinction between civilians and fighters.

Adding to the pressure on Israel, a hearing is scheduled this week at the International Court of Justice in a case brought by South Africa accusing Israel of attempting genocide against the Palestinians. Israeli officials have strongly denied the accusation.

“With all these things together, Israel wants to build an image of, ‘Okay, we have taken the criticism, we have integrated and incorporated the comments,’” said Alon Pinkas, former Consul General of Israel in New York and a political commentator , said in an interview.

By contrast, he said, the Israeli mainstream does not want to hear that the war is coming to an end while Hamas remains active in much of Gaza. Israelis, he added, “understand that very little has been achieved if the intention was to eliminate, eradicate, destroy, annihilate or overthrow Hamas.”