Ceasefire negotiations teeter on edge as Israeli army faces operational challenges

Report by Amal Shehadeh, English adaptation by Karine Keuchkerian

With the onset of the "Al-Aqsa Flood" war entering its fifth month, negotiations are once again threatened. 

The arrival of the Hamas delegation in Cairo has moved the stagnation in the negotiations towards a ceasefire. 

Meanwhile, Israel refuses the participation of its delegation until it obtains a list of captives to be included in the deal, a demand deemed impossible by Hamas due to the dire situation in Gaza caused by the ongoing war.

Israel awaits any progress in Cairo to discuss it in the war cabinet, taking advantage of the US president's statement that the ball is now in Hamas' court, strengthening its position.

The negotiations come amid increasing threats of invading Rafah. 

Security officials reveal a real crisis facing Israel after five months of fighting: The Israeli army is lacking about eight thousand soldiers, hindering operations on multiple fronts. 

In Gaza, many soldiers continue to refuse participation in combat, as the Israeli army operates there within two units and four divisions. 

This shortage makes achieving the objectives of the "Al-Aqsa Flood" war from Gaza in the south to Lebanon in the north, alongside the West Bank, seem unattainable.

The crisis is not only in the shortage of soldiers; an Israeli report revealed that with the increasing casualties among Israeli soldiers, the last of whom were three in the past hours, the army is unable to execute operations quickly, allowing Hamas fighters to approach and open fire. 

The report raised two questions about the Rafah invasion: 

The first, whether it is appropriate to advance into the south despite international pressures, particularly from the US and Egypt, while the army insists that Rafah is a Hamas stronghold and that the image of victory will emerge from there. 

The second question relates to the army's capability to defeat Hamas and whether the attack will thwart efforts to reach a captive exchange deal.

Therefore, Israel is facing challenging days amid apparent confusion in the structure of the army's leadership and the war cabinet, with a lack of consensus on the invasion of Rafah.