Full control strategy: Israel's military campaign in Gaza fails to advance hostage deal

Report by Amal Shehadeh, English adaptation by Yasmine Jaroudi 

Israel's "Operation Strength and Sword" against Gaza, which has struck more than 1,800 targets in its latest phase, has so far failed to achieve any breakthrough in negotiations over hostages. 

Israeli officials have acknowledged the deadlock, prompting a shift in Tel Aviv's priorities toward seeking complete control over Gaza after reducing it to rubble.

Currently, Israeli forces are working to replicate the 'Rafah model' across the entire strip, carrying out simultaneous aerial and ground operations, displacing residents, and using starvation tactics to turn the population against Hamas—an approach endorsed by parties in the ruling coalition.

In an apparent move to deflect mounting international criticism over killings and widespread hunger, Israel announced the creation of what it called a "humanitarian zone" where displaced Gazans would be relocated between the Morag Axis and Philadelphi Corridor. Observers have described this step as the beginning of Israel's deeper entanglement in Gaza.

Amid growing public protests and diminishing optimism for a hostage deal, the Israeli army has begun calling up reservists to deploy more military units in preparation for a large-scale offensive planned by Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir. 

However, expanding resistance to military service and acts of insubordination within the ranks present significant challenges to carrying out and advancing the operation.