JERUSALEM/ISTANBUL

The Israeli army is trying to impose a new reality on the ground in the Gaza Strip before the deployment of an international stabilization force, as it may no longer be able to carry out daily strikes in the enclave as it does in Lebanon, an Israeli daily said Sunday.

“Israel is also racing to shape conditions on the ground before foreign forces arrive, since responding to violations will become more sensitive once international troops are present,” the daily Yedioth Ahronoth said.

Israel “would prefer to apply the Lebanese model in Gaza, but conditions there are more complicated,” it added.

The Israeli army has killed at least 342 Palestinians and injured 875 others in Gaza in violation of a ceasefire deal that took effect on Oct. 10.

The Israeli paper attributed the difficulty facing Israel in Gaza to US pressure as Washington “wants to move to the second phase of the ceasefire framework.”

“Israel is resisting, citing Hamas’ failure to return the bodies of three slain hostages.”

Hamas has released 20 Israeli captives alive and handed over the remains of 27 out of 28, most of them Israelis, since the ceasefire. Israel, however, claimed that one of the received bodies did not match any of its listed captives.

The newspaper said Israel “has adopted a policy of responding firmly to any violation in the strip to signal that Hamas will not be allowed to reconstitute its capabilities.”

The second phase of the ceasefire agreement “would require steps to ease conditions in Gaza, including reopening the Rafah crossing, expanding humanitarian aid, allowing movement in and out of the enclave and eventually pulling back to a new line once an authority capable of managing the territory is in place,” it added.

“Once an internationally backed stabilization force is formed — now approved by the UN Security Council — pressure to implement the next phase is expected to grow.

“Foreign troops, likely from Arab and Muslim countries rather than Western states, are expected to arrive within weeks for training,” said the Israeli daily.

Since October 2023, the Israeli army has killed nearly 70,000 people, mostly women and children, injured over 170,000 others in a brutal offensive that also reduced the enclave to rubble.

Phase one of the ceasefire deal includes the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. The plan also envisages the rebuilding of Gaza and the establishment of a new governing mechanism without Hamas.