Avoiding the Appearance of Annexation
Israel should not be planting its flags in Gaza. Just yesterday, the IDF declared that it had conquered the Hamas parliament in Gaza and released a photo of its soldiers waving the Israeli flag there. A week ago, the IDF released images of the Israeli flag planted on the beach in Gaza. This is a mistake. How can Israel claim that it is not trying to recapture Gaza and displace the Palestinians there when these images suggest otherwise? Every time Israel releases an image of the Israeli flag in Gaza it undermines the position that its military campaign is righteous and not a land grab. There are other ways to flaunt military might and demoralize the enemy.
Israel cannot afford to provide propaganda for its adversaries. These images are a gift to the Hamas apologists in the media and on college campuses. Qatari state-owned Arabic-language news television network Al Jazeera was very quick to post the images because they support the narrative that Israel is using 10/7 as an excuse to annex Gaza. Hamas is extremely adept at manipulating world opinion as it is. That is because much of the world seems inclined to believe that Israel is evil and Hamas is a legitimate resistance movement. Israel does not need to assist them further.
Gaza is not the only front in this war. While Israel is clearly winning the war in Gaza, it is arguably losing the war over public opinion. And the two fronts impact each other. What happens on the battlefield influences public opinion, and public opinion affects what happens on the battlefield. Hamas’ strategy of maximizing harm to its civilian population is effective because public pressure for a ceasefire grows with every civilian casualty.
It doesn’t help that Netanyahu plans for Israel to retain security control of Gaza “indefinitely.” Perhaps once Hamas is defeated an international peacekeeping force could relieve the IDF in Gaza and allay concerns over annexation. In the meantime, Israel should not fuel the narrative that 10/7 is a pretext to reoccupy Gaza.
