Israel is struggling to lay out a clear exit strategy in the Gaza Strip and has not decided whether it wants to kill Hamas' leadership or accept a deal to exile its members.

Regardless, a political source said Sunday, Israel will insist on having security control of the Gaza Strip after the end of the ongoing war with Hamas. "I don't see a situation in which Israel does not have ultimate security responsibility in the Gaza Strip," they said.

Meanwhile, political officials have only partial knowledge about the conditions and locations of some 240 hostages held by Hamas. The overwhelming majority of the hostages are thought to be alive, according to assessments.

The officials believe that despite the negotiation efforts led by Qatar, the parties are not on the verge of a deal to release the hostages. The prevailing assessment that a deal is highly unlikely, they said, led to the decision to launch a significant ground operation in Gaza.

Officials also believe the military pressure on Hamas in recent days is having an impact and hope it will nudge Hamas in the direction of a hostage release deal. "We're seeing something, [but] it hasn't borne fruit yet," said a political official. "But we weren't seeing anything before."

Political officials aren't ruling out the possibility of a humanitarian pause in the fighting, but only if it includes the release of the hostages. "Even if there's a ceasefire in exchange for the hostages' return, it will be temporary, and Israel will continue working to topple Hamas," the source said. They also criticized former Mossad chief Yossi Cohen's attempt to portray himself as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's envoy in the hostage rescue efforts.

"Yossi Cohen wasn't appointed to serve as an envoy on behalf of the prime minister," said the source. "He initiated a meeting with an Arab leader with the prime minister's permission. In addition, he had several meetings about a policy issue and was in touch with the national security adviser. The prime minister directed him to work under the current Mossad chief, David Barnea. Parallel channels could complicate things."

According to the source, "The negotiations with the Qataris are managed by the current head of the Mossad together with Maj. Gen. (res.) Nitzan Alon's command center for intelligence on the hostage and the head of the Shin Bet. They report to the war cabinet."

While Netanyahu’s political future is in question, a political source believes a normalization deal with Saudi Arabia is still attainable and that the parties hope to reach it soon. “There are wise people in both Saudi Arabia and Israel,” they said. “The activity we started before the war can be continued afterward – but on the condition that we win.”

Meanwhile, political officials acknowledge that they intend to switch tack and increase the amount of humanitarian aid allowed to enter Gaza. Alongside the fierce international pressure, officials admit that limiting the aid to pressure Hamas has turned out to be ineffective, as Yahya Sinwar, Hamas' leader in Gaza, is undeterred by the suffering of Gazan civilians and isn't helping to rescue Hamas' hostages.

Officials are increasingly concerned about a shortage of food and water leading to unrest among Gaza residents and an escalation of violent confrontation between them and IDF troops. They say that allowing the entry of extensive aid would boost the international community's support for significant operations against Hamas and willingness to send munitions to help deter Hezbollah and Iran in the north.

Regarding the north, the source said, “Hezbollah cannot currently breach the border because of our forces’ preparedness and readiness, so the idea of occupying the north is gone.” As for the evacuated residents of the north being afraid to return to their homes for fear of an attack like October 7, they said, “settlement in the north will be able to return because of the scale and intensity of the victory over Hamas. The IDF will prepare differently for border breaches and not just for the infiltration of squads into the towns. The IDF will be bigger. We’ll invest in the military.”

The Palestinian Authority's role in the future governance of Gaza is also unclear. Members of the government portray it as a radical entity whose aim is to destroy Israel and are struggling to decide if it should be part of Gaza's future.

"It's not enough to reconstruct Gaza," said the source. "There should be a process of denazification. This culture [of wanting to kill Jews] still exists in the Palestinian Authority." The official also referred to the Palestinian Authority’s threat that it wouldn’t use the tax revenue that Israel, which collects it on the PA’s behalf, has decided to transfer without the sum designated for Gaza. The threat isn’t being taken seriously, and a political official said, “If they want it, they’ll get it; if they don’t, they won’t.”

Meanwhile, officials say the human loss is relatively small compared with early predictions. This is due in part to the use of what is being termed the "elephant path" method: a slow advance by large formations allowing direct contact between the IDF and Hamas terrorists. According to officials' estimates, most of the civilian population of Gaza, around 800,000 people, has managed to flee the battle zone.

Four sandbags surround Jonathan. Above him is a dusty blanket serving as an improvised sunshade, behind him a peeling wall with a hole, under which is sprayed the word Dromi (“southern” in Hebrew). This is his secure spot in the heart of the Gaza Strip, his machine gun emplacement, which he finds the most beautiful position.

“We try to build the nicest possible emplacements,” brags Jonathan, a fighter in a brigade under the 36th Division, in front of his comrades. The positions close to him are different yet similar, all of them built with available materials, such as crates, blankets and anything on hand. “We set up really creative positions,” he adds. Creativity is in the eyes of the beholder.

It’s midday Friday on the ruins of a village south of Gaza City. The soundtrack of tanks, incessant shooting in the distance and heavy engineering equipment clearing the roads is in the air. These are relatively quiet moments. Here there are only ruins of a village that was, and evidence of lives that moved to the south or of people no longer alive. There are remnants of closets and drawers, tables with no legs, perhaps doors.

From the roofs of the few houses left standing, one can see the houses of Gaza. After the air force bombardments, one can see far, across many ruins, toward the refugee camps of Nuseirat and Bureij and the beach. We can almost touch the water.

From this village, terrorists of the Nukhba force set out on October 7 to attack Kibbutz Nahal Oz. Residents of this village also set out to pillage the kibbutz and steal the electric scooters. Now they are everywhere, stuck in the ground, some of them close to tunnels shafts leading to Gaza City. This is where Hamas video clips meet reality.

Many questions arise when you’re in the Gaza Strip with the war taking place all around. But an issue that comes up frequently on TV panels, social media and on Israel’s streets seems redundant when encountering the sights of Gaza. If the public is asking what the government’s priority was, the toppling of Hamas or the return of the hostages, looking at the intensity of the force that was used here leaves no room for doubt – Hamas comes first. “The IDF is conducting this operation as if there are no hostages,” says Col. Y., a brigade commander in the 36th Division. He immediately adds, “The people responsible for the hostages are operating as if there is no ground operation here.”

Y., who lives in Alon Shvut in the West Bank, is 38, married with six children. He is one of 12 siblings, seven of them mobilized since October 7. He cites the operation to extricate Ori Megidish as an example of these dual goals. “We don’t ignore any scrap of information about the hostages,” he says, but the war machine now in Gaza will be hard to stop and restrain.”

Caution, a ‘sting’ on the road

The entry into Gaza starts, symbolically, at the Kibbutz Be’eri gate. We join a deputy brigade commander, Lt. Col. G. He leads a small group of journalists (three, including this writer) to a staging area from where forces entered Gaza. “You don’t need helmets yet,” he says, trying to lighten the atmosphere. “Put them on when we near the fence. We’ll pass through roads cleared today by the Engineering Corps. They are relatively safe from explosive devices.” A sigh of relief, at least a partial one.

G. lives in Petah Tikva and is married to a doctor working at the Schneider Medical Center for Children. He has yet to meet his two-week-old daughter. This is his third campaign in enemy territory. In the Second Lebanon War, he was platoon commander in the Nahal Brigade, and he was a company commander in Operation Cast Lead. During that campaign, terrorists opened fire and threw grenades at his force. G. lost two of his men, and suffered shrapnel wounds all over his body. He needed a long rehabilitation process, but here he is again.

After a short drive, we reach the staging area, where we meet Col. M., standing alongside a Namer, the army’s most advanced armored personnel carrier, first used in this war. He asks everyone to put on safety belts. “It’s not because of the police,” he says with a smile. “It’s so that in case we go over a mine we don’t fly into the vehicle.” Driving along the fence northwards, we pass points at which many terrorists and rioters broke through on their way to nearby kibbutzim. Temporary repairs in several locations give some protection against incursions for now.

We stop suddenly, near Nahal Oz. “Two terrorists were seen on the road we’re supposed to travel on,” says M., “One of them whas an RPG.” He then took charge. Some tanks fired at the armed Palestinians. Another force then checked that the road was clear. “You probably think we arranged this for you,” he says. You lucked out, it was right in our way.”

That wasn’t our only surprise. There was also a warning that Hamas was planning to raid a house in an area already under Israeli control. “Make sure you have tanks giving you cover from the north and from the south against snipers,” Y. tells the area commander. “I’m on my way.” The brigade commander points to some green lights that came on inside the vehicle. “That’s the armored shield protection, we’ll be fine,” he assures. But we know soldiers using this device have been hurt anyway during the fighting.

“Snipers, anti-tank missiles and raids pose the main threats,” explains Col. Y. “The enemy is quite cowardly, but when he tries, he can sting us. I tell my soldiers we have to complete the mission first, then protect ourselves. We’re here to win.”

With the growing numbers of army forces, there is also a growing risk of friendly fire incidents. “There are clear section boundaries for all the forces, determining who fires and, mainly, when not to shoot,” says Y. “Friendly fire concerns are higher than a terrorist shooting at these vehicles.”

After entering Gaza, the scenery changes. We pass by farmland, now devoid of trees or bushes, only marked by tracks left by tanks and heavy equipment. Here and there, we see craters and destruction wrought by airstrikes.

Then we reach the first point, the house about which there was a warning of a Hamas raid. It was once some kind of vacation home. Now the yellowish building has no windows, looking like it’s in a stage of demolition. “We need to move quickly to the building because of snipers to the south,” Y. tells us. We point our smartphones at him. “I’m giving you a briefing and you’re pushing cameras in my face,” he says with laughter mixed with seriousness, or vice versa. The dangers are real here, he stresses. “In every area with ruins, try to stay unseen and hide behind shelters.”

Brigade commander Y. climbs to the second floor of a ruined building in a village from which one can see the “vacation” house. A shaft to a tunnel is in its yard, says another officer. “This is a place for observation and snipers,” he adds. “We’ll try to hit it with mortars. The command is given and the mortars start firing. The first attempt fails. The shells land east of the building. The second attempt is more successful. The building sustains direct hits and the target is neutralized.

Throughout our journey we saw no one but soldiers. Even though an estimated 300,000 people remain in northern Gaza, they’re not seen. It’s a ghost strip. A yard with an electric scooter in it lies at the foot of the house, which the officers use as an observation post. But this isn’t just another scooter. He notices it came from Kibbutz Be’eri, based on a sticker or an inscription. A scooter not from here. That’s the whole story.

The same yard has two shafts, says Lt. Col. R., a battalion commander. Early on in the war, he was injured at Kibbutz Kissufim, but he’s back. Like G., he’s yet to see his two-week-old son. He only heard the circumcision ceremony through a secure line. With resolve, he insists on explaining why it was more important for him to be here. “The hostages were apparently brought here first,” he says. “The shafts suggest they were taken through tunnels into Gaza City, which is very close.”

A corner of sanity

The devastation in Gaza is immense. Entire neighborhoods look like junkyards. Here and there, houses still standing stick out. Some have become, by necessity of warfare, rest and shelter spots for soldiers. At the entrance to one of these buildings, a combat trooper sits to eat, a table before him – half a front door, on closer inspection. He found it among the rubble, he says. “I’m having a decadent feast of tuna, beans, and hummus,” he declares. “That’s what we’ve been eating here for two weeks. Welcome to our villa.” His comrades, back from operational duty, try to get some rest in the “villa” living room. The lucky ones who managed to grab a mattress sleep well. Others just flop down on the floor, lay their heads on their helmets, and dream of a comfy pillow.

Soldiers hung a sign reading “smoking corner” along the staircase leading upstairs. The roof is off limits for smoking, for fear of snipers. Between the ubiquitous soundtrack of war, the smoke of bombings and the dust of bulldozers, it seems that the smoking corner is a kind of corner of sanity for many troopers.

Within this house, and others, a rare sort of Noah’s ark is happening. Soldiers from the paratroopers, Golani, Kfir, combat engineering, and various brigades all share the same spaces. “Can you believe Golani and paratroopers are fighting here in the same force?” asks Col. Y., alluding to the sense of unity he perceives in the public. “If they are fighting together, and armored brigades 7 and 188 are fighting together on the ruins of Netzarim and are driving down the Gaza shoreline side by side, then anything is possible in life. This is the first time they’re fighting together. This is a crazy event.”

The reason is that the army is fighting for the first time in formations of brigade combat crews, which include infantry, engineering, and armored troops, making them a more effective force. These formations cause the brigades to move forces between themselves. So the saying that the leopard shall lie down with the kid before a Nahal soldier will break bread with a Golan soldier has become somewhat outdated.

Major A., the commander of the brigade’s command post, stands on a roof. When informed that he was about to enter Gaza, he decided to embark on a personal mission. “Before we entered, I spoke with the soldiers, and told them that wherever we arrive, we’ll fly the Israeli flag – and we’re keeping our word,” he says. After hanging the flag on the latest conquered outpost, he wanted to celebrate with some pink candy. “That’s from the Barbie movie, bro,” a comrade muttered to him, souring his sweet tooth. “What Barbie? What does Barbie have to do with me?” he replied, tucking the packet back in his combat vest.

Draining the swamp

Toward the end of the tour, Col. Y. says he was surprised to some extent by how events played out in the first days. “The resistance is less than we thought we’d find here,” he explains. “There was resistance, and there were combat casualties, but we’re holding the ground very strongly.” He says Hamas fighters are active mostly during the day.

The way back is replete with the same sights and sounds that attended the ride in. We see ditches, perhaps dug by Hamas, perhaps remnants of an IAF bombing. Only special forces handle the ditches. The mission of the forces under Y. is “to open logistics routes and keep them open and clean of IEDs and anti-tank threats,” he explains. In general, the maneuvering of the divisions in Gaza is a constant motion of aggressive, precision fighting against targets vital to Hamas rule. They don’t necessarily go after rocket launchers or armed militants. In the words of the commanders on the ground: They aim to drain the swamp and not deal with the mosquitoes. “A soldier, in the end, has to locate and kill the enemy, find ditches and find intelligence, so that we can win without any dilemmas,” Y. summarizes. “To the soldier, the mission is very clear.”

When we get to the start (and end) point, near Kibbutz Be’eri, on Friday afternoon, we feel some relief. There are a bit more laughs, we take off the helmets, even loosen the ceramic combat vests a bit. A moment before the armed personnel carrier stops, Lt. Col. G. thinks of another front. “What will happen with Nasrallah’s speech?” he asks, “Will a war start in the north, too?”