On the underground – Der Spiegel:

‘According to media reports, at least two divisions – for a total of more than 20,000 Israeli soldiers – have pushed into the Gaza Strip, marking a new phase in this war. And it is almost certain to claim more victims on the Palestinian side, but also among Israeli soldiers.’

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‘The principle of proportionality in international humanitarian law demands that the anticipated military advantage be weighed against the inevitable consequences for civilians, explains Birgit Haslinger, head of the Institute of Public International Law at Johannes Kepler University in Linz, Austria. Does the Israeli attempt to eliminate Hamas fighters justify the high number of civilian casualties? "That’s difficult to answer," she says. "Personally, I find debatable the degree to which an airstrike can be viewed as the military approach that might have achieved the military goal – the elimination of Hamas fighters – with the least possible amount of collateral damage."
She adds: "Either way, the fact is that the violation of international humanitarian law perpetrated by Hamas does not justify a violation of that law by the Israelis." Israel, she believes, would be well-advised to "strictly adhere to the principles of international humanitarian law – if only to prevent a further escalation of the violence."’

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‘International humanitarian law does not specify how many civilian deaths can be considered proportionate in an attack on a military target. Every army has its own internal rules and guidelines. In Iraq, the U.S. is thought at times to have considered 10 dead civilians per enemy soldier eliminated to be acceptable. In Afghanistan, by contrast, the accepted ratio was apparently one to one.
Israel does not make its rules of engagement public. Prior to each strike, army leadership decides whether it is proportionate. Furthermore, legal advisers provide guidance as operations progress. Nevertheless, there has been repeated criticism of Israeli airstrikes in past Gaza wars. Following the war in 2014, during which 2,100 Palestinians died in a seven-week period, the UN accused Israel – and Hamas – of violating the rights of civilians and of committing possible war crimes.
The UN high commissioner for human rights sent out the following tweet on the day after the Jabaliya airstrike: "Given the high number of civilian casualties & the scale of destruction following Israeli airstrikes on Jabaliya refugee camp, we have serious concerns that these are disproportionate attacks that could amount to war crimes."’

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‘Still, the massive invasion that observers had been expecting and many in the Israeli government are demanding has thus far not materialized – despite the mobilization of more than 300,000 reserve troops. The army has only said that ground forces have been "expanding their activity." One reason for the apparent restraint could be fears that a large-scale invasion of Gaza might trigger a response by the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon. The U.S. has apparently also been urging Israel to avoid a massive invasion.

The independent military expert Franz-Stefan Gady believes that the foreseeable future also won’t see a large, rapidly moving offensive. Instead, he expects the conflict to devolve into "21st century siege warfare." The Israeli army, he predicts, will move forward slowly, systematically isolating and destroying Hamas strongholds. Most of them are located underground, with an estimated several hundred kilometers of tunnels buried up to 60 meters (almost 200 feet) deep in some places. As many as 40,000 terrorists are thought to have taken refuge in those tunnels, with sufficient munitions, fuel, food and medicine to survive for several months.’

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‘Much of the Israeli army is made up of conscripts and reservists, many of whom have no experience with house-to-house combat, meaning they must first be trained. Such training is presumably underway – and could also be a reason for the slow speed of the Israeli advance. Furthermore, the limited ground offensive frees Israel of the need to commit most of its army to operations in the Gaza Strip. Doing so would be dangerous, since there is still a threat of a largescale attack from Hezbollah, which would open up a second front in northern Israel.’ Read the article here.

In Iraq ten to one, in Afghanistan ‘only’ one to one? Why?

40,000 combatants in the ‘subway’ – as the tunnels are called in Gaza – raises the question, what is going to happen with these combatants?

Israel doesn’t have much time, Harel predicted in Haaretz that Biden will stop the operation somewhere between Thanksgiving and Christmas, see here. In that case many Hamas strongholds underground will remain untouched.

As to the second front, Iran is not interested in war, but mistakes happen, and Hezbollah has its own agenda. Proxy armies might do things against the will of their masters.

There is no serious endgame in sight, I keep repeating it, except attempts to return to the status quo of October 6. Unpalatable to many, on both sides, but reality is often unpalatable.