Why does Israel conceal its operations in Gaza?

Pars Today – The Israeli military is conducting its operations in the Gaza Strip under strict censorship, with analysts suggesting that this secrecy serves not only military purposes but also benefits the crisis-ridden Netanyahu cabinet.

According to Pars Today, the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported that Eyal Zamir, Chief of Staff of the Israeli military, and Effie Defrin, the military spokesperson, are deliberately withholding information about ongoing military operations in Gaza and civilian casualty figures, insisting on a policy of censorship and secrecy. This occurs amid waning public support in Israel for continuing the war.

The newspaper outlined two main reasons given by the Israeli military for this secrecy:
First, to prevent the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, from accessing information about the nature and routes of current operations. Second, the military leadership prefers to conduct operations without public announcements, revealing details only after achieving desired results.

This approach is particularly driven by Eyal Zamir, who, during his inauguration speech, admitted, “Hamas has not yet been defeated, and we will face years of a multi-front war of attrition.”
Yedioth Ahronoth noted that during last year’s ground operations in Gaza, the Israeli military provided daily updates on the war’s progress and allowed journalists to file field reports and interview soldiers. The stated goal was to convey the voices of soldiers and officers to their families and the Israeli public.

However, currently, even displaying the faces of soldiers and officers below the rank of brigadier general is prohibited.
This ban is justified by concerns over potential international legal pursuits outside occupied Palestine due to war crime allegations.

The report further states that this policy of silence and censorship is highly advantageous for the political echelons of the Israeli regime, particularly for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is under investigation by the International Criminal Court.


In Israeli media, the current ground operations are misleadingly portrayed as either a continuation of the offensive against Hamas or the start of a full-scale war anew.

The report continues: This misrepresentation allows the far-right faction in the cabinet to believe the military is crushing Hamas, securing the return of Ben-Gvir to the cabinet and ending Smotrich’s threats to leave it. However, it seems both Ben-Gvir and Smotrich are either aware of the reality or unwittingly complicit in deceiving themselves and others, as Hamas remains resilient.

MG/ME