"We do know that Israeli forces are still encountering resistance in the border areas where they first entered the Gaza Strip some 10 days ago, and it seems reasonable to assume they are facing greater resistance within Gaza City," Rabbani stated.
"While it is clear that Israeli forces are successfully moving deeper into Gaza City, it remains unclear to what extent these are incursions as opposed to advances that have established actual control. On the one hand, Israeli forces are clearly advancing, on the other, its military significance remains unclear," the analyst stated.
"The Israeli military's presence in key locations such as those you mention is indisputably of symbolic political value but its military utility is marginal. The governor's residence, legislative council etc. are not important military sites, or indeed military sites at all. These actions are related more to Israel's vow to eliminate Hamas's capacity to govern the Gaza Strip," Rabbani emphasized.
"From what I can observe, Hamas's command and control capacities, its ability to fire rockets at distant cities like Tel Aviv, its ability to continue attacking advancing Israeli forces, is unaffected. I can't imagine it has not been degraded and suffered losses, perhaps significantly so. But as a fighting organization it remains intact," Rabbani stated.