Middle East Crisis: As Israel Fights Again in Gaza’s North, Military’s Discontent Grows

They said Mr. Netanyahu’s unwillingness to have a serious conversation about the “day after” has made it easier for Hamas to reconstitute itself in places such as Jabaliya in northern Gaza, which Israel first attacked in October — and where it launched a new air and ground assault this week.

Eran Lerman, Israel’s deputy national security adviser from 2006 to 2015, said the backlash Israel is facing from much of the world over the war, and the rising death toll among Palestinians in Gaza, comes in part from “the lack of coherent vision for the day after.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has resisted calls to bring the fighting to an end, arguing that there can be no civilian government in Gaza until Hamas is destroyed. On Monday, in a podcast interview, he said the territory needed “sustained demilitarization by Israel” first, because “no one’s going to come in until they know that you either destroyed Hamas, or you’re about to destroy Hamas.”

But with a growing number of analysts and officials questioning whether Israel can accomplish such a broad goal, the more vocal critique from parts of the military reflects a gradually widening rift with the Netanyahu government.

While Israeli strategists have said they expected troops to go back to some areas of Gaza in later phases of the war, the two Israeli officials said that starting to set up a new governing authority in Gaza would make things more difficult for Hamas — and could lighten the load for the Israeli military.

The military’s leaders “are frustrated that they have been given a military assignment that ends up repeating like Groundhog Day, because the larger strategic and political questions haven’t been answered by the government,” said Michael Koplow, an analyst at Israel Policy Forum.

For Mr. Netanyahu, the political considerations involve trying to hold together a government with right-wing parties that have demanded an all-out assault on Gaza over American objections, and are unwilling to support what Arab countries have demanded as a prerequisite for their help in Gaza: a path to a Palestinian state.

If Mr. Netanyahu veers too far from their demands, they have threatened to topple the government, which could leave Mr. Netanyahu to face a series of corruption allegations without the powers he has as prime minister.

Dr. Lerman, the former deputy national security adviser, recently published a proposed plan with other scholars at the Wilson Center that calls for a multinational authority to administer and police Gaza, led by the United States, Egypt and other nations. It has been shared with Israeli authorities.

Other proposals have included efforts to strengthen the Palestinian Authority that now governs the Israeli-occupied West Bank, but the Israeli government has also rejected that idea, arguing that the authority is not a competent, credible partner.

Former Israeli officials sounded warnings about a lack of postwar planning even before the ground assault in Gaza began. On Oct. 14, a week after the devastating Hamas-led attack that killed 1,200 people, Israeli officials say, and touched off the Israeli military offensive, Tzipi Livni, a former foreign minister, called on the government to consider Gaza’s postwar future.

“Otherwise,” she said, “we would get stuck there unnecessarily and with a heavy price tag.”

In an interview Tuesday, she said this was exactly what had happened.

“Just imagine if we had decided this before, and started working earlier with the U.S., the Palestinian Authority, Egypt, the U.A.E. and the Saudis,” she said, referring to the United Arab Emirates. “It would be much easier.”

Johnatan Reiss and Gabby Sobelman contributed reporting.

1. Near the site of a strike in Nuseirat, in central Gaza, on Tuesday.

   Ramadan Abed/Reuters

2. Searching for casualties at the site of the strike in Nuseirat.

   Ramadan Abed/Reuters

3. Watching the recovery effort from a balcony in Nuseirat.

   Ramadan Abed/Reuters

4. An Israeli tank along the border with Gaza.

   Amir Levy/Getty Images

5. Protesters marching through Tel Aviv, calling for a hostage and ceasefire deal, on Monday.

   Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images

The nationality of the killed worker, a man, was not immediately announced. Jordan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the injured staff member, a woman, was Jordanian and said the incident was “a result of Israel’s expansion of military operations in Rafah," adding that Jordan “holds Israel responsible for this.”

The Israeli military said it had conducted an initial inquiry that found “that the vehicle was hit in an area declared an active combat zone” and that its forces “had not been made aware of the route of the vehicle.” It said the incident was still under review.

In addition to the more than 35,000 Palestinians killed in Israel’s war with Hamas, according to the Gazan health authorities, the conflict has been the deadliest one for the U.N. in its history. More than 190 U.N. staff members have been killed, Mr. Haq said, all Palestinians except for the staff member killed on Monday.

“Humanitarian workers must be protected,” António Guterres, the U.N. secretary general, said in a post on social media. “I condemn all attacks on U.N. personnel and reiterate my urgent appeal for an immediate humanitarian cease-fire & the release of all hostages.”

One senior U.N. official, who was briefed on the incident by security officials in Gaza, said an initial assessment indicated that the convoy was not struck from the air and was not caught in crossfire.

The convoy was going along its route in the morning in marked U.N. vehicles when it came under direct gunfire, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the United Nations had yet to release a public report on the incident.

Heavy fighting continued on Monday in Gaza City, Jabaliya and Rafah, the southern city where more than one million people fled to try to escape Israel’s military offensive. Mr. Haq said that 360,000 people have fled Rafah since Israel issued an evacuation order a week ago.

“We remain deeply concerned about the lack of protection for civilians and the lack of safety for humanitarian operations,” Mr. Haq said. “Civilians must be protected and have their basic needs met, whether they move or stay.”

Dr. James Smith, a British emergency specialist who was traveling between medical facilities in southern Gaza on Monday, said via text message that he had visited the European Gaza Hospital earlier in the day. Dr. Smith said the emergency room was busy with screaming patients and medical staff running through the corridors.

He said very little aid was available to displaced people seeking shelter and the scenes around the hospital were bleak.

“Khan Younis has been decimated,” Dr. Smith said.

The World Health Organization said on Monday that the Israeli incursion into Rafah had jeopardized health services, with humanitarian workers unable to deliver lifesaving medical supplies.

Mr. Haq said that the lack of fuel entering Gaza remains one of the top challenges for humanitarian aid work. Hospital generators require at least 46,000 liters of fuel per day, and the need for fuel will only grow as the fighting in Rafah expands, Mr. Haq said.

Anushka Patil contributed reporting.