Despite military victories over Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran, the trauma of the October 7, 2023 defeat, following the Hamas terrorist attack, still weighs heavily on the Israeli army. It was a “severe, resounding, systemic failure,” said Chief of the General Staff Eyal Zamir, in late November 2025, when he announced individual sanctions against senior officers deemed responsible. That failure partly explains the Israeli army’s position since the ceasefire imposed in October 2025 by Donald Trump.

“For the military, what it changed is that we were willing to take risks for peace. And now we’re not willing, we want peace, but we’re not willing to take risks,” said an official military source authorized to speak to Le Monde.

The challenge in the coming weeks will be to disarm Hamas and demilitarize the Gaza Strip – key elements of the second phase of Trump’s “peace plan.” “They’ve got to [lay down their arms]… If they don’t do it, they’ll be blown away very quickly,” threatened the American president in Davos, Switzerland, during the World Economic Forum on Thursday, January 22, as he established the “Board of Peace,” a body envisioned when the ceasefire was announced.

You have 85.72% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.