The ceasefire is over. Nerve-wracking negotiations continued in Qatar on Thursday after a meager extension of just 24 hours to the humanitarian pause was pushed through minutes before the previously agreed deadline.

But on Friday morning Fighting resumed, because the deadline for the break has expired. The Israeli military said in a statement that it had resumed fighting against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, accusing the Palestinian armed group of violating the terms of the ceasefire by firing into Israeli territory. There were reports of explosions and gunfire in the northern Gaza Strip.

The Israeli military has long advocated continuing the war. On Wednesday, I explained the Army Joint Chiefs’ thinking: If they are not told the war is over, they assume it is not. That’s why they prefer to get on with it as quickly as possible, to get it over with as quickly as possible, preferably without interruptions that create indecision and weaken morale.

Since the decision to follow the October 7 attacks with a harsh armed response, the military approach has been most aggressively advocated by Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu maintained an aggressive stance throughout the crisis, but preferred to act as overall leader and leave purely military matters to the former professional soldier.

Gallant, until recently an active-duty general who began his career as a Marine commando and led Israel’s invasion of Gaza in 2010, is not known for mincing his words. Earlier this year, he warned Hezbollah that if Israel attacked, it would “return Lebanon to the Stone Age.”

At the beginning of the operations against Gaza, he referred to Israel’s enemies as “human animals”. Members of the military, from the top general to the last reservist, have little doubt that what Gallant says reflects official policy.

On Monday, the last day of the original four-day standoff and before the announcement of its first two-day extension, he made his wishes and intentions clear, telling a group of officers and soldiers that the ceasefire would not last much longer: “You have a couple of days. When we fight again, we will use the same strength and more and fight throughout Gaza.”

One can assume that Gallant will present and express the Israeli cabinet’s policy towards Gaza with much more precision and precision than his beleaguered and embattled prime minister, who is increasingly just trying to ensure his political survival.

Gallant wants to continue the war because he believes that the sooner fighting resumes, the more successful the military can be. But he may also have other things on his mind: Despite Israel’s political tradition of not questioning national leadership during an ongoing war, Netanyahu is increasingly facing criticism from his former aides, not just political opponents.

It is now clear that, despite his notorious political cunning, Netanyahu must face responsibility not only for his failure to prevent the intelligence humiliation and security catastrophe of October 7, but also for his stubborn insistence on political divisive justice reforms at any cost warnings that it would harm the country. The writing is on the wall that Israel will finally rid itself of Netanyahu once the war is over.

As a senior member of the Likud Party, which leads the current coalition, Gallant must be aware that the party will need a new leader after Netanyahu’s political demise. Israelis often prefer former officers, especially if they have a track record, so he would like to put himself on pole position for this race sooner rather than later.

Although he was not personally involved in the negotiations, as a member of the inner circle of decision-makers he was well aware of the difficulties associated with negotiating additional pauses in fighting.

The defense minister seemed so sure on Monday that the ceasefire wouldn’t last much longer that he even specified how the renewed attacks would proceed: “You will first encounter the air force bombs, and then the tank shells and the.” artillery and the paws of the D9 [armoured bulldozers]and finally the shooting of the infantry fighters.”

He also announced another phase of fighting and said Israel would fight “across the Gaza Strip.”

An expansion of the ground invasion south of Gaza City’s current encirclement line would represent a dangerous escalation. At least 1.8 million people out of Gaza’s 2.3 million population have been displaced by Israeli bombing, most of them moving south.

That means the south is now so overcrowded that there is a risk that a full-scale ground assault by Israel will leave the people of Gaza with no choice but to try to cross the border fence into Egypt.

Egypt has warned against this since the conflict began do not accept refugees, fearing political destabilization and security risks. When confronted with this reality, in the worst case scenario, it may have to resort to violence.

Such an intensification would almost certainly draw into the war many armed groups and states that have so far shown patience and hope for a rational way out.