By Abbie Cheeseman BEIRUT ; Patrick Lawnham and Chanel Zagon

Oct 15

The Israeli army has reportedly loosened its rules of engagement ahead of the expected ground invasion into the north of the Gaza Strip, amid heightened concerns over the level of civilian casualties the offensive could cause.

Three unnamed senior Israeli military officers told the New York Times that the loosened rules will allow Israeli soldiers to make fewer checks before shooting at suspected enemies.

When the ground incursion starts troops will be given cover by warplanes, helicopter gunships, aerial drones and artillery fired from land and sea, according to the reporting. Weather conditions that would affect that air cover is said to be behind the delay in the incursion starting.

As well as infantry, the Israeli strike force will include tanks, sappers and commandos, according to the NYT.

Before the ground invasion begins, this week’s conflict has already become the most deadly of all five Gaza wars as Israel pounds the densely populated territory with air strikes.

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Ukraine’s counter-offensive is a ‘disaster’, says former Zelensky adviser

Oleksiy Arestovych accuses Volodymyr Zelensky and his military commanders of making strategic mistakes and failing to break Russian lines

By James Kilner 15 October 2023

A former Ukrainian presidential adviser has described Kyiv’s stalled counter-offensive as a “disaster” and accused Volodymyr Zelensky of making strategic mistakes.

Oleksiy Arestovych said that Mr Zelensky and his military commanders have failed to break through Russian lines and that Ukraine now needed a new leader.

“They are not telling the truth. There will be no return to the borders of 1991, and there will be no Crimea in the near future,” he said.

Mr Arestovych resigned in January as a presidential adviser after a row over the effectiveness of Ukraine’s air defence systems.

This week, Ukrainian prosecutors opened an investigation into Mr Arestovych for comments that allegedly promote violence against women. He has denied the allegations.

In a statement released on X, formerly known as Twitter, Mr Arestovych said that Mr Zelensky had made “corrupt and inadequate decisions”, and described the counter-offensive as a wasted opportunity.

“Behind the strategic mistakes in the field loom strategic mistakes in public administration, foreign and domestic policy,” he said.

Public criticism of Mr Zelensky in Ukraine is rare, although after 20 months of war frustrations are growing. The US wants Ukraine to hold a presidential election next year, as scheduled, and has also encouraged Mr Zelensky to clamp down on corruption.

Some Western officials have also said that Ukraine’s Nato-backed counter-offensive has failed as it has only managed to recapture a sliver of territory along the extensive frontline.

Trench systems and minefields are obstacles

Ukrainian commanders have said that Russia’s trench systems and minefields have slowed them down.

Mr Arestovych said that rather than get sucked into battles around Bakhmut in the eastern Donetsk region, the Ukrainian army should have concentrated on breaking through the southern frontlines and preparing its own defences.

“Now we are at an impasse. The Russians can’t defeat us, we can’t defeat them,” he said.

It’s an assessment shared by Vladimir Putin, who took time out from meetings with leaders of former Soviet states in Kyrgyzstan, to tell a pro-Kremlin interviewer that Ukraine’s counter-offensive had failed.

“Our forces are improving their positions in almost every area,” Putin said on Sunday.