Israel now faces a 'forever war' as its grip on Gaza loosens and militant forces remain viable

The latest raid on al-Shifa hospital reveals that the Israeli military's hold on the areas of Gaza supposedly cleared of Hamas militants is considerably more tenuous than the country's political leaders have claimed - and suggests the region's military superpower is facing a "forever war" in the territory, with enormous costs for everyone involved, particularly civilians.

- Jason Burke

The fighting around al-Shifa and its eventual seizure was the climactic moment of the first phase of Israel's offensive in Gaza, launched after Hamas killed 1,200 people and captured 250, mostly civilians, in a surprise raid on 7 October. There was bitter argument over whether the hospital's buildings and basements had been used by Hamas as a covert command centre, as Israel claimed, but none over the strength of Israel's control of the site when its soldiers moved in on 15 November.

Yesterday's raid is an implicit admission that this control seems to have slipped.

It is clear that Hamas is now operating in parts of northern Gaza that were supposedly controlled by Israeli forces. In February, there was fighting in Zeitoun, a neighbourhood of Gaza City, and al-Shati camp, farther up the coast.

There have even been clashes in Beit Hanoun, which was one of the first places overrun by Israeli forces at the beginning of the war.