Israel seems intent on postponing the oft-announced land invasion of the Strip for a few days, even if the army is now ready to go into action. While the military wing of Hamas, the al Qassam Brigades, announced in the evening the release of two other hostages, two women, thanks to the mediation of Qatar and Egypt.
Many more could soon find freedom: according to various sources, in fact, the militiamen’s release of at least 50 prisoners would be imminent with dual citizenship, who would be released on the Egyptian side of Rafah to be returned to their respective embassies.
The postponement of the ground operation – also reported by Israeli military radio – therefore also appears to be linked to the need to encourage the exit of foreign hostages from Gaza (at the request of the US and mediation by Qatar and Egypt), as well as to allow entry of humanitarian aid – a third convoy arrived today – intended for the population of the Strip.
All this despite the fact that rockets continue to be launched from the Palestinian enclave together with those of Hezbollah in northern Israel and, in parallel, there is a marked increase in raids by Jewish aviation. Iran also shows no signs of decreasing the tension: after Sunday’s intimidation, today the second in command of the Pasdaran Ali Fadavi threatened a direct attack by Tehran against Israel, indicating the city of Haifa as the target.
While the US has in turn accused the ayatollah regime of “facilitating” attacks against American bases in the Middle East by various Shiite militias. As the primary cause for the postponement of the invasion, military radio cited the need to wait for US reinforcements to arrive in the region. The United States essentially communicated to Israel its intention to deploy additional forces following Iranian threats to act “on various fronts”.
The Biden administration – against a ceasefire now because “it would only benefit Hamas” – has meanwhile sent a Marine general and other officers to Israel as advisors for the next operations, also on the basis of the experience gained in the battle against ISIS in Mosul. The Israeli army, however, continues to prepare: soldiers, both those on duty and those recalled, are conducting a “series of exercises in order to increase capabilities for the ground operation in Gaza”, explained the military spokesperson, adding that “combat teams combining forces of infantry, armored corps and other units” are being trained to be employed “in a number of different scenarios”.
The military is convinced that to achieve the objectives of the war against Hamas it is necessary to start the ground offensive “as soon as possible”. After 16 days of devastating attacks from the air, the army informed the government that it was fully ready for the ground offensive, convinced that it could achieve the objectives established even at the cost of heavy losses and despite repeated Hezbollah attacks in the north.
To deny friction between the government and the army compared to the times of the invasion, Prime Minister Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi intervened in the evening with a joint statement in which they underlined that they were “in close and full collaboration”, asking the media “to avoid fake news”. But rumors of internal disagreements within the government have also been fueled by rumors according to which “at least three ministers” are considering the possibility of resigning to force the prime minister to assume his responsibilities for the Hamas attack on 7 October. On the field, the situation has not changed much: Israel continues to pound the Strip, targeting the bases and commanders of Hamas and Islamic Jihad with 436 deaths – according to local health – in the last 24 hours. The victims in the Strip – but also in the West Bank in clashes with the army – exceeded the threshold of 5,000, of which 2,055 were minors. In Israel there are now 222 identified hostages but among these – announced Minister Antonio Tajani – there are no longer the other two missing Italian-Israelis: Nir Forti, 29 years old, and Liliach Lea Havron, whose body was identified today , wife of Eviatar Moshe Kipnis, declared dead a few days ago.
To know more
– Fronde against Netanyahu, three ministers contest the prime minister’s hard line: stop the ground offensive
– Hamas ready to free 50 hostages: “We want a truce and fuel”
– Children, poets, doctors in the Gaza massacre: the army hunts Hamas, but 4,741 civilians were killed in the raids
– Thus in the deserted kibbutzim only ghosts remain
– Amitav Ghosh: “West, your rule is ending”
Minister Israel, ‘we will not delay the invasion for the hostages’
Israeli Energy Minister Israel Katz told the German newspaper Bild that his country would not delay land entry into the Gaza Strip because of the hostages. This was reported by the Israeli media, including Ynet. In an interview with the German newspaper, Minister Katz stated that “Israel will do everything to bring the hostages home, but this cannot delay our operations, including entry by land, if we decide to do so. Hamas wants we are dealing with the hostages and he wants the army not to come in and destroy their infrastructure. That will not happen.”
Obama warns Israel, Gaza operation may backfire
Barack Obama warns Israel: Ground operation in Gaza could backfire if Palestinian civilians are not protected. An action could “worsen the growing humanitarian crisis” in the Strip: “the world is watching events and any Israeli military strategy that ignores the human cost will backfire,” the former president says on Medium. “The decision to cut off food, water and electricity to the stranded civilian population threatens not only to worsen the humanitarian crisis, but could harden Palestinian attitudes for generations, erode global support for Israel, play into the hands of enemies of Israel and jeopardize long-term efforts to achieve peace and stability in the region,” Obama explains, noting that “it is important for all those who support Israel in this time of need to encourage a strategy that puts Hamas out of action while at the same time minimizing civilian casualties.”
USA, we continue to work for the release of all hostages
“We welcome the release of two Israeli citizens held hostage by Hamas. We continue to do everything we can to ensure the release of all hostages.” This was stated by White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.
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