Israeli Army Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi indicated on Tuesday that the ground offensive on the Gaza Strip will be postponed due to “strategic considerations”, on the 18th day of the war against the Islamist movement Hamas.
According to the military leader at a press conference, the Palestinian group will “regret” launching the surprise attack on Israel on October 7, which resulted in the death of more than 1,400 people, most of them civilians, and the capture of 220 hostages. , which caused the ongoing conflict.
Israeli bombing of Gaza also continues, killing almost 6,000 Palestinians, 40% of whom are children, 22% women and 5% elderly, according to the local Ministry of Health.
In turn, Palestinian fighters from the Gaza Strip – a poor Palestinian enclave controlled since 2007 by Hamas, a group classified as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union and Israel – continue to launch projectiles into Israeli territory, and Tuesday Anti-aircraft alarms sounded again in the center of the country and in Tel Aviv.
With some 360,000 reservists called up and a large number of troops deployed around the Gaza Strip, one of the unknowns in recent weeks has been the date on which the ground invasion will take place, something that is almost unanimously taken for granted, but what initially seemed to represent the door and is now postponed while Israel calculates all the implications this will have.
“We have prepared for this. The Israeli army and the Southern Command have prepared high-quality offensive plans to achieve the objectives of the war,” Halevi said on Tuesday, ensuring the troops are “ready for the operation.”
Still, he added that there are “tactical and strategic” issues that are delaying the invasion as Israel continues to attack Hamas targets to “kill terrorists, destroy infrastructure and gather classified information for the next phase.”
According to some media, among the concerns of a ground operation are the traps that Palestinian fighters might leave behind, fighting in an urban guerrilla context in a place Israel does not control, or the kilometers of underground tunnels in the Gaza Strip whose existence is unknown. , which could cause many fatalities on the Israeli side.
Added to this is a delicate issue: the at least 220 hostages still in captivity in Gaza, one of the elements that may have prevented the Israeli land offensive so far.
According to the Israeli press, the United States has asked the government of Israel to delay the invasion a little longer and to prioritize the release of the hostages, including children, women and the elderly, both Israelis and foreigners, including several North American citizens . Americans.
So far, Hamas has released four hostages: a woman and her daughter, both Americans, and two elderly Israeli women last night.
Source: DN
