The Chief of the General Staff of the Israeli Army, Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi, indicated this Tuesday that the ground offensive on the Gaza Strip is postponed for “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” having launched the surprise attack against 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. . , triggering the ongoing conflict.
Israeli bombings on Gaza also continue, killing almost six thousand Palestinians, 40% of whom are children, 22% women and 5% elderly, according to the local Ministry of Health.
For their part, Palestinian fighters from the Gaza Strip – a poor Palestinian enclave controlled by Hamas since 2007, a group classified as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union and Israel – continue to launch projectiles against Israeli territory, and this Tuesday They returned doing sounding anti-aircraft alarms in the center of the country and in Tel Aviv.
With around 360,000 reservists called up and a multitude of troops mobilized 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 that At first it seemed imminent and now it is postponed, while Israel calculates all the implications it will have.
“We are preparing for it. The Israeli army and the Southern command prepared quality offensive plans to achieve the objectives of the war,” Halevi said this Tuesday, ensuring that the troops “are prepared 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 collect secret information for the next phase.”
According to some media, among the concerns of a ground operation are the traps that could be left by Palestinian fighters, fighting in an urban guerrilla context in a place that 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 another delicate issue, the at least 220 hostages who remain captive in Gaza, one of the elements that may have prevented the Israeli ground offensive so far.
According to the Israeli press, the United States asked the Israeli Government to postpone the invasion a little longer and give priority to the release of the hostages, including children, women and the elderly, both Israelis and foreigners, including several American citizens. American people.
So far, Hamas has released four hostages last night: a woman and her daughter, both Americans, and two elderly Israeli women.
Source: TSF
