Invasion of Gaza is being postponed for strategic reasons, says army

SAccording to the military leader at a press conference, the Palestinian group “will regret” having launched the surprise attack on Israel on October 7, which resulted in the deaths 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, which have killed almost 6,000 Palestinians, 40% of whom are children, 22% women and 5% elderly people, 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 into Israeli territory, and today they fired again anti-aircraft alarms in the center of the country and in Tel Aviv.

With some 360,000 reservists called up and a multitude of troops deployed around the Gaza Strip, one of the unknowns of recent weeks has been the date on which the ground invasion will take place, something that is almost unanimously taken for granted, but which first seemed imminent and is now being postponed, while Israel calculates all the implications it will have.

“We prepared for this. The Israeli Army and the Southern command prepared quality offensive plans to achieve the objectives of the war”, said Halevi today, ensuring that the troops “are ready for the operation”.

Still, he added that there are “tactical and strategic” issues that are delaying the invasion, while Israel continues to attack Hamas targets to “kill terrorists, destroy infrastructure and collect secret information for the next phase.”

According to some media outlets, among the concerns of a ground operation are the traps that Palestinian fighters could leave, 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 unknown, which could cause many fatalities on the Israeli side.

Added to this is another delicate issue, the at least 220 hostages who remain 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 asked the Government of Israel to postpone the invasion a little longer and give priority to the release of the hostages, including children, women and elderly people, 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.

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