Media experts attribute 3 major reasons for Israel’s delay in ground invasion of Gaza
(AFP, Jerusalem, 24th) Israel recently announced that it was preparing to launch a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip, but has yet to take action. Media reports and experts attributed the reasons to include international pressure, political and military differences, and concerns about the safety of the hostages.
After the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas launched a raid on Israel 18 days ago, causing serious casualties, the Israeli army continued to bomb the Gaza Corridor under Hamas, but except for some relatively small-scale attacks, it did not The ground offensive was launched with much fanfare at first.
●Internal disagreements
Nahum Barnea, editorial writer for Yedioth Ahronoth, Israel’s largest newspaper, pointed out: “There is a crisis of confidence between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israel Defense Forces.”
“It is difficult for the government to make decisions on major issues that everyone agrees with,” he wrote.
Baniya quoted government and military sources as saying that “Netanyahu was dissatisfied with the generals” and “blamed them” for the Hamas raid on Israel on the 7th of this month.
Hamas militants rushed across the Gaza border into an Israeli town that day and took more than 220 hostages, shocking the world. Israeli officials said Hamas’ indiscriminate killings killed more than 1,400 people, making it the worst attack in Israel’s history. Israel subsequently bombed Gaza violently, and Hamas officials claimed that the Israeli attack killed 5,791 people.
The Hamas raids have pitted the left and right of mainstream Israeli politics against one another.
“The dispute over these actions has created tensions, especially between Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Grant,” columnist Amos Harel wrote in Israel’s left-leaning Haaretz newspaper today. Gallant).”
State radio noted “disagreement between the prime minister and the top military brass” and blamed each other for failing to prevent Hamas’ bloody raids.
Commentators believe that official statements that often refer to convergence of views at the highest levels mean the opposite is true, revealing a deliberate effort to create a united front.
A communique issued today by the Israeli Government Press Office said: “The Prime Minister, the Minister of Defense and the Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces are working closely together around the clock to lead Israel to a decisive victory over Hamas.” The communiqué also said that among the three of them, “There is complete mutual trust” between them, and “there is no doubt that the goals are the same.”
●Worried about the hostages
Patrick Bettane, an intelligence expert at the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism, an Israeli think tank, confirmed that there are “divided opinions on the ground offensive” within the government.
“But the hostages being held in the Gaza Strip complicates everything,” he said. “Israel is waiting to see how to solve this problem before taking action.”
Relatives of the hostages have held daily demonstrations outside Grant’s home in Tel Aviv.
Akiva Eldar, an Israeli political expert, said U.S. military personnel are in Israel to prevent any action that could lead to the death of the hostages, who include Americans.
●International pressure
Political analyst Daniel Bensimon said: “Regardless of differences or not, the fact is that Americans and Europeans come to Israel to appease with sweet words and to prevent a ground offensive.”
French President Emmanuel Macron today became the latest foreign leader to visit Israel and meet with Netanyahu.
“The international community is concerned that ground action could trigger a chain reaction that could sweep across the region and possibly even further afield,” Bensimon said. Several leaders have visited Israel in the past two weeks to express sympathy and support, including U.S. President Joe Biden. Visited on the 18th of this month.
Macron told Israelis they were not alone in the “fight against these terrorist groups” but warned against “expanding this conflict”.
Bensimon believes that “Biden and Macron are saying good things,” but “ultimately they want to prevent Israel from entering Gaza and prevent Iran” from getting involved through Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah.
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2023-10-25 04:03:11
