“The IDF Urges Swift Commencement of Ground Offensive in Gaza Strip”
BI News, Agencies : As pressure mounts on Israel from western allies to delay the ground assault in Gaza, Israeli Defence Forces have said they are ready to launch a full-scale attack on Hamas and delaying it would not be ideal in achieving the goals. The IDF statement comes after reports claimed that American administration is putting pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to delay the ground assault in order to secure releases of more hostages.
However, according to local media reports, the Israel Defense Forces are of the view that the military must begin its ground offensive in the Gaza Strip sooner rather than later in order to attain the government’s stated objectives in the war against the Hamas terror group.
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Hassan Nasrallah, the head of Lebanese militant outfit Hezbollah has met with top representative of the Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) in Beirut. Nasrallah, who has been keeping a low profile ever since the Israel-Hamas war broke out, held a meeting with Hamas deputy chief Saleh al-Arouri and Islamic Jihad leader Ziad Nakhaleh.
Hezbollah has pledged its support to Hamas. The Lebanese militant group, backed by Iran, has been launching missile attack in northern Israel in “solidarity with the Palestinian people”. The meeting between the leaders of Hezbollah and Hamas comes amid fears of the conflict spilling into a wider, multi-front war.
Israel is surrounded by Hamas-controlled Gaza in the south, Lebanon in the north, Syria in northeast, Jordan in east and southeast and Egypt in southwest. If the war escalates into a wider conflict, Hezbollah in the north and Syria in the northeast are the likely fronts where Israel may have to fight it. While Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has warned Hezbollah not to join the battle, the US has moved its aircraft carrier, battle ships and fighter jets in the Mediterranean near Israel in order to provide support to the Jewish state if war breaks out on these fronts.
Earlier this week, Pentagon said it is sending its THAAD missile defence system to the Middle East in view of attacks on American assets by Iran and its proxies. American military officials are trying to steer Israel away from the type of brutal, urban combat the US engaged in against insurgents during the Iraq War, in an effort to keep the Israelis from getting bogged down in bloody, house-by-house fighting as they prepare for an assault on Gaza, multiple sources familiar with the matter told CNN.
