While the US newspaper "New York Times" quoted Israeli officers postponing the ground invasion of the Gaza Strip "for weather-related reasons," experts attributed the postponement to the "heavy cost" that Israel will incur.

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Edited by| Paul Mitchel

 

 Middle East section -  CJ journalist

 

Tel Aviv - October,15,2023

 

 

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The American newspaper reported that the initial plan for the ground attack on Gaza was at the end of the week, and 3 senior Israeli officials, whom it did not name, told it that this would be postponed for days because the accumulation of clouds makes it difficult for military aviation and drones to provide air cover for ground forces.

As for the objectives of the ground offensive, they explained that they are the control of Gaza City and the assassination of the leaders of the Hamas movement that controls the Strip, both politically and militarily.

Salah Gomaa, a journalist at the Egyptian Middle East news agency and a specialist on Palestinian affairs, disagrees with the Israeli justifications for postponing the attack.

In his comment, he attributed the difficulties that Israel will face to the following :

Israel has 3 Scenarios for the incursion،

The first is to concentrate on agricultural land near buildings for a long time in order to tighten the noose and improve the terms of negotiations later .

The second is the incursion into certain areas after the division of the Gaza Strip into 3 areas .

And the third : mass ground invasion.

In order for Israel to control the entire Gaza Strip, it must enter every house and every street in very large numbers and with large equipment; here

The confrontation will be very fierce, which means disastrous results for Israelis and Palestinians.

Even if the United States helps Israel, it is impossible to control the Gaza Strip without significant losses in materiel and lives.

The ground war will be a decision that has a beginning, but no one can predict its end.

So Israel is fully aware that the scenarios of the incursion will be catastrophic, and casts a shadow on the situation inside Israel.

There is also global pressure on Israel as a result of its brutal bombing of Gaza and demonstrations against it.

There is also a strong Arab position rejecting displacement, and this aggression will not be allowed to continue.

In Egypt, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi met with the National Security Council, the highest military body in the country،

He called for an international regional summit to be held very soon to discuss the crisis.

All these developments have contributed to a strong pressure to prevent and postpone a full-scale ground invasion.

The military expert, Jamal Rifai, agrees on many of the previous points, adding :

Israel has been avoiding ground invasions of the Strip for more than 20 years due to its population density.

The Gaza Strip has a total area of about 350 kilometers, and you can imagine that this area is where battles are taking place between 40 thousand Hamas fighters and 300 thousand Israeli soldiers; then the losses will be catastrophic for both parties.

Israel is fragile and disunited from the inside, and it is difficult to bear these losses, especially since 50 thousand Israeli soldiers may fall dead in it.

In order for Israel to succeed in this invasion, it must uproot the houses from their places.

Hamas has also developed itself very militarily, and it is expected that "Hezbollah" will enter this battle.

For Israel, negotiation and a ceasefire are better for it.

The "New York Times" in its aforementioned report says that the risks of a ground attack are pushing Israel towards months of bloody fighting in urban areas above and below the ground due to the presence of tunnels.