US reportedly urging Israel to delay Gaza ground operation

According to a report in "The New York Times", the US government is recommending Israel to postpone its ground operation in the Gaza Strip in order to exhaust the possibilities for freeing the hostages held there, to supply additional humanitarian aid to the area, and to ready US forces in the face of attacks by proxies of Iran, which are expected to escalate when the IDF enters the Strip. The recommendation to defer the ground operation was conveyed through US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, against the background of the Pentagon’s assistance to Israel in planning its next military moves.

The IDF reports that it has notified the families of 307 fallen soldiers and of 203 people taken hostage by Hamas. In the past twenty-four hours, the IDF has attacked more than 320 targets in the Gaza Strip, among them tunnels with Hamas activists in them, dozens of military command posts in some of which Hama and Islamic Jihad terrorists were hiding, observation posts, and mortar and anti-tank positions. On the northern front, the IDF reported this morning that it had destroyed an anti-tank missile launcher on Lebanese territory.

Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on October 23, 2023.

US reportedly urging Israel to delay Gaza ground operation

According to a report in "The New York Times", the US seeks to exhaust possibilities for freeing hostages, and to ready its own forces.