Israeli forces on Monday tried to take the sting out of the Hamas firepower by destroying its rocket launchers and targeting sites where the militant squads are assembling as they prepare to resist a wider Israeli invasion.
‘‘During the night there were raids by tanks and infantry forces. These are raids that go deep in preparation of our next stage of war,’’ Israeli chief military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a briefing.
While there is no clarity when the ground invasion will start, Israeli military concedes the operation to eliminate the militia may take months. ‘‘It will take a month, two months, three, but in the end, there will be no Hamas,’’ Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said.
As the forces stepped up aerial assaults and raids, US President Joe Biden advised Israel to delay a ground invasion. Sources said the hiatus enables US to buy time for hostage negotiations and allow more humanitarian aid to reach Palestinians in the sealed-off enclave.
An official with knowledge of the hostage negotiations, which are taking place mainly through Qatar, said Hamas had warned that a ground invasion would make hostage releases much less likely. Qatar has close ties to the political leaders of Hamas.
Also, if Israel enters Gaza, American officials expect attacks on US interests in the region from groups backed by Iran to intensify. In a joint statement, the leaders of US, Britain, Canada, France, Germany and Italy have urged Israel to protect civilians, even as it defends itself, and called for the release of all hostages believed to be held in Gaza.
Meanwhile, the hostage count has risen to 222 with the army collecting more intelligence about the foreign citizens who were kidnapped.
France's Prime Minister, Élisabeth Borne, called on Monday for a “humanitarian truce” to allow Gazans to access water, food and other aid. “The distribution of aid demands a humanitarian truce that could lead to a cease-fire,” Borne told lawmakers during a parliamentary debate on the conflict. She said openings of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt were still too limited.
India Delivers Humanitarian Aid
Indian officials, meanwhile, said they had delivered tons of medical and disaster relief aid to the Egyptian Red Crescent for the people of Gaza; New Delhi, too, is treading on a tightrope, striking a balance between its increasing proximity to Israel with its longheld foreign policy of support for the Palestinians. The aid includes 6.5 metric tons (14,000 pounds) of medical equipment, including medicine, surgical items and water purification tablets, officials said.
Israel boasts one of the most advanced militaries in the world, with state of the art equipment and technology. As against this, Hamas is thought to have as many as 40,000 fighters, all of whom are crammed into Gaza, a small 140-square-mile strip of land home to more than 2.3 million people - with limited training and resources, reports in western media said.
But military experts are reluctant to suggest an armed Israeli incursion will be a walk in the park. Defenders are typically thought to have a 3-1 advantage over attackers, and Israel's troops would face gruelling urban and guerrilla warfare, with Hamas springing traps against the IDF at every chance they get.
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