First the hostages then the ceasefire, otherwise "only Hamas would benefit". Joe Biden's message «was clear: release all the hostages. This must be the first move. Let's not talk about ceasefire now. We do not believe this is the time for a ceasefire." White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said this on CNN.
At the same time, however, the Biden administration fears that the Israeli forces are not ready to launch a life-land operation in Gaza with a plan capable of working : what is also agitating the White House, according to the New York Times, is the lack of Israel's share of achievable military objectives in the Strip . That's why the Pentagon sent Marine General James Glynn and other officers to Israel to aid and advise Israeli forces.
Meanwhile, Israel seems intent on postponing the oft-announced invasion for a few days, even if the army is now ready to go into action. While the military wing of Hamas, the al Qassam Brigades, announced in the evening the release of two other hostages, two women, thanks to the mediation of Qatar and Egypt.
For 50 with dual nationality, however, there would have been a "hitch", according to Times Israel, which cites a diplomatic source. The stalemate was apparently due to Hamas's request to make the release of the hostages conditional on the supply of petrol to the Strip but Israel rejected the request.
The postponement of the ground operation - also reported by Israeli military radio - also appears to be linked to the need to encourage the exit of foreign hostages from Gaza as well as to allow the entry of humanitarian aid intended for the population of the Strip. All this despite the fact that rockets continue to be launched from the Palestinian enclave together with those of Hezbollah in northern Israel and, in parallel, there is a marked increase in raids by Jewish aviation. Even Iran shows no sign of decreasing the tension : after Sunday's intimidation, yesterday the Pasdaran's second-in-command Ali Fadavi threatened a direct attack by Tehran against Israel, indicating the city of Haifa as the target. While the US has in turn accused the ayatollah regime of "facilitating" attacks against American bases in the Middle East by various Shiite militias.
(Unioneonline/D)