Washington Pressures ‘Israel’ to Delay Gaza Ground Invasion – Bloomberg

By Staff, Agencies

The US government and some European allies are pushing the Zionist regime to postpone its ground attack on the Gaza Strip in order to negotiate the release of more detainees held by Hamas, Bloomberg reported. ‘Israeli’ forces are planning a major operation in the Palestinian enclave in response to a qualitative operation by the Palestinian resistance that took the Zionist establishment by surprise earlier this month.

Though ‘Israel’ previously signaled it would soon deploy troops to Gaza, it has “agreed under US pressure to hold off,” multiple sources familiar with the detainees’ negotiations told the outlet on Friday.

Palestinian Hamas resistance movement detained more than 200 settlers during its October 7 operation in the ‘Israeli’-occupied Palestinian territories, including several US citizens. Washington has taken part in “secret,” Qatari-brokered talks to free the detainees in the weeks since, according to Bloomberg.

On Friday, US officials confirmed that two American detainees had been released, a mother and daughter identified as Judith Tai Raanan and 17-year-old Natalie Raanan.

Though the White House has been vocal in its support for the Zionist regime in recent weeks, Washington has also warned against a lengthy occupation of Gaza in private talks, according to US and other Western officials cited by CNN. One unnamed NATO defense minister told the outlet that ‘Israel’s’ allies “completely respect their right to go after Hamas,” but have merely urged caution.

“So, it’s not ‘Don’t do it,’ but it is ‘Think about what happens and have a strategy, not just a tactical maneuver.’ We expect ‘Israel’ to act within international humanitarian law, but we understand that they’re dealing with an enemy here,” the official said, echoing public comments from other Western governments.

Asked on Friday whether ‘Israel’ should delay the ground invasion, US President Joe Biden told reporters “Yes.” However, the White House later clarified that the president was “far away” and had misheard the question.

“The question sounded like ‘Would you like to see more hostages released?’ He wasn't commenting on anything else,” White House spokesperson Ben LaBolt claimed in a statement.

The latest ‘Israeli’ war on Gaza has left more than 4,100 Palestinians martyred and thousands of others injured. The Zionist military has launched weeks of heavy airstrikes on Gaza since the Hamas operation earlier this month, prompting warnings from the United Nations and other rights groups about a looming humanitarian disaster in the enclave.