Twenty days since Israel declared war on Gaza after the October 7 Hamas attack, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promised that a ground incursion into Gaza was coming soon to wipe out Hamas and free hostages. His statement comes amid uncertainty over the ground war with reports claiming the US was cautioning Israel against urban warfare in Gaza without a solid plan.
In his address to the nation on Wednesday, Netanyahu also seemed to take responsibility for the attack, for the first time, stressing that "everyone will have to give answers including myself" for the major intelligence failure that resulted in the Hamas attack.
"First, though, Israel must win the fight for our existence," said Netanyahu as he promised the ground war. "October 7 was a black day in our history. We will get to the bottom of what happened on the southern border and the Gaza-envelope area," Netanyahu said in a live primetime address.
"The debacle will be checked to the full," he added. "Everyone will have to give answers on the debacle — including me — but all that will happen only after the war."
Netanyahu said that as prime minister, he was responsible for securing the future of the country. "And right now, my job is to lead the State of Israel and the people to a crushing victory over our enemies. Now is the time to join forces for one goal: to surge forward to victory… with deep faith in the justice of our cause."
He said Israel was preparing for a ground incursion. "I won’t specify when, how, how many. I also won’t detail the range of considerations, most of which the public is not aware of," he said. "And that’s the way it is supposed to be. This is the way, so that we protect our soldiers’ lives."
"All Hamas members are dead men walking — above and below ground, inside and outside Gaza," he said.
Meanwhile, amid the delayed ground incursion, Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned the conflict could spread beyond the Middle East. He said that it was wrong that innocent women, children and old people in Gaza were being punished for other people's crimes. "Our task today, our main task, is to stop the bloodshed and violence," said Putin in a meeting with Russian religious leaders of different faiths, according to a Kremlin transcript.
"Otherwise, further escalation of the crisis is fraught with grave and extremely dangerous and destructive consequences. And not only for the Middle East region. It could spill over far beyond the borders of the Middle East," he warned.
There are also reports that Israel has agreed to delay invading Gaza, amid concerns that Iran and Iran-backed groups, including Hezbollah, could escalate the conflict by attacking US troops in the Middle East.
Taking this into consideration, Tel Aviv decided to delay the ground war until U.S. air defence systems could be placed in the region to protect American forces, reported The Wall Street Journal.
