Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday announced the second stage of the war with "an expanding ground offensive into the Gaza Strip."
On day 23 of the war, Netanyahu, who addressed the press conference in Tel Aviv along with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and fellow war cabinet minister Benny Gantz, said the goals of the second stage of the war were clear – "to destroy Hamas’ governing and military capabilities and to bring the hostages home." He added the decision to begin ground operations had been made unanimously, both by the war cabinet and the security cabinet.
The ground forces of Israeli Defence Forces, including infantry, combat engineering forces and tanks, entered Gaza on Friday night and remained there on Saturday. "Our commanders and soldiers fighting in enemy territory know that the nation and the national leadership stand behind them," Netanyahu said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant attend a press conference in the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv | AP
The Prime Minister's declaration of an "expanding ground offensive" comes amid reports that the US, Israel's major ally, advised it against an immediate all-out assault. Interestingly, Netanyahu chose to avoid the word "invasion", but stated that they were "only at the start" and "will destroy the enemy above ground and below ground."
About the hostage issue, Netanyahu said the expanding the ground offensive "does not clash in any way with our ability to return the hostages."
On the potential "all-for-all" deal mooted by the Hamas, Netanyahu said they were discussing the issue. The deal advocates the release of all hostages and all Palestinian security prisoners in Israeli jails in exchange for the hostages. However, Netanyahu said he couldn't go into details as he could not share intelligence and considerations that the cabinet was debating.
Hamas’s leader in the Gaza Strip, Yahya Sinwar, had stated that they were ready for an "immediate" prisoner swap with Israel. "We are ready to conduct an immediate prisoner exchange deal that includes the release of all Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails in exchange for all prisoners held by the Palestinian resistance," Sinwar said.
Netanyahu had met with hostages' families on Saturday, after which the families urged the government to agree to an "all for all" prisoner exchange with Hamas.
Qatar is currently mediating talks between Hamas and Israel on the hostage crisis but the ground offensive has "significantly complicated Doha’s efforts to secure the release of the hostages taken from Israel held in Gaza." Majed al-Ansari, spokesperson for Qatar’s foreign ministry, told CNN that the "escalation makes talks considerably more difficult."
He also shot down Netanyahu's claim that the ground offensive does not affect hostage talks." "From a political [perspective], mediation only works when you have periods of calm. Moving people during a [ground] incursion and [under] increased bombardment is more difficult," al-Ansari said, stressing that talks were "ongoing" and that "nobody in the region can afford to give up on this and just leave it to the military people to decide what happens in the future."
