International criticism grows over civilian casualties, and the disbandment of Hamas is uncertain.
Concerns over adverse effects on human rights negotiations and heightened risk of war spreading
It is unlikely that Israel will give up its ground attack.
The Washington Post (WP) reported on the 27th (local time) that the U.S. government is pressuring Israel to attack high-value Hamas targets through airstrikes and precision attacks through special forces operations instead of launching a ground war.
U.S. officials are deeply concerned about the backlash that an all-out ground attack would bring and doubt whether Israel can achieve its goal of dismantling Hamas through a ground attack. There are also concerns that it will have a negative impact on negotiations for the release of about 200 hostages, which have made rapid progress in recent days. Additionally, there are concerns about the possibility of the war expanding as the number of Palestinian civilian casualties increases due to ground attacks. U.S. officials believe that precision-targeted attacks could alleviate all these concerns.
U.S. President Joe Biden and senior U.S. officials have made it clear that they will support Israel if it decides to launch a ground attack, but have publicly stated that there are “serious doubts.” At the same time, they are privately recommending precision attacks instead of ground warfare. This shows that the U.S. government’s position has changed from its full support stance immediately after Hamas’ attack on Israel.
U.S. officials, however, believe that Israel is unlikely to give up large-scale ground attacks and have stated that they will continue to provide military support to Israel even in that case.
The U.S. government is already providing $14 billion worth of military aid to Israel.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced on the 27th that it had attacked “Hamas military facilities” in the southern Gaza Strip from the sea. Earlier on the 26th, it was announced that it had made “preparations for the next stage of the attack” by destroying Hamas’ rocket launchers and revealing the enemy’s location.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.