Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant said a potential ground operation in Gaza would take up to 3 months.
Gallant added – in a speech at the Air Force Command Center in Tel Aviv – that the ground offensive in Gaza must be "the last," because in the end Hamas will no longer exist, as he put it.
For his part, the Israeli army spokesman said that attacks on Gaza are accelerating and expanding, in preparation for what he called the next phase of the war.
The military spokesman added that the political level in Israel set the goals of the ground operation, which is to eliminate Hamas and return those he described as "kidnapped," in reference to more than 200 Israelis captured by the Palestinian resistance during the early hours of the Al-Aqsa Flood operation, which began on the seventh of October.
The Israeli military spokesman added that there are risks of a ground operation in Gaza, and said that air strikes have been intensified to reduce the risks, vowing to hit the infrastructure of the Lebanese Hezbollah and work to reduce its threat to Israel, as he put it.
Political considerations
This comes as the Israel Broadcasting Corporation reported that the military is ready to begin the ground operation, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is behind the delay due to political considerations.
Israel's Channel 12 quoted Israeli officials as saying there was no U.S. pressure to postpone the ground offensive on Gaza.
Bloomberg quoted officials familiar with the matter as saying that Israel has decided to support diplomatic efforts to release detainees in Gaza, which could delay the ground operation.
The officials said the format of the ground operation could change if hostage diplomacy keeps Israel in an awkward position, noting that Israel has told Washington it will not wait long to begin the ground operation in Gaza.
In the face of Israeli threats to invade Gaza, the resistance vowed to turn the sands of the Strip into a graveyard for its forces.