Officials in the IDF and the Defense Ministry said on Monday that there would be no way to eradicate Hamas unless a ground offensive into Gaza is launched even if one is estimated to take no less than three months of fighting. On Monday the military spokesperson said the forces were awaiting the go-ahead from the government.
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The defense officials spoke after reporting that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was reluctant to order the offensive to begin, and amid allegations that his supporters used their social media platforms to propagate the message that more had to be achieved in airstrikes before putting troops on the streets of Gaza.
Shas leader Aryeh Deri told his Knesset faction on Monday that there were no differences in opinion between the military and leaders of the government. He said the IDF did not have plans in the ready, to eradicate Hamas from Gaza and that they were being drawn up on the go.
The officials said that contrary to the demand of governments over the past decade, to prepare war plans for a conflict to last no longer than one month, destroying Hamas and eliminating its leadership after the massacre and atrocities of the Oct. 7 attack, would require a more extensive operation that will come at a cost of life to soldiers. But that, they say, is what the military was for. The public must be made to understand that, they said.
Meanwhile, troops were using the waiting time to train and prepare and improve coordination with the Air Force, which was continuing its bombing campaign on Gaza. The military was also considering delaying the release of soldiers who were nearing completion of their compulsory service, by at least four months.
The Air Force said it attacked more than 10,000 targets since October 7 and 500 in the past day.
The officials said that after the magnitude of the horrors committed by Hamas became known, Israelis showed up at their reserve units without being called up and insisted on joining the fighting forces.
They said the IDF is better prepared than it was in the 2014 ground offensive, for the underground network of tunnels where Hamas fighters and commanders were hiding and where much of their weaponry was stored.