Biden is Blocking Israeli Ground Assault on Hamas

U.S. and European governments have joined to put pressure on Israel.

Some are wondering why Israel hasn’t begun the ground assault on Hamas yet. The answer is in Washington D.C.

After the Hamas atrocities, Israel went on a full war footing. 300,000 Israelis have been evacuated from front line areas and the IDF mobilized 300,000 troops. Those are people who are not with their families or working, some flew in from abroad. This makes Israel one of the most mobilized nations in the world. But it can’t keep that up forever.

But instead of going in, everyone is waiting because D.C. and the EU want to hold off an assault on Hamas.

U.S. and European governments have joined to put pressure on Israel to hold off on its ground invasion of Gaza to allow more time to win the release of hostages held by Hamas, U.S. and foreign officials said.

Several countries have been trying to leverage their contacts with Hamas to press the militant group to release the hostages taken during their onslaught on Israel earlier this month. One U.S. official had said that Qatar’s government had been very helpful on the matter, but noted the difficulties of reaching an agreement given Israel’s bombardment of Gaza and the spiraling humanitarian crisis there.

Qatar is a state sponsor of Hamas. It’s harboring Hamas leaders. Before the Hamas attack on Israel, Qatar very helpfully negotiated a truce.

And now that the U.S. and the EU have made it clear that they can stop Israel from taking out Hamas as leverage for the hostages, Hamas has no reason to release the hostages.

Those hostages are the only reason IDF soldiers aren’t in Gaza City right now.

Rather than securing their release, they’ve made them more valuable as hostages.

What did Hamas buy with the release of two female American hostages? The conviction by D.C. diplomats that they can get more released if they just spend more time negotiating with Hamas.

The United States is pressing Israel to hold off on a ground invasion of Gaza to allow for more time for hostage negotiations, according to a CNN report published Sunday.

“The [administration] pressed Israeli leadership to delay because of progress on the hostage front,” a person familiar with the U.S.-Israel talks told the cable network, one of two sources it cited in its report.

Asked on Meet the Press on Sunday about the U.S. delaying a possible ground incursion by Israel into Gaza, Secretary of State Antony Blinken sidestepped the question, but said they are not “second guessing” their ally.

On Saturday, President Joe Biden responded to a question about delaying a potential ground incursion by telling reporters: “I’m talking to the Israelis.”

It’s in Hamas’ interests to appear reasonable, but to hang on to enough hostages to slow any Israeli action.

And Hamas is doing just that with the able assistance of its useful idiots in D.C. and Europe.

“Hamas does not appear to have gotten anything concrete out of the Friday release of Americans Judith Tai Raanan and her 17-year-old daughter, Natalie Raanan,” CNN claims.

Hamas has gotten Israel to delay a ground assault. How much more concrete can you get?

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