“We have never announced that there will be a ground operation,” insisted Israel Defense Forces spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Peter Lerner, speaking to the BBC’s Newshour programme.

When asked about the hundreds of thousands of IDF reservists on the Gaza border, Lerner said that “they are now trained, equipped, and also tasked if necessary to organize specific operations that will help us achieve our goal to destroy Hamas completely”.

In recent days, IDF spokesmen have emphasized that the focus is now on intensifying airstrikes ahead of the “next phase of the war”.

It seemed that there was the clearest signal yesterday from IDF chief Herzi Halevi: “We will enter Gaza, we will enter an operation.” Observers say this may involve limited attacks at first.

Israel is under intense pressure from allies and Israeli families to delay a ground attack until the hostages, including foreigners, are freed.

We recently published the obstacles to Israel launching a ground attack on Gaza, including Hezbollah and Iran entering the war directly, as well as pressure from Israel’s allies and the community. The universe.