Senior official says US, European countries pushing Israel to delay ground offensive

IDF released video of overnight strikes on Hezbollah targets

The military says it carried out a number of strikes overnight on numerous Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon, in response to anti-tank missile and rocket attacks by the Iran-backed terror group.

According to the Israel Defense Forces, the targets included a “series of military facilities used by the organization for operational needs” and an anti-tank missile launcher directed at Israel.

“The IDF is ready for all scenarios in the various sectors and will continue to act for the security of Israeli citizens,” the military says, while releasing video footage of the strikes.

כלי טיס של צה"ל תקפו בשעות האחרונות שורת מטרות צבאיות של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה, בתגובה לירי טילי הנ"ט ולשיגורים לשטח ישראל אמש.

בין המטרות שנתקפו, שורת מתחמים צבאיים ששימשו את הארגון לצרכים מבצעיים ותשתיות טרור. בנוסף, כוח צה"ל תקף משגר נ"ט שמוקם במרחב הגבול וכוון לעבר ישראל>> pic.twitter.com/4ipMjlhAAC

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) October 21, 2023

Senior official says US, European countries pushing Israel to delay ground offensive

Israeli soldiers move a tank at a staging area near the border with Gaza Strip, in southern Israel on October 15, 2023. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Following Hamas’s release of two hostages from Gaza, the US and several governments in Europe are quietly pushing Israel to hold off on launching a ground invasion of Gaza, fearing that the incursion will all but scuttle efforts to secure additional hostage releases for the foreseeable future, a senior diplomatic official tells The Times of Israel.

The Western governments currently pressuring Israel each have citizens among those unaccounted for and believe that the more time that passes, the harder it will be to secure the hostages’ release, the official says.

The governments recognize that a ground invasion is very likely and are not telling Israel not to launch one at all, rather hold off to try and see if additional diplomatic efforts can succeed, says the senior diplomatic official.

White House says Biden didn’t call for Israel to delay Gaza offensive: He didn’t hear question

US President Joe Biden and US First Lady Jill Biden step off Air Force One upon arrival at Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware, on October 20, 2023. (Nicholas Kamm/AFP)

The White House is now walking back US President Joe Biden’s earlier comment that Israel should delay its expected offensive in Gaza until more hostages held by Hamas and other Palestinian terror groups are released.

While boarding Air Force One earlier, Biden was asked by a reporter whether Israel should push off a military operation in Gaza, to which he responded, “yes.”

“The president was far away. He didn’t hear the full question. The question sounded like ‘Would you like to see more hostages released?’ He wasn’t commenting on anything else,” White House spokesperson Ben LaBolt is quoted as saying by Reuters/

Biden asserts link between Hamas assault and US push for Israel-Saudi normalization

US President Joe Biden speaks during a meeting with the EU Commission at the White House in Washington on October 20, 2023 (Olivier Douliery/AFP)

US President Joe Biden says at a campaign fundraiser, “one of the reasons Hamas moved on Israel… they knew that I was about to sit down with the Saudis.”

“Guess what the Saudis wanted to recognize Israel,” he says, offering details on US efforts to broker a normalization deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia that appear to have been put on hold following the October 7 Hamas onslaught.

Saudi Arabia has been very critical of Israel’s bombardment of Gaza over the past two weeks and US officials have acknowledged that the normalization effort is no longer their immediate focus, as they work to support Israel against Hamas.

Biden officials have suggested that scuttling the normalization effort may have been a motivation of Hamas but the president’s remarks appear the furthest anyone in his administration has gone to suggest a direct correlation.

Iranian-backed militias in Iraq call on US forces to ‘leave immediately’ amid attacks

Demonstrators burn banners showing the US and Israeli flags during a demonstration in solidarity with the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, in Iraq's southern city of Basra on October 20, 2023. (Hussein Faleh/AFP)

BAGHDAD — A group of Iranian-backed militias in Iraq say US forces “must leave immediately” or their bases in Iraq and elsewhere in the region will continue to come under attack.

Militant groups have launched rocket and drone attacks in recent days against US bases in Iraq and Syria, most of which were claimed by the Islamic Resistance in Iraq. The group has said the attacks are retaliation for Washington’s support of Israel and a warning not to intervene in the Israel-Hamas war.

“These are only warning messages to them, and serious work has not yet begun,” the militias say in a statement.

The statement concludes by saying that if Israel launches a ground invasion into Gaza, “watch the border with Jordan carefully.” It doesn’t elaborate.

Biden urges Israel to delay Gaza offensive until Hamas releases more hostages

US President Joe Biden answers a questions as he boards Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, October 20, 2023, to travel to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

US President Joe Biden calls on Israel to delay its planned offensive in the Gaza Strip until the release of more hostages being held by Hamas and other Palestinian terrorists in the coastal enclave.

Asked by a reporter whether Israel should push off the incursion, Biden responds, “yes.”

The remarks come after US media outlets reported that the Biden administration and European governments are pressuring Israel to push off the planned offensive to allow for further hostage negotiations, as Hamas released two American citizens it took captive during its deadly onslaught in southern Israel on October 7.