CNN says US put pressure on Israel to delay Gaza ground invasion

The US government pressed Israel to delay its ground invasion of Gaza "to allow for the release of more hostages held by Hamas and for aid to reach Gaza", CNN reported.

Source: CNN, citing two sources "briefed on the discussions", as reported by European Pravda

Details: "The [administration] pressed Israeli leadership to delay because of progress on the hostage front," and the need to get trucks of aid into Gaza, a source familiar with the discussions told CNN.

They added that the Biden administration also wanted aid trucks to reach Gaza before the beginning of the invasion.

When President Joe Biden was asked Saturday if he was encouraging Israel to delay the invasion, he responded: "I’m talking to the Israelis."

Qatar, which is acting as a middle-man for the US and Israel, has been leading the discussions with Hamas about releasing the hostages abducted two weeks ago.

"According to a diplomat briefed on the talks, the negotiations have included talks about getting much-needed aid into Gaza and the need for a temporary ceasefire to get the prisoners out. Israel has not indicated they are considering a ceasefire," CNN reported. Meanwhile, Israel continued to bomb Gaza over the past two weeks.

On 20 October, Hamas released two US citizens it had held hostage after an attack on Israel on 7 October. A spokesman for the Israeli Prime Minister’s office said Hamas might have done this in an attempt to mitigate the Israeli military response.

"That [military] pressure isn’t going to go because they were released," the official said. "It won’t change the mission, which is to dismantle Hamas," the Israeli official told CNN.

Background:

• Herzi Halevi, Chief of Staff of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), informed the IDF Command on Saturday, 21 October, that the military will launch an operation to take out Hamas.
• The first 20 trucks carrying humanitarian aid entered the Gaza Strip on 21 October through the Rafah checkpoint on the border with Egypt.

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