Photo: AFP
In the hours after Hamas slaughtered over 1,200 innocent people on October 7th, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the world that Israel would “return fire of a magnitude that the enemy has not known.” Three weeks later, the enemy-- and the world-- are still waiting, even after Israeli tanks briefly entered Gaza Thursday night. ABC News correspondent Jordana Miller is waiting in Jerusalem; she appeared on 710 WOR’s Len Berman and Michael Riedel in the Morning program to discuss the reasons why Israeli ground forces haven’t poured into Gaza yet.
“I don’t think today is going to be the day for the incursion, or early [Saturday] morning, nope,” Miller told Berman and Riedel. “I think Israel is giving still some more time for these very credible reports of intense negotiations going on between the Qataris, the Egyptians, indirectly Israel as well is involved with Hamas to try and get the release of these hostages, the number now 229… of course, Israel knows that once it goes in there on the ground, the chances of getting them out alive are extremely slim.”
Some observers feel Israel is being pressured to hold off until other countries can negotiate the release of their hostages. Miller say it’s certainly possible, but not totally that simple. “I think it speaks to the complexity of this war… there is going to be a great loss of civilian life if Israel goes in on the ground… There will be so many Gazans that will die, and it is a good question: what is the appetite from the United States and the international community when that starts to happen? That’s one of the reasons there are different camps here in the defense establishment. There are some who already wanted Israel to go in on the ground, but again, there’s also this sense of guilt among political leaders that they left so many Israelis vulnerable on the south that they owe them at least the chance of getting them out alive… it is going to be a complicated and long [attack].”
Photo Credit: Getty Images