Netanyahu camp and Israeli army trade blame over Gaza invasion delay

The Israeli military is ready to launch a ground invasion in Gaza but is awaiting approval from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to a report in Haaretz. 

The report said the army presented its position of readiness in front of senior political figures, but “sense hesitancy”. 

The hesitancy was linked to Netanyahu’s lack of confidence in the military’s ability to meet goals defined by the government, the report stated. 

But Aryeh Deri, a minister in Netanyahu’s coalition government, has denied that politicians are refusing to give the green light, and instead hinted that the army was underprepared. 

“You can’t just go in at a moment’s notice. I can’t divulge all the details, but it’s not like the army is ready and the political side isn’t letting it [invade],” Deri said during a weekly meeting of his political faction. 

“There’s a lot of baseless reports causing confusion, in society and also among the soldiers,” he added.

You can read here about what Israel learned from the last time it launched a ground invasion of Gaza nine years ago.