Biden acknowledges influencing the timing of Israel’s incursion

In order to ensure the release of more prisoners, the US president stated that he wants the IDF’s Gaza operation to be delayed.

In order to give more time for hostage releases, US President Joe Biden told reporters on Friday that he wants Israel to delay its invasion of Gaza. The White House quickly reversed course and reaffirmed that Biden had no influence over Israel’s plans.

On Friday night, Biden was asked if he was pleading with Israel to hold off on deploying soldiers into Gaza as he boarded Air Force One on his way to his beach house in Delaware. The president answered, “Yes,” and ascended the plane’s stairs.

Less than an hour later, Ben LaBolt, the director of communications for the White House, told reporters that Biden had misunderstood the question and wasn’t trying to influence Israel’s choice.

LaBold reportedly remarked, “The president was far away,” according to a pool report. He didn’t catch the entirety of the query. Would you prefer to see additional hostages freed, as the query implied? He didn’t make any other comments.

After releasing two American hostages in what they described as a “humanitarian” gesture, Hamas terrorists engaged in the exchange. The mediators from Qatar, who claim to be still coordinating with Hamas and Israel in an effort to liberate more prisoners, helped rescue the two women, a mother and daughter from Chicago.

According to Hamas, the number of hostages it is now keeping in Gaza is roughly 200, while 50 more are being held by other militant organisations there and 20 have died as a result of Israeli attacks. Ten Americans are still missing, and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken claimed on Friday that “some of” them are being kept captive in Gaza.

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Israel has been preparing to send its troops into the Palestinian enclave in the midst of the ongoing discussions. Israeli military officials have stated that they are prepared for such an operation since last week, but as of Sunday afternoon, no order had been granted, despite Defence Minister Yoav Gallant’s repeated assurances that an invasion was coming.

In the interim, other justifications for the delay have emerged. While other media outlets have highlighted the possibility of significant Israeli losses and Iranian engagement, Israeli military sources told The Times last week that overcast weather was impeding plans for the operation.

According to Bloomberg, Israel has been under pressure from the US and some of its European partners to delay the attack until additional captives are freed. Israel “agreed to hold off under US pressure,” according to sources engaged in the negotiations, however a White House official said on Friday that “we’re not directing the Israelis, the timeline is theirs, their thinking, their planning.”