عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
World

US-Israel Dispute Over Timing of Gaza Ground Invasion

US President Joe Biden, AP
US President Joe Biden, AP
TT
TT

US-Israel Dispute Over Timing of Gaza Ground Invasion

US President Joe Biden, AP
US President Joe Biden, AP

American officials in President Joe Biden’s administration are engaged in intense discussions with their Israeli counterparts about plans for a ground war in Gaza, according to several US-based sources.

These discussions are taking place amid differences of opinion and US pressure on Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to postpone the invasion, creating room for negotiations regarding the release of more hostages held by Hamas.

Four top Israeli defense officials have indicated that the ground invasion has been postponed multiple times.

There are leaks suggesting that negotiations are currently underway for the release of 50 hostages from several countries, including Israeli citizens.

As a result, the US and its Western allies, especially the UK and France, are exerting pressure to delay the invasion because initiating it could impede the chances of securing the release of these individuals.

Moreover, concerns are mounting within the Biden administration about Israel’s commitment to international laws of war and its ability to avoid further civilian casualties.

Particularly worrisome is the Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s support for a broad military operation encompassing Hezbollah in the north and Gaza in the south, a stance contrary to Netanyahu’s.

Simultaneously, there are increasing international calls for additional aid trucks to be sent to Gaza to aid civilians.

Israeli airstrikes in densely populated areas pose a significant challenge to Israel’s plans for a ground assault.

Ministers in the Israeli Security Cabinet support an expedited ground invasion, citing the insufficiency of airstrikes in pursuing Hamas.

The US administration seeks to achieve three primary objectives by exerting pressure on Israel to postpone a ground invasion in Gaza.

First, it aims to create space for negotiations for the release of additional hostages held by Hamas. US families are urging the Biden administration to make efforts to ensure their release before any ground invasion, considering the potential for a protracted and politically far-reaching bloody conflict.

Second, the US administration intends to establish clear boundaries regarding the scope and execution of any ground invasion to minimize civilian casualties.

Furthermore, Washington emphasized the importance of ensuring the delivery of more food, water, and medicine to Palestinian civilians. This commitment was affirmed in a Sunday evening conversation between Biden and Netanyahu.

Most Viewed

 
 
World

Russia Says Last Ukrainian Troops Expelled from Kursk Region, Kyiv Denies Assertion

Russian President Vladimir Putin holds a videoconference meeting with Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Valery Gerasimov, at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence near Moscow, Russia, 26 April 2025, to receive a report on the completion of a military operation to liberate Russia's Kursk region from Ukrainian forces. (EPA/Alexander Kazakov/Sputnik/Kremlin)
Russian President Vladimir Putin holds a videoconference meeting with Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Valery Gerasimov, at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence near Moscow, Russia, 26 April 2025, to receive a report on the completion of a military operation to liberate Russia's Kursk region from Ukrainian forces. (EPA/Alexander Kazakov/Sputnik/Kremlin)
TT
TT

Russia Says Last Ukrainian Troops Expelled from Kursk Region, Kyiv Denies Assertion

Russian President Vladimir Putin holds a videoconference meeting with Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Valery Gerasimov, at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence near Moscow, Russia, 26 April 2025, to receive a report on the completion of a military operation to liberate Russia's Kursk region from Ukrainian forces. (EPA/Alexander Kazakov/Sputnik/Kremlin)
Russian President Vladimir Putin holds a videoconference meeting with Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Valery Gerasimov, at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence near Moscow, Russia, 26 April 2025, to receive a report on the completion of a military operation to liberate Russia's Kursk region from Ukrainian forces. (EPA/Alexander Kazakov/Sputnik/Kremlin)

Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed on Saturday what he said was the complete failure of an offensive by Ukrainian forces in Russia's Kursk region after Moscow said they had been expelled from the last village they had been holding.

Russia also confirmed for the first time that North Korean soldiers have been fighting alongside Russian troops in Kursk, with the chief of the military General Staff praising their "heroism" in helping to drive out the Ukrainians.

However, Kyiv denied that its forces had been expelled from Kursk and said they were also still operating in Belgorod, another Russian region bordering Ukraine.

Ukrainian forces seized a swathe of territory in Kursk region last August in a surprise incursion that embarrassed Putin. Russian forces, later reinforced by North Korean troops, have been trying ever since to drive them out.

Putin, speaking amid intensified diplomatic efforts by the Trump administration to end the Ukraine conflict, said the expulsion of Ukrainian forces from Russian soil opened the way for further Russian successes inside Ukraine.

"The Kyiv regime's adventure has completely failed," Putin said in video footage released by the Kremlin that showed him receiving a report from the head of Russia's general staff, Valery Gerasimov.

"The full defeat of the enemy in the Kursk border region creates conditions for further successful actions by our forces on other important parts of the front," Putin added.

Gerasimov told Putin that the last occupied settlement in the Kursk region, the village of Gornal, had been "liberated from Ukrainian units" on Saturday.

"Thus, the defeat of the armed formations of the Ukrainian armed forces that had invaded the Kursk region has been completed," Gerasimov said.

The Ukrainian military, in a statement later posted on social media platform Telegram, said its forces were continuing their operations in some districts of Kursk region.

Ukraine also denied Gerasimov's assertion that all Ukrainian "sabotage groups" had been "liquidated" in Belgorod region, where Kyiv's forces launched an incursion last month.

Reuters could not independently verify the battlefield assertions of either side.

Russia's Defense Ministry said the armed forces were now helping authorities in the Kursk region to restore "peaceful life" and to remove mines planted there.

NORTH KOREANS

Gerasimov praised the North Korean officers and soldiers' contribution in Kursk, saying they had shown "high professionalism, fortitude, courage and heroism", fulfilling combat tasks "shoulder to shoulder" with Russian servicemen.

North Korea sent an estimated total of 14,000 troops, including 3,000 reinforcements to replace its losses, Ukrainian officials said. Lacking armored vehicles and drone warfare experience, they took heavy casualties but adapted quickly.

Russia had previously neither confirmed nor denied the presence of North Korean troops in Kursk.

Russia's military cooperation with North Korea has grown rapidly since Moscow became internationally isolated after invading Ukraine in February 2022.

Kyiv says North Korea has supplied Russia with vast amounts of artillery shells as well as rocket systems, thousands of troops and ballistic missiles, which Moscow began using for strikes against Ukraine at the end of 2023.

Russia and North Korea have denied weapons transfers, which would violate UN embargoes.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had hoped his forces' seizure of Russian territory would give him a bargaining chip in any future talks to end the war in his country.

Zelenskiy held what the White House described as a "very productive" meeting with US President Donald Trump on Saturday in Rome, where both leaders were attending the funeral of Pope Francis.

Trump is pressuring Zelenskiy to agree to give up some Ukrainian territory to help end the three-year war that has caused large-scale casualties and devastation in cities, towns and villages across Ukraine.