(ProsperNews.net) – The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) said it is willing to delay its ground assault on Gaza while negotiations to release hostages continue. “Both Israel and the Biden administration want to exhaust every effort to try and get hostages out of Gaza,” an official stated. Hamas is believed to be holding around 200 civilians in the Gaza Strip, but Israeli officials have also warned that the ground invasion will go ahead regardless of any potential deal.
The IDF statement comes as Hamas released two female hostages into the custody of the Red Cross in Egypt. Nurit Yitzhak and Yocheved Lifshitz, aged 79 and 85, spoke to reporters after their release, with Lifshitz saying she had “been through hell” but claiming that her captors were “gentle.” Some commentators criticized Lifshitz for those remarks, calling them a public relations victory for Hamas.
She later described her experiences on the morning of October 7, describing how Hamas attackers “killed and kidnapped both old and young with no distinction.” After her abduction, Lifshitz said she walked through a “spiderweb of tunnels” to a central room where people were separated according to their kibbutz. She controversially lashed out at Israeli security services, accusing them of ignoring signs that Hamas was in the process of planning a major assault.
Among the signs was a visit by Hamas attackers to a fence near her kibbutz three weeks before the attack, but she said the IDF did not take it seriously, and residents were “left to fend for themselves.”
How terrorists managed to sidestep Israel’s robust border has been a point of speculation since the attack occurred. The IDF says the fence was breached at 29 points, adding that the wall was not fully staffed as much of Israel’s military was diverted to unrest in the West Bank. The IDF said Hamas destroyed observation facilities first, shot thousands of rockets simultaneously, and set explosions at strategic points along the fence, allowing for a shock invasion.
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