TEL AVIV: Israel said it has formed an emergency war-time unity government to fight Hamas militants, at the same time massing 300,000 troops near Gaza for what could be a ground invasion of the Palestinian enclave.
At the White House, President Joe Biden reaffirmed Washington’s support for Israel and assured a group of Jewish leaders that his administration was “working on every aspect of the hostage crisis in Israel.”
Reports say some Americans may be among them — a fact that ties Washington inextricably to the conflict. Biden refused to identify specific efforts to recover the hostages, saying, “If I told you, I wouldn’t be able to get them home.”
He said the U.S. is sending ammunition, interceptors and fighter jets to the region, along with significant naval resources.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu created a war cabinet with former defense chief Benny Gantz, a centrist opposition National Unity Party leader, along with current Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, so they could solely focus on combating Hamas after its shock attack on Israel last Saturday.
The unusual arrangement, with other Cabinet members from Netanyahu’s right-wing government apparently remaining in place, pieces together a degree of unity after years of bitterly divisive politics.
Netanyahu has vowed to topple Hamas rule in Gaza, the densely populated strip of territory along the Mediterranean Sea, so that the militants can no longer threaten Israel.
From Tel Aviv, Yossi Yonah, a former member of the Israeli Knesset, told Alhurra, the U.S. government’s Arabic language satellite TV channel, “The goals (of forming this government) are clear, but I can say the first goal is to continue the strong attacks against Hamas and its supporters in Gaza Strip.
There is also a clear option, which is that Israel may carry out ground invasion in Gaza to completely bring down Hamas movement.
The toll has been staggering in five days of fighting, with Israel saying that 1,200 of its citizens and foreign nationals, including 22 Americans, have been killed inside Israel and another 2,700 wounded. In Washington, the White House said another 17 Americans are unaccounted for.
Palestinian officials say that 1,055 of its people have been killed in retaliatory strikes by Israel and nearly 5,200 wounded. A ground invasion of Gaza would surely increase the death toll on both sides.
(VOA)
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