Israel has agreed to delay its ground operation in the Gaza Strip for the time being so that the United States has time to send anti-missile systems to the areathe Wall Street Journal reports, citing American and Israeli officials.

In particular, the Wall Street Journal reports that Israel has agreed to a US request to deploy its air defenses to protect US troops in the region ahead of an expected ground invasion of Gaza.

The Pentagon is trying to deploy nearly a dozen air defense systems in the region, including for US troops serving in Iraq, Syria, Kuwait, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, to protect them from missiles and rockets. US officials have so far persuaded the Israelis to suspend the attack until the systems are deployed, as early as later this week.

Israel is also taking into account in its planning the effort to provide humanitarian aid to civilians inside Gaza, as well as diplomatic efforts to free more of the Hamas hostages, the same officials told the newspaper.

Skynews: The five reasons the ground operation is delayed

For more than two weeks, Israel has been threatening to launch a ground attack on Gaza. As reported by Sky news, the stakes could not be higher, with Turkey’s foreign minister warning today that such an operation would start a massacre.

Israeli tanks and soldiers remain ready at the borderafter Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu formed a war cabinet and called up hundreds of thousands of IDF reservists.

The world is waiting for Israel’s next move. However, why hasn’t he come yet?

Leadership

The political and security chiefs who make the decision to attack they know they can write “their last chapter in public life”the Middle East expert said Robert Satloff on Sky partner network NBC.

Many bear some responsibility for security failures that led to the deadly October 7 Hamas attack and they know that investigations will follow this conflict, said Howard Berkowitz, of the Institute for Near East Studies in Washington.

Homers

About 220 hostages remain in Gazabelieved to be hidden in a network of underground tunnels.

Officials will be under pressure to save as many as they can before any attackwith sources in the Biden administration saying the US supports delays on that basis.

Danger to Israeli troops

Former senior British intelligence officer Philip Ingram told Sky News that the IDF will face some of the world’s toughest urban terror fighters in Gaza.

He explained that Hamas will know the routes through which Israel will travel, using mines, the best sniper positions and its network of tunnels to attack them.

“There is a risk of entering a very dangerous trap”a former senior Israeli official told NBC.

Hezbollah

Iranian-backed militias operating in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and perhaps most relevant of all, Lebanon, will be on the minds of Israeli officials.

Hezbollah, a powerful militant group, has been exchanging fire with the IDF on the border with Lebanon since October 7 and has warned Israel of a ground attack.

“No one is in the mood for two fronts at this point”the former security official said.

Exit plan

Benjamin Netanyahu has not come up with an exit plan on how and when he will leave Gazaa senior government official told NBC.

And if Israel achieves its strategic goals, no one knows what entities may take the place of Hamas.