it. i care for people on both sides. >> israel is preparing to carry out a ground. prime minister netanyahu facing public anger. will they go in regardless of the risks. this is "inside story." >> hello, on the bombardment, the gaza strip is facing for an israeli ground offensive. the leadership has declared the

operation will be like no other and others fear the lives of those captured are in jeopardy. the u.s. has urged israel to delay its attack in hope of getting release of hostages. first this report. >> israel's leaders say they will wipe hamas off the face of the earth. and some of the forces they intend to use. >> it will take one month, two months, there will be no more hamas. and before they attack our tanks and infantry, they will know the force. >> hundreds of thousands of israeli reservists have been called up to join. and the u.s. is expanding its presence. the army conducted ground

offense in 2014 and 2019. back then, their aim was to punish. now the army wants to go further. >> we will turn this equation 180 degrees. the day of the attack is the day that started the final and complete destruction of the hamas terrorist organization. >> it steps up and faces challenges at home. the families of 222 captives being held by hamas since it attacked israel three weeks ago is calling for its release. >> where are you? this is crazy. >> we are. and we want our loved ones back home now. >> two american hostages have

been freed. the army says it is conducting raids to find out if other captives are being held inside gaza. >> these area raids are inside gaza and close contact and seek information of missing hostages. >> ahead of the ground invasion more than a million palestinians are forced to move. the israeli army those who don't will be considered hamas supporters. humanitarian crisis is unfolding in gaza, many are concerned that a major battle between israel and hamas could join it. >> well, let's bring in our

panel of guests. in london, associate fellow in the middle east and north frisk. in birmingham, professor of the clinton institute and founder and editor. and also in london is a professor of modern middle east politics at the university of cambridge. thank you for joining us. so let's talk about the possibility that israel is under pressure to delay its ground offensive, starting with you, from what we hear, the problem with discussing is military plans is a secret but israel has delayed it several times. >> in a way it's we found it it in the military operation and we know the consequences of such of

such an offensive is bound to cost many, many lives. and a, israel denies on the service to mobilize and need to be led in this and asked to do it. [indiscernible] and tensions, evolving tensions. and there is international community where the pressure is mounting because we see the level of casualties on the palestinian side, many of them are civilians. annette: it's not so good. we think 222 hostages, only two hostages have been released thus

far and the other one is worried that if a worried and a ground these hostages might be used as human shields. so what is the political aim of such an attack. this government talks about and together hamas and actually and without killing thousands and thousands of palestinian civilians and gets to be much more. >> when we saw president biden go for his very brief visit just to israel last week, everyone focused how he was supportive of the israeli and he said don't rush to war and don't make the mistakes that u.s. made after 9/11. >> he was in the behind the

scenes as well one would imagine presenting an alternative view that although he was supporting israel's right to protect itself, he was putting brakes on exactly how israel would go about that, saying there would be implications if it approached it in the wrong way. and i think we are seeing the response across many capitals in the world including the arab world, that there is an alternative perspective on this that it is against international law. of course, to forcibly move people and to attack a whole community as going on in gaza. and so i think there is definitely a degree of caution that the israelis are having to build into their plans simply to avoid being further isolated at the end of this.

i think the initial program that they set out was very much simply looking at retaliation and now they are having to look at the end game. >> scott goer we hear from reports, israel to slow down is the daily meeting between the u.s. defense secretary lloyd austin and israeli defense minister who seems to be the most hawkish of those in the military leadership and the reports are saying that the minister has said is those held being hamas and aid into gaza and protect u.s. interests. does that sound like the u.s. would be urging caution to you? >> american israeli officials because of those 222 hostages, i

think that is a convenient pretext not just in the u.s. but the international community and after hamas' mass murder of israeli civilians and foreign nationals, there is a two-fold message here and first part of the message not from the u.s. but from european leaders, including asian hamas crossed the line of septemberability. it can not be treated to provide stability and security but leads the second part of the message which has been given not just by joe biden or secretary of state blinken, how do you get rid of hamas and moving this -- removing this leadership

committing crimes against humanity without killing mass. i think the emphasis was for israel not to carry out a ground offensive and israel was on the verge of that last week and israel has to limit the bombing. there are lessons here. but that brings us to that point but the key as it were those points and getting humanitarian aid into gaza. the argument of the international community is you have to get space between gaza civilians and hamas. you have to get civilians away from the idea that hamas is that only protector and for that, you may not just a few dozen aid trucks going in, you need hundreds and thousands of trucks going in and going in very soon. >> i'll come back to the aid in

the moment, on the issue being held by hamas, we had two americans that were released and you look carefully the estimated numbers being held have gone up. there were 150 and now it is now more than 212. that of course greatly limits any possibility of a rescue operation given these people are held in different places under heavy guard and some of them probably in a maze of underground tunnels. >> families were told about that. this complicates everything and explains not only soldiers and not talking about soldiers but children, babies, all the way to

85 years old and impossible to have the operation. it is not realistic and obviously considering the way that hamas views them -- and use human shields. so the best way forward is actually through why negotiation behind the scenes show that they are capable of negotiating release of two and we need to see what happens next. yeah. this is only the beginning and military operation because it's under immediate risk. >> scott, released ran on from

illinois and the fact that hamas released them, how does that complicate things for the israeli government and push for a ground offensive? and why do you think, and i know there is pure speculation, they chose two healthy americans when there are elderly, young and infirmed people being held? >> this was a public relations move. there was a public relations move to try to deter an israeli ground invasion by holding out that the hostages were there and carrying out these, pushing the invasion back. these hostages are human shields. why was it the americans? the americans are perceived by many being the key factor upon their influence upon the israeli leadership and others have been

going into israel in the past 12 days, the germans are going in and the british have gone in, greek prime minister is there because washington is the biggest leader and you play to american public opinion. there is great deal of anger over killing of israelis and american citizens. we are willing to release hostages and if you attack us it would be a shame if they wound up getting killed. >> hamas spokes man and would release and prime minister netanyahu said this is propaganda but causes problems within israel. >> hamas is playing its cards very carefully and you know i

agree that first to americans then to israelis, this has got an agenda to appeal to not only public opinion but to show there is total control over these hostages at the moment and the americans are hoping there would be palestinian-americans that would be left out across the rafah border where the aid trucks are coming in and there would be an exchange there and that has not happened. it shows that the release of the hostages is very much up to hamas. it is showing complete control over the situation and also showing that the israeli army does not because their intelligence has shifted consistently as to how many of the hostages there are. we don't know if they have any idea where these hostages are. and i think that's possibly very

much affecting their decision to go in because an urban guerilla man-to-man fight in gaza could really be very risky to the lives of hostages that are there. and i think there has been great a bit of talk about negotiations, would be a better way and better guarantee to keep the hostages alive rather than a ground operation and put their hieives at much greater risk. that is an interesting chess game. >> in terms of those two released, american israeli mother and daughter, we haven't seen them since they have been released. tell me that they are being checked off by doctors and psychologists and the important part for the israelis and

americans they are being debriefed by the israelis and americans. [indiscernible] as much as possible. but again, i doubt they know too much to help the intelligence community. the time that has elapsed and two weeks and hamas in different places because they are waiting right now for the israeli forces to enter and go in usual and areas.

and there is information from hostages that have been released. i'm not so sure. >> scott, in addition to u.s. citizens, there are citizens of u.k., france, netherlands, thailand, dhil yes, spain and port to good on the list and include some of the u.s. and israel's closest alleys, how much pressure is coming from the government? >> it is a collective effort, not just a u.s. effort or emphasize that the lives of these hostages are at risk. but to put across a wider message. even if an israeli ground offensive is put off for a week, two weeks, israel will be

putting on the sustained bombing and the message is, can you think you bomb out of existence or contain it? do you think killing thousands of palestinians is going to make a difference in releasing the hostages. hamas knew when they attacked israeli they would and use not only the hostages and gaza civilians as hostages. and now the hostages their citizens are being hostage and they are trying to find a way to break the cycle of violence and shift the priority to aid rather than and including the proposal which the u.s. may finally sign on to and the security council to make a pause in the conflict

and have it be the number one objective. >> when we saw the two americans released, it was hours later we saw the very first and weren't very many, 20 trucks humanitarian aid cross into gaza. do you think that was part of the deal? >> we imagine it was part of the deal. the level of aid trucks that have been allowed and since i think are hinging on the negotiations to release the next two set of hostages. this we've got to remember is massively lower than the amount of aid that was coming in even prior to the whole collaboration that began on october 7.

hundreds of aid trucks that would normally come into gaza. it is suffering without these. so both sides are pulling those ropes in the negotiation. so i think they are linked. and i think there's also some degree of -- i would agree, i don't think there is a great deal of information that the hostages are going to be able to provide simply because i would imagine those hostages that are being released are quite close to the place where they are being exchanged. they are being kept specifically out of any kind of massive movement or loop of hamas activities. >> a great deal of pressure on israel to let in more aid and one item that hasn't been allowed in, which is fuel.

and fuel is needed for all sorts of things, water, sanitation, water pumping and the u.n. agency that deals with the resources fuel resource and they rely on generators and one disturbing report suggest there are 120 babies in incubators who would die if there was not fuel to power those incubators. do you think israel will let fuel in or not because it is considered a dual-use item? >> and. [indiscernible] and they are relying for water and elect to a large extent.

and makes a huge difference. hundreds of them every day and for years actually on the verge of collapse and not supply the basic services. when you have a crisis in the middle of war, and if this is felt, the end result is suffering of the population and fight against hamas and terrorism, and same time to deprive innocent civilians from the very basic rights and we know we have seen 4,000 palestinians killed.

there must be a way in which -- and doesn't mean that some of the population to be delayed. [indiscernible] >> and security is provided to hospitals and schools and other places. we know that hamas is going not to fight in accordance with the give convention. >> where international diplomacy is going and the u.s. ambassador of the united nationses vetoed a resolution to be put into effect to deliver this aid. the u.s. is putting this resolution and put forward another draft resolution that i saw from the security council

saying that draft in the was the new u.s. draft resolution and for the first time they mention exploring additional practical steps such as humanitarian pauses and the establishment of humanitarian corridors. israel isn't going to like it, is it? >> it's interesting, because i think the story to this is that biden had been working on netanyahu for some time to convince him there would be larger picture has been the right for israel to defend itself but the secondary picture is that according to international law and conform to protecting civilians and the people of gaza, palestinians. i'm not totally surprised that it's taken this first step where

the u.s. was saying that there was going to be sees fires and vetoing these u.n. resolution but has convinced israel and a different step is important to take, i think the situation we have to recognize is very fluid and the longer the time goes and longer that this incue baits, it is clear that humanitarian support is critical to this and critical to the image that israel will have coming out of this story and if it is not able to allow this kind of humanitarian help, it will be increasingly isolated as it comes out of this with none of the work it has done to shore up relationships with its neighbor- >> let me stop you there.

we are coming to the end of the program. ask each of you, two-word answer, yes or no, is there going to be a ground invasion, is the pressure going to work? >> to some extent i expect one to take place. >> scott? >> israel will divide us into parts, ground invasion to establish a buffer zone where in the southern gaza strip and some humanitarian aid can give them support. >> yes or no? >> i think there will be. i don't think they can back out. >> i have to end it there. thanks to all our guests. if you missed any part of our discussion watch it again any time on al jazeera. com. on x that used to be called

twitter. comprehensive coverage on al gentleman zeiera and back on this. stay safe. bye for now.