Some officials worry that the operation may lead to the Israel Defense Forces' (IDF) involvement in an intractable urban fighting in Gaza, while others fear a broader conflict, with Lebanese Shia movement Hezbollah possibly becoming more active on the Israel-Lebanon border, the report said.
The military is ready to move as soon as Friday, though Israeli leaders are yet to decide on how and whether at all the operation should be carried out, the newspaper reported. It added that another debate is about whether the invasion should be one large-scale operation or a series of smaller ones.
On Tuesday, the deputy head for public diplomacy at the Israeli Foreign Ministry, Emmanuel Nahshon, said that Israel was taking its time in order not to get into potential "deadly traps" in Gaza. The media reported, citing senior US government officials, that Washington was concerned about Israel's capabilities to wage urban warfare and believes it is not yet ready to launch a ground incursion.
Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise large-scale rocket attack against Israel from the Gaza Strip on October 7 and breached the border, killing and abducting around 200 people in neighboring Israeli communities. Israel launched retaliatory strikes and ordered a complete blockade of the Gaza Strip, home to more than 2 million people, cutting off supplies of water, food and fuel. The blockade was later eased to allow trucks with humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. The escalation of the conflict has resulted in thousands of people killed and injured on both sides.