Many reports have indicated that the Biden administration is concerned about Israel's lack of achievable military objectives for its operations in Gaza, leading American officials to believe that the Israeli army is not yet ready for a ground incursion.

American officials have held marathon meetings and phone calls with their Israeli counterparts to discuss the ground operation, which many believed the Israeli army would initiate by Monday – after 17 days since Hamas's attack on October 7, in which more than 1,400 people were killed in Israel and nearly 1,000 were killed. 220 hostages are being held in Gaza.

In the meantime, the Israeli army has continued near-constant airstrikes, stating that it targets Hamas terrorists and infrastructure, resulting in the deaths of thousands in Gaza.

The New York Times reported on Monday, citing unnamed American officials, that U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has had nearly daily phone calls with his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant, urging the former to carefully consider how the Israel Defense Forces will penetrate Gaza, where terrorists will operate from tunnels and crowded areas.

During an interview on Sunday with ABC's "This Week," Austin said that the ground invasion that Israel plans to launch may take longer than the time it took for the U.S. to oust the Islamic State from power in Mosul, Iraq, when he was head of the U.S. Central Command.

He stated, "Fighting in urban areas is extremely difficult," confirming that it is proceeding at a slow pace. "This might be a bit more difficult due to the network of tunnels that Hamas has built over time, and the fact that they have had a long time to prepare for the fight."

American officials told The Times that Israel must decide whether it wants to eliminate Hamas terrorists through a series of surgical strikes and targeted raids by special forces, as the U.S. did with Iraqi and Kurdish soldiers in Mosul in 2017, or launch more attacks in an expanded ground invasion, as U.S. forces did with Iraqi and British troops in Fallujah in 2004.

An Israeli official told The Times of Israel that government ministers have repeatedly mentioned Fallujah as an example of the type of operation they wish to see the Israeli army undertake in Gaza.

American officials told The Times that both strategies would lead to devastating casualties, although the Fallujah model would be bloodier for both soldiers and civilians, adding that many in the Pentagon prefer the Mosul blueprint, but even in that battle, between 9,000 and 11,000 civilians were killed, according to the Associated Press.

American officials told The Times that they walked away from their talks with their Israeli counterparts feeling that they have not yet seen a viable action plan to achieve Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's stated goal of eliminating Hamas.

This report comes two days after a senior diplomatic official told The Times of Israel that the U.S. and several European countries are pressuring Israel to stop its ground incursion to allow more time to negotiate the release of more than 220 hostages in Gaza. Four of them have been released so far after efforts made by Qatar and Egypt.

The New York Times reported on Sunday that the Biden administration also wants time to bolster preparations for any potential attacks on U.S. targets in the region by groups based in Iran, which it believes are likely to increase as the war continues.

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Michael Herzog told CNN, “There is no pressure in reality. They offer us advice, but they don’t tell us what we should do or not do,” and Biden administration officials have made similar claims publicly as well.

John Kirby, the White House National Security Council spokesman, told reporters on Monday that several senior U.S. military officers with experience in “the types of operations that Israel is conducting and might conduct in the future” have been sent to advise the Israeli army.

We have asked many experienced officials simply to help Israeli officials think through the tough questions ahead and explore their options. A Pentagon spokesman added, “The Israeli army will, as always, make its own decisions.”

Axios reported that among the advisers is Lieutenant General James Glynn, a Marine general who was involved in operations during the U.S. war against the Islamic State in Iraq.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sunday that Israel needs to indeed formulate a strategy regarding who will govern Gaza if the Israeli army completes its stated mission to oust Hamas.

This appears to be the first time Washington has publicly urged Israel to consider its broader strategy, after officials speaking anonymously earlier said that Biden and administration officials are privately pressing Netanyahu and his aides to devise a strategy, in order to avoid making the same mistakes the U.S. made after the 9/11 attacks, which led to over a decade of involvement in Middle Eastern wars.

Israeli officials have publicly stated that they are currently focused on eliminating Hamas and are not thinking about what may come next.

The Times of Israel has learned that the Israeli army believes it should start its ground attack sooner rather than later to achieve the government's stated objectives.

The army has informed the government that it is fully prepared for a ground attack in the Gaza Strip, believing it can achieve its defined goals, even at the risk of heavy casualties among its soldiers, amid ongoing attacks by Hezbollah in northern Gaza.

However, the army fears that the government may not give the order to commence the ground attack at all or may delay it for a long time.
If the army needs to shift its focus to the northern front instead of Gaza, it is confident it can do so within just a few days. The Israeli army has already significantly bolstered the Lebanese border, but most forces remain near Gaza, ahead of the anticipated ground attack.

Regarding the confirmed 220 hostages held by Hamas and other Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip, the army is preparing for the possibility of conducting rescue operations amid the ground attack, according to information obtained by The Times of Israel.

The army is concerned that the release of more hostages by Hamas may prompt the political leadership to delay the ground incursion or even halt it midway. However, the Israeli army believes that the attack may already pressure Hamas to release more hostages.