Israel has acceded to a request made by the United States to temporarily postpone its planned ground incursion into Gaza. This delay is aimed at allowing Washington additional time to deploy extra air defense systems to safeguard its personnel in the region, as reported by The Wall Street Journal, citing information from both U.S. and Israeli officials. The Pentagon is currently expediting the deployment of approximately twelve air defense systems to protect troops stationed in Iraq, Syria, Kuwait, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates against potential missile threats. In recent events, Iran-backed proxies have carried out no fewer than 13 attacks since the outbreak of hostilities in Gaza. These attacks have resulted in minor injuries to at least two dozen troops in Syria and 10 U.S. soldiers in Iraq, according to U.S. officials. The United States has effectively persuaded Israel to postpone its invasion of Gaza until the deployment of these crucial defense systems is completed. This deployment is anticipated to be finalized as early as later this week, according to the WSJ report. However, the U.S. request is not the sole consideration guiding Israel’s decision-making regarding a potential ground incursion. Israel is also taking into account its efforts to provide humanitarian aid to Gaza’s civilian population and diplomatic initiatives aimed at securing the release of more hostages, as explained by officials cited in The Wall Street Journal. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)