I said I didn’t think there was going to be a ground assault of Gaza.
But I made no commitment to that as a “prediction.”
Ground invasion was always on the table and it remains there.
But if it actually happens, the whole world is going to catch on fire.
So, you know – be ready for that.
RT:
A senior member of Hamas has said the Palestinian militant group was surprised by America’s reaction to recent violence in Gaza, suggesting the US could enter the fight after it sent thousands of troops and a pair of aircraft carriers to the region.
In an interview with the Financial Times published on Friday, Ali Barakeh, a member of Hamas’ political leadership based in Lebanon, said the group “didn’t expect this much of a response” from the US.
“An Israeli response? Yes, we expected that,” he said. “But what we’re seeing now is the entrance of the US into the battle, and this we didn’t count on.”
Washington has made major shows of force in the Middle East since Hamas’ deadly October 7 attack on Israel, deploying two aircraft carrier strike groups to the Mediterranean, as well as an amphibious assault ship carrying 2,000 sailors and marines. US officials have said the moves were meant to deter outside actors from taking part in the Gaza war.
My feeling is that this is an exaggeration. He’s just saying they could invade because they’re there. I don’t think there is intelligence that they are going to do that.
The ships and troops are there, but they would be regardless. That is some kind of standard operating procedure.
The US Marines taking point on a Gaza ground invasion seems like just too much of an escalation right now, as the way this has all been framed, that is effectively a declaration of war against Iran.
We’re gonna need Russians or Chinese or someone to say something before I take this seriously. “Interview with Hamas guy” is not a valid enough source for information with this kind of weight.
If there are US troop movements lining up for a move on Gaza, Russia and China both know, and will presumably say that at some point before the actual invasion (unless they have some reason not to – it’s possible China/Russia wants the US to do this, because it signals a last gasp – or, maybe we would say, “a last fart from the Great Anus”).