The announced large-scale Israeli ground offensive in Gaza continues to be delayed due to "tactical" issues and, while Benjamin Netanyahu's government affirms that one of its priority objectives is the hostages held by the Islamist group Hamas, specialists told Télam that although Their release is a "priority" for Israel, the incursion is inevitable and will not be the last step. Since the Hamas attack in southern Israel on October 7, which killed 1,400 people, Prime Minister Netanyahu's government declared "war" on the Islamist group based in the Gaza Strip and announced a ground incursion. For days, the offensive seemed imminent, but the Army said this week that it was delayed for "tactical" reasons and later confirmed that tanks and soldiers entered the Palestinian enclave in recent nights and carried out "selective" preparation operations. Previous hostage exchanges between Israel and Hamas have tilted in favor of the Islamist group, with one of the most emblematic cases being that of 2011, when the Hebrew country handed over 1,027 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. "Israel is in talks with Qatar about the possibility of releasing a large number of hostages. That we can free them is very important for us," former member of the Knesset (Israeli parliament) Ofer Shelah told Télam. For the politician and former combatant in the 1982 war with Lebanon - an experience he recounted in the book "Second Person" -, the hostages are "very important in Israeli public opinion" and unlike other times when those kidnapped were soldiers, This is about civilians, so it is "a moral duty" to recover them", and their return has to do with the "vision on Israel's security". In any case, he assured that this operation "will not stop."