The American New York Times reported that the Israeli army decided to postpone its expected invasion into the Gaza Strip for several days “due to bad weather conditions.”

The newspaper quoted three senior officers in the Israeli army, whose identities were not revealed, that the ground attack was supposed to begin this weekend, but it was partially postponed due to cloudy skies that will make it difficult for Israeli pilots and drone operators to provide air cover for ground forces.

For his part, an Israeli army spokesman told CNN that they would begin a major military operation in Gaza “when civilians leave the area,” he claimed.

The spokesman added that the Israeli army had given the residents of Gaza sufficient warnings and that it was time for them to leave the south, accusing Hamas of thwarting the exit of foreigners from the Strip, because it did not allow them to leave, as he put it.