Israeli ground forces broke into Gaza during the night of Thursday. Combat vehicles broke through a wall separating Gaza from Israel, and according to Israel’s army IDF, the aim was to attack several Hamas strongholds.
The Israeli forces struck “a large number of terrorist cells and military infrastructure,” according to the IDF statement, which noted that the soldiers returned unharmed after the raid.
“Ground offensive to be carried out”
Israel has consistently repeated that it will launch a ground offensive in Gaza without specifying a time. After the night raid, the verbal threats intensified.
In a televised comment on Thursday evening, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that the next step in the war against terror-labeled Hamas in Gaza has now been taken.
– We are preparing the continuation of the offensive, and new steps are being taken, Gallant said in the TV speech and stated that “a ground offensive must be carried out”.
The clear Israeli marking came after days of speculation about opposing views and outside influence on how a ground offensive would be carried out. According to information, the US has military representatives on site at Israel’s command center.
Many dead hostages
The ground offensive is believed to have been postponed as the Islamist extremist group is holding over 200 people hostage, several of them with different nationalities. The exact number is uncertain, Israel on Thursday put the figure back up to 224, although a few have been released.
Hamas, in turn, said Israeli attacks on Gaza have killed nearly 50 of those held hostage.
The movement’s armed branch al-Qassam Brigade writes on Telegram that they “estimate” that the number of prisoners who have been killed in Gaza “is closer to 50”, reports AFP.
Hamas’ health authority also said the number killed in Gaza in Israeli attacks exceeded 7,000. The figures could not be verified by independent assessors.
Impossible choices
Meanwhile, the UN humanitarian representative in Gaza, Lynn Hastings, said that “no place is safe” in Gaza and that Israeli warnings of impending attacks no longer make a difference.
“Residents are left with only impossible choices,” she said in a statement.
About 350,000 Palestinians still remain in northern Gaza. This despite the fact that the approximately 1.1 million inhabitants of Gaza’s northern parts of Israel have been urged to leave their homes and head to the southern part of the area.