A full-scale Israeli ground invasion of Gaza will take place on Friday after the Israel Defense Forces confirmed for the first time that its troops and tanks had begun raids inside the Palestinian enclave.
Israel has amassed significant weapons on the outskirts of Gaza as its war with the Hamas terror group escalates including 35 battalions containing 300,000 troops that will be led into battle by 100 D9R bulldozers, 300 tanks and dozens of Armored Personnel Carriers [APCs].
The IDF said on Friday troops had carried out “local raids” in Gaza to hunt down terrorists and try to find some of the roughly 150 Israeli hostages taken by Hamas during last week’s brutal offensive, which sparked the war and left more than 1,300 Israelis dead. .
Israel has since launched a nightly bombardment of Gaza with some 6,000 airstrikes on strategic targets, leaving many in ruins. The province’s health ministry said 1,900 people had been killed in the air raids.
Israel has already deployed an estimated 35 battalions – complete with tens of thousands of soldiers, tanks and artillery – along the Gaza border. EyePress News/Shutterstock The IDF said on Friday that troops had carried out “local raids” in Gaza to hunt down terrorists and try to find some of the roughly 150 Israeli hostages captured by Hamas.
On Thursday, the IDF dropped leaflets in northern Gaza warning its estimated 1.1m residents to head south of the Wadi Gaza bridge within 24 hours, including evacuating 11 hospitals, three UN compounds, and two refugee camps, many of which were taken as signs of a ground invasion. . will follow. Hamas told its people to ignore the warning and stay where they were.
Some military authorities warn that fighting in densely populated urban areas is a very difficult and delicate proposition.
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“There will be IDF troops deployed, not only in the streets, but trying to go from house to house … blowing holes through walls,” Seth G. Jones, director of the International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told CBS News.
“They have to move through armored personnel carriers to protect them. They will have main battle tanks and bulldozers to go with them as well. They will be supported by F15 and F16 fixed-wing Israeli aircraft, possibly helicopters, and then Israeli drones.”
Although Israeli forces will have air support, including AH64 Apache attack helicopters, they are unlikely to be able to help against Hamas’ labyrinthine 300-mile underground tunnel system, built at an estimated cost of $90m, which only the terrorists trust. to know the full ins and outs.
“Some of them are likely to be trapped,” Colin P. Clarke, a conflict and terrorism expert at the Soufan Group, told iNews this week about the tunnels.
The Israel Defense Forces began moving tanks and war weapons to the border near Gaza this week. EyePress News/Shutterstock
“Being prepared to fight in such an area is extremely difficult and requires deep intelligence on what the tunnel network looks like – which Israel may not have.”
The clock is ticking and pressure is mounting to rescue the hostages seized on October 7 who are now being held somewhere in Gaza, most likely in a tunnel system.
Estimates of the number of Hamas troops range from 15,000 to 30,000.
They also have a series of weapons to use such as mines, rocket grenades, anti-tank weapons, civilian vehicles modified to carry heavy machine guns or explosives and snipers.
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Military experts also point out that fighting in the midst of air raid debris is difficult because the bombs create wide open spaces surrounded by rubble – which offer many hiding places for the enemy.
Israel’s first line of defense against that is to send in the D9R Bulldozer, which is incredibly fireproof and can clear mines and easily destroy infrastructure like walls.
They may be followed by the army’s Merkava IV tanks and Namer APCs.
Israel’s military has invested huge resources in launching its ground offensive — even building a training base in its southern desert, dubbed a “mini Gaza”, meant to mimic the region’s urban landscape.
Israel activated some 300,000 reservists to join the IDF’s standing force of more than 160,000 in the days after last weekend’s surprise attack. EyePress News/Shutterstock
The most difficult threat is to distinguish who is a terrorist and who is a civilian during the fighting.
“I think the initial challenge facing Israel is one of intelligence: Who is friend and who is enemy?” Jones said, adding that terrorists may use “civilians as shields.”
“It is almost impossible to distinguish between civilians and Hamas,” he added.
That also raises the question of how a humanitarian corridor to allow civilians out of Gaza could be implemented.
Estimated number of Hamas soldiers between 15,000 and 30,000.AP
The United Nations issued a statement saying Israel’s 24-hour evacuation order was not achievable.
The country’s ambassador to the UN responded by saying it was doing “everything we can to minimize civilian casualties”.
Israeli officials have made it clear that it will not be a quick or easy campaign.
Former US Defense Secretary Mark Esper told CNBC that the war will last “at least for a few weeks … but it depends on the goals and whether they escalate.”
Israel’s military has invested huge resources in launching its ground offensive — even building a training base in its southern desert, dubbed a “mini Gaza”, meant to mimic the region’s urban landscape. EyePress News/Shutterstock Former US Defense Secretary Mark Esper told CNBC the war will last “at least for a few weeks … but it depends on the goals and whether they escalate.”EyePress News/Shutterstock
The war is expected to last longer than the 2008 Gaza war which lasted just over three weeks and the 2014 Operation Protective Edge which lasted six weeks, in order for the IDF to achieve its goal of wiping out Hamas “from the face of the earth.” ”.
Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu vowed in a speech on Friday night in Israel: “We will destroy Hamas… This is just the beginning.”
“The aim is to defeat the entire military capability and military equipment of Hamas and that will require a long operation,” said an Israeli security source.
“Most of the targets, people, equipment, logistics are underground and likely hostages are underground,” the source continued.
“The purpose is to level the ground to then be able to reach the underground fortress.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
