Israel appeared poised to attack the Gaza Strip early Friday, with a major border town evacuated and a fleet of tanks lining the border where hundreds of thousands of soldiers were already camped.
Israeli officials have warned for days that it will soon launch its ground offensive, as they massed at least 300,000 troops along the border in response to a surprise attack by Hamas on October 7, when the terrorist organization killed at least 1,400 people – mostly civilians — and took more than 200 hostages, Voice of America reported.
Speaking to the troops Thursday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoavav Gallant said they would soon see Gaza “from the inside.”
“Anyone who sees Gaza from afar will immediately see it from the inside,” he said. “Commands are coming.”
Gallant’s meeting with the military came as Economy Minister Nir Barkat announced that the Israel Defense Forces had been given the “green light” to carry out an attack on Gaza – a roughly 140-square-mile strip of land between Israel and the Mediterranean Sea.
Israeli officials have been warning for days that it will launch its ground offensive, as they mass at least 300,000 troops along the border. REUTERS Israel appears to have a fleet of tanks lined up on the border where hundreds of thousands of soldiers are already encamped, according to reports. Reuters
“We will [make] all efforts to bring our hostages, to bring our hostages [back] alive,” he insisted to ABC News while admitting that the “first and last priority” was to destroy Hamas.
The terror group claims it is holding some 203 Israeli hostages in a network of tunnels it is building under Gaza – which Barkat vows will be “the world’s biggest graveyard.”
As tanks appeared on Friday there were also reports of heavy airstrikes hitting Gaza, where Israel said it had struck more than 100 targets linked to Hamas, including tunnels and weapons depots.
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Israel has evacuated its own communities near Gaza and Lebanon, housing residents in hotels elsewhere in the country.
The Defense Ministry announced evacuation plans on Friday for Kiryat Shmona, a town of more than 20,000 residents near the Lebanese border.
The IDF intends to destroy the terrorist group “even if it takes a year” – with hostages and civilian casualties taking a back seat, Barkat explained.
Israel has evacuated its own communities near Gaza and Lebanon, housing residents in hotels elsewhere in the country. Jim Hollander/UPI/Shutterstock
Israeli officials insisted they had no choice but to launch a massive offensive, codenamed Operation Iron Sword.
Since Hamas seized power in the region 16 years ago, they argue, Israel has fought three major conflicts.
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But each of those operations was aimed at controlling Hamas, rather than destroying the terrorist group as they now plan to do.
“The strategy was to have a longer gap each time between different conflicts, but it failed and it cannot happen again,” an unidentified senior IDF official told the Guardian.
As the tanks appeared on Friday there were already reports of heavy airstrikes hitting Gaza, where Israel said it had struck more than 100 targets linked to Hamas. REUTERS Israeli officials insist they have no choice but to launch a massive offensive, codenamed Operation Iron Sword, according to reports.REUTERS
“So the only conclusion is that we have to go in, we have to go in and clean it up and root out Hamas, not only militarily, but also economically, administratively.”
The worst attack on Israel in 50 years: How we got here
2005: Israel unilaterally withdraws from the Gaza Strip three decades after winning the territory from Egypt in the Six-Day War.
2006: The terrorist group Hamas wins Palestinian legislative elections.
2007: Hamas takes control of Gaza in a civil war.
2008: Israel launched a military offensive against Gaza after Palestinian terrorists fired rockets into the city of Sderot.
2023: Hamas launches its biggest attack on Israel in 50 years.
More than 1,400 Israelis have been killed, more than 4,200 wounded and at least 100 taken hostage, with the death toll expected to rise after Hamas terrorists fired thousands of rockets and sent dozens of militants into Israeli cities.
Hamas terrorists are seen taking women hostage and parading them through the streets in a gruesome video.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced “We are at war” and promised Hamas would pay an “unprecedented price.”
Gaza health officials reported at least 3,000 Palestinians killed and more than 12,500 injured.
“Everything has to go.”
“That is the idea now, and we are preparing for it,” the official said.
Hamas launched a surprise attack on October 7, killing at least 1,400 people and taking more than 200 hostages, reports said. AP “We will [make] all efforts to bring our hostages, to bring our hostages [back] live,” said Economy Minister Nir Barkat to the news channel. AP
“It won’t be clear and it won’t be as short as we want it to be like the Israelis. It will be a long campaign. It will take time.”
As part of the ground invasion, Lt. General Herzi Halevi ordered the army to find and destroy hideouts used by Hamas as they tried to target top Hamas officials, the Times of London reported.
At the top of the target list are Yahya Sinwar, head of Hamas in Gaza, and Mohammed Deif, head of the al-Qassam Brigades – Hamas’s military arm.
Barkat also admitted while speaking to ABC News that his “first and last priority” is to destroy Hamas. AFP via Getty Images
But when Israeli forces enter Palestinian-held land, Hamas is likely to use terrorist tactics such as placing snipers in the windows of apartment blocks, using tripwires to launch IEDs, dropping grenades on armored vehicles, and disguising their members as civilians, according to General Sir Richard Barrons, a veteran British commander in counter-insurgency wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
He told the UK Times that “the chances of them succeeding until they completely destroy Hamas are very slim.
“The chances of deepening the conflict around Israel and Gaza are already much greater,” he warned. “Hamas intends to do that.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
