Israel continues to expand its ground operation in Gaza with infantry and armored vehicles supported by “massive” air and sea strikes, the Israeli military spokesman said this Saturday.
Israel Defense Forces military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said “forces are still on the ground and continuing the war.”
Video activity of the IDF Ground Forces in Gaza. pic.twitter.com/FWt0pFO53q
– Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 28, 2023
Previously, Israeli troops carried out brief nighttime ground raids before returning to Israel.
This Saturday, the military released videos showing columns of armored vehicles moving slowly in areas of Gaza, the first visual confirmation of ground troops, in addition to fighter jets that bombed dozens of tunnels and underground bunkers belonging to the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas.
The decision represents a new escalation in Israel’s campaign to eliminate the Islamist group that rules the Gaza Strip, following Hamas’s incursion into southern Israel three weeks ago, and a new sign that a full invasion of Gaza could be underway. near.
On Friday night, Hagari had already said that ground forces were “expanding their activity” in Gaza and “acting with great force (…) to achieve the objectives of the war.”
Israel has deployed hundreds of thousands of troops along the border.
Between Friday night and today, warplanes struck 150 underground tunnels and bunkers in northern Gaza, the military said. Hamas’s extensive underground facilities, many of them located beneath Gaza City in the territory’s north, are seen as key targets of Israel’s military offensive.
As part of the intensified bombardment, Israel also disrupted communications on Friday and created a near blackout, largely isolating contact with the outside world for the 2.3 million people besieged in Gaza.
Palestinians, already plunged into darkness after much of their electricity was cut weeks ago, have found themselves isolated, crowded into homes and shelters, and supplies of food, water and fuel are running out.
Attempts to contact Gaza residents by telephone failed on Saturday morning.
Hamas’ communications office reported intense overnight clashes with Israeli forces in several locations, including what it said was an Israeli incursion east of the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip.
Asked about this episode, the Israeli military reiterated this Saturday that they were carrying out selective attacks and expanding the attacks with the aim of “preparing the ground for future phases of the operation.”
Hagari stated this Saturday that “humanitarian efforts” will be increased and that more trucks with humanitarian aid will enter the southern Gaza Strip.
“To all Gaza residents who have moved to the southern Gaza Strip, we will increase our humanitarian efforts,” Hagari emphasized.
On the other hand, the families of the hostages of the Islamist group Hamas detained in the Gaza Strip, most of them Israelis, expressed their concern this Saturday and demanded explanations from the Government of Tel Aviv, after the intense bombings by the army against this Palestinian territory. .
Source: TSF
