Israel-Hamas clash: Preparing for attack from air, sea, land, says IDF

As the Israeli-Palestinian conflict enters its eighth day, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it was finalizing preparations for a “significant ground operation” in the Gaza Strip, The Times of Israel reported.

The IDF statement said it was ready to “expand the offensive” by implementing a “wide range of offensive operational plans” which it said included a “joint and coordinated air, sea and land attack”.

The IDF said it was finalizing the recruitment of hundreds of thousands of reservists while the Directorate of Logistics worked to provide the troops with all the equipment they would need for a ground offensive.

It said: “In recent days, the tools necessary for combat have been transferred to the assembly areas, and at this stage the various units of the Directorate of Technological and Logistical Means are working to complete the qualification of the tools and equip them with modern combat means.” means, as needed.”

“IDF battalions and soldiers are deployed throughout the country and are prepared to increase their readiness for the next stages of the war, with an emphasis on a significant ground operation,” the military added, according to The Times of Israel.

The military is expected to launch a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip, but its scope and timing could be affected by operational considerations as tensions rise on the northern border.

Meanwhile, the head of Israel’s National Security Council, Tzahi Hanegbi, confirmed that the cabinet’s military objective is to remove Hamas from military and political control of the Gaza Strip.

However, Hanegbi declined to elaborate on the planned next steps for the coastal enclave.

Asked about Israel’s plans for alternative control or a return to occupation of the Gaza Strip, Hanegbi told The Times of Israel: “We cannot report through you to the enemy what is coming, we can tell Hamas that it is forbidden to be sovereign in Gaza.”

Hanegbi says that at a recent cabinet meeting, the government approved a plan to “destroy” Hamas, as stated by the prime minister and the defense minister.

“Hamas will not be the ruler, the sovereign in Gaza after the battle,” he said, according to The Times of Israel.

Earlier on Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was ready with its fighters in the Gaza Strip on the front lines.

“With our fighters in the Gaza Strip, on the front lines. We are all ready,” Netanyahu wrote on “X” on Saturday.

Netanyahu visited Kibbutz Beeri and Kibbutz Kfar Azza, two of the worst-hit Gaza border communities in last week’s Hamas attack, his office said, The Times of Israel reported.

According to a statement, Netanyahu “walks among the ruins of the houses where these terrible massacres took place.”

The prime minister was briefed by IS officers there, including the head of the parachute battalion.

The visit comes as Netanyahu’s first visit to the scene, more than a week after the attack, which killed more than 1,300 Israelis, most of them civilians, as waves of Hamas terrorists breached the border.

Meanwhile, the Israeli Air Force (IAF) said that on receiving a report of casualties following the infiltration of terrorists in Zikim, soldiers of Unit 669 were rushed to the field.

“The forces worked to rescue the injured under shelling and mortar fire. Since the start of the battle, Unit 669 has rescued about 200 wounded in about 45 rescues,” the IAF wrote on “X”.

In the wake of Israel’s Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, which has resulted in the loss of thousands of lives on both sides, including civilians, an agreement has been reached under which Israel will allow foreigners to leave war-torn Gaza, the Times of Israel reported on Saturday .

Egypt, Israel and the United States agreed to allow foreigners residing in Gaza to pass through the Rafah border crossing into Egypt, with Israel agreeing to refrain from striking areas through which the foreigners would pass on their way out of the Palestinian territory.

The Israeli publication adds that Qatar participated in the negotiations and the participants received the approval of the Palestinian terrorist groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

Furthermore, the agreement did not include anything regarding the release of hostages held by Hamas.

A second official on the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing says they have received “instructions” to reopen it on Saturday afternoon to foreigners coming from Gaza.

The first official said negotiations were still underway to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza through the crossing.

Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.

Israel has ordered a mass evacuation of Palestinians from the northern Gaza Strip.