Preparing for attack from air, sea and land, IDF says

As the conflict between Israel and Palestine enters its eighth day, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has said it is completing preparations for a “major ground operation” in the Gaza Strip, The Times of Israel reported.

The IDF statement says it is preparing to “expand the offensive” by implementing a “wide range of offensive operational plans” which it says include a “joint and coordinated attack from the air, sea and land “.

The IDF said it is finalizing the recruitment of hundreds of thousands of reservists, while the logistics directorate is working to provide the troops with all the equipment they will need for the ground offensive.

It said: “In recent days, the instruments necessary for combat have been transferred to the assembly areas, and at this stage the various units of the Technological and Logistics Directorate are working to complete the qualification of the instruments and equip them with equipment “advanced combat training.” means, as necessary.”

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

The military is expected to launch a ground invasion into the Gaza Strip, but its scope and when it will take place may be affected by operational considerations, as tensions grow on the northern border.

Meanwhile, the head of Israel’s National Security Council, Tzachi Hanegbi, has reaffirmed that the cabinet’s war goal is to remove Hamas from military and political control over the Gaza Strip.

Hanegbi, however, declined to give further details on the next steps planned for the coastal enclave.

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

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

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

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

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

Netanyahu visited Kibbutz Be’eri and Kibbutz Kfar Azza, two of the Gaza border communities most affected by last week’s Hamas attack, his office announced, The Times of Israel reported.

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

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

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

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

“Forces worked to rescue the wounded under fire and mortar fire. Since the start of fighting, Unit 669 rescued around 200 wounded in around 45 rescues,” the IAF wrote in ‘X’.

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

Egypt, Israel and the United States agreed to allow foreigners residing in Gaza to pass through the Rafah border crossing into Egypt, under which Israel agreed to refrain from attacking areas that foreigners would pass through when leaving the Palestinian territory.

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

Furthermore, the agreement does not include anything about the release of hostages held by Hamas.

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

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

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.