Breaking news
Israeli army is ready to expand the ground operation into Gaza Strip if needed 1907141.
| 2014
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Defence & Security News - Israel |
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| Saturday, July 19, 2014 10:55 AM | |||
| Israeli army is ready to expand the ground operation into Gaza Strip if needed. | |||
The
Israel Defense Forces is prepared to substantially expand its incursion
into Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. Netanyahu made
the announcement Friday, July 18, 2014, during a cabinet meeting held
at the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv. |
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 Israeli soldiers patrol near the border with the Gaza Strip. |
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The
IDF (Israel Defense Forces) , which has been carrying out strikes in Gaza
since the July 8 launch of Operation Protective Edge against Hamas, began
ground operations in Gaza on Thursday night, after a failed attempt by
13 militants to penetrate Israel’s Kibbutz Sufa, which is near the
border. The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said the IDF was targeting tunnels
used by terrorists to launch attacks inside Israel. Following ten days of Hamas attacks against Israel by land, air, and sea – and after repeated rejections of offers to deescalate the situation – the Israel Defense Forces has started a new phase of Operation Protective Edge. July 17, 2014, a large IDF force of infantry, tanks, artillery, combat engineers, and field intelligence is entering the Gaza Strip.The force is supported by the Israel Air Force, Navy, and other Israeli security agencies. Netanyahu told reporters that the main goal of the ground operation is to deal with the threat posed by the tunnels Hamas has dug along the Gaza-Israel border. July 17, the IDF identified around 13 Palestinians who had infiltrated Israel through a tunnel dug from Gaza. The tunnel began in the southern Gaza Strip and its exit was near Kibbutz Sufa in Israel. The terrorists were heavily armed with RPGs and assault rifles and were prepared to carry out a massacre. The IDF foiled their attack, saving countless Israeli lives. The IDF said that since the start of the ground invasion, it took out 17 Hamas terrorists, destroyed 103 targets, 21 rocket launchers, and 4 tunnels. Additionally, 13 terrorists surrendered to IDF forces on the battleground. One IDF soldier, 20 year-old Sgt. Eitan Barack, was killed as Israel’s army was making their push into Gaza. |
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