An Israeli spokesman confirmed the development on Friday.
A top Israeli spokesman said Friday that the country’s military will expand ground operations in Gaza, coming amid reports of significant bombing occurring in the enclave.
“In addition to the attacks carried out in the last few days, ground forces are expanding their operations tonight,” Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari told reporters during a news briefing. He also confirmed that Israel “intensified attacks” targeting Gaza in the past several hours without elaborating.
It comes about three weeks after Hamas carried out a series of attacks on Israel, killing hundreds of civilians and sparking the largest-ever Israeli bombing campaign against Gaza. Israeli officials have said for weeks that a ground invasion of Gaza would be coming.
On Friday, Mr. Hagari said that Hamas, a State Department-designated terrorist group, operates underground complexes under Shifa, the largest hospital in Gaza, and is used by the group’s leaders to direct attacks against Israel.
“Right now, terrorists move freely in Shifa Hospital and other hospitals in Gaza,” he said, adding that Israel has “concrete evidence” that “hundreds of terrorists flooded into the hospital to hide” after the Oct. 7 attacks. “Hamas wages war from hospitals” in Gaza, he also told journalists, adding that the group is using fuel stored in medical facilities to carry out its operations.
“Hamas terrorists operate inside hospitals precisely because they know the IDF distinguishes between terrorists and civilians. Israel targets terrorists, Hamas targets Israeli civilians and Gazan civilians,” Mr. Hagari added.
Hours before the announcement, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told reporters that his country would launch a long and difficult ground offensive in Gaza soon to destroy Hamas. The offensive, he added, could “take a long time” to dismantle Hamas’ underground network of tunnels.
“We are preparing them, and we will carry them out,” he said, according to The Guardian. “I am determined to deliver victory.”
Palestinian activists have also claimed that cellular, internet, and other communications in Gaza have also been shut off. The Palestine Telecommunications Company, Paltel, told The Associated Press that it suffered “a complete disruption of all communication and internet services” because of bombardments.
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