New Delhi: Israel’s military carried out a “targeted raid” overnight inside northern Gaza, the country’s defence forces said Thursday, hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a televised statement that they were preparing for a ground invasion.
The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) posted on X that it operated in northern Gaza “in preparation for the next stages of combat”.
It said: “IDF tanks & infantry struck numerous terrorist cells, infrastructure, and anti-tank missile launch posts. The soldiers have since exited the area and returned to Israeli territory.” The post showed tanks rolling into the territory, firing at targets.
Another post by the Israeli Army said: “As part of the activity, the forces located and attacked many terrorists, destroyed terrorist infrastructures, anti-tank positions and carried out work to organize the area.”
In preparation for the next stages of combat, the IDF operated in northern Gaza.
IDF tanks & infantry struck numerous terrorist cells, infrastructure and anti-tank missile launch posts.
The soldiers have since exited the area and returned to Israeli territory. pic.twitter.com/oMdSDR84rU
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 26, 2023
Israel has warned of an imminent ground invasion for some time while it carries out blistering aerial strikes on Gaza in retaliation to Hamas’s surprise attack on southern Israel on 7 October that killed 1,400 people.
While several world leaders have tried to dissuade Israel from going in, Netanyahu made it clear Wednesday that the government’s special war cabinet – which includes the leader of one of the centrist opposition parties – had made up its mind.
Netanyahu said Wednesday: “We have already killed thousands of terrorists and this is only the beginning… Simultaneously, we are preparing for a ground invasion. I will not elaborate on when, how or how many. I will also not elaborate on the various calculations we are making, which the public is mostly unaware of and that is how things should be.”
Israel’s intense bombardment of the densely-populated Gaza Strip following the 7 October attack by Hamas, which controls Gaza, has killed more than 6,500 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
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