Netanyahu Orders Military to Get Ready for Wider Gaza Incursion
By Jonathan Ferziger and Saud Abu Ramadan Jul 18, 2014 9:38 AM ET
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he ordered the military to prepare to widen a ground operation against Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip which began after days of aerial bombardment.
Israeli soldiers, backed by tanks, heavy artillery, aircraft and warships, moved into the Hamas-controlled enclave late yesterday after 2,100 air strikes over 10 days failed to quash barrages of rockets fired from Gaza at Israel. Gaza fighters also infiltrated Israel by sea and through what Israel says is a network of tunnels dug under the border.
More than 260 Palestinians, including dozens of children, and two Israelis have been killed since fighting intensified last week. Israel had held off for days on a ground operation, which is liable to send casualties on both sides spiking, even as it mobilized tens of thousands of reserves soldiers. Ground troops were sent in to the densely populated territory of 1.8 million after Israel foiled a raid by Gaza militants who crossed the border through a tunnel, Netanyahu said.
The objective of the ground incursion is to go after “terror tunnels” that have eluded the air force and restore peace to Israel, he said in televised comments before his cabinet met at the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv. The military has been instructed “to prepare for a significant expansion of the ground operation,” he said.
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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-07-17/israeli-ground-troops-move-into-gaza-to-stop-hamas-rockets-fire.html