Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Galant told soldiers on the border of the Gaza Strip today that the order to enter the territory ruled by Hamas will arrive soon.
“You now see Gaza from afar, soon you will see it from the inside. The order will come,” Galant told members of the Givati Brigade, Israeli media reported.
Major General Yaron Finkelman, in charge of the Israel Defense Forces’ Southern Command, said the ground offensive in the Gaza Strip was expected to be “long and intense.”
“This war was imposed on us by a cruel enemy who hurt us very much, but we have stopped them, we are dealing them heavy blows,” Finkelman told the soldiers.
He announced that the fight would now move to enemy territory and that it would be difficult.
The ongoing clashes are the deadliest of the five wars in Gaza for both sides. The Ministry of Health in Gaza announced today that 3,785 Palestinians were killed and almost 12,500 wounded in Israeli attacks.
More than 1,400 people were killed in Israel. An Israeli military spokesman said the families of 206 people believed to have been captured by Hamas and taken to Gaza have been notified.
It should be recalled that the fighting began when the Palestinian movement Hamas launched multiple surprise attacks on October 7, which included numerous rocket attacks and incursions into Israel by land, sea and air.
Hamas said the raid was retaliation for earlier raids on the Al-Aqsa mosque and an increase in violence by Israeli settlers.
In response, the Israeli military launched an operation against Hamas targets inside the Gaza Strip.
