The Israeli army said it’s making preparations for “significant ground operations” in Gaza, a week after Hamas militants struck southern Israel in one of the worst attacks in the country’s history.
The next phase of the war can include a coordinated land, sea and air assault, the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement on Saturday.
Israel has called up a record 300,000 reservists and has been pounding Gaza after the unprecedented incursion in which more than 1,000 Hamas fighters swept across the border and attacked Israeli military posts, bases and settlements. More than 1,300 Israelis died, mostly civilians, and up to 150 people were abducted and taken into Gaza.
More than 1,900 Palestinians have died so far in the Israeli bombing campaign as fears mount of major casualties once Israel sends troops into the crowded coastal strip, home to 2.3 million people. Israel on Friday gave 24 hours for more than 1 million Palestinians to evacuate their homes in Gaza.
Hamas, which has been designated as a terrorist group by the US and the European Union, said Israeli air strikes killed another nine of its hostages in the past 24 hours, raising the total to 26.
--With assistance from Galit Altstein.
