Israel expands ground offensive in Gaza

Israel expands ground offensive in Gaza Strip (Photo: AFP).

Dozens of Hamas militants holed up in buildings and tunnels were eliminated overnight as Israel continued to expand its offensive into Gaza backed by tanks, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said.

Near the Gaza border, the area that once housed hundreds of Israeli tanks, armored vehicles and bulldozers is nearly empty. Meanwhile, some tank units are returning from Gaza.

Over the past 24 hours, the Israeli military has struck more than 600 Hamas-related targets, including weapons depots, dozens of anti-tank missile launch sites, and Hamas hideouts.

"Israeli forces entered the Gaza Strip and expanded their ground operations with the participation of infantry, armored, engineering and artillery units with heavy firepower," said Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari.

According to analysis, Israeli forces have advanced about 3km into Gaza territory in an expanded offensive that began last week. Over the weekend, Israel declared that the war against Hamas had entered a new phase after weeks of intense air strikes.

"We have entered a new phase of the war. Tonight, the Gaza Strip is shaking. We are attacking on the ground and underground. We are attacking the enemy at all levels, everywhere. The instructions to our forces are clear: the operation will continue until further orders," said Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated on October 28 that the goal of this phase is to destroy Hamas and bring back more than 200 hostages. He declared that he would use every possible means to rescue the hostages held by Hamas.

However, experts say this does not appear to be a large-scale Israeli ground offensive but rather just a probing and opening attack.

The Israel-Hamas conflict has entered its fourth week and continues to show signs of escalation, even threatening to spread throughout the region.

The Israeli military said early this morning, October 30, that it had carried out raids on Hezbollah military infrastructure in Lebanon and Syria in response to previous shelling. However, Tel Aviv did not provide details of this operation.

Israeli shelling of suspected Iranian-backed militias in Lebanon and Syria has become more frequent since the conflict with Hamas flared up again on October 7, raising fears of a wider conflict in the Middle East.

Iranian officials warned that new fronts would open if Israel continued to attack Gaza and the US continued to provide military support to Tel Aviv. On the US side, Vice President Kamala Harris affirmed that Washington would not send troops to Gaza. "We have no intention, nor any plans, to send troops to Israel or the Gaza Strip," Ms. Harris emphasized.

The Israel-Hamas conflict has so far killed more than 8,000 people in the Gaza Strip and more than 1,400 people in Israel.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-gioi/israel-mo-rong-tan-cong-tren-bo-o-gaza-20231030144557873.htm