The newly started ground offensive in Ghaza has already resulted in the 32 civilian casualties, taking the death toll to 260 while over 2000 are reportedly injured. The new phase of Israeli offensive on Ghaza, code named Operating Protective Edge, was ordered by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his office announced earlier.
“The prime minister and defence minister have instructed the IDF to begin a ground operation tonight in order to hit the terror tunnels from Gaza into Israel,” the statement said.
BREAKING NEWS: A large IDF force has just launched a ground operation in the Gaza Strip. A new phase of Operation Protective Edge has begun.
— IDF (@IDFSpokesperson) July 17, 2014
The ground phase of Operation Protective Edge has claimed more than 20 lives overnight. And barely a day into the fighting, Netanyahu is announcing a significant expansion of the ground operation.
“My instructions … are to prepare for the possibility of significantly widening the ground operation, and the military is preparing accordingly,” he said in the run-up to a meeting of his cabinet ministers, according to Reuters.
Israel had originally organized about 48,000 reserve soldiers for the operation, but on Thursday another 18,000 were called up, as reported by the Associated Press. It’s unclear how many are actually involved in the ongoing ground offensive.
IDF artillery fire and airstrikes have killed seven Palestinians and wounded dozens more across the Gaza Strip, according to Haaretz. Meanwhile, the Palestinian Health Ministry is dismissing previous reports stating the IDF is utilizing poison gas, saying those allegations “are meant to confuse civilians.”
At least five people have been killed as a result of Israeli tank fire, according to the Ma’an News Agency. Journalist Hala Jaber is reporting that a five-month old baby was killed by shrapnel. Other people have been injured and are being taken to hospitals for treatment.
Gaza’s Al-Wafa hospital has also come under fire from tanks. The facility houses 14 patients, some of which are paralyzed or in comatose states. Several people, including nurses, have been injured. Workers have been told to evacuate the building, but they say that moving the patients is “almost impossible.”
5 month old baby boy Fares Jumaa al-Mahmoom killed tonight and 8 others injured taken to Abu Yussuf Al-Najar hospital in #Gaza. — Hala Jaber (@HalaJaber) July 17, 2014
Hamas, meanwhile, said Israel’s move is “foolish” and will have “dreadful consequences.”
Speaking with CNN, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said, “the beginning of the Israeli ground invasion of Gaza is a dangerous step with unknown consequences. Israel will pay a heavy price for it.”
Witnesses and Gaza residents reported heavy artillery and naval shelling along the Gaza border.
Israel’s latest ground operation comes after an Egypt proposed cease-fire deal failed to bring peace. Hamas had rejected the proposal for being one sided and only addressing the problems in general sense. The proposed deal had not mentioned any concrete steps to force Israel into abiding by them.
The last 10 days have seen Israel continuously pounding on Ghaza strip, resulting in the deaths of more than 260 Palestinians and one Israeli. Most of the dead ones were innocent civilians. Recently, four Palestinian children were killed by an Israeli airstrike while they were playing on a beach.
Overall, Israel has struck more than 2,000 targets in Gaza, while Hamas has fired almost 1,500 rockets towards Israel. The difference is that none of Hamas fired rockets reach its destination as they were intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome Anti-Missile system and thus failed to do any harm.
Although both Israel and Hamas agreed to observe a brief suspension of hostilities for 5 hours following a request by the United Nations, reports indicated on Wednesday that Israel was considering sending boots on the ground in order to remove rockets and other weapons used by Hamas.
The last time Israel launched an extensive ground offensive in Gaza was back in January 2009, following an armed conflict that began the month prior in December. That offensive, known as Operation Cast Lead, began on January 3 and was tasked with a similar objective: to secure areas from which militants were launching rockets. The entire conflict – which ran from December 27, 2008 to January 18, 2009 –resulted in the deaths of up to 1,417 Palestinians and 13 Israelis.