Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon ordered the Israel Defense Forces to launch a ground incursion in the Gaza Strip Thursday night, in order to "damage the underground tunnel terrors constructed in Gaza leading into Israeli territory."
Earlier, Israel resumed airstrikes on the Gaza Strip at 3:00 P.M. after a six hour temporary cease-fire to allow humanitarian aid to reach Gaza residents. The cease-fire began at 9:00 A.M. on Thursday morning, though Hamas fired rockets at Israel roughly two hours later.
Since the end of the ceasefire, over 100 rockets and mortar shells have been fired at Israel, including large barrages aimed primarily at the south, but some have also reached central Israel. Israeli airstrikes killed four Palestinian children, three in Zeitoun and one in Khan Yunis.
Also on Thursday afternoon, representatives from UNRWA, the UN agency caring for Palestinian refugees, found roughly 20 rockets hidden in a vacant UNRWA school in the Gaza Strip.
This morning's reports that a cease-fire could occur by Friday morning are now looking much less likely.
"The IDF's objective as defined by the Israeli government is to establish a reality in which Israeli residents can live in safety and security without continues indiscriminate terror, while striking a significant blow to Hamas' terror infrastructure," the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement late Thursday, confirming it had begun a ground operation in Gaza.
Source:
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.605590
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/07/israel-ground-invasion-of-gaza-strip-begins.html?mid=facebook_nymag
Earlier, Israel resumed airstrikes on the Gaza Strip at 3:00 P.M. after a six hour temporary cease-fire to allow humanitarian aid to reach Gaza residents. The cease-fire began at 9:00 A.M. on Thursday morning, though Hamas fired rockets at Israel roughly two hours later.
Since the end of the ceasefire, over 100 rockets and mortar shells have been fired at Israel, including large barrages aimed primarily at the south, but some have also reached central Israel. Israeli airstrikes killed four Palestinian children, three in Zeitoun and one in Khan Yunis.
Also on Thursday afternoon, representatives from UNRWA, the UN agency caring for Palestinian refugees, found roughly 20 rockets hidden in a vacant UNRWA school in the Gaza Strip.
This morning's reports that a cease-fire could occur by Friday morning are now looking much less likely.
"The IDF's objective as defined by the Israeli government is to establish a reality in which Israeli residents can live in safety and security without continues indiscriminate terror, while striking a significant blow to Hamas' terror infrastructure," the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement late Thursday, confirming it had begun a ground operation in Gaza.
Source:
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.605590
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/07/israel-ground-invasion-of-gaza-strip-begins.html?mid=facebook_nymag
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