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Israel \u201cmoved to a new phase\u201d in the war against Hamas as its tanks, armoured vehicles and infantry launched an expanded ground operation in Gaza.<\/p>\n
Soldiers supported by artillery and naval and air strikes pushed south after gaining a foothold in the northern part of the Gaza Strip following an initial major incursion overnight on Friday.<\/p>\n
The air force also dropped leaflets over Gaza City and surrounding areas warning civilians to \u201cevacuate immediately\u201d to the south as the area was now a \u201cbattlefield\u201d.<\/p>\n
Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari also made an \u201curgent plea\u201d for people to evacuate, adding that they can return home once the \u201cintense hostilities end\u201d. He said: \u201cYour window to act is closing. Move south for your own safety.\u201d<\/p>\n
And last night Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared the ground offensive as \u201cthe second stage of the war\u201d. Speaking in Tel Aviv, he said Israeli forces are in \u201cthat stronghold of evil\u201d and the aims \u201care very clear \u2013 to destroy the military and government ability of Hamas and return the victims home\u201d.<\/p>\n
But he added: \u201cDon\u2019t accuse us of war crimes. If you think you can accuse our \u00adsoldiers of war crimes, that is hypocrisy. We are the most moral army in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
While he did not name him, Turkey\u2019s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had earlier accused Israel of war crimes at a rally.<\/p>\n
Mr Netanyahu added that Israel is \u201cready to make sure that the murderers are going to pay the price for the massacred\u201d and is \u201cgoing to abolish this evil in order to \u00adfurther all humanity\u201d. \u201cWe always said, \u2018Never Again\u2019. Never Again\u2019 is now.\u201d But he warned: \u201cIf Israel is not going to win today, they are going to be next in the axis of evil… That\u2019s the beginning of the war. The war inside Gaza is going to be long.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is our second independence war. We\u2019re going to save our country.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to fight in the air, ground and we are going to fight and win.\u201d<\/p>\n
READ MORE: <\/strong> We must blame Hamas for the start of all this horror, says Michael Fallon<\/strong><\/p>\n Overnight on Friday Israeli jets and drones carried out 150 strikes on Hamas\u2019s extensive tunnel network.<\/p>\n Phone and internet links were knocked out, cutting off the besieged enclave\u2019s 2.3 million people from the world. The BBC\u2019s Rushdi Abualouf, one of the few \u00adjournalists reporting from the territory, described the scenes as \u201ctotal chaos\u201d. And Shehab Younis, a photographer in Gaza, said the \u201csituation is catastrophic\u201d.<\/p>\n The expansion of the ground assault brought an all-out invasion one step closer. Hundreds of thousands of Israeli troops have amassed at the border since the savage Hamas terror attack three weeks ago that left over 1,400 dead.<\/p>\n Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said the campaign in the Palestinian enclave \u201cwill continue until further notice\u201d and added: \u201cWe have moved on to a new phase of the war. The ground shook in Gaza. We attacked above ground and below ground. We attacked terror operatives of all ranks.\u201d<\/p>\n IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi said in a video statement that the ground operations \u201cserve to achieve all the war\u2019s objectives: dismantling Hamas; security at the borders; and uppermost efforts to return all the \u00adhostages back home\u201d. He added: \u201cThe objectives of the war require ground entry. There are no achievements without risks, and there is no victory without prices being paid.<\/p>\n \u201cTo expose the enemy and destroy it, there is no other way but to enter its territory with great force. We have set clear goals, the road will be long\u2026 we will fight with determination, and win.\u201d<\/p>\n Israel\u2019s military said the head of the terror group\u2019s aerial forces, who commanded the paragliders responsible for massacring more than 260 music festival-goers, was killed in the recent strikes.<\/p>\n A naval forces commander behind the foiled attempt to raid Israel from the sea on October 24 also died.<\/p>\n The Palestinian health ministry claimed that 7,703 people, over half of them children, have been killed since Israel began carrying out air strikes following Hamas\u2019s October 7 surprise terror attacks.<\/p>\n Don’t miss… <\/strong> It remains unclear how many were killed in the new ground offensive and bombing but the Gaza Civil Defence said that \u00adhundreds of buildings had been destroyed and thousands damaged.<\/p>\n Hamas is still holding 229 Israeli hostages seized in southern Israel and yesterday, Mr Netanyahu and his wife Sara met representatives of the families of those being held. He vowed: \u201cWe will exhaust every possibility to bring them home.\u201d<\/p>\n Abu Obeida, a Hamas spokesman, called for a huge prisoner release, telling a TV channel run by the terror group that \u201cthe price to pay for the large number of enemy hostages in our hands is to empty the \u00adprisons of all Palestinian prisoners\u201d.<\/p>\n Hamas also said it is trying to locate eight Russian-Israeli dual citizens who they have taken hostage. Moscow wants them freed after providing a list of the names. The Kremlin is currently hosting the terror group\u2019s leaders.<\/p>\n Aid organisations including the UN said the communications blackout meant they lost touch with their teams and civilians cannot call for ambulances. Yesterday, Elon Musk said that if requested, SpaceX\u2019s Starlink \u2013 a satellite internet constellation \u2013 \u201cwill support the UN and other aid organisations\u201d.<\/p>\n On Friday night, the UN General assembly adopted a resolution by Jordan calling for an \u201cimmediate, durable and sustained humanitarian truce\u201d between Israeli forces and Hamas \u201cmilitants\u201d.<\/p>\n The UK was one of 45 countries that abstained and Foreign Secretary James Cleverly reiterated that Israel has the right to defend itself.<\/p>\n And last night he said: \u201cWe have consistently sought to bring about pauses to facilitate the inward passage of humanitarian aid that we are providing, the release of hostages and the evacuation of British nationals in Gaza, so that has been our position from the start.<\/p>\n \u201cOf course we want to see this resolved, we want to see Israel safe, peaceful and secure. But, as yet, I have seen or heard nothing from Hamas that gives me any confidence that they desire or would abide by calls for a ceasefire.\u201d<\/p>\n He added: \u201cWe are having conversations and will continue to have conversations with the Israeli military about the preservation of civilian life, about the adherence to international law.<\/p>\n \u201cBut they do have a right to self-defence and throughout this operation, since the atrocities of October 7, Hamas and other terrorist organisations have consistently bombarded Israel from Gaza, from among civilian infrastructure.\u201d<\/p>\n Hamas yesterday fired rockets at Israel, while rockets, mortars and anti-tank guided missiles were also launched by Iranian-backed Hezbollah from Lebanon.<\/p>\n
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