The Israeli military said today (14) that Israeli ground forces have entered the Gaza corridor in an ongoing military operation against the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas.
In a tweet, the IDF said, “IDF air and ground forces are currently attacking the Gaza Strip.”
Jonathan Conricus, a military spokesman, confirmed that Israeli forces have entered Gaza. But it remains unclear the scope of their operations.
According to Israeli military statistics, Israel has been hit by more than 1,600 rockets since the 10th. While most of the rockets have been intercepted by Israeli forces, the scale is rare in recent years.
According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, 103 Palestinians, including 27 children and 11 women, have died in Israeli-Palestinian military clashes in the past few days, and 530 others have been injured.
Israel has also lost seven lives. Among them, a soldier was killed by an anti-tank missile and a 6-year-old child was hit in a rocket attack.
U.S. President Joe Biden said he has met again with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
He said, “I hope the sooner this falls through, the better.” At the same time, he stressed that “Israel has a right to defend itself when thousands of missiles enter its territory.”
U.S. Secretary of State John Blinken, who said he has spoken by phone with both Israel and the Palestinians on the 13th, urged Hamas militants to stop firing rocket attacks from Gaza, while urging Israel to avoid civilian casualties, but also stressed Israel’s right to defend itself.
Blinken also said the U.S. hopes to hold a Security Council meeting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict early next week.
In addition, German Federal President Steinmeier expressed his “unreserved solidarity” with the Israeli people in a phone call with the Israeli president, saying there is no justification for attacks on Israel from the Gaza Strip.
German Foreign Minister Maas also tweeted criticism: “Missile attacks on Israeli civilians are unjustifiable, do nothing to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and are a completely senseless escalation of violence.” At the same time and called on both sides of the conflict to assume their obligations to protect the safety of civilians.
Yesterday evening, dozens more rockets were fired from the Gaza corridor towards the southern Israeli coastal cities of Ashdod and Ashkelon, as well as near the Bangurion Airport airfield in central Israel.
The Israeli military ordered nearly 9,000 reserve troops to the Gaza border on the 13th in preparation for a ground assault.
Netanyahu’s cabinet met on the evening of the 13th, and a cabinet minister later told reporters that the military operation against Gaza was far from over.
He said, “When we have attacked all our targets and the other side still has not yielded, we will launch a ground operation, although we do not want to do so.”
The cabinet minister also stressed, “This operation will not end in the coming days, there is no reason for Israel to stop, so the Israeli side will not stop the fighting.”
He added: “We will stop only if they admit that it was a wrong decision to go to war. Just as Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, conceded defeat during the second war in Lebanon in 2006.”
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