Israel today carried out 40 minutes of attacks on the Hamas tunnels under the Gaza Strip. The army reports that forty tanks and 160 aircraft were used. The extensive tunnel network, also known as ‘the Metro’, is used by Hamas to move people and goods, among other things. It is not known to what extent the tunnels have been damaged.
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The army said earlier that troops in the Gaza Strip had started a ground offensive, but a spokesman later stated that there had been a ‘intern communicatieprobleem‘. Israel’s tanks were on their own territory. The cannon fire roared the outskirts of Gaza City last night.
Lt Col Jonathan Conricus, spokesman for the Israeli army, says the tanks fired about 50 shells. “As always with the aim of hitting military targets and minimizing collateral damage and civilian casualties.” Conricus acknowledges that it was “not feasible this time” to clear civilian areas.
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‘Indescribable’
In one of the buildings reduced to rubble by Israeli fighter jets, Rafat Tanani’s family was killed. According to a relative, Rafat, his pregnant wife and four children were killed. “It was a massacre,” Sadallah Tanani told AP news agency. “My feelings are indescribable.”
At least 119 people have been killed in Gaza, where Hamas is in power. In addition, 830 others have been injured. In Israel the death toll is eight. Israel had been unsettled for weeks due to a series of incidents between Palestinians and Jews, but the situation got further out of hand on Monday.
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Expulsion of Palestinians
The conflict escalated after Hamas rocketed targets in Israel. This happened after clashes between the Israeli police and Palestinian protesters who protested in Jerusalem against the planned expulsion of Palestinian families in the city. Those families have to make way for Jewish settlers.
There are no signs that the biggest conflict between Israel and Hamas since 2014 will diminish in the near term. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that the action against Hamas “will take more time” and that the group must be deterred considerably before a truce comes.
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‘Taking a heavy toll’
Last night, Netanyahu announced on Facebook that he wants to take a ‘heavy toll’ on Hamas. “We do that and we will continue to do so with great vigor. The last word has not yet been said and this campaign will continue for as long as it takes, ” said the Israeli prime minister. Missiles were also fired last night.
The Israeli army reported yesterday that Hamas has fired at least 1,750 projectiles in recent days. Most of these have been defused by the Israeli Anti-Aircraft Iron Dome. On the Israeli side, 9,000 additional reservists have been called up. The country would prepare for a ground offensive in Gaza.
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