Israel Begins Ground Operations Against Hamas in Gaza

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Up to 4,000 troops had been amassed on the border in recent days, military officials have said

By Felicia Schwartz Updated May 13, 2021 8:33 pm ET

TEL AVIV—Israel’s military said it has begun ground operations against Hamas in Gaza, escalating its offensive against the militant group.

Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, an Israeli military spokesman, said ground and air forces are striking targets in Gaza from the Israeli side of the border, including tanks and artillery. He initially said Israeli troops had entered the Gaza Strip but later retracted that statement.

“There are ground forces currently deployed along the border area and they are engaging and attacking the Gaza Strip from there,” said Col. Conricus.

Israel’s military didn’t give more details about the operation, but some 3,000 to 4,000 troops have been amassed on the border in recent days, military officials have said. Those figures suggest a more limited operation because a full-scale invasion would require many more troops.

Smoke rose following Israeli airstrikes on a building in Gaza City on Thursday.

PHOTO: HATEM MOUSSA/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Palestinians on Thursday attended the funeral of 15 people who were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City.

PHOTO: HAITHAM IMAD/EPA/SHUTTERSTOCK

It isn’t immediately clear how big the ground operation is or what its aims are, but if troops actually cross into Gaza it would be the first time since the 2014 war that Israeli troops have entered Gaza to fight.

“I said we’d exact a steep price from Hamas, and that’s what we’re doing...The last word has not been said and this operation will continue for as long as it’s necessary,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Twitter early Friday.

The military’s move follows days of fighting. Since Monday, Israel has struck more than 600 targets that it described as Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad weaponry and infrastructure, and killed more than 30 militants, Col. Conricus said.

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The strikes have killed more than 103 people in Gaza, including 27 children, according to Palestinian officials. Seven Israeli civilians, including one child, have been killed in the rocket fire from Gaza, while one soldier was killed by an antitank missile, according to Israeli authorities.

A spokesman for Hamas’s military wing played down the implications of Israel’s expanded efforts.

“The enemy carries out show raids aimed at sabotage and destruction,” he said. “It will not affect the capabilities of the resistance.”

Among the recent targets were weapons-manufacturing sites, several Hamas buildings, including what Israel’s military said was an intelligence office in the upscale Rimal neighborhood, the home of a battalion commander and two branches of Hamas’s main bank. Israel also struck a squad operating antitank missiles, the military said.

Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad have fired at least 1,750 rockets toward Israel since Monday evening, including 300 that have fallen short and landed in Gaza, he said, adding that Israel’s Iron Dome missile-defense system has had a 90% interception rate.

Israel and Hamas have fought three wars since the militant group seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007. They also have seen several escalations since spring 2018 that have almost developed into full-blown conflict.

Israel’s latest move came as the Israeli government scrambled to contain escalating violence within its own borders.

A man inspected on Thursday the damage to a building in Petah Tikva, central Israel, after it was hit by a rocket.

PHOTO: ODED BALILTY/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Rescue workers in the southern Israeli city of Sderot on Wednesday evacuated a woman by ambulance.

PHOTO: YEHUDA PEREZ/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES

In a separate incident late Thursday, Israel’s military said three rockets were fired from neighboring Lebanon toward Israel that fell into the Mediterranean Sea. No one has claimed the rockets, but there are several groups in Lebanon that support the Palestinians and a major attack would mark a significant regional escalation in the conflict.

Later Thursday, Israel said it attacked what it described as a military compound where dozens of Hamas operatives were present, as well as what it said was an apartment belonging to the head of Hamas’s drone program.

In Gaza, morning prayers for Eid al-Fitr—which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan—were canceled as the airstrikes continued. Nine funerals were held Thursday.

Eid celebrations, traditionally marked in Gaza by gathering at mosques and visiting family and friends, were almost entirely muted as most people were too fearful to venture out with airstrikes continuing to pound the enclave, sending plumes of smoke into the air. Some mosques did hold Eid prayers and those who attended did so quickly before returning home to hunker down.

Israeli mourners attending the funeral of an Israeli soldier in Eliakim, northern Israel, on Thursday.

PHOTO: JACK GUEZ/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES

Air sirens and rocket fire continued into Israel on Thursday morning after another barrage toward central Tel Aviv overnight. In the midafternoon, a fresh barrage reached Tel Aviv and Israel’s center.

Many flights to and from Israel have been canceled, though the main international airport near Tel Aviv remains open for outbound flights. Amid the rocket fire, incoming flights were rerouted from the Ben Gurion Airport to the Ramon Airport near the Red Sea in Israel’s south.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday said he was dispatching Hady Amr, the senior State Department official with the Israeli-Palestinian portfolio, to Israel to try to encourage mediation efforts.

The United Nations and Egypt also are pressing efforts to mediate the conflict, though Israel so far has said it isn’t ready for a cease-fire.

Israeli soldiers fired a self-propelled howitzer toward the Gaza Strip from their position near the city of Sderot on Thursday.

PHOTO: MENAHEM KAHANA/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES

Rockets launched from Gaza City toward Israel on Wednesday.

PHOTO: MAHMUD HAMS/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES

Hamas’s show of force appears to be an attempt to win over frustrated Palestinians whose grievances have risen over what they see as years of efforts by Israel to push them out of Jerusalem. They have been fanned in recent days by a pending court decision on evictions. Clashes erupted over access to the Al Aqsa mosque during Ramadan, and intensified when Israeli police used stun grenades and other riot-dispersal methods when they said people at the site were throwing stones at them.

These tensions have now also spread, with police clashing with Arab Israeli demonstrators in cities nationwide and Jewish mobs targeting Arab citizens of Israel. There also have been reports of Arab demonstrators attacking Jews. In Jerusalem, clashes occurred in Sheikh Jarrah, Damascus Gate in the Old City and elsewhere. There were also violent incidents in Acre, Tamra and Umm Al Fahm.

Israeli police patrolled during clashes in the mixed town of Lod, central Israel, on Wednesday.

PHOTO: HEIDI LEVINE/ASSOCIATED PRESS

A Jewish demonstrator stood by Israeli paramilitary border police during clashes in Lod on Wednesday.

PHOTO: HEIDI LEVINE/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Arab Israelis are the descendants of Palestinians who remained in Israel after the 1948 war that established the country.

In Lod, where clashes have been especially intense, the city remained under a nighttime curfew and barred people from entering the city as of 5 p.m. local time.

Defense Minister Benny Gantz ordered the call-up of 10 reserve Border Patrol companies to assist with policing efforts.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said border police arrested 374 people across the country who were involved in riots and disturbances overnight. He said 36 police officers were injured.

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Israel Begins Ground Operations Against Hamas in Gaza