The Israeli daily Ma'ariv also said yesterday that troops have been put on alert and "the governing principle of the operation" has been approved by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) general staff and Yoav Gallant, the defence minister. The IDF declined to comment on the reports.
The IDF confirmed on Tuesday it is buying 40,000 tents to prepare for the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians who have sought shelter in Rafah, the southernmost town which is the only major urban area in Gaza that Israeli ground forces have not yet entered.
The new operation in the sixmonth war against the Palestinian militant group Hamas will reportedly focus first on securing northern and central Gaza, particularly the string of refugee camps around the town of Deir al-Balah, Ma'ariv said.
This comes 10 days after Israel withdrew the bulk of its ground forces from the strip, leaving one division to man the Netzarim Corridor, the Israeli-built buffer that now bifurcates the coastal territory.
But Palestinians on the ground said there has been a renewed presence of Israeli ground troops in northern Gaza this week, including Beit Hanoun, where tanks surrounded school buildings where displaced people were sheltering.
Overnight, Israeli airstrikes hit Rafah and several other urban areas. Wafa, the Palestinian news agency, said six people were killed in the bombing of a market in Gaza City. The IDF said it had hit more than 40 targets, including a cell operating an armed drone and rocket launcher sites.
Israel has said for weeks it is going to launch a ground operation into the last corner of Gaza that has not seen fierce ground fighting, despite intense opposition from its closest allies, including the US. Israel says that Hamas's leadership, and Israeli hostages, are also in Rafah, along with four battalions of fighters.
As of Tuesday, the US state department said it had still not been briefed in detail on Israel's "plans for evacuation or humanitarian considerations" of the potential operation. Any major ground operation in Rafah will almost certainly need to be coordinated with Washington and Cairo, given the town's sensitive position on the Egyptian border.
The reported preparations for an offensive come against a backdrop of stalling internationally mediated ceasefire talks, as well as heightened tensions between Israel and Iran after Tehran's first ever direct attack on the Jewish state, which took the form of a salvo of more than 300 missiles and drones fired in Israel's direction over the weekend.
Israel's war cabinet is now focused on weighing up h...
The IDF confirmed on Tuesday it is buying 40,000 tents to prepare for the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians who have sought shelter in Rafah, the southernmost town which is the only major urban area in Gaza that Israeli ground forces have not yet entered.
The new operation in the sixmonth war against the Palestinian militant group Hamas will reportedly focus first on securing northern and central Gaza, particularly the string of refugee camps around the town of Deir al-Balah, Ma'ariv said.
This comes 10 days after Israel withdrew the bulk of its ground forces from the strip, leaving one division to man the Netzarim Corridor, the Israeli-built buffer that now bifurcates the coastal territory.
But Palestinians on the ground said there has been a renewed presence of Israeli ground troops in northern Gaza this week, including Beit Hanoun, where tanks surrounded school buildings where displaced people were sheltering.
Overnight, Israeli airstrikes hit Rafah and several other urban areas. Wafa, the Palestinian news agency, said six people were killed in the bombing of a market in Gaza City. The IDF said it had hit more than 40 targets, including a cell operating an armed drone and rocket launcher sites.
Israel has said for weeks it is going to launch a ground operation into the last corner of Gaza that has not seen fierce ground fighting, despite intense opposition from its closest allies, including the US. Israel says that Hamas's leadership, and Israeli hostages, are also in Rafah, along with four battalions of fighters.
As of Tuesday, the US state department said it had still not been briefed in detail on Israel's "plans for evacuation or humanitarian considerations" of the potential operation. Any major ground operation in Rafah will almost certainly need to be coordinated with Washington and Cairo, given the town's sensitive position on the Egyptian border.
The reported preparations for an offensive come against a backdrop of stalling internationally mediated ceasefire talks, as well as heightened tensions between Israel and Iran after Tehran's first ever direct attack on the Jewish state, which took the form of a salvo of more than 300 missiles and drones fired in Israel's direction over the weekend.
Israel's war cabinet is now focused on weighing up h...
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The Guardian (Digital) - 1 Issue, April 18, 2024