Israel Stages New Sortie Into Gaza, Hints There May Be Several ‘Invasions’

Israel said its ground forces had pushed into Gaza overnight to attack Hamas targets as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it was “preparing for a ground invasion” that could be one of several.

“I will not elaborate on when, how, or how many,” he said in a televised update to citizens on Wednesday evening.

Israel’s operations in the Palestinian enclave — primarily air strikes and more recently limited ground incursions — were triggered by a mass killing spree in southern Israel by the Iranian-backed Hamas terrorists who run Gaza.

Hamas has threatened to kill some of the more than 200 hostages it brought back to Gaza, of whom Israel says more than half hold foreign passports, from 25 countries.

Other Iranian-backed groups have since attempted attacks on Israel elsewhere in the region and Western leaders fear that a high death toll among Palestinian civilians could spark a wider war.

US President Joe Biden held a call with Netanyahu, discussing “ongoing efforts to locate and secure the release” of Americans believed held hostage in Gaza, the White House said overnight.

It said safe passage for foreigners wishing to leave Gaza, a continuous flow of aid into the narrow coastal strip, which is blockaded by Israel, and a pathway to permanent peace with the Palestinian people were also discussed.

“The president reiterated that Israel has every right and responsibility to defend its citizens from terrorism and to do so in a manner consistent with international humanitarian law,” the White House said.

The comments reflect a balancing act over US support for Israel‘s actions after Biden was criticized for casting doubt on Palestinian casualty figures, which have primarily come from the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry in Gaza.

NETANYAHU SUGGESTS MORE THAN ONE GROUND INVASION PLANNED

Israeli army radio said the military had overnight staged its biggest incursion into northern Gaza in the current war against Hamas, which Israel has vowed to eliminate.

The military later released video on X/Twitter showing armored vehicles crossing the highly fortified barrier from Israel and blowing up buildings “in preparation for the next stages of combat.”

“Tanks and infantry struck numerous terrorist cells, infrastructure, and anti-tank missile launch posts,” it said.

Palestinians in Gaza said Israeli air strikes had targeted the territory again overnight and people living along in central Gaza, near the Bureij refugee camp and east of Qarara village, reported intensive tank shelling all night.

Hamas did not comment directly on the Israeli report but said its fighters had struck an Israeli helicopter east of Bureij. The Israeli military said it was “not aware of this.”

Israel has carried out weeks of intense air strikes against Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip following the Palestinian terrorist group’s Oct. 7 attack on Israeli communities, which it says killed some 1,400 people — the biggest single-day massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.

Humanitarian supplies are critically low for Gaza but world powers failed at the United Nations to agree on how to call for a lull to the fighting to deliver aid. The civilian death toll has continued to mount in Gaza from Israeli strikes. Hamas has notoriously used civilians as human shields in conflict with Israel, intentionally placing weapons and other military targets by civilian sites and blocking residents from evacuating.

US CONCERNED ABOUT IRANIAN-BACKED ATTACKS ON ITS TROOPS

Reflecting concerns the Gaza war may spread, the Wall Street Journal reported that Israel had agreed to delay invading Gaza until US air defense systems can be placed in the region, as early as this week, to protect American forces.

Asked about the report, US officials told Reuters that Washington had raised concerns with Israel that Iran and Iranian-backed Islamist groups could escalate the conflict by attacking US troops in the Middle East. An Israeli incursion into Gaza could be a trigger for Iranian proxies, they said.

Israeli warplanes struck Syrian army infrastructure on Wednesday in response to rockets fired from Syria, an ally of Iran. Israel has also targeted Syria’s Aleppo airport and Iranian-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Iran, Israel‘s arch-enemy, which backs armed groups in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and Yemen as well as Hamas as part of a long-running bid for regional ascendancy, has warned Israel to stop its onslaught on Gaza.

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