The Israeli military has received the green light to send troops into Gaza when they are ready. writes ABC News cited a member of the country’s security cabinet.
In a commentary to the TV channel, Economy Minister Nir Barakat noted that for the military, the first priority is the destruction of the Palestinian group Hamas, and the safety of hostages and civilians will be a secondary issue. According to Barakat, the numerous tunnels that Hamas has built under Gaza will become “the largest cemetery in the world.”
“We will make every effort to return our hostages alive, <...> but the first and last priority is the destruction of Hamas,” he said.
Earlier on October 19, the Times of Israel newspaper reportedthat Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told troops on the border with the Gaza Strip about an imminent ground offensive by the country’s army into territory controlled by Hamas.
The Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) Operation Iron Swords in the Gaza Strip will be “unsurpassed in its brutality” and “unlike anything” Israel has previously conducted. So wrote Reuters cited eight informed sources among officials in Israel and other countries in both the Middle East and the West.
On October 7, the Palestinian group Hamas attacked Israel. In response, the IDF launched Operation Iron Swords. The Israeli government announced that the country had entered a state of war. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promised that the country’s response to the Hamas attack will change the Middle East. According to the latest data, over 4,500 people have died as a result of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, most of them Palestinians.
