Israel appeared to be readying its expected ground invasion of the Gaza Strip early Friday, with a large border town evacuated and fleets of tanks lining up on the border where hundreds of thousands of soldiers are already camped out.
Israeli officials have been warning for days that it will soon launch its ground invasion, as they amassed at least 300,000 troops along the border in response to Hamas’ surprise attack on Oct. 7, when the terrorist organization killed at least 1,400 people — mostly civilians — and took more than 200 others hostage, the Voice of America reports.
Speaking to those troops on Thursday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said they would soon see Gaza “from the inside.
“Whoever sees Gaza from afar will soon see it from the inside,” he said. “The order will come.”
Gallant’s meeting with troops came as Economy Minister Nir Barkat announced that the Israeli Defense Forces had been given a “green light” to bring the offensive to Gaza — a roughly 140-square-mile parcel of land between Israel and the Mediterranean Sea.
“We shall [make] all efforts to bring our hostages, to bring our hostages [back] alive,” he insisted to ABC News while acknowledging that the “first and last priority” is destroying Hamas.
The terrorist group has claimed that it is holding about 203 Israeli hostages within the network of tunnels it built underneath Gaza – which Barkat vowed will become the “world’s biggest cemetery.”
As tanks appeared at the ready Friday, there were also reports of heavy airstrikes hitting Gaza, where Israel says it has struck more than 100 targets linked to Hamas, including a tunnel and arms depots.
Follow along with The Post’s live blog for the latest on Hamas’ attack on Israel
Israel has evacuated its own communities near Gaza and Lebanon, putting residents up in hotels elsewhere in the country.
The Defense Ministry announced evacuation plans Friday for Kiryat Shmona, a town of more than 20,000 residents near the Lebanese border.
The IDF is intent on decimating the terrorist group “even if it takes a year” – with hostages and civilian casualties taking a backseat, Barkat explained.
Israeli officials have been adamant they have no choice but to launch the massive assault codenamed Operation Swords of Iron.
Since Hamas seized power in the region 16 years ago, they argue, Israel has fought three major conflicts.
But each of those operations was aimed at keeping Hamas in check, rather than destroying the terrorist group as they are now planning.
“The strategy was to have a longer gap every time between the different conflicts, but it failed and it cannot happen anymore,” an unidentified senior IDF official told The Guardian.
“So the only conclusion is that we have to go in, we have to go in and clear it and eliminate Hamas from the roots, not only militarily, but also economically, its administration.”
2005: Israel unilaterally withdraws from the Gaza Strip over three decades after winning the territory from Egypt in the Six-Day War.
2006: Terrorist group Hamas wins a Palestinian legislative election.
2007: Hamas seizes control of Gaza in a civil war.
2008: Israel launches military offensive against Gaza after Palestinian terrorists fired rockets into the town of Sderot.
2023: Hamas launches the biggest attack on Israel in 50 years.
Over 1,400 Israelis are dead, more than 4,200 are wounded and at least 100 were taken hostage, with the death toll expected to rise after Hamas terrorists fired thousands of rockets and sent dozens of militants into Israeli towns.
Hamas terrorists were seen taking female hostages and parading them down the street in horrifying videos.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced “We are at war” and vowed Hamas would pay “a price it has never known.”
Gaza health officials report at least 3,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 12,500 injured.
“Everything should go away.”
“That’s the idea now, and we are getting prepared for that,” the official said.
![“We shall [make] all efforts to bring our hostages, to bring our hostages [back] alive,” Economy Minister Nir Barkat told news outlets.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/NYPICHPDPICT000061846464-5.jpg)
“It won’t be as clear cut and it won’t be as short as we would like as Israelis. It will be a prolonged campaign. It will take time.”
As part of the ground invasion, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi instructed troops to find and destroy the hideouts used by Hamas as they try to target top Hamas officials, the Times of London reports.
At the top of the target list is Yahya Sinwar, head of Hamas in Gaza, and Mohammed Deif, the head of the al-Qassam Brigades — the military arm of Hamas.
But as the Israeli forces enter the Palestinian-controlled land, Hamas will likely adopt terrorist tactics like positioning snipers on the windows of apartment blocks, using tripwires to set off IEDs, dropping grenades on armored vehicles, and disguising themselves as civilians, according to Gen. Sir Richard Barrons, the veteran British commander of counter-insurgency wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
He told the UK Times that “the chances of being so successful that they destroy Hamas entirely are very slim indeed.
“The chances of deepening the conflict around Israel and Gaza are already much greater,” he warned. “Hamas intended to do that.”