ISRAEL’S military has surrounded the Gaza Strip – but its plans to launch a “coordinated” attack have reportedly been delayed due to bad weather.
The move comes amid fears that Hamas is deliberately blocking terrified residents from escaping the bomb-blitzed enclave.
GettyBad weather has reportedly delayed the invasion as it hampers Israeli air support[/caption]
GettyThe Israeli army has surrounded Gaza ahead of a ‘coordinated attack’[/caption]
GettyThe full-scale ground invasion should have already begun, senior officials said[/caption]
ReutersMohammad Abu Daqa – who survived Israeli strikes that killed 8 family members – searches for three others still trapped under the rubble[/caption]
Israel is readying itself to invade Gaza soon with tens of thousands of soldiers and troops massing on the border ahead of what the military has described as a major “coordinated” operation by land, air and sea.
Israeli army spokesperson Jonathan Conricus said forces are now “in formation… all around the Gaza Strip, in the south, in the centre and the north.”
However, senior IDF officials have now announced their plans have been delayed.
The ground invasion should have begun already but continues to be postponed due to bad weather preventing aerial cover, sources told The New York Times,
The officials also shared unclassified battle plans that included capturing Gaza City, wiping out the entirety of Hamas leadership and conducting a possible 18-month campaign to root out any remaining terrorists.
The assault is expected to be Israel’s largest since they invaded Lebanon in 2006 and their first attempt to capture and hold onto land since their invasion of Gaza in 2008.
It comes as the IDF has accused Hamas of “stopping civilians trying to flee”.
IDF spokesman, Jonathan Conricus, said Hamas intended to use them as “human shields”.
“If that isn’t the most sinister and vile use of civilians during war, I don’t know what is,” he added.
Since Friday, there have been continued reports that Hamas dismissed Israel’s countdown to flee as “fake propaganda” and had been ordering civilians to stay put.
Israeli air strikes continued to hammer the Gaza Strip last night after the deadline passed for citizens to get out ahead of Israel‘s impending ground invasion.
At least 2,329 Palestinians have so far been killed during the retaliatory bombardment of densely-populated Gaza, including 600 children.
The IDF, however, warned Palestinians still in northern Gaza that they would not target the route to safety between 10am – 1pm (7am – 10am GMT).
Over 360,000 reservists have been called up to bolster Israel’s 130,000-strong regular army that is preparing to crush Hamas’s strongholds.
Late on Saturday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited troops on the Gaza border preparing for the attack.
He asked: “Are you ready for the next stage? More is coming!”
On Friday, Israel warned 1.1 million people living in the north of the Gaza Strip to flee their homes ahead of an “imminent attack”.
Tens of thousands of people have fled south, according to the UN, who estimate a million Palestinians are now displaced by Israel’s bombardment.
Panicked families travelling in trucks, donkey carts and on-foot have been streaming down roads attempting to get to safety.
It comes as…
More than 2,329 have been killed in Gaza, while 1,300 were killed in terrorist attacks in IsraelIsraeli military prepares for ‘coordinated attack’ by land, sea and air and claims to have Gaza surrounded IDF confirmed troops and tanks have already conducted raids inside GazaHamas terrorists’ twisted battle plans revealedA disabled teen is among hostages taken by HamasUK to send warships, marines & spy planes to help IsraelThe US is sending a second aircraft carrier to the MedMore UK evacuation flights are expected to leave Tel Aviv today
For days on end, Israel has been pounding Gaza with airstrikes in revenge for Hamas’s unprecedented cross-border attack, resulting in the slaughter of over 1,300 Israelis.
On Saturday, the IDF announced that they had killed two senior Hamas commanders in air and drone strikes.
They claimed both Murad Abu Murad, who headed Hamas’s aerial operations in Gaza and Ali Qadhi, a key commander who led the cross-border attack on Israel, had been assassinated.
Meanwhile, the UN has warned that Gaza is descending into a “hellhole” and is on the “brink of collapse”.
The Palestinian health authority said that at least 300 people have been killed in the enclave in the last 24 hours, adding that most of them were women and children.
A convoy of over 70 evacuees was blown up yesterday allegedly in an air strike, with 12 children killed in the explosion, BBC reported.
The IDF has since claimed that a Hamas booby trap was responsible.
Israel halted all deliveries of food, water, fuel and medicine to the tiny enclave since Monday.
On Wednesday, Gaza’s only power station ran out of fuel and shut down – leaving only lights powered by scattered private generators.
And now the UN states that the enclave has run out of clean drinking water, making the situation a “matter of life or death”.
Harrowing photos showed blooded babies and children crammed into hospital wards as medics struggled with demand.
Over the last 24 hours, up to a million residents of Gaza’s north have attempted to flee to safety under both heavy bombardment and an Israeli blockade.
“No safe corridors were initially provided for people to safely comply with the orders to move southwards. Hundreds of people, including families, had to flee on foot,” the UN said.
The full electricity blackout has brought essential health, water and sanitation services “to the brink of collapse”, and exacerbated food insecurity, it said.
Meanwhile, over 120 civilians – including foreign nationals – are still being held inside besieged Gaza by Hamas, the IDF has said.
Hamas claimed on Friday that 13 of them had been killed in Israel’s retaliatory air strikes.
Thousands of the Islamist militants are thought to be hiding inside miles of tunnels underneath Gaza – having taken hostages as a shield and laid the ground above with booby traps.
The terrorists and their allies stormed across Israel’s border in last week’s surprise attack that has been dubbed Israel’s 9/11.
They slaughtered 1,300 Israelis in their homes, in the street and at a music festival before dragging 150 hostages to be absorbed into their tunnel matrix.
Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, said the attack was the deadliest single day for Jews since the Holocaust.
Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to crush Hamas and declared every member is “marked by death”.
In a TV address on Friday, he said Israel will “never forget these horrific acts of our enemies.”
“We are striking at our enemies with unprecedented might – this is just the beginning. We will end this war stronger than ever,” Netanyahu added.
Podcast: Israel’s War on Terror Explained
The Sun has launched a brilliant new podcast ‘Israel’s War on Terror Explained’.
In the first episode, we talk to the Israel Defense Force about tactics in their Hamas offensive and the fraught mission to rescue hostages.
To listen, click here if you’re on mobile – or simply scan the QR code with your phone if you’re reading on a computer.
AFPA wounded family in Gaza following an air strike[/caption]
ReutersPeople search for survivors under a crushed house[/caption]
AFPCivilians have been rushing to flee Gaza before Israel begins its full-scale invasion[/caption]
EPAThere are reports that Hamas is blocking civilians from leaving the enclave which is under heavy bombardment by Israel[/caption]
AFPOver 2,300 Palestinians have been killed in the past weel[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
