IDF set to expand ground op, go further into Gaza

The IDF is set to expand its ground offensive in Gaza, moving further into the Palestinian enclave.

To date, IDF forces have generally not entered more than three kilometers into Gaza. Channel 2 says that more reservists and standing army forces, not hitherto involved, may be utilized.

The IDF has numerous targets for ground forces to tackle, according to the report.

Avi Dichter, who was head of the Shin Bet when Israel launched Operation Defensive Shield to stop Hamas suicide bombers and other terrorism from the West Bank in 2002, says Israel can and must destroy Hamas’s rockets, tunnels and other terrorist capabilities in a major offensive.

“This is not the same as reconquering the Gaza Strip,” he says, noting that Israel did not reconquer the West Bank in Defensive Shield.

Avi Dichter (photo credit: AP/File)