Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggests that the ground operation in Gaza may be expanded soon.
“My and the defense minister’s instruction to the IDF, after the approval of the cabinet, is to prepare for a significant expansion of the ground operation. The chief of staff and the IDF are prepared accordingly,” the prime minister says in a statement at IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv.
Netanyahu says Israel had no choice but to send in ground forces to counter the danger posed by Hamas’s tunnels, which he says cannot be addressed solely from the air.
He apologizes for any and all civilian deaths, stresses that “the IDF is a moral army,” and says Hamas is to blame for any harm to Gaza civilians who it uses as “human shields.”
He also says a “systematic diplomatic effort” has generated international understanding for Israel’s response, even though the conflict, as ever, is being presented “distortedly” overseas. “Our soldiers know there is no more justified purpose than the one for which they are fighting: to protect our homes,” says the prime minister.
This image made from video released by the Israeli military on Friday, July 18, 2014 shows troops after crossing into the Gaza Strip at the beginning of a ground offensive Thursday, July 17, 2014. Israeli troops pushed deeper into Gaza on Friday to destroy rocket launching sites and tunnels (photo credit: AP Photo/Israeli Defense Forces via AP video)
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From the Liveblog of
Friday, July 18, 2014
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