IDF ordered to prepare for expanded ground op

After ordering ground troops into Gaza, the Prime Minister’s Office says in a statement that Netanyahu and Ya’alon have instructed the IDF to be prepared for an expansion of ground operations as part of its attack on Hamas terror tunnels in the Gaza Strip.

“Through terror tunnels such as these, Hamas terrorists infiltrated Israeli territory early this morning with the aim of carrying out mass terrorist attacks against Israeli citizens,” the Prime Minister’s Office says.

The green light for ground ops in the Gaza Strip was given by the cabinet after Israel agreed to an Egyptian ceasefire proposal which Hamas rejected and afterward launched rockets at Israel, the PMO says. It also pointed at Hamas’s abrogation of the five-hour humanitarian truce earlier on Thursday.

According to the IDF, the expansion of Operation Protective Edge “will include close coordination between IDF units including infantry, armored corps, engineer corps, artillery, and intelligence combined with aerial and naval support” as well as support from the Shin Bet and intelligence agencies.

The PMO says it will continue with Operation Protective Edge until it reaches its objective — restoring quiet for the residents of Southern Israel for an extended period of time while “inflicting a significant blow” to Hamas and other Palestinian terror groups.