The IDF expanded its ground operations in the Gaza Strip considerably last night, and Hamas fired rockets at Israeli cities this morning, Walla! News reports. Sirens were sounded around 9:00 in Gush Dan, the Sharon area, Ashdod, and Ashkelon. A residential building in Ashkelon was hit. There are no reports of casualties.
Large Israeli forces joined the operation in the Gaza Strip last night. IDF spokesperson Brigadier General Motti Almoz said that the expanded operation followed a decision by the government and was part of the IDF's operational plans. He said that it would continue in accordance with situation assessments held by the general staff. He added that the forces entered the Gaza Strip after intensive training and thorough preparation.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held meetings on the security situation until after midnight at military headquarters in Tel Aviv. He also updated US Secretary of State John Kerry on the operation in Gaza.
In one incident last night, Israeli paratroops encountered a terrorist emerging from a tunnel who opened fire on them. The paratroops fired back and killed him.
Since the ground phase of Operation Protective Edge started last Thursday night, the IDF has uncovered 34 terror tunnels, five of them leading from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory. Over 85 terrorists have been killed, 20 of them in the past twenty-four hours. Altogether, since Operation Protective Edge began, about 2,500 targets have been attacked, and 360 Palestinians have been killed.
An investigation into the incident on Saturday morning in which two Israeli soldiers were killed has found that Israeli forces failed to detect the terrorists who infiltrated into Israeli via a tunnel for a long time. The terrorists first launched an attack on an empty Israeli position. Their tracks reveal that they wandered around the area looking for Israeli soldiers. After about an hour they spotted two Israeli vehicles, one armored and the other not, and fired an anti-tank missile at the non-armored vehicle, killing the officer inside.
Chief-of-Staff Benny Gantz has ordered IDF special units to reinforce the line of the border fence and nearby settlements, out of concern that Hamas will attempt to step up incursions by terrorists through tunnels before the IDF destroys them. Army sources have told Walla! News that the terror groups that have been caught so far intended to raid settlements to carry out mass killings or to seize targets as bargaining chips, and not to attack IDF troops.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 20, 2014
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