The ground war has begun. After eight days of air strikes, Israeli troops are moving into Gaza.
The Israel Defense Forces say "infantry, tanks, engineering forces, artillery and intelligence, along with the support of the Israel Air Force, Israel Navy, Israel Security Agency and other security agencies" are all participating in the push. Tens of thousands of reservists are now being called up, as well. "The campaign won’t be easy and it won’t be short," Defense Minister Ehud Barak says.
Already, there’s been "a heavy exchange of fire" between Israeli forces and Hamas militants, Ha’Aretz reports. Israeli artillery has started to fall in Gaza. "Leaflets signed by the commander of the Israeli military were dropped over northern Gaza on Saturday morning, warning residents to ‘leave the area immediately‘ to ensure their safety." CNN says.
The week-plus-long air war killed nearly 450, and wounded another 2,050. The house-to-house fighting that lies ahead could be much deadlier.
And questions still linger about what the Gaza strikes are designed to accomplish, really. The IDF says the ground assault’s objective is "to destroy the terrorist infrastructure of the Hamas in the precise area of operation, while taking control of some of rocket launching area used by the Hamas in order to greatly reduce the quantity of rockets fired at Israel and Israeli civilians." But Israeli politicians are making are making noises about the need to "reach a situation in which we do not allow Hamas to govern."
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