Israel Launches Ground Offensive In Gaza

Israeli military forces have launched a large-scale ground campaign in Gaza aimed at destroying Hamas' weapons arsenal and infrastructure.

"The prime minister and defence minister have instructed the IDF to begin a ground operation tonight in order to hit the terror tunnels from Gaza into Israel," said a statement from Benjamin Netanyahu's office.

A Hamas spokesman called the ground offensive "foolish", adding that Israel will "pay a heavy price".

Sky's Middle East Correspondent Sherine Tadros, on the ground in Gaza, reported heavy shelling and bombardment.

She said: "The power has gone out over most of Gaza so we can't see very much, but what we can hear is terrifying.

Flares fired by the Israeli military are seen above Gaza

"We have heard the sounds of constant bombardment coming from the naval ships for the past few hours. We have also seen flares lobbed over essentially to light up targets in Gaza and they were then shelled by the naval ships.

"We have also been hearing airstrikes and reports of many casualties going to the various hospitals.

"The power outage is causing havoc."

Gaza health officials said eight Palestinians were killed in the early stage of the operation, including a three-month-old boy who died after a shell hit his family's Bedouin tent in southern Gaza.

The operation comes after 10 days of intense fighting between Israel and the Islamic militant Hamas.

It is the first major Israeli ground offensive in Gaza in just over five years. 

The army has confirmed that a draft of 18,000 more reserve soldiers has been authorised by the government.      

Israeli troops preparing for the incursion. Pic: Israeli Defence Force

Mr Netanyahu's chief spokesman Mark Regev told Sky News the decision to launch the offensive had not been taken "lightly" but that action needed to be taken to "protect our citizens".

He said the chance of a ceasefire is now very unlikely: "This operation is only happening because Hamas rejected the ceasefire proposal supported by Egypt, a proposal supported by the United Nations.

"Hamas alone torpedoed the chance of a ceasefire and now Hamas is paying the price," Mr Regev said.

Earlier, Israel said it had foiled an attack by 13 Palestinian gunmen who tunnelled in from Gaza.

The Israeli army said the ground offensive is meant to strike a "significant blow to Hamas' terror infrastructure". 

"We know that Hamas terrorists are operating underground, and that's where we will meet them," Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said via Twitter.

Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal said the operation was destined to fail, in remarks to AFP in the Qatari capital.

"What the occupier Israel failed to achieve through its air and sea raids, it will not be able to achieve with a ground offensive. It is bound to fail," Mr Meshaal said from his exile in Doha.

Nightvision photo of Israeli troops in Gaza. Pic: Israeli Defence Force

Egypt's foreign ministry denounced Israel's "escalation" in Gaza and again demanded both sides accept a Cairo-proposed truce.

Thousands of Israeli soldiers had massed on the border with Gaza in recent days.

The ground campaign followed a brief truce earlier on Thursday in which Israel held fire to allow Gazans to stock up on food and other necessities after being largely holed up at home since the conflict began last month.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon said he regrets the escalation in Israel-Palestinian hostilities and urged Israel to do more to stop civilian deaths.

Israeli strikes have hit more than 2,000 targets in Gaza and Hamas launched nearly 1,500 rockets at Israel, the Israeli military has said.

Gaza health officials said 237 Palestinians, most of them civilians, had been killed since Israel began the air and sea offensive on July 8.

Israel has confirmed one death in the conflict.

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