Israeli Army spokesperson Avichay Adraee announced today, Saturday, that "we entered northern Gaza during the night and expanded the military operations in the besieged Palestinian territory as part of escalating the attack on Hamas." He mentioned that "Israeli forces are still in the field" and added that "Israel will allow trucks loaded with food, water, and medicine to enter Gaza today."
"We are progressing in phases of the war. The Defense Forces entered the northern region of the Gaza Strip last night and expanded the ground operations. Infantry, armored, engineering, and artillery forces are participating in this operation, accompanied by intense gunfire. The expansion of operations serves all the war's objectives at this time."
Adraee announced the death of a leader in the Palestinian Hamas movement, whom he described as the head of the movement's aerial system. He stated that "the army and the General Security Service (Shabak) managed last night to 'liquidate the head of the aerial system' of Hamas, Issam Abu Ruka."
According to Adraee, Abu Ruka "was responsible for managing the drone systems, parachutes, aerial reconnaissance systems, and air defense" of the movement. He noted that Abu Ruka was involved in planning and executing the attacks on October 7 against the settlements along the Gaza Strip "by directing infiltrators who crossed into the Gaza vicinity using parachutes, as well as leading drone attacks" on army positions.
In this context, the Israeli news site "Walla" reported, citing Israeli security sources, that "the Israeli army command has begun new consultations to determine the next phases of the ground invasion of the Gaza Strip, which began yesterday evening." Channel 13, also citing security sources, reported that the Israeli army remains inside Gaza and has not withdrawn from it.
The Israeli army confirmed that 150 underground targets in northern Gaza were destroyed last night. Additionally, throughout extended hours from Friday evening until Saturday morning, Israeli artillery continued its violent, intense, and uninterrupted shelling of sites in northern Gaza. The bombardment specifically targeted the vicinity of Shifa and Indonesian hospitals in central Gaza, with Israeli aircraft conducting over ten strikes in the vicinity of these hospitals, according to the Palestinian news agency "Wafa."
For its part, Hamas stated today that its fighters in Gaza are prepared to confront Israeli attacks "with full force" after the Israeli army expanded its air and ground assaults on the Gaza Strip. Hamas previously announced that its fighters are clashing with Israeli forces in areas close to the border with Israel, following an intensification of Israeli attacks on Gaza.
According to retired General Frank McKenzie, the former head of the U.S. Central Command, in an interview with CBS News, the Israeli attack is witnessing a "rolling start." He said: "The rolling start will be an operation where you deploy reconnaissance forces, gain a sense of the battlefield, and then place your main forces behind them."
The Pentagon had sent a Marine general experienced in special operations and urban combat to advise the Israelis on how to proceed, who left Israel afterward. McKenzie stated: "It is likely that they have multiple lines of advance into Gaza, and Israeli commanders will see where they achieve success." He added, "The obvious thing is that you reinforce success. When you gain ground, you put more forces there... You should think of it as multiple beachheads... across the front."
