Beit Lahiya, Gaza Strip – Israel expanded its military operation in Gaza early today, sending in tanks and troops to pressure Hamas militants firing rockets into southern Israel and holding a soldier captive.
The move came after the government on Wednesday authorized the army to enter populated areas in northern Gaza.
The decision by the security cabinet to step up a ground offensive indicated Israel may be prepared to partially reoccupy Gaza less than a year after withdrawing all troops and settlements from the area.
Before daybreak, troops and about 15 tanks entered an area of northern Gaza just across the border where three Jewish settlements stood before Israel’s September pullout from the coastal strip, according to an Associated Press reporter who saw the troop movements. The settlements were destroyed just after the pullout.
The new line stretched across most of the narrow northern part of Gaza. The military would say only that its forces were operating in northern Gaza.
As the ground forces edged forward, Israeli artillery and aircraft struck targets in the area, aiming at bases and groups of militants.
Hamas officials said one militant was killed and another wounded in an airstrike on the Gaza beach early today. The military said aircraft hit an armed militant. In another incident, two people – a Hamas militant and a Palestinian policeman – were killed and 11 others wounded in an explosion on the northern Gaza beach.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces remained in southern Gaza, where they invaded after a June 25 attack by Palestinian militants on a border post in which two Israeli soldiers were killed and a third captured.
Israel said a main goal of the military operation in Gaza continues to be winning freedom for the captive soldier, Cpl. Gilad Shalit, 19.
