2023 Israeli ground operations in the Gaza Strip

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2023 Israeli ground operations in the Gaza Strip
Part of the 2023 Israel–Hamas war
Date13 October 2023 – present
Location
Gaza Strip
Status Ongoing
  • IDF conducts raids within the Gaza Strip
  • Israel orders northern Gaza to be evacuated
  • IDF launches a ground assault on Beit Hanoun and Bureij
Belligerents

Israel Israel

Hamas Hamas

On the evening of 13 October 2023, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) stated that ground forces had conducted raids within the Gaza Strip with the intent to attack Hamas militants and locate and rescue abducted Israeli hostages in preparation for an anticipated ground invasion of Gaza.[2][3]

Background

Main article: 2023 Israel–Hamas war
See also: Evacuation of the northern Gaza Strip

After Hamas militants invaded Israel on 7 October 2023, Israel declared war against Hamas.[4] Israel moved to mobilize 300,000 reservists and began to move armor close to the border with the Gaza Strip in the aftermath.[5][6] Included in the amassing of armor were Namer armored personnel carriers and Merkava tanks.[6]

Prior to the raids, Israel had called for the more than one million people living in the north half of the Gaza Strip to evacuate during a 24-hour window, while Hamas had instructed those residents to stay put.[7][8] The IDF had urged around 1.1 million civilians to leave North Gaza so they would not be hurt or caught in crossfire,[9] and Israeli officials said that the window was left at 24-hours to reduce the time for Hamas to conduct military preparation in the area. However, aid groups stated that the time window was too short to evacuate the one million people, and lack of electricity in Gaza hampered the ability of electronic communications regarding the evacuation to reach Gazans.[8] Israel had dropped leaflets in Gaza City containing the evacuation order, in addition to electronic communications.[10]

On 21 October 2023, the Israeli army dropped more leaflets in Gaza with the message: "Urgent warning! To the residents of Gaza: your presence to the North of Wadi Gaza is putting your lives at risk. Anyone who chooses not to evacuate from the North of the Gaza Strip to the South of the Gaza Strip may be identified as a partner in a terrorist organization."[11][12]

Operations

On 13 October 2023, the Israeli Defense Forces sent armored vehicles and infantry into the Gaza Strip, stating that their goals were to attack Hamas militants and to rescue hostages that had been abducted to Gaza by Hamas.[2] The operation, according to Israeli officials, was not part of a larger and widely anticipated ground invasion, but rather a raid in which troops only temporarily enter the Gaza Strip.[13][14] The IDF confirmed the same day that Israeli remains were located and retrieved in the Gaza Strip.[15]

Another raid, headed by the Givati Brigade and the 162nd Armored Division, took place between 25 and 26 October and was the largest offensive so far,[1] including tanks, other vehicles and IDF Caterpillar D9 armored bulldozers.[16] A followup raid took place the next night in the Shuja'iyya neighborhood of Gaza City.[17]

On the evening of 27 October, IDF launched a large-scale ground assault on the towns of Beit Hanoun and Bureij in the Gaza Strip. The assault came amid a series of large-scale Israeli airstrikes that cut off mobile communications and internet access in Gaza.[18]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Fabian, Emanuel (26 October 2023). "IDF tanks, troops push into Gaza in limited raid ahead of ground offensive". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  2. ^ a b Fabian, Emanuel (13 October 2023). "IDF: Infantry troops, tanks entered Gaza for 'localized raids' to clear area of terrorists, locate hostages". The Times of Israel. Archived from the original on 13 October 2023. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
  3. ^ "Israel conducts limited ground raids to rescue hostages in Gaza - World News". Hürriyet Daily News. 23 October 2023. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  4. ^ Debre, Isabel (13 October 2023). "What to know on the seventh day of the latest Israel-Hamas war". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 12 October 2023. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
  5. ^ "Hamas tells Gaza residents to stay put as Israel ground offensive looms". Reuters. 13 October 2023. Archived from the original on 13 October 2023. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
  6. ^ a b Sharma, Kadambini; Singh, Umashankar. Mitra, Chandrajit (ed.). "Ground Report: Israeli Tanks Roll Up To Border As Gazans Asked To Move South". NDTV. Archived from the original on 13 October 2023. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
  7. ^ "'Only the beginning' says Netanyahu as Israel makes first raids into Gaza". Reuters. 13 October 2023. Archived from the original on 12 October 2023. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
  8. ^ a b Ward, Alexander (13 October 2023). "Ground invasion of Gaza 'imminent,' Israeli officials say". Politico. Archived from the original on 13 October 2023. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
  9. ^ Askew, Joshua (13 October 2023). "Gaza becoming 'hell hole', as hospitals at 'breaking point'". Euronews. Archived from the original on 13 October 2023. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
  10. ^ Aggarwal, Mithil; Salam, Yasmine (13 October 2023). "Gaza residents, under the threat of a ground invasion, desperately seek safety but their options are dire". NBC News. Archived from the original on 13 October 2023. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
  11. ^ "Israeli military steps up warnings to north Gaza residents, preparations for ground offensive". Politico. 21 October 2023. Archived from the original on 22 October 2023. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  12. ^ "Israel tells Gazans to move south or risk being seen as 'terrorist' partner". Reuters. 22 October 2023. Archived from the original on 22 October 2023. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  13. ^ Fabian, Emanuel (13 October 2023). "IDF launches first 'localized' raids into Gaza ahead of expected ground invasion". The Times of Israel. Archived from the original on 13 October 2023. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
  14. ^ Debre, Isabel; Lederer, Edith M.; Shurafa, Wafaa. "Palestinians flee northern Gaza after Israel orders 1 million to evacuate as ground attack looms". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 13 October 2023. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
  15. ^ "Troops on 'localized' raids into Gaza said to recover bodies, items of missing people". The Times of Israel. 13 October 2023. Archived from the original on 14 October 2023. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
  16. ^ Frantzman, Seth (26 October 2023). "Israel conducts first large scale tank raid into Gaza, repairs fence". FDD's Long War Journal. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
  17. ^ Fabian, Emanuel (27 October 2023). "Israeli troops stage second limited raid into Gaza Strip". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
  18. ^ Ravid, Barak (28 October 2023). "Israeli military launches major ground incursion in Gaza". Axios. Retrieved 28 October 2023.

External links

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