In recent days, IDF soldiers have engaged in combat with terrorists in Israeli communities and military posts in areas surrounding Gaza.

Operating with great courage and determination, the soldiers regained control of the Israeli communities and military posts, evacuated the wounded, and seized weapons used by the terrorists.

With the support of an extensive logistical effort and hundreds of thousands of drafted reservists, IDF forces are currently preparing to implement a wide range of operational offensive plans, which can include combined and coordinated strikes from the air, sea and land.

Simultaneously, the IDF’s Ground Forces and Technological and Logistics Directorate (J4) are preparing IDF forces for an expanded combat arena. As part of logistical preparations, the directorate established the Forward Logistics Centers (FLC) to allow combat units to rapidly get the equipment they need. In the last few days, the equipment required for combat has been transferred to the relevant forces, and, at this stage, various units of the Technological and Logistics Directorate (J4) are working to complete the supply of advanced technological tools and equipment as needed.

IDF battalions and soldiers are deployed across the country and are increasing operational readiness for the next stages of the war, with an emphasis on significant ground operations.

The IDF has been pounding the Strip in the week since Hamas terrorists launched an unprecedented assault on Israeli border communities, killing 1,300 people, most of them civilians, and taking 150-200 hostages to Gaza. The terror assault, the worst in Israel’s history, shocked the country and the world and Israeli leaders declared their intention to end Hamas’s rule of the territory.

The military said it was finalizing the call-up of hundreds of thousands of reservists, as the logistics directorate is working to provide troops with all the equipment they will need for the ground offensive.

The military is expected to launch a ground operation in the Gaza Strip, but its extent and when it is carried out may be affected by operational considerations, including the evacuation of Palestinian civilians from northern Gaza and growing tensions on Israel’s northern border.

Since Friday, the army has been urging Palestinians in the northern Gaza Strip to evacuate, indicating it is planning to significantly intensify operations there. On Saturday, it said Hamas was actively preventing travel south with roadblocks on major roads.

The New York Times reported Saturday that Israel plans to send tens of thousands of troops to capture Gaza City in the coming days and “destroy” the Strip’s leadership.

The report, which cited Israeli military officers, said the offensive would be the largest since 2006’s Second Lebanon War and would see the IDF attempt to hold on to parts of Gaza, at least temporarily.

A Hamas official told the newspaper its fighters would try to ambush Israeli soldiers by popping out of tunnels behind their advance to surprise the troops.

According to the Israeli officials, the IDF’s rules of engagement are being eased so soldiers will be able to shoot at suspects more easily.

Troops will be particularly focused on killing Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, spokesman Lt. Col. Richard Hecht said.

“That man is in our sights,” Hecht said. “He’s a dead man walking, and we will get to that man.”

The Palestinian Authority’s Hussein al-Sheikh said that the call to evacuate northern Gaza was a “war crime.”

Al-Sheikh, Secretary-General of the Executive Committee of the Palestinian Authority’s Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), said the Palestinian leadership “rejects by all means the Israeli attempts to displace the citizens of Gaza Strip, considers this a war crime added to the series of Israeli war crimes and calls on the international community to intervene to stop this genocidal war in the Gaza Strip.”

Israel says Hamas leaders in the area are using civilians as cover for their terror network.

Residents of Gaza City and northern Gaza, in the past days, we've urged you to relocate to the southern area for your safety. We want to inform you that the IDF will not carry out any operations along this route from 10 AM to 1 PM. During this window, please take the opportunity to move southward from northern Gaza.

Your safety and that of your families matters. Please follow our instructions and head southward. Be assured, Hamas leaders have already taken care of themselves and their families.

Lt. Col. Avichay Adraee, IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman

In response to the IDF’s call for civilians to move south, Hamas told residents to stay in their homes: “Do not follow the propaganda evacuation instructions.” The terror group is known to try and force residents to ignore such notices given by the military.

The IDF said Saturday evening that Hamas was preventing Palestinians from evacuating. It said it had identified hundreds of thousands of Palestinians moving south, but many were getting stuck in traffic caused by Hamas roadblocks.

“Hamas is making it difficult for the residents of the Gaza Strip to move on main roads, and is preventing the passage of vehicles on these roads,” the IDF said.

The military released photos and video showing heavy traffic in the Gaza Strip, which it said was caused by Hamas roadblocks.

“We see an active effort by Hamas to block and prevent the population from going south. Hamas wants to show the world that it has casualties and dead,” IDF spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said in a press conference.

“We continue to urge the residents of Gaza City, go south… Hamas wants you as human shields… This is for your personal safety,” Hagari added. “We are going to attack very widely in Gaza City in the near future.”

Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh, whose group was responsible for the massacre of many hundreds of Israeli civilians last weekend, accused Israel Saturday of committing war crimes and preventing humanitarian aid from entering the Strip.

TUANKU:
Israel na talk and do if you doubt it ask the Iranians
RIP to Sinwar in advance.

Watcharena:
we have not seen them destroy Iranian nuk facilities

Watcharena:
we have not seen them destroy Iranian nuk facilities

Watcharena:
we have not seen them destroy Iranian nuk facilities

callmevirus:
I stand with Isreal

Watcharena:
we have not seen them destroy Iranian nuk facilities