As the world awaits the impending ground invasion of the Gaza Strip by the Israel Defense Forces, some incursions have apparently already been made, with infantry and tanks entering the territory.
Fox News reported that sources within the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have confirmed that infantry and tanks have entered the Gaza Strip to conduct localized raids. However, such operations are not the full-scale ground invasion that is being prepared.
For days now, Israeli special forces have been conducting small operations inside Gaza in an effort to locate any of the estimated 100-150 hostages taken by Hamas during its weekend assault on southern Israel, reported ABC News.
As many as 14 Americans are still unaccounted for and could be in the custody of Hamas terrorists in Gaza.
“It’s my personal commitment to do everything possible, everything possible to return every missing American to their families,” said President Joe Biden on Friday, according to NBC News.
The IDF appears to be waiting for the population of northern Gaza, about 1.1 million people, to heed its warning and evacuate to the southern part of the Gaza Strip before the IDF invades, as reported by the Associated Press.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant delivered the ultimatum at a news conference with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, saying, “[T]hose who want to save their life, please go south.”
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has also been meeting with Middle East leaders in an effort to find ways to get Palestinian civilians to safety. On Friday, he met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Amman, Jordan, in an effort to isolate Hamas, as reported by NBC News.
Blinken will next meet with leaders in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Qatar, per NBC News.
On Friday, Hamas’ media office claimed that a convoy of refugees made up of mostly women and children was hit by Israeli airstrikes, killing 70 people, per NBC News.
Roughly 1,300 Israelis and foreign nationals were reportedly killed during Hamas’ attack over the weekend, and some 1,900 people have been killed in Gaza since the war began.