Israel Says Army Preparing To Attack Gaza By 'Air, Sea And Land'
A week after Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,300 people and taking hostages, Israel has said that their army is planning to attack Gaza by 'air, sea and land'.
What's happening?
Israeli forces are preparing for a major ground assault in Gaza, as it urged Palestinians to flee the areas, it has vowed to target in response to the deadliest attack in its history.
Israeli military spokesman Richard Hecht has urged civilians in northern Gaza, where Hamas's leadership is based, not to delay in getting out. "We are preparing to attack Gaza by "air, sea and land," an army official said.
Where and when?
Israel has told some 1.1 million Palestinians living in north Gaza to evacuate to the south of the strip. The evacuation order was given as the Israeli military plans a ground offensive into Gaza by land, air and sea, it says in a statement - but gives no timings or specifics.
Why?
A week of deadly Israeli salvos was sparked by a mass breach by Hamas which saw operatives break through the heavily fortified border between the Gaza Strip and Israel and gun down, stab and burn to death more than 1,300 people.
In response, Israel killed more than 2,300 people at Gaza strip, subjecting the region to the most intense bombardment it has ever seen, putting the enclave under total siege and destroying much of its infrastructure.
Who are Hamas militants fighting for?
It is an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, a transnational Sunni Islamist group that first formed in Egypt. Hamas, the Arabic acronym for "Islamic Resistance Movement," wants to create a Palestinian state.
How things stand right now?
People continue to flee to the south of Gaza as Israel intensifies its warning of an impending ground invasion and doubles down on its order for 1.1 million people to completely evacuate from northern areas of Gaza.
The US has deployed a second aircraft carrier to the eastern Mediterranean in a show of ¡°ironclad¡± support for Israel as Israeli forces continued to pound the Gaza Strip overnight with missiles from jet fighters and artillery shells from land and sea.
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