The IDF continued to expand its ground operation and deployed additional forces to the northern Gaza Strip on Sunday night. According to military estimates, dozens of terrorists have already been killed in the ground operation. However, an IDF officer was seriously injured by a mortar shell, and another soldier was moderately injured in an encounter with the terrorists.
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The IDF is striving to maintain combat readiness and aims to create a ground operation that will lead to the dismantling of Hamas. Simultaneously, this operation is intended to exert heavy pressure on the terrorist organization to secure the release of the captives from the October 7 onslaught.
Earlier in the evening, the IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari made it clear that Israeli troops would "pursue Yahya Sinwar until they reached him," adding that "the population in Gaza is already talking about Sinwar as having brought about a calamity."
Video: Reuters / Israeli firefighters attempt to put out fires after rockets fired from Gaza
Hagari said that the IDF's land, air, and sea forces have eliminated high-ranking Hamas officials, and they are conducting a thorough assessment and preparation to expand their operations in a graded manner to achieve the objectives of the war.
The assessment among Israeli officials is that the war will last at least several months, aiming to put pressure on Hamas, demoralize it, and exact a price for its atrocities. The IDF plans to advance slowly but surely rather than try to stage a master stroke that would seal the deal in one fell swoop; they talk about a protracted process that will deliver victory. The reasons for choosing the sequential course of action are numerous: It allows the enhancement of capabilities of the forces that will operate slowly; it will have them work cautiously in a way that preserves their protection as much as possible; and it allows them to pursue two simultaneous goals – the first is the erosion of Hamas' political and military capabilities, and the second is the return of the captives.
In the meantime, the security establishment is considering the post-war situation and the need for a new arrangement or buffer zone between Israel and Gaza and a mechanism that would tackle the arms trafficking from Sinai to the area.
It is worth noting that the northern front has seen some escalation, with rocket sirens activated in Kiryat Shmona and Rosh Pina. The IDF responded with artillery fire against the sources of rocket launches and targeted military infrastructure in Lebanon. Hezbollah, rather than Hamas, is believed to be responsible for this rocket fire. Israeli officials believe that Hezbollah seeks to use the Gaza escalations to heat things up on the northern border. In that sense, the entry to Gaza is supposed to reduce the likelihood that Hezbollah will expand its attacks.
In the West Bank, security forces demolished the house of the terrorist responsible for the attack at the junction where Lea (Lucy), Maya, and Rinat were killed. Since the beginning of the conflict, 1,030 individuals have been arrested in the West Bank, with around 700 of them associated with Hamas.
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