The Israeli military launched a ground operation in the Gaza Strip Thursday, the Israel Defense Forces said.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced he had instructed the IDF to start a ground operation in Gaza to destroy the underground tunnels that reach into Israel.
The army said in a statement late Thursday that after 10 days of Hamas attacks, it had “initiated a ground operation within the Gaza Strip.” The army said the objective was to strike a “significant blow to Hamas’ terror infrastructure.”
Hamas spokesman Fouzi Barhom, Hamas told reporters in Gaza,”The decision of the Israeli army to start a ground invasion in Gaza is dangerous and they will pay back heavily for it. Hamas is ready for the conformation.”
A source with close ties to the Israeli military told Fox News, “This is not an all-out operation….The objectives are quite limited.”
He said the current operation is expected to last only a couple days.
The Israeli army did not say how many troops were involved or provide other details.
Netanyahu’s office said he instructed the army to go ahead after Hamas rejected an Egyptian cease-fire plan earlier in the week and after Hamas militants tried to infiltrate into Israel through a tunnel from Gaza earlier Thursday.
“In light of the despicable and relentless aggression by Hamas and the dangerous infiltration into Israel, Israel is obliged to protect its citizens,” the statement said.
It added Operation “Defensive Edge” would continue” until its goal is reached – to restore sustainable quiet and calm to the Israeli citizens while severely hurting and dismantling Hamas infrastructure as well as other terrorist organization in Gaza.”
Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, an Israeli military spokesman, said that the operation is open-ended.
“We will be striking the infrastructure,” he said. “We will be striking the operatives in order to safeguard the civilians of the state of Israel especially issues to do with tunneling, that was exemplified earlier today.”
Thousands of Israeli soldiers had massed on the border with Gaza in recent days, waiting for the order to go in.
Earlier Thursday, Hamas militants and Israel exchanged rocket fire following the expiration of a brief cease-fire that allowed Gazans to stock up on supplies.
The U.N.-brokered five-hour lull in fighting gave residents of the Gaza Strip time to crowd into stores and vegetable markets after more than a week of being mostly holed up at home for fear of airstrikes. Gaza City, a virtual ghost town for the past 10 days, returned to apparent normalcy within minutes of the start of the truce. Streets were jammed, motorists honked horns and Hamas police directed traffic at busy intersections.
But the streets emptied out quickly after the cease-fire expired, with Palestinian militants firing more than 50 rockets at Israel, including a heavy salvo toward the Tel Aviv area that sent people running for cover, the Israeli military said. The military said a rocket fired from Gaza struck the city of Ashkelon at precisely 3 p.m. local time (8 a.m. ET) as the pause in military activity ended. No injuries were reported.
Israel responded with a wave of eight airstrikes, including one that killed two boys and a girl ages 8 to 10 from the same family in Gaza City, Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Kidra said.
Fox News’ James Rosen and The Associated Press contributed to this report
