Israeli military tanks and troops are massing at the Gaza border as its soldiers are preparing for the attack order.
Hundreds of thousands of IDF troops have amassed in multiple divisions on the border of the enclave, as the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) are poised for a ground invasion of Gaza.
The United Nations has warned of an unfolding “humanitarian catastrophe” in the besieged Strip, which Israel has sealed off and cut access to water, fuel, electricity and food.
The Israeli government is under intense public pressure to topple Hamas after the terrorists stormed through a border fence Saturday and massacred hundreds of Israelis in their homes, on the streets and at an outdoor music festival.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu alleged that the attackers engaged in atrocities, including binding boys and girls and shooting them in the head, burning people alive, raping women and beheading soldiers.
Netanyahu joined with a top political rival on Wednesday to create a wartime cabinet to oversee Israel’s retaliation against Hamas.
He said every member of Hamas is a “dead man”, vowing to “crush and destroy” the organisation.
Militants in Gaza are holding an estimated 150 people taken hostage from Israel. The death toll in the Strip rose to 1,200 early Thursday, the Palestinian health ministry said. The Israeli military said more than 1,200 people have been killed in Israel.
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