Since the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October, Israel has carried out over 6,000 airstrikes against targets in the Gaza Strip. Several hundred thousand Israeli soldiers have marched up on the border with Gaza. Now the question is when the ground attack starts. The deadline Israel gave 1.1 million Palestinians to evacuate Gaza City and the areas north of the Gaza Strip expired on Saturday at 3 p.m. local time. But on Saturday evening, there is no indication that the Israeli forces are heading towards Gaza. – I think attacks on the ground will come at night, or just before dawn, says Asgeir Ueland. He is a war historian and lives in Israel. – The advantage for Israel is that they have equipment to see at night, which is also heat-seeking, in their vehicles. Thus, they can use the night effectively, unlike Hamas, he explains. An Israeli soldier in a tank on the border with Gaza makes a V sign on Saturday. Photo: AP Taking it bit by bit The attack from Israel will be a coordinated air, ground and sea offensive. news has spoken to two experts. They both believe that Israel will advance with large forces against Gaza, and clear the northern part first, quarter by quarter. – It is the part of Gaza that they have asked to be evacuated for civilians, and it is the part that is closest to the Israeli settlements, says Trygve Smith, lieutenant colonel and researcher at the War College. – They want to remove all of Hamas’ weapons stockpiles and destroy the tunnel system, so that Hamas cannot operate from there, explains Smith and adds: – Simply destroy as much of Hamas’s military capacity as they can. Think special forces are inside Israel has been inside Gaza with ground forces over the past 24 hours, according to a message from the IDF. – During the last 24 hours, forces from the Israeli Defense Forces have carried out raids inside the territory of the Gaza Strip to complete the work of clearing the area of terrorists and weapons. Attempts have also been made to find people who are missing, says the message. Asgeir Ueland believes that the special forces have been inside Gaza for a few days already. – Special forces often go in three to four days before an invasion with ground forces starts, as we saw, for example, in the Iraq war in 2003, he says. – It is quite normal to carry out observation of the enemy, take out targets and be the air force’s eyes on the ground. This is usually how Western forces operate. Asgeir Ueland, war historian, believes Israel’s goal is to break the military wing of Hamas for good. Photo: Privat He believes Israel’s tactics when they go forward will be similar to those they have previously used in Gaza and the West Bank. – I think they will use houses to a large extent and cut through walls to avoid hidden explosives and minimize damage to Israeli personnel, he says. – Will be the highest loss on the Palestinian side Exactly how many lives will be lost, the experts think it is difficult to predict. But they believe that it is the Palestinian side that will suffer the most. – Israel is much stronger militarily than Hamas, emphasizes Ueland. Israeli tanks and other armored vehicles are lined up at the border with Gaza. Photo: AFP – I think it will be more bloody for the Palestinian side than for the Israeli side. There is quite a lot of advanced technology in the tanks of Israel, which can defend them against rockets and the like. Smith agrees, but also points out that Hamas has a much worse sanitation service than Israel, and that their conditions for survival are therefore getting worse. – Leaving civilians aside, I expect that Hamas’s losses will be somewhere between three to four times as high, both in dead and injured, as Israel’s, he says.
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This is how Israel will proceed in Gaza – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
