News Got the "green light" to storm - two top men are being hunted

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The war between Israel and Hamas October 2023  

Got the "green light" to storm - two top men are being hunted 

 

John Edgar, 

 

Nora Fernstedt  

 

Published 00.37  

 

The Israeli troops have been given the green light for the ground invasion. 

 

- Soon you will see Gaza from the inside, says Defense Minister Yoav Gallant to soldiers at the border. 

  

Two people are at the top of the list before the storm.  

 

Hamas military strategist Muhammed Deif and political leader Yahya Sinwar top the list of people Israel is hunting, AFP said. 

 

 They are singled out as being primarily responsible for the October 7 attacks that killed around 1,400 people in Israel. 

 

"Give up or die"  

 

Israel's military spokesman Richard Hecht describes Sinwar as "a dead man" and "the face of evil".  

 

Yahya Sinwar, Hamas political leader. Mohammed Deif (circled) with university students in Egypt in 2004. 

 

 

Yahya Sinwar, Hamas political leader.  

1 / 2Photo: Adel Hana/AP   

 

Ahead of the ground offensive, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant states that members of Hamas face the choice of surrendering without resistance or dying.  

 

- There is no third choice, he says.  

 

The announcement of a likely imminent ground invasion comes as anger over the bomb that hit the al-Ahli al-Arab hospital in Gaza refuses to subside.  

 

American intelligence sources have speculated that the incident could lead to Israel being forced to rethink both airstrikes and storming of Gaza in the war against Hamas. 

 

At the military base in Kfar Aza, Israeli troops are preparing for an offensive. Photo: Niclas Hammarström  

 

Got the green light  

 

But that doesn't seem to be the case.

   

According to a press release on Thursday from the Department of Defense, Gallant met with troops at the border and told them they will soon get through the fence. 

 

- Now you see Gaza in the distance. Soon you will see it from the inside. The order is coming, Gallant is said to have told the soldiers. 

 

According to Israeli Economy Minister Nir Barkat, the military has been given the green light to enter Gaza as soon as they are ready.  

 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also met with soldiers near the border with Gaza on Thursday. 

 

- The whole nation is behind you and we want to inflict a heavy blow on our enemies so that we can achieve victory. For the victory! Are you ready? he said.  

 

Behind the gates, Gaza can be seen in the background Photo: Niclas Hammarström

 

"Difficult and drawn-out"  

 

Major General Yaron Finkelman, commander of the troops in southern Israel, also fired up soldiers for the ground offensive on Thursday.  

 

However, he was somewhat more subdued in his statements. 

 

- This maneuver will shift the war to the enemy's side. It will be long, difficult, intense, but we have the best commanders and soldiers the military has to offer, he said. 

 

Israelis have previously said that they have no interest in occupying Gaza, but that "everything necessary" must be done to eliminate Hamas.  

 

The troop gathering around the border comes at the same time as the information war surrounding the bombed hospital in Gaza continues. 

 

On Wednesday, the United States came out and stood behind the Israeli information that a Palestinian rocket from inside Gaza had misfired and hit the hospital's parking lot. 

 

Israel is mobilizing its troops ahead of a possible invasion of Gaza. Photo: Niclas Hammarström 

 

Moving aid from Ukraine to Israel  

 

Anonymous US intelligence sources also estimated the death toll at "a few dozen" people. 

 

From the Palestinian side, the Israeli air force is singled out as responsible and it has been stated that 471 people were killed.  

Today, European intelligence sources make a similar assessment to the US, AFP reports.  

 

It is believed that a maximum of 50 people died in the attack.  

 

A US intelligence source also says that only "light structural damage" was found on the hospital building.  

 

In connection with the expected ground invasion, the American defense headquarters, the Pentagon, has decided to send tens of thousands of artillery shells to Israel, writes Axios.  

 

The grenades, which Israel will need in an offensive inside Gaza, come from the defense's emergency stockpile and were actually earmarked to be sent to Ukraine.