Fears of a huge ground invasion of Gaza are growing after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised to turn the besieged Palestinian enclave into a “deserted island” in response to the worst attack his country has suffered in decades,the media reported.
The pledge came after gunmen from Hamas, which governs Gaza, rampaged through Israeli towns and killed at least 250 people on Saturday while retreating with soldier and civilian hostages in the deadliest day of violence for Israel since the Yom Kippur War 50 years ago.
The Israeli military responded with devastating retaliatory strikes on Gaza, killing more than 230 Palestinians in the blockaded strip.
Israeli forces were still bombing Gaza and fighting with Hamas gunmen in parts of southern Israel in the early hours of Sunday and a spokesman for the military said the situation in the country was not totally under control, Al Jazeera reported.
Hamas said its unprecedented offensive by land, air and sea was in response to the desecration of the Al Aqsa Mosque as well as Israeli atrocities against Palestinians over the decades. These include the 16-year blockade of Gaza, Israeli raids inside West Bank cities over the past year, increasing attacks by settlers on Palestinians as well as the growth of illegal settlements.
Mohammed Deif, a Hamas military commander, said the time has come “for the enemy to understand… they cannot keep going without consequences”.
Hamas leaders said the assault that began in Gaza would spread to the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem, Al Jazeera reported.
In Gaza, residents spent the night in darkness and uncertainty as Israel cut power to the territory and intensified its bombardment of the densely populated enclave. The attacks flattened residential buildings in giant explosions, including a 14-story tower that held dozens of apartments as well as Hamas offices in central Gaza City. Saleh al-Arouri, the deputy chief of Hamas’s political bureau, told Al Jazeera that Hamas was holding a large number of Israeli captives, including senior military officials. He said Hamas had enough captives to make Israel free all Palestinians in its jails.
“We managed to kill and capture many Israeli soldiers,” he said.
While world leaders called for restraint, many observers predicted a major ground assault on Gaza is likely in the works, Al Jazeera reported.
“There’s going to be a second act and that is an invasion of Gaza, and I think larger than 2014 when Israel called up 80,000 reserves,” said Yonah Jeremy Bob, a military analyst for the Jerusalem Post.
“Within a day or two, Israel will have a massive force that will be able to overwhelm Hamas forces in Gaza,” Bob told Al Jazeera.
Danny Danon, a member of Israel’s Knesset or parliament, said a response against Hamas is coming.
“The people in Gaza will have to take into consideration they will have to pay a price. Unlike Hamas, we have no intention of hurting civilians, but when we hunt Hamas we will be strong, we will be efficient, and we will do whatever it takes to hunt them down,” Danon told Al Jazeera.
“We will not sit idly by after more than 200 Israeli civilians were butchered, massacred today on our Jewish holiday.”