Israel is working on a major ground offensive against the Hamas military group on the Gaza frontier following non-stop rocket attacks in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) recounts that as of writing time, there have been more than 1,700 rockets fired into Israel since the attacks began on Monday. This marks the first time missiles were fired into Jerusalem since 2014.
According to the Christian Post, Israel's military is considering a ground campaign in the Gaza Strip, which was presented to the IDF General Staff on Thursday. The IDF confirmed both air and ground offensive troops attacking the Gaza Strip via Twitter as of early Friday morning. Over 9,000 reservists were also called to action by Israel's Defense Minister Benny Gantz, AP reported.
Meanwhile, the Hamas militant group continues to target Jerusalem and Tel Aviv with rockets. On Thursday, the Palestinian launched another wave of a hundred rockets as tensions escalated.
In retaliation, IDK launched airstrikes into the Gaza Strip, killing 16 Hamas leaders. The latest death toll as of Friday morning is 109 Palestinians, with 28 children and 15 women and over 600 wounded in the conflicts. Israel claimed a small victory when forces eliminated top Hamas commander Iyad Fathi Faik Sharir during an air strike.
"We just killed the commander of the Hamas anti-tank missile unit, Iyad Fathi Faik Sharir. He was in charge of carrying out anti-tank missile attacks on Israel," the IDF took to Twitter to announce on Tuesday. "Our aircraft are currently striking additional terror targets in Gaza."
The IDF also took to Twitter to share a collage of several top Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders and terrorists, all of which have been eliminated. The IDF declared, "They were responsible for the rocket attacks against Israel in the last 72 hours. They will never plan another terror attack again."
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared via Twitter his commitment to defending the nation, saying, "We are continuing to strike Hamas while defending our citizens. It will take time, but with great decisiveness, both defensively and offensively, we will achieve our goal - to restore quiet to the State of Israel."
Glory of Zion Jerusalem founders and "Joy in the War" authors Daniel and Amber Pierce spoke to CP, recounting how Israel's "unfortunate reality of life" is that its communities are "trained" for situations such as these: warfare and political unrest. The Pierces, who are now based in Texas and have not yet been able to return to Israel due to COVID-19 restrictions, hopes that "Israel would be represented properly."
"Israel just has to defend itself and has to make a decision to do what is best for the nation and for the people," Amber Pierce said.
In America, the Biden administration's hands-off approach to the Hamas attacking Jerusalem and Tel Aviv in Israel has divided Democrats, who have called to condemn Israel's attacks on Palestine. The Washington Post reported that the White House has made over 25 calls to Israeli and Palestinian leaders this week, but President Biden maintains that he hopes the conflict will be "closing down sooner than later."
Current situation
The conflict between Israel and Palestine continues as Hamas keeps on attacking, but the IDF keeps on stopping the terrorist group's attempts to cause harm to the Israelis.
The IDF, providing real-time information as to what's happening via Twitter, announced two hours prior to this report that they were able to stop a "Hamas terror squad" from launching more rockets from Gaza into Israel before the Palestinian terrorists could.
Earlier than this, the IDF was also able to strike a number of launch sites and observation posts used by Hamas in Gaza. The Iron Dome Aerial Defense System, which stopped a barrage of rockets fired by Hamas, also "intercepted a Hamas UAV" that tried to cross the border between Gaza and Israel.
Here's a thread of tweets explaining what's happening in Israel and Palestine at the moment:
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Here's everything you need to know about what's happening: pic.twitter.com/VMeSqms4lf"” Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) May 14, 2021
