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JERUSALEM – Benny Gantz, who fought as Chief of Staff the last conflict against Hamas in the summer of 2014, now takes the decisions as Minister of Defense. He recalls another 9,000 reservists and cancels the free exit licenses for all the soldiers of the fighting units. Israeli troops are positioned around Gaza: while in the early days i raids were conducted by the air force, now the tanks are also bombing the villages north of the Strip to remove the cells that launch the rockets from the border.
After midnight helicopters join the attack, the explosions are incessant. The Home Front command orders Israelis living in the four kilometer radius from Gaza to remain closed in shelters. Until the green light arrives. It is the signal that the rhythm of the war drums has accelerated. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterates this: “I said we would have made Hamas pay a very high price and it is happening”.
Jonathan Conricus, spokesman for the armed forces, announces to the France Presse agency that the land raid has begun: “Our soldiers have entered the Strip”, does not specify how many, how consistent this first contingent is. They could be a positioning of the tanks inside, a few hundred meters, to create a safety band. This is what villagers as far north as Beit Hanoun testify to the Wall Street Journal. Other army sources deny the beginning of the land invasion on Israeli TV. The fog of war in action. In the afternoon, spokesmen explained that the troops massed on the Gaza border “are preparing and studying the battlefield. They will go into action when it is decided. Time and initiative are on our side ».
Attempts to broker a ceasefire for now have been rejected. Joe Biden, the American president, is calling for “a significant reduction in rocket launches” and does not seem to put much pressure on Netanyahu. A Israeli artillery howitzer would have hit a family home, the dead – according to Palestinian sources – are 11. Since the start of hostilities, the victims in Gaza are over 100, among them 27 minors. Army spokesmen claim to killing more militiamen than allowed by the factions: 7 from Islamic Jihad and 13 from Hamas. In the hours when the Israelis intensify the assault on Gaza “with air and ground troops”, the factions respond with a continuous fire of rockets on the cities in the south of the country.
They have been since Monday more than 1,400 rockets fired, sirens rang 5,000 times, TNT-stuffed drones were flown over the barrier. The dead are 7, among them a soldier and a 5-year-old boy. The launches to Tel Aviv prompted European and American airlines to cancel flights arriving at Ben Gurion Airport. Governments in the many conflicts they never closed the airspace, it would be like declaring a defeat: the national companies keep the connections open but the landings have been diverted to Eilat. In the night three missiles were fired from Lebanon, it seems more an explosive message of support from the factions than the opening of the Northern front. The one inside Israel is already open.
May 14, 2021 (change May 14, 2021 | 01:43)
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