The IDF is preparing for a ground entry into the Gaza Strip in the near future according to the New York Times and Yediot Aharonot correspondent Ronen Bergman.
According to the report, which cites three senior IDF officials, tens of thousands of soldiers will participate in the ground operation. The order, according to the report, is the capture of Gaz City with the aim of destroying the leadership of the Hamas terrorist organization there.
The report claimed that it is still unclear what Israel intends to do in the Gaza Strip, and whether it intends to occupy it. In addition, it is not clear what exactly the officials mean by "destroying the Hamas leadership" in Gaza City.
The IDF, as well as the political echelon, has already made it clear that the goal of the war is to eliminate the political and military control of Hamas in the Gaza Strip - following the massacre of over 1,300 residents of southern Israel on Simchat Torah.
The New York Times report stated that the ground operation is expected to be the largest since the Second Lebanon War in 2006.