IDF Forces Cross Into Gaza in 'Targeted' Tank, Infantry Raid: Video

Israeli forces completed a "targeted" tank raid in northern Gaza overnight, the Israeli military has said, as the region braces for a full-scale ground invasion of the Hamas-held strip and the possible reverberations across the Middle East.

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) carried out the armored raid in Gaza "as part of the preparation of the area for the next stages of combat," Israel's military said in a statement on Thursday. The IDF "attacked many terrorists," referring to militants with the Palestinian Hamas group, and targeted the organization's infrastructure and positions, the IDF said.

"The troops left the area at the end of the mission," Israel added.

In a video accompanying the statement, a convoy of armored vehicles can be seen in a non-descript area, appearing to be some form of border crossing. What appears to be a bulldozer makes its way through a bank, before the clip shows a series of explosions.

Israel has long warned it is preparing to enter the Gaza Strip, located to the west of southern Israel and controlled by Hamas. Shortly after Hamas launched its most lethal attack in decades in early October, Israel's air force started a campaign of airstrikes on the Gaza Strip.

The Hamas surprise attack in Israel claimed the lives of more than 1,400 people, according to Israeli officials. The Gazan Health Ministry, which is run by Hamas, said on Wednesday that 6,546 people had died in the strip since October 7. According to The Associated Press, Israel's military on Wednesday raised the number of remaining hostages in Gaza to 222 people, including foreigners believed captured by Hamas during the incursion. Four hostages have been released.

Many Gazans have fled southwards after Israel warned inhabitants to leave northern Gaza, with humanitarian crises looming large over the escaping and remaining residents.

Israel has maintained a heavy troop presence on the border with Gaza since the days following the initial Hamas attack. There are serious concerns that if Israel launches a ground invasion, the bloodshed could escalate and other actors, such as Iranian-backed Hezbollah, based in Lebanon, could become involved. An Israeli incursion into the strip could be a trigger moment for Iranian proxies, U.S. officials told Reuters.

If Israel decides to send ground forces into Hamas-controlled Gaza, "the resistance leaders will turn it into a graveyard of the occupation soldiers," Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, previously told Al Jazeera. Israel's military has also said it attacked military infrastructure in Syria after "launches towards Israel." Syria's state-run SANA news agency reported on Sunday that Israel had targeted Syrian airports in Damascus and Aleppo, and Israel has reported frequent exchanges of fire with Tehran-backed Hezbollah over the northern Israeli border with Lebanon.

"We have already killed thousands of terrorists and this is only the beginning," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday. "Simultaneously, we are preparing for a ground invasion," he added in televised remarks. Netanyahu did not offer up further details on how many Israeli fighters would be involved in the incursion, or when it would take place.

On Wednesday,The Wall Street Journal reported that Israel had agreed to delay its ground invasion until Washington could put in place air defenses in the region to shield U.S. troops, citing anonymous U.S. officials and those familiar with Israel's planning.

Late last week, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said there would be three stages to Israel's war against Hamas, with the current, first phase involving airstrikes and a ground campaign "with the purpose of destroying operatives and damaging infrastructure." Israel would then "eliminate pockets of resistance," before creating a "new security regime in the Gaza Strip," he said in comments reported by Israeli media on Friday.

IDF warplanes have attacked more than 250 Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip in the last 24 hours, IDF spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, said on Thursday.

Representatives for Hamas said the group had struck Israeli military sites east of southern and northern Gaza on Thursday, including the Israeli city of Sderot.

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