Israeli forces marched into the coastal territory backed by heavy artillery fire, air and naval bombardment after week-long airstrikes.
JERUSALEM: Israeli troops have killed dozens of Hamas militants during the much-expected ground operation into Gaza, after week-long airstrikes on the coastal strip claimed over 460 Palestinian lives.
Israeli forces marched into the coastal territory on Saturday backed by heavy artillery fire, air and naval bombardment after week-long airstrikes.
Initial local media reports from both Israel and Gaza indicated that IDF troops had killed dozens of Hamas gunmen as they traded heavy fire upon entering the Strip.
Defence Minister Ehud Barak vowed to defend his country from incessant rocket attacks while accepting that it wont be "easy or brief" and would endanger soldiers' lives.
"The objective is to destroy the Hamas terror infrastructure in the area of operations,"Israel Defence Forces (IDF) spokesperson,Major Avital Leibovitch,said. "We are going to take some of the launch areas used by Hamas."
"To strike a direct and hard blow against the Hamas while increasing the deterrent strength of the IDF, in order to bring about an improved and more stable security situation for residents of Southern Israel over the long term," the statement explained the objective of the ground offensive.
"We won't abandon our citizens. The IDF's job is to defend the home front", Barak asserted.Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Barak, and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni met on Friday night and approved the ground incursion.
A defiant Hamas spokesman, Ismail Radwan,in a televised speech to the organisation's al-Aqsa Radio said thatGaza will "become a graveyard" for Israeli soldiers.
"Gaza will not be paved with flowers for you, it will be paved with fire and hell," Radwan said.
Hamas has long prepared for Israel's invasion, digging tunnels and rigging some areas with explosives. At the start of the offensive, Israeli artillery hit some of the border areas, apparently to detonate hidden explosives.
Hamas' armed wing, Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, threatened that the "Zionist enemy will pay a heavy price for its ground incursion."
The group said that the IDF was "getting closer to the trap we laid for it," adding that "our people will fight to the last drop of blood and won't surrender. We prepared hundreds of suicide bombers meant to kill and capture dozens of soldiers taking part in the ground operations."
The West Bank based Palestinian Authority (PA) condemned the ground incursion calling upon for a United Nation Security Council session to stop Israeli excesses.
Large numbers of Israeli forces are taking part in this stage of the operation including infantry, tanks, engineering forces, artillery and intelligence with the support of the Israel Air Force, Israel navy, the Shin Bet security service and other security agencies.
Meanwhile, the Israeli cabinet has authorised an emergency call up of tens of thousands of IDF reservists. The objective of the call up is to enable the IDF to expand the ground incursion if necessary.
Reservists were seen arrivingat their bases last evening and will continue to come today. In a televised speech hours after the beginning of the ground incursion,Barak said that the operation will put Israeli troops in life danger.
"It won't be easy and it won't be brief. We're continuing to expand the operation while being well aware that this move will include challenges, difficulties, and also victims."
"The decision to embark on the ground phase of the operation was taken following in depth consideration. Every alternative was examined thoroughly, while we examined every possible scenario," he said.
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