Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that while Israel prefers to generate deterrence vis-à-vis the terrorist groups based in the Gaza Strip, a ground incursion that could topple Hamas' rule "is always on the table."
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Dozens of rockets were fired at Israel's south and coastal plain overnight and on Wednesday morning, triggering sirens in Gaza border-adjacent communities as well as in the cities of Ashdod, Ashkelon, and Beersheba, and sending hundreds of thousands of Israelis residents scrambling for shelter.
Several rockets fired from the Gaza Strip over Wednesday morning hit communities in the Eshkol Regional Council. No injuries were reported in the attack. The IDF launched a massive airstrike on terrorist targets in Gaza in response also saying it plans to bomb another highrise known to house Hamas offices.
Video: PMO
Briefing foreign diplomats on the efforts to end the fighting in Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, "We're not standing with a stopwatch. We are taking care of the operation's objectives."
Asked whether a ground incursion of the coastal enclave was being considered, the PM said that the option of seizing control of Gaza "is always on the table," if that's what it takes to achieve quiet.
He stressed that no timeframe was planned according to which the operation would end.
Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi also addressed the diplomats and noted that the recently announced International Criminal Court war crimes investigation against the Jewish state will prevent Israel from advancing trust-building steps with the Palestinians.
In a statement released late on Tuesday night, Hamas, the terrorist group that controls the Gaza Strip, claimed it fired six Israeli Air Force bases during the last barrage.
"The bases that the Izzadin al-Qassam Brigades targeted are Hatzor, Hatzerim, Nevatim, Tel Nof, Palmachim, and Ramon," Gaza's rulers said, naming the major military installations.
The IDF mounted massive retaliatory strikes, eradicating more of Hamas and Islamic Jihad's infrastructure in the Strip.
As Operation Guardian of the Walls entered its 10th day, there with no firm signs of an imminent ceasefire despite reports one may be introduced on Thursday.
Israeli leaders said they were pressing on with an offensive against Gaza's terrorist groups. An Israeli military spokesman acknowledged that with an estimated 12,000 missiles and mortars in Hamas and Islamic Jihad's arsenals, "They still have enough rockets to fire."
Since hostilities erupted on May 10, Gaza terrorists have fired over 3,700 rockets at Israel. The Iron Dome defense system has intercepted more than 1,350 missiles, representing a 90% success rates. Over 1,470 projectiles hit open areas, and upward of 550 rockets failed to cross the border, hitting the Gaza Strip and killing more than 20 Palestinians, according to the IDF.
Israeli casualties so far numbered 13 – a dozen civilians killed in rocket attacks and one soldier, who was killed in a cross-border anti-tank missile attack. Nearly 700 Israelis have been wounded, about a dozen of them seriously.
Current military data indicated IDF airstrikes have so far eliminated over 2,000 terrorist targets in the coastal enclave, including high-rises that served as Hamas and PIJ headquarters, hundreds of homes and offices of terrorist operatives, over 100 kilometers (62 miles) of Hamas' underground grid of terror tunnels that served as bunkers and arsenals, and hundreds of sites where rockets and weapons were stored and produced.
Targets also included drone storage sites, intelligence and technological assets, and Hamas' naval forces and equipment.
More than 180 terrorists were killed in IDF strikes so farm including dozens of top Hamas and PIJ commanders.
Gaza medical officials say 217 Palestinians have been killed, including 63 children, and more than 1,400 wounded since the fighting began.
Israel fights to protect its civilians.
Hamas uses civilians to protect itself. pic.twitter.com/J6WVye1Lqy— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) May 18, 2021
While it is known that Hamas' top echelon went underground as soon as fighting erupted, a Hamas Interior Ministry spokesman on Tuesday denied a report on the Al-Arabiya network saying that dozens of the group's officials and their families have fled the territory for Egypt over Israel's forceful response to terrorist rocket fire.
Hamas began firing rockets on Israel last week in alleged retaliation for what it said were Israeli "infringements" against Palestinians in Jerusalem during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
By linking its confrontation with Israel to the sensitive issue of Jerusalem, Hamas also posed a challenge to its main rival, West Bank-based Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who last month canceled what would have been the first Palestinian parliamentary election in 15 years, fearing Hamas would make considerable gains outside Gaza.
The current hostilities are the most serious between the militant group and Israel since 2014, and in a departure from previous Gaza conflicts have helped fuel street violence in Israeli cities between Jews and Israeli Arabs.
Israel's offensive in Gaza, compounded by Ramadan clashes between police and worshippers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem and a court case over the eviction of Palestinians from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in east Jerusalem have fueled tensions in the West Bank, as well.
On Tuesday, Channel 12 News, quoting unidentified Palestinian sources, reported that Egypt, via "secret channels", had proposed that Israel-Gaza fighting end on Thursday morning.
Ezzat El-Reshiq, a member of Hamas' political bureau who is based in Qatar, said reports that Hamas had agreed to such a ceasefire were untrue.
"There has been no agreement reached over specific timings for a ceasefire," he said. "We confirm that efforts and contacts are serious and are continuing and the demands of our people are known and clear."
Netanyahu reiterated in a post on Twitter on Tuesday that Israel's attacks "will continue for as long as it takes to restore calm" for all of its citizens.
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