Israeli ground forces carried out its first “relatively large” incursion overnight in the Gaza Srip, the Reuters news agency reports, citing Israel’s Army Radio.
Described as a “targeted raid” into Northern Gaza by Israel’s Givati Brigade using tanks, it was reportedly aimed at Hamas “terror infrastructure.”
Israel’s Army Radio, which reported on it described it as the biggest incursion of the current war, however stated that all the soldiers involved in the operation have now left the area.
This is just as Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has told Pope Francis that Israel’s attacks on Gaza amount to a massacre.
In a phone call, Mr Erdogan said the silence of the international community was “embarrassing,” demanding that all countries must raise their voice against the humanitarian crisis in the region.
Erdogan had earlier accused “those providing unlimited support for Israel” of perpetrating the killing of civilians in Gaza.
“Israel’s attacks on Gaza, for both itself and those supporting them, amount to murder and mental illness,” he told lawmakers from his ruling AK Party.
He condemned civilians deaths caused by Hamas on 7 October, but said the group was “not a terrorist organisation, it is a liberation group”.
The comment was rejected by Israel’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lior Haiat: “Even the Turkish president’s attempt to defend the terrorist organisation and his inciting words will not change the horrors that the whole world has seen.”
Mr Erdogan has cancelled a planned visit to Israel, indicating the suspension of normalisation efforts between the two nations.
The UK, US and other Western countries have designated Hamas as a terrorist organisation.