Thousands of Israeli troops ordered to capture Gaza

The Israeli military has begun preparations to attack the Gaza Strip soon with tens of thousands of soldiers ordered to capture Gaza City and destroy the current leadership of Hamas, The New York Times reported on Sunday.

It reported that the main aim of the Israeli military is to eliminate the top political and military hierarchy of the Hamas terror group.

It remains uncertain what Israel will do with Gaza City, Hamas's stronghold and the enclave's largest urban centre, if it captures it, or what exactly Israeli officials mean when they describe the destruction of Hamas's leadership.

Hamas, considered a terrorist group by the United States and the European Union, is a large social movement as well as a militia that is deeply embedded within Gazan society.

It is also unclear whether Hezbollah, the larger, Iran-backed Lebanese militia that is allied with Hamas and possesses a vast array of precision-guided missiles and ground forces, might respond to an invasion of Gaza by opening up a second front with Israel along the Lebanese border, The New York Times reported.

The Israeli military has not officially confirmed that their soldiers will invade Gaza but has said that their troops were increasing their 'readiness' for a ground war.

Tens of thousands of Hamas gunmen are thought to have entrenched themselves inside hundreds of miles of underground tunnels and bunkers beneath Gaza City and the surrounding parts of northern Gaza.

Israeli military leaders expect that Hamas will attempt to impede their progress by blowing up some of those tunnels as Israelis advance above them, and by exploding roadside bombs and booby-trapping buildings.

Amid Israel's ongoing war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip, which has, so far, claimed 2,329 lives and left over 9,000 injured, an agreement has been reached for Israel to allow foreigners to leave the war-torn Gaza, Times of Israel reported on Saturday.

Egypt, Israel and the United States have agreed to allow foreigners residing in Gaza to pass through the Rafah border crossing into Egypt, with the Israeli forces agreeing to refrain from striking areas the foreigners would pass through on their way out of the Hamas-controlled territory.