The Israeli army is preparing to widen the ground operation in the Gaza Strip, following the deployment of ground troops in the Palestinian enclave.

 The Israeli Prime Minister stated today before a cabinet meeting that air strikes alone could not deal a significant blow to the network of tunnels used by Hamas militants to stage cross-border attacks on southern Israel and added that the army will “hit the terror tunnels crossing from Gaza into Israel’s territory”.

“My instructions… are to prepare for the possibility of significantly widening the ground operation, and the military is preparing accordingly,” Netanyahu said.