According to a video posted online, IDF soldiers who entered the Gaza Strip on Saturday raised the Israeli flag on one of the houses in the area.
In the video, a man could be heard saying: “Three weeks after the terrible crime, soldiers of the 52nd Battalion of the 401st Brigade raise the flag of Israel on the beach in the heart of Gaza. “We will not forget… we will not stop until we have achieved victory.”
מרגש: דגל ישראל מונף בלב עזה pic.twitter.com/5ii0xXEs74
— ישראל היום (@IsraelHayomHeb) October 28, 2023
This was reportedly the first time the Israeli flag was flown in Gaza since the disengagement in 2005. IDF tanks are deployed in the Gaza Strip. October 28, 2023 (Source: IDF Spokesperson Unit)
IDF expands ground operations in Gaza Strip
Starting Friday evening, IDF soldiers began an extensive ground incursion into the Gaza Strip, reaching several kilometers into the coastal enclave.
The IDF said the incursion into Gaza was an “expansion” of ground attacks carried out earlier in the week, although IDF spokesman R.-Adm. Daniel Hagari would not say whether the entry was the start of the ground offensive that has been talked about in recent weeks.
Since then, there have been repeated clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinian terrorists in the north of the Gaza Strip, with several locations also being attacked by air strikes.