“We will do everything we can, from air, sea and land, to ensure the security of our forces and achieve the war objectives,” he added. This Monday, the Israeli Armed Forces reported hitting 600 targets in Gaza in the last 24 hours.
“We can see and hear parts of this second phase before our eyes and ears,” reports Ritters, who lives near the northern border of the Gaza Strip. “We see constant artillery attacks as well as more distant air strikes, we occasionally hear fighter jets flying over us.”
Machine gun fire could be heard from their location, indicating relative proximity between the Israeli military and Hamas fighters, the DW correspondent said. Still, “we don’t know exactly what the second phase means militarily,” he noted.
Due to the internet and telephone outages in the region since Friday, it is almost impossible to obtain reliable information about the situation of the people of Gaza. Ritters says it is not known how much resistance there is from Israeli Hamas troops. “We get misinformation from all sides, hear things on social media. It’s too early to say what’s really happening,” he added.
In the bulletin released on Sunday, the IDF reported that at least two of its soldiers were injured.
“Only at the beginning”
For expert Jonathan Panikoff from the American think tank Atlantic Council, the question remains as to how large and extensive the land offensive will be.