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Soldiers trained before Gaza ground operation: Israel

18 July 2014 04:59 (UTC +04:00)

Israeli army spokesman Moti Almoz was quoted by the army's website as saying that major ground troops are now inside the Gaza Strip.

Israeli army spokesmen, however, remain tightlipped on the number of troops taking part in the operation.

Israel staged ground incursions into southern and northern Gaza late on Thursday.

When asked by Anadolu Agency, Avichay Adraee, another army spokesman, declined to answer a question about the number of troops taking part in the Gaza operation.

"Infantry, armored, engineering, artillery and intelligence troops are working in cooperation by sea and air," he tweeted.

The Israeli army on Thursday called up additional 18000 reservists following the start of a ground operation into the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli government had already called up 56000 troops for the military operation in the blockaded Palestinian territory.

It is not clear, however, how many soldiers had joined the ground operation in Gaza.

Since July 7, Israeli warplanes have pounded the strip with the ostensible aim of halting rocket fire from the Palestinian territory.

The aerial strikes, however, have left as many as 247 Palestinians dead and more than 1867 others injured.

Gaza-based resistance factions, for their part, have continued to fire rockets at Israel – some of which have reached Tel Aviv.

Israel's military operation, dubbed "Operation Protective Edge," is the self-proclaimed Jewish state's third major offensive against the embattled Gaza Strip – home to some 1.8 million Palestinians – in the last six years.