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| Israel ready to widen Gaza ground offensive - PM | Israel ready to widen Gaza ground offensive - PM |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Israel is prepared to "significantly widen" its ground offensive against militants in the Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said. | Israel is prepared to "significantly widen" its ground offensive against militants in the Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said. |
| He said the military was targeting the Hamas tunnel network, which it could not do "only from the air". | |
| Thousands of troops moved into parts of Gaza on Thursday night, backed by tanks and artillery fire. | Thousands of troops moved into parts of Gaza on Thursday night, backed by tanks and artillery fire. |
| Hamas, the Palestinian group that controls Gaza, has said Israel will "pay a high price" for the invasion. | |
| At least 24 Palestinians and one Israeli soldier have been killed since the ground offensive began on Thursday, Gaza's health ministry said. | |
| The dead included three Palestinian children killed by Israeli tank fire in the north of Gaza, medics said. | |
| The decision to send in troops came after 10 days of intensive rocket fire and air strikes between the two sides. | The decision to send in troops came after 10 days of intensive rocket fire and air strikes between the two sides. |
| "Last night our forces began a ground operation to hit the terror tunnels crossing from Gaza into Israel's territory," Mr Netanyahu told a special cabinet session broadcast live on television on Friday. | |
| "It is not possible to deal with the tunnels only from the air." | |
| He added: "My instructions... are to prepare for the possibility of significantly widening the ground operation, and the military is preparing accordingly." | |
| Palestinian militants have used tunnels to carry out attacks, some of which have been thwarted by the Israeli military. | |
| On the morning of the ground offensive, the Israeli military intercepted 13 militants who had infiltrated Israel through a tunnel, and were believed to be planning to attack a nearby kibbutz. | |
| Some 258 Palestinians - three-quarters of them civilians - have died since the start of the wider Israeli operation on 8 July, officials in Gaza say. | |
| An Israeli civilian was killed from mortar fire, and several Israelis have been seriously injured, Israeli medics say. | |
| Are you in Gaza? Are you or is someone you know affected by the situation? Email your comments to haveyouray@bbc.co.uk using the subject 'Gaza'. | |
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