30 IDF soldiers wounded as troops engage Hamas gunmen

Dozens of Hamas gunmen were reported killed by IDF troops.

IDF sources said that the goal was to conquer territory in northern Gaza, including rocket launch sites. Soldiers from the Armored Corps, Engineering Corps, and Paratroopers, Givati, Golani brigades were participating in the fighting, with at least four brigades' worth of troops inside the Gaza Strip.

The sources said that a majority of the rockets fired into Beersheba and Ashdod were launched from the northern Gaza Strip.

One of the major aims of the operation was also to deliver a serious blow to the Hamas military wing, which the IDF estimated had not been severely weakened under the air campaign.