The Israeli military is in the final stages of its preparations for a full-scale, coordinated ground, air and sea assault on Gaza and tens of thousands of its troops have already massed near the border of Hamas-controlled region. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF), according to a New York Times report, have been given clear orders to capture the Gaza city and destroy the current leadership of the Palestinian Islamic militant group Hamas.

According to the unclassified details of Israel’s ground assault plan as outlined by three senior Israeli military officials, the main goal of the mission will be to wipe out the top political and military leadership of Hamas, a Palestinian militant group that controls Gaza.

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However, the report said, the military officials were uncertain what Israel will do with the Gaza city if they capture it. The officials also didn’t elaborate what they meant by destruction of Hamas’s military and political leadership.

The Israeli military has officially confirmed they are preparing for a coordinated ground, air and sea attack on Gaza. However, some experts believe that if Israel captures the Gaza city, it may remain there for some time to ensure the vast underground tunnel network of Hamas is fully destroyed and restore order.

There are some speculations that Israel may consider giving the control of Gaza to Fatah, which dominates the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and rules in the West Bank. However, there appears no sign of it so far, let alone any official word.

Also Read: How Hamas outfoxed Israel’s feared intelligence agency?

Both Hamas and Fatah are political rivals to each other in the Palestinian political scene. While Hamas followed armed resistance against Israel, Fatah has chosen negotiations over violence.

The officials acknowledged the war against Hamas risks Israel locking into months of “bloody urban combat, both above ground and in a warren of tunnels”. The assault would be Israel’s biggest ground operation since 2006 when it invaded Lebanon and the first since 2008 Gaza conflict.

Israel declared a war against Hamas and vowed to wipe it off the face of the Earth after its militants led a massive terrorist attack on Israel last week that killed more than 1,300 people, including women, children, elderly, and soldiers.

The IDF has warned nearly 1.1 million Gazans to flee their homes in the north and evacuate to safer areas south of the Wadi Gaza. The Israeli military Saturday gave them a 24-hour deadline to leave and extended it by three more hours on Sunday even as the UN warned of “devastating humanitarian consequences”.

The Israeli military defended the mass evacuation orders, saying its war is against Hamas and not the Gazans civilians and that it was giving them a chance to save themselves and their family members.