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In a massive attack on a wide system of tunnels by Hamas, the ruling office in the Gaza Strip, Israel's air force reportedly used around 500 tons of ammunition
Photo: - / dpa
With a report of an alleged ground offensive in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army has apparently misled foreign media - and many Hamas fighters into a trap.
According to a report by the AP agency, Israeli military experts share this theory, which was already voiced by journalists on Friday.
"Air and ground troops are currently attacking in the Gaza Strip," the army tweeted on Friday night, whereupon a ground offensive by Israel was expected.
According to media reports, this had induced numerous Hamas fighters to dive into the underground metro tunnel system.
Expert: "It was smart and successful"
After they were so trapped, Israel's air force bombed the tunnel network for around 40 minutes. The army denied targeted manipulation of the foreign media and spoke of a communication error. There are no Israeli soldiers in the Gaza Strip, it was said later. Foreign media had specifically accused the Israeli army of deliberately manipulating them with the tweet shortly before the attack. A correspondent for the Wall Street Journal told AP that a military spokeswoman had confirmed an imminent military offensive on the ground.
Well-informed Israeli military commentators supported the suspicion that the media had been exploited by the military for the operation.
"You weren't lying," said veteran military correspondent Or Heller on Israeli television station Channel 13 TV.
“It was manipulation.
It was smart and successful. "
Israel would have targeted ground forces on the border with the Gaza Strip and then dropped the tweet.
Many media outlets had broken news about an imminent ground attack.
According to Heller, many experienced Israeli correspondents would not have believed in such an operation because it would have had uncertain prospects of success.
In the attack on the tunnel system, the Israeli air force reportedly used around 500 tons of ammunition. 160 F-16 and F-35 aircraft were involved in the attack on the so-called Metro system on Friday night, a senior officer in the Israeli Air Force said on Saturday. It is still unclear whether and how many Hamas fighters were killed in the process. "There are potentially hundreds," he said.
The aim of the entire operation is to restore deterrence against Hamas, the officer said.
“It is very difficult to attack targets in the middle of an inhabited area.
But it is the only way to deter Hamas. ”Not a single rocket should be fired from the Gaza Strip at Israel.
During the attacks, the air force tried hard to avoid civilian casualties as much as possible.
There is no end in sight for the time being.
"We are in the middle of a very intensive operation."
nis / dpa / AP
