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[News Terms] What Is the 'Ground Operation' Declared by Israel?

[News Terms] What Is the 'Ground Operation' Declared by Israel? [Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

The Israeli government officially announced that it will carry out a 'Ground Operation' against the Palestinian armed faction Hamas, raising expectations that the conflict between the two sides will be prolonged. The Israeli government had previously expressed its intention to annihilate Hamas through a large-scale scorched-earth operation by deploying ground forces all at once, but facing practical difficulties, it is expected to conduct a limited-scale ground war over an extended period, gradually suppressing Hamas's hideouts within the Gaza Strip.


[News Terms] What Is the 'Ground Operation' Declared by Israel? [Image source=AFP Yonhap News]

According to the Times of Israel on the 29th (local time), Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated at a press conference held in Tel Aviv the previous night, "The ground military operation that began in the Gaza Strip marks the second phase of the war," adding, "It will be a long and difficult war." This was the official declaration by the Israeli government that the ground war in the Gaza Strip has commenced.

[News Terms] What Is the 'Ground Operation' Declared by Israel? [Image source=AFP Yonhap News]

However, at the press conference, Prime Minister Netanyahu did not reveal the high-intensity large-scale ground operation plans he had announced immediately after the outbreak of the war, such as 'deploying large-scale ground forces' or 'annihilating Hamas.' He emphasized, "The ground military operation will help in rescuing hostages," and "Contact for the release of hostages continues even during the operation."

Accordingly, the ground war that the Israeli military will conduct going forward is expected to be a prolonged conflict characterized by limited small-scale ground operations rather than a blitzkrieg involving the deployment of hundreds of thousands of troops all at once to the front lines.


The U.S. Department of Defense defines ground warfare as operations conducted on the surface of a planet. Since World War II, ground warfare has been classified as operations primarily carried out by the three army branches: infantry, armor, and artillery. The navy and air force mainly participate in operations by supporting the army through ground bombardment and airborne troop transport.


Modern ground warfare is divided into blitzkrieg and prolonged warfare depending on the operational method. Blitzkrieg refers to concentrating large-scale forces at specific points on the front line to break through enemy defenses and quickly seize key central areas. Previously, the Israeli military mobilized 530,000 troops, including 170,000 active-duty soldiers and 360,000 reservists, deploying them to the border area with the Gaza Strip, suggesting the possibility of a blitzkrieg by large-scale ground force deployment.


However, considering the highly dense population of the Gaza Strip, if a blitzkrieg is conducted, civilian casualties could significantly increase, and Hamas might induce prolonged urban warfare using residents as human shields. According to the United Nations data from 2020, the population density of the Gaza Strip was about 6,500 people per square kilometer, comparable to Hong Kong (7,140 people/km²), which ranks third worldwide, indicating an extremely high density.


The Israeli military is expected to conduct a prolonged war by gradually capturing Hamas bases within urban areas, focusing on stronghold districts secured in the border area inside the Gaza Strip.


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