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ISRAEL'S military has surrounded the Gaza Strip amid plans to launch a "coordinated" attack by land, air and sea.
The move comes amid fears that Hamas is blocking terrified residents from escaping the bomb-blitzed enclave.
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The Israeli military said its forces were preparing to implement a wide range of operational offensive plans as expectations grew of an imminent invasion of the Gaza Strip.
The IDF said its forces were deployed across the country, increasing operational readiness for the next stages of the war, "with an emphasis on significant ground operations".
And Israeli army spokesperson Jonathan Conricus said forces are now "in formation... all around the Gaza Strip, in the south, in the centre and the north."
Late on Saturday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited troops on the Gaza border preparing for the attack.
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He asked: "Are you ready for the next stage? More is coming!"
Israeli air strikes continued to hammer the Gaza Strip last night after the deadline passed for citizens to get out ahead of Israel's impending ground invasion.
The IDF, however, warned Palestinians still in northern Gaza that they would not target the route to safety between 10am - 1pm (7am - 10am GMT).
On Friday, Israel warned 1.1 million people living in the north of the Gaza Strip to flee their homes ahead of an "imminent attack".
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Tens of thousands of people have fled south, according to the UN, after Israel began the 24-hour countdown.
Panicked families in cars, trucks, donkey carts and on-foot have been seen loaded up with blankets and possessions streaming down roads.
For days on end, Israel has been pounding Gaza with airstrikes in revenge for Hamas's unprecedented cross-border attack, resulting in the slaughter of over 1,300 Israelis.
At least 2,200 Palestinians have been killed during the retaliatory bombardment of densely-populated Gaza, including 600 children.
The UN has warned that Gaza is descending into a "hellhole" and is on the "brink of collapse".
A convoy of over 70 evacuees was blown up by an Israeli air strike, which the IDF has said it is now looking into.
Children were among the 12 killed in the explosion, reports.
It comes as on Saturday, the IDF announced that they had killed two senior Hamas commanders.
Murad Abu Murad, who headed Hamas's aerial operations in Gaza, was reportedly killed in an airstrike.
The IDF then reported that Ali Qadhi - a key commander who led the cross-border attack on Israel - was killed in a drone strike.
The 37-year-old senior Hamas leader was freed from Israeli prison in a 2011 prisoner swap, the IDF added.
On Friday night, Israel's military revealed they had conducted "localised raids" into the bomb-blitzed Gaza Strip to "cleanse the area of terrorists and weapons".
Super-elite Sayeret Matkal soldiers led tanks and infantry into Hamas lairs yesterday to hunt down terrorist rocket crews and search for hostages.
The mission was the first to probe Hamas defences ahead of an anticipated full-scale ground invasion that could begin as soon as today.
An Israeli defence source told The Sun: “It is safe to assume that special forces would have been involved in this stage of the operation - it is just the start.”
Modelled on Britain’s SAS, the Sayeret Matkal are the prime special forces unit of Israel and experts in hostage recovery.
There were earlier reports that the Israel had retrieved bodies of dead Israeli hostages during the special ops raids, which was later denied by the IDF.
It comes as...
- More than 1,300 killed in Israel while Gaza death toll stands at 2,329
- Israeli military prepares for 'coordinated attack' by land, sea and air
- IDF confirmed troops and tanks have already conducted raids inside Gaza
- Hamas terrorists' twisted battle plans revealed
- A disabled teen is among hostages taken by Hamas
- UK to send warships, Marines & spy planes to help Israel
- The first UK evacuation flight from Israel has landed in Cyprus
Israel's PM has vowed to destroy every member of Hamas as his army prepares to crush Hamas's strongholds.
Over 360,000 reservists have been called up to bolster the 130,000-strong regular army, which is amassing on the border ahead of the expected land assault.
The PM said in a TV address last night that Israel will "never forget these horrific acts of our enemies.”
Netanyahu added: "We are striking at our enemies with unprecedented might - this is just the beginning. We will end this war stronger than ever.”
Over 120 civilians - including foreign nationals - are being held inside besieged Gaza by Hamas, the IDF has said.
Hamas claimed on Friday that 13 of them had been killed in Israel's retaliatory air strikes.
Hamas has dismissed Israel's calls for Palestinians to flee as "fake propaganda" and ordered Gaza's residents to stay.
IDF spokesperson Jonathon Conricus has accused Hamas of preventing civilians from evacuating and using them as "human shields".
Meanwhile, the UN says that over 1,300 buildings have been destroyed in Gaza, which has been under a total siege all week.
Israel halted all deliveries of food, water, fuel and medicine to the tiny enclave on Monday in response to Hamas's weekend attack.
On Wednesday, Gaza's only power station ran out of fuel and shut down - leaving only lights powered by scattered private generators.
And now the UN states that the enclave has run out of clean drinking water, making the situation a "matter of life or death".
Harrowing photos showed blooded babies and children crammed into hospital wards as medics struggled with demand.
Over the last 24 hours, a million residents of Gaza's north have attempted to flee to safety under both heavy bombardment and an Israeli blockade.
"No safe corridors were initially provided for people to safely comply with the orders to move southwards. Hundreds of people, including families, had to flee on foot," the UN said.
The full electricity blackout has brought essential health, water and sanitation services "to the brink of collapse", and exacerbated food insecurity, it said.
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It comes after days of air strikes that have been successfully wiping out its Hamas kill list, an ex-British colonel has revealed.
Colonel Richard Kemp told The Sun: "I've watched an artillery battery firing mission against terrorists in Gaza yesterday."
The former commander of troops in Afghanistan added: "And so far I believe that the IDF operations have been very successful.
"They've been making their way down [their] target list of terrorist leaders."
The heavy bombardment of Gaza has sparked chilling threats of revenge from both Iran and Hezbollah.
Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah has insisted it is "fully prepared" to join Hamas in its bloody war with Israel.
Foreign powers have urged Hezbollah to stay put on the sidelines - but deputy chief Naim Qassem vowed to join "when the time comes for action".
The group has already clashed with Israel across the Lebanese border multiple times in the past week.
Last night, IDF said it targeted the militant group in an airstrike over southern Lebanon in response to the group launching aerial objects into Israel.
Now, Iran has joined in on the threats, warning that "new fronts" will open up if its "war crimes" in Gaza continue.
A group of Reuters and Al Jazeera journalists were hit by an Israeli shell at the Lebanon-Israel border last night, killing one and leaving six others injured.
Harrowing footage captured the moment the shell exploded and a woman screamed: "I can't feel my legs".
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The journalists had been covering the border clashes which erupted since Hamas launched their grisly assault last weekend.
"We are deeply saddened to learn that our videographer, Issam Abdallah, has been killed," Reuters said.
Podcast: Israel's War on Terror Explained
The Sun has launched a brilliant new podcast 'Israel's War on Terror Explained'.
In the first episode, we talk to the Israel Defense Force about tactics in their Hamas offensive and the fraught mission to rescue hostages.
To listen, click if you're on mobile - or simply scan the QR code with your phone if you're reading on a computer.
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