Hamas and Israel at war: what we know on day 17: Israel intensifies airstrikes on Gaza overnight

With tanks and troops massed at the Gaza border, waiting for the command to cross,Israelintensified its bombardment of the enclave overnight.

Israel’s military spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said the country had increased airstrikes across Gaza to hit targets that would reduce the risk to troops in the next stage of the war.

A ground invasion has been expected but its timing remains unclear. Asked by Australian broadcaster the ABC on Monday whether the invasion had been delayed in order to leave more time to get Israeli hostages out of Gaza, Israel Defence Force spokesperson Jonathan Conricus was reluctant to give any insight into the country’s deliberations:

That’s a very good question. The answer I can provide is that we are going to dismantle Hamas totally and we’re going to bring our people home.

And asked whether an invasion was inevitable, he said:

The aim here is to totally dismantle Hamas from its military capabilities. If that can be done from the air … with very limited exposure to our troops and less damage on the ground that would be great.

If Hamas were to come out of their hiding places that they hide underneath the civilians … and return our hostages, all 212 of them, and surrender unconditionally, then the war would end.

If they won’t, we will probably have to go in and get it done.

Fears of a widening war have grown as Israeli warplanes struck two airports in Syria and a mosque in the occupied West Bank allegedly used by militants on Sunday. The Israeli military also said it had struck targets in Lebanon overnight.

“Our forces struck Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure in Lebanon, including a military compound and an observation post,” it said in an X/Twitter post on Monday, adding, “4 Hezbollah terrorist cells operating on the border with Lebanon were struck.”