IDF Has Cut Gaza In Half, Gaza City Is Surrounded By Israeli Forces

A newer report here from Yahoo News says that the IDF has moved deeper into Gaza and has in fact, split the area in half and has surrounded the biggest city in Gaza, Gaza City. Here's a bit from the report:

Israeli ground troops and tanks cut swaths through the Gaza Strip early Sunday, cutting the coastal territory into two and surrounding its biggest city as the new phase of a devastating offensive against Hamas militants gained momentum.
The military used overwhelming firepower from tanks, artillery and aircraft to protect the advancing soldiers, and Gaza officials said at least 31 civilians were killed in the onslaught. The military said troops killed several dozen militants, but Gaza officials could confirm only four dead — in part because rescue teams could not reach the battle zones.
The ground invasion and live images of the fighting in Gaza drew international condemnations and dominated news coverage on Arab satellite TV stations, many of which aired footage of wounded Palestinians at hospitals. Hamas threatened to turn Gaza into an Israeli "graveyard."

I think what this report is showing is that by the small number of Hamas casualties reported, the Hamas forces are holed up tight in the inner bowels of Gaza City. That, of course, is going to raise some real problems for the Israelis to gut them out of there especially with Hamas holding young children tight to their chests like the cowards that they are.

One interesting piece from this article, almost buried in it, is this:

Yuval Diskin, the head of Israel's Shin Bet security service, told the ministers there was a "weakening" in Hamas' desire to keep fighting. Still, he said, while the Hamas political leadership has been hit hard, its military organization has "yet to be dealt the harsh blow Israel expects it to be dealt." The security officials' comments were later relayed to the press by the Cabinet secretary, Oved Yehezkel.

That, I think, is very encouraging. My prediction is that the Hamas leadership is going to bail on this thing - I'm not sure if they will surrender but they might make some calls to Egypt or Turkey or even Syria to see if there can be a deal made. In the past, Hamas leadership has always been the weakness of this terrorist organization - they have no balls. Israel has knocked off several top leaders and the rest are in a bad spot right now - they have no desire to die like the muj robots do so I predict some real scurrying of diplomatic angles in the next few days - perhaps with Hamas even agreeing to the monitoring system in Gaza that Israel has been pushing for.

The key here though will be if the IDF can make some major hits on Hamas fighters today and tomorrow - what the Israelis need is a visible, high impact victory over a cell of Hamas fighters in the range of 20 to 30 jihadists. That outta get the leaders of Hamas squirming good.

Israeli forces bisect Gaza, surround biggest city

Thousands of soldiers in three brigade-size formations pushed into Gaza after nightfall Saturday, beginning a long-awaited ground offensive against the area's Hamas rulers after a week of intense aerial bombardment. Black smoke billowed over Gaza City at first light as bursts of machine gun fire rang out.
The ground operation is the second phase in an offensive that began as a weeklong aerial onslaught aimed at halting Hamas rocket fire that has reached deeper and deeper into Israel, threatening major cities and one-eighth of Israel's population.
The new deaths brought the death toll in the Gaza Strip to more than 500 since Dec. 27. Palestinian and U.N. officials say at least 100 civilians are among the dead.
TV footage showed Israeli troops with night-vision goggles and camouflage face paint marching in single file. Artillery barrages preceded their advance, and they moved through fields and orchards following bomb-sniffing dogs to guard against booby-traps.
Gaza City's civilians cowered inside as battles raged, while terrified residents in other areas fled in fear. In the southern town of Rafah, one man loaded a donkey cart with mattresses and blankets preparing to flee.

Military intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin told the Cabinet that Hamas was using mosques, public institutions and private houses as ammunition stores.

Rocket fire into Israel has persisted, and more than 30 rockets and mortar shells fell in Israel on Sunday morning, sending Israelis scrambling for bomb shelters. Two Israelis were lightly wounded. In much of southern Israel, school has been canceled and life has been largely paralyzed.
While the air offensive presented little risk for Israel's army, sending in ground troops is a much more dangerous proposition. Hamas is believed to have some 20,000 gunmen and has had time to prepare. Israeli leaders had resisted a ground invasion for months, fearing heavy casualties.