The Israel Defense Forces is expanding its ground operation to the entire territory of the Gaza Strip. This was stated by Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari, CNN reports.

According to him, the Israeli military will conduct an operation against Hamas strongholds.

Hagari also emphasized "the importance of the air support provided by the Air Force to ground forces," noting that air strikes on Hamas headquarters, weapons factories, tunnels and rocket launch sites reduce the threats of ground operations.

"Our policy is clear - we will strike forcefully at any threat to our territory," the IDF spokesman said.