Israel’s military began expanded ground operations in Gaza City overnight on Tuesday, marking the latest phase of its battle against Hamas terrorists embedded in the area. 

The U.S.-backed expansion of the Israel Defense Forces appears to be Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s biggest ground offensive in Gaza since the war was first triggered by Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack. The IDF’s Operation Gideon’s Chariots II, the latest maneuver to occupy Gaza City, included two divisions, with a third expected to join.