Palestinian sources in the Gaza Strip reported on Saturday afternoon that Israeli soldiers accompanied by armored vehicles and military bulldozers invaded an area east of Jabalia town, in the northern part of the Gaza Strip and bulldozed farmlands.
The forces advanced for a distance of 200 meters east of Al Shuhada Graveyard area, east of Jabalia, apparently in preparation for a wider ground offensive in the area.
Israeli military sources reported that the invasion was carried out in a bid to stop the firing of homemade shells against Israeli settlements adjacent to the Gaza Strip.
The sources added that dozens of tanks, armored vehicles and hundreds of soldiers are currently near the border fence that separates the east of Jabalia from Israel.
On Friday at dawn, Israel withdrew from from the Al Maghazi refugee camp, in the central Gaza Strip. Thirteen Palestinians were killed while dozens of houses and public buildings were damaged in addition to the destruction of agricultural farmlands and hothouses.
The Israeli army carried hundreds of air strikes and limited invasions in the Gaza Strip since last month after resistance fighters attacked an Israeli military base south-east of the occupied Gaza Strip and abducted one soldier.
The Israeli attacks also targeted the office of the Palestinian Prime Minister, the Islamic University, dozens of civilian houses, main roads and bridges the connects different parts of the Gaza Strip; dozens of civilians, including children, and several family members were killed and injured in these attacks.
