The Israeli daily Ma'ariv also said yesterday that troops have been put on alert and "the governing principle of the operation" has been approved by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) general staff and Yoav Gallant, the defence minister. The IDF declined to comment on the reports.
The IDF confirmed on Tuesday it is buying 40,000 tents to prepare for the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians who have sought shelter in Rafah, the southernmost town which is the only major urban area in Gaza that Israeli ground forces have not yet entered.
The new operation in the sixmonth war against the Palestinian militant group Hamas will reportedly focus first on securing northern and central Gaza, particularly the string of refugee camps around the town of Deir al-Balah, Ma'ariv said.
This comes 10 days after Israel withdrew the bulk of its ground forces from the strip, leaving one division to man the Netzarim Corridor, the Israeli-built buffer that now bifurcates the coastal territory.
But Palestinians on the ground said there has been a renewed presence of Israeli ground troops in northern Gaza this week, including Beit Hanoun, where tanks surrounded school buildings where displaced people were sheltering.
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