Palestinian Resistance sources told Al Mayadeen Net about the possible Israeli plans for ground invasion against Gaza, the problems that hinder the success of any possible operation of this kind, and the details of the battlefield situation in light of the Israeli mobilizations.

Al Mayadeen Net's sources confirmed that "what is happening behind enemy lines clearly leads to obstructing and delaying the Israeli ground operation in the Gaza Strip."

"There is a real fear of advancing, and some troops are still 20 kilometers away from Gaza and the [Gaza] envelope settlements," the sources added.

The sources pointed out that "the American and Israeli plans are to try to open certain gaps on land and at sea in the Gaza Strip, for the massive entry of tanks and soldiers."

However, the available information confirmed that the Americans and Israelis "cannot advance for fear of a major trap in one of the axes, which will lead to major losses."

"Israel" fears cells infiltration, cells that remain dormant

The sources explained to Al Mayadeen Net that "the bombing of the intelligence towers in the west of Gaza City aims to prepare for a naval landing in a soft area, through which it is possible to bisect the north from Gaza City, and this area's details are particularly known by the Americans because they built a headquarters for the Palestinian intelligence there during the 1990s."

The sources also pointed out that "the threat of the al-Quds Brigades opening another front in the north or in territories in the West Bank occupied in 1948 increases the fear of going towards a ground operation, in which the occupation army's back may be exposed in other areas."

"Another fear among the Israelis exists," the sources added, stressing that it is related to "cells that would infiltrate areas in the depth of the enemy and remain dormant."

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The sources said that such cells' role might be activated when the ground operation begins, which will confuse the internal arena and expose the army more, especially since the police inside will not be able to confront trained fighters without losses."

According to sources in the Resistance, the detainees, including senior Israeli officers and soldiers, are being investigated to find out plans and tactics, which is delaying the ground operation, because the Israeli military is forced to change many of its plans after the Resistance captured high-ranking military ranks.

"If the Israeli army sends its elite to Gaza, suffers many losses, and is defeated, it will lose its reputation completely, and will be exposed in other arenas. If it sends those who are less trained, they will turn into ducks in a shooting range," they added.

"There were statements by the Israeli army spokesman today, in which he said that the goal of this war is to overthrow Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and to kill all 2,000 members of the elite who attacked the border," the sources added, stressing that "such a mission is impossible to be achieved."

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In the meantime, the sources focused on the Resistance's confirmation of its full readiness for any ground battle that the occupation wants to wage against the Gaza Strip. The Resistance considered that this would constitute an opportunity to double the occupation's losses in terms of dead, wounded, and prisoners and that it would not succeed in recovering any prisoner who was transferred to Gaza.

Former Israeli occupation Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told the Financial Times regarding a possible ground incursion into Gaza that "what awaits Israeli soldiers is everything you can imagine and worse," adding that "It's not going to be simple and it won't be pleasant."

Olmert's words were based on his experience when he was Prime Minister of the occupying entity in 2008, and his army launched an aggression against Gaza, which lasted 3 weeks, in addition to his experience during the July 2006 war in Lebanon with the ground advance against Hezbollah.

Considering the clear intelligence failures that preceded Saturday's attack, Israeli troops could be walking into "new shooters or new types of rockets that are stronger [and] bigger or new anti-tank rockets that we’re not familiar with," Olmert added.

It is a mission so complex and challenging that it is unclear how long it will take or how many lives it will cost, he added.

Hamas has amassed a formidable rocket arsenal since Israeli soldiers last entered Gaza in 2014. It has also built hundreds of kilometers of tunnels, nicknamed the "Gaza Metro", to move fighters and weapons around undetected, and trained for urban combat. 

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