CRI听力:Israel Launches Ground Offensive in Gaza

The Israeli military has launched a major ground offensive in Gaza after a brief truce between Israel and the Palestinians.

The ground assault follows a night of heavy Israeli bombardment from the land, sea and air.

CRI's Su Yi has more.

The Israeli Defense Force says it has launched the ground assault following repeated Hamas rejections of offers to de-escalate the situation.

The Israeli military says it is focusing on destroying tunnels from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory.

Mark Regev is an Israeli government spokesperson.

"The goal of our operation is to protect our people, to end the rocket fire from Gaza on Israeli cities. If that goal can be achieved diplomatically that would be good. Up until now, Hamas has closed the door to any diplomatic solution, and that means that we have to strike at terrorist targets in Gaza to protect our people."

Hamas is calling Israel's move "irresponsible and dangerous".

Israeli helicopter gunships have been seen hovering over the northern Gaza Strip.

This is the same area where thousands of Palestinians had been warned by the IDF to stay in shelters or any protected areas.

The ground assault comes on the heels of a brief, 5-hour ceasefire observed by both sides on Thursday to allow people in the region to gather essential supplies.

Meanwhile, officials in Gaza have confirmed an air strike on Thursday has left three children dead.
Marzouk Shahaibar is the grandfather of the three children.

"We were sitting downstairs in the house. My grandchildren were playing on top of the roof and feeding the chickens and the pigeons. They were struck from above without even realizing it. They weren't doing anything, they didn't go outside, they weren't fighters, they did nothing."

This comes on the heels of four Palestinian children being killed by an Israeli strike while playing on a beach near Gaza City.

The United Nations and the US government are calling on Israel to do more to protect civilians.

Palestinian officials say close to 250 people have been killed and nearly 18-hundred other injured since the start of Operation Protective Edge last week.

For CRI, I'm Su Yi.