The Israeli army began its full ground operation in Gaza on Friday, moving tanks, bulldozers, infantrymen and combat engineer units into the Strip.
But rather than make any quick advance on Gaza City, Israeli forces so far appear to have moved only slowly towards the enclave’s largest population center.
The first is in the northwest corner of the strip. A video released by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Saturday morning showed bulldozers pushing through sand very close to the seashore. A breach in the perimeter fence, through which Israeli vehicles appeared to have entered Gaza, is clearly visible.
On Tuesday, photos released by the Israeli army showed soldiers even deeper into the Strip, just to the north of the Al Shati, or Beach, refugee camp, which would put them only three miles or so from the centre of Gaza City.
Finally, another piece of video evidence, which surfaced on Monday, points to a possible third entry point about 10 miles to the south, along the eastern perimeter. The video, filmed by freelance Palestinian journalist Yousif Al Saifi, showed an Israeli tank opening fire on a car on the main Salah Al Din road, which runs the length of the Strip.
The junction lies just to the southeast of Gaza City and is not far from Wadi Gaza, the waterway that Israel has been telling Gazans to relocate to the south of, in order to be more safe from Israeli attacks.
