According to the interlocutor of the American journalist, Israeli forces can use American guided bombs during a ground operation, which can penetrate to a depth of 30-50 m before exploding, which will make it possible to destroy the underground weapons production facilities of the radical Hamas movement

Israel is determined to turn Gaza City into Hiroshima, but without using nuclear weapons, US Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Seymour Hersh wrote in his Substack blog, citing sources.

"[Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s attitude, as assessed by the intelligence analysts, I was told, amounts to a determination ‘to wipe out Hamas.’ One knowledgeable official told me that ‘Gaza City is in the process of being turned into Hiroshima with no nuclear weapons used’," Hersh wrote.

The official explained that the Israeli military may use US-made bombs in the ground operation, including those known as "bunker busters," that are capable of penetrating 30-40 meters underground before detonating, which can help destroy the underground systems where the Hamas radical movement manufactured its weapons.

Citing the official, Hersh said that Israel has no plan "for a massive ground invasion", as Israeli troops would be needed "for hunting down those Hamas members underground who choose to surrender." "The orders, the official said, would be ‘shoot on sight.’ Surrender would not be an option," the journalist added. 

However, the fate of hostages was left unsaid, he specified. "Netanyahu’s plan, the official told me, called for the Israeli Army to kill all members of Hamas they can find," he said. "Israeli soldiers would be assigned to go block by block in the destroyed city to look for stragglers. Care would be taken to ensure that no Hamas stragglers escaped," the American journalist wrote.

In the short term, Hersh has been told by an Israeli insider (that) Israel has been trying to convince Qatar, which at the urging of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was a long-time financial supporter of Hamas to join with Egypt in funding a tent city for the million or more refugees waiting to cross the border.  "It's not a done deal," the Israeli insider told him.

Israeli-Palestinian conflict Tensions flared up in the Middle East after Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip attacked Israeli territory. Hamas views its attack as a response to Israeli authorities’ steps against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount.

Israel declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip and launched bombardments of the enclave and some areas in Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are also reported in the West Bank. 

Source: TASS