MEZIESBLOG

Troops from the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) are building up near the Gaza border as an imminent ground invasion is possible – though no political decision on this has yet been announced, Lieutenant Colonel Richard Hecht said.

Israel has also evacuated tens of thousands of residents from nearby communities.

Should the ground offensive go ahead it would be the first since the 50-day Gaza war in 2014, which left thousands of Palestinians and dozens of IDF troops dead.

US trying to stop the conflict from spreading

The possible invasion of Gaza comes as Mr Blinken said the images he had seen of Israeli victims reflected “depravity in the worst imaginable way”.

He added during his address in Tel Aviv: “Images are worth a thousand words. These images may be worth a million.”

Mr Blinken also said the US is “working as hard as it can” to ensure the conflict does not open on a second front with involvement from Iran-backed Hezbollah, based in Lebanon.

“[Joe Biden] has been very clear that no one state or non-state actor should try to take advantage of this moment,” he said.

Following his trip to Israel, Mr Blinken will head to Jordan to meet with King Abdullah and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, before travelling on to meet with leaders in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Qatar.

The US secretary of state said he will be “pressing countries to help prevent the conflict from spreading”.

Mr Blinken had earlier met with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv today, where said the US would “always be there by [Israel’s] side”.

“You may be strong enough on your own to defend yourselves, but as long as America exists you will never have to,” Mr Blinken said.

Mr Netanyahu announced a unity government on Wednesday and vowed to “crush and destroy” Hamas.

“Every Hamas member is a dead man,” Mr Netanyahu said in a televised address. He has also called Hamas an “enemy of civilisation”.

Israel estimates 1,500 Hamas militants have been killed on its soil following their infiltration of the border.

The IDF, which along with Western powers, considers Hamas as “terrorists”.

Mr Netanyahu said that militants beheaded soldiers and raped women in its attack on Saturday.

Hamas is also believed to be holding around 150 hostages in Gaza, including soldiers, men, women, children and older adults, since the surprise weekend raid.

Israel’s energy minister, Israel Katz, said the blockade would remain until the captives were released.

“Not a single electricity switch will be flipped on, not a single faucet will be turned on, and not a single fuel truck will enter until the Israeli hostages are returned home,” he said on social media.

The US has stepped in by sending Israel a team of technical experts to assist with the recovery as it believes some of the captives are Americans.