[Bluebull]

We will come from the ground’: Israel’s goals in a ground invasion of Gaza
As an invasion appears imminent, Israel has several reasons – even if lofty – for carrying out such an offensive.

Wednesday, Israeli land forces were moving towards the border with Gaza, amassing hardware and forces. “We started the offensive from the air. Later on, we will also come from the ground,” Defence Minister Yoav Gallant told Israeli troops this week near Gaza.

Israel also called up 350,000 reservists who, when they all report for duty, will triple the size of Israel’s fighting force.

“Israel’s goal for a ground invasion is to destroy Hamas infrastructure and eliminate altogether [its] military capabilities to [ever again] launch anything that we saw on Saturday,” Yossi Mekelberg, an expert on Israel at the Chatham House think tank, told Al Jazeera.

But targeting Hamas’s military capabilities would not be enough for Israel, which would want to stamp out Hamas’s ability to govern Gaza ever again, according to Nimrod Goren, senior fellow for Israeli affairs at the Middle East Institute.

Israel will aspire to “change the equation and to reshuffle the dynamics in a way that Hamas would not be again in a position to govern”, Goren told Al Jazeera.