Israel orders ground offensive in Gaza; heavy shelling on border

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on July 17 instructed the military to begin a ground offensive in Gaza, an official statement from his office said. 

Reuters witnesses and Gaza residents reported heavy artillery and naval shelling and helicopter fire along the Gaza border. 

"The prime minister and defence minister have instructed the IDF (Israel Defence Force) to begin a ground operation tonight in order to hit the terror tunnels from Gaza into Israel," the statement said. 

Hamas said Israel's ground incursion would have "dreadful consequences."

"It does not scare the Hamas leaders or the Palestinian people," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters. "We warn Netanyahu of the dreadful consequences of such a foolish act."

Israel and Palestinian militants in the densely populated enclave have been fighting a cross border war for 10 days. 

The Israeli military says Gaza militants have fired more than 1,300 rockets into Israel. Palestinian health officials say 233 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli air and naval strikes. One Israeli civilian has been killed by fire from Gaza. 

A statement from the Israeli military said the operation will include "infantry, armored corps, engineer corps, artillery and intelligence combined with aerial and naval support." 

Before dawn on Thursday, about a dozen Palestinian fighters tunnelled under the border, emerging near an Israeli community. At least one was killed when Israeli aircraft bombed the group, the military said. 

On Thursday night, loud thuds and flashes of orange light lit the sky in the eastern Gaza strip as Israeli gunboats fired shells and tracer fire, while artillery and helicopters fired over the border...