Israel prepares ground offensive

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip | Israel sent more troops to the Gaza border Wednesday, rapidly moving forward with preparations for a ground offensive, perhaps the next stage of its assault on the territory’s Hamas rulers.

Israel rebuffed calls by world leaders for a truce, and Hamas also was cold to a cease-fire. Instead, both intensified their fire.

Israel bombed a mosque that it said was used to store rockets and also bombed smuggling tunnels along the Egyptian border. The Islamic militants hammered southern Israeli cities with about 60 rockets.

Israeli troops trudged between dozens of tanks in muddy, rain-sodden fields outside Gaza, assembling equipment, cleaning weapons and scrubbing out tank barrels. Their commanders moved forward with preparations for a ground operation, said an Israeli defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the information.


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