The report by Tasnim News Agency comes as the Pentagon has moved additional military assets into the Middle East | Several thousand US troops have taken part in Israel’s ground operation in Gaza, the Iran-based Tasnim News Agency reported on Saturday. The Pentagon has recently announced plans to significantly reinforce its military presence in the Middle East amid the Israel-Hamas conflict and tensions with Iran. ● According to the agency’s security sources, Israel’s assault on Gaza involved three divisions and several brigades and was also underpinned by 5,000 US military personnel. The outlet, however, did not provide any details about which troops took part in the offensive or what functions they performed. ● Tasnim said that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) attempted to enter the enclave from several areas in the north, west, and southwest “to split the Gaza Strip into two or three sections and cut off the connection among the Palestinian resistance forces before launching the next stage of the war.” The agency did not specify what results the Israeli military had achieved so far.

■ IDF General Reveals Hideous Truth: "We have lost the ability to field an effective army" (The People's Voice)
■ US ‘entering battle’ in Gaza – Hamas (RT.com)

Hamas and Israeli troops are engaged in a fierce battle in the Gaza Strip as Tel Aviv expands its ground offensive and cuts communications to the besieged area. | The al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, said in a statement that it was fighting Israeli forces in two areas inside the Gaza Strip early on Saturday as the Israeli war against the Palestinians in Gaza entered its 22nd day. 💬 "We are confronting an Israeli ground incursion in Beit Hanoun (in the northern Gaza Strip) and east Bureij (in the center) and violent engagements are taking place on the ground," the statement said. The Israeli military claimed that its fighter jets had struck 150 "underground targets" in northern Gaza and killed “several” Hamas fighters during intense overnight raids. The Israeli military said the targeted sites included "tunnels, underground combat spaces and additional underground infrastructure.” ● A spokesman for the Gaza Civil Defense said Israeli airstrikes destroyed hundreds of buildings overnight. "Hundreds of buildings and houses were completely destroyed and thousands of other homes were damaged," Mahmud Bassal told AFP, adding that the intense bombardments had "changed the landscape" of northern Gaza.

■ Israel-Palestine: Names released of 7,028 Palestinians killed (MEE)
■ Hamas: Israel preparing to commit more genocide away from eyes of world (PressTV)
■ Resistance foils Israeli incursion in Gaza, forcing withdrawal (Al Mayadeen)
■ US Covertly Expands Military Base in Israel Amidst IDF Violence in Gaza (Sputnik News)

■ October 7 testimonies reveal Israel’s military ‘shelling’ Israeli citizens with tanks, missiles Israel’s military received orders to shell Israeli homes and even their own bases as they were overwhelmed by Hamas militants on October 7. How many Israeli citizens said to have been “burned alive” were actually killed by friendly fire? [...] These reports indicate that orders came down from the military’s high command to attack homes and and other areas inside Israel, even at the cost of many Israeli lives.

RE:'Strategic Goals': This is what the Zionists have in mind,
just look at this map. They intend to obliterate Palestine, expel
those who survive, and grab huge swathes of Egypt and Saudi
Arabia: "Eretz Israel from the Sea to the Jordan River for
future generations, for the mass aliya [immigration], and
for the Jewish people, all of whom will be gathered into this
country." (Israel's History in Quotes ) - editor

Israel has been expanding its ground maneuvers in the Gaza Strip, an IDF representative acknowledged earlier, while continuing massive strikes on the Palestinian enclave and ratcheting up the civilian death toll. | Israel is prepared for a long fight to achieve its strategic goals, Prof. Col. (ret.) Gabi Siboni told Sputnik. 💬 “We are prepared and ready to go at any moment that our government will decide that we need to go for this phase,” emphasized Siboni, who serves as a senior consultant to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and other Israeli security organizations and the security industry. The pundit, who also headed the Military and Strategic Affairs Program and Cyber Security Program at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security (INSS) in 2006-2020, was referring to the fact that Israel appears to be preparing for the next phase of its military operation, a ground campaign to “crush and destroy” Hamas, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu termed it. ● The military wing of Hamas, the Qassam Brigades, said on Friday that its fighters are engaged in a clash with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) near Beit Hanoun in northeast Gaza Strip. 💬 “The Qassam Brigades are resisting the Israeli army's incursion into Beit Hanoun and east of Bureij, and there are violent clashes on the ground,” the military wing said in a statement. [...] as the civilian death toll grows, a humanitarian catastrophe has been unfolding in Gaza, with its population of 2.1 million people. Fuel, food, and medical supplies are fast running out, there is no electricity, and, most recently, internet and phone services went down. A resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza was overwhelmingly passed by the United Nations General Assembly on October 27, calling for release of all civilians, the protection of civilians, and ensuring safe passage of humanitarian aid into the enclave. However, both Israel and the United States rejected calls for a ceasefire contained in the nonbinding initiative put forward by Jordan and a swathe of Arab countries. Across the globe, protesters have been voicing support for Palestinians in Gaza, while also warning of the risk of the Palestine-Israel conflagration mushrooming into a wider Middle East conflict.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan issued a statement on his social media account condemning the escalating Israeli bombardments in Gaza, which are disproportionately affecting women, children, and innocent civilians. He called for an immediate cessation of these attacks, highlighting the deepening humanitarian crisis. | President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, in a statement on his social media account, stated that the increasing and intensifying Israeli bombardments targeting women, children, and innocent civilians in Gaza have deepened the humanitarian crisis. Erdoğan underlined that Israel must immediately end this madness and cease its attacks, stating, "I invite all my brothers and sisters to the Great Palestine Rally, where we will make our calls stronger and proclaim that we stand with the Palestinian people against Israeli oppression, at Istanbul Ataturk Airport."

■ 'Israel' destroys Gaza bakeries; UNRWA warns of catastrophic shortages (Al Mayadeen)
■ 10 trucks loaded with relief and medical supplies crossed into Gaza amid Israeli onslaught (aNews)
■ Enraged Israeli FM calls UNGA vote 'despicable' (Al Mayadeen)

The plan reportedly involves stricter time limits and a requirement for the consent of family members | The initiative proposes requiring the consent of a woman’s family members before the procedure, according to the Parliamentary Gazette. If a woman is married, the “informed consent” of her husband would be required as well. For underage girls, approval from at least one of the parents would be needed. The current laws allow the decision to be made without anyone else’s input or approval. ● The amendments would also ban abortions after eight weeks of pregnancy, from the current 12, and allow rape victims to request the procedure at up to 12 weeks, down from the current 22.  ● Women would also have to go through mandatory pre-abortion counseling, including a demonstration of the baby’s beating heart during an ultrasound scan, and extend the required “contemplation period” from the current 48 hours to one week. ● Private clinics would be banned from performing abortions, while the “encouragement” or “propaganda” of abortion would be subject to administrative penalties, including fines. Punishments for illegally performed abortions would be increased as well. According to RBK, the committee intends to review the proposed amendments within a month. After that, it could be presented to the State Duma for a general debate and a potential floor vote.