Last night, Benjamin Netanyahu assured Israelis that the army would invade Gaza soon — and that the unity war cabinet has made a unanimous decision on its timing and strategy. An armored raid into northern Gaza looks like its opening act.

According to the IDF, an incursion of tanks, infantry, and bulldozers penetrated Gaza to the furthest extent yet since the October 7 invasion of Israel by Hamas. The operation was limited in scope and the forces withdrew at its end, but Israel claims that this raid will shape the battleground for what comes next:

Video published by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Thursday showed tanks and armored vehicles, including a bulldozer, moving on a road near a fence in northern Gaza. The tanks fired artillery, and some destruction could be seen nearby.

Speaking to CNN, IDF spokesperson Peter Lerner said the raid, which he described as large but limited in scope, was “a clear and sweep operation intended to create better terms for ground operations if and when that comes in.”

“We actually engaged the enemy, killing terrorists who were planning to conduct attacks against us with anti-tank guided missiles,” he said.

“The soldiers exited the area at the end of the activity,” the IDF statement concluded.

According to Netanyahu, there’s no “if” about it. Despite the delay, Israel will invade Gaza to tear Hamas out of the territory once and for all, Netanyahu promised last night, as well as to find and rescue as many hostages as possible:

The prime minister said that the offensive’s aims are to destroy Hamas and to return the hostages, casting members of the terror group as “dead men walking.”

“We are preparing for a ground incursion. I won’t specify when, how, how many. I also won’t detail the range of considerations, most of which the public is not aware of. And that’s the way it is supposed to be. This is the way so that we protect our soldiers’ lives,” Netanyahu said, adding that there was a unanimous decision about the timing of the ground operation.

Clearly, the armored recon-in-force operation serves the purpose of a larger invasion. One has to wonder whether it was intended as a feint as well. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad have built extensive tunnels throughout Gaza and have used them in past ground wars to pop up and attack the IDF from its rear. The bulldozers were likely used to clear ground obstacles erected by the Gazans to complicate armored advances, but they’d be handy for other purposes — like burying tunnel exits and disabling them.

Did this work as a feint? The IDF isn’t saying, but it’s clear from their video that this was not just a recon-only mission. The IDF has released some footage of the raid taken by its drones now that the operation has concluded, and it shows tanks engaging positions inside Gaza on the edge of a city, as well as bulldozers opening up routes for later armored penetrations:

In preparation for the next stages of combat, the IDF operated in northern Gaza.

IDF tanks & infantry struck numerous terrorist cells, infrastructure and anti-tank missile launch posts.

The soldiers have since exited the area and returned to Israeli territory. pic.twitter.com/oMdSDR84rU

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 26, 2023

In an unrelated mission, IDF pilots scored a direct hit on Hamas’ commander in charge of rocket brigades near Khan Yunis.

IDF fighter jets carried out a precise air strike based on IDF and ISA intelligence and eliminated the Commander of Hamas' Northern Khan Yunis Rockets Array, Hassan Al-Abdullah. pic.twitter.com/HrDD4DXAU2

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 26, 2023

The IDF has built an impressive record of finding and killing Hamas’ operational and political leaders over nearly three weeks of war. That has taken some of the pressure off of the timing of the ground war, but an army can’t sit at this level of readiness indefinitely either. The size and scope of the raid will likely keep morale up for a while; the IDF has conducted smaller and briefer raids all along to deal with security issues, but this is apparently the first real significant incursion. Eventually, though, Israel will have to either fish or cut bait — invade in force or retire back to defense.

One has to wonder whether the raid intends to signal the US that the delay period is coming to a rapid close. We found out yesterday that the Biden administration pressured Netanyahu to delay a ground war until more American assets could be deployed in the Middle East, especially anti-missile systems to protect US troops in Iraq and Syria. I had earlier suggested that might be a concern, and it turns out to have been correct, but Biden and his team have had plenty of time now to beef up defenses in the area.

Today’s raid may be an alert for the US to prepare itself, whether we like it or not, because the Israelis finally understand what Biden and his team refuse to recognize: there is no chance of peace with Hamas in control of any territory near Israel. Hamas is only interested in genocide and annihilation, and they don’t care how many Palestinians they take out in that pursuit either. This is an existential fight for Israel that will not be over until either Israel or Hamas is eliminated.

After today’s raid, I’d bet on a full ground invasion in the next day or two. The White House and Pentagon had better buckle up.