'Next stage is coming', Israel PM Netanyahu tells infantrymen outside Gaza

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Israeli infantrymen outside the Gaza Strip on Saturday, his office said in a statement, and an accompanying video showed him telling them: "You ready for the next stage? The next stage is coming."

He did not elaborate in the video, which showed the infantrymen nodding in response to his question.

Israeli infantry made their first raids into the Gaza Strip on Friday since Hamas fighters rampaged through southern Israel, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a campaign of retaliation had only just begun.

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More than a million residents of the northern half of Gaza had been given 24 hours to flee to the south to avoid an onslaught. Hamas vowed to fight to the last drop of blood and told residents not to go.

Early on Saturday, military spokesperson Lt-Col Jonathan Conricus reserve soldiers in formation are "getting ready for the next stage of operations".

"They are all around the Gaza Strip, in the south, in the centre and in the north, and they are preparing themselves for whatever target they get, whatever task," he added.

Israel has vowed to annihilate Hamas after its fighters burst out of Gaza a week ago and stormed through towns and villages, killing 1,300 Israelis, mainly civilians, and making off with scores of hostages.

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