Israel PM: Military Ready To Expand Gaza Offensive

Palestinian medics check a wounded boy at Shifa hospital in Gaza City, northern Gaza Strip, early Friday, July 18, 2014. Israel intensified its 11-day campaign against Gaza's Hamas rulers by launching a ground operation late Thursday after becoming increasingly exasperated with unrelenting rocket fire from Gaza on its cities, especially following Hamas' rejection of an Egyptian cease-fire plan earlier in the week.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's prime minister says he has ordered the military to prepare for a "significant expansion" of its ground operation against Gaza militants.

Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday that the military has been instructed to deliver a blow to the Hamas tunnel network, which it could not do "only from the air." Israeli tanks and troops moved into Gaza late Thursday, following a 10-day campaign of more than 2,000 airstrikes that had failed to halt relentless Hamas rocket fire on Israeli cities.

Israel stepped up its campaign after the Islamic militant group refused to accept an Egyptian truce offer.