Israeli military says it carried out ground raid in northern Gaza striking several Hamas positions

The Israeli military says that it carried out a ground raid on Hamas targets inside northern Gaza during the night.

This footage shown is from the Israeli military. The raid comes ahead of what is expected to be a larger ground invasion.

Benny Gantz, a retired army general and member of Israel's war Cabinet, says if a ground offensive happened in would be "part of process that will take years."

Al Jazeera's Teresa Bo is live for us in Ashdod in Southern Israel for the latest updates.