(JNS.org) The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) began a ground operation into Gaza on Thursday.

“Israel is committed to act to protect its citizens. The operation will continue until its goals are reached: To bring quiet to the citizens of Israel for a long period of time, and to seriously harm Hamas and other terrorist organizations’ infrastructure in the Gaza Strip,” the prime minister’s office said in a statement, the Jerusalem Post reported.

Since the end of Thursday morning’s five-hour humanitarian truce, Hamas has continued firing rockets at Israel. More than 100 rockets were fired after 3 p.m.

The IDF warned the citizens of Gaza to evacuate their homes by dropping 100,000 leaflets over the area and leaving recorded phone messages for hundreds of thousands of civilians.