BERLIN, October 20. /TASS/. First batches of humanitarian cargo from Egypt will be delivered to residents in the Gaza Strip no later than Saturday, Major Aryeh Shalikar, spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), said.

In an interview with Germany’s RTL TV channel overnight on Friday, he said that the first batches of humanitarian aid will arrive in Gaza tomorrow or the day after, at the latest. According to Shalikar, preparations for Israel’s ground offensive in the Gaza Strip have been completed but the exact date of its onset is being kept secret. He stressed that the Israeli military will strive to avoid any fatalities among civilians as much as possible.

Earlier, Israeli Economy Minister Nir Barkat, who is a member of the country’s security council, said that the Israeli army "has a green light" to enter the Gaza Strip once the military is ready.

As US Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Seymour Hersh pointed out, Israel is determined to turn Gaza City into Hiroshima, but without using nuclear weapons. He explained that the Israeli military may use US-made bombs in the ground operation, including those known as "bunker busters," that are capable of penetrating 30-50 meters underground before detonating, which can help destroy the underground systems where the Hamas radical movement manufactured its weapons.