The commander of Israel's armored corps said Monday that his and other ground forces were close to achieving their war mission in the northern Gaza Strip and were operating elsewhere in the Palestinian enclave against Hamas.

"The goals in the northern section have almost been met," Brig. Gen. Hisham Ibrahim told Israel's Army Radio. "We are beginning to expand the ground maneuver to other parts of the Strip, with one goal: to topple the Hamas terrorist group."

The ground forces, now in the fourth week of a deep maneuver within the Strip, say the war objective in the northern section has almost been completed.