 Israel's troops were still battling on October 9 to clear out Hamas gunmen more than two days after they burst across the fence from Gaza on a deadly rampage, and the army said it would soon go on the offensive after the biggest mobilization in Israeli history video near Ashkelon. North of Gaza showed tanks and military vehicles massing chief military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagery said 300,000 reservists had already been activated in just two days, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's. Options for hitting Hamas, which controls the narrow Gaza Strip that is home to 2.3 million Palestinians, could be curtailed by concern for the many Israelis seized in the raid. A full-scale invasion of Gaza, which Netanyahu has tried to avoid in his long years in power, could endanger the lives of the hostages.