sderot, israel. how is israel expanding its ground assault? reporter: i sat down with israel s top tank commander to talk about how tanks are going to play a central role in the offensive in the south as today the first israeli tanks were spotted in southern gaza. as israel expands its ground offensive into southern gaza the brigadier general, the head of israel s armored corps, said tanks will once again be central to israel s war strategy. reporter: israeli tanks were at the tip of the offensive into gaza in october, clearing the way for infantry troops to move into dangerous and densely populated cities. ibrahim says this kind of coordination is a lesson learned from russian failures in ukraine. translator: we saw where they only fought with tanks alone they were more vulnerable. this overcomes almost every problem on the battlefield. reporter: israeli tanks are pushing through, not around residential buildings, reducing entire neighborhoods to rubble to minimi