Israel appeared to be readying its expected ground invasion of the Gaza Strip  — as photos show a formation of tanks positioned at the southern border Friday, where hundreds of thousands of soldiers are already camped out.

Israeli officials have been warning for days that it will soon launch its ground invasion, as they massed at least 300,000 troops along the border with the Gaza Strip in response to Hamas’ bloody surprise attack on Oct. 7, the Voice of America reports.

Photos taken by Reuters Friday show several Israeli tanks and other military equipment lining the border with the Gaza Strip. 

The show of military might comes after Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told troops in a fiery speech Thursday that they would soon see Gaza “from the inside.”

Israel’s Minister of Economy and Industry, Nir Barkat, also announced Thursday that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had been given a “green light” to bring the offensive to Gaza — a roughly 140-square-mile parcel of land between Israel and the Mediterranean Sea.

Meanwhile, the Jewish state said Friday it would evacuate more than 20,000 residents from Kiryat Shmona, one of the biggest towns on its border with Lebanon — amid fears that the war could spread to a new front.

Israeli forces and Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group have also exchanged fire at the northern border since the war in Gaza erupted 13 days ago.

Daniel Hagari, spokesperson for the IDF, said: “This kind of evacuation, which has already been done in a number of towns on the northern border, allows the IDF to expand its operational freedom to act against the Hezbollah terrorist organization.”

At the southern border, Israeli officials have been adamant that they have no choice but to launch the massive, treacherous ground assault into Gaza, codenamed “Operation Swords of Iron.”

The terrorist group has claimed it is holding about 203 Israeli hostages within the network of tunnels it built underneath Gaza — which Barkat vowed will become the “world’s biggest cemetery.”

Follow along with The Post’s liveblog for the latest on Hamas’ attack on Israel

Meanwhile, as tanks appeared at the ready Friday, there were also reports of heavy airstrikes hitting Gaza, where Israel says it has struck more than 100 targets linked to Hamas, including a tunnel and arms depots.

The IDF is intent on decimating the terrorist group “even if it takes a year” — with hostages and civilian casualties taking a backseat, Barkat said.

Since Hamas seized power in the region 16 years ago, they argue, Israel has fought three major conflicts.

But each of those operations was aimed at keeping Hamas in check, rather than destroying the terrorist group as they are now planning.

“The strategy was to have a longer gap every time between the different conflicts, but it failed and it cannot happen anymore,” an unidentified senior IDF official told the Guardian.

“So the only conclusion is that we have to go in, we have to go in and clear it and eliminate Hamas from the roots, not only militarily, but also economically, its administration.”

Israel-Hamas war: How we got here

2005: Israel unilaterally withdraws from the Gaza Strip more than three decades after winning the territory from Egypt in the Six-Day War.

2006: Terrorist group Hamas wins a Palestinian legislative election.

2007: Hamas seizes control of Gaza in a civil war.

2008: Israel launches military offensive against Gaza after Palestinian terrorists fired rockets into the town of Sderot.

2023: Hamas launches the biggest attack on Israel in 50 years, in an early-morning ambush Oct. 7, firing thousands of rockets and sending dozens of militants into Israeli towns.

Terrorists killed more than 1,200 Israelis, wounded more than 4,200, and took at least 200 hostage.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was quick to announce, “We are at war,” and vowed Hamas would pay “a price it has never known.”

The Gaza Health Ministry — which is controlled by Hamas — reported at least 3,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 12,500 injured since the war began.

“Everything should go away.”

“That’s the idea now, and we are getting prepared for that,” the official said.

“It won’t be as clear cut and it won’t be as short as we would like as Israelis. It will be a prolonged campaign. It will take time.”

As part of the ground invasion, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi instructed troops to find and destroy the hideouts used by Hamas as they try to target top Hamas officials, the Times of London reports.

At the top of the target list is Yahya Sinwar, head of Hamas in Gaza, and Mohammed Deif, the head of the al-Qassam Brigades — the military arm of Hamas.

But as the Israeli forces enter the Palestinian-controlled land, Hamas will likely adopt terrorist tactics like positioning snipers in the windows of apartment blocks, using tripwires to set off IEDs, dropping grenades on armored vehicles, and disguising their members as civilians, according to Gen. Sir Richard Barrons, the veteran British commander of counter-insurgency wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

He told the UK Times that “the chances of being so successful that they destroy Hamas entirely are very slim indeed.

“The chances of deepening the conflict around Israel and Gaza are already much greater,” he warned. “Hamas intended to do that.”