Over 1,400 Dead Was Not good Enough For Israel

Gaza Strip tensions rise as Israeli leaders threaten major ground invasion

Israeli leaders have warned they could be poised for a major ground invasion of Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.
They even claimed it could be more devastating than Operation Cast Lead, which left more than 1,400 dead, thousands homeless and prompted international condemnation of Israel’s actions.
The warning came following a marked increase in Resistance which has seen more than 100 rockets and mortars fired by Palestinians from Gaza into Israel this week.

Taking up position: An Israeli tank sits and watches houses on the border of the Gaza Strip close to Erez

Waiting game: Israeli soldiers prepare equipment and take a break as they take up a position near the border of the northern Gaza Strip

One of them fell only 25 miles south of Tel Aviv.
Israeli jets have bombed weapons stores and tunnels in Gaza. Eight Palestinians have been killed.
In addition, Briton Mary Jean Gardner was killed in a bomb attack in Jerusalem on Wednesday.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, facing the toughest test of his leadership since his election two years ago, said on Friday that Israel would not sit idly by while it was being ‘subjected to bouts of terror and rocket attacks’.
‘We stand ready to act with great force and great determination to put a stop to it,’ Netanyahu told reporters before meeting with US Defence Secretary Robert Gates.

Tough test: Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates ahead of talks on the situation

Talks: Mr Gates also had a meeting with the Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in the West Bank city of Ramallah

Education Minister Gideon Sa’ar warned that Israel’s response would be even tougher than Operation Cast Lead.
‘Israel will soon be left with no choice but to embark on an extensive military ground operation even bigger than Operation Cast Lead,’ Sa’ar told Israel Radio on Friday.
The Israeli government is under growing pressure from local leaders in the towns under attack where more than 100,000 children are being kept out of school for fear of being hit by Palestinian rockets.

Writing in the Haaretz newspaper, military commentator Amos Harel said Israeli leaders were caught between needing to stop the rockets and not wanting to risk another invasion of Gaza.

Air strike: Palestinians observe the destroyed office of Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniya – one of four targets attacked by Israeli aircraft

Rocket attack: An Israeli man stands alongside the remains of a missile fired by the Palestinians while a policeman carries away the casing of another shell fired into the country

Scared: Two Palestinian children walk past a hole in the wall close to the bombed office of the Hamas Prime Minister

The last operation sparked accusations that Israel had committed war crimes.
‘They are asking themselves how to stop the rocket fire without a head-on clash with Hamas in which ground forces are sent into Gaza,’ wrote Harel.
But former army chief of staff Gabi Ashkenazi, who commanded Operation Cast Lead, told a gathering in Paris on Thursday night that the time had come to confront Hamas once again. He said the Israeli army should hunt down terrorist leaders in Gaza and neutralize them, even if they are hiding among the civilian population.

Landing site: Residents of Beersheba in Israel gather round the location that a Palestinian missile exploded

Oxfam, one of the many charities helping Palestinians in Gaza, called on both sides to calm the rising tensions.
‘At a time of great uncertainty in the Middle East, we cannot afford to let senseless casualties mount. The protection of civilians on both sides of the conflict must be prioritized,’ said Oxfam International Executive Director Jeremy Hobbs.

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