Israel Prepares To Invade Gaza, “Paralyze Hamas’s Ability To Operate”
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Jerusalem Post:
As Hamas drew Ashkelon into the circle of communities coming under heavy rocket attacks, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and the Foreign Ministry on Thursday began preparing both Israeli and world opinion for the possibility of a large-scale incursion into Gaza.
Barak, during a series of meetings at the Defense Ministry, said, “We should be prepared for an upswing in hostilities in Gaza. The big ground operation is a reality and it is tangible. We are not eager to embark upon such an operation, but we are not put off by it either.”
According to defense sources, the goals of such an operation – reportedly in the planning stages for weeks if not months – would not “merely” be to reduce the threat of rocket fire and rocket manufacturing in the Gaza Strip, but would also likely entail paralyzing the Hamas government’s ability to operate, and even include “regime change.”
Y-Net:
Israeli forces prepare for Gaza incursion
Dozens of tanks, artillery battery positioned just north of Gaza to reinforce infantry, engineering corps forces already inside Strip ahead of possible large-scale ground operation. PM returns from Japan, updated on Grad, Qassam rocket attacks on Ashkelon
Over the past few days the IDF has positioned an artillery battery near Kibbutz Beeri, located about three kilometers (1.8 miles) from the Gaza border, and dozens of tanks have made their way to an assembling area just north of the Strip.
The last time an artillery battery was stationed in the area was in May 2007. The mobile artillery units, which were used to target areas from which Qassam rockets are launched toward Israel, have been all but deactivated due to a number of incidents in the past, including the November 2006 attack in which an errant artillery shell killed 21 Palestinians in Beit Hanoun.
Forces from the Givati Brigade, the Armored Corps’ 9th Battalion and the Engineering Corps have already entered the Strip ahead of a possible large-scale ground incursion.
Times Online: Israel Threatens To Unleash Holocaust In Gaza
AP: Israel Warns Gaza Invasion Impending
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