World Jewish News

Israel steps up Gaza operation.

(JTA) – Israel bombed smugglers' tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border as part of its wide-ranging operation against Hamas in Gaza.
The airstrike Sunday, which reportedly destroyed some 40 arms-smuggling tunnels, prompted hundreds of Gazans to breach the border with Egypt. Egyptian forces reportedly opened fire on the Palestinians to keep them from entering Egyptian territory.
Also Sunday, Israel's Cabinet agreed call up some 6,700 army reservists, as tanks and troops began moving to the Gaza area in advance of a possible ground attack. The decision came as Defense Minister Ehud Barak allowed humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip from Israel even as Israel continued to bomb Hamas targets in the strip.
More than 280 people have been reported killed in Israel's operation in Gaza, which was launched in response to intense Palestinian rocket fire on southern Israel in the days since an informal six-month truce between Israel and Hamas expired. Some civilians were among the casualties, but most of those killed were reported to be Hamas security forces.
Hamas forces kept up their rocket fire on Israeli communities on Sunday, launching several long-range missiles at the Israeli cities of Ashkelon and Ashdod. Hundreds of thousands of residents of southern Israel were urged to take shelter in their homes or in nearby bomb shelters.
Protests against Israel's operation broke out in Palestinian cities in the West Bank and in Israeli Arab towns inside Israel. In the West Bank village of Na'alin, where there are weekly protests against Israel's West Bank security fence, one protester was reported killed by live fire. The army said it is investigating why soldiers used live ammunition instead of rubber bullets for crowd control. In Israel proper, police clashed with violent protesters in Israeli Arab towns in the Galilee.
"There is a time for calm and there is a time for fighting, and now is the time for fighting," Ehud Barak, the Israeli defense minister, said after the operation was launched.

Источник: JTA