Israel set for Gaza invasion after rocket barrage

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(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-12-26 12:18

Another complication is national elections set for Feb. 10. Both Barak and Livni are running for prime minister, and they are under heavy pressure from opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu to act. Netanyahu, who advocates tough action against Palestinian militants, is the front-runner in the election, according to opinion polls.

Despite the tough talk, Israel has been reluctant to embark on an offensive liable to exact heavy casualties on both sides. Gaza's militants operate in crowded civilian areas, and past invasions have not halted the barrages.

The barrages have caused no casualties over the past two days, but there has been property damage, and tens of thousands of Israelis near Gaza have been instructed to stay indoors. TV newscasts have been showing panic-stricken children.

Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, right, checks the time as she leaves a news conference with her Egyptian counterpart Ahmed Abul-Gheit, left, following her meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, not pictured, at the Presidential palace in Cairo, Egypt, December 25, 2008. [Agencies]

Israel left Gaza in 2005 after a 38-year occupation, but still controls its border crossings, blockaded for months in an effort to pressure militants to halt their fire. Islamic Hamas militants seized control of Gaza in June 2007, after routing security forces loyal to Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Despite the rocket fire, Israel's Defense Ministry said late Thursday that it would open two cargo crossings Friday to allow a limited amount of vital supplies to enter. Israel's policy is to avoid a humanitarian crisis there, while keeping up the pressure.

In the West Bank, Abbas visited Hebron, the area's largest city, for the first time since he took office in 2005. Israeli forces control a section in the middle of the city to protect about 500 Jewish settlers living in several enclaves. Hebron is home to about 170,000 Palestinians.

Abbas demanded that the settlers get out. "Hebron is ours, and they have to leave if they want peace," he said.

Also Thursday, an Israeli military court sentenced the leader of a Palestinian group to 30 years in prison for participating in anti-Israel attacks.

Ahmed Saadat is the leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. The PFLP took responsibility for killing Israeli Cabinet minister Rehavam Zeevi at a Jerusalem hotel in 2001. Saadat was acquitted of planning the assassination, but sentenced for other attacks, the military said.

In neighboring Lebanon, meanwhile, Lebanese army officers said troops discovered seven rockets set up with timers that were on the verge of firing near the border with Israel. They said troops were dismantling the Katyusha rockets.

They would not say if the rockets were directed toward Israel. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of military rules.

The militant group Hezbollah has a large rocket arsenal, but has rarely used them against Israel since their 2006 war. Last year, a previously unknown militant Islamic group fired two rockets into Israel.

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