By Xinhua
Jerusalem : Over the past few days, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have positioned an artillery battery near the Gaza border and dozens of tanks have made their way to an assembling area north of the Gaza Strip, local daily Yedioth Ahronoth reported Friday.
Forces from the Givati Brigade, the Armored Corps’ 9th Battalion and the Engineering Corps have already entered the Gaza Strip ahead of a possible large-scale ground incursion, according to the report.
The reinforcements, while limited, appear to indicate increased readiness on the part of the IDF, it said.
The goals of such a ground 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,” Israeli defense sources were quoted as saying.
Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak and the Foreign Ministry on Thursday began preparing both Israeli and world opinion for the possibility of a large-scale ground 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.”
On Thursday, Barak spoke over phone with Quartet envoy Tony Blair and Egyptian intelligence head Omar Suleiman, saying that Israel could not tolerate the current level of rocket fire on southern Israel without offering a wider response.
Moreover, Israeli Foreign Ministry instructed its representatives abroad to say when Israel left the Gaza Strip in 2005 it did so without the intention of ever returning, but that the continuation of rocket attacks was likely to place the Jewish country in a position where it may have no other choice.
Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni also seemed to be preparing the world for an intensified Israeli action, telling visiting Lithuanian Foreign Minister Petras Vaitiekunas that the international community should “respect” all actions that Israel takes to protects its citizens, according to daily Jerusalem Post.
In addition, during his flight back from Japan Friday morning, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was updated on Thursday’s Qassam rocket attacks on southern Israeli city of Ashkelon and the western Negev from Gaza.
Israel’s political-security cabinet is scheduled to convene Wednesday to discuss the escalation in the south, said the report, adding that U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman are due in Israel Tuesday.
The massive rocket barrages on Israel have prompted the IDF to intensify its aerial onslaught on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. Israeli aircraft have waged dozens of strikes on numerous targets over the past 24 hours, killing 31 Palestinians, among them a number of children.
The army is currently focusing its attacks on Hamas positions and weapons caches and on rocket-launching cells, local media said.