Eveniment

Israel calls in thousands of reservists
Wed, 31 Dec 2008 11:15:59 GMT


Scores of Israeli army tanks and armored personnel carriers are massed near the border with the Gaza Strip.
Israel has summoned 2,500 extra reserve forces who will join those stationed along Gaza amid talk of a ground incursion into the strip.

The order raised the number of reservists Israel has mobilized for the Gaza operation to 9,200, Israel's Debkafile reported on Wednesday.

Israeli ground troops stationed at Israel's border with the Gaza Strip now await orders to enter the impoverished slither, added Debkafile -- believed to have ties with Israeli intelligence and military sources.

The Israeli cabinet on Sunday gave a green light for the call-up of thousands of reservists, giving rise to fears of a ground incursion into the Palestinian territory.

The Hamas military wing has warned Tel Aviv that a ground assault inside the strip would turn Gaza into "an anti-Israel volcano".

Israel says through its military campaign, it seeks to topple the Hamas movement, which took control of the Gaza Strip in June 2007 after winning the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) elections in January 2006.

In retaliation to the attacks on Gaza, Hamas has vowed to launch rocket strikes against Israel. Six Israelis have died since Saturday and sixteen others have been reported wounded.

On the Palestinian side, however, over 1800 Palestinians have so far been injured and at least 385 killed -- scores of whom were women and children.

MT/AA
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