RAMALLAH: On Monday, Israeli politicians debated whether to launch a ground invasion of the narrow Gaza Strip. At a commemoration for the 56th anniversary of the Israeli invasion of the Egyptian Sinai, Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin told an audience that the upcoming elections should not discourage politicians from supporting an invasion of Gaza, reported Jerusalem Post. Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz told Israeli Defense Forces radio that “there is no escaping... a military decision on Hamas in Gaza." Steinitz went on to equate Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas's bid for statehood in the United Nations General Assembly to rockets from the Gaza Strip, suggesting that they were both attacks on the Jewish state. “We are being attacked militarily with terrorism from Gaza, and being attacked diplomatically from Ramallah." Leader of the Israeli Labor party Shelly Yacomovich said that the operation is not presently necessary, but may be in the future. Shaul Mofaz, leader of Israel's Kadima party and former IDF chief of staff, suggested instead targeted assassinations of leaders of militant factions in Gaza. Besides several brief outbreaks of violence, Israel's last full scale operation in Gaza was Operation Cast Lead in 2008. Israeli forces hit police stations and arms caches as well as hospitals and schools in heavily-populated urban centers like Khan Younis and Gaza City. On Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu threatened to escalate the airstrikes on Gaza if militants did not cease firing rockets. Hamas replied that Israel had deliberately targeted citizens in Khan Younis when a tank fired on a mourning tent, killing four civilians and injuring 26. As of Monday morning, the Egyptian government is reported to be brokering a temporary truce between Gaza and Israel, Israeli media said.
