Though IDF Spokesman Yoav Mordechai says the call-up is limited and primarily focused on Home Front Command units, Israel’s military has begun calling up army reservists across the country, in preparation for a possible ground incursion into Gaza as part of Operation “Amud Anan” – Pillar of Defense.
According to Mordechai, a ceasefire is not in consideration at this time.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Wednesday night that he would authorize a broadening of air and sea attacks on terror infrastructure in Gaza, and that the military operation would continue until the goals have been realized.
Also on Wednesday night, Prime Minister Netanyahu addressed the nation in a statement, condemning Hamas operatives for targeting Israeli citizens while using their own citizenry as human shields.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who early told the residents of the south that they are the “source of our strength in this battle that we are waging today”, praised the Shin Bet for providing information necessary for eliminating Ahmad Jabari and devastating Hamas’s Fajr long-range rocket arsenal.
He noted that the goals of the operation are “strengthening deterrence, injuring the rocket arsenal, wounding and hurting Hamas and minimizing injury to the civilians on the homefront of the State of Israel.”