Ronen Zvulun/Reuters
Israeli soldiers near the border with Gaza on Friday. More Photos »
GAZA CITY — After a morning of heavy rocket fire from Gaza into Israel, the Israeli military seemed to be edging closer toward a ground invasion of Gaza on Friday, saying forces were “on standby” and “ready to enter should it be decided that a ground operation is necessary.”
In a statement, the military said paratrooper and infantry brigades had completed final preparations for a potential ground operation that would be the first since the winter of 2008-09, when Israel drew broad international reproach for an invasion that claimed 1,400 Palestinian lives for the loss of 13 Israelis.
The statement came after scores of rockets were fired into Israel, striking major cities of the south, causing widespread panic and damage and shattering plans for a temporary cease-fire during a remarkable visit to Gaza by the Egyptian prime minister that showed the shifting dynamics of Middle East politics since the turmoil of the so-called Arab Spring.
Word of the potential invasion emerged shortly before a rocket from Gaza struck somewhere near Tel Aviv after sirens wailed. It was the second such attempt to strike at the city in two days. Hamas said it fired a single “homemade” projectile toward Tel Aviv.
The rapidly escalating confrontation between Gaza and Israel followed an Israel airstrike on Wednesday that killed the top commander of Hamas, and the tit-for-tat violence is widely seen as a potential catalyst for broader hostilities at a time of spreading turmoil in Syria and elsewhere in the region.
The Israeli military said that Col. Amir Baram, commander of the Israeli Defense Forces’ paratroopers brigade, had addressed his forces during a preparatory briefing in the field, saying: “We are already 48 hours into an operation that we knew would have to happen. We have spoken about it during training, exercises and conferences. There is now doubt that we have to operate. This is why we enlisted, and why we have trained.”
His words followed earlier indications that Israel was sending armored vehicles toward Gaza and had called up reservists for a possible invasion, while Egypt sought to show support for Hamas and to broker an end to hostilities.
As Prime Minister Hesham Kandil of Egypt prepared to travel to Gaza, Israel agreed to a temporary cease-fire for the visit. But the truce never took root.
Israel Radio said Palestinian militants fired 25 rockets into southern Israel, one of them striking a house. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
What sounded like airstrikes by Israeli F-16s were also audible in Gaza City. The Israeli military said no such strikes had taken place, but the Hamas Health Ministry reported that two people, including a child, were killed in the north of Gaza City while the Egyptian delegation was on the ground, pushing the Palestinian death toll in three days of aerial bombardment to 21.
Three Israelis were killed in a rocket attack on Thursday in Kiryat Malachi, a small town in southern Israel, when a rocket fired from Gaza struck their apartment building.
Mr. Kandil’s visit produced dramatic imagery to underpin the Egyptian government’s support for Hamas, which Israel, the United States and much of the West consider to be a terrorist organization.
Mr. Kandil and Ismail Haniya, his Hamas counterpart, visited the Al Shifa hospital amid a huge scrum of bodyguards and journalists, saying they had carried the body of Mohammed Yasser, one of eight children who Palestinian health officials say have been killed in the surge of violence since a top Hamas commander was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Wednesday.
“This is the blood of our children on our clothes,” Mr. Haniya said as he showed spatters on his clothing, “These are the Egyptian and the Palestinian blood united together.”
Like President Mohamed Morsi of Egypt on Thursday, Mr. Kandil walked a delicate line between support for Hamas, condemnation of Israel and a quest for calm in a region increasingly threatened by the spillovers from Syria’s civil war, as well as by the long-festering impasse between the Israelis and Palestinians.
“The aim of this visit is not only to show political support but to support the Palestinian people on the ground,” Mr. Kandil said, noting that he had brought with him a delegation from the Egyptian Health Ministry. He said a cease-fire between Gaza and Israel was “the only way to achieve stability in the region” and also called on the Palestinians to repair the rift between Hamas in Gaza and the Fatah group that dominates the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. “We call on the Palestinian people to unite because their power and strength is in their unity,” Mr. Kandil said. “That’s the only way to liberate Palestine.”
Israel Girds for Ground Assault in Gaza; Egypt’s Premier Visits
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Israel Girds for Ground Assault in Gaza; Egypt’s Premier Visits
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Israel Girds for Ground Assault in Gaza; Egypt’s Premier Visits
