Report: Israeli Invasion Could Begin Within Hours

Tanks, Troops Loom Along Border, Waiting for Order to Strike

Anticipated virtually since the war began, the long-promised ground invasion of the Gaza Strip may begin as soon as Saturday morning, according to The Times. Preparations have been ongoing for the invasion but appear to have been completed as the few hundred Gaza residents holding foreign passports were allowed to flee the country. For the 1.5 million or so Gazans remaining however, there is no escape.

Local reports suggest the ground invasion, much like the initial aerial attack, was delayed in hopes of more seasonable war-fighting weather. But with European attempts to broker a ceasefire ending in failure and the United States blocking any hope for the United Nations Security Council to pass any resolution against it, it seemed only a matter of time. That time, it seems, draws neigh.

And the Israeli Air Force is really running out of things to bomb. Despite launching over 30 strikes on Friday, they managed to kill only 10 people, and more of them were children than militants. With the polls in Israel firmly against ending the war and the Israeli military promising really “incredible footage” of the ground invasion, there seems little hope of stopping the invasion.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.