The Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip commenced earlier today, and while with no journalists on the ground details on the attacks are spotty at best, Defense Minister Ehud Barak held a special press conference to clear up some things about the invasion, particularly that it will not be the quick in-and-out invasion some had spoken of.

During the conference, Barak assured that the invasion would be neither short nor easy, and with some media outlets reporting as many as 10,000 troops participating in the attack that is likely to mean the death toll will spiral in the coming days. It likely also means that when NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer arrives in Jerusalem next weekend on a visit scheduled in November, he’ll be arriving in the midst of a war.

Perhaps more than one. For while experts insist it isn’t a realistic possibility, Barak touched on the rumors that Hezbollah would enter into the war as well, opening a northern front against Israel at a time when most of its forces are deployed in the south attacking the tiny Gaza Strip. Barak insists that the military is prepared for that eventuality as well.

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