Israeli Public Security Minister Calls for Massive Invasion of Gaza

Insists Rocket Firing Requires 'Broad Military Action'

Just one day after a rocket was fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel, wounding a woman a sparking a series of major news stories across the Israeli press, Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aaronovitch was on state-run TV demanding “broad military action” and a full invasion.

Aaronovitch, a member of the Yisrael Beiteinu party, termed the single rocket strike a “steady shower of missiles” and insisted that the government could no longer allow tolerate a Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. Israel’s military has launched a number of air strikes against Gaza already since the rocket fire.

Israel last invaded the Gaza Strip in late 2008, a multi-week operation that killed 1,417 Palestinians, the vast majority of them civilians. The overwhelming popularity of the conflict within Israel swept Yisrael Beiteinu, once a tiny party, into a major coalition partner role, claiming the Foreign Ministry position.

The talk of a new invasion comes as Israeli officials are talking about renewing peace talks with the West Bank’s Fatah faction, though they are conditioning such talks on a pledge from Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas not to seek statehood through the United Nations.

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.