Israeli warplanes continued their bombardment of the Gaza Strip today, destroying a workshop in the refugee camp of Nusseirat and bombing a street in Khan Younis. Reports say that three children were injured in the attacks, which came as the planes peppered Khan Younis with leaflets threatening of further strikes.
Continued air strikes have hit the strip since a clash late last week which left two Israeli soldiers and two Hamas security force members killed. While the strikes are a significant escalation after 14 months of relative calm along the border, they could just be the tip of the iceberg.
According to Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Silvan Shalom, the military may escalate beyond the air strikes and launch another ground invasion of the Gaza Strip “in the near future.”
Israel last invaded the Gaza Strip in January of 2009, an attack that killed over 1,400 Palestinians, mostly civilians. Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz suggested earlier this week that another invasion was inevitable and that they would resume their occupation of Gaza.
