After Israeli Defense Forces carried out 150 airstrikes on July 8 and intercepted “56 of the 255 rockets fired” into Israel in recent days, Israeli Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz said a “ground operation” into Gaza “might become necessary.”
CNN reports that on July 8, “The Israeli Cabinet authorized the military to call up 40,000 troops if needed.”
That figure represents 10,000 more troops than Israel used in its November 2012 “Pillar of Defense.”
Maen Rashid Areikat, Palestinian representative to the United States, responded to the troop authorization by saying he hoped the current situation between the Israelis and Palestinians doesn’t “escalate into an all-out war.”
Areikat added, “[The Israelis] have to know there is no military solution to this problem.”
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has “called on Israel … to immediately stop its strikes, warning the operation could drag the region into instability.”
Follow AWR Hawkins on Twitter @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.
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