Israelis Prepare for War with Iran

The postcard from the Home Front Command that recently arrived in my mailbox looks like an ad from the Ministry of Tourism. A map of Israel is divided by color into six regions, each symbolized by an upbeat drawing: a smiling camel in the Negev desert, a skier in the Golan Heights.

In fact, each region signifies the amount of time residents will have to seek shelter from an impending missile attack. If you live along the Gaza border, you have 15 seconds after the siren sounds. Jerusalemites get a full three minutes. But as the regions move farther north, the time drops again, until finally, along the Lebanese and Syrian borders, the color red designates “immediate entry into a shelter.” In other words, if you’re not already inside a shelter don’t bother looking for one.

The invisible but all-pervasive presence on that cheerful map of existential dread is Iran. If Israel were to launch a pre-emptive strike against Iranian nuclear facilities, Tehran’s two terrorist allies on our borders—Hezbollah and Hamas—would almost certainly renew attacks against the Israeli home front. And Tel Aviv would be hit by Iranian long-range missiles.

via Israelis Prepare for War with Iran.

Israel Ground Assault On The Gaza Strip Looks Increasingly Possible

At least 307 people have now been killed since Israeli bombers began carrying out strikes on the highly populated territory, Palestinian emergency services have said.

Around 1,000 more including civilians and children caught up in the carnage are said to have been wounded.

Israel launched the offensive to stop Gaza’s militant body Hamas firing rocket attacks into the southern part of the Jewish state.

The offensive has escalated sharply since a six-month ceasefire agreement expired last week.

Israeli airstrikes targeted a government building for the first time this morning bombing the Interior Ministry, Hamas said.

The attack follows a new wave of air strikes that began last night, in which key Hamas targets were hit.

The Islamic University, a centre of cultural significance, was pummelled with bombs.

Airstrikes showered 40 smuggling tunnels running under the border with Egypt, destroying a crucial lifeline to the outside world, and a jail was heavily hit.

Foreign Secretary David Miliband said an “urgent ceasefire” is needed to stop “massive loss of life” in the territory.

He insisted Tel Aviv must abide by its “humanitarian obligations” and Prime Minister Gordon Brown shared his “grave concern” over the situation.

A ground invasion by Israel looks increasingly possible after an approval by Israel’s Cabinet to call in 6,500 reserve soldiers.

The country has also doubled the number of troops on the Gaza border since Saturday and deployed heavy artillery.

via Sky News.

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