Palestinians fear Gaza invasion as tension mounts

The group which control the Gaza strip have evacuated its police stations, offices, and compounds after a spike in violence between Israel and the Gaza Strip that has seen renewed Israeli airstrikes in the territory, a series of rockets fired into Israel, and a bomb in Jerusalem that killed a British woman and injured 39 others.

Palestinian militants have fired at least nine Grad and Qassam rockets as well as mortars deep into southern Israel on Thursday. One hit in Yavneh and others hit the port city of Ashdod just north of Tel Aviv – the furthest rockets have reached since tension increased eight days ago . There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Israeli jets targeted a Hamas training camp and supply tunnels into the Gaza strip. A further strike on a power transformer caused blackouts to a large area. The Israeli defence force said the strikes were in response to the recent barrage of rockets.

On Wednesday a blast ripped through a crowded bus killing a 60 year old Bible translator from Scotland named as Mary Jane Gardner. The bombing came several hours after two Grad rockets were fired into the southern city of Beersheva. It was the first time Jerusalem had been hit by such a bomb since 2004.

The growing cross-border tensions between Israel and the Gaza strip is reminiscent of the levels of violence running up to the Israeli invasion of Gaza at the end of 2008. An estimated 1000 civilians were killed, and over 5 300 people injured in that invasion.

“We keep the right- how, when and in what kind of amount of firepower or munitions- to respond’ Defence Minister Ehud Barak

During a joint press conference with US Defence Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday, Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said that Israel holds Hamas ultimately responsible for the recent rocket strikes and that the group must prevent militants operating in Gaza.

“Israel will not tolerate these terrorist attacks and we will not allow terror to rise once again” he said

Barak added that Israel refused to rule out another war and said that the government would decide on both the timing and nature of its military response.

“We keep the right – how, when and in what kind of amount of firepower or munitions – to respond’ he added.

Gates also condemned the rocket attacks as “repugnant acts” and said “we underscore Israel, like all nations, has the right of self-defence.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Israel would take action against those groups who he said are testing the Jewish state’s ‘iron will’ to defend itself.

“Israel will act aggressively, responsibly and wisely to preserve the quiet and security that prevailed here over the past two years,” Netanyahu said.

‘We stress that our constant position in the government is to protect stability and to work in order to restore the conditions on ground’ Hamas

Hamas said it was seeking to reverse the recent spike in violence with Israel, spokesman Taher Al-Nono said: ‘We stress that our constant position in the government is to protect stability and to work in order to restore the conditions on ground that used to be dominant in previous weeks.”

There was no immeadiate claim of responsibility for the Jerusalem blast. The armed group Islamic Jihad, which have carried out attacks in the past, said it was not responsible but spokesman Khader Habib said the group ‘applauds all efforts to respond to the crimes committed daily against our people’

One day before the Jerusalem bomb at least eight Palestinians, including two children, were killed by Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza strip. Four people died when a shell hit a family home in Shejaiya. Hours later four fighters from the al-Quds brigade – the armed wing of Islamic Jihad – were killed by an air raid in Zeitun.

The Israeli military said the airstrikes were in response to rocket attacks from Gaza.

On Monday at least 19 people were wounded in a series of raids in the northern town of Beit Lahiya and Gaza city.