Operation Cast Lead 2?

Haaretz: 'Israel may have to launch a fresh operation against Gaza'

Vice Premier Silvan Shalom told Israel Radio that the situation recalled the run-up to Israel's 2008-2009 Gaza war, which killed around 1,400 Palestinians. Hamas had mostly held fire from the enclave since. "We may have to consider a return to that operation," Shalom told Israel Radio. "I say this despite the fact that I know such a thing would, of course, bring the region to a far more combustible situation." If the rocket fire continues, Israel would have to embark on a wide-scale operation to topple the Hamas regime, Shalom told Israeli Radio. The operation would have to target leaders and commanders of terrorist movements, said Shalom, rather than just tunnels and open areas.

Culture Minister Limor Livnat echoed Shalom's remarks, saying Israel may have no choice but to launch Operation Cast Lead 2 if the rocket fire continued.

Haaretz: A small war is starting along the Gaza border

The more time that passes and the larger the number of casualties, the harder it will be to stop the escalation.

A grad rocket fired from Gaza hit Be'er Sheva early Wednesday morning. It landed in a parking lot one person was moderately wounded.

Last night, terrorists launched a first grad rocket onto Ashdod. Residents of southern Israel were warned earlier to stay near shelters in anticipation of such an attack. The Islamic Jihad y"s took responsibility for both rockets.

Ashdod is even further north of Ashkelon, where a rocket struck earlier this evening.

Also this evening, the IDF attacked a terror cell preparing to launch a rocket into Israel, killing four known terrorists.

Is Hamas looking for trouble while the US invades Libya? Would an Israeli incursion into Gaza achieve the effect of presenting the West/Israel against the Arab world across the Mediterranean? 

We'll follow this closely.