The Gaza crisis is simmering towards further escalation as reports emerge of an impending Israeli invasion. The Israeli army has made public pronouncements that show its willingness to launch a ground invasion into Gaza “if needed”.
Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus, a spokesman for the Israeli army, announced that the 7th brigade had been deployed to the border with Gaza “on standby for offensive mission”.
“An armoured brigade is ready for various contingencies but earmarked for an offensive mission being by definition a mission that goes in side enemy terrain,” he said in a statement.
“Our intention is to continue operating throughout,” he added.
He also claimed that the pregnant women and the baby who were killed in Gaza actually died accidentally due to friendly fire, citing Israeli intelligence.
The latest flare up in the asymmetrical conflict between a settler colonial ethno -nationalist nation-state with a defence budget of $18.6 billion and a politically, geographically and militarily fragmented people comes after an Israeli man in this late 50s was killed in the Southern city of Ashkelon by rocket fire.
With his death he becomes the first Israeli civilian to be killed by a Palestinian rocket since the 2014 war, according to the Israeli Defence forces. Beyond the man killed, an 80-year-old Israeli woman was seriously injured in a rocket strike on the Israeli city of Kiryat Gat. A man was also hospitalised in Ashkelon, according to the Israeli police.
The Palestinian commentariat meanwhile, declared that seven Palestinians have been killed and 47 injured Israeli strikes, including a pregnant woman and a one year-old baby.
The Gaza health ministry stated that at least 271 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the protests began in March 2018, the majority along the border. Nearly 50 people had also been injured recently.
The erasure and decentering of Palestinian resistance has contributed to growing discontent among the indigenous Palestinians who express resistance towards Israeli encroachments in their lands through armed struggle or non-violent means. With the recent election victory of staunch hardliner Benjamin Nethanyahu the question remains will the conflict tether even closer to an all-out escalation.