Israel Expands Operation

Ha'aretz is reporting that IDF forces have begun moving into the central regions of the Gaza Strip.

The Israel Defense Forces expanded its action in the Gaza Strip shortly after midnight Tuesday, when infantry soldiers and tanks entered central Gaza for the first time since Operation Summer Rains began two weeks ago.

Residents said the soldiers were conducting searches in a village east of the town of Dir el Balah and had moved about 150 meters into the territory.

The decision to expand the operation was made during consultations between Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz.

Abdel Asmeri, a Palestinian farmer, said he saw the forces advance about 700 meters into Gaza toward his village, near the town of Khan Yunis.

Palestinians said that IDF bulldozers were leveling farmland in the area, and the military ordered Palestinian security forces to leave their forward positions.

The IDF returned to Gaza almost a year after Israel withdrew its troops and settlers from the Strip, in an offensive to press for the release of abducted soldier Gilad Shalit and to halt Qassam rocket fire into southern Israel.

And since I seem to have a lot of people who are trying to impose moral equivalence around here lately, this also from Ha'aretz:

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was about to release a large number of Palestinian prisoners before the crisis over the captured Israeli soldier worsened, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said in remarks published Tuesday.

In an interview with the Egyptian state-run newspaper El-Messa, Mubarak spoke of a missed opportunity to resolve the confrontation that developed between Israel and the Palestinians after militants linked to the Hamas government kidnapped an Israel Defense Forces soldier on June 25 and demanded an exchange for hundreds of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.

"Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, promised me to free a large number of Palestinian prisoners," Mubarak said. "But events suddenly escalated."

Mubarak did not blame Hamas for the escalation, but privately Egyptian officials have said the militant group did not respond favorably to Egypt's mediation.

Egypt's diplomatic efforts ground to a halt last week after Hamas turned down Cairo's proposal for it to release Corporal Gilad Shalit and wait for Israel to free an unspecified number of Palestinians later. Egypt would vouch for Israel's releasing the Palestinians, but the releases would not be simultaneous to mitigate the appearance of an exchange.

Whether apologists want to see it or not, the Palestinians are bringing this down on themselves. Hamas does not want peace. They want Israel to die.