Israeli politician calls for ground invasion of Gaza

A prominent Israeli politician has called for troops to mount a ground offensive into the Gaza Strip, after Palestinians there fired a fresh round of rockets at nearby Israeli targets this morning.

Yuval Steinitz, former chairman of the parliamentary foreign affairs and defence committee, said the Palestinian authorities had failed to prevent daily attacks by the home-made rockets and Israel must take steps to protect itself.

“I call on the government of Israel to wait no further, but to launch a comprehensive ground operation in Gaza for several weeks, to strike at the very foundations of the terrorist infrastructure,” the politician from the hardline Likud Party, told Israel Radio.

Israeli forces left the Gaza Strip last summer, and Jewish settlements there were closed.