West warns against ground invasion

Gaza City – Western leaders sought last night to persuade Israel not to mount a ground invasion of Gaza after talks between representatives of Hamas and Israeli officials broke down.

After a day of increasingly frantic international efforts and ceasefire talks in Cairo, battalion-sized formations of Israeli troops in full combat gear massed on Gaza’s border.

United States President Barack Obama, in his first comments on the conflict, defended Israel’s right to action but warned that any land invasion would bring huge risks.

‘‘There’s no country on earth that would tolerate missiles raining down on its citizens from outside its borders,’’ Obama said during a visit to Thailand. ‘‘We are fully supportive of Israel’s right to defend itself.’’

But calling for a quick end to the violence, he added: ‘‘If this can be accomplished without a ramping-up of military activity in Gaza, that is preferable. That’s not just preferable for the people of Gaza, it’s also preferable for Israelis because if Israeli troops are in Gaza they’re much more at risk of incurring fatalities or being wounded.’’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at his weekly Cabinet meeting that Israeli forces were exacting a ‘‘heavy price’’ on Hamas and other militant groups. But he warned: ‘‘The army is prepared to significantly expand the operation.’’

British Foreign Secretary William Hague added to the chorus of international concern after five days of escalating violence. Expressing support for Israel’s right to act, he said: ‘‘A ground invasion is much more difficult for the international community to sympathise with or support – including the United Kingdom.’’ He added: ‘‘War must be avoided, and can be avoided.’’

France sent Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius to Israel on the first leg of a round of diplomacy. He said that France was willing to help to broker a truce. ‘‘War is not an option; it is never an option . . . There are two key words: urgency and ceasefire,’’ he said.

However, a senior Israeli military official from southern command said: ‘‘Israel has gone as far as it can go with airstrikes. The next step is go in, or go home.’’

Israeli officials said that the military had completed preparations for an immediate ground invasion. Tanks were seen pulling up to the border, and into noman’s land, before retreating into Israel. ‘‘If they aren’t sending us in, then they are doing an awfully good job of pretending to send us in,’’ a 20-year-old infantry soldier on the border said.

Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Moshe Yaalon dismissed the possibility of a long-term ceasefire deal with Hamas. He said that the Israel Defence Forces were continuing to call up soldiers to broaden the Gaza operation. ‘‘We are satisfied by the mobilisation of the reservists. They are ready, keen to participate,’’ he said.

Despite the heaviest night yet of bombing by Israeli aircraft and a slowdown in Hamas rocket attacks through the weekend, militants were again able to strike at Israel’s heartlands yesterday, launching long-range rockets towards Tel Aviv for the third day in succession.

Israel’s Iron Dome defensive shield proved its worth. Israeli television showed missiles blasting skyward from a battery south of Tel Aviv and chasing down the incoming rockets.

Through the day 55 rockets hit Israel and a further 36 were intercepted. Since the start of its Operation Pillar of Defence, after the killing of Hamas military chief Ahmed al-Jaabari in an airstrike, the Israeli army says that it has struck more than 1100 targets in Gaza as militants fired more than 800 rockets over the border.

Raji Sourani, head of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, said that there was a fear that the ground assault of Operation Cast Lead, which caused the deaths of more than 1300 people in 2009, might be repeated.

‘‘I believe the worst is yet to come, genuinely,’’ he said. ‘‘There was no accountability during Cast Lead. They feel that Hamas has passed a red line by targeting Tel Aviv. The message is that there is no safe place in Gaza.’’

Israel warned repeatedly that it was committed to establishing lasting ‘‘deterrence’’ to Hamas rocket attacks.