Israel calling up some reserves for Gaza Op -Why?

It is not clear what the point of this reserve call-up might be, as the UN will probably stop the action this afternoon. If it does not, then 6,500 reservists will not be enough to take on the Hamas forces, which number at least 15,000 according to low estimates.

 

 IDF to mobilize 6,500 reservists for Gaza operation 

The Israel Defense Forces will call 6,500 reservists to duty, as part of the largest Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip since it captured the territory in 1967.

 

"The Israel Defense Forces will, in the coming days, call up more reservists," Cabinet secretary Oved Yehezkel told reporters after ministers met for a special session Sunday to discuss the operation, launched a day earlier.

 

Defense officials said some reservists had already been mobilized to help in protecting communities on the Gaza border from retaliatory Palestinian rocket salvoes. New reservists would help complete the armed forces' preparations for a possible escalation of the fighting, anofficial said.

 

Meanwhile, hundreds of Israel Defense Forces infantry and armored corps troops headed for the Gaza Strip border early Sunday in preparation for a possible ground invasion, military officials said.

 

Israel Air Force warplanes struck at least 50 Palestinian targets in the Gaza Strip early Sunday, after a day of intensive air strikes that killed some 230 Palestinians and wounded close to 800.

 

The death toll had climbed to 280 by Sunday afternoon, according to Al-Jazeera. The strikes on Sunday included a mosque and a TV station.