ISRAELI MILITARY DRAFTS GROUND INVASION OF GAZATEL AVIV [MENL] -- Israel's military has been ordered to update plans for a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip.
A leading former intelligence commander said the military would require two divisions for a ground invasion and capture of the entire Gaza Strip. The Gaza Strip is an area of about 300 square kilometers.
The plan was drafted by Southern Command and does not involve an invasion of the entire Gaza Strip, military sources said. They said the proposal called for the capture of Palestinian missile launch pads and the surrounding area in the northern and central Gaza Strip.
The sources said the plan would involve the deployment of the largest infantry force in the Gaza Strip in the four-year-old war between Israel and the Palestinians. But they said the military would not be allowed to mobilize reserves for at least the next few months, a directive that would limit the size of any mission.