Israel to mobilise 360,000 reserve soldiers from around the world

The Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation Kan reported today that the Israeli government has agreed to mobilise up to 360,000 reserve soldiers.

This “comes on the way to a long military campaign,” the station said, within the framework of the military escalation with the Palestinian factions in the besieged Gaza Strip and the tension on the Lebanese borders.

The Israeli army announced yesterday the return of hundreds of its soldiers from Europe since Saturday.

The army said in a statement: “As part of the Israeli army’s efforts to gather additional forces to continue the fight, the Air Force’s Rhino and Samson aircraft transported hundreds of Israeli army soldiers who were in various countries throughout Europe.”

“The arrival of the aircraft to Israel is coordinated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Operations Department, the Air Force, the Strategy Department, and the Third Department of the Israeli Army,” it added.

At dawn on Saturday, the Al-Qassam Brigades launched Operation Al-Aqsa Flood in response to the continuing attacks by the occupation forces and Israeli settlers against the Palestinian people, their property and sanctities, especially Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem.

In response the Israeli army launched Operation Swords of Iron and continues to intensely raid many areas in Gaza, which is inhabited by 2.3 million Palestinians who have been living under a 17-year Israeli blockade.

On Monday evening, the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip announced that the death toll had risen to 704, including 140 children and 105 women, and 3,900 Palestinians had been wounded as a result of the ongoing Israeli raids, while Israeli media reported that the number of Israeli deaths in the confrontation with the Palestinian factions had reached 900 with 2,616 wounded.

READ: Israel to launch ground offensive in Gaza – security analyst