| Israeli soldiers on their Merkava tank as it returns to a base in southern Israel after patrolling along the border with the Gaza Strip. Photo: EPA |
Humanitarian organizations in the Gaza Strip are urgently evacuating their staff from the enclave amid fears of a large-scale Israeli military operation.
Israel opened the sole checkpoint on the Gaza border for 4 hours to allow food shipments through.
The same was done before the 2008-2009 military intervention in Gaza.
Tensions in the region rose sharply after eight Israelis were killed in terrorist attacks in Eilat.
On Thursday, Israeli aircraft bombed Gaza in retaliation for the attacks.
Meanwhile, radical Palestinian groups have fired dozens of rockets into Israel in the past few days.
URL du billet: http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/08/21/54956395.html