'Army must invade': In southern Israel, support grows for action in Gaza
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Despite talks of a truce, Israeli airstrikes on Gaza continue, with a Hamas-linked bank being hit overnight along with 10 homes of alleged Palestinian militants. NBC's Richard Engel reports.
By Martin Fletcher, NBC News
ASHKELON, Israel -- As rockets flew over southern Israel on Monday, a Land Rover packed with camping gear stopped in a field and out stepped a man called Boris who offered to make coffee for a nearby NBC news crew.
Their price for accepting the excellent brew was a harangue about Israel's need to invade Gaza and reduce it to rubble. When interrupted, Russia-born Boris just shouted louder.
"Putin! Putin! What would Putin do?" the man screamed. "Think about it! Putin! A football field he would make in Gaza, a football field! What he do in Chechnya? We do same in Gaza."
Boris's 18-year-old son was among the conscripts who had just finished basic training and was waiting, with his paratrooper unit, in a grove of eucalyptus trees for the order to invade. Father and son had not been in contact for days as all soldiers have had their cell phones taken.
But Boris, who did not give his last name, was sanguine about his son. "We have to do it. No choice."
Clinton heads to Mideast on peace mission, Hamas remains defiant
Ten miles away, sweeping broken glass, shattered bricks and collapsed plaster walls in her neighbor's apartment, which had suffered a direct hit from a rocket fired from Gaza, Batsheva Schneerson went even further.
"You see that window?" Schneerson asked.
There was no window -- it had been blown away by the rocket. "Exactly," she said, "the same. That's what we must do. No window. No Gaza."
It's a familiar refrain in Israel's south-west, which has lived through almost a decade of rocket fire from Gaza. Yet while opinion polls show overwhelming support among Israelis -- around 85 percent -- for its air assault on Gaza, only 25-30 percent support a ground invasion.
There was no separate survey for people from the south of the country. Anecdotally, the support there would be almost unanimous.
ASHKELON, Israel -- As rockets flew over southern Israel on Monday, a Land Rover packed with camping gear stopped in a field and out stepped a man called Boris who offered to make coffee for a nearby NBC news crew.
Their price for accepting the excellent brew was a harangue about Israel's need to invade Gaza and reduce it to rubble. When interrupted, Russia-born Boris just shouted louder.
"Putin! Putin! What would Putin do?" the man screamed. "Think about it! Putin! A football field he would make in Gaza, a football field! What he do in Chechnya? We do same in Gaza."
Boris's 18-year-old son was among the conscripts who had just finished basic training and was waiting, with his paratrooper unit, in a grove of eucalyptus trees for the order to invade. Father and son had not been in contact for days as all soldiers have had their cell phones taken.
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
NBC's Chuck Todd reports on new developments in the Gaza-Israel conflict in the last 24 hours, as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton heads to Israel, the West Bank and Egypt in an effort to promote a cease-fire.
But Boris, who did not give his last name, was sanguine about his son. "We have to do it. No choice."
Clinton heads to Mideast on peace mission, Hamas remains defiant
Ten miles away, sweeping broken glass, shattered bricks and collapsed plaster walls in her neighbor's apartment, which had suffered a direct hit from a rocket fired from Gaza, Batsheva Schneerson went even further.
"You see that window?" Schneerson asked.
There was no window -- it had been blown away by the rocket. "Exactly," she said, "the same. That's what we must do. No window. No Gaza."
A Palestinian woman looks over the rubble of her destroyed house after an Israeli air strike in the east of Gaza City on Nov. 19.
It's a familiar refrain in Israel's south-west, which has lived through almost a decade of rocket fire from Gaza. Yet while opinion polls show overwhelming support among Israelis -- around 85 percent -- for its air assault on Gaza, only 25-30 percent support a ground invasion.
There was no separate survey for people from the south of the country. Anecdotally, the support there would be almost unanimous.
A possible ceasefire may come this evening between Hamas and Israel, but civilians living in Gaza are still in the midst of violence and today were given orders to evacuate. NBC's John Ray reports.
Rina, who would not provide a last name, sat on her steps after a rocket landed a hundred yards away in a neighbor's garden in Ashkelon.
"Afraid?" she said. "No, never, I wouldn't give Hamas that pleasure. I'll sit in my bomb shelter for as long as it takes, but our boys have to show Hamas what's what. Of course the army must invade."
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The anti-missile system made in Israel and helped by American money, recognizes which rockets will hit an inhabited area and knocks them out while ignoring the others. NBC's Martin Fletcher reports.
Her neighbor, sitting next to her, didn't seem so sure.She was hugging her little dog, Yoko, which was still trembling from the explosion five minutes earlier. Ambulances and fire-trucks were still drawing up, police cordoned off the area with crime scene tape and medics ran by.
The two women shook their heads.
"We will survive," Rina said. "We will survive."
Martin Fletcher is the author of "The List", "Breaking News" and "Walking Israel".
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