"War is not a Picnic"

Day Ten: Israeli fire kills 14 members of two families. 531 killed. 2,500 injured. Gaza City encircled. That was today’s headline for Palestinian news agency, Ma’an News. (Ma’an News)

Haaretz reports 55 IDF soldiers are wounded, 4 seriously and one has been killed since the ground invasion began Saturday.  (Haaretz)

Hello I’m Charlotte Bellis and you’re watching Newsy.com.

As Israel continues it’s ground invasion into the Gaza Strip we’re looking at perspectives on the continued conflict from MSNBC, Jerusalem Online.com, Al Jazeera English, Al Arabiya, Ma’an and CNN.

NBC’s Chief Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel details Israel’s goals in the ground invasion.

“Israel says it wants to take over the areas where these rockets are being launched. It’s troops have spread out throughout the northern Gaza Strip, cut the Gaza Strip into several sections. They’re avoiding going into the densely populated areas but are trying to hold onto the areas very near the population centers where most of the rockets have been launched. And to do that, to hold these areas they have to be on the ground.” (MSNBC)

Jerusalem Online.com has the perspective Israel may have two objectives in the ground invasion. Some Israeli ministers say the aim of the operation should be to remove Hamas from power, while Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni reiterates the official line.

“The only measure that we are taking is to help them understand that this needs to be stopped.  This is the expression of the right of self-defense of a state and we tried the tools.  We decided not to target at all, we decided not to retaliate at all.  It did not help.”  (Jerusalem Online)

Al Jazeera English goes to a correspondent on the ground in Gaza who says, from what he’s seeing, Israel is failing in their primary military objective.

“The reality on the ground though, 10 days into this operation is that the military wings of the Palestinian factions are still able to fire rockets. They’re using new, different areas from within the Gaza Strip and still they’re able to reach further and deeper into southern Israel.” (Al Jazeera)

Arabic news network, Al Arabiya says Hamas sources say they have captured two Israeli soldiers. Israel hasn’t confirmed the hostage situation but Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak’s voices his thoughts on the developments.

“This operation will be expanded and intensified as much as necessary. War is not a picnic.” (Al Arabiya)

Ma’an News Agency interviews senior Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar who says Israel’s ground invasion has strengthened Hamas’s resolve. Al-Zahar has these words for Israel…

“They began killing their children when they killed ours. They began bombarding their hospitals when they bombarded ours. They began demolishing their synagogues when they demolished our mosques You kicked off the means for your termination with your very own hands.” (Ma'an)

CNN talks live to a woman taking shelter with her family in Gaza City. Safa Joudeh says the streets of Gaza are unrecognizable and life is getting increasingly desperate for Gazans.

“The entire strip has been bombarded from both land, sea and air. There are Apaches and F16’s flying overhead the whole time…”
“Are you able to get any food or any water? No we’re not. We’re not able to get any food or any water. Supplies are running out and we’re not able to locate any store that’s open or any organization distributing food at this point.” (CNN)

CNN reports that Israel is working to help Gazans like Joudeh. It is opening up border crossings to allow 80 trucks filled with humanitarian supplies into Gaza.

What do you think of Israel’s ground invasion? Do you think Hamas will survive Israel’s onslaught?

We’d love to hear your thoughts on this story and please check out our sources. I’m Charlotte Bellis …