Even amidst a two-day ceasefire that that began the 11th, the specter of a renewed, vigorous assault by Israeli forces similar to 2009’s Operation Cast Lead looms darkly over the war-torn Gaza strip.  It’s the terrifying possibility that has haunted the rubble-strewn thin strip of land bordering the Mediterranean Sea and came screeching into full bore last week as the IDF tore into Gaza killing nineteen Palestinians and injuring seventy others.  In addition to the deadly land, naval, and air attacks the IDF shut down the roads entering Gaza for a week, once again blockading medical supplies and aid from entering and causing drastic shortages of nearly 150 different kinds of medicines.  

Even during the cease-fire Israeli officials have unabashedly shown their support for an escalation of the violence and bombing of the Gaza strip, with National Infrastructure Minister Uzi Landau publicly declaring that the IDF “needed to finish off the job in Operation Cast Lead” rather than agreeing to Hamas’ appeal for a cease-fire.  Unfortunately it seems unlikely that Gaza can withstand another military action like Operation Cast Lead, the IDF’s brutal campaign that left over 1,500 dead and 6,000 injured, and the merciless blockade that accompanied it.