The IDF spokesperson's office issued a statement, emphasizing wholesale nfl jerseys that this stage of the operation will further the goals of the eight-day offensive as voiced by the IDF until now: to strike a direct and hard blow against Hamas while increasing the deterrent strength of the IDF, in order to bring about an improved and more stable security situation for residents of southern Israel over the long term. "I don't want to fool anyone. The residents of southern Israel will also undergo some tough times," the defense minister continued. Smoke trails of an Israeli air force jet is seen above the southern Israeli city of Sderot on Jan. 3, 2009. Israeli artillery shelled Gaza Strip on Saturday, following with the ground offensive. Israeli soldiers advance near the border with northern Gaza during a ground operation by the Israeli army late January 3, 2009. Shortly after IDF soldiers entered Gaza, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said that the IDF operation in Gaza will be neither short nor easy.

Meanwhile, Ha'aretz reported that Israeli government has nfl jerseys approved the call-up of tens of thousands of IDF reservists. "The incursion will last as long as necessary in order to achieve the goals of the operation," he noted. A Palestinian boy sits with his family's belongings at the Jebaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza Strip Jan. 2, 2009. "Ultimately some kind of ground operation is necessary to bring the other side to accept the most minimal terms for a stable peace agreement," he said. Some analysts, however, believe a ground operation would not be in Israel's interest as it holds many more risks. A destroyed building is seen cheap nfl jerseys at the Jebaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza Strip Jan. 2, 2009.