Israel and Palestinian militants traded threats on Sunday after two Islamic Jihad fighters were killed in fresh skirmishes along the tense Gaza Strip border. The escalation of violence came on the eve of the second anniversary of Israel's devastating "Operation Cast Lead" assault on Hamas-controlled Gaza and followed weeks of rocket fire from Gaza and retaliatory Israeli air raids.
Turning up the rhetoric, both sides said they were prepared for another round of bloodletting.
"I hope there is no need for another operation like Cast Lead," Israel's Deputy Prime Minister Silvan Shalom told public radio ahead of a cabinet meeting. "But if this situation continues - if missiles keep being smuggled in without hindrance, if they continue shooting into Israel, trying to hit innocent civilians - then, obviously we will have to respond and respond with all our force," he said.
And at the funeral for two members of Islamic Jihad killed in an early morning exchange of fire with Israeli troops, mourners called on the military wings of Islamic Jihad and Hamas to take revenge on Israel. Abu Ahmed, a spokesman for Islamic Jihad's military wing, said the group was prepared.
"The occupation will pay the price if they even think of carrying out an escalation in the Gaza Strip," he told mourners. On Saturday, Hamas's military wing also reiterated their readiness to fight Israel. "Soldiers opened fire on members of a terrorist cell which was trying to place an explosive charge in the immediate vicinity of the security barrier," which separates Israel from Gaza, an Israeli army spokeswoman told AFP. "The incident happened in the south of the Gaza Strip and helicopters backed up the fire of the soldiers," she added.