By Stan Goodenough
Jan 04, 2009
The Israel Defense Forces has called up "tens of thousands" of reserve soldiers, according to reports Saturday night.
The news came at almost precisely the same time Israeli soldiers began entering the Gaza Strip at the start of a ground operation Israel warned could take "a long time."
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office said in a statement that, in accordance with a secret cabinet discussion Friday, the government ordered the armed forces "to draft the necessary reservists, on a scale of tens of thousands of troops."
Defense Minister Ehud Barak told the media he did not "want to fool anyone."
The operation won't be short or easy, he continued, adding that he knows "well the dangers and the price of military operation."