Doubts in Israel over a ground assault on Gaza
Residents leave Gaza border amid concerns over invasion, but in Israel there's little appetite for it, with memories of backlash the last time
The olive orchards and wheat fields lining the Gaza Strip border with Israel were always sparsely populated, but the area is now a virtual no man's land.
Fearing an Israeli ground invasion of the coastal strip, hundreds of families have fled.
"I don't worry so much about the air strikes, but I don't want to be here when Israeli soldiers come," said Iyad Badawi, 40, standing about 1.5 kilometres from the border during a quick visit to his home to make sure everything was OK. During the last Israeli ground operation four years ago, a neighbour was killed, he noted. "No one's coming back until there's peace again."
Gazans aren't the only ones anxious about a possible Israeli ground incursion. Even as ceasefire talks continued in Cairo, a growing chorus of Israeli politicians, ex-military commanders and pundits voiced doubts about the wisdom of expanding Israel's six-day air operation to include soldiers on the ground.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government has signalled that a ground invasion could be imminent if the talks falter. More than 45,000 reservists have been called up and troops are massing along the border area in southern Israel.
But many Israelis asked whether a ground operation would be worth risking the lives of their nation's soldiers.
Though rocket attacks into Israel by Gaza militants continued Monday, most Israelis view the Gaza campaign so far as a resounding success. Israel has killed dozens of Hamas militants, including several high-ranking commanders. The dead have included Ahmed Jaabari, head of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Gaza's ruling Hamas movement.