HAARETZ: Top IDF officer warns of new Gaza war if Hamas abducts soldier Senior IDF officer says Hamas now resembles less a terrorist group than a 'militia with semi-military order' that receives help from Iran and Syria.

Israel's response to the kidnapping of another soldier into the Gaza Strip will be no less severe than Operation Cast lead, a senior General Staff officer warned on Sunday. The statement came in the footsteps of assessments that Hamas may be planning to attempt to capture more soldiers.

Gaza's once vibrant tunnel trade caves in

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (Reuters) – Jamal al-Shatli scours Gaza's scruffy border area looking for a job where he once worked in the warren of tunnels used by smugglers to outwit Israeli controls and sneak in goods from neighboring Egypt.

While Israeli air strikes and Egyptian bombs hurt the once-flourishing trade, they failed to close it down. But Israel's decision to let imports flow more freely to Gaza has put many tunnels out of business and many workers out of a job.