The trigger came last Thursday after eight Israelis were killed in coordinated terror attacks in the Sinai.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's spokesperson Mark Regev told The Daily Telegraph: "I would remind everyone how this started, with a very brutal act of violence against civilians. I don't think any country, not Britain nor France nor Germany, would stand by and see their civilians attacked.
"This was an unprovoked, premeditated act of murder against civilians. And the people who sent them [the militants] sit in Gaza."
Five Egyptian policemen were killed as Israel pursued the gunmen on Thursday. Now Israel is also facing a diplomatic row with Egypt over the crisis as the country recalls its ambassador over the conflict.
The Arab League, which met in Cairo on Sunday to address the escalating crisis, issued a statement condemning Israel's ongoing air strikes in Gaza, which have claimed 15 lives since they were launched in the early hours of Friday morning.
"The United Nations has to take procedures to stop the Israeli offensive on Gaza," Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby said.
Israel, however, shows no indication of tempering its military response to continued rocket fire from the Gaza Strip.
Senior Israeli government ministers met on Saturday evening to discuss the escalation of its military operation, including the possibility of a targeted ground offensive.
Key figures from the opposing Kadima party have thrown their support behind a large-scale military operation in the Gaza Strip. Opposition leader Tzipi Livni stated, "You must use force against terrorism."
The possibility of peace talks mediated by Egypt, mooted in the Israeli press on Saturday afternoon, was out the window by Saturday evening following a dramatic spike in Gaza's rocket attacks.
Shortly after 9pm, a Grad rocket hit a home in Beersheba killing one man and wounding eight others, including a woman said to be in critical condition. Earlier that afternoon, another missile claimed by the al-Qassam Brigade, the military wing of Hamas, injured a three-month-old baby and a nine-year-old boy in a nearby town.
The Israeli Defence Force claims more than 70 missiles were launched into the country's southern Negev region over the weekend. Most were intercepted successfully by Israel's new Iron Dome anti-missile system, others fell in open ground without causing injury. Several missed Israel entirely, landing on Egyptian territory.
The Israeli Airforce has maintained a steady bombardment of the Gaza Strip since Thursday evening targeting militant leaders, smuggling tunnels and weapons stores. Medics in Gaza report 15 Palestinians have been killed in the attacks, including a teenage boy, and more than 40 have been injured.
Despite mounting international concern, the Israeli and Hamas leadership continue to exchange threats of stern reprisals.
Senior Hamas figure Ahmad Bahar insisted peace was impossible as long as Israel continued its air strikes on Gaza. He vowed the group would "teach the enemy Israel unforgettable lessons, and remind them that deterrence is symmetrical."
The Palestinian Authority has also called for the UN to intervene and halt the escalation of violence in Gaza, describing Israel's aerial bombardment as both 'war crimes' and an attempt to distract the international community from the Palestinian's planned bid for statehood at the UN Security Council on September 20.
Spain weighed into the fray on Sunday with a statement from Foreign Minister Trinidad Jimenez stating the time has come for "a breakthrough in recognition of a Palestinian state" by the EU or risk "generating frustration among the Palestinian people'.
Ms Jimenez said it had long been a goal shared by "all countries" to seek a solution to conflict in the Middle East with acceptance of a Palestinian State, adding, "I think that there is now a degree of maturity to take steps in that direction."
Defiant Israel rejects calls for restraint amid fears of full-blown conflict with Gaza - Telegraph
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