At least a dozen transporters carrying tanks and armoured vehicles were seen moving toward the border and buses ferried soldiers as Israel moved closer to a ground war against Hamas, the radical Islamist group that controls Gaza.
Israel mobilised troops on its border with Gaza yesterday (Thursday) after rockets fired from the territory came close to hitting its commercial capital, Tel Aviv.
At least a dozen transporters carrying tanks and armoured vehicles were seen moving toward the border and buses ferried soldiers as Israel moved closer to a ground war against Hamas, the radical Islamist group that controls Gaza.
Ehud Barak, the Israeli defence minister, also approved the call-up of 30,000 reservists.
The two rockets fell just short of Tel Aviv, the furthest they have reached inside Israel. One hit the town of Rishon Lezion, seven miles away, while a second, an Iranian Fajr-5 missile, fell into the sea off the coast of Jaffa, just south of the city.
It was the first attempted attack on Tel Aviv since the Gulf war in 1991. Residents were sent running to the shelters as air raid sirens sounded for the first time in 20 years.
Israeli officials had earlier indicated that a strike against Tel Aviv would be a "red line" that could trigger a ground war. "This escalation will exact a price that the other side will have to pay," Barak warned last night in the wake of the rocket attacks.
Tel Aviv had until recently been thought to have been out of missile range for Gaza's militant groups.
Both attacks were claimed by Islamic Jihad, a more radical group separate from Hamas, but Israeli leaders gave no sign of recognising that distinction.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, continued to defend this week's attacks on Gaza, which killed Hamas's military leader, Ahmed al-Jaabari. But the increased risk to regional security, particularly in light of the Arab Spring revolutions, was emphasised by an angry response in Egypt.
The prime minister, Hisham Qandil, announced that he would lead a delegation to Gaza today, the highest profile visit by an Egyptian leader since the Muslim Brotherhood took power earlier this year.
Egypt brokered an informal truce between Hamas and Israel on Monday, which Israel's attack two days later brought to an end.
The US called on Egypt to help. "We ask Egypt to use its influence in the region to help de-escalate the situation," said a state department spokesperson.
Sixteen Palestinians have been killed by Israeli air strikes, while three Israelis died when a rocket fired from Gaza hit the town of Kiryat Malachi yesterday.
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