**80 trucks carrying humanitarian aid are expected to enter Gaza on Tuesday via the Kerem Shalom Crossing.

**President Shimon Peres told visiting foreign officials that Israel is not fighting to conquer land, but for the right to exist in peace and safety. He condemned the Gazans for using children as human shields.

**An additional NIS 8 million is being allocated to the south for homefront needs including firefighting apparatus, and shelters & equipment for the shelters, such as blankets, mattresses and heaters.

**Meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Jerusalem on Tuesday morning, opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu stated Philadelphi Route must be sealed to prevent smuggling from Egypt. He also told the visiting leader that Egypt is not doing enough to prevent weapons smuggling into Gaza.

**Some 2,000 people in Haifa on Monday, mostly Israeli Arabs supported by several hundred left-wing Israelis, protested the ongoing IDF operation.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)