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CBS News correspondent Mark Phillips interviewed Israeli military analyst Alon Ben-David at the Israel-Gaza border. Following is a partial transcript of that interview.

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Alon Ben-David: We are at the beginning of the second phase of this operation where the idea is to give Hamas a sense of a genuine threat on the regime inside Gaza so we have Gaza encircled by the IDF…. I am not sure that this is a point where we want them to be. I think that Israel is trying to create a more stronger effect of deterrence on the other side so we are not quite there yet, the question I think is if we are going to go to the third phase or the second will suffice to reach those objectives.

Mark Phillips: What's the third phase?

Ben-David: The third phase naturally will be expanding the ground operation. You see the calling up of tens of thousands of reservists. Right now I think there is still genuine desire to avoid ...

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The New Year has brought renewed violence to the Middle East. For 10 days, Israelis and Palestinians have exchanged rocket fire. Five-hundred Palestinians are reported dead, including 100 civilians. As Israel flexes its military muscle with ground troops, Hamas continues to fire rockets deeper into Israel, making the prospect of a ceasefire nothing more than wishful thinking at this point.

President-elect Barack Obama has been silent on the conflict, stating that our nation only needs one president at a time.

It's true that weighing in on specific foreign policy could contradict President Bush and send mixed signals to the global community. But there are about a million people without electricity, food supplies are running short, and hospitals are overburdened in Gaza.

As one United Nations spokesman said, this is a humanitarian crisis.

Now is the time when protocol, and the desire not to step on toes, should take a back seat to both leaders working together before it is too late.

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