Photograph: Samuel Aranda/Getty

Democracy in the Middle East....

But only if Israel and America agree with the election outcome.

As much as Israeli officials have protested their intention NOT to re-occupy Gaza, (see below), it's beginning to look suspiciously like an occupation.

...Yossi Alpher, a military analyst and former Israeli intelligence officer, said that the government and military will be trying to avoid becoming entrenched back in Gaza but they will also face political difficulties in extracting the army.

"They are very well aware of the dangers," he said. "But there are catches in trying to leave. The range [of the rockets] can improve further so you have to keep moving south and you move into highly urban areas, and it begins to look like an occupation again."

In addition to the stated goals of recovering kidnapped Corporal Gilad Shalit and putting a halt to rocket-fire into Israel, the unstated goal of deposing the democratically elected Hamas government is clearly behind the invasion.

But there are indications of a wider agenda to bury the Hamas-led government. Israel has detained eight Hamas cabinet members and 20 of its MPs, and targeted government infrastructure, including missile attacks on the offices of the prime minister and interior ministry.

"There's a school of thought in the Israeli security establishment that said since the Hamas victory this is going to end up in confrontation and the sooner we pre-empt that conflict the better; remove their leadership, destroy their infrastructure," said Mr Alpher. "That is certainly some of the hidden agenda of this operation but it's not a declared goal. But it could become a declared goal."

Complete story here.