Analysis: Israeli Gaza Offensive Looks to Be Brief The major operation Israel launched to stop Gaza rocket fire bears some striking similarities to a punishing three-week campaign it unleashed against Hamas militants four years ago. Both began with a sudden series of airstrikes that caught Hamas off guard, included a threat to invade the coastal strip and came shortly after an American election and before an Israeli one. But the rules of the game have changed. That means Israel is now likely to carry out a briefer, more focused operation. A prolonged offensive appears riskier for Israel this time around. While Israel's missile defense systems are vastly improved, it is also facing a better armed Hamas that has missiles capable of reaching farther than ever into Israel. Also, Hamas has the key backing of the new Islamist government in Egypt, while a jittery Obama administration and a Europe suspicious of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could give the Israelis little room for error. Israel military officials say their goal is identical to four years ago - re-establishing its deterrence following a bout of rocket attacks from Gaza into southern Israel, and delivering a crippling blow to Hamas' missile capabilities. The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to discuss the strategy with the media, said one of Israel's two major concerns is avoiding large numbers of civilian casualties. The last offensive involved a ground invasion of Gaza - something Israeli officials say they are prepared to repeat if necessary. But some 1,400 Palestinians were killed, including hundreds of civilians, sparking war crimes allegations. The other major concern, according to the officials, is preventing a fallout with Egypt that could damage the countries' peace accord. Under former President Hosni Mubarak, Egypt was instrumental in buffering Arab resistance to Israeli operations and it brokered several cease-fires between Israel and Hamas. After Israel launched its current offensive Wednesday with more than 50 airstrikes in Gaza, killing Hamas' military commander, Egypt immediately lashed out at Israel, appealed for American invention and recalled its ambassador from Tel Aviv. That's the major danger. Last time Egypt was with us," said Efraim Inbar, director of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Israel's Bar-Ilan University. The big question is what will happen if we go in (on the ground to Gaza). This will be a major test for Egypt. An array of other factors has Israeli officials aiming to wrap up its attack as quickly as possible. Just a few days ago, Israel was drawn into Syria's civil war, firing at Syria for the first time in four decades after stray mortar fire landed in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Israel believes the mortar shells spilled over from internal fighting in Syria and were not aimed at Israeli targets. The Syrian regime, which is said to have killed more than 36,000 of its own people since the uprising against President Bashar Assad began in March 2011, condemned the Israeli offensive in Gaza and could try to use the fighting to divert attention away from its own turmoil.