An Invasion without Time Limits!
July 10, 2006
http://www.tribulationperiod.com/
It appears that Israel is determined to stay in Gaza in attack mode until Corporal Gilad Shalit is released and the rocket attacks cease. The ball is clearly in the court of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and the Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades terror
ist groups.
If they kill the prisoner and/or keep up the rocket launches into Israeli cities, then they will lose international favor and, consequently, monies that once flowed into their coffers will not be reinstated.
The following article, from a bevy of Haaretz writers, gives the latest assessment of current and planned military actions in the Gaza Strip and environs.
Begin Excerpts Selected from Haaretz Article
PM: Gaza operation is war for which cannot set time limits
By Avi Issacharoff, Gideon Alon.
Amos Harel, Aluf Benn, Mijal Grinberg and Azoulay, Haaretz Correspondents, Haaretz Service and Agencies
July 10, 2006
The Israel Defense Forces will intensify and broaden the scope of its raids into the Gaza Strip in the coming days, senior IDF sources told Haaretz on Sunday.
The same sources said that Operation Summer Rains was likely to last two months, and during the cabinet meeting Sunday Prime Minister Ehud Olmert warned that this was a “war in which it is impossible to set time limits.”
The intensity of IDF operations in the Gaza Strip lessened noticeably on Sunday, but security sources stressed that this had nothing to do with Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh’s call on Saturday for a cease-fire. The same sources warned that the operations would intensify in the coming days, following Israel’ s demand that the abducted corporal, Gilad Shalit, be relea
sed immediately.
The IDF is currently concentrating its operations in two main areas in the Gaza Strip. The larger of the two is taking place in the area between the Karni crossing and the environs of the Sajayiyeh and Zeitun neighborhoods, east of Gaza City.
Givati Brigade troops, backed by armored units, are searching for tunnels. The other operation, also involv
ing Givati troops is taking place in the area of Dahaniye airport, south of Rafah.
A senior IDF source told Haaretz on Sunday that the operation near Karni was aiming to locate tunnels, following intelligence information about their existence.
Late last week a tunnel was uncovered near Kibbutz Kfar Aza.
The same source said that the Golani Brigade troops that had participated in that operation, which ended on Saturday, would be redeployed in other raids in the coming days. The plan is to intensify operations by the middle of the week, in the hope that raids will replace long-term presence inside the Gaza Strip.
At the Southern Command preparations are underway for the possibility that the offensive operations will continue for about two months. The IDF assessment is that military pressure is causing sufficient concern among the Palestinian leadership, as evidenced by Haniyeh’s call for a cease-fire.
IAF targets Gaza building it says used by Jihad to make weapons
Just after midnight Monday, an IAF aircraft attacked a building on the outskirts of Gaza City, setting it on fire, Palestinian witnesses said. No injuries were reported.
The strike mostly destroyed the building, which the IDF said was used by Islamic Jihad to make weapons.
Palestinian witnesses said the site was used for storage.
The IDF has been operating in Gaza for more than a week, in an effort to secure the release of abducted soldier Gilad Shalit and to stem the Qassam rockets fired almost daily at targets in southern Israel.
PM: We cannot sit and ignore Qassam fire
Olmert said Sunday that the IDF would push forth with its offensive as long as necessary to stop militant rocket fire. “We will continue this battle with level-headedness and patience while making use of the proper means and maintaining the required obfuscation. We cannot sit and not respond to the Qassam rocket fire.”
Olmert reiterated that Israel “will not negotiate with Hamas.
We will not negotiate with terrorists.
Such negotiations will encourage the next kidnapping. This is a war in which we cannot set a time limit. We have no intention to occupy the Gaza Strip and we have no intention to stay there. The military operation will last for some time and it will not follow a single pattern.”
Olmert reaffirmed that he opposed the release of Palestinian prisoners and said “we will not negotiate with Hamas. He will not negotiate with terrorists. Such negotiations would support another kidnapping.”
Peretz told the cabinet that IDF units would continue to enter and exit the Gaza as needed, to carry out military operations focusing on Qassam rocket launch sites and areas in which cross-border tunnels may have been excavated by militant groups.
The defense minister added the IDF is operating in a graduated and planned manner, while increasing pressure on militants in an effort to free Shalit without any preconditions. He added that diplomatic efforts were underway, in parallel to the military operations in Gaza.
The operations are being carried out through a variety of repetitive ground incursions, continued air strikes, artillery fire and other military means.
End Excerpts Selected from Haaretz Article
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