IDF Mulls Retaking Entire Gaza Strip, By Yaakov Katz and Herb Keinon
Commentary;
This is a current update;
Security Cabinet Update: Security Cabinet Nixes Massive Anti-Kassam Offensive, For Now
We would all like to think that under the circumstances, the common-sense thing for any self-respecting sovereignty to do is to go in and invade. But, as written previously on this blog, a full invasion and the Retaking of Gaza will show the naked cruelty of the expulsion of the Jews from Gush Katif for all to see. Olmert knows this and knows that it constitutes admission of his own moral bankruptcy and the bankruptcy and moral corruption of “convergence.” In addition, his unbound, unbrided ego trumps Israel’s defense and security. Therefore, this author views a full invasion of and retaking of Gaza as highly unlikely as Olmert will NEVER do what is best for the nation’s security; instead, he will continue abrogating his solemn governmental responsibilities in the name of ego and blind hate for anything Jewish. The Olmert government must fall — Now! MB
Excerpts;
Fearing a further escalation in Kassam rocket fire, the defense establishment has begun putting the finishing touches on plans to launch a massive Defensive Shield-like operation into the Gaza Strip.
Defense officials are seriously considering reoccupying the Gaza Strip in an effort to stop Kassam rocket attacks. “We are not left with many options,” a high-ranking defense official told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday. “What we know can work at stopping the Kassams is a major operation and the reoccupation of the Gaza Strip.”
The plans that have been drawn up for the major operation in the Gaza Strip include the calling up of reserve divisions as well as the possibility of implementing military rule of law in the Palestinian territory.
The possibility of the IDF re-occupying Gaza is expected to be one of a number of options that will be raised at a security cabinet meeting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is scheduled to convene Wednesday afternoon.
Officials in the Prime Minister’s Office said the two main issues on the agenda would be the firing of Kassam rockets from the Gaza Strip and the arms smuggling and buildup of terrorist infrastructure inside the region.
While Olmert and Vice Premier Shimon Peres have come out in recent days against a widespread military action in Gaza, other voices in the security cabinet – foremost those of ministers Avigdor Lieberman and Avi Dichter – have called for more aggressive action.
Early Tuesday, the IDF launched a three-pronged offensive in the northern Gaza Strip, killing a top Hamas commander in the Gaza City neighborhood of Zeitun in its latest operation against Palestinian rocket squads.
Analysis: Creating a New Gaza Reality, By Yaakov Katz (Jerusalem Post)
Excerpts;
The Fatah-controlled daily Al-Ayyam ran a front-page article on Tuesday listing what it believed were Israel’s military and diplomatic options in the face of escalating Palestinian violence in the Gaza Strip.
he option the newspaper said was most likely was that Israel would launch a massive ground operation and eventually split up and reoccupy the Gaza Strip. The way things look now, the newspaper might be right.
While the IDF has always left open the possibility for a large-scale invasion into the Gaza Strip to stop Kassam rocket fire, in wake of the recent upsurge in rocket attacks and the deadly trail they are leaving, that option is becoming more appealing to senior defense officials, including officers in the Southern Command.
But with one unsuccessful war already under their belt, the Ehud Olmert-Amir Peretz-Dan Halutz trio is right in hesitating to launch another large-scale operation, this time into the Gaza Strip.
For a rocket that was dubbed “primitive and homemade” when it was first fired in April 2001, this is quite the achievement. Almost six years later, the Kassam has turned into far more than just any other threat and has become a strategic weapon that, as seen over the past week in Sderot, is capable of forcing thousands of people to flee their homes.