Officials push for IDF Gaza operations
Yaakov Katz , THE JERUSALEM POST Nov. 27, 2008
www.jpost.com
/servlet/Satellite?cid=1227702335833&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Israel should resume military operations against Hamas in the Gaza Strip
when the cease-fire expires in three weeks to increase pressure on the
terrorist group that could lead to a renewal of talks for St.-Sgt. Gilad
Schalit, several high-ranking defense officials said Wednesday.
On December 19, the cease-fire that went into effect at 6 a.m. on June 19
will officially end. Israeli assessments vary regarding whether Hamas will
want to extend the truce or allow it to collapse and return to full-scale
terror operations against Israel.
One school of thought is that Hamas will prefer to extend the cease-fire to
solidify its control over Gaza and secure the full reopening of the
crossings, including the Rafah Border Terminal with Egypt. Others raise the
possibility that Hamas will decide to renew its own rocket attacks on
Israel. The most recent attacks are attributed to smaller groups.
"It is difficult to tell what they will do," one senior defense official
told The Jerusalem Post Wednesday. "What is certain is that December 19 is
turning into a very important date."
The term of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas also comes to an
end soon, on January 9, and in Israel there is concern that Hamas may renew
the violence then in protest of Abbas's expected refusal to vacate his post
for a Hamas official.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak has ordered his top aide Amos Gilad to hold
talks with Egypt in an effort to extend the cease-fire.
On Wednesday, Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilna'i said Hamas appeared to
be making efforts to rein in the various factions that have been behind the
latest spate of rocket attacks.
Top IDF officers have suggested, however, that Israel should consider
renewing operations in Gaza since "military pressure is one of the effective
forms of leverage Israel has to get Hamas to renew negotiations for the
release of Schalit."
Since the truce went into effect in June, Egyptian-mediated talks have
mostly been frozen despite Barak's claim - before Israel agreed to the
truce - that it would create an opportunity to advance the soldier's
release.
"We need leverage over Hamas," one top officer said. "And there is no better
leverage than military pressure."
Also on Wednesday, Barak decided to allow some 60 trucks carrying
humanitarian supplies to pass into the Gaza Strip, even though the crossings
were still officially closed due to repeated Kassam rocket attacks.
Barak's decision came following international pressure on the security
establishment to allow the aid through.
Palestinian fuel official Mahmoud Khazundar said that shipments of cooking
gas were also renewed on Wednesday morning and that 70 tons were expected to
enter the Strip.
Meanwhile, the United Nations and other aid agencies appealed to the
international community to send $462 million in emergency assistance in 2009
to address what they said was a humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian
territories.
Most of the money will be used for food and cash handouts, said Maxwell
Gaylard, local head of the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs. A total of 159 emergency programs are planned in areas such as
health, education, food, water and sanitation.
It is the seventh annual request for emergency funds, in addition to
hundreds of millions of dollars in normal operating budgets.
"Little, if anything, has been achieved," said Filippo Grandi, deputy
commissioner of the UN Reliefs and Works Agency, the main UN body caring for
Palestinian refugees. "Little, if anything, has been felt by the people with
whom we work."
Grandi lamented the need to spend funds on emergency responses instead of
long-term development projects. He said the situation was especially dire in
the Gaza Strip, which was stifled by Israeli and Egyptian border closures
and where half the population lived in severe poverty.
Last year, the UN asked for a similar amount of emergency aid. Officials
said they raised nearly 70 percent of the funds they sought. Kuwait, the
European Union and the United States were last year's largest donors, staff
said.
Grandi said he feared the global economic crisis would lead to cuts of as
much as a third in operating funds for UN agencies in the Palestinian areas
next year.
He said the Israeli closure had prevented UN agencies from delivering even
the minimal amount of aid needed to meet basic needs in Gaza.
AP contributed to this report.