Bibi : Protective Edge to expand
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emerged from a marathon security cabinet meeting on Thursday at the end of Operation Protective Edge’s third day saying the campaign would continue and expand.
Netanyahu issued a statement saying that the operation was progressing as planned, and that “more stages were expected.”
He said that Hamas and the other terrorist organizations operating from Gaza had been hit hard by the IDF attack, and would be hit even harder as the operation continues.
The prime minister gave no indication of when or whether ground troops would be committed to the campaign, nor what steps needed to be taken by the other side for Israel to halt the operation.
One official said it was clear that what Israel might have accepted two weeks ago in terms of “quiet for quiet,” it would not accept now. Netanyahu, the official said, would not agree to a situation whereby yet another cease-fire would be declared, which would then be taken advantage of by Hamas to “tend to their wounds” and re-supply for the next round.
The official refused to say what in particular Israel was demanding in order to halt the campaign. He said that rather than having a grocery list of demands, Israel has certain parameters, one of which being to ensure that Hamas would be unable to rearm after the campaign — a campaign aimed at severely depleting both Hamas’ rocket stockpile and its ability to manufacture missiles.
While neither Netanyahu nor Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon or Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen Benny Gantz gave any indication of a decision being made to committing ground troops, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas declared Thursday that Israel was about to launch a ground operation . He called for an unconditional cease-fire, saying that all his efforts to end the violence had failed.
Abbas claimed that the Israeli government had already approved a ground operation, which — he added — would begin in the coming hours. He pointed out that the IDF has asked Palestinians living close to the border with Israel to leave their homes and move deeper into the Gaza Strip.
Abbas told residents of east Jerusalem who visited him in his office in Ramallah that Israel was seeking to expel Palestinians from their lands and homes.
“But we say to them that we’re not leaving,” Abbas said. “We don’t have weapons, but we will remain steadfast and fight with words. If Israel has missiles and weapons, this doesn’t mean that we will surrender. We will fight in a civilized way that disturbs others.”
Abbas said that the two sides should agree to an unconditional truce. “The most important thing now is to avoid bloodshed,” he said.
“The Egyptians have held contacts with the two sides, but these efforts have unfortunately failed.”
Abbas said that he also talked to the Americans and demanded that Israel halt its military operations unilaterally so that he could persuade Hamas to stop its attacks. He said that these efforts also failed to end the fighting.
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