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The IDF enters Gaza in 2005
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| By David Bedein April 27, 2007 |
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Following 80 missiles fired from Gaza on Tuesday, Israel's Independence Day, Israel Defense Forces sources confirm that preparations for a large-scale military operation in the Gaza Strip, which have taken several months, are almost complete.
The Israeli forces, including reserves, have trained and are positioned for a Gaza incursion. Yet as preparations near completion, some Israeli policymakers assess that the diplomatic damage that will occur as a result may not serve Israel's strategic interests.
The way to disband a terrorist infrastructure, the IDF brass argue, involves a military operation that entails a stay of months or even years. The model admired in Israeli military circles is "Operation Defensive Shield," when Israel dispatched troops in April 2002 to patrol all strategic and sensitive points of the Judea and Samaria, aggressively pursuing terrorists, so as to put a lid on attacks that emanate from Palestinian-controlled areas. Those troops continue to patrol the perimeters of all Palestinian Arab communities, and the results have paid off. During 2006, 11 people were murdered by terrorists in Israel. Compare that to an average of 175 people murdered by terrorists in Israel from 2000 to 2005.
Unlike the sparse amount of armed Palestinians in Judea and Samaria, Arab armed groups in Gaza now amount to more than 60,000 men, and they are purposely positioned throughout the Gazan civilian population,, especially in the crowded UNRWA refugee camps.
That means that the expected heavy Israeli firepower in Gaza will result in a situation where civilians are going to get hurt, children are going to be killed, and mosques will be damaged. The resulting scenes on worldwide television will not help Israel. And Israel can expect to take casualties among its own troops and to absorb more rocket and mortar attacks on Gaza's perriphery.
However, in discussions held after Hamas' missile attacks on the western Negev, the IDF's new Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi reportedly spoke in harsh tones for the first time, saying that that the situation cannot continue as it is.
The Cabinet decided not to initiate a large scale operation for the time being, but analysts say that it is a matter of when, not if, and that the trigger could be any Palestinian action that causes Israeli losses.
A version of this article appeared in The Philadelphia Bulletin. |
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