Last update - 00:00 12/09/2007
IDF ground operation in Gaza unlikely despite Zikkim attack
By Barak Ravid
It currently looks like the government will rule out a military ground incursion, despite the rocket attack on the Zikkim basic training base early Tuesday.
The eight-member group of senior cabinet ministers will meet Sunday to discuss possible Israeli actions to reduce the rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip.
Ministers will hear mainly proposals for increasing economic pressure on the Palestinian population. Ideas include preventing "dual use" equipment from reaching Gaza, such as water pipes that could be used to produce rockets, and cutting the electrical power, on the ground that Israeli electricity enables operation of Gazan lathe-shops that turn out Qassams.
However, the legal validity of these proposals remains unclear as they entail "collective punishment" of the Palestinian populace.
At a security consultation Tuesday, the prime minister, defense minister, foreign minister and army chief of staff were briefed on the rocket attack on the Zikim base, but no decisions were announced afterward.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak said at a meeting tuesday in Jerusalem with French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner that every rocket should carry a price: "We'll announce that every Qassam is an hour of blackout. That way, whoever launches the Qassam knows he's cutting the power. We can't keep going at a rate of 90 Qassams."
Olmert said at a meeting with Kouchner that "along with Israel's desire to attain peace, there is the need to defend its citizens against attacks, and Israel will continue its activity against terrorist organizations." Olmert stressed that Hamas cannot be a partner for peace talks since it espouses terror and targeting civilians.
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said Tuesday that Israel has options besides military ones for dealing with what is happening in Gaza, "but even if these do not stop the Qassam fire, we have a duty to take action to reduce the fire,"
Speaking at a news conference with her French counterpart, Livni added that regardless of which group was firing the rockets, "all of Gaza is in Hamas hands. They are capable of stopping the fire and they are not doing so."
The Qassam fire from Gaza was also the centerpiece of Kouchner's meetings with Vice Premier Haim Ramon and opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu.
Ramon said that Israel will be forced to tackle Palestinian infrastructure. "A situation where Hamas fires rockets at the power station in Ashkelon, which supplies electricity to the Strip, is an absurdity that cannot be accepted," Ramon said.
Netanyahu called on the government to launch a ground operation "and capture the area from which Qassams are fired."