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ANALYSIS / Israel's three alternatives for the future of the Gaza war By Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff, Haaretz Correspondents Tags: Hamas, Israel News, Israel  Israel is approaching its next important decision concerning the war in the Gaza Strip. The Israel Defense Forces will complete its preparations to expand the ground offensive today, with the reservists called up earlier this week equipped and ready for action. The political leadership will have to decide whether to authorize further action or to seek an end to the operation. At its meeting Wednesday, the cabinet agreed, at least according to the official announcement, to give diplomacy a chance. Advertisement Senior officials Amos Gilad and Shalom Turgeman are traveling to Cairo Thursday to prepare the ground for a deal. In the efforts to reach an agreement, Israel will be faced with a number of alternatives: withdraw without an agreement, or adopt an option offered by the army to broaden the offensive against Hamas. The General Staff is convinced that the mission is doable, even though part of the brunt will be borne by reservist units that have never before participated in fighting of this kind in the Strip. The question is now being as is whether such a move is necessary. A senior officer admitted Tuesday that the army's secondary objective was to restore the serious blow dealt to its self confidence after the 2006 loss of the Second Lebanon War. This has already been restored, he said. If a powerful deterrent is impressed on Hamas, then we can hurry on out of here. The fact that the Palestinians will do their utmost to be the ones to fire the last rocket, means nothing. The five brigades operating in the Strip are preparing as if they will be ordered to take over the entire Strip, but the General Staff believe that the politicians want a deal. In the field the sense is that Hamas has been pushed to the heart of the urban centers, and is avoiding direct contact with the IDF as much as possible. In the past two days, there has been a certain drop in the number of rocket attacks, with Hamas gunmen operating out of mosques and crowded neighborhoods. The IDF is taking many prisoners, some Hamas men, others suspected of assisting Hamas. The soldiers guarding them express some disappointment when faced with the boogeyman they have been preparing to fight for months. But herein lies the Achilles' heel of the forces that are left in the field in a static situation, open to lethal attacks by Hamas. One way to counter this is by initiating local operations and cutting down on anticipated movement. For example, there are very few convoys going into the Strip for secondary duties. At the same time, the army is using very heavy firepower. The IDF admitted as much before the cameras for the first time Wednesday. "We are very violent. We are not shying away from any method of preventing casualties among our troops," said Lt. Colonel Amir, commander of a combat engineers unit, Wednesday. This is a method of fighting that resembles very much the way the First Lebanon War was fought in 1982. Related articles: Abbas at UN, appeals for mutual Gaza cease-fire ANALYSIS / Using aggressive tactics in Gaza to save soldiers' lives ANALYSIS / Israel must double, triple, quadruple its medical aid to Gaza Israel to establish 'humanitarian corridor' for Gaza Strip Venezuelan President Chavez: Gaza operation is a Palestinian 'holocaust' Al-Qaida No. 2 slams Obama for failing to stop IDF offensive in Gaza French TV claims photos from 2005 showed damage from Israel's Gaza operation Four of six IDF soldiers killed in Gaza were victims of friendly fire Bookmark to del.icio.us   Fallen hero Relatives mourn Maj. Roey Rosner, 27, killed Wednesday by Gaza militants. On the northern front Hezbollah denies responsibility for two rockets fired at Israel from Lebanon.   1.   This is a BIG mistake... Israel`s goal should be to topple 15:25  |  Ben 08/01/09   2.   Twelve days to Obama`s inauguration. Only that counts. 17:12  |  S 08/01/09   3.   Palestinians` will to fire the last rocket (or any rocket) 18:17  |  Boris 08/01/09   4.   #1 Ben - Hamas should surrender? 18:27  |  Manny Goldstein 08/01/09   5.   The only good alternative is to annex Gaza forever. 19:39  |  Chaim 08/01/09   6.   No alternative for us but resistance. 20:04  |  Sami hassan 08/01/09   7.   to # 4. 20:36  |  Antonio da Silva 08/01/09

Read & React Red Cross: Israel breaking int'l law, letting children starve in Gaza Responses: 114 Two Lebanon rockets hit North; Hezbollah denies involvment Responses: 68 Yossi Melman: Excellent intel on Gaza shows Israel learned from Lebanon errors Responses: 21 Yoav Stern: Rocket fire on North may be realization of Iran threat Responses: 25 Gideon Lichfield: So, why isn't Israel winning the PR war? Responses: 74 More Headlines 23:04 Third IDF soldier killed in Gaza over past 24 hours 22:37 Draft UN Security Council resolution doesn't call for immediate Gaza truce 02:23 Report: Obama ready to talk to Hamas after taking office 02:24 'This country exists because of people like him' 22:35 Israel to present complaint to UN over Lebanon rocket fire 01:24 European Jews to hold rallies supporting Israel's Gaza offensive 22:10 'I pray that he will watch over us, he died a hero' 22:38 At least two Lebanon rockets hit north Israel; Hezbollah denies involvment 02:06 UN: Army admitted school shelling was by mistake 18:20 Get up to the minute coverage of the warfare in Gaza directly to your email 22:05 IDF Chief of Staff Ashkenazi tours Gaza battlefields 23:11 WATCH: Olmert spokesman says Israel never sought war in Gaza 18:12 ANALYSIS / Rocket fire on North may be realization of Iran threat 19:57 UN says halting aid to Gaza, citing danger to staff from IDF 15:01 ANALYSIS / Excellent intel on Gaza shows Israel learned from its errors in Lebanon 19:07 Palestinians: 35 found dead in rubble of Gaza battle zone 17:07 Olmert: IDF has not yet achieved all its goals in Gaza offensive 20:35 WATCH: U.S. Senate voices strong support for Israel's Gaza battle against Hamas 18:53 Sarkozy: Halt to arms smuggling is key to Gaza cease-fire 16:08 Red Cross: Israel breaking int'l law, letting children starve in Gaza 21:49 Iran bans volunteer suicide bombers from traveling to Israel 17:18 Palestinian shot dead after trying to blow up settlement gas station Previous Editions Select Day 08 jan 07 jan 06 jan 05 jan 04 jan 02 jan 01 jan 31 dec 30 dec 29 dec 28 dec 26 dec

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