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Last update - 11:43 25/11/2009
IDF Chief: Israel will fight in Gaza again if needed
By Haaretz Service
Tags: Goldstone Gaza report 

Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi said Friday that the army would not hesitate to respond if Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip continued to fire rockets at Israel.

"We are prepared to contend with the whole arc of threats," Ashkenazi told students during a visit to a Be'er Sheva high school, citing both the local defense situation as well as Iran's contentious nuclear program.

Although the Hamas rulers in Gaza have of late been "restraining themselves and others," said Ashkenazi, "we must not fool ourselves. If necessary, we will operate again in the Gaza Strip to stop the rocket fire."
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In reference to the Goldstone Commission's damning report on Israel's conduct during the war on the Gaza Strip earlier this year, Ashkenazi emphasized that the IDF had the responsibility to defend itself at all costs.

"We must defend ourselves when we see a militant cell rigging Grad rockets in the direction of Be'er Sheva, and that is exactly what we did [during the January war]," the IDF chief said.

Reiterating his remarks to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee earlier this week, Ashkenazi said that the IDF was open to investigating all complaints of misconduct during the war.

"The Goldstone report deserves a response," he added. "We must explain the justice of that war and to explain that there is the possibility that we will be forced to act again."

Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, meanwhile, has warned that Israel is planning another offensive on the Gaza Strip, Iran's Press TV reported on Friday. The IDF chief did not respond directly to that report during his visit to the Be'er Sheva school.

According to Haniyeh, it is Israel and not Hamas that is intent on keeping the conflict going between the two sides.

Hamas is "not looking for more violence," Haniyeh told a group of Red Cross delegates visiting the Gaza Strip earlier this week.

The Hamas leader - who took over leadership of Gaza after a bloody 2007 coup deposed the Palestinian Authority in the coastal territory - told the delegates that he hoped his prediction of war would not come into fruition.

Haniyeh said that should such an Israeli offensive occur, Hamas would be prepared to retaliate.

"Our people will not surrender; they will fight back," Haniyah's office said, in a statement.

He also said he hoped that "the world will stop Israel from killing more children," according to the Iranian network.

Meanwhile, Israel Defense Forces soldiers on Friday opened fire on a group of Palestinians apparently rigging explosives at the Gaza Strip border.

One of the Palestinians was killed in the incident. None of the soldiers was hurt.

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      1.   Because the Red Cross is so unbiased? 09:28  |  lily 13/11/09
      2.   The impossibility of uprooting HAMAS 09:37  |  salem Awaad 13/11/09
      3.   Hamas tells Red Cross 09:39  |  DT 13/11/09
      4.   Another war? 09:42  |  David Nigel Braham 13/11/09
      5.   We all Hope 10:13  |  Chaim Ben Kahan 13/11/09
      6.   #1 Salem will be first to hide behind children 10:15  |  Baruch Gold 13/11/09
      7.   Rubbish. Hamas and Hezbo are playing the same game 10:32  |  JO 13/11/09
      8.   Naw, why not just listen to Goldstone? 10:56  |  Joe Sittizen 13/11/09
      9.   Sun Rises in East 10:58  |  Mark of Lewiston 13/11/09
      10.   LOL like Hamas can be trusted. 11:22  |  Petra 13/11/09
      11.   hamas not looking for violence? 11:35  |  j 13/11/09
      12.   "no more war no more bloodshed" 11:43  |  Jochai Rubinstein 13/11/09
      13.   war mongers are starting to instigate 12:20  |  Thabiet 13/11/09
      14.   Self defence is a right 12:27  |  syrian opinion 13/11/09
      15.   Wanna bet Egypt still locks them out? 12:49  |  yona 13/11/09
      16.   fight again 13:03  |  rm 13/11/09
      17.   To Gaby Ashkenazi 13:10  |  sh 13/11/09
      18.   Hamas , Taliban ...It is impossible to 16:38  |  TOMY 13/11/09
      19.   "Israel will fight in Gaza again if needed" IDF Chief. 18:21  |  Akram Zekaria 13/11/09
      20.   17~ To Gaby Askenazi .. 18:27  |  Akram Zekaria 13/11/09
      21.   We`d NEVER have to fight in Gaza had we stayed there. 19:31  |  Chaim 13/11/09
      22.   Akram Zekaria.... 19:58  |  Silvienne 13/11/09
      23.   Israel deeply loves Arabs 20:13  |  Dave 13/11/09
      24.   To Chaim at # 21 20:33  |  Dave 13/11/09
      25.   War 20:48  |  Bert 13/11/09
      26.   you left out a bit, Mr. Rubinstein 21:15  |  Murray 13/11/09
      27.   #4 21:36  |  Oz Person 13/11/09
      28.   #15 21:43  |  Oz Person 13/11/09
      29.   #22, Dave... 22:04  |  Silvienne 13/11/09
      30.   #21, Chaim... 22:06  |  Silvienne 13/11/09
      31.   Thabiet 13 22:16  |  ChanahS 13/11/09
      32.   Oh Saleem Awad 23:12  |  Brad 13/11/09
      33.   mark of Lewiston 23:17  |  Brad 13/11/09
      34.   Jochai Rubinstien 23:20  |  Brad 13/11/09
      35.   Thabiet: You encourage murder 23:24  |  Brad 13/11/09
      36.   david nigel graham 23:33  |  potobac 13/11/09
      37.   Chaim 23:38  |  Brad 13/11/09
      38.   chaim 21 23:42  |  potobac 13/11/09
      39.   Translation 01:01  |  Mark Lincoln 14/11/09
      40.   And in Gaza and Lebanon and Iran and in Syria 02:21  |  John 14/11/09
      41.   no "ifs"about it 02:40  |  samson fox 14/11/09
      42.   one good decisive victory 03:58  |  antoinette bourbon 14/11/09
      43.   JUSTICE? is that what you call it? 04:33  |  VIPER 14/11/09
      44.   28 Ms Bourbon - Meanwhile, Let them Eat Cake 06:48  |  Mark of Lewiston 14/11/09
      45.   #14 syrian opinion - You`re quite correct 08:20  |  *BEN JABO 14/11/09
      46.   #24 Potobac 08:25  |  Malach HaMavet 14/11/09
      47.   Israel must be strong and have defensible borders. 08:26  |  B. Gold 14/11/09
      48.   I forgot to add 08:57  |  Lawyer 14/11/09
      49.   #17 SH 09:05  |  *BEN JABO 14/11/09
      50.   #16 rm - If the boycott weren`t stringent 09:06  |  *BEN JABO 14/11/09
      51.   #13 Thabiet - Cast Lead was self-induced 09:10  |  *BEN JABO 14/11/09
      52.   Mark Lincoln 09:42  |  jake 1948 14/11/09
      53.   IDF chief treatens 17:27  |  tommy 14/11/09
      54.   How free is the Free World? 18:47  |  Tom 14/11/09
      55.   #43 Silvienne - Place the blame on Hamas 16:54  |  *BEN JABO 15/11/09
      56.   #45, Thats great Benjamin BUT 16:56  |  syrian opinion 17/11/09
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