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IDF Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Gabi Ashkenazi. (Tess Scheflan / Jini)
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Barak: Road to ending Qassams is long but success is possible
By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: Gaza Strip, IDF, sanctions 

The defense establishment is working diligently to end the fire of Qassam rockets from the Gaza Strip, but accomplishment of the task is still a long way off, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said on Wednesday.

"The task of ending Qassam fire has still not been reached and the road is still long," Barak told delegates at a National Security Institute conference in Tel Aviv.

Barak said that the situation in the Gaza Strip was difficult and complicated, but "as we have found solutions in the past, here too we will find the solution. We are working on this endlessly and the solution will require condsideration and responsibility."
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"I hope we will not reach a situation of no choice that would necessitate us to do what, up until now, we have no wanted to do," he added, apparently in reference to military actions in Gaza.

Barak said that the Israel Defense Force has recently expanded its operations in the Gaza Strip, including incursions deep into the territory. He sressed that these actions have brought "very successful results and the deaths of dozens of terrorists in the last two weeks."

Still, he added that "next to the deaths of terrorists and the increased sanctions today [Wednesday] there were 17 Qassams fired on Sderot, and we know that the task of ending the Qassam fire has still not been achieved at the path is still long."

IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi said Wednesday that though daily strikes against Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip were having a positive impact, a major military offensive was becoming more likely.

Ashkenazi spoke mere hours after a barrage of at least 17 Qassam rockets, fired from Gaza, slammed into the western Negev.

Speaking at a conference in Tel Aviv on security issues, Lieutenant General Ashkenazi said that daily IDF incursions into the coastal territory were hurting militants, but could not be decisive in curbing attacks against Israel.

"We are operating in Gaza on a daily basis. [On Tuesday] we returned from a broad operation - this brings a reduction in the ground threat and the firing of rockets but does not stop it," Ashkenazi said. "We will come to the point where we will have to carry out the big operation."

Also Wednesday, the security cabinet met to discuss the IDF's actions in the Gaza Strip.

Senior security officials told the cabinet that there has been a marked decline in Palestinian support for Hamas in Gaza, due to Israeli sanctions recently imposed on the population of the coastal territory.

The meeting participants were told that the sanctions, which include a reduction in fuel shipments, will be tightened in the near future.

The ministers in attendance did not reach a decision on whether to embark on a large-scale invasion of the Gaza Strip in response to Qassam fire, though a senior official said that "Israel gets closer to the operation every day."

The meeting was attended by several senior military officials, including Ashkenazi; head of the IDF operations division, Brigadier General Aviv Kochavi; Yuval Diskin, head of the Shin Bet security service and several senior Military Intelligence officials.

Foreign Ministry officials also briefed the meeting participants.

Regarding the ongoing Qassam fire, the cabinet told the defense establishment to continue its pinpointed activities in Gaza against Hamas and other militant groups responsible for firing rockets and mortars.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert vowed to remove the threat of Qassam rockets from the southern part of the country.

"The situation in the south of the country, in light of the Qassam rocket fire, has generated a difficult reality," Olmert told an Institute for National Security Studies conference in Tel Aviv Tuesday night.

"We will have to act on this matter in the necessary manner, with the appropriate dose and the right timing, without exaggerating and creating unrealistic expectations. We will not rest until the Qassam rocket threat is completely removed from Sderot and the western Negev."

A total of 970 rockets and 1,200 mortar shells have been fired at Israel from Gaza since the start of 2007.

A political source said that Wednesday's meeting was one in a series of discussions on the Gaza Strip. The IDF provided figures on its operations in the coastal territories, which show that the military carried out 115 operations since May 2007 in Gaza. Most of the strikes were designed to distance militants from rocket launching sites.

Some two months ago, the cabinet decided on a series of sanctions that would hit the civilian infrastructure of Gaza, including a reduction in electricity and fuel supply. However, several legal opinions on the matter have since rendered most of the cabinet decisions irrelevant.

Since May 2007, 158 militants were killed and 173 were injured in IDF operations.


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  • 6 Palestinians killed during major IDF operation in Gaza
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      1.   Declining? 13:30  |  Vital 12/12/07
      2.   No you`re not 15:49  |  Steve from Raleigh 12/12/07
      3.   15 Kassams -a -day: What a wonderful day... 15:50  |  Nora 12/12/07
      4.   Stop Talking Start Shooting 15:58  |  Straight Talk 12/12/07
      5.   A major military offensive 16:20  |  Boris 12/12/07
      6.   GAZA INVASION 16:50  |  AVI 12/12/07
      7.   Hamas offered a truce 17:05  |  Steve 12/12/07
      8.   Babbling hogwash 17:07  |  S 12/12/07
      9.   Not much rest... 17:16  |  Murray 12/12/07
      10.   Hamas is itching for a fight 17:24  |  Mark Lincoln 12/12/07
      11.   to Mark Lincoln #2 17:40  |  dovale 12/12/07
      12.   Crying Wolf Again! 17:54  |  Bill Foonman 12/12/07
      13.   More political double speek translated to mean: 18:02  |  Jew 12/12/07
      14.   less talk and more action might prove effective 18:15  |  victor hardman 12/12/07
      15.   The american chair of the joint chiefs of staff is currently in 18:16  |  lakshmi 12/12/07
      16.   #9 Bill Funnyman cut the c....p 18:26  |  PJ 12/12/07
      17.   Steve: Hamas & truces 18:40  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 12/12/07
      18.   lakshmi - Do you know will happen when Israel will start a real 18:50  |  bf 12/12/07
      19.   TO NO 5. 18:54  |  DANNY. 12/12/07
      20.   Major Operation in Gaza needed 18:59  |  Steve Gure 12/12/07
      21.   Lakshmi No 15 19:06  |  Daniel 12/12/07
      22.   Major offensive 19:08  |  Edifice 12/12/07
      23.   The NIE report on Iran clears the decks for IDF offensive 19:13  |  Voice of Reason 12/12/07
      24.   To bf (#18) 19:21  |  Morris Valentine 12/12/07
      25.   TO MARGIE IN TEL-AVIV. 19:29  |  DANNY. 12/12/07
      26.   order , unleash our messengers 19:32  |  Joseph E . 12/12/07
      27.   Remove Arabs and the Quassam Rockets Threat Will Stop 19:35  |  Joseph E . 12/12/07
      28.   18bf,and Daniel,bf there is a correct reply by one of the posters 19:45  |  lakshmi 12/12/07
      29.   For Mark Lincoln # 10 19:46  |  Clickfool 12/12/07
      30.   Voice of reason,annapolis was a smokescreen not only for israel`s 19:50  |  lakshmi 12/12/07
      31.   Hamas trying to destroy peace talks 19:51  |  Conroy 12/12/07
      32.   When will Haaretz stop publishing idiotic statements? 19:53  |  Albert Einstein 12/12/07
      33.   Morris Valentine 24 ending Annapolis track not much of a threat 20:06  |  Briton 12/12/07
      34.   To Briton (#33) 20:31  |  Morris Valentine 12/12/07
      35.   Gaza Campaign? 20:35  |  P. J. Casey 12/12/07
      36.   To Occupant, 112 Mercer St, Princeton, NJ (#32) 20:42  |  Morris Valentine 12/12/07
      37.   To Lakshmi (#28) 20:53  |  Morris Valentine 12/12/07
      38.   The Palestinians Again Fail to Get It 20:57  |  Dave Levy (Zionist) 12/12/07
      39.   After decades of war, any doubt that anyone doesn`t stand alone? 21:06  |  christoph 12/12/07
      40.   Citizens Of Gaza Must Decide 21:33  |  juniper 12/12/07
      41.   Move supreme court and families to SDEROT 21:41  |  Ronnbo 12/12/07
      42.   clickfool # 29 funny thing there clicky,hezbollah lost about 9 21:43  |  terrornator 12/12/07
      43.   Come back to reality 21:53  |  just a jew 12/12/07
      44.   Gaza invasion way over due 21:55  |  Avi 12/12/07
      45.   #7 Steve MN 22:14  |  * BEN JABO 12/12/07
      46.   #9 Murray - Milan 22:18  |  * BEN JABO 12/12/07
      47.   HAMAS TRUCE OFFER 22:47  |  Mark of Lewiston 12/12/07
      48.   Withdraw from Gaza, give peace a chance, not anymore 22:50  |  Jack 12/12/07
      49.   Road is short 22:55  |  Jan Elshout 12/12/07
      50.   #15 lakshmi 23:18  |  * BEN JABO 12/12/07
      51.   SUPER POWER 23:30  |  Commonsense 12/12/07
      52.   to AVI # 6 00:04  |  Judah N. Wenkel 13/12/07
      53.   36Morris Valentine,no problems but let me explain,if you have not 00:18  |  lakshmi 13/12/07
      54.   Ending Rocket Attacks 00:20  |  Brod 13/12/07
      55.   contd.Morris Valentine,the beneficiaries were the people living 00:25  |  lakshmi 13/12/07
      56.   #17 Margie seems to forget her facts 01:08  |  Johnboy 13/12/07
      57.   #29 01:19  |  danny 13/12/07
      58.   "Situation`s complicated" ,beloved saying of Barak,like before 01:39  |  Absolute Sweden 13/12/07
      59.   Lakshmi again (no 28) 01:41  |  Daniel 13/12/07
      60.   Prompt reply by Morris Valentine No 34 02:10  |  Briton 13/12/07
      61.   Israeli Learning Curve 02:13  |  Ron 13/12/07
      62.   34Morris Valentine,I have already posted my response to you,in 2 03:08  |  lakshmi 13/12/07
      63.   #44 Johnboy - Explain why Arab families 03:26  |  * BEN JABO 13/12/07
      64.   To Briton (#45) 03:31  |  Morris Valentine 13/12/07
      65.   No way 03:47  |  jjvanka 13/12/07
      66.   44 videogameboy lies all over again 04:00  |  peter 13/12/07
      67.   Lakshmi 04:20  |  Arab 13/12/07
      68.   More Barak BS 05:01  |  Tod Zuckerman 13/12/07
      69.   Johnboy not telling the truth again 05:27  |  Free Gilad Shalit 13/12/07
      70.   Johnboy-wrong about what killed that family. 05:42  |  Stephen in New York 13/12/07
      71.   #49-#50 Yeah, of course, they just fell on the shells! 08:06  |  Johnboy 13/12/07
      72.   #50 Complete nonsense, Stephen 08:27  |  Johnboy 13/12/07
      73.   #50 peter does his best David Teich impersonation 08:52  |  Johnboy 13/12/07
      74.   #63 *BEN JABO puts his finger on the reason 10:07  |  Johnboy 13/12/07
      75.   54 Brod in Fantasy Land 10:07  |  Mark of Lewiston 13/12/07
      76.   Hypocrisy 12:10  |  Murray 13/12/07
      77.   #76 Murray of Milan, Why not say nothing, and look intelligent? 13:31  |  Albert Einstein 13/12/07
      78.   The intelligent response from 112 Mercer St. 17:36  |  Murray 13/12/07