Subscribe to Print Edition | Tue., January 22, 2008 Shvat 15, 5768 | | Israel Time: 02:58 (EST+7)
Haaretz israel news English
web haaretz.com
  Back to Homepage
Rosner's Domain
Diplomacy
Defense Jewish World Opinion National
Print Edition
Advertising
Books Arts & Leisure Business Real Estate Easy Start Travel Week's End Anglo File
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, speaking at a conference in Tel Aviv on Thursday. (Reuters)
Last update - 23:06 17/01/2008
Barak vows to expand IDF operations against Qassam fire
By Yuval Azoulay, Haaretz Correspondent, Haaretz Service and News Agencies
Tags: peace process, Gaza raids 

Defense Minister Ehud Barak visited the western Negev Thursday, vowing to use the Israel Defense Forces to bring a complete end to incessant Qassam rocket fire that has plagued the area.

Barak's statements came in response to the continuing barrage of rockets that have fallen on the western Negev since Tuesday.

The defense minister also instructed the IDF to continue preparations for a major military operation in the Gaza Strip. Barak ordered Gaza crossings closed due to the fighting, Israel Radio reported.
Advertisement
Barak visited the area to assess the situation on the ground on both sides of the Gaza security fence. During his visit, he promised that "the IDF will carry out continued, decisive actions with the goal of battering the Qassam crews until they can no longer target Israel. It won't be simple and it won't happen by the end of the week, but we will bring an end to the assault on Sderot."

During his visit, Barak observed areas in the Gaza Strip where Qassam launching crews operate, and said that even though the situation of civilians in Gaza is difficult, "ours is not easy."

In regard to the killing of Carlos Chavez, a Kibbutz volunteer from Ecuador shot by a Hamas sniper while working in the fields of Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha, Barak said that "we have worked these fields for decades, and we will use the means at our disposal to ensure that we can continue to so safely."

Olmert: The IDF will not let up
The IDF will not let up its war against the Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip assaulting southern Israel with rocket fire, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Thursday.

Speaking at a business conference in Tel Aviv minutes after an Israel Air Force raid on a car in Gaza killed a militant leader and his wife, Olmert said "A war is going on in the south, every day, every night.

"The most daring and boldest of our soldiers and members of the security services are taking part in it. This war will not stop. The moment will come when the scales will tip in this war and cause the firing in the south to be different from what it is today."

"We will continue to fight the [Islamic] Jihad, Hamas and all their allies without compromise, without concessions and without mercy," the prime minister said.

He also told conference participants that Israel does not want to kill any resident of the Gaza Strip but refuses to suffer any longer from the barrage of rocket attacks.

"We have no special desire to kill any one of Gaza's residents, but we cannot and will not tolerate this unceasing fire at Israeli citizens ... so we will continue to operate, with wisdom and daring, with the maximum precision that will enable us to hit those who want to attack us."

Erekat: Talks with Israel impossible while raids continue
Earlier Thursday, Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat said negotiations with Israel are impossible as long as the IDF continues its raids on Gaza.

Erekat's comments came after two days of heavy violence between Israel and Hamas gunmen in the Gaza Strip.

Israel Air Force attacks have killed at least 25 Palestinians since Tuesday and militants in Gaza have fired more than 70 rockets at the western Negev, including at least 15 on Thursday.

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said Thursday from Moscow, where she arrived Wednesday for talks with Russian officials, that the IDF would continue its offensive in response to the ongoing rocket attacks from Gaza.

"Israel is obligated to give its citizens a response to the daily attacks coming from the Gaza Strip," she said.

"The answer is unbridled war on terror. When we speak of a Palestinian state that includes both Gaza and the West Bank, it must be clear that the situation in Gaza needs to change."

In Jordan on Thursday, parliament's lower house denounced the continuous
IDF attacks on the Palestinian territories, the official Petra news agency reported.

A senior Hamas official warned on Wednesday that the ongoing Israel Defense Forces raids on the Gaza Strip could turn negotiations over the release of abducted soldier Gilad Shalit into "a Ron Arad affair."

The warning was in reference to the Israel Air Force navigator who has been missing in action since his plane went down over Lebanon in 1986.

In an interview aired on Channel 1, Hamas official Ismail El-Muzeini, who is overseeing the Shalit matter for the group, said that if the raids continued, Hamas would cut off all contacts with Israel over the release of Shalit, who the group has been holding captive since 2006.

Earlier Wednesday, Hamas' exiled leader Khaled Meshal that IDF raids on Gaza would hurt chances of the Palestinian militant group releasing Shalit.

Meshal told reporters that recent IDF operations in the coastal strip also made Hamas less likely to negotiate any truce with Israel.

Speaking to Israeli leaders, Meshal said: "What you are doing will deny you of any plan you could be betting on: No exchange for Gilad Shalit and no truce."

Related articles:
  • Hamas: End Gaza raids or Shalit will become another Ron Arad
  • IAF kills two in Gaza car blast; 15 Qassams hit southern Israel
  • State: We need to reinforce Israelis' endurance to rocket fire, not their homes
  • Study: Most Sderot kids exhibit post-traumatic stress symptoms
  • FM: World must turn talk on Iran into action before rules of game change
    • Bookmark to del.icio.us  
     
    Message from space
    A newly-launched Israeli spy satellite sends Iran a very clear message.
    Gravediggers' plight
    Even getting buried in the Gaza Strip has gotten more complicated these days.
      1.   did`nt erakat say he would not negotiate with a jewish state ? 13:25  |  nachson 17/01/08
      2.   Arab Logic 13:27  |  RF 17/01/08
      3.   Is Erekat a Hamasnik or what? 13:29  |  Nora 17/01/08
      4.   Medical reports state that israel has been using banned weapons 13:30  |  lakshmi 17/01/08
      5.   Pitiful Israel,pitiful Livni,conceding to Hamas and strong on wor 13:40  |  Absolute Sweden 17/01/08
      6.   Erekat 13:47  |  Roland 17/01/08
      7.   Listening to Arabs will make your head spin 13:53  |  Jeffrey 17/01/08
      8.   HAMASS THE BALL IS IN YOUR COURT 13:56  |  NEIL GOLAN 17/01/08
      9.   LIKE ABBAS, EREKAT WAS AFRAID TO DEATH 13:56  |  indrajaya 17/01/08
      10.   SAME HERE 13:59  |  NEIL 17/01/08
      11.   Erekat: just a meerkat? 14:07  |  Star of David 17/01/08
      12.   Negotiations with Pal are impossible as long as rockets and morta 14:07  |  Taszilo 17/01/08
      13.   Erekat is right: Israel has tried every violent means and failed 14:13  |  Ivar 17/01/08
      14.   NO to talking with the wolves 14:31  |  Brod 17/01/08
      15.   the rockets will stop when the seige lifts 14:32  |  muslim 17/01/08
      16.   The Gaza Pogrom 14:33  |  David 17/01/08
      17.   IDF Death Squads are are on a mission in Gaza to kill 14:41  |  POP 17/01/08
      18.   Israel Air Force Raid 14:52  |  Clickfool 17/01/08
      19.   #12 The Gaza Pogrom should continue 15:00  |  Star of David 17/01/08
      20.   It Must be clear that NO political gain is to be made by arabs 15:01  |  Joseph E . 17/01/08
      21.   the siege will lift when Hamas says it wants peace 15:11  |  Joe Sittizen 17/01/08
      22.   Clickfool 17 15:14  |  ChanahS 17/01/08
      23.   Lebanon was pacified, Gaza will be too 15:16  |  Rick and TC 17/01/08
      24.   Continue hitting Hamas harder 15:26  |  John 17/01/08
      25.   response to clickfool #17 `Israel Air Force Raid` 15:27  |  Danalogue 17/01/08
      26.   23. lebanon is happy izzy gone (no occupation) 15:29  |  muslim 17/01/08
      27.   Erefat`s impossibilities 15:30  |  utagawa 17/01/08
      28.   19. star of khazar? you are as dishonest as your name 15:32  |  muslim 17/01/08
      29.   Abbas and Erekat can`t stop missiles but Arab leaders can 15:35  |  Sam 17/01/08
      30.   For RF: Israeli logic 15:35  |  sh 17/01/08
      31.   olmert says no end to war 15:40  |  marcel 17/01/08
      32.   #13 ivar in estonia and the crossed wires 15:46  |  v hardman 17/01/08
      33.   Facts on the Ground 15:50  |  Samuel 17/01/08
      34.   Message # 18 is boring old Mossad Fake Clickfool again 15:52  |  Clickfool 17/01/08
      35.   Indrajaya,Clickfool,POP,muslim & friends,there is an article by 15:54  |  lakshmi 17/01/08
      36.   For Danalogue # 25 15:55  |  Clickfool 17/01/08
      37.   Israel cast the first stone not the Pals. 15:57  |  Dav 17/01/08
      38.   muslim 26 15:57  |  ChanahS 17/01/08
      39.   26 Why is Lebanon so quiet since 8.2006 ? 15:57  |  Rick and TC 17/01/08
      40.   #22 ChanahS 16:03  |  Dav 17/01/08
      41.   EREKATS AN UNREASONABLE HAMAS ALLIE SNAKE. WHY CANT THE IDF WEAKE 16:04  |  J 17/01/08
      42.   29 Sam,there is a Palestine already,there has been one since the 16:07  |  lakshmi 17/01/08
      43.   Gaza Solution 16:08  |  Abdul Aziz Higazi 17/01/08
      44.   26, Maybe we should Nahr el-Barad-ify Gaza 16:14  |  Rick and TC 17/01/08
      45.   PLO Declaration of Independence in 1988!: BULLSHIT 16:16  |  akiva (zionist) 17/01/08
      46.   lakshmi,@#42 16:19  |  akivapatysh 17/01/08
      47.   to end the vile siege@#42 16:21  |  akiva (zionist) 17/01/08
      48.   38. shanahS? you are not paying attention and your lies are bore 16:21  |  muslim 17/01/08
      49.   zion fears peace 16:27  |  muslim 17/01/08
      50.   And Hamas will continue to wage war on Israelis firing missiles 16:27  |  Murray 17/01/08
      51.   Either brain washed or ignorant 16:28  |  Hassan 17/01/08
      52.   now when the acupation ended they cry that they are under siege. 16:34  |  akiva (zionist) 17/01/08
      53.   Lakshmi,I deal in reality.You deal in fantasy + wishful thinking 16:35  |  Sam 17/01/08
      54.   PA Wont Negotiate? 16:43  |  Sam 17/01/08
      55.   Three new standpoints - and only one missing 16:47  |  Outsider 17/01/08
      56.   #49 esapee from an institution writes as muslim 16:53  |  v hardman 17/01/08
      57.   what is really needed is the following. 17:03  |  Simon Mohammed 17/01/08
      58.   #43 Abdul Aziz Higazi 17:15  |  Giora 17/01/08
      59.   # 51 Hassan, My response to your off the cuff comments... 17:18  |  Max Zinger P.Chimist 17/01/08
      60.   53 Sam,except that you use `classy` words like fantasy,you are in 17:43  |  lakshmi 17/01/08
      61.   Dav # 40 - load of crock, and you know it 17:54  |  ChanahS 17/01/08
      62.   Lakshmi # 42 17:55  |  ChanahS 17/01/08
      63.   has my post w. atleast 4 pos. sol`s appeared? 17:58  |  bozhidar balkas 17/01/08
      64.   muslim 47 17:59  |  ChanahS 17/01/08
      65.   And now Qassems have been moved... 18:04  |  Avi 17/01/08
      66.   No Peace Partner 18:06  |  Norman F Birnberg 17/01/08
      67.   Lakshmi-"Israel has no choice" 18:06  |  Sam 17/01/08
      68.   # 48 muslim...they weren`t always 18:23  |  Lynn 17/01/08
      69.