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Defense Minister Ehud Barak and his entourage touring Kibbutz Nir Oz on Thursday. (Yehuda Lahiani)
Last update - 01:36 06/06/2008
Olmert hints major Gaza operation is imminent
By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent, Haaretz Service and News Agencies
Tags: Ehud Barak, Defense Minister 

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told reporters on his plane bound for Israel on Thursday just prior to departure that "it would appear we are very close to a decisive crossroads in Gaza," intimating that a major military operation is in the offing.

"The people of Israel have reason to be pleased with the results of the visit to the U.S. in relation to all sensitive security matters concerning the future of the state," Olmert said.

When asked earlier by reporters accompanying him in Washington if the time had come for a large-scale Israeli ground offensive into Gaza, Olmert was noncommittal.
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"We are not eager for a military operation," he said. "But we are not shying away from one."

"The way it looks now, we are closer to a military operation in Gaza than we are to any other type of [diplomatic] arrangement," the premier said. "We are close to a decisive crossroads in Gaza, both in terms of setting a timetable as well as pinpointing the exact problem. We have a real problem in Gaza, and I spoke about it throughout the course of all my talks in the U.S."

When asked about the Egyptian-mediate cease-fire in the works, Olmert said: "Israel's conditions for calm have yet to present themselves. I can't at the moment claim to know what exactly Hamas is offering us."

Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Thursday that the Israel Defense Forces would open a broad operation in the Gaza Strip before an Egyptian-mediated truce takes effect.

The defense minister, who has repeatedly threatened an invasion, spoke while touring Kibbutz Nir Oz, where a 51-year-old Israeli man was killed earlier in the day by a mortar shell fired from the nearby Gaza Strip.

"The military operation is closer than ever, and it will precede the cease-fire," Barak said, adding: "We are nearing the day of reckoning in the Gaza Strip, in which we will decide whether to go in the direction of an agreement of calm or a wide military operation."

Finance Minister Roni Bar-On, a close Olmert confidant, called for a military move. "The Gaza problem must be solved in Gaza," he told Israel Radio.

Next week, Olmert is expected to convene his security cabinet, a forum of
senior government ministers, to discuss the violence in Gaza, defense
officials said.

The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity under military guidelines, said most members of the Security Cabinet oppose a Gaza cease-fire now.

Israel fears that Hamas would use the lull to rearm and has demanded that any agreement include assurances that Hamas halt arms smuggling across its border with Egypt.

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      1.   Barak - Yada, Yada 21:17  |  Tod Zuckerman 05/06/08
      2.   It is time to cease talking! It is time to act, as we know! 21:18  |  Avner 05/06/08
      3.   Mirror, mirror... 21:31  |  David 05/06/08
      4.   Best Defence is.... 21:36  |  BobUSA 05/06/08
      5.   This they need to aannounce! 21:39  |  Shlomo 05/06/08
      6.   S.O.S... 21:43  |  Henry Gerson 05/06/08
      7.   Barak and Olmert 21:46  |  Yits 05/06/08
      8.   By the time he acts hamas will be safely hidden away 21:59  |  Nach 05/06/08
      9.   We will kill you first, then have a truce 21:59  |  Aphemia 05/06/08
      10.   kill their children..exterminate them....send them to Auschwitz 22:02  |  observer 05/06/08
      11.   Gaza 22:07  |  Edifice 05/06/08
      12.   No willpowerfrom Achora (backward),meansopposite ofKadima(forward 22:07  |  Ben Menachem 05/06/08
      13.   Enough Barak 22:20  |  Proud Israeli 05/06/08
      14.   enough playing. Take over Gaza. 22:22  |  Joey 05/06/08
      15.   Barak, you are losing votes! Quit the government! 22:25  |  redmike 05/06/08
      16.   Barak 22:31  |  Chaim 05/06/08
      17.   Israel is scared Hamas will when 22:34  |  Wendy 05/06/08
      18.   Exit Strategy After "Gaza Op" 22:46  |  ZADOK 05/06/08
      19.   Okay Israel, we can understand but you still have to understand 22:53  |  Mark B. 05/06/08
      20.   END GAZA TRADE ! 22:58  |  Rick & TC 05/06/08
      21.   Barak + Government Pathetics 23:03  |  gabriel 05/06/08
      22.   Barak go hide somewhere 23:07  |  Sunny Barkats 05/06/08
      23.   Here comes your truce, you baby killing scum ^_^ 23:11  |  Denise Thompson 05/06/08
      24.   Clown Barak issues his umptieth "last warning" 23:36  |  Absolute Sweden 05/06/08
      25.   Sounds Familiar 23:38  |  Andrew 05/06/08
      26.   Not that I advocate war, but I`d rather see action vs dithering 23:41  |  Richard S 05/06/08
      27.   Why Not Just Tell Them What Time? 23:55  |  Jane 05/06/08
      28.   Gaza invasion 23:57  |  james phillips 05/06/08
      29.   Blah, blah, blah 00:34  |  David 06/06/08
      30.   Talk tough, do nothing 00:39  |  Judith 06/06/08
      31.   The Gaza diversion 01:05  |  Tosefta 06/06/08
      32.   Of course you are shying away from it, Barak. 01:09  |  Fortuna Benmayor 06/06/08
      33.   Truce? 01:11  |  Frank 06/06/08
      34.   You isolated them, you committed collective punishment... 01:12  |  Maureen Ann 06/06/08
      35.   Hmm i bet the minute Abbas-Hamas begin Unity Talks "Israel" will. 01:38  |  MOE 06/06/08
      36.   Hope it doesnt clash with 01:52  |  Chris Linthwaite 06/06/08
      37.   zionist 02:41  |  Jew against Olmert 06/06/08
      38.   Zionist.. FOLLOWUP 02:43  |  Jew against Olmert 06/06/08
      39.   Gaza 02:47  |  Bobby 06/06/08
      40.   Major smoke-screening blah blah for Olmert imminent too 02:48  |  Fortuna Benmayor 06/06/08
      41.   Barak the talker 03:09  |  Zion 06/06/08
      42.   hamas 03:11  |  zechariah 06/06/08
      43.   Olmert warns Hamas to be prepared... 03:16  |  Avi 06/06/08
      44.   He can talk the talk but can`t walk the walk 03:22  |  Gilbert 06/06/08
      45.   Are these Ehud`s waiting for Moshich? 03:30  |  Akiva P 06/06/08
      46.   How many times have we heard this sentence? 03:33  |  Pervert 06/06/08
      47.   Maybe this time it will work after Mr.Abbas Call 03:35  |  Simon Mohamed 06/06/08
      48.   Pacification of Gaza 03:44  |  Clicksage 06/06/08
      49.   The sooner the better 04:14  |  Conroy 06/06/08
      50.   Very close or very , very close --Confession of Insane man 04:26  |  Sal 06/06/08
      51.   Olmert`s last desperate grasp at power 04:59  |  Fred Michaelsberg 06/06/08
      52.   Hint 05:02  |  Sushie 06/06/08
      53.   Careless talk 05:06  |  Joshua 06/06/08
      54.   #11 Maureen Ann - They isolated themselves 05:11  |  * BEN JABO 06/06/08
      55.   And I thought a cease-fire was imminent, or a major breakthrough 05:12  |  Smadar 06/06/08
      56.   Stop dangling the "Major Operation Carrot" 05:13  |  * BEN JABO 06/06/08
      57.   #11, Maureen Ann... 05:38  |  Silvienne 06/06/08
      58.   Desmond Tutu 06:29  |  Howard Tabachnick 06/06/08
      59.   Information about Gaza operation. 10:17  |  David Nigel Braham 06/06/08
      60.   All of us know better 16:11  |  Jim 06/06/08
      61.   Simon Mohamed # 24 Maybe Abbas Will Wink Instead 17:08  |  Jeff Northridge 06/06/08
      62.   Go for it !!!! 17:13  |  spyguy 06/06/08
      63.   Who autorised the Kasams and mortars fire? 17:18  |  Yusuf 06/06/08
      64.   why tosefta is wrong 17:33  |  byron 06/06/08
      65.   Crying Wolf, and Mr. Abbas 18:15  |  khairi janbek 06/06/08
      66.   Gaza redux 18:20  |  Pani puri 06/06/08
      67.   Training IDF in Counterinsurgency 18:24  |  Mark of Lewiston 06/06/08
      68.   Iran is present at our borders. 18:28  |  Jean Van Daem 06/06/08
      69.   Clicksage - Hows that Working Out? 18:34  |  Mark of Lewiston 06/06/08
      70.   How close Olmert? Maniana? 18:34  |  Nechama