Sharon orders IDF to use all means to stop Qassam rocket attacks from Gaza Strip

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon ordered senior defense officials yesterday to use all means at their disposal to stop the launching of Qassam rockets from the Gaza Strip at communities in the Negev.

"I issued an unequivocal directive to the heads of the defense establishment that there are no restrictions on the means used to strike at the terrorists, members of the terror organizations, their equipment and their hideouts," Sharon said at yesterday's weekly cabinet meeting.

Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said the closure of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank will continue until after the eight-day Hanukkah festival that began last night. He also ordered increased security during the holiday due to the large number of warnings about the intention of Islamic Jihad and other organizations to carry out attacks within Israel.

Mofaz said he has directed the Israel Defense Forces to pursue a policy of intensive operations and targeted killings of Palestinian militants following last week's Qassam rocket fire. He said the targeted killings have proved to be effective.

Mofaz said the IDF is using artillery fire and aerial strikes to prevent Palestinians from entering the northern Gaza Strip areas from which the rockets were launched.

He said the government intends to make available a further NIS 125 million to complete a plan to protect Israeli towns in the so-called "Gaza envelope" from Qassam rockets, noting that the government had approved a comprehensive, NIS 210 million plan a few months ago but that only NIS 85 million had been disbursed.

Yesterday morning's cabinet meeting marked Sharon's return to his regular work schedule for the first time since suffering a mild stroke on December 18. Ministers who attended the meeting said Sharon smiled a lot and tried to show that he's running things as usual and is untroubled by the state of his health.

As the meeting started, Sharon wished Israel's Christian citizens a Merry Christmas and added best wishes for a happy Hanukkah for all the citizens of Israel. Smiling broadly, Sharon got a big laugh when he added: "I hope you'll eat sufganiyot (jelly doughnuts) and latkes (potato pancakes). Eating is permissible, but I recommend that you not overdo it." Sharon's doctors have ordered him to lose a lot of weight.

One minister said after the meeting: "For several years now I have sat at the cabinet table and seen Sharon's great lust for sandwiches, bourekas and cakes and it's hard for me to believe he'll be capable of abstaining from all the dishes he loves."

Another minister, who asked not to be named, responded with a snigger to Sharon's "medical file" as published in Friday's Yedioth Ahronoth. "The published data was only partial. They did not include the cholesterol level and triglycerides as well as the glucose level, liver functions and so on. The various findings regarding Sharon's weight are also odd. One newspaper wrote that he weighs 117 kilograms and another, 140 kilograms. Which data are we supposed to believe?" he said.