Untitled Document
Summary:
It appears that the ‘historic’ pullout of the Gaza Strip
that Sharon orchestrated less than a year ago is already over.
Hidden in the legislature that made it law is a clause that allows
any future occupation of the Gaza Strip as deemed necessary for the all-too-familiar
“security reasons.”
Fast forward to Hamas being elected and now we have the circumstances
in which Israel will use to invade the Gaza Strip.
One step forward, two steps backward…
[Posted By NievedeNoche]
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By JOSEF FEDERMAN
Republished from Forbes.com
Former Mossad spy: the entire Hamas Cabinet is now
a legitimate target for assassination
In a growing barrage of Israeli pressure against Hamas, a senior military commander
said Israel is actively preparing to reoccupy the Gaza Strip and a powerful
lawmaker said the entire Palestinian Cabinet could be targeted for assassination
after the appointment of a wanted militant to head a new security force.
Officials said there were no immediate plans to strike at the Hamas-led government.
But the comments reflected rising Israeli impatience with the Islamic militant
group, which has refused to renounce violence, defended a suicide bombing in
Tel Aviv this week and failed to halt militant rocket fire from the Gaza Strip.
“If the price we have to pay becomes unreasonable as a result of increased
attacks, then we shall have to take all steps, including occupying the Gaza
Strip,” Maj. Gen. Yoav Galant, head of Israel’s southern command,
told the Maariv daily.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told Turkey’s state-run news agency
Friday that reoccupation of the Gaza Strip would be a “deadly mistake.”
Israel withdrew from Gaza last summer, ending 38 years of military occupation.
Since the pullout, militants have fired rockets into southern Israel on a nearly
daily basis.
Tensions were further heightened on Thursday when Hamas said it was forming
a new security force commanded by Jamal Abu Samhadana, who heads a group responsible
for many of the rocket attacks and is a suspect in a deadly attack on an American
convoy.
Israeli lawmaker Danny Yatom, a retired head of the Mossad spy agency, said
that not only Samhadana but the entire Hamas Cabinet is now a legitimate target
for assassination.
“I understand that our sights are also trained on Hamas ministers, not
only on the police chief,” Yatom told Israel Radio. “Nobody who
deals with terror can have immunity by any means, even if he holds a ministerial
portfolio in the Hamas government.”
Yatom, a member of the center-left Labor Party, did not name any particular
minister as a potential target.
During five years of fighting, Israel has killed dozens of militants in “targeted
killings.” Samhadana is high on Israel’s wanted list and has been
the target of at least one attempted Israeli assassination.
“We have old scores to settle with this murderer,” Israeli Cabinet
minister Zeev Boim told Israel Radio. “He has no immunity and we will
have to settle this score sooner or later.”
Samhadana’s group, the Popular Resistance Committees, has launched dozens
of homemade rockets at Israel in recent weeks. It also is suspected of involvement
in the October 2003 bombing in Gaza of a U.S. Embassy convoy, which killed three
American security guards.
U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the formation of the new
Palestinian police force showed “the true nature and the true tactics
of this particular Hamas-led government.” The United States will still
hold the Palestinian Authority responsible for stopping terror attacks, he said.
Hamas, which is sworn to Israel’s destruction, has largely observed a
cease-fire with Israel since February 2005. But since taking office last month,
the Hamas leadership has said attacks carried out by other groups, including
Monday’s suicide bombing that killed nine, are justified.
Israel says it holds Hamas responsible for all the violence, though defense
officials are still weighing whether to begin attacking Hamas targets directly.
Galant, the Israeli commander, said patience is wearing thin with Hamas. He
said the army is preparing for a range of responses to the rocket fire.
“It could be anything from a partial occupation of the Gaza Strip to
a full occupation,” he told Maariv, adding that the plans have been approved
by senior officials, including Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz.
Israel has responded to the rocket attacks with airstrikes and artillery fire
on suspected launch sites. Israeli security officials concede it is very difficult
to halt the primitive weapons, which are airborne for just 15 to 20 seconds
and are hard to detect.
Israel already has made two brief incursions into Gaza in recent days to search
for explosives. But defense officials said the odds of a large-scale operation
or full occupation are slim because of financial and political constraints.
“I wouldn’t want to reach that situation, but if it’s forced
upon us we have a plan to occupy the strip,” Galant said. “We are
in advanced stages of preparing forces for readiness. There is a practical plan
and there are forces which are designated for specific operations and are training
for them.”
Israel is reluctant to go back into Gaza after spending hundreds of millions
of dollars to withdraw and overcoming staunch internal political opposition.
In addition, Israel is pleased with the international pressure on Hamas and
fears military action could jeopardize that.
Galant’s threat of a reoccupation could in part be aimed at an Israeli
public outraged over the rocket fire. It could also be meant to put pressure
on Hamas to halt the attacks.
Hamas defeated the long-dominant Fatah Party in January legislative elections,
and its new Cabinet was sworn into office late last month.
The appointment of Samhadana was the latest step in a growing power struggle
between Hamas and Abbas, a moderate who leads the Fatah party.
Soon after the new Cabinet was sworn in last month, Abbas appointed a longtime
ally to head three security services that were supposed to fall under Hamas
command. Abbas controls several other security services directly.