ANALYSIS: Gov't has mostly bad options in dealing with Gaza ........

[kayecy]

By Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff, Haaretz Correspondents , Sunday 2nd March 2008

As in many of these incidents, the minute the IDF suffered casualties, they used massive gunfire to gain access to the wounded and dead, and to avoid more Israeli casualties. For their part, the Palestinian gunmen took up positions in homes, while the civilians were still inside. Under such circumstances, it is obvious that the number of civilian deaths, including children, will be great. Moreover, the operation took place at the peak of a period of escalating fighting, which began Wednesday morning with an IDF air strike in Khan Yunis, which killed five Hamas militants


On Friday one had the impression that Hamas was trying to end the current cycle of violence, and therefore fired considerably fewer Qassam rockets (nine compared with about 40 per day over the previous two days). But the decision in Israel was to continue the attacks, the intention being to prevent Hamas from dictating the pace of the confrontation, or its intensity.


Reference: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/959839.html

[Lithos]

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