Olmert: Meeting 'strictly confidential'
Photo: Dudi Vaaknin
Security cabinet postpones decision on Gaza action
Political-security cabinet meets to discuss Israeli response to Qassam attacks from Gaza but fails to reach decision; IDF told to continue 'standard operations' against terror activity
The political-security cabinet delayed a decision on how to respond to increasing terror activity in the Gaza Strip after a three-hour meeting Sunday.
The ministers discussed how Israel should respond to the strengthening of Hamas, the smuggling of weapons into Gaza and the continued Qassam rocket attacks on Israeli communities. The political-security cabinet is slated to convene next week to resume talks.
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In the meantime the defense establishment was ordered to continue standard anti-terror operations. An additional procedure was approved but its details remained confidential.
The IDF's request to expand ground operations against the threats in Gaza was not given the go-ahead, however.
Thirteen ministers, including Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, participated in the meeting. As the discussion started, Olmert requested that its contents remain strictly confidential, and even demanded the ministers remove their cell phone batteries to ensure no information was leaked.
Debriefings
Most of the meeting was devoted to debriefings by intelligence and military officials. The IDF representatives described the situation in Gaza, including the strengthening of Hamas and plans by various Palestinian groups to carry out terror attacks against Israel.
The army officials said there was a definite increase in Palestinian terror, evident in increased Qassam attacks, attempts to plant explosives, shooting attacks, and apparent plans to kidnap soldiers and dig tunnels into Israeli territory.
The IDF and Shin Bet warned that the anarchy in the Palestinian Authority could worsen the situation for Israel. The army officials presented a series of operative plans, which they called "Incidents and Responses."
Although the cabinet did not approve boosting army operations in Gaza, Olmert noted that in exceptional cases additional action could be swiftly approved by himself and Defense Minister Amir Peretz.
Ahead of the meeting, a number of cabinet ministers said they supported increasing military operations inside the Strip, but most of them stressed that the campaign should be short and cautious.
