Over 60 Qassam rockets have landed in Sderot, Ashkelon and the western Negev over the past two days and the barrages continue.
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| The price of restraint / Alex Fishman |
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Israeli indecision in face of rocket attacks emboldens Hamas, guarantees escalation |
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In light of the situation Defense Minister Ehud Barak
warned on Thursday that Israel
must prepare for a further escalation
of the tensions and reiterated that Israel would not be afraid to launch a large-scale ground incursion in the Gaza Strip to put an end to the incessant attacks. "We are not afraid of taking such a step," Barak said.
The defense minister said that Israel would strike at those responsible for the attacks and vowed that Hamas would pay for its actions.
But alongside tactical preparations, Barak also ventured into the political arena and sought to clarify Israel's position to regional and international leaders. The minister spoke on Thursday with the Quartet's Middle East Envoy Tony Blair, Egyptian Intelligence Minister Omar Suliman and impressed upon them that Israel would no longer be able to tolerate the current situation.
Barak paid a visit on Wednesday evening to the Sapir College in southern Israel, where 47-year-old Roni Yechiah was killed by a Qassam rocket earlier that day. "A solution to the Qassams will be found faster than what most people believe," Barak told local community leaders."
President Shimon Peres
also paid a visit to Sapir on Thursday. Accompanied by Education Minister Yuli Tamir, the president laid a wreath at an impromptu memorial for Yechiah and observing a moment of silence in his memory.
"Sapir favors peace and progress and now Gaza must decide how it wants to live – in peace or as a victim of terror and war," Peres told students and academics from the college as well as municipal leaders from the Gaza vicinity communities. The president vowed to work towards diverting larger budgets to the
rocket-stricken area.
Peres said he saluted the residents of the area and the thousands of Sapir students who have proven "their power of endurance." The presidents also issued a call to Palestinians living in the nearby Gaza Strip, saying that Israelis "are not going anywhere."
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