Israel Preparing to Retake Gaza Strip
By JOSEF FEDERMAN
JERUSALEM (AP) - 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.
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