Israel Weighs Ground Operation as Cease-fire Pressure Grows

by Shlomo Cesana, Daniel Siryoti, Lilach Shoval, Yoni Hirsch and Israel Hayom Staff

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tells ministers: No green light yet for ground move in Gaza • Secretary of State John Kerry offers U.S. help to reach cease-fire • IDF: Since start of operation, Hamas has not been able to do anything it planned to do.

Israeli troops wait near the Gaza border, Sunday | Photo credit: Ziv Koren

Israeli troops have gathered on the Gaza border, awaiting an order to go in, but it is still unclear if that order will come. On Sunday night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened the Diplomatic-Security Cabinet and told ministers that he was not yet giving the green light for a ground operation.

Netanyahu also updated ministers on the continuing cease-fire efforts, which have yet to bear fruit. He also spoke on Sunday with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who told Netanyahu that the U.S. supported Israel's right to defend itself. The secretary of state strongly criticized Hamas, but also offered U.S. help in reaching a cease-fire.

International pressure for a cease-fire has begun to build. On Sunday, French President Francois Hollande called for a cease-fire, citing an "increase in the number of Palestinian civilian victims."

The Lebanese Al Mayadeen news outlet reported on Sunday that Israeli conditions for a cease-fire included the removal of rockets from Gaza, backed by international guarantees. Israel declined to comment on the report. Hamas responded to it angrily. A senior Hamas official said, "These are illusions Israel is trying to market as part of a fraudulent campaign regarding truce talks and a cease-fire."

Islamic Jihad chief Ramadan Salah said, "The proposal for a mutual cease-fire is not acceptable to us. The fire will only stop when the siege of Gaza is lifted and Israeli attacks on Gaza halt."

Nevertheless, Arab media outlets reported that a "reasonable possibility" existed that a cease-fire agreement, currently being drafted in Egypt and Qatar, would be reached within the next few days. The deal would be based on the cease-fire understandings that brought Operation Pillar of Defense to an end in November 2012. The reports quoted Hamas deputy political bureau chief Moussa Abu Marzouk, who wrote on Facebook, "Hamas is not a warmonger, it is interested in calm." But, officially, Hamas said it was refusing to discuss various cease-fire proposals.

Meanwhile, the IDF is continuing its preparations for a possible ground operation in Gaza. Overall, 42,000 reservists have been called up so far (the cabinet approved a maximum call-up of 48,000 reservists). A senior IDF officer said the potential that Israel would carry out a ground offensive has increased pressure on Hamas.

On Sunday morning, Israel dropped leaflets in northern Gaza, mainly in the Beit Lahiya neighborhood, calling on residents to leave their homes to avoid being harmed in Israeli strikes. According to Palestinian reports, more than 4,000 residents of the area heeded the warning and went to UNRWA facilities. Hamas called on residents to return to their homes and not surrender to "the Zionist occupier." Hours after the leaflets were distributed, the IAF carried out a number of strikes in vacated areas in northern Gaza. Beit Lahiya is the source of much rocket fire against Israel.

IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Moti Almoz said Sunday, "After six days [of Operation Protective Edge], we can say that Hamas has not been able to do anything it planned to do."

Since the start of Operation Protective Edge, around 1,000 rockets have been fired at Israel from Gaza. Around 750 have hit Israel and some 200 have been intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system. The IDF has struck around 1,500 terrorist targets in Gaza.

Shlomo Cesana, Daniel Siryoti, Lilach Shoval, Yoni Hirsch and Israel Hayom Staff

Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=18767

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