Posted on 07/09/2006 7:11:20 PM PDT by blam
Olmert threatens 'long war' to free Israeli soldier held in Gaza
By Harry de Quetteville in Jerusalem
(Filed: 10/07/2006)
Israel's prime minister Ehud Olmert insisted yesterday that a military operation in Gaza to free a captive soldier and end Palestinian rocket attacks could go on indefinitely.
The remains of a car hit by an Israeli rocket
He said the operation was not "on a timetable". "We're talking about a long war," he said, as the army's southern region commander threatened to pound Palestinian militants for "months".
Gen Yoav Galant said: "They will think twice about launching attacks when they see in a week, a month, or two months from now that hundreds of terrorists have been killed."
Mr Olmert was speaking a day after United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan called on Israel to allow essential supplies into the besieged Palestinian territory to prevent a humanitarian crisis. Mr Annan said that Israel should do everything in its power to limit the impact of its full-scale military operation on Gaza's civilian population, ending its "disproportionate use of force".
Cpl Gilad Shalit was seized by three Palestinian militant groups and taken into Gaza two weeks ago. While Palestinian premier Ismail Haniya has insisted that the captured soldier is being treated well, his family has called for some proof that he is alive and well.
Israel's response to the loss of Cpl Shalit has involved an armoured pincer movement from northern and southern Gaza, coupled with artillery bombardment and airstrikes.
One airstrike 10 days ago destroyed Gaza's power station, cutting off vital electricity to half the territory's 1.4 million population. Hospitals and sewage treatment plants have been running on generators since then. Fuel to operate them is now running short. Many water tanks are empty.
Despite the difficulties of daily life in Gaza's blazing summer heat, a poll of 1,197 Palestinians showed almost 80 per cent supported the militant attack in which Cpl Shalit was captured.
Eight percent should read eighty....time for bed.
I still don't know why the focus is on the one soldier instead of all the other awful things Hamas and the Palestinians have done, but I'm glad to see that the Israeli PM is willing to actually do something about the problem. I feared he'd be a John Kerry type and wet his pants at the first sign of trouble. Thankfully, it appears that I was wrong.Olmert gets a bad rap from many around here because he's in favor of disengagement, but his credentials as a defender of the Nation of Israel itself aren't open to question.
-Eric
Sure. I was in a hurry last night and wasn't particularly clear...
My point is that there won't be a need for a long War in Gaza; if and when Israel runs out of patience and decides to go find their missing soldier, it won't take but a couple of days for them to thoroughly clean out Gaza.
And I hope they will clean it out...
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Israel should carpet bomb Gaza until the rubble is reduced to gravel.
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