Posted on 06/22/2002 8:47:11 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
According to present plans, Israel Defense Forces incursions into cities and large villages on the West Bank will continue for weeks, or perhaps months - no date has been set for the end of the operation. The IDF presence will continue "as long as it is required" operationally, and until "the terror ceases," as the prime minister declared last week.
It has also been decided that Israel will help the Palestinian municipalities to function - Israel will provide food if and when it is needed, along with other forms of humanitarian assistance.
The main thrust of the IDF effort will be concentrated in Palestinian cities on the West Bank that have been the starting points for suicide bombers. The IDF will show restraint in the Gaza Strip, unless future events necessitate a different approach there.
As in the case of Operation Defensive Shield, the IDF will mostly stay away from Jericho, since Jericho has not been a breeding ground for terrorists.
The government has decided to change its policy toward the families of suicide terrorists. The subject has been referred to a legal review, but it appears the IDF won't wait for a final legal verdict - families' houses will be demolished. There is also discussion of deporting family members to the Gaza Strip (and not, at this stage, overseas).
The differences between the current operation and its predecessor, Operation Defensive Shield, are not limited to the duration of the current incursion.
Israel has decided this time to take responsibility for the Palestinian civilian population. The government's decision specifically calls for an effort to provide humanitarian aid. The IDF General Staff has decided that the behavior of the civilian population is an influential strategic factor, and that Israel must be careful in this respect.
Yet it is clear that the presence of IDF troops in many populated areas in the territories is a formula for dangerous altercations. An example of this is the tank fire in a crowded Jenin market area on Friday, which killed one adult and three children.
This is an operational decision which has strategic implications. The Sharon government reached it in response to the recent wave of terror. Since the car bomb attack on the bus at the Megiddo junction on June 5, 64 Israelis have been killed by Palestinian terror attacks. There is also intelligence information suggesting that terror organizations, including Fatah's Tanzim forces, are planning to carry out group terror attacks. The information suggests that a number of suicide strikers, up to six persons, will target a region in Israel and blow themselves up in unison so as to raise levels of fear and numbers of casualties.
Despite the recent escalation in terror attacks, the participants in Friday's meeting did not project pessimism. On the contrary - many indicated that despite the resumption of terror attacks, Israel has notched important gains, including the recognition in international and Arab circles that Arafat is no longer relevant in the diplomatic process, and that he poses a threat to regional stability and is doing nothing to stop terror.
The key question now is whether Israel is in effect returning to the territories to occupy them anew. Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer opposes the use of terms like "occupation" yet he and major-generals on the IDF General Staff are talking about a prolonged presence in Palestinian cities.
The power to decide when the current operation is to end rests with Sharon and Ben-Eliezer. The Bush administration accepts Israel's right to defend itself against terror attacks, but, as President Bush prepares to deliver his programmatic address on the region, it remains to be seen how Washington will respond to a prolonged IDF presence in West Bank cities.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.