Ted Belman. Contrast this with what Greenblatt recently said, “At the end of the day, if we don’t solve the situation in Gaza, it will be an obstacle to peace. Hamas itself is an obstacle in the road to peace … and the Palestinians of Gaza are hostage to Hamas and they suffer terribly under Hamas’ iron fist rule,”
A military campaign to topple Hamas’ regime, seize control of Gaza Strip is unlikely to change the security situation on the volatile border, GOC Southern Command Maj. Gen. Herzl Halevi says • IDF’s interest lies only with achieving security, he says.
An Israeli incursion into the Gaza Strip and toppling Hamas’ regime are unlikely to change the situation in the coastal enclave dramatically, GOC Southern Command Maj. Gen. Herzl Halevi said Sunday in an interview with a local radio station.
”Hamas will continue to try us from time to time. I don’t think we’ll be seeing peace there [in Gaza] anytime in the next decade, perhaps even longer,” he said.
Commenting on the Egyptian-led efforts to broker a long-term cease-fire between Israel and the Islamist terrorist group, Halevi said, “War is also a type of arrangement in which both parties agree to fight and reach a result that is different from the prior reality. Our interests are very clear – achieving security for the Israeli public.”
He noted that Israel does not pursue direct diplomatic efforts vis-à-vis Hamas.
”We use our [military] power and the deterrence we generate to get the other side to understand it has nothing to gain by carrying out terrorist attacks against us.
”The IDF is well-prepared for these scenarios. I think our enemies, both in the north and in the south, will struggle to provoke an escalation because of the IDF’s abilities, but even if that happens, the IDF will be able to cope – even with two sectors simultaneously,” he said.
Halevi further said that the Israeli public “should not delude itself in terms of their [the Palestinians’] terrorist capabilities. There are terrorist entities here that are developing their capabilities. We are bigger and stronger, but there will be times when they try us.”
The GCO Southern Command also said that an Israeli takeover of the Gaza Strip would not necessarily improve on the current security situation on the volatile border.
”I don’t see how this would improve our security situation at the moment. If we are ordered – we know how to get it done, we know how to seize control of Gaza, but I’m not sure that is the first option we should pursue,” Halevi said.
@ Edgar G.:
I agree with your sentiments of what it would take to have peace in the Gaza Strip. Israel demolishes Hamas and kills every terrorist it can find and then starts finding homes for Gazans elsewhere.
Clearly the current government wants no part of this and I have heard very few people speak of any similar approach who have any power or likely to have political power.
Even Ted, in his article writes from his sources that the Gazans will offered to autonomous and either confederated with Egypt or Jordan.
The trouble with any solution that does not destroy the terrorists and take their weapons it is just kicking the can down the road. When they get weapons that are accurate with firepower we will then have to fight the war and lose more soldiers than if we had taken them out before they had these weapons.
@ Abdul Ameer:
Let’s for the moment assume the impossible. Gaza, meaning Hamas, makes peace…. But that doesn’t mean there will be peace. Because there is a variety of jihadist groups who operate independently from Hamas, although likely loosely allied. So, the only way to get peace in Gaza is to move everyone out,lock stock and barrel.
I’ve suggested several times that it be flattened. After all, it’s part of Israel. A moving barrage, from north to south, or something similar would drive the inhabitants out into Sinai, and bulldozers could flatten the rest. So Israel could reclaim it’s property and make good use of it.
There can never be peace on the Gaza border until Gaza recognizes Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state; and that will never happen because the Gazans are Moslems, first and foremost, and their Islamic religion commands them to make war on the Jews, not to make peace. To expect Moslems to make peace with Jews is to expect them to flagrantly violate the sacred commands of their god and their prophet. Good luck with that!