Top Israeli Leadership Says This Is Just The Beginning

As Operation Protective Edge continued for a sixth day with the IDF hitting a total 1,300 targets in Gaza, a senior IDF officer said that Israeli security officials were hoping that a situation would develop that would ensure a stable government in Gaza, replacing Hamas' control of the Strip. “We want to restore quiet to Israeli citizens,” said the official. “We would like to see a government in Gaza that is restrained and responsible.” The official said that the current operation was different from previous ones. “We did not enter this campaign willingly,” he said. “We did not enter it in order to reconquer Gaza or to destroy Hamas. This is an ongoing operation that has been going on since we began the search for kidnapped teens Eyal Yifrah, Naftali Frenkel, and Gilad Sha'ar. “We could have easily killed hundreds of people in Gaza as we tracked down terrorists who are firing rockets from populated areas, but that is not our way,” the official said. “The proper way to handle an operation like this is to be effective and maintain legitimacy.” The IDF is continuing its preparation for a ground operation in Gaza, the official added. Some 42,000 reserve soldiers are in the process of being called up for service. The reserve soldiers will take the place of regular soldiers in Judea and Samaria and in southern Israel outside the battle zone, the official said. With that, the official said that “there are enough targets for us to strike in Gaza. We are not operating under any pressure.”

On a visit to Ashkelon Sunday, MK Ofir Akunis said that Israel had no plans to stop its attacks against Gaza terrorists. “Israel will continue to do anything and everything to defend our people,” Akunis said. “It is unacceptable that just ten kilometers from here there is a terror organization that is shooting at our kids,” Akunis added. Earlier Sunday, A 16-year-old boy was seriously injured by a missile fired on Ashkelon. A 60 year-old man was also hurt, suffering light injuries. Simon Lugasi, head of Ashkelon Branch of Ichud Hatzalah, spoke to Arutz Sheva about the injured teen. "This is a rocket which landed near a building," he said. "The boy was hit by shrapnel. Following first aid, the boy received medical treatment by Hatzalah medics on the scene, and was brought to Barzilai Hospital were he is in serious condition," he added. Akunis said he was not opposed to a cease-fire with Hamas, but “if there is to be a cease-fire it will be under our conditions, not those of Hamas,” he added. “This campaign must continue until there is quiet in the south.” When asked how Israel should deal with accusations that it was “targeting women and children,” an allegation that has been increasingly sounded in the foreign press, Akunis said that this was not Israel's purpose. “We are not looking to hit civilians in Gaza, just terrorists. That is our plan and that is what we will do,” he said, adding that “we will continue to do whatever is necessary to defend our people.”

Source: Arutz Sheva