<%@LANGUAGE="VBSCRIPT" CODEPAGE="1252"%> WorldTribune.com: Mobile — Nine days into offensive, Israel has not eliminated Hamas threat

Nine days into offensive, Israel has not eliminated Hamas threat

Tuesday, January 6, 2009 Free Headline Alerts

JERUSALEM — Israel's intelligence community has informed its government that Hamas is still capable of major attacks.

Officials said the intelligence community has concluded that the nine-day Israeli military campaign has not succeeded in disabling the Islamic regime in the Gaza Strip and that Hamas was likely to increase missile fire over the next few days.

"Hamas as so far sustained a very heavy blow from us, but we have yet to achieve our objective and therefore the operation continues," Defense Minister Ehud Barak said on Jan. 5.

[On Jan. 6, Israel and Hamas waged fierce battles around Gaza City and Khan Yunis, Middle East Newsline reported. Military sources said Hamas units, buoyed by reports of rising Israeli casualties, appeared disciplined and motivated.]

Barak told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that Hamas was avoiding a direct confrontation with Israeli forces. Instead, Hamas was said to be preparing to attack Israeli forces in cities throughout the Gaza Strip, particularly Gaza City and Khan Yunis.

"Hamas did not seek a direct confrontation with our forces and wants to drag our forces into urban areas," Barak said.

Officials said the intelligence community has told both the government and Knesset that Hamas could rapidly reorganize and attack Israeli cities and strategic sites. They said Hamas's military wing remains intact despite some losses in the command and could keep fighting for weeks.

"The military wing has not been hurt as much as we would like," Israel National Security Agency director Yuval Diskin said.

Diskin told the Cabinet that Hamas's political leadership has been left in disarray. He said the political leaders, including Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, has sought a ceasefire to stabilize the regime.

In contrast, Hamas's military continues to display firepower skills. Officials said the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip has done little more than hamper the flow of Hamas combatants and weapons.

"They're bouncing back," Brig. Gen. Yossi Baidatz, head of military intelligence's research division, said.

In a briefing to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Baidatz said Hamas has reduced its missile and rocket fire amid Israeli air strikes on manufacturing facilities. But the intelligence officer termed this a "tactical move."

"Hamas is keeping the option to increase the fire of mortar shells and rockets," Baidatz said.

Officials said a key goal of the Israeli government of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was to deny Hamas the capability to rearm after any ceasefire, expected to be reached over the next few days. They said Israel has appealed for U.S. support for projects that would block the construction of weapons tunnels along the Sinai-Gaza border as well as deploy international monitors with equipment to detect tunnels.

"The results of the operation must be that Hamas must not only stop firing, but must no longer be able to fire," Olmert said. "We cannot accept a compromise that will allow Hamas to fire in two months against Israeli towns."

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