TEL AVIV — For the first time, Israel's military has expressed
frustration over what officers term the government's restraint in face of
Palestinian missile strikes.
Senior officers have relayed their concern and frustration over the
refusal by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to order a ground invasion of the Gaza
Strip. They said the Palestinians have been emboldened by Israel's failure
to prevent the daily missile strikes from the Gaza Strip.
So far, the military said, Palestinian gunners have fired 60
Kassam-class, short-range missiles into Israel since April 1. Many of the
missiles were aimed toward Israeli strategic facilities south of Ashkelon.
"There is a feeling of helplessness over the last period," Capt. Kobi
Barel, a company commander, said. "We know how to deal with shooting and
infiltration attacks. But when we see Kassams being fired, there is no
response and this is frustrating. This is the current situation."
Barel was speaking to Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz and Chief of Staff
Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz during their tour of Israel's border with the Gaza Strip
on Tuesday. Barel's remarks, made in front of journalists and broadcast on
state radio, was the first time the military was allowed to publicly
criticize the government's policy of restraint.
On Tuesday, the military was ordered to halt artillery strikes on the
Gaza Strip. The government order was relayed in wake of the killing
of an eight-year-old Palestinian girl by an artillery shell the previous
day.
Palestinian gunners, however, continued their fire, with one missile
landing outside a military base near the Israeli city of Ashkelon. On early
Wednesday, the Israel Air Force struck a Fatah office in the northern Gaza
Strip.
"We will continue to work using all means available -- fast, precise and
intense artillery fire," Maj. Gen. Yoav Galant, head of the military's
Southern Command, said.
Over the last week, Mofaz and senior commanders, acknowledging the
failure of artillery strikes, have been studying plans for a ground invasion
of the Gaza Strip and the creation of a buffer zone to prevent missile
strikes on Israel. So far, the government has ruled out such a prospect.
"So long as there is no peace on the Israeli side, there will be no
peace on the Palestinian side," Mofaz said. "We will intensify and boost the
level of operations against all terror organizations and channels."
For his part, Halutz asserted that the military's intensive artillery
strikes, also fired from naval vessels, have reduced the effectivness
of Palestinian missile attacks. He reassured Southern Command of
the eventual deterioration in the Palestinian missile capabilities.
"There is an accumulated effect in our operation," Halutz said. "Kassam
cells reach the edges of residential areas. Sometimes they even enter these
areas. And we will chase them wherever they are. The population knows that
if it expels the Kassam cells it will live in peace."
