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Monday, May 14, 2007

U.S. to Palestinians: Israel won't invade

GAZA CITY — The United States has assured the Palestinian Authority that Israel would not invade the Gaza Strip.

PA sources said the State Department sent a message to the PA that the Israeli military was ordered not to conduct large-scale operations in the Gaza Strip. The sources said the military restraint came in wake of U.S. warnings to the government of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

"We've received assurances from the highest levels in the U.S. government that Israel would not launch a large-scale military operation in the Gaza Strip," a PA source said.

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The U.S. assurances were relayed to the PA as Israel's military urged the Israeli government to invade the Gaza Strip. The military has warned that only an Israeli ground operation could reduce Palestinian missile strikes from the Gaza Strip.

On Sunday, Israel's so-called Security Cabinet discussed military operations to halt Palestinian missile fire. No decision was reached as Palestinians fired at least three missiles into Israel.

The Olmert government has not acknowledged U.S. pressure to prevent an Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip. Instead, the government said it opposed a renewed military presence in the Gaza Strip in wake of the Israeli withdrawal and expulsion of its Jewish residents in 2005.

"No one wants to reenter Gaza and take care of education and sewage there," Defense Minister Amir Peretz said. "We reserve the right to escalate [militarily] when we choose."

The Bush administration has relayed a plan that stipulated the deployment of PA troops in northern Gaza to prevent Palestinian missile fire. Under the U.S. plan, Israel would first remove military checkpoints in the West Bank and enable Palestinians and goods to move from the Gaza Strip through Israel.

"The Israelis don't want this plan because it would disrupt the status quo," a PA official said.


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