Airstrike in Gaza
Photo: AFP
Ministers push for stepped-up Gaza campaign
At security cabinet meeting, ministers say Israel should uphold airstrikes on terror groups, recapture border between Egypt and Gaza Strip to halt arms smuggling
The security cabinet voted Wednesday in favor of stepping up Israel's military pressure on terror groups responsible for the firing of rockets from the Gaza Strip towards Israel.
Ministers also backed plans to fortify public facilities and residential buildings in the towns and kibbutzim near the border with the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli government is under increased pressure to halt daily rocket attacks at Israeli communities, but the army's latest assault on terror groups in the Gaza Strip has failed to achieve that goal.
Two Israelis were killed by rockets since the Islamic group Hamas broke a year-long ceasefire with the Jewish State along the border with the Gaza Strip two weeks ago.
Over 50 Palestinians, mainly gunmen, were killed in Israeli airstrikes on rocket cells and buildings used by terror groups.
Israel's hawkish Strategic Affairs Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, suggested today that Israel couples its aerial campaign with a large-scale ground offensive. Lieberman said Israel should recapture a narrow strip along the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip to prevent arms smuggling into the coastal territory.
The Egyptian police have been monitoring the porous border since 2005 part of an agreement with Israel.
Lileberman said Israel would withdraw from the border once an international peacekeeping for has been deployed.
Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin told ministers that Israel's military campaign has led to a decrease in rocket attacks, adding that the leaders of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad went underground for fear of assassination.
Israel renewed its targeted assassination policy last week, with one minister warning that Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas is a legitimate target.
"Israel does not hold ceasefire talks with terror groups. Israel will continue with its military pressure on terror groups, mainly Hamas and the Islamic Jihad," read a statement issued soon after the cabinet meeting by the Prime Minister's Office.
Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz said Hamas was cooperating with Hizbullah, Syria and Iran to take control of the Palestinian Authority.
"Hamas has decided to control the Palestinian Authority and the minute this happens the president will be a Hamas man," Mofaz warned.
Yael Bershkovsky contributed to this report
