Israel holds off on Gaza operation

As of Sunday, Israel appeared prepared to give newly elected Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas a limited amount of time to stop the rocket and mortar fire coming from Gaza.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is saying no limitations have been placed on the IDF, but in practice he is not hastening to send troops into the Strip for anything more than a limited "measured response."

On Saturday, when a teenage girl was critically wounded in a rocket attack on Sderot and two days after six people were killed in the Karni attack, political and military officials threatened to begin a major Israel Defense Forces operation in Gaza. But the atmosphere changed Sunday, when various officials, including Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, asked Sharon to give Abbas (known as Abu Mazen) some time to deal with the terror organizations.

Diplomatic sources in Jerusalem said last night that they have not made any decision to stop military activity, saying the IDF has free rein in Gaza. "If Abu Mazen wants to deploy police officers in Gaza to prevent Qassam fire, he can do that - and IDF activity doesn't interfere with his doing so," the sources said.

Military sources said Sunday that the IDF is preparing for a "measured response" in Gaza. The army intends to carry out a series of local, targeted operations in areas from where the terror groups have launched rockets. The IDF is likely to send relatively small units for a short time. So far a fairly small number of additional troops has been sent to Gaza.

In contrast to its behavior following previous instances of rocket attacks resulting in casualties, the IDF has not yet raided the Beit Hanun area in northern Gaza, from where rockets were most recently fired at Sderot. For now, the IDF has sufficed with Operation Eastern Step in the Zeitun neighborhood of southern Gaza, its only operation so far. Troops moved into the area before dawn Saturday in reaction to the attack on the nearby Karni crossing between Israel and Gaza. The operation is expected to end shortly. The Israel Air Force also hit three Qassam launchers in Gaza Sunday that were ready for launching.

At the same time, the IDF is preparing for the possibility of a widespread operation that would include capturing a "security strip" in Palestinian towns in an attempt to improve security for the Katif settlement bloc in Gaza and for Sderot. However, such an operation depends on Sharon's decision.

Sharon met with IDF Chief of Staff Moshe Ya'alon Sunday to discuss military operations, but as of press time they had decided against widespread activities.

In Cairo Sunday, senior Egyptian officials told Foreign Ministry director general Ron Prosor and the head of the Foreign Ministry's political desk, Yaki Dayan, that they should give Abbas more time to organize.

Prosor and Dayan told Intelligence Minister Omar Suleiman, Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit and presidential adviser Osama Al Baz that Abbas would have to move immediately against terror.

Abbas himself told the Japanese foreign minister during a meeting in Ramallah Sunday that Sharon is not giving him enough time to act. Abbas said he was committed to enforcing the rule of law and achieving a cease-fire. He said he planned to go to Gaza this week and hopes to reach an initial agreement with senior Hamas officials on reducing violence.

Japan is convinced, based on Israeli officials' hard-line comments over the weekend, that Sharon is exerting too much pressure and showing too little patience.

A senior IDF officer said that so far there has been no indication of Palestinian security forces acting against terror in Gaza.

"At least regarding Qassams and mortars no exceptional effort is needed from them," he said. "This fire is taking place right under their noses. All they need to do is deploy forces, and the fire will diminish immediately."

Meanwhile, two Palestinians - a mother and her son - were killed by IDF fire in Gaza last night. Palestinian sources said the woman, 50, and her 28-year-old son were apparently hit by an Israeli tank shell fired from Gush Katif. The father of the family and another son were wounded.

Qassam and mortar attacks continued Sunday. Two Qassam rockets landed in open areas near Sderot, and several mortar shells were fired at settlements and IDF posts in Gush Katif. A house in the settlement bloc was damaged in one of the mortar attacks.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/527934.html