CHINA CONFIDENTIAL
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Israel Raises Alert Level on Northern Border
The Israeli military has raised its level of alert in the North out of fear that Palestinian terror groups, possibly acting under Hizbullah auspices, will launch rockets into Israel in the coming days to open another front as the army operates against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.Israel Determined to End Hamas Threat
Foreign Confidential....
Warplanes pounded Gaza for a fourth day on Tuesday as tanks stood by to join the "all-out" war Israel vowed would wipe out Hamas, and the Palestinian death toll rose to at least 360.
Israel made it clear Monday the offensive was just beginning, even as UN chief Ban Ki-moon urged world leaders to work urgently to end the "unacceptable" violence.
Palestinian militants responded to Israeli air strikes with deadly rocket and mortar fire that has so far killed four Israelis.
Defence Minister Ehud Barak, who has threatened to launch ground incursions alongside the aerial blitz, said Israel is in "an all-out war with Hamas and its proxies."
Deputy Prime Minister Haim Ramon said the offensive's goal "is to topple Hamas ."
Barak said that if militant rocket attacks do not stop, "Israel will have recourse to every means and all legal actions at its disposal to see to it that the enemy halts its illegal aggression."
With Israeli tanks just metres (yards) away from Gaza, the army decreed the border area a closed military zone -- a move that in the past has been followed by ground operations.
"After this operation there will not be a single Hamas building left standing in Gaza, and we plan to change the rules of the game," said armed forces deputy chief of staff Brigadier General Dan Harel, quoted by the YNet News website.
"We are hitting not only terrorists and launchers, but also the whole Hamas government and all its wings," Harel said.
- AFP
Tuesday, 30 December 2008
Foreign Confidential....
Posts
