From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
Defense minister: Our goal is zero rockets from Gaza
Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon lays out the Israeli end goal of Operation Protective Edge during a visit to the Gaza Division headquarters Tuesday afternoon: “That those on the other side of the fence want a ceasefire, are willing to respect a cease fire, and do not fire even one rocket or mortar after the operation is over.”
“As far as we are concerned the goal is to bring [the situation] to zero shots fired or attacks launched from the Gaza Strip,” he says.
Ya’alon vows to continue with the operation until Hamas “understands that our citizens and soldiers are not to be fired upon.”
He says the operation is intertwined with actions on the home front, saying that the army, mostly the air force, is taking care of the offensive action and the civilians are being asked to do their utmost to stay safe, avoid stepping out to watch Iron Dome in action, and abide by the Home Front Command instructions.
Ya’alon says that the government, up until yesterday, had “a not-unsubstantiated” assumption that Hamas sought a ceasefire; “I won’t go into the details about whether the political echelon there controls the military one,” he says. “In the end, the facts speak for themselves: they brought about the escalation and in essence the moment we understood that, there was no chance of attaining a ceasefire based on the policies of the past days, we entered the campaign with all our might.”
Ya’alon, in response to a question about the authorization granted to call up 40,000 reservists, says that “I don’t know how many of that number we will have to draft but the intention here is to field a force that knows how to properly deal with the Gaza Strip.”
Regarding targeting killings, even of such leaders as Hamas in Gaza head Ismail Haniyeh, Ya’alon says, “I won’t go into our list of targets, but all Hamas personnel know that their blood is upon their heads; I have said that in the past and I say it again today.”
Finally, in response to a question about the internal dynamics in Gaza, Ya’alon says that residents of the Strip should “address their complaints to Hamas. It’s responsible.” — Mitch Ginsburg
