If no deal in next few days, renewed ground offensive expected

24 August 2014, 2:53 am

Edit

After Communications Minister Gilad Erdan said Saturday night that a new ground offensive “is closer than ever,” Channel 10 quoted unnamed diplomatic and military sources saying much the same thing, with more detail.

If no long-term arrangement is reached “within a few days” in Cairo, “on Israel’s terms,” the TV report said, then the army will move “to the next stage… a renewed ground offensive.”

This could take the form of incursions “in one or more areas… designed to harm Hamas” with the troops then “coming back out.”

The goal, as ever, would be to create conditions to ensure long-term calm for Israel. “No one is talking of reconquering the Strip,” the report says.