Senior IDF officer says steps can be taken to ease Gaza crisis

A top official in the IDF’s Southern Command says Israel can take steps to ease the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, a step that was likely to bring quiet to the Gaza region.

“We’re at a crossroads. Decisions have to be made,” the officer tells journalists Thursday. “There are small things that can be done to give us a year of quiet, and it’s also possible to reach a longer arrangement,” but that would require significant concessions from Hamas. “The more Hamas is accommodating, the better the arrangement will be,” the officer says.

No long-term arrangement is possible without the return to Israel of the bodies of IDF soldiers Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin, the officer insists.

“Hamas is in its worst situation since it came to power [in 2007], and the same is true of the Gaza Strip. The responsibility for that lies first of all with Hamas, but we can also take steps. Hamas is trying to figure out how to save itself from collapse, and it has only two solutions: reaching an arrangement [for quiet with Israel] or turning to military confrontation.”