Netanyahu Says Gaza Strikes to Go on 'as Long as Necessary,’ Toll Reaches 18
Israel will continue air strikes against Gaza "as long as necessary," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday, giving no indication that a ground operation was likely for now.
"We extracted a high price from them and will continue to do so," he said at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting. "We will act as long as necessary."
His comments came as Israeli war planes carried out four air strikes on Gaza on Sunday morning, bringing the death toll in three days of clashes to 18.
Violence between Israel and Gaza militants erupted on Friday afternoon when an Israeli strike killed the leader of the ultra-hardline Popular Resistance Committees, sparking a bloody cross-border exchange.
Militants have fired more than 100 rockets and mortar rounds into southern Israel in the past three days, wounding four people. Some of them were intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome air defense system.
In remarks to public radio, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman justified the initial attack against PRC leader Zohair al-Qaisi, calling him "a ticking bomb."
But he said a ground operation in Gaza was "not desirable," unless it had the clear goal of overthrowing the territory's Hamas rulers.
Speaking before the cabinet meeting, Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz warned that "sooner or later, we will probably have to put an end to the Hamas regime, the terror regime, in Gaza."
But Education Minister Gideon Saar cautioned that "there is no need to rush into a wide-scale campaign," like Israel's December 2008-January 2009 Operation Cast Lead.
And Environment Minister Gilad Erdan argued that a ground operation would be a dangerous diversion from Israel's current priority -- preventing a nuclear Iran.
"Our defense systems are working well, particularly Iron Dome, and the army has inflicted heavy losses on the terrorists, so for the time being, there is no need for a ground operation," he said.
"The Israeli interest is for the world to focus on sanctions on Iran, not on an Israeli military campaign."
Source: Agence France Presse
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