[Ha'aretz] Ze'ev Schiff - Under no circumstances should Israel return to the situation that existed before the fighting. That is to say, Hizballah must not be allowed to return close to the northern Israeli locales, and Hamas, or any other Palestinian organization, must not be allowed to continue to bombard Sderot and other locales, and harm soldiers within Israeli territory. The aim of the operations Israel is conducting is not only to free the captives or to punish, but also to prevent future kidnappings and bombardments. The fighting on both fronts was initiated by two Islamic terror organizations, Hamas and Hizballah. Their aggressive activity was facilitated by Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon and the Gaza Strip. The status quo must be altered because the danger is not only to locales in the Galilee, but also to large cities in the center of the country. The turning point will be preventing Hizballah's return near the border with Israel and destroying its rocket system, with which Iranian advisers are active. The Lebanese government is refusing to exercise its sovereignty in southern Lebanon, and it is the Lebanese government that is responsible for this area becoming a no-man's land. On the Gaza front, under no circumstances should Israel agree to continued firing of Kassam rockets on Israeli locales. A return to the previous situation will be considered a defeat, and the day is not far off when areas in the Sharon region [greater Tel Aviv] will be bombarded from territories in the West Bank.
2006-07-14 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive