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Israel is considering the automatic shelling of areas of the Gaza Strip used to launch rockets.

Deputy Prime Minister Haim Ramon said Monday that he had proposed that the government authorize Israel’s artillery forces to shell any area of Gaza used to launch rockets across the border, even though this would likely exact steep civilian casualties.

“This would spare us military losses,” Ramon told Israel Radio, adding that the current ground tactics already were causing casualties among Palestinian civilians.

According to Ramon, international law would allow Israeli counter fire against rocket-launch sites located within Gaza’s congested towns. He said his proposal was being considered by the Defense Ministry’s legal experts.

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