Israel’s top general said that only a ground operation can stop rocket fire from the Gaza Strip. Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi told Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s Cabinet in a briefing Sunday that there have been more than 200 rocket launches from Gaza since a truce was declared with the Palestinian Authority last November. Ashkenazi said that Israel’s usual response — shelling rocket crews from the air or cannons outside Gaza — had a limited effect.
“Counterfire can only reduce the rockets, not stop that. For that you have to operate on the ground,” he said, adding that the top military brass would come up with proposals to present to the government.
Olmert has said he would not hesitate to send troops into Gaza in force as a response to the rockets, but political analysts believe his domestic standing is too weak to warrant such an action unless a salvo causes serious Israeli casualties.
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