Israeli army recommends new security formula for Gaza similar to Syria
RAMALLAH, Palestine (North Press) – On Sunday, the Israeli army recommended that the government adopt a new security formula towards Gaza Strip which is similar to the followed military strategy in Syria.
The army’s recommendations include changing the nature of the response to every “violation” from Gaza, such as launching incendiary balloons or missiles against Israeli towns, so that it is a “disproportionate and very strong response,” as the Israeli Channel 12 announced.
The army’s recommendations also include dealing with Gaza like Syria, where the entire security institutions, the army, the Shin Bet and the Mossad, are working against the strengthening of Hamas, just as they are working with Syria.
The army also recommended cutting off contact that Hamas tried to establish between Gaza and Jerusalem and not accepting any incident in which Gaza responds to what is happening in Jerusalem, according to Channel 12.
The Israeli channel indicated that the army recommended the reconstruction of Gaza through Arab aid and strengthening the role of the Palestinian Authority, all of which is conditional only on a state of calm.
The army also demanded the return of the “captured” Israeli soldiers and missing persons, as a major demand from the Israeli point of view, as Channel 12 stated.
“One does not need to be an intelligence man to know that Hamas and Jihad are well prepared for a new round of escalation,” former Shin Bet officer Ilan Lotan, told Channel 12.
“The time has come to change the way we deal with them. This must start with the first incendiary balloon or missile launched after the ceasefire,” he added.
He pointed out that every balloon launched from Gaza towards Nahal Oz or Sderot “is supposed to deal with it like a missile launched from Gaza towards Tel Aviv. Israel must restore deterrence.”
In turn, senior officials in the Israeli military questioned the effectiveness of the recent military operation against the Gaza Strip, especially the extent of the damage inflicted on the Hamas missile network.
Large forces of the Israeli army are still deployed along the security fence surrounding the Gaza Strip, in anticipation of the possibility of violating the ceasefire.
Last night, the Israeli Minister of Defense, Benny Gantz said, it is not unlikely that Israel would assassinate the head of Hamas’s political bureau in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, and the leader of its armed wing, Muhammad Deif, if circumstances permit.
A Hamas official warned that this could lead to renewed fighting. Yesterday, Sinwar appeared in front of the public for the first time since the recent escalation began.
For his part, Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy said, the Union cannot continue to fund the reconstruction of Gaza without the possibility of launching a political path between the Palestinians and the Israelis.
He pointed out that leaving the causes of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict aside “will only lead to new rounds of violence.”
He stressed that there must be a return to real negotiations for a lasting solution through a political settlement based on the two-state solution.