Region | Palestinian Territories
Israel must prepare for possible Gaza escalation says Barak
Defence Minister Ehud Barak said on Sunday Israel needed to prepare for a possible escalation of military action in the Gaza Strip.
- Agencies
- Published: 10:42 March 2, 2008
Occupied Jerusalem: Defence Minister Ehud Barak said on Sunday Israel needed to prepare for a possible escalation of military action in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli forces killed 61 people in Hamas-ruled Gaza on Saturday, the bloodiest day for Palestinians since an uprising against Israeli occupation began in 2000. Almost half the dead were civilians, including children.
Israel, which lost two soldiers in Saturday's fighting, pushed deep into Gaza in an effort to stop Palestinian militants from firing rockets into southern Israel. The offensive was launched after a rocket killed an Israeli on Wednesday.
"We will continue our action with all our strength and we need to prepare for escalation, because a broad ground operation is real and tangible," Barak told Israel Radio.
Barak said in a separate interview on Israel Army Radio: "This is not the broad ground operation, but whoever says there will not be a big ground operation speaks on his own behalf."
One aim of any broad incursion into Gaza would be to "weaken the Hamas rule, in the right circumstances even bring it down," he said.
The Islamist Hamas movement seized the Gaza Strip after routing forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas last June.
Share this article
More from Palestinian Territories
More from Region
Popular in News
News Editor's choice
-
Al Qaida returns to Manhattan
Trial in US federal court would be just the theatre Khalid Shaikh Mohammad wants
-
Obama's Tibet test
The US president's snub of the Dalai Lama could embolden China
-
What to expect at the Dubai Airshow
We preview what types of aircraft to expect at the Dubai Airshow
