ARAB ISRAELI RELATIONS - Israel Issues An Appeal To Palestinians In Gaza

APS Diplomat Recorder, Dec 31, 2009

The Israeli PM, Ehud Olmert issues a "last minute" appeal to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip to reject the militant leadership of Hamas and stop firing rockets at Israel, warning that he would not hesitate to use force. Other Israeli officials also issued hard-line statements, indicating that Israel might be preparing an offensive against Gaza. "I didn't come here to declare war", Olmert told Al Arabiya, an Arab broadcaster widely watched in Gaza. "But Hamas must be stopped - that is the way it is going to be". He issued what amounted to a public call to Gazans to overthrow Hamas, the Islamic group that controls the territory. "I'm telling them now", he said. "It may be the last minute. There will be more blood there. Who wants it? We don't want it". Olmert has resisted calls from within Israel for a major military operation against Hamas, but rocket and mortar fire from Gaza since a six-month truce brokered by Egypt expired last week has increased pressure on him to act. However, some political analysts in Israel cautioned that Israel

faced constraints in attacking Gaza, including the fact that past operations have not halted the rocket attacks. Meanwhile, FM Tzipi Livni, a leading candidate to replace Olmert in an election scheduled for Feb. 10, held emergency talks with President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt on Dec 25 in Cairo. Mubarak cautioned against an escalation. Livni said Hamas had to pay for "unbearable" rocket fire, saying, "Enough is enough". Adding to the saber-rattling, Israel's army chief, Lieutenant General Gabi Ashkenazi, said Israel would have to act with "all our force to hurt the terrorist infrastructure and change the security reality". In Gaza, a Hamas spokesman, Fawzi Barhoum, said Israel would "pay the price" for any attack. After the talks with Livni, Egypt appealed to Hamas leaders "to calm the situation so as to avoid an Israeli military escalation", a Palestinian official in Gaza said.