Israeli diplomats prepare ground for Gaza operation

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(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-12-23 07:46

Israeli diplomats have been instructed to highlight the plight of Israelis living under increasing rocket fire from Gaza, officials said yesterday, in a step aimed at preparing world opinion for stepped-up action by Israel's military.

With rocket fire by Gaza militants spiking in recent days and public pressure for action growing, Israeli leaders have held consultations, discussed military contingency plans and are now trying to prepare foreign governments for the possibility that the military could move beyond airstrikes against militants and act with more force, possibly even sending ground forces into the Hamas-controlled territory.

Israeli diplomats are meeting with their counterparts and decision-makers abroad as part of the new effort, Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said.

"People abroad perhaps do not understand the real distress of Israelis in the south who live with the rocket threat. Then you wake up in the morning with an Israeli response and you don't understand where it came from," Palmor said.

Israel's UN envoy was sending a letter to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stressing Israel's concerns, he said.

Ministry officials said the diplomatic moves were meant in part as a pre-emptive step to block a UN Security Council resolution that could interfere with an Israeli operation. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the specifics of the Israeli moves were not officially made public.

Timing vague

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak met last week and decided to green-light a Gaza operation, but left the timing vague.

Israeli leaders have made similar decisions repeatedly in the past. Some experts see the flurry of recent activity as a sign that Israel's government is scrambling to show the public that it is taking action, but isn't really interested in a military offensive.

Hamas has transformed itself from a ragtag militia to a highly organized and well-armed force, and Israel's military is wary about potentially high losses in its ranks in an operation that would have uncertain results.

"There is real concern in the military and the defense ministry about the price, and they are trying everything not to go into Gaza," said Reuven Pedatzur, a military analyst at Tel Aviv University.

But if a rockets kills a large number of Israelis, he said, "they won't have a choice."

In the past, Israel's military incursions into Gaza have ended with high Palestinian casualties and no long-term reduction in rocket fire.

Israel pulled all of its troops and settlers out of Gaza in 2005, a withdrawal that was followed by more rocket fire by militants and a violent takeover by the Islamic group Hamas.

A six-month truce between Israel and Hamas officially expired on Friday after unraveling over a period of weeks. Israel has largely sealed Gaza's border crossings since early November in response, causing shortages of fuel and basic supplies.