By Jerusalem Newswire Editorial Staff
May 25, 2004
The “Palestinian” terrorist infrastructure in the southern Gaza border town of Rafiah was spared being totally eliminated when Israeli ground forces withdrew from the area overnight Monday.
While Israel announced its objectives in “Operations Rainbow in a Cloud” had been met, army commanders said the mission’s timetable had been severely restricted by considerations stemming from international pressure.
Security officials, including Defense Minister Sha’ul Mofaz, warned Israel may soon send troops back into Rafiah if terrorism against Israel’s Jews did not cease.
Mofaz said “Palestinian” terror groups bore total responsibility for the suffering brought upon the civilian population of Rafiah as a direct result of their actions.
US Congressman Tom Lantos placed the blame higher, accusing Egypt of doing absolutely nothing to prevent the arming of Palestinian Arab killers, thus necessitating an IDF incursion.
Rafiah spared
The Israel Defense Forces withdrew from the southern Gaza border town of Rafiah Monday night, ending a weeklong assault on “Palestinian” weapons smuggling operations there.
As many as 90 tunnels run under the Gaza-Egypt border and supply Gaza-based terrorists with weapons brought in through the Sinai Peninsula.
Military officials reported that 41 armed Arab gunmen and 12 unarmed civilians were killed during clashes with the incursion force, and that 56 buildings were demolished.
Most of the structures destroyed had been used as cover for manufacturing weapons or to conceal arms smuggling tunnels.
IDF Gaza Division Commander Brig.-Gen. Shmuel Zakai indicated to reporters Monday that the operation had been prematurely scaled down due to humanitarian considerations.
“The operation has not ended, but because of the civilian population in the area of operation and other considerations its timeframe was restricted,” Zakai said.
Following the unintentional deaths of a handful of “Palestinian” civilians last week, the international community and foreign media launched a scathing attack on Israel, culminating in a UN Security Council resolution condemning Israel’s anti-terror efforts.
Defense Minister Sha’ul Mofaz told a gathering in Tel Aviv Monday that the “Palestinian” terror groups bore sole responsibility for the suffering imposed on Rafiah’s civilian population as a result of their actions, Israel Radio reported.
IDF poised to strike
But despite apparently backing down in the face of international pressure, Mofaz and other senior security officials warned the IDF remains poised to reenter Rafiah if terrorist activity does not cease.
"The efforts will continue, with no time limit, as long as Israelis are threatened by terrorism," said Mofaz.
Zakai told reporters the army knows there are many more smuggling tunnels out there, and that the search for them was not over.
“The IDF will continue to operate along the [Gaza-Egypt border] and we will enter anywhere else we want,” he said.
Egypt to blame
Meanwhile, US Congressman Tom Lantos told a Jerusalem press conference Monday that inaction by Egypt and the Palestinian Authority had necessitated Israel’s armored foray into Rafiah.
“It is self-evident that if Egypt, with its huge military capabilities, would do its job to prevent the smuggling of weapons and if the [PA] had done its job to maintain security, then there would have been no need for such an incursion,” Lantos was quoted as saying by The Jerusalem Post .
Egypt is perfectly capable of curbing the flow of illegal terrorist arms into Gaza, “if it so desires,” Lantos insisted.
He compared Egypt’s inaction along the Gaza border to Syria’s Bashar Assad purposely maintaining a porous border with Iraq in order to facilitate the influx of Arab fighters intent on killing American soldiers.