Israel's defense minister confirms his army will continue strikes on Gaza

Sunday February 10, 2008 21:09

by Rami Almeghari - IMEMC&Agencies

Israeli defense minister, Ehud Barak, confirmed on Sunday that his army will carry out more strikes on the Gaza Strip, as an Israeli minister called for total annihilation of some Gaza neighborhoods.

Israeli tanks in Gaza/ archive photo

Barak's remarks came on the sideline of a cabinet meeting today morning, where Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, also stressed that Israel will reach homemade shells launchers.

"the army will continue striking terror organizations in Gazza ", Barak was quoted as saying.

PM Olmert, from his part, stressed on his willingness to attack what he called ' homemade shells launchers', saying that his government can not ignore the despair among Israelis of Sderot and southern Israel, whose towns are threatened by the homemade shells.

Israeli minister , Me'air Shetrit, called for responding to what he termed ' sabotaging operations' by totally annihilating some Gaza neighborhoods, 'then the residents of the Gaza Strip will understand how serious the Israeli threats are'.

" Those responsible for terror, including Hamas's leaders, should be brought to justice", Shetreet said.

Such renewed Israeli threats came right after homemade shells, fired from Gaza yesterday, wounded two Israelis including one critically, in the nearby Israeli town of Sderot.

Such developments come on the heels of a great deal of despair among the Gaza's 1.5 million residents in the shadow of several months of strict Israeli closure and prevention of access of essential supplies into the coastal region.

Yesterday, patient number 92 died in Gaza city after having been unable to be referred to treatment outside the Gaza Strip, as all Gaza's crossings including the Gaza-Egypt Rafah terminal, have been closed since June2007.

Moreover, the Israeli army has been engaged in almost daily deadly attacks on Gaza since September of last year. Palestinian media reports suggest that at least 250 Palestinians, mostly resistance fighters have been killed over the past three months.

In June2007, Israel closed Gaza after the Islamist Hamas took over the coastal territory, as in September , Israel declared the territory a 'hostile entity', while in October, the Israeli authorities imposed fuel supplies cut, causing sever shortage of power supply.