Haaretz: We’re Beginning to Pay the Price

Those who want to treat the delay in creating a diplomatic exit strategy for the war in Gaza as if it were a divine decree must take into account that b the end of this determination... are casualties, Haaretz analyzed. The repeated delays in moving ahead with Operation Cast Lead, first before the ground operation and now the slow way ‘Israel' is seeking 'exit points' have a price. We are now beginning to pay it, the analysis said.

Since the beginning of Cast Lead, most of the cabinet and the army have praised themselves for their thorough application of the Winograd recommendations from the Second Lebanon War. But the Winograd Committee's criticism of the poor coordination between military action and diplomatic achievements seems relevant in this round as well. Most of the military at the operational level is pushing for continuing the operation deep within Hamas territory. That is exactly what is expected of them, Haaretz said.

In contrast, the daily added, Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi was very cautious in presenting the risks and opportunities in Friday afternoon's cabinet meeting. Ashkenazi is likely to be satisfied with a quick end to the ground operation, in the coming days. However with the defense minister and the foreign minister both beginning their days trying to figure out how to thwart the success of the other, and the (outgoing) prime minister toying with the idea of smashing Hamas, it's little wonder that a diplomatic solution is still far off.

Haaretz said "the IDF has inserted a crushing war machine into the Gaza Strip to confront thousands of terrorists and guerilla fighters who have been preparing for months for a possible invasion." The forces are advancing through built-up, fortified and booby-trapped territory, and in so doing are incurring great risk to themselves.

Ashkenazi had said in earlier discussions that use of major fire power would be inevitable even in the most densely populated areas. The ‘Israeli' solution was thus to be very aggressive to protect the lives of the soldiers as much as possible.

These are 'Georgia rules,' which are not so far from the methods Russia used in its conflict last summer. The result is the killing of dozens of non-combatant Palestinians. The Gaza medical teams might not have reached all of them yet.

When an Israeli force gets into an entanglement, as in Sajaiyeh last night, massive fire into built-up areas is initiated to cover the extraction. "From Hamas' perspective, the Sajaiyeh incident that left 3 IDF troops dead Monday is a significant first achievement. For the first time, ‘Israeli' TV broadcasts raised the question of whether it was worthwhile for the operation to continue," Haaretz said.

With the Palestinians already having suffered 550 dead and 2,700 injured, the Sajaiyeh incident is the first revenge by the people of Gaza, it added.

"Until that incident last night, it seemed as if Hamas' distress was pushing it toward a diplomatic solution. However, the Egyptian cease-fire proposal wants Hamas to stop fighting with no preconditions for an unlimited period, and to enter negotiations with no timetable.

Egypt also apparently intends to act more seriously to stop the smuggling into Gaza from its territory. Cairo sees the ‘Israeli' operation as the chance to settle accounts with Hamas for not renewing the dialogue with Fatah," the Haaretz analysis concluded.