Israel mounts air attacks on Gaza and Lebanon

The attacks on Gaza, which began on the evening of Wednesday, December 28, came after a declaration by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s cabinet imposing a buffer zone in the north of the strip. The order creating a buffer area 2.5 kilometres (1.5 miles) deep, covering territory formerly containing Jewish settlements, came into effect at 18:00 hours and within minutes shelling began.

The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) dropped leaflets over northern Gaza reproducing a map of the “security zone,” stating that it will be enforced “until further notice” and instructing people to keep out of the area.

Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert gave an interview in which he responded to accusations that Sharon’s Gaza disengagement plan had been a mistake. He stressed that it had in fact provided for a more flexible military response. In chilling terms he declared, “The prime minister has no limitations. No one is stopping him. No one is blocking him. He’s not afraid of ‘what they will say.’”

“When we were deep in Gaza,” he continued, “there was shelling and terror and we couldn’t carry out operations like Blue Skies because the Jewish population was in the heart of the Arab population.”

December 28 also saw an Israeli air strike against the base of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command led by Ahmed Jibril and situated in the al-Naima area, south of Beirut. Two Palestinian militants were wounded in the attack. The Israeli government has accused the PFLP-GC of responsibility for a total of nine rockets fired from Lebanese territory directed at Israeli border towns. The PFLP-GC has denied responsibility.

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http://www.wsws.org/articles/2005/dec2005/isra-d30.shtml