TEL Aviv _ Agencies
Israel is "ready to launch a new war on the Gaza Strip, similar to the 2014 war," an Israeli military commander said on Monday.
In an article published in Israel today, the so-called "commander of the southern region of the Israeli army " Ha´aretz believes that "four years after the end of the Gaza war of 2014, we are witnessing in this summer a tense security situation punctuated by several days of exchange of gunfire that resulted in the injury of a number of settlers and soldiers. "
"The recent period has seen many security challenges with Gaza, in which the army and the leadership of the southern region have worked to create a more robust and stable security reality, and to do so may require us to work on this front, outside the border and in its vicinity, especially on the boundaries of settlement settlements," he said. .
"We made progress "
"We are working to improve our security capabilities and operational readiness, and if necessary we will work together with local settlement councils as we have done so far, and the military has made remarkable progress in confronting Hamas offensive spending in Gaza," said the former commander of the Military Intelligence Service, "Aman ". of which were uncovered and destroyed.
"We defended the settlers in the cover of Gaza, foiled infiltration operations to cross the border, and worked hard to put an end to the burning phenomenon of kites to minimize damage, it is true that I feel pain from the results of these fires, but I am happy that they have not injured any Israelis," he said. Summer is coming to an end, having seen the security challenges ".
"There will be no quiet"
"There will be no lull in Gaza over the next decade, and I may risk saying more in the long run, although in the last round of escalation we are closer than ever to an open confrontation like the protective cliff," he said in a statement quoted by the Yediot Aharonot daily.
"It´s not right to delude ourselves, Gaza is a place full of operations, attacks and anti-Israeli sentiment, embracing its military capabilities, and even though we are a dozen times stronger, it will occasionally try to surprise us and challenge us," he said.
"Gaza occupation "
In his first interview since he took office three months ago, Halfi answered a question about the "reoccupation of the Gaza Strip and the removal of Hamas´s authority in it", saying, "I don´t know if that would improve the security situation there, we´re working anyway, and if it´s necessary, we´ll do what it takes to restore security. From the Gaza front, we have the operational capability to occupy Gaza, but this is not necessarily the first work to do. "
"I support the establishment of a seaport in Gaza, because this would remove the prevailing hostility in Gaza towards us and would alleviate the humanitarian crisis there, provided that it does not contribute to the strengthening of Hamas and maintains and improves the security level prevailing in the Gaza envelope, with the port being for the introduction of commercial goods, Amid security control, it would be useful to set up such a project. "
He said: "In the recent period we are very close to the battle of the" protective Cliff 2 ", more than any other period since the end of the war four years ago, although we targeted many of the military capabilities of Hamas in a harmful way, we hit its infrastructure, and killed us of its elements, and Hamas may understand that it is not right to go far Military escalation ".
"We see Hamas so far not too far away to harass us, the army is ready to work well, and our enemies in Gaza will strive not to come with us for a massive confrontation because of the strength of the Israeli army, which knows how to deal with more than one military front," he said.
