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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Olmert Thanks Euros for Support, Promises Early Withdrawal From Gaza |
| 2009-01-18 |
| Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Sunday that Israel has no intention to stay in the Gaza Strip or to reconquer it, despite its three-week offensive on the Hamas-ruled coastal territory. Israel late Saturday declared a unilateral cease-fire in its offensive. The declaration was followed by a separate truce announcement from Hamas. Olmert told European leaders visiting Jerusalem on Sunday evening that in the wake of the cease-fire, Israel planned to withdraw all of its troops as soon as possible. He said that such a move would come when the situation between Israel and Gaza was "stable." "We didn't set out to conquer Gaza, we didn't set out to control Gaza, we don't want to remain in Gaza and we intend on leaving Gaza as fast as possible", Olmert said at a dinner with the leaders of Britain, France, Germany and Spain. He also expressed sorrow over the deaths of civilians in Gaza, calling them hostages of the Hamas murders and vowed to prevent a humanitarian crisis in the territory. He thanked the Europeans for their support in mediating a truce between Israel and Hamas, Olmert grades on a generous curve and also believes that the Euros need to be complimented to be avoid becoming even more cowardly than they are now and for it committment I must have missed this committment to end the smuggling of weapons into the Gaza Strip. |
| Posted by:mhw |
| #5 Personally I don't think it is a good idea to back off when Israel has 'em on the ropes. However, it would give Israel the chance to refit and rearm, assess targets etc. If Hamas launches rockets again Israel would have the political coverage to restart missions. That is, out hudna the hudna...or they could be just saying it to see if any big gophers pop up for a peek. IMHO the only way to decidedly defeat Hamas would be to pound the crap out of them so bad that the regular people rise against Hamas. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2009-01-18 22:41 |
| #4 He thanked the Europeans for their support in mediating a truce between Israel and Hamas A truce is what they do when they want to regroup and rearm. This isn't rocket surgery numb nuts! |
| Posted by: Pliny Flosh7459 2009-01-18 19:53 |
| #3 "Commitment" : the Europeans are ready to say anything to end a justified antiterrorist Israeli operation, and to help Hamas rebuild its terrorist infrastructure and fire again rockets on "those Jews"... |
| Posted by: Leroidavid 2009-01-18 19:49 |
| #2 Behind the scenes, Rahm to Tzipi: Azru Li here, let's see if we can make this go away before The One takes office and he's forced to take a stand on it....ie, military aid, financial support, etc. You get my drift? |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2009-01-18 18:43 |
| #1 the euros gave them support? wtf i missed that one |
| Posted by: rabid whitetail 2009-01-18 17:47 |