Israel preparing to reoccupy Gaza
4/21/2006 7:00:00 AM GMT

(Reuters Photo) Smoke rises after an Israeli artillery shell hit a Palestinian area in northern Gaza

The Israeli army is preparing to reoccupy the Gaza Strip if cross border violence escalates, a top army general said on Friday.

In an interview with Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, Major-General Yoav Gallant, commander of Israel's southern forces, said that the military had stepped up an offensive against Palestinian fighters firing rockets into Israel since the resistance group Hamas took over the government last month, adding that he is currently examining a range of options, including the possibility of reoccupying Gaza.

"We're talking about more aggressive military operations ... we may need to enter the Gaza Strip for short or long periods if this escalation continues," he told the Israeli newspaper.

"It could be anything from a partial occupation of the Gaza Strip to a full occupation," he added.

Israel pulled out its soldiers and settlers from the Gaza Strip last September after 38 years of occupation. Despite its withdrawal , the Jewish state continued its military operations in Gaza through air strikes, naval bombardments and cross-border artillery firing.

Meanwhile, senior army commanders revealed that Israeli soldiers were being trained in preparation for launching a massive offensive in Gaza as part of contingency plans the army had drawn up, the Haaretz newspaper reported.

But the paper quoted the commanders as saying such an operation was unlikely to be executed in the near future as it could undermine international backing for Israel since Hamas took over the Palestinian government on March 29.

Meanwhile, Israeli army chief Dan Halutz said he preferred aerial strikes as well as artillery fire on areas near the Gaza-Israel border used by fighters to fire rockets into Israel, the newspaper said.

The Israeli military has stepped up air strikes and artillery barrages in northern Gaza against what it claims are rocket launch sites used by Palestinian fighters. But Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya said the bombardments were aimed at shattering the will of the Palestinian people.

The Gaza offensive has so far claimed the lives of 20 Palestinians since the start of April. Among them was a seven-year-old girl killed when an artillery shell struck a house in the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya.

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