IDF releases reservists called up for planned Gaza strike
By Amos Harel and Aluf Benn, Ha'aretz Correspondents, Ha'aretz Service and agencies
Palestinian children playing on sand barriers erected in the Gaza Strip in anticipation of an IDF incursion.
The Israel Defense Forces began Sunday releasing reservists called up for a planned operation in the Gaza Strip after Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer decided Thursday night to cancel - or "defer" in official parlance - the incursion. The IDF action was originally planned as a response to a lethal terror strike Tuesday night in Rishon Letzion.
IDF Chief of Staff Shaul Mofaz had advocated a major military action following the Rishon Letzion attack.
While Sharon and Ben-Eliezer decided at their Thursday night meeting to call off the Gaza operation, aides to both men later stressed that each had reached the decision separately. Ben-Eliezer blamed leaks by cabinet colleagues for the deferral; Sharon also said leaks had contributed to the suspension of the operation, but he pointed an accusing finger at IDF officers.
Sources close to the prime minister explained that two main factors had led to the cancellation of the Gaza operation. Sharon, they said, feared that the IDF's plan might lead to many casualties and serious international complications. Furthermore, they said, the prime minister did not want to upset what he regards as a favorable diplomatic climate, following his trip to Washington and the Bush administration's recognition of the need for reforms in the power structure of the Palestinian Authority.
Ben-Eliezer, security sources relayed, had opposed the Gaza operation in light of intelligence reports that the Palestinians had regrouped in anticipation of an IDF incursion and that terror suspects had gone into hiding. The defense minister did not want to give the go-ahead to an operation that was liable to result in many IDF casualties and the apprehension of few terrorists.
In Washington, U.S. officials welcomed the resolution last week of the standoff at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. The U.S. officials are now preparing to pressure Israel and the PA into renewing security contacts. Bush administration officials reason that now that the crises at the church and at Arafat's Ramallah compound have been resolved, there are no lingering obstacles to impede the resumption of security talks.
The Bush administration has, meanwhile, decided to postpone CIA director George Tenet's expected visit to the region. Israeli and American sources said that Tenet would arrive no earlier than next week. The CIA director is to help formulate a plan to unify the PA security forces, as the first step in a reform plan for the PA.
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