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Israel Threatens Further Gaza Incursion

Even as Israeli troops are set to finish their withdrawal from Lebanon following the cease-fire ending a war that lasted a little over a month encompassing half of July and August, the Jewish state?s defense minister, Amir Peretz, warned Palestinians that if rocket attacks emanating from the Gaza Strip did not cease Jerusalem might consider a further incursion into the densely populated area in an attempt to prevent them. Qassam rocket attacks against communities lying close to the Gaza Strip have killed Israeli civilians.

Israeli troops, having left the Gaza Strip last fall, re-entered several portions following a cross-border attack in late June that killed two Israeli soldiers and resulted in the kidnapping of a third by terrorists linked to the ruling Hamas government of the Palestinian Authority. Speaking to an English-language newspaper in the capital, Defense Minister Peretz said Israel was willing to pay any price to stop Palestinian rocket fire.

The July-August war between Israel and the Lebanese terror group Hizballah was characterized by numerous Israeli bombing runs targeting much of southern Lebanon and the capital, Beirut. Hizballah managed to kill hundreds of Israeli civilians and soldiers in the Galilee area with rocket and missile fire from hidden positions, despite efforts by the Israeli Air Force to stop them and claims by Jerusalem that significant percentages of Hizballah rockets had been destroyed.