Speaking at a lecture in Beer-Sheeba on Tuesday, Israeli Army Chief-of-Staff Mophaz stated that the Intifadah would not end in the next year, and made it clear that he was preparing his army for further escalation, including possible regional war between Israel and her neighbors.
Mophaz, quoted in Israeli daily “Yediot Aharonot”, then made two very surprising statements. In the first, he said that the reason the Palestinian-Israeli conflict had not escalated into an all-out regional conflict was because of the exemplary behavior of Israeli troops, implying that they had been lenient in their treatment of Palestinian demonstrators. Even more surprising, Mophaz, whose troops have been laying a heavy siege over Palestinian cities over the past months, stated that he himself was in favor of relaxing the restrictions on the Palestinians, but that the Palestinian security forces were opposed to such measures.
As if to emphasize the Army Chief’s words, Israeli troops later that night indeed relaxed their siege of Jericho, reportedly opening the roadblocks south of the city and allowing the Palestinians to travel from it to Jerusalem. During the same night, however, hundreds of Israeli Paratroopers, with tank and helicopter support, raided the Palestinian village Tammon in the West Bank. The Israeli Army confirmed he incursion into the Palestinian-controlled village, issuing a statement that the troops had detained several Hamas activists and had than withdrawn from the village. (www.albawaba.com)
