GAZA TRUCE WOULD GIVE HAMAS LEGITIMACY

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, on a visit to Paris on Thursday, reiterated her government's rejection of a French-proposed cease-fire in the Gaza Strip.
Livni told her French counterpart Bernard Kouchner that Hamas must must not be given the opportunity to gain any sort of legitimacy within a renewal of a truce. Under the current offensive, she said, Hamas understand that Israels will not tolerate Gaza rocket fire without response.
The foreign minister also voiced concern that Hamas would exploit the cease-fire to restock its weapons arsenal, according to Army Radio.
She told Kouchner that Israel was working to ease the life of Gaza residents while operating against Hamas' infrastructure in the coastal territory.
"There is no humanitarian crisis in the Strip, and therefore there is no need for a humanitarian truce," the Foreign Ministry quoted Livni as saying in a statement. "Israel has been supplying comprehensive humanitarian aid to the Strip ... and has even been stepping this up by the day."
Israel on Wednesday refuted the proposal for a 48-hour humanitarian truce as unreasonable. "We did not go into the Gaza operation only to end it while rocket fire continues," Olmert told cabinet ministers during a special session.
Livni, however, reportedly believes that it might be better to aim for a situation in which there is no clearly set-out agreement, but Israel would make clear beforehand that it would respond forcefully to any firing from Gaza after hostilities ended.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, for his part, has conditioned any future truce between Israel and Hamas on the establishment of an international mechanism to monitor the cease-fire.
During an appearance on Thursday in rocket-besieged Be'er Sheva, Olmert said that Israel is not seeking an extended military campaign in the Gaza Strip.
"We did not declare war against the residents of Gaza, but against Hamas we will act with an iron fist," Olmert said. "Hamas is making things difficult for us, but more so for its people."
According to Olmert, a decision now to opt for a cease-fire would carry a heavy price.
"Let's say we unilaterally stopped and a few days from now a barrage fell on Ashkelon," he said. "Do you understand the consequences in Israel and the region? For Israeli deterrence, for Israeli measures."
"Let's say we unilaterally stopped and a few days from now a barrage fell on Ashkelon," he said. "Do you understand the consequences in Israel and the region? For Israeli deterrence, for Israeli measures."
Source:Haaretz Correspondent