Amos Gilad, head of the Defense Ministry's Diplomatic-Security Bureau, said Wednesday morning that the government is not interested in the connotations of Arabic semantics of whether Hamas is talking about a calm, ceasefire or truce. "We have one objective, and that is to stop terror," he told Voice of Israel government radio.
He added that the IDF is prepared for a massive counterterrorist offensive in Gaza but is waiting for the government to give the order to act. "The terror will end," Gilad promised. "It is a matter of how and when, and it should be as soon as possible."