Prime Minister Sharon convened a Security Cabinet session last night, at which it was decided to continue the operation until its successful conclusion. It was similarly resolved that there will be absolutely no negotiations with the terrorists regarding the return of the bodies.
Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu (Likud) suggested exerting heavy pressure on the local population in the form of cutting off electricity and water. "We must do this until they beg us to talk with them about returning the bodies," he said.
Netanyahu also suggested that the cruel pictures of the terrorists and the body parts must be displayed to the world, as it "will prove to the world that we are dealing with the monsters." He made this contingent upon permission to do so from the soldiers' families. At present, it does not appear that this proposal will be adopted.
Interior Minister Avraham Poraz (Shinui) said that soldiers should not be endangered on a mission to retrieve body parts. He said that air raids should replace ground-force operations in Gaza, preceded by warnings to the local residents to leave their homes.
Rabbi Yuval Cherlow of the Tzohar Rabbis Organization said that in general, "Those who are living take precedence over those who have died. But in this very complex case, we have a third component, and that is that part of our concern for the living is that the soldiers must know that they will be taken care of even in death... I would use the following formula: Efforts should continue to collect the body parts, even if it means a certain risk to soldiers - but not if the risk becomes a concrete and certain danger."
IDF Deputy Chief of Staff Maj.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi said that the air-raid option is not realistic, as immediately upon receiving the warning, the terrorists would fill the area with children, leaving the Israel Air Force powerless to act. Housing Minister Effie Eitam agreed, and said that ground-force operations must continue.
Defense Minister Sha'ul Mofaz and IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Moshe Yaalon visited the western Negev IDF command post in Nachal Oz this morning.
David Deri, uncle of one of the six soldiers who were killed yesterday, responded to MK Yossi Sarid last night. The left-wing Sarid said yesterday that Israel need not have any presence in Gaza, and "those who were killed were sacrifices in vain." Deri said that this is not true, and that if we were to abandon our Jewish communities in Gaza, then all those explosive manufacturing labs that the forces went to destroy yesterday "would be in Gush Katif and Netzarim." It was emphasized many times yesterday that the mission's goal was to destroy labs that produce Kassam rockets fired not only at Gush Katif, but also at Sderot and nearby kibbutzim in the Negev - and that in this regard, the mission was successful.
Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu (Likud) suggested exerting heavy pressure on the local population in the form of cutting off electricity and water. "We must do this until they beg us to talk with them about returning the bodies," he said.
Netanyahu also suggested that the cruel pictures of the terrorists and the body parts must be displayed to the world, as it "will prove to the world that we are dealing with the monsters." He made this contingent upon permission to do so from the soldiers' families. At present, it does not appear that this proposal will be adopted.
Interior Minister Avraham Poraz (Shinui) said that soldiers should not be endangered on a mission to retrieve body parts. He said that air raids should replace ground-force operations in Gaza, preceded by warnings to the local residents to leave their homes.
Rabbi Yuval Cherlow of the Tzohar Rabbis Organization said that in general, "Those who are living take precedence over those who have died. But in this very complex case, we have a third component, and that is that part of our concern for the living is that the soldiers must know that they will be taken care of even in death... I would use the following formula: Efforts should continue to collect the body parts, even if it means a certain risk to soldiers - but not if the risk becomes a concrete and certain danger."
IDF Deputy Chief of Staff Maj.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi said that the air-raid option is not realistic, as immediately upon receiving the warning, the terrorists would fill the area with children, leaving the Israel Air Force powerless to act. Housing Minister Effie Eitam agreed, and said that ground-force operations must continue.
Defense Minister Sha'ul Mofaz and IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Moshe Yaalon visited the western Negev IDF command post in Nachal Oz this morning.
David Deri, uncle of one of the six soldiers who were killed yesterday, responded to MK Yossi Sarid last night. The left-wing Sarid said yesterday that Israel need not have any presence in Gaza, and "those who were killed were sacrifices in vain." Deri said that this is not true, and that if we were to abandon our Jewish communities in Gaza, then all those explosive manufacturing labs that the forces went to destroy yesterday "would be in Gush Katif and Netzarim." It was emphasized many times yesterday that the mission's goal was to destroy labs that produce Kassam rockets fired not only at Gush Katif, but also at Sderot and nearby kibbutzim in the Negev - and that in this regard, the mission was successful.