The heads of the Southern Command and of troops in the Gaza region recommended an offensive in response to growing anarchy in the Palestinian Authority (PA) and increasing terrorist attacks emanating from PA-controlled areas, according to the Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz.
Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade terrorists kidnapped a senior PA security official and his family in Gaza on Thursday. They later released the family, but the armed and masked terrorists continued holding the official hostage.
Arab terrorists have continued to attack Gush Katif and Negev communities with mortar shells and rockets, and the IDF have reported almost 100 shooting attacks every week.
Mofaz rejected the senior military officers' requests to send three infantry brigades into Gaza to prevent terrorists from firing on tens of thousands of Israeli policemen and soldiers who have been ordered to expel 9,000 Jews from their homes.
He is relying on the PA, which also is under pressure from the United States, to keep terrorists from interfering with the expulsion, which Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has vowed will take place without enemy fire.
Israel has not yet concluded an agreement with Egypt for patrolling the Philadelphi Route along the international border. The road has been a major source for arms smuggling, both on land and underground. Israeli officials said that they expect to conclude an agreement next week allowing Egyptian troops to take responsibility in the area, but other reports stated that the IDF would not leave the area until the expulsion has been completed.
IDF Gaza District Coordinating Office head Colonel Yoav Mordechai warned that an Israeli military withdrawal from the area would endanger Israel "In theory, Bin-Laden could enter Gaza via the Philadelphi Road if we do not maintain control. Control over the road must be significantly more stringent," he said.
In Judea and Samaria, the IDF is on high alert against terrorist attempts to attack major cities and Jewish communities during the expulsion.
In a separate development, the army entered a village near Tulkarm and killed an Arab terrorist who drove a suicide bomber to carry out the July 12 attack in Netanya that killed five Israelis.
Israel previously had given the PA full responsibility for the Tulkarm area after withdrawing all troops, but the IDF repeatedly has re-entered the area following the PA’s failure to stop terrorism.
Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade terrorists kidnapped a senior PA security official and his family in Gaza on Thursday. They later released the family, but the armed and masked terrorists continued holding the official hostage.
Arab terrorists have continued to attack Gush Katif and Negev communities with mortar shells and rockets, and the IDF have reported almost 100 shooting attacks every week.
Mofaz rejected the senior military officers' requests to send three infantry brigades into Gaza to prevent terrorists from firing on tens of thousands of Israeli policemen and soldiers who have been ordered to expel 9,000 Jews from their homes.
He is relying on the PA, which also is under pressure from the United States, to keep terrorists from interfering with the expulsion, which Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has vowed will take place without enemy fire.
Israel has not yet concluded an agreement with Egypt for patrolling the Philadelphi Route along the international border. The road has been a major source for arms smuggling, both on land and underground. Israeli officials said that they expect to conclude an agreement next week allowing Egyptian troops to take responsibility in the area, but other reports stated that the IDF would not leave the area until the expulsion has been completed.
IDF Gaza District Coordinating Office head Colonel Yoav Mordechai warned that an Israeli military withdrawal from the area would endanger Israel "In theory, Bin-Laden could enter Gaza via the Philadelphi Road if we do not maintain control. Control over the road must be significantly more stringent," he said.
In Judea and Samaria, the IDF is on high alert against terrorist attempts to attack major cities and Jewish communities during the expulsion.
In a separate development, the army entered a village near Tulkarm and killed an Arab terrorist who drove a suicide bomber to carry out the July 12 attack in Netanya that killed five Israelis.
Israel previously had given the PA full responsibility for the Tulkarm area after withdrawing all troops, but the IDF repeatedly has re-entered the area following the PA’s failure to stop terrorism.