PM: IDF may target Qassam squads, but cease-fire stands

[Behind the Aegis]

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert gave the Israel Defense Forces permission to attack rocket-launching cells in the Gaza Strip as long as they are identified shortly before the launching, but the Prime Minister's Office said the Israeli commitment to the cease-fire in Gaza still stands.

Olmert also banned the IDF from operating near Palestinian population centers in the Strip. The decision heralds the first change in the policy of restraint in Gaza, which Defense Minister Amir Peretz and top IDF officials have sought to limit.

The move came in a security consultation that took place after two Sderot youths were wounded by a rocket Tuesday evening.

Israel "will continue to maintain the cease-fire, and will act in conjunction with the Palestinian Authority so that they take immediate steps to stop the Qassam fire," the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement. The cease-fire was reached November 26.


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