PM: We may continue operating in Gaza even if Qassams stop

[bemildred]

Reminds me of Gandhi's saying: "first they ignore you, then they attack you, then you win." We seem to be moving from the "ignore you" phase to the "attack you" phase now, WRT Hamas, although it isn't quite that neat. But it seems clear that the policy of boycott and isolation of Hamas is being superseded, from which one can infer that it has failed to have the desired effect.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told ministers Sunday that Israel would act independently of Hamas activity in the Gaza Strip, regardless of whether the militant group continued to fire Qassam rockets at southern Israel or called for a cease-fire.

"I will not commit to coordinating our behavior with Hamas actions, either it opens fire or halts its fire," Olmert told the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, shortly after a Qassam rocket attack killed an Israeli man in the western Negev town of Sderot.

"Even if there were an internal cease-fire in Gaza, and if such an agreement held, it would apply to the factions only," Olmert said.

"We need to prepare for a long confrontation that does not depend on agreements between themselves, and act in accordance with the circumstances and knowledge that we have, which is of a long-term confrontation."

That last quote is Bushlike in it's circularity.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/863634.html