Calls PM's decision to maintain restraint but target rocket cells insufficient.
By JPOST.COM STAFFjp.services2(photo credit: )
IDF officers have said that Wednesday's decision by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz - namely, to continue the cease-fire with the Palestinians but to keep targeting Kassam-launching cells - is a partial and insufficient solution, Israel Radio reported Thursday morning.
According to the officers, the IDF had asked to enter the Gaza Strip near the security fence and create a buffer zone that would prevent Kassam cells from getting to the area, but the request had not been approved on the political level.
A senior IDF officer told Israel Radio that the chances of locating those responsible for launching rockets in real time were not very high, and that striking the cells after identifying them was no simple matter.
Olmert and Peretz made the decision to maintain the cease-fire at an emergency meeting Wednesday morning with senior defense officials. The meeting was called after a rocket attack on Sderot the night before left two boys wounded, one critically.
"The defense establishment has been instructed to take pinpoint action against the rocket-launching cells," Olmert's office said after the meeting. "At the same time, Israel will continue to abide by the cease-fire."
