Briefing With Lt. Col Avital Leibowich, IDF Spokesperson On Operation Pillar of Defense

Lt. Col Avital Leibowich, the official Israel Defense Forces Spokesperson to the international press, spoke to a group of bloggers to update us on the goals of Operation Pillar of Defense.

She noted that Operation Pillar of Defense had 2 goals:

• Protect Israeli civilians who have been under constant rocket attack from Gaza for 11 years. In 2012 alone, there have been over 700 rockets fired from Gaza at civilian targets.
  
  
• Cripple the capabilites of the various terrorist groups operating in Gaza with Hamas.

Operation Pillar of Defense is being conducted in 2 phases:

• Phase 1: The central target was Ahmed Jabari, born in 1960, who is the most senior military leader of military wing of Hamas. Jabari had a lot of Israeli blood on his hands, and in addition was also involved in the kidnapping of Gilad Shalit.
  
  
• Phase 2: The IDF targeted 20 underground launching pads, including the Iranian-made Fajr-5 which has a long range and is capable of reaching 40 kilometers into Israel.

A current assessment will determine how the IDF will proceed -- keeping in mind that all options are on the table, including a ground invasion into Gaza.
Dome: 17 rockets intercept

Lt. Col. Leibowich noted that it is not natural for families to have to eat, sleep and live in shelters for a long period of time and such a situation cannot be allowed to continue.


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Technorati Tag: Israel and Gaza and Hamas and Operation Pillar of Defense.