http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/136833(IsraelNN.com) Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad responded Saturday with typical bluster to an Israeli statement regarding a possible military operation against Gaza. "They are looking for an excuse to attack Gaza,” he said. “I want to tell the Zionists and their supporters that they have committed enough crimes already. The new adventure will not save you, but will bring you closer to certain death.”
Gaza is ruled by the radical Islamist movement Hamas, and is effectively a proxy of Teheran, which arms, trains and directs Hamas.
'No more frightened children'
Israel's Deputy Prime Minister Silvan Shalom had warned Friday of a new offensive by the IDF if rocket fire from Gaza against Israeli civilians continues. “If this rocket fire against Israel does not stop, it seems we will have to raise the level of our activity and step up our actions against Hamas,” Shalom told government-run Voice of Israel radio.
“We won’t allow frightened children to again be raised in bomb shelters and so, in the end, it will force us to launch another military operation,” he said. “I hope we can avoid it, but it is one of the options we have, and if we don’t have a choice, we will use it in the near future.”
Shalom was referring to a period of years during which Israeli governments refrained from launching a concentrated offensive against Gaza despite incessant shelling of Jewish civilians. The IDF finally launched such an operation in late 2008, just before the elections that brought Likud back into power.
Ahmadinejad also said that world pressure on Iran, including talk of new sanctions, makes the Islamic theocracy more determined than ever to pursue its nuclear program. "You should know that the more hostile you are, the stronger an incentive our people will have, it will double," he said. "They said 'we want sanctions on petroleum'. Why don't you do it? The sooner the better."
Topic: Iran Rattles Saber at Israel Over Gaza (Read 2184 times)