Israeli soldiers angry ,not allowed to finish Hamas

[mord]

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3658260,00.html 



Israel begins pulling troops from Gaza; soldiers say 'could have done more'

Infantrymen leaving Gaza pursuant to Saturday's cabinet decision think cessation of operation too hasty, say IDF could have and should have crushed Hamas will to shoot rockets at Israel

Hanan Greenberg
Published:    01.18.09, 18:58 / Israel News

Cleared for publication: The IDF began pulling some of its troops out of the Gaza Strip Sunday, following Israel's decision on a unilateral ceasefire. The troops redeployed to areas near the security fence.

 

Among many soldiers in the field, many of whom have been pulled out in the past several hours, Israel's declared truce appears to constitute a missed opportunity to crush Hamas' will to fire at Israeli civilians. Some reservists reported, though, that Hamas appeared weak.

 

"We could have done a lot more. There's a feeling the operation ended too early," one soldier told Ynet. He and his colleagues are staying alert in an attempt to block ceasefire violations – rocket fire – by Hamas or other Palestinian organizations.

 

These soldiers maintain that an operation such as Cast Lead should leave Hamas "devoid of desire" to continue aiming rockets at Israel. "We can continue without a problem, in urban Palestinian areas, in Gaza City or anywhere else. All they need to do is tell us to," soldiers said.

 


Soldiers leaving Gaza (Photo: AP)

 
Moreover, many wonder why troop presence has been reduced without any sort of formal resolution. "I'm sure any reservist would be willing to give another month if he knew that, at the end, (kidnapped soldier) Gilad Shalit would be returned home," said one reservist.

 
Many reservists also said that they had expected a much fiercer enemy. "It's been pretty quiet. The regular troops did a good job here and, honestly, there were few incidents (of gun battle) during the week that we were there," said one reservist.

 
"The army used a lot of fire power to cover our backs," reservists said, noting the vast damage in urban Gaza. "Unfortunately, the ones paying the price are the Palestinian civilians, many of whom have been left without homes or infrastructure."

 
   Advertisement   
      
But regular soldiers framed the damage and the aerial backup in a different light. "The amount of booby-traps and roadside explosives in these areas was too enormous to risk operating (without such backup)," they said.

 
"Innocent-looking neighborhoods turned into Hamas neighborhoods. Every other house was booby-trapped or had a smuggling tunnel," a soldier from the Armored Corps explained.

[Daleksfearme]

The history of hamas is clear. They want to distroy Israel and kill every Jew. With this in mind, why would The government of Israel not finish the Job?

[mord]

The history of hamas is clear. They want to distroy Israel and kill every Jew. With this in mind, why would The government of Israel not finish the Job?

Terrible politicized leaders

[q_q_]

Israel isn't pulling troops out of gaza, so a ceasefire doesn't make that much sense for soldiers remaining there!

Certainly the big invasion has ended!

What al jazeera says here is clear, and also mentioned as news by haaretz in a longer article.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/01/200911718127624660.html

Olmert said troops would remain "for the time being" and would respond to Hamas fire.

..

"We have reached all the goals of the war, and beyond," he said. "[But] if our enemies decide to strike and want to carry on, then the Israeli army will regard itself as free to respond with force."

Olmert also said the war boosted Israel's deterrence and that Hamas's actions would decide when the military would withdraw.

"This operation strengthened the deterrence of the state of Israel in the face of all those who threaten us," he said.
   
"If Hamas completely stops its attacks, we will judge at what moment we will leave the Gaza Strip."

..
Islamic Jihad said in a statement that "the resistance will continue its battle as long as occupation forces are on the land of Gaza and as long as the siege and the blockade continue".
.


http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1056246.html
The IDF would not say how many troops it is pulling out, but Channel 10showed tanks rolling out and smiling infantry soldiers walking toward the border. Some ground forces remained at key points in Gaza amid the withdrawal.

..
"We can't talk about a timetable for withdrawal until we know the ceasefire is holding," said Mark Regev, spokesman for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, rebuffing United Nations calls for setting a timetable.
..
"If there is a danger Hamas is going to deliberately torpedo the cease-fire, and we will have to reinitiate offensive actions against Hamas, for that reason we have to be reticent about withdrawing our forces."

"If the ceasefire holds, we can start a process of moving out," Regev added.
..
"If Hamas entirely ends its rocket fire on Israel, Israel will consider an IDF withdrawal from the Gaza Strip," Olmert declared.
If that did not occur, he said, "The IDF will continue to operate in order to protect our citizens."