Israeli President Plans to Ignore International Calls for Peace

Posted by Steve Benen, Washington Monthly at 10:56 AM on January 4, 2009.

Those waiting for a ceasefire in Gaza are likely to be waiting for quite a while. ABC News' George Stephanopoulos spoke to Israeli President Shimon Peres and said his government planned to ignore international calls for a pause to the violence.

"The idea that Hamas will continue to fire and we will declare a ceasefire..it does not make any sense," Peres told me on "This Week."

Heavy fighting continues today after thousands of Israeli ground troops moved into Gaza last night. More than 500 Palestinians have been killed and 2400 wounded since airstrikes began last week. But that has not stopped Hamas from firing rockets into Israel killing four and injuring more than 70 Israelis. [...]

Peres added, "They are now beginning to feel the weight of their mistakes." But the Israeli president said the government of Israel has no intention of occupying Gaza.

"We don't intend to occupy Gaza or crush Hamas but crush terror," Peres said, "Hamas needs a real and serious lesson. They are now getting it."

As for what this "lesson" might be, and how/whether it will serve anyone's interests, this remains unclear.

Tagged as: war, israel, palestine, middle east, attacks, gaza