By Xinhua
Jerusalem : Israel would continue to operate against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, despite a recent relatively calm in rocket fire, local daily Ha’aretz quoted Defense Minister Ehud Barak as saying on Monday.
Barak said that “the fighting is ongoing and will continue and will at times increase and decrease,” adding the defense establishment’s goal was to stop the rocket fire at Israel and the terror emanating from Gaza, while dramatically reducing weapon smuggling into the strip.
A ceasefire can only be considered once these things materialize, he stressed.
Earlier in the day, a senior army official said that Israel army continues its defensive operations in the Gaza Strip, including attacks on Qassam rocket launching cells, while refraining from striking other militant targets.
Responding to recent reports about a truce reached between Israel and the Islamic Hamas movement, the official of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) explained that the army currently concentrates on eliminating Qassam cells that operate from within the Gaza Strip, upon orders from the political echelon to limit operation scale.
Meanwhile, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said on Monday that no comprehensive ceasefire had been reached with Israel, though other Hamas officials said their leaders would talk to Egypt in the next day or two to continue the efforts to work out a deal.
Despite the denials on both sides regarding a truce, Israeli aircraft operations over Gaza have dramatically reduced in recent days and strikes on militants targets have been suspended.
IDF ground operations have also been reduced, while routine operations along the Gaza border fence are set to carry on as usual and in accordance with security estimates.