Peace in our time? Don't count on it.

'Before calm, Gaza will escalate beyond anything we've seen'

THE JERUSALEM POST Mar. 12, 2008

"Continued combat in Gaza will bring an escalation beyond what we have seen so far, before we reach a period of calm," Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Wednesday.

Barak was touring the northern brigade of the IDF's Gaza Division. With him were IDF Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, OC Southern Command Maj.-Gen Yoav Galant and OC Gaza Division Brig.-Gen. Moshe Tamir.

"We are not in a state of calm with Hamas, we are in ongoing activity meant to stop Kassam fire," he said. "There is no change in what we are doing. What awaits us here is further operations and [the soldiers] will need to be prepared again for action in order to win this issue."

Posted on 13 March 2008 @ 15:19 GMT