Defense Minister and Labor chairman Ehud Barak on Monday said that Israel would expand its military operation in the Gaza Strip until all the goals were achieved.
He spoke at a special Knesset session attended, among others, by Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu.
"This operation will be extended and deepened as we find necessary. Our goal is to strike Hamas and stop the attacks on Israel. Hamas controls Gaza and is responsible for everything happening there and for all attacks carried out from within the Strip. The goals of this operation are to stop Hamas from attacking our citizens and soldiers," said Barak.
"I would like to remind the world that Israel withdrew from the entire Gaza Strip more than three years ago. We gave a chance for a new reality, and all we've seen is Hamas firing rockets and missiles on our citizens and carrying out attacks against Israel," he noted.
Barak added that the IDF was targeting Hamas leadership and its allies in Gaza, asserting that the operation would be "all out war."
"We have nothing against the citizens of Gaza, but we must fight against the Hamas leadership. We are making great efforts to prevent civilian casualties… We are not preventing humanitarian aid from entering the Gaza Strip."
The defense minister told Knesset members that he was not sorry for Israel's restraint in previous months and noted that Operation Cast Lead had been planned by the security establishment long ago.
"I'm not sorry for the restraint we showed until the beginning of Operation Cast Lead...now is the time to act, we are not willing to let this situation continue," the defense minister said.
Barak stressed that Israel was not interested in violence but would not allow a situation in which its citizens were under fire.
"I never believed war was the best option...I'm the defense minister, not the war minister," he said. "As a fighter and commander I know personally what it feels like to lose a fellow combatant. I'm not trigger happy, maybe even the opposite."
However, Barak added that although Israel was not interested in war, it had come to the conclusion that a military operation was necessary.
"I want to make it clear that we did not set out on this military operation because of revenge or rage... The security establishment has been preparing for such an operation for many months," he said.
Livni, who spoke after Barak, also stressed Hamas's responsibility for the situation in Gaza and said that while Israel wants peace and was interested in continuing the peace process, the Jewish state "must fight against those who want to prevent us from living in peace."
"To all those criticizing us we say that Hamas is an extremist terror group that does not represent the Palestinians...We have decided to hold a peace process with those who are truly committed to living in peace, side by side," Livni said, referring to Israel's negotiations with the Fatah leadership in the West Bank.
Livni's statements were somewhat dampened, however, by the Palestinian Authority's top negotiator Ahmed Qurei, who said Monday that negotiations could not continue as long as Israel was attacking Gaza.
Netanyahu, meanwhile, criticized the government's policy of restraint and said that Israel had taken too long to strike Hamas.
"For firing at citizens, hiding behind citizens, causing suffering to our citizens to their own citizens, we will strike Hamas...No country in the world would do otherwise, and no nation would restrain itself for so long, for too long," the opposition leader said at the meeting.
He also noted that the military operation should also be aimed at toppling the Hamas regime in Gaza.
"Our goal should be twofold - stopping the attacks on our cities and eliminating the threat of rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip," said Netanyahu. "Stopping the attacks can be done within a short period of time, while eliminating the threat of rocket attacks from Gaza will entail toppling the Hamas rule over the Strip and uprooting the Iranian base there."
Netanyahu went on to call on all the citizens of Israel, Arab and Jewish, to "remain loyal to the state of Israel during this just war against our enemy."
"We stand united in this war. Not every citizen must automatically support every move the government makes, but it is unacceptable for Israeli citizens to support our enemies," he said.
The opposition leader urged Arab Israelis to condemn fundamentalism in their communities, and said that Israel would act forcefully against Israeli Hamas supporters.
Netanyahu also called on Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to dismiss Science, Culture and Sport Minister Ghaleb Majadle from the government for boycotting Sunday's cabinet meeting in protest of the Gaza operation.
"A minister must serve the state of Israel and cannot boycott a cabinet meeting in a time of war," said Netanyahu.
During Netanyahu's address, Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik expelled two Arab Israeli MKs from the special meeting, after they repeatedly interrupted his speech.
The first MK to be expelled from the meeting was Muhammad Barakei (Hadash), who called out, "How many wars are on your menu, Bibi?" as Netanyahu began his address to the Knesset. MK Gideon Sa'ar (Likud) told Barakei that he should go to Gaza to show his support, to which Barakei responded, "I would if only I could."
MK Taleb A-Sanaa (United Arab List) was also expelled from the meeting.
Both MKs were warned three times before Itzik ordered that they be removed from the meeting.
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