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JERUSALEM, Oct 11: Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has snubbed the advice of his army chiefs and ordered the continuation of a massive military offensive in the northern Gaza Strip, according to senior officials.
They said some high-ranking army officers had told Mr Sharon that Operation Days of Penitence, which has claimed the lives of 110 Palestinians since it was launched on Sept 28, had now met its main objective and managed to halt rocket attacks on southern Israel, according to public radio and the Haaretz newspaper.
But Mr Sharon, keen to deliver a decisive blow to Gaza-based militant factions before next year's planned pullout from the territory, told top brass that they must push on with the operation.
Two children were killed in the southern Israeli town of Sderot late last month by a Qassam rocket, named after the armed wing of the radical Hamas movement. Much of the operation has been centred on the Jabaliya refugee camp in the north of the territory.
But Haaretz cited senior officers as saying troops were being exposed to an unnecessarily high risk by remaining in the densely populated camp and that rocket launchers had also been moved from Jabalya.
VOTE ON PULLOUT: The Israeli prime minister moved on Monday to accelerate his plan to pull out of the Gaza Strip by announcing that a parliamentary vote on the controversial project would take place in two weeks.
"I am going to submit my plan for debate and a vote in the Knesset in two weeks only, on Oct 25," Mr Sharon told MPs on the opening day of the winter session of parliament.
The announcement means MPs will give their verdict on his so-called disengagement plan just a day after a cabinet vote. Sharon had previously indicated he would put the issue to a vote in the 120-seat parliament on Nov 3.
The move represents a significant gamble by Sharon who lacks a majority in parliament after traditional allies quit or were sacked from the coalition in June. Mr Sharon's plan, which has been enthusiastically endorsed by Washington, will see Israel pull all its troops and the 8,000 Jewish settlers living in Gaza out of he territory next year. It also envisages a strengthening of control over larger West Bank settlements. -AFP
