Sources: IDF told to exercise restraint in face of rocket fire from Gaza
By Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondent Last update - 04:16 09/12/2008
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1044845.html

Despite the recent escalation in the volume of rocket fire at southern
Israel from the Gaza Strip, the Israel Defense Forces have been ordered to
maintain a policy of restraint, army sources told Haaretz. As a result, the
IDF is embarking on very few operations against the rocket-launching crews.

Since the Gaza border flared up again on November 4, following an IDF
operation to destroy a tunnel near the border in which six Hamas operatives
were killed, more than 200 rockets have been fired at Israel. This includes
32 Grad Katyushas fired at Ashkelon over the course of a few days. The IDF
views this as proof that Hamas and Islamic Jihad have large stockpiles of
rockets, including sizable numbers of the longer-range Katyushas.

While Hamas was directly responsible for some of the earlier launches, over
the last two weeks, it has largely left the firing to other factions.
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Palestinian efforts to lay bombs near the border have also spiked in recent
weeks.

However, the IDF's rules of engagement have remained unchanged. Soldiers are
allowed to fire freely at rocket- and mortar-launching cells immediately
before, during or after a launch, and with permission from a senior officer,
they can also fire at Palestinians trying to lay bombs within half a
kilometer of the border fence. Other than that, however, no offensive
operations are permitted: For instance, the army cannot attack Hamas'
offices or training facilities or assassinate members of its military wing.

The main method via which Israel has tried to pressure Hamas instead is by
tightening the blockade of Gaza. But while Hamas is feeling the pressure, it
could opt to respond not by lowering the violence, but by escalating it, in
the hopes of achieving a new cease-fire on better terms.

The fact that Hamas has asserted almost total control over the smuggling
tunnels from Egypt means that it largely determines what kind of merchandise
enters the Strip. Israeli defense officials estimate that some 150,000
liters of low-quality diesel fuel enters Gaza via the tunnels every day,
which enables trucks and buses to operate on a limited basis. This also
allows Hamas to reserve the fuel that arrives from Israel, which is of much
higher quality, for the use of its military wing and key Hamas-run
government offices.

Currently, both Hamas and the Palestinian Authority are pressing Israel to
allow the entry of tens of millions of shekels worth of paper currency into
Gaza.

The Strip's economy is still largely shekel-based, and it is currently
facing a serious currency shortage, as many existing bills are too worn out
to use. Some of the money would be used to pay salaries to employees of
government offices affiliated with the PA.

PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad raised this issue in recent talks with
Defense Minister Ehud Barak and the head of the Defense Ministry's
diplomatic unit, Maj. Gen. (res.) Amos Gilad. However, Israel has not yet
decided whether to accede to Fayyad's request.