Word: casts
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...stay as long as it takes. The campaign "won't be easy," said Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak. "It won't be short. I don't want to delude anyone." He underscored his message by ordering the mobilization of tens of thousands of reserve troops. The purpose of Operation Cast Lead remains a durable cease-fire that ends rocket fire from Gaza into southern Israel, but Israeli officials believe that to reach such an agreement, Hamas must be pummeled onto the ropes, its leaders forced to seek a truce to ensure its survival and continued political control over Gaza...
...Gaza simply by remaining intact and on its feet. Although Israel has no intention of taking control of Gaza and getting stuck there, the purpose of its ground invasion is to make Hamas commanders believe that even their goal of surviving and remaining in control of Gaza after Operation Cast Lead is slipping beyond their grasp, in the hope that this will make the organization more likely to accept Israel's truce terms. The armed "negotiation" over Gaza's next cease-fire, then, has entered what will likely be its most intense phase...
...Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who make the ultimate command decisions for Operation Cast Lead, have been restrained until now from launching a full-scale ground attack because of the limited goals of the Israeli operation and the time available before the diplomatic pressure for a cease-fire compels Israel to back...
...because they want him to prioritize Iran. Diplomatic moves already afoot by the U.S. and Europeans - and the mounting pressure on Arab regimes, including that of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah, to intervene even if their unstated preference is to see Hamas hobbled - might result in Operation Cast Lead ending a lot sooner than...
...response to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. And the diplomatic moves already afoot by the U.S. and Europeans - and the mounting pressure on Arab regimes, including that of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah, to intervene even if their unstated preference is to see Hamas hobbled - suggest that Operation Cast Lead's diplomatic window of opportunity will close a lot sooner. For all the above reasons, Barak and Olmert are wary of ordering the army in because they may not have an easy exit strategy...