Jerusalem – Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and his top security chiefs on Wednesday rejected calls for a massive ground offensive in the Gaza Strip following a renewal of rocket attacks on southern Israel by the Hamas militant group.
The decision gave a five- month cease-fire one last chance to succeed, despite repeated warnings by military officials that Hamas has been using the lull in fighting to smuggle large amounts of weapons into Gaza. But Israeli officials warned of “harsh steps” if the rockets keep falling.
In a separate development, the government’s chief watchdog recommended opening a criminal investigation into a 2001 government transaction that involved Olmert before he became prime minister.
The announcement further weakened the embattled Israeli leader ahead of a potentially explosive inquiry report next week on last year’s war with Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon.
Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced the Gaza truce in late November, declaring an end to Palestinian rocket fire and Israeli attacks, including airstrikes.
Some Palestinian militant groups have continued sporadic rocket attacks, but Hamas, which leads the Palestinian coalition government, had kept its distance from the violence.
According to the Israeli army, militants have fired 230 homemade rockets at Israel since the truce, compared with about 600 launchings in the five months before the deal. The rockets have caused no serious injuries since the truce.
On Tuesday, Hamas said it fired dozens of rockets and mortar shells toward Israel to avenge deadly Israeli arrest raids in the West Bank, which is not covered by the truce.
Israel counted only a dozen strikes.
Nine Palestinians, including two civilians, were killed in fighting in the West Bank last weekend. Another was killed in a rare missile strike at a Gaza rocket squad.
With tensions rising, Olmert convened an emergency meeting of senior security officials Wednesday to discuss a response.
Meeting participants said Israel would limit its activity to “pinpoint” operations aimed at halting rocket fire and other threats.
On Wednesday, state comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss issued a lengthy report charging that Olmert used his influence to steer a government grant to a colleague while he was trade minister in 2001. Olmert also has been accused of shady real estate deals and improperly intervening in a bank privatization deal.
In a statement, Olmert’s office denied all wrongdoing.
