in their own words
 |
|
|
|
 Israeli Response to Hamas Rockets - Western White House Press Briefing by Gordon Johndroe 12/29/08 — Monday, December 29, 2008 —  MR. JOHNDROE: Deb. Q What does Israel hope to achieve by this? I mean, what's the end game? MR. JOHNDROE: Israel is responding to a barrage of rocket and mortar attacks that increased substantially last week, following Hamas's refusal to renew the ceasefire. Israel has made clear that they do not want to retake Gaza, that they simply want the people of southern Israel to be able to live in peace, free from this barrage of rocket attacks. And that's what we expect. We also want to see, as I've said, the ceasefire restored in a sustainable and durable fashion, so that we can get back on the road map, work towards the goals of the Annapolis process, which, again, is two states living side by side in peace. Q -- I mean, is just going to rekindle radicalism, isn't it? MR. JOHNDROE: You know, it's hard for me to speak to specific casualty numbers. We have urged the Israelis to avoid civilian casualties. But they are working on decreasing the number of Israeli citizens that are vulnerable. And we know -- I believe someone died this morning, a couple of people a couple of days ago. The Israelis are working to reduce the threat against their own people. So they're going to continue, it appears at this time, to deal with this Hamas terrorist threat. But ultimately, we want a sustainable and durable ceasefire. [...] MR. JOHNDROE: John. Q Israel is amassing tanks and troops along that border. Is the President urging them not to launch a ground invasion? Is he urging restraint already now, in his diplomatic efforts? MR. JOHNDROE: The discussions that we've had with the Israelis are ones that everyone needs to recognize that the ultimate goal here is to get to a ceasefire. I can't speak to any potential ground operation. I think that any ground operation, according to the Israelis, would be part and parcel of the overall operation, given their statements saying that they don't want to retake Gaza, that they simply want to protect their people. So we'll just have to see how this unfolds. Obviously, as I've said, we don't want them -- we want civilian casualties to be avoided. But it's is unfortunate as Hamas, as we've seen in the past, tends to base its people and some of its rockets in civilian areas. So we'll see. Go ahead. Q Is it fair to say that the U.S. would prefer not to see a ground operation, but defends Israel's right to do that? What exactly is the U.S. position? MR. JOHNDROE: I'm not going to speculate on a ground operation. Let's just take this one day at a time, all right. Gaza | Gordon Johndroe | Hamas | Israel | Middle East | Press Briefing | White House Press Corps Labels: Gaza, Gordon Johndroe, Hamas, Israel, Middle East, Press Briefing, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 9:17:00 PM
|
|
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
< whpc home