U.S. ASSURES PA THAT ISRAEL WON'T INVADE GAZA

GAZA CITY [MENL] -- The United States has assured the Palestinian Authority
that Israel would not invade the Gaza Strip.

PA sources said the State Department sent a message to the PA that the
Israeli military was ordered not to conduct large-scale operations in the
Gaza Strip. The sources said the military restraint came in wake of U.S.
warnings to the government of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

"We've received assurances from the highest levels in the U.S. government
that Israel would not launch a large-scale military operation in the Gaza
Strip," a
PA source said.

The U.S. assurances were relayed to the PA amid military pressure on the
Israeli government to invade the Gaza Strip. The military has warned that
only an Israeli ground operation could reduce Palestinian missile strikes
from the Gaza Strip.
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