[Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA:

Question: Is the inevitable clash being postponed at an every increasing
future cost simply because of the traditional Israeli attitude that it is
always better to put off to tomorrow what should be done today - even at a
heavy cost - or do Israel's current ruling leaders want to postpone until
after the elections the inevitable rage that they will face from the Israeli
public when the clash finally takes place and casualties are attributed to
the decision that Olmert-Barak-Livni made to allow Hamas to strengthen in
return for temporary quiet? After all, its one thing to face an angry
public after the elections - and quite a different thing when they can
express their anger at the ballot box. while the events are fresh in their
minds.]

Israel insists cease-fire can hold
yaakov lappin and tovah lazaroff , THE JERUSALEM POST Nov. 13, 2008
www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1226404725900&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Israel still wants a truce with Hamas, and believes that Hamas is also
interested in resuming the cease-fire, defense officials insisted Thursday
night, even as Kassam rockets continued to fall around southern Israel.

As a result of the salvoes, all the border crossings with Gaza remained
closed to deliveries of fuel and other essentials.

"We are interested in continuing the cease-fire, but we will act in every
way to defend our soldiers," a senior defense official told The Jerusalem
Post, a day after the IDF made the second incursion into the Strip since the
cease-fire began in June.

"We believe elements on the other side also wish to continue the
cease-fire," the official said, adding that the rocket attacks Thursday were
the terrorists' response to perceived Israeli violations of Gazan territory.

"The other side is saying, you [Israel] entered Gaza and killed 11 of our
fighters [in the past two weeks]. They are trying to exact some sort of
price tag for that," the official said.

Asked if Israel was planning on calling off the cease-fire, the official
said, "there is no one line here, the situation is very dynamic. We have to
make a [daily] decision on how to respond to events."

But John Ging, who heads the Gaza operations of the United Nation's Relief
and Works Agency (UNRWA), said that Israel's closure of the crossings, which
has lasted for eight days, is playing into the hands of those who want
violence to continue. "We acknowledge the security challenges. But these are
challenges that have to be overcome, otherwise we hand the agenda over to
those who fire rockets and that is a concession that should never happen,"
he said.

As a result of the closure, as of Thursday night, he said, UNRWA had run out
of food. It provides basic staples of flour, rice, sugar, lentils and
powdered milk to 750,000 refugees, out of the 1.4 million people living in
Gaza.

Speaking in Brussels, UNRWA head Karen AbuZayd said it was unusual for
Israel not to let basic food and medicines in.

"This has alarmed us more than usual because it's never been quite so long
and so bad, and there has never been so much negative response on what we
need," she said.

"We have hundreds of containers waiting in Ashdod Port, holding such simple
things such as the wool and the yarn for vocational training centers or
centers for the visually impaired to make some money," she said. "We were
told these are not humanitarian supplies."

In Gaza, a United Nations flour warehouse that was full early last week now
stands empty.

Another warehouse holds just a few crates of lunch meat and space usually
filled with oil and powdered milk is taken up by air conditioners for
medical centers yet to be built.

The low level of supplies that have been brought in over the last year has
prevented UNRWA from building up large reserves.

"The closure of the last seven days had depleted the meager reserves we
had," Ging said.

By Thursday night, four rockets and five mortars had been fired from Gaza
into Israel during the previous 24 hours. One rocket fired on Thursday
evening set off the early warning system in Ashkelon. Defense officials say
the rocket landed on the outskirts of the city.

Another rocket fell in the vicinity of the Sdot Negev Regional Council. No
injuries or damage were reported.

In the early hours of Thursday morning, two rockets landed in the vicinity
of Sderot. No injuries or damage were reported in those attacks.

Earlier, a decision to allow 30 trucks carrying a small amount of fuel and
humanitarian goods into Gaza was reversed on Thursday morning, after
intelligence warnings of imminent attacks on Gaza border crossings was
received, the IDF said.

"We received many warnings of attacks on the crossings," the defense
official said, adding that fear for the welfare of foreign journalists and
diplomats led Israel to refuse them entry into Gaza.

The official stressed that this was not the first time that foreigners were
barred from entering Gaza. But this past week's closure marks the longest
such period during which they have not been able to enter.

On Thursday, a group of 20 European diplomats on a trip organized through
the French consulate in Jerusalem were turned away at the Erez Crossing.

Their Gaza trip had initially been scheduled for last week but it was
canceled by the Defense Ministry for security reasons, said Maj. Peter
Lerner, spokesman for the coordinator of government activities in the
territories.

It was rescheduled for Thursday, but then canceled by the ministry again.
The group was notified of the decision but arrived at the Erez Crossing
anyway, Lerner said.

On Thursday, as has been true for the past week, he said, the only people
who were allowed to cross were those involved in humanitarian missions,
including members of international nongovernmental bodies and the United
Nations.

"A field trip for diplomats does not fall under that category," he said.

Also Thursday, the IDF took the unusual step of delaying the ceremony at
which the commander of the IDF's Gaza Division, Brig.-Gen. Moshe Tamir, was
to be replaced by Brig.-Gen. Eyal Izenberg.

The decision was made because of the tension in the area, and was taken by
OC Southern Command Maj.-Gen. Yoav Galant, with the support of Chief of
General Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi.

The changeover ceremony has been rescheduled for next week, barring any
further escalation.

AP contributed to this report.