IBA News reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided to acquiesce to the Egyptian request to not shoot at the Gaza Strip during the visit of Egyptian Prime Minister Hisham Qandil, which is expected to take place Friday morning and last about 3 hours.
A diplomatic source says this was the message that was transmitted back to Egypt, that the IDF will not shoot, provided that during the visit there will not be firing from Gaza into Israel.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Strategic Affairs Moshe Ya’alon told Israel Radio that the IDF is prepared for a ground operation in the Gaza Strip if Hamas refuses to commit to along-term ceasefire. “We’ll wait and see when Hamas will understand the message; if the message does not get through via the Air Force – we will expand the operation, ” Ya’alon told Aryeh Golan on the “This Morning “show on Channel 2.
Ya’alon added that operation “Pillars of Defense” is being managed well and emphasized that one of the goals is the destruction of Hamas’ more advanced weapons they’ve acquired in recent years, especially the Iranian “Fajr” missiles which can reach Gush Dan (Tel Aviv). He said that only has a few missiles remaining of this type, and the IAF is now operating to also destroy the Grad rockets.