Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, during a tour of Israel’s northern security fence on the Golan Heights with Syria, commented on the IDF’s retaliation in the Gaza Strip following the rocket fire by Palestinian Islamists at Israel’s southern communities, saying that his policy, “rehabilitation in exchange for demilitarization,” still stands, although Israel cannot be expected to permit the internationally recognized terror group Hamas, which controls the Palestinian enclave, to arm itself.
The Israeli Top Defense official also took the opportunity to accuse the Islamist Hamas organization of siphoning off the backs of the Palestinian population in Gaza, stressing that Hamas knows that “if there is a crisis, Israel, the European Union and the United Nations, among other international bodies, will solve the problem.” Lieberman said, that was why Hamas could divert its attention from looking out for the Palestinian population of Gaza and focus on digging attack tunnels and stockpiling rockets for the next round of fighting with the Jewish state.