Israel hails Gaza raid a success

By Roger Hearing
BBC, Jerusalem

Operation Root Canal was being stepped down a little on Sunday, but the large Israeli incursion into the Rafah refugee camp is being described by the Israeli army as a considerable success.

Israel wants to show it can take decisive action to protect itself

There has been intense fighting since the raid began on Thursday and eight Palestinians have been killed.

The intention was to destroy a network of tunnels that Israel says Palestinian militants have been using to bring in heavy weapons, and according to some reports, drugs, from Egypt into the camp, which lies right up against the border between southern Gaza and Egyptian territory.

The Israeli Army has moved before against these tunnels - it's likely this operation has been longer and on a much larger scale because the army had scaled down its activity in Rafah during the partial Palestinian ceasefire this summer.

There is also a suggestion from the Israeli military that shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles have recently been brought in through the tunnels.

The operation is also being seen here as part of the response to the suicide bombing in Haifa on 4 October, which this week claimed its 20th victim when one of those injured in the blast died in hospital.

Acute frustration

The main reaction was the bombing of what Israel said was a terrorist training camp in Syria the day after the Haifa attack.

Syria claimed there were only civilians there, and it proposed a UN Security Council resolution condemning Israel's action.

Syria is trying to use the UN to influence Israel's actions

A vote on that has been put off for the moment, but this week the council is due to debate another Syrian-sponsored resolution opposing the security barrier Israel is building to separate Israel from the Palestinian territories.

In many places the fence is not following the "Green Line" - the internationally-recognised boundary that existed before the 1967 war and it has eaten into Palestinian areas.

Generally, then, the Syrians are confining their reactions to the diplomatic arena, but they have also now begun to sound more defiant on the military side.

The Foreign ministry in Damascus said on Saturday that Syria reserved the right to retaliate by "all means at its disposal" if Israel attacked again.

Few people here expect another Israeli raid in the immediate future, or a direct military escalation between Israel and Syria.

Although prime minister Ariel Sharon, speaking at ceremonies to mark the 30th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War, said Israel reserved the right to strike at terrorism wherever it came from, the chief of staff, Moshe Yalon, said there was no desire to escalate the situation.

The feeling here is that at a time of acute frustration at continuing suicide bombings, Israel has made its point about deterring regional support for Palestinian militants.

The government can point to the Syrian raid and the operation in Rafah as evidence for its own people that it is still able to act decisively against its enemies.