Israeli Commander: Gaza Attacks First Stage of Wider War

Says Israel tried to 'make the most' of war so far

Israeli Southern Command head Gen. Eliezer Toledano downplayed the current ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, predicting it would end soon and that what’s happened so far was just the first stage of a wider military campaign.

The May conflict saw Israeli forces kill an estimated 256 Palestinians, and displace 72,000 civilians. This was in just two weeks, and was, according to Toledano, Israel trying to “make the most” of the war before the ceasefire.

“We don’t have operations like this every week or every month because we understand the burden that puts on civilians, especially on the home front. And therefore when we launched the operation, we had to make the most of it,” the general noted.

He went on to say that the military is fully ready for another round of fighting, depending on the security situation.

Other Israeli officials have been hyping the war so far as a huge success, while Toledano called to avoid “hasty comments.” He said that the wars “are complicated in terms of the rockets.”

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.