The Israeli Cabinet decided on January 17 that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will hold their against the terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip as of 2:00 a.m. on Sunday, January 18, while IDF forces remain deployed in the Gaza Strip and its environs.

Continuous Hamas fire on southern Israel for the past eight years (approximately 10,000 rockets and mortars) placed nearly one million Israeli civilians under the threat of terror, causing death and injury and disrupting their daily lives through numerous terror attacks.

Therefore, Israel launched the recent campaign with the aim of:

• changing the long term security reality of the residents of southern Israel;
• striking a solid blow at Hamas and its terror infrastructure in Gaza;
• putting an end to Hamas's arms smuggling and weapons build-up; and
• creating deterrence against further terrorist attacks.

An additional goal of the operation was to put a stop to Iranian attempts to use Hamas to create a terror base in the region, as it has done with Hizbullah. These aims have been fully achieved, and more so.

Hamas was badly stricken, both in terms of its military capabilities and in the infrastructure of its regime:

• its leaders went into hiding;
• many of its operatives have been killed;
• the factories in which its missiles were manufactured have been destroyed;
• the arms smuggling routes, through dozens of tunnels, have been destroyed;
• the Hamas's capabilities for transporting weapons within the Gaza Strip have been ceased;
• the scope of missile fire directed at the State of Israel has been reduced; and
• the areas from which most of the missiles were launched have come under the control of IDF forces.

Hamas's capabilities have been struck a heavy blow which will severely impact on its ability to rule and on its military capabilities for some time. The strikes have also created significant Israeli deterrence, the impact of which will become apparent after the Hamas leadership has surfaced and seen the extent of the damage done to its assets.

Israel has no disagreement with the residents of Gaza, and considers the Gaza Strip a part of the future Palestinian state with which Israel hopes to live as good neighbors. The suffering of the uninvolved civilian population in Gaza is regrettable, and the people of Israel feel the pain of every Palestinian child and family member who has fallen victim to the cruel reality created by Hamas which transformed them into victims.

Yet, Israel did not choose the battlefield, Hamas did. The fighting took place in one of the most crowded areas in the world. During the operation, Israel demonstrated great sensitivity in exercising force in order to avoid, as much as possible, harming the civilian population not involved in terror. In cases where there was any doubt that striking at terrorists would lead to harming an innocent civilian population -Israeli forces abstained from carrying out operations.

Hamas bears sole responsibility for the current situation, and has caused injury and destruction to the Israeli and Palestinian population alike. It holds the residents of the Gaza Strip hostage. Hamas has booby-trapped countless homes and public buildings, fired missiles from population centers, used mosques and schools to store weapons, and taken advantage of the operation to kill dozens of Fatah supporters for political reasons. Its operatives hide disguised in hospitals and abduct children to protect themselves from the IDF, its leadership is seeking refuge in tunnels, having abandoned the Palestinian population.

Hamas has become a pariah, and has been severely criticized by the international community, by Arab states and by Palestinians throughout the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

The diplomatic effort, pursued concurrently with the military operation, united a regional and international coalition to combat weapons smuggling and created a series of mechanisms, understandings and modes of operation to put an end to Hamas's weapons build-up, and to block Iran's penetration. Today, and in large part due to the success of the military operation, the entire international community is ready to mobilize in order to achieve maximum stability, and knows that, for this to occur, the process of Hamas's strengthening must stop. The international community, headed by the United States and key European states, alongside pragmatic elements in the Arab world led by Egypt, are all partners in this process.

To this end, Israel reached a number of understandings which will ensure that the strengthening of Hamas will decrease. Israel formulated understandings with the Egyptian government with regard to a number of central issues, the realization of which will bring about a significant reduction in weapons smuggling from Iran and Syria to the Gaza Strip. On Friday (16 Jan 2009), Israel signed a memorandum of understanding with the American government, according to which the United States will take action, together with the other members of the international community, to prevent weapons smuggling by terrorists in Gaza.

For this reason, Israel has decided to positively respond to the Egyptian request to hold its fire. If Hamas chooses to continue with its terrorist acts and shooting, the IDF will resume its activities to protect Israel's civilian population. Therefore, the IDF continues to remain on alert at this stage in the Gaza Strip and its environs. If Hamas' fire stops completely, Israel will consider withdrawing from Gaza at the earliest suitable time.

Gilad Shalit, the IDF soldier kidnapped on Israeli soil over two and a half years ago, is still being held by Hamas. The intensive efforts to secure his release began long before the operation, continued during it and will continue after as well. The Government of Israel is working on many levels to bring him home, and during the operation carried out various actions to bring us closer to this goal.

Parallel to combating terror, Israel is continuing to pursue its political dialogue with moderates, with the aim of achieving a durable peace with its Palestinian neighbors. Talks are being held openly with the duly elected Palestinian government headed by President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Fayyad. Hamas fiercely opposes these negotiations and any other peace settlement with Israel, and is a primary cause of instability in the region.

Israel completely withdrew from the Gaza Strip three years ago, not intending to return, in a painful move that uprooted thousands of Israelis from their homes. Israel made this move in order to give peace a chance and to allow the Palestinians to build their own lives. With the conclusion of this operation against Hamas, Israel hopes that the path to peace has been cleared, and progress toward a two-state solution of the Palestinian issue can again be made.