Use of force against Gaza does not bring tranquillity, says Livni

Former Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said on Tuesday that the use of force against the Gaza Strip “does not bring tranquillity,” Al-Resalah has reported. Livni made her comments on Israel’s Wallah news website.

“We need a diplomatic line that leads to disarming the Gaza Strip,” she explained. Force could still be used against Hamas, though, “when it is necessary.”

The former minister, who announced the Israeli 2008/9 military offensive against Gaza when she was in Cairo, said that reoccupying the Gaza Strip and rebuilding Gush Qatif, a former Israeli settlement in the coastal enclave, “is not a proposed option.”

Livni pointed out that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in his 2009 election campaign, “Let me use lethal force against Hamas to beat it.” However, she added, he could not do so.

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