Israeli Army Commander Warns of Worsening Situation in the Gaza Strip

The Israeli army officer who commands the troops charged with repelling the would-be infiltrators along the Israel-Gaza border – whose soldiers have killed more than 100 over the course of seven weeks of violent confrontations – has warned his countrymen that the situation is apt to get much worse before it gets better. Maj. Gen. Eyal Zamir told those gathered at a ceremony marking his passing of leadership of the Southern Command to his successor that they should expect an escalation of violence along the border. Zamir repeated what others had said previously, that another full-fledged ground operation like Cast Lead or Protective Edge, is an option if Hamas fails to rein-in their terrorists. Army Chief-of-Staff Gadi Eisenkot added that the last operation, Protective Edge in 2014, will not be considered to be over until the bodies of two soldiers killed during that campaign are returned.