When Israel pulls soldiers and settlers out of the occupied Gaza Strip this summer, its jets, helicopters and drones willpatrol overhead indefinitely to keep an eye on Palestinian militants, the air force chief said. Maj.-Gen. Eliezer Shkedyoutlined his vision of a military "umbrella" for the coastal territory, with aircraft stopping any cross-border attacks -- adeployment resembling that on Israel's northern frontier since it withdrew from south Lebanon in 2000. "In Lebanon,around 95 percent of our operations have been from the air," Shkedy told select defense correspondents this week. "Ithink something like this will happen in the Gaza Strip (but) I really hope that we won't have to hit targets (there)."
He said Israeli experts had developed "command-and-control" units that can check surveillance images relayed fromunmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), identify targets, and order warplanes or helicopter gunships to fire at them -- allwithin a few seconds. Foreign analysts believe some Israeli UAVs are armed with remote-guided missiles, making foreven quicker response times. "I cannot say we can control all of the ground from the air, but I can say honestly thatwe developed a lot toward this concept," said Shkedy, one of the main promoters of Israel's controversial aerialassassinations of Islamic faction chiefs.
Under a unilateral plan by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to "disengage" from more than four years of conflict, Israel willquit Gaza while keeping control of its airspace and waters - an arrangement opposed by the Palestinians. "Thewithdrawal from Gaza must be real and complete, meaning no planes should hover in our sky," said Mahmoud al-Zahar of Hamas, a militant group sworn to the Jewish state's destruction. Armed factions have largely abided by a defacto truce in recent weeks, while Israel has scaled back military missions. But the militants have threatened toredouble rocket and mortar barrages on Israel unless it also withdraws from all the West Bank, another territoryPalestinians seek for a state.
Awaiting Word On IranShkedy's predecessor, Maj.-Gen. Dan Halutz, was named next Israeli chief of staff this week -- signaling theimportance of air power in the country's strategic planning. "Halutz will now have the job of preparing the IsraelDefense Force for different scenarios, ranging from renewed Palestinian violence launched from post-disengagementGaza, to responding to a radical Iranian regime attempting to acquire nuclear weapons," said Israeli analyst GeraldSteinberg. Iran says its nuclear program is for energy needs only.
But Israel and its U.S. ally have urged diplomatic action to stop Tehran achieving any means of making atomicweapons, and hinted that military strikes could be their last-ditch option. "If the government will ask us to dosomething, we have to give the answers," Shkedy said. "I must be prepared for anything. We must try all (non-military)alternatives before we choose something complicated," he said. "But we don't have a lot of time."
Widely believed to be the Middle East's only nuclear power, Israel sent jets to bomb the Iraqi reactor at Osiraq in 1981,driving Saddam Hussein's quest for the bomb underground. The air force received a fleet of advanced U.S.-made F-16i fighter jets last year, extending its reach into the Gulf. Yet independent experts have voiced doubt that Israel orthe United States could mount a similar strike on Iran, noting that its dozens of nuclear facilities are dispersed andfortified.
