BUSH TO OLMERT: HIT GAZA BUT NOT CIVILIANS

Bush to Olmert: Hit Gaza Without Hitting Civilians by Gil Ronen
(IsraelNN.com) U.S. President George W. Bush gave Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert a green light to mount a comprehensive ground offensive against the terrorist infrastructure in Gaza, according to the London daily Al-Sharq al-Awsat ("The Middle East") which quoted diplomatic sources in Israel. The sources said that the two leaders discussed the matter during Bush's three-day visit to Israel last week....

President Bush, however, voiced concern that a large-scale military operation would lead to a "humanitarian crisis" in Gaza. The sources said that Bush gave Olmert a green light for a military operation in Gaza, but that he also spelled out certain limitations and demanded that Olmert make sure the operation did not wind up hurting civilians.