Almost a week after Operation Pillar of Defense ended, the reality surrounding the Gaza Strip has changed unrecognizably. The Israel Defense Forces' Southern Command has stiffened the rules of engagement while allowing Palestinians greater access to the area near the border.

Asked yesterday how long the quiet was likely to last in the south, Maj. Gen. Tal Russo, head of Southern Command, told journalists that Israel and the IDF will know how to keep to the new arrangements now being formulated in Egypt.

"That depends strictly on the other side. Only after some time will we know the results of the deterrence and its influence."

Palestinian farmers wishing to work their lands can now approach to about 100 meters from the border fence, unlike during the days prior to the operation when a "sterile" 300-meter wide zone was maintained. However they are not allowed to bear arms.



Under the IDF's new rules of engagement, soldiers may try to arrest any Palestinian who encroaches within 100 meters of the fence, and if he tries to harm the fence they may open fire but only at his legs.

The new procedures have been tested several times during the six days since the cease-fire declaration: Palestinians have held a number of demonstrations close to the fence, a few of which developed into confrontations. On Friday, one of the demonstrators, Anwar Qdeih, was killed when he was shot in the head as he approached the fence to hang a Hamas flag. On Sunday soldiers used tear gas to disperse Palestinians who had gathered nearby.

In what appears to be preparations for an extended period of calm, the army has also changed how it deploys its forces. Instead of infantry and tank battalions armed with heavy weapons close to the border at the ready for a ground operation, soldiers from the Givati Brigade stationed at the entrances to the Strip use jeeps to disperse demonstrations.



"We finished the operation with a sort of resolution that right now we, the political leadership and the IDF General Staff are trying to stabilize," Russo told journalists. "There is complete quiet in the field. We haven't seen anything like this after any operation."



One issue that still worries the army is the estimated dozens of incendiary devices buried to the west of the fence in Gaza. However, Southern Command does not expect more devices to be planted there because, as Russo put it: "Right now Hamas has good reason to want to thwart preparations for terror attacks."

The army is currently working on the wording of agreed-upon guidelines for military activity in the event of cease-fire violations, including how soldiers should react in the event of rockets being fired at communities in the south, or terrorist activity aimed at the IDF. Military sources say that an immediate threat of danger will lead to IDF activity.



The army has been surprised by the almost total cessation of fire since the cease-fire was declared. Three rockets have been fired into Israel from Gaza since Thursday all of them in the hour following the cease-fire.

