'It Was Unintentional'; Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz apologizes for civilian deaths in Gaza, and explains why Israel must eventually leave.(Interview)

Publication: Newsweek

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Byline: Lally Weymouth

Israeli defense minister Shaul Mofaz has a large screen in his office where he watched real-time pictures of the fighting in southern Gaza last week. There the Israeli Army was engaged in a large operation to shut down tunnels through which arms flow to Palestinian terror groups from Egypt. But in the process, Israeli soldiers killed Palestinian civilians and destroyed the homes of others, engendering cries of outrage from the international community. Last week NEWSWEEK's Lally Weymouth talked with Mofaz about the Gaza raids and the prospects for Israeli withdrawal from the territory. Excerpts:

WEYMOUTH: In Rafah, why are you destroying so many houses?

MOFAZ: We are not destroying houses without a reason. The houses that we have destroyed had tunnels dug [under...

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