The IDF´s Southern Command has completed a thorough review of its performance in the recent escalation in southern Israel and Gaza – which began less than a fortnight ago and appears to have been replaced with relative calm in the past 48 hours.

According to the IDF Website, the military achieved "an improvement in the IDF´s deterrence against Hamas and the Islamic Jihad by rapidly identifying rocket launching squads and dispatching them as quickly as possible."

There were "very few injuries among the Israeli population and a low rate of harm to civilians in Gaza," the report says.

IDF Website´s Hadas Duvdevani spoke to Gaza Division Attack Cell Commander Maj. A. "We were able to quickly reach squads launching rockets or mortar shells either before or immediately after launching rockets," he said. "Overall, our strikes were excellent and we were able to thwart terrorist activity."

The campaign saw effective cooperation between intelligence services, the IAF, and Southern Command. Together, these forces were able to conduct successful surgical strikes against terrorist infrastructure in Gaza. "The damage to terrorist forces, in particular the Islamic Jihad, was significant. Although a relatively large number of rockets were launched, we responded well to all threats," said Maj. A.

The IDF prioritized the need to minimize collateral damage to Gaza´s civilian population. "During the escalation, we tried to strike places where rockets were being fired from, or where we identified suspicious movement, but the IDF thought twice before each attack, analyzing the risk to innocent bystanders."

"The goal is to stay sharp, to prevent rocket fire against Israeli civilians and damage terrorist infrastructure as much as possible. I think there are incredibly dependable people in this division, and next time we will be even better prepared," concluded Major. A. (IsraelNationalNews © 2012 03/22/12)