Chief of the General Staff, Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi. Photo: IDF Spokesperson

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On Tuesday morning (Nov. 10), the Chief of the General Staff, Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, informed the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that Hezbollah has dozens of thousands of missiles in its possession, a small percentage of them able to reach a range of 300 km. The Chief of the General Staff said that during the relative quietness in recent months at the northern border and on the borders of the Gaza Strip, Hamas and Hezbollah are constantly rearming themselves with missiles and rockets.

Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi also mentioned that two new anti-aircraft artillery batteries of the Iron Dome missile defense system, which is designed for the interception of Katyusha and Qassam rockets, will begin operating in 2011.

The Chief of the General Staff also spoke about the Goldstone report: “We already investigated ourselves even before Goldstone showed up.” He emphasized that during the investigations carried out by the IDF on behalf of the behavior of IDF forces during Operation Cast Lead, until this day not one soldier has been found guilty of purposefully killing an innocent civilian. He added that honest mistakes were made; also causing IDF soldiers to be killed.

Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi also pointed out that the IDF made it possible for Palestinian organizations to submit complaints on incidents that occurred during Operation Cast Lead. More than one hundred complaints were submitted, and the Military Police Corps opened investigations on 45 incidents, also questioning Palestinian witnesses.