Israel Air Strikes On Gaza Kill 155

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Israel air strikes on Gaza kill 155
Hundreds are wounded in the attacks, a response to rocket fire from Gaza on Israeli border towns.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fgw-israel28-2008dec28,0,6679065.story

Associated Press
6:01 AM PST, December 27, 2008

GAZA CITY -- Israeli warplanes retaliating for rocket fire from the Gaza Strip pounded dozens of security compounds across the Hamas-ruled territory in unprecedented waves of airstrikes today, killing at least 155 and wounding more than 310 in the single bloodiest day of fighting in recent memory.

Hamas said all of its security installations were hit and responded with several medium-range Grad rockets at Israel, reaching deeper than in the past. One Israeli was killed and at least four people were wounded.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said "the operation will last as long as necessary," but it was not clear if it would be coupled with a ground offensive. Asked if Hamas political leaders might be targeted next, military spokeswoman Maj. Avital Leibovich said, "Any Hamas target is a target."

The strikes caused widespread panic and confusion in Gaza, as black clouds of smoke rose above the territory, ruled by Hamas for the past 18 months. Some of the Israeli missiles struck in densely populated areas as children were leaving school, and women rushed into the streets frantically looking for their children.

In Gaza City's main security compound, bodies of more than a dozen uniformed security officers lay on the ground. One survivor raised his index finger in a show of Muslim faith, uttering a prayer. The Gaza police chief was among those killed. One man, his face bloodied, sat dazed on the ground as a fire raged nearby.

It wasn't immediately clear how many civilian casualties there were.

Said Masri sat in the middle of a Gaza City street, close to a security compound, alternately slapping his face and covering his head with dust from the bombed-out building.

"My son is gone, my son is gone," wailed Masri, 57. The shopkeeper said he sent his 9-year-old son out to purchase cigarettes minutes before the airstrikes began and now could not find him. "May I burn like the cigarettes, may Israel burn," Masri moaned.

Defiant Hamas leaders threatened revenge, including suicide attacks. Hamas "will continue the resistance until the last drop of blood," vowed spokesman Fawzi Barhoum.

Israel told its civilians near Gaza to take cover as militants began retaliating with rockets, and in the West Bank, moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called for restraint. Egypt summoned the Israeli ambassador to express condemnation and opened its border with Gaza to allow ambulances to drive out some of the wounded.

Protests erupted in the Abbas-ruled West Bank and across the Arab world.

Several hundred angry Jordanians poured protested outside a U.N. complex in the capital Amman. "Hamas, go ahead. You are the cannon, we are the bullets," they cried, some waving the signature green Hamas banners.

In Beirut, dozens of youths hit the streets and set fire to tires. In Syria's al-Yarmouk camp, outside Damascus, dozens of Palestinians protested the attack as well, vowing to continue fighting Israel.

Israeli leaders approved military action against Gaza earlier in the week.

Past limited ground incursions and air strikes have not halted rocket barrages from Gaza.

But with 200 mortars and rockets raining down on Israel since the truce expired a week ago, and 3,000 since the beginning of the year, according to the military's count, pressure had been mounting in Israel for the military to crush the gunmen.

Earlier this month, Israeli security officials told the government that militants possess rockets with ranges capable of reaching farther from Gaza than ever before, including the cities of Beersheba and Ashdod.

Gaza militants fired several rockets Saturday, including one that struck a new target, the town of Kiryat Gat. A missile hit on the town of Netivot killed an Israeli man and wounded four people, rescue services said. In Ashkelon, TV cameras showed people huddle against a wall as a rocket alert sounded.

Barak, the Israeli defense minister, said that the coming period "won't be easy and won't be short for the communities in the south (of Israel).

Israel declared a state of emergency in Israeli communities within a 12-mile (20-kilometer) range of Gaza, putting the area on a war footing.

The first round of air strikes came just before noon, and several more waves followed.

Hospitals crowded with people, civilians rushing in wounded people in cars, vans and ambulances. "We are treating people on the floor, in the corridors. We have no more space. We don't know who is here and what the priority is to treat," said a doctor at Shifa Hospital, Gaza's main treatment center. He hung up the phone before identifying himself.

Dr. Moawiya Hassanain, a Gaza Health Ministry official, said at least 145 people were killed and more than 300 wounded.

Frantic civilians drove wounded people to hospitals in their cars.

In the West Bank, Hamas' rival, Abbas, said in a statement that he "condemns this aggression" and called for restraint, according to an aide, Nabil Abu Rdeneh. Abbas, who has ruled only the West Bank since the Islamic Hamas seized power in Gaza in June 2007, was in contact with Arab leaders, and his West Bank Cabinet convened an emergency session.

Israel has targeted Gaza in the past, but the number of simultaneous attacks was unprecedented.

Israel left Gaza in 2005 after a 38-year occupation, but the withdrawal did not lead to better relations with Palestinians in the territory as Israeli officials had hoped.

Instead, the evacuation was followed by a sharp rise in militant attacks on Israeli border communities that on several occasions provoked harsh Israeli military reprisals.

The last, in late February and early March, spurred both sides to agree to a truce that was to have lasted six months but began unraveling in early November. In recent days, Israeli leaders had been voicing strong threats to launch a major offensive.

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US holds Hamas 'responsible' for Gaza violence: Rice

http://rawstory.com/news/afp/US_holds_Hamas_responsible_for_Gaza_12272008.html

12/27/2008

The United States holds Hamas "responsible" for the renewal of deadly violence in Gaza after the Islamist group broke its ceasefire with Israel, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Saturday.

An earlier version of Rice's statement was recalled by the State Department and replaced with a slightly adjusted version that expressed Washington's concern about the violence and added an appeal to safeguard innocent lives.

"The United States is deeply concerned about the escalating violence in Gaza," Rice said in the new statement.

"We strongly condemn the repeated rocket and mortar attacks against Israel and hold Hamas responsible for breaking the ceasefire and for the renewal of violence there."

The six-month ceasefire that expired December 19 and which Hamas, the movement that controls the impoverished Palestinian territory, said last week it would not renew, "must be restored immediately and fully respected," she said.

"The United States calls on all concerned to protect innocent lives and to address the urgent humanitarian needs of the people of Gaza," Rice added.

Punishing Israeli air raids into the Gaza Strip Saturday left at least 225 people dead and 700 wounded, in retaliation for rocket fire in one of the bloodiest days of the decades-long Middle East conflict.

Rice, who leaves her post as secretary of state January 20 when Barack Obama takes over as the US president, helped launch Israeli-Palestinian peace talks one year ago.

On the day of the expiry of the truce, she warned that renewed violence against Israel by Hamas would only hurt the Palestinians, and that the movement "needs to concentrate on turning away from violence."

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Bush, Saudi King talk amid Israel-Gaza bloodshed

http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Bush_Saudi_King_talk_amid_Israel_Ga_12272008.html

12/28/2008

Saudi King Abdullah told US President George W. Bush by telephone on Saturday that major countries must take action to halt Israel's attacks on Gaza, the Saudi state news agency SPA reported.

White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe had said earlier that the king had called Bush, who was preparing to usher in 2009 on his Texas ranch, to discuss "the Middle East" and had declined to offer further details.

But SPA reported that King Abdullah had discussed "the Israeli aggression against Gaza" and the "implications of continuing Israel's policies of blockade, occupation and torture against the Palestinian people all over the Occupied Territories."

The king also called for "the major countries to shoulder their responsibilities to stop this Israeli attack and save the lives of the innocent and remaining infrastructure in the Palestinian territories."

Abdullah made the call after a meeting in Riyadh with Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas.

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Egyptians open fire on Palestinians

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5grmpk18UVAYzqu4fu2F0eNh8QIgA

5 hours ago

Egyptian border guards have opened fire on Palestinians who breached the border to escape Israel's assault on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

An Egyptian security official said there were at least five breaches along the nine-mile border and hundreds of Palestinian residents were pouring in.

At least 300 Egyptian border guards have been rushed to the area to reseal the border, the official added on condition on anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the press.

A resident of the Gaza Strip side of the border, Fida Kishta, said that Egyptian border guards opened fire to drive back the Palestinians.

Residents have also commandeered a bulldozer to open new breaches.

Palestinians reported several people were wounded by the gunfire.

Israeli aircraft earlier bombed the border area in an apparent attempt to destroy cross border tunnels used to smuggle weapons and contraband into the Gaza Strip.

Dr Abdel Qader Higazi, a representative of the Egyptian Doctor's Syndicate in Rafah said Egyptian authorities closed the border crossing after allowing several trucks of medical supplies into Gaza.

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Russia asks Israel to end Gaza attacks, let in aid

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LS305586.htm

MOSCOW, Dec 28 (Reuters) - Russia urged Israel on Sunday to end military attacks that had killed nearly 300 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and allow humanitarian supplies into the territory, Russia's Foreign Ministry said.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov conveyed Moscow's position during a telephone conversation with Israeli counterpart Tzipi Livni held at her initiative, the ministry said in a statement.

"Our side expressed Russia's position in favour of an immediate end to military actions in the Gaza Strip, which have already led to numerous victims among the Palestinians," the statement said.

"It was underlined that it is necessary to restore the regime of ceasefire, which would ensure the security of the civilian population in Israel's south. Russia stressed the importance of letting humanitarian cargo into Gaza."

On Sunday, Israel destroyed Hamas's main Gaza security complex in an air strike on the territory run by the Islamist Hamas group.

Israel is also preparing for a possible invasion of the Gaza Strip after killing more than 280 Palestinians in the first 24 hours of a powerful offensive.

Israeli leaders said the campaign was a response to almost daily cross-border rocket and mortar fire that intensified after Hamas ended a six-month ceasefire a week ago.

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Israel tanks mass near Gaza as jets again pound Hamas

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Israel_tanks_mass_near_Gaza_as_1228.html

Agence France-Presse
Published: Sunday December 28, 2008

GAZA CITY (AFP) — Israeli tanks massed at the Gaza border on Sunday as warplanes again pounded Hamas targets in the densely populated enclave where raids have killed nearly 290 people in less than two days.

Dozens of tanks and personnel carriers idled at several points near the border after Israel warned it could launch a ground offensive in addition to its massive air blitz.

Hamas responded to the ongoing bombardment by firing rockets the farthest yet into Israel, with one striking not far from Ashdod, Israel's second-largest port, some 30 kilometres (18 miles) north of Gaza . It caused no casualties, medics said.

The Islamist movement accused Israel of "committing a holocaust as the whole world watches and doesn't lift a finger to stop."

"The Palestinian resistance reserves the right to hit back at this aggression with martyr operations," spokesman Fawzi Barhum told reporters, referring to suicide bombings which Hamas hasn't carried out against Israel since January 2005.

Britain, France and Russia joined the growing international chorus for a halt to the violence.

Pope Benedict XVI implored the international community to do "all it can to help the Israelis and Palestinians on this dead-end road... and not to give in to the perverse logic of confrontation and violence."

But Israeli Defence Minster Ehud Barak vowed to "expand and deepen" the bombing blitz, unleashed in retaliation for persistent rocket fire by militant groups.

"If it's necessary to deploy ground forces to defend our citizens, we will do so," his spokesman quoted him as saying.

The cabinet gave the green light to call up 6,500 reserve soldiers, a senior official told reporters after the meeting.

Warplanes continued to pound the impoverished and overcrowded territory of 1.5 million people, where many streets were deserted and schools and shops stayed shut as hundreds of funerals were held.

Jets bombed a series of tunnels on Gaza's border with Egypt -- a lifeline for Hamas used for smuggling in goods and weapons into the enclave, which has been virtually sealed by Israel since the Islamists violently seized power in June 2007.

At least two people were killed in the bombing.

Later on Sunday, jets targeted several metal workshops across the Gaza Strip, where according to the Israeli military rockets were manufactured.

One woman and a man were also killed when a missile hit a family home in the neighbourhood of Zeitoun in eastern Gaza City, medics said.

And as pressure mounted within the impoverished territory, dozens of Gazans tried to break through the border into Egypt following, only to be stopped by Egyptian police firing into the air.

Businesses in the occupied West Bank, including annexed Arab east Jerusalem, observed a strike in protest at the onslaught that one Palestinian human rights group called "the bloodiest day in the history of the (Israeli) occupation."

Since early Saturday, at least 289 people have been killed and more than 600 wounded, medics said.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the campaign was launched "in order to regain a normal life for the citizens in the south who have suffered for many years from incessant rocket, mortar and terror attacks."

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni urged the international community to cast blame on Hamas.

"I expect the international community, including the entire Arab world, to send a clear message to Hamas: 'It is your fault. It's your responsibility. You're the one who's being condemned,'" she told NBC's Meet the Press.

The Israeli bombardment has sparked widespread international concern.

In New York, the UN Security Council called for an "immediate halt to all violence" and urged all sides "to stop immediately all military activities."

In Rome, the pope said that "the terrestrial homeland of Jesus cannot continue to be the witness of such bloodshed which is repeated ad infinitum."

Egypt, which had brokered a six-month truce between Israel and Hamas that expired on December 19, said it was trying to negotiate a new ceasefire.

But a senior Israeli official told AFP that "we have our goals and our timetable and we don't seek mediation."

Israel's main ally Washington has blamed Hamas "thugs" for provoking the offensive by firing rockets into the Jewish state from Gaza , and urged Israel to avoid causing civilian casualties.

And French President Nicolas Sarkozy expressed his deep concern about the escalating violence and "his strong condemnation of the provocations that led to this situation as well as the use of disproportionate force," according to a statement released by his office.

The Israeli offensive sparked protests in the occupied West Bank, where two demonstrator was killed in clashes with police. More than 50,000 rallied in Egypt and hundreds in Dubai.

Israel unleashed "Operation Cast Lead" against Hamas in the middle of Saturday morning, with some 60 warplanes hitting more than 50 targets in just a few minutes.

By Sunday, some 230 targets had been hit, the military said.

Hamas has responded by firing more than 90 rockets and mortar rounds at Israel, killing one man and wounding a handful of other people.

Army chief Lieutenant General Gabi Ashkenazi told the cabinet on Sunday that half of Hamas's rocket launch sites were destroyed in the initial wave of Israeli attacks.

The Israeli blitz came after days of spiralling violence since the expiry of the Gaza truce. It comes less than two months before snap parliamentary elections in Israel called for February 10.

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Israel pounds Gaza for second day

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSLS69391620081228?sp=true

12/29/2008

GAZA (Reuters) - Israel pounded Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip from the air on Sunday and prepared for a possible invasion after killing at least 298 Palestinians in two days of attacks.

Israel said the campaign that began on Saturday was a response to almost daily rocket and mortar fire that intensified after Hamas, the Islamist group in charge of the enclave that Israel quit in 2005, ended a six-month ceasefire a week ago.

Israel stepped up air strikes after dark on Sunday, destroying a laboratory building at the Islamic University in Gaza, a significant cultural symbol, Hamas said. Israel has accused Hamas of using the facilities to develop explosives.

During the first two days of the assault, militants fired about 150 rockets and mortars at Israel, the army said, less than had been expected. Two rockets struck near the port of Ashdod, 30 km (18 miles) from Gaza, causing no casualties.

The attacks enraged Arabs across the Middle East, where protesters burned Israeli and U.S. flags to press for a stronger response from their leaders to Israel's attack on Gaza.

Israeli tanks deployed on the edge of the Gaza Strip, poised to enter the densely populated enclave of 1.5 million Palestinians. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's cabinet approved a call-up of 6,500 reservists, a government official said.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak told top commanders at a briefing on Sunday that the Israeli offensive was open-ended. Military spokesman Avi Benayahu said it could "take many days."

Mark Regev, a spokesman for Olmert, said the campaign would continue until the population in southern Israel "will no longer live in terror and in fear of constant rocket barrages."

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who hopes to become prime minister after a February 10 election, appeared to rule out a large-scale invasion to recapture the territory.

"Our goal is not to reoccupy Gaza Strip," she said on NBC's "Meet the Press" program. Asked on Fox News if Israel was out to topple Gaza's Hamas rulers, Livni replied: "Not now."

The U.N. Security Council called on all sides to cease fire. But an Israeli official said Israel was feeling little international pressure to halt its operations.

Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum urged Palestinian groups to use "all available means, including martyrdom operations" -- a reference to suicide bombings in Israel.

Keeping pressure on Hamas after bombing runs that turned Saturday into one of the bloodiest days for Palestinians in 60 years of conflict, Israeli aircraft flattened the group's main security compound in Gaza, killing at least four security men.

Israel expanded its air campaign to the southern Gaza Strip, bombing some 40 smuggling tunnels running under the border with Egypt, a network that is a lifeline to the outside world.

Dozens of Gazans crossed into Egypt through holes opened in the border wall by bulldozers and explosives. An Egyptian border guard and a Palestinian youth died in a clash as Egyptian police tried to stop the influx, medics and Egyptian security said.

Egypt later warned Gaza residents to steer clear of the border area as Israel planned to bomb more tunnels there, a Palestinian security source said. Israel says militants use border tunnels to smuggle weapons into Gaza.

"SHOCK AND AWE"
Palestinian health officials said the deaths raised to 298 the number of Palestinians killed since Saturday, when Israel launched what one Israeli newspaper columnist described as "shock and awe" air strikes against Hamas facilities.

Hamas said 180 of its members were killed and the rest included civilians, among them 16 women and some children.

The international Red Cross said that hospitals in the Gaza Strip were overwhelmed and unable to cope with the casualties.

One Israeli was killed on Saturday by a rocket fired from Gaza. Gazan rockets have caused few Israeli casualties but have damaged property and sparked panic in many border towns.

Benayahu, the army spokesman, said Hamas had not yet responded as strongly as expected, possibly because it was "trying to recover from the blows," but that "it is too soon to eulogize" it.

Livni said Israel was trying to "target only terrorists and Hamas headquarters." "But, unfortunately, in a war ... sometimes also civilians pay the price."

Violence spread to the occupied West Bank, where Israeli soldiers opened fire at stone-throwing Palestinian protesters. Palestinian medical officials said two Palestinians were killed.

Palestinian forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah shot and wounded three people in a protest in support of Hamas. Arab citizens of Israel also held protests.

In Damascus, a senior official said Syria has suspended indirect peace talks with Israel in response to the attacks.

Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas who fought a 2006 war with Israel, said he asked fighters to be on standby for a possible Israeli attack.

Parents in Gaza kept their children home from school as the roar of Israeli aircraft and thunder of explosions echoed. Schools in Israel's south, due to reopen on Tuesday after the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, were ordered to stay shut.

Abbas, speaking in Cairo, accused Hamas, which seized the Gaza Strip from Fatah in 2007, of triggering Israel's raids by not extending the ceasefire that Egypt brokered in June.

U.S. President George W. Bush's administration, in its final weeks in office, put the onus on Hamas to prevent more violence.

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Israel bombs Gaza in 'all-out war' on Hamas

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Israel_bombs_Gaza_in_allout_war_1229.html

Agence France-Presse
Published: Monday December 29, 2008

GAZA CITY (AFP) - Israel bombed Gaza for a third day on Monday in an "all-out war" on Hamas, as tanks massed on the border and the Islamists fired deadly rockets to retaliate for the blitz that has killed nearly 320.

Anger over the mammoth bombing campaign spiralled in the Muslim world as UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon once again deplored the violence, and efforts to hold talks between Syria and Israel were suspended as a result of the bombardment.

With Israeli tanks idling along the border of the battered Palestinian enclave , the army declared the area a closed military zone -- a move that in the past has often been followed by ground operations.

Defence Minister Ehud Barak, who has warned of a possible ground offensive, declared that the Jewish state was in "an all-out war with Hamas and its proxies."

"We will avoid as much as possible hitting civilians while the people of Hamas and other terrorists deliberately hide and operate within the civilian population," he told a parliamentary session.

At least 51 civilians, including children, have died as a result of the Israeli bombardment, a spokesman for the UN Palestinian refugee agency said.

Among the latest deaths were four girls from the same family, aged from one to 12 years old, who were killed in an air raid that targetted a mosque near their home, medics said.

In all, the Israeli blitz, unleashed on Saturday in retaliation for ongoing rocket and mortar fire from Gaza, has killed at least 312 Palestinians and wounded more than 1,400 others, according to Gaza medics.

Hamas militants remained defiant on Monday, firing nearly 40 rockets into Israel.

One of the projectiles slammed into a construction site in the southern city of Ashkelon some 13 kilometres (eight miles) north of the Gaza border, killing an Israeli Arab and wounding eight other people.

Amid mounting international concern over the humanitarian situation in aid-dependent territory of 1.5 million that Israel has kept virtually sealed since Hamas violently seized power there in June 2007, the Jewish state on Monday allowed the passage of basic supplies.

Some 80 truckloads of medicine and food were expected to pass through the Kerem Shalom crossing in Gaza's south, a military spokesman told AFP.

In another development, Turkey, one of Israel's leading allies in the Muslim world, announced that it was ending efforts to organise peace talks between Israel and Syria.

"The continuation of the talks under these conditions is naturally impossible," Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan told reporters after discussions with Egyptian counterpart Ahmed Abul Gheit.

"To make war on the Israeli-Palestinian track and at the same time make peace on the Israeli-Syrian track -- these two cannot go together," he said.

Parliament in Jordan -- one of two Arab countries to have signed a peace treaty with Israel -- demanded that the government " reconsider " relations with the Jewish state.

Hamas, the Islamist Palestinian movement branded a terror group by Israel and the West, has lashed out at the world for not doing enough to end the blitz.

Israel is "committing a holocaust as the whole world watches and doesn't lift a finger to stop it," Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhum told reporters.

The Islamists have warned they could resume suicide attacks against Israel for the first time since January 2005 to retaliate for the blitz.

Since the start of the Israeli onslaught on Saturday, Gaza militants have fired more than 250 rockets and mortars into the Jewish state, killing two people and wounding nearly two dozen more.

The Israeli offensive has sparked protests across the world, with demonstrations held in European capitals, Turkey, Egypt and Syria.

At a rally in Tehran on Monday, thousands shouted "Down with Israel" and "Down with the USA" as they carried banners reading "We should all rise and destroy Israel."

Israel unleashed "Operation Cast Lead" against Hamas in the middle of Saturday morning, with some 60 warplanes bombing more than 50 targets in just a few minutes.

The Israeli blitz came after days of spiralling violence since the expiry of the Gaza truce. It comes less than two months before snap parliamentary elections in Israel called for February 10.

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Israeli UN envoy: 'Don't even speak about peace at this moment'

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Palestinian_lawmaker_Gaza_attacks_premeditated__12 29.html

David Edwards and Muriel Kane
Published: Monday December 29, 2008

As Israel bombed Gaza for a third day, Palestinian moderate and long-time peace negotiator Hanan Ashrawi stated that she does not accept Israel's argument that it is acting in self-defense and believes the bombing was planned ahead of time with an eye toward February's elections.

At the same time, Israel's ambassador to the United Nations told CNN, "Don't even speak about peace at this moment" and insisted that Hamas alone is responsible for the suffering of the people of Gaza.

"Israel is an occupying power," Ashwari angrily told CNN's John Roberts on Monday. "In Gaza, they've been under siege for months now, deprived of the most basic needs. ... And now Israel has decided that if the victims do not lie down and die quietly, it's going to shell them relentlessly from the air."

"Israel is playing politics with captive Palestinian lives," continued Ashwari. "In the middle of an elections campaign, they get their conventions by how many Palestinians they can kill. ... We see only a human tragedy ... and we see the Israeli parties playing politics with our lives. "

According to Time, the campaign against Hamas "is benefiting two of the leading candidates for the premiership in the upcoming Israeli election scheduled for early February. Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Defense Minister Ehud Barak were trailing in the polls behind their hawkish Likud rival, Benjamin Netanyahu. But the aerial assault against Hamas has given a lift to Barak and Livni, at Netanyahu's expense."

"This has been pre-meditated," Ashwari concluded. "This has been in the making for some time, waiting for an occasion. ... Unfortunately, Israel continues to be treated as a country above the law and exempt from any kind of accountability."

CNN"s Kiran Chetny later spoke with Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Gabriela Shalev, who told her, "The hope is that Hamas will understand finally that Israel has the right to defend itself and the duty to protect its citizens."

"How do you get to peace when there's still so much anger?" Chetry asked.

"Don't even speak about peace at this moment," Shalev replied. "To deal with Hamas ... we have to make them understand that they must stop shooting rockets at Israel."

"The people in Gaza suffer because of Hamas," Shalev insisted. "Hamas made them hostage. ... We're very sorry about the suffering ... but this is the fate of the people of Gaza because of Hamas. ... Hamas is a terrorist gang, and it should stop its intention to destroy and wipe Israel off the map."

This video is from CNN's American Morning, broadcast Dec. 29, 2008.

Video At Source

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UN Security Council urges end to all military activities in Gaza

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/UN_Security_Council_urges_end_to_1228.html

12/29/2008

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) — The UN Security Council Sunday urged an immediate end to all military activities in the Gaza Strip, scene of deadly Israeli air strikes, and called on the parties to address the humanitarian crisis in the territory.

The non-binding statement by the 15-member body "called for an immediate halt to all violence" and urged the parties "to stop immediately all military activities."

In a rare example of council unity over the divisive issue of Gaza, the text was approved after five hours of closed-door consultations called by Libya, the lone Arab member of the council, in response to the Israeli air raids.

Meanwhile Israeli warplanes hammered targets of the Islamist movement Hamas in Gaza in retaliation for rocket fire, killing more than 290 people in one of the bloodiest days of the decades-long Middle East conflict.

Diplomats said a compromise statement initially put forward by Russia was watered down at the urging of the United States. The final text approved by consensus mentions neither Israel nor the Islamist movement Hamas by name.

It called "for all parties to address the serious humanitarian and economic needs in Gaza and to take necessary measures, including opening of border crossings, to ensure the continuous provision of humanitarian supplies, including supplies of food, fuel, and provision of medical treatment."

The council also stressed the need for "the restoration of calm in full which will open the way for finding a political solution to the problems existing in the context of the Palestinian-Israeli settlement."

Russia's UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, who played a key role in securing consensus on the text, said the council sought to deliver a message that "will hopefully stop the vicious cycle of violence."

His US counterpart, Zalmay Khalilzad, sprang to Israel's defense, saying its air attacks were ordered in self-defense after rocket firing into the Jewish state from Gaza.

"Israel has the right of self-defense. Nothing in this press statement should be read as anything but that," he noted.

"Yes we want the violence to end. Yes we want the humanitarian needs of the people of Gaza to be addressed but we have to be clear that the long-term answer to the problem is a two-state solution," he added, referring to the creation of an independent Palestinian state living side by side with a secure Israel.

Ryad Mansour, the Palestinian observer to the United Nations, said the council issued a clear statement demanding a ceasefire and that the border crossings from Israel into Gaza be opened.

Israel imposed a blockade after Hamas seized power in Gaza last year, but let in dozens of truckloads of humanitarian aid on Friday.

Mansour warned that if Israel did not comply with the council's ceasefire call, Arab nations and their supporters "will come back before the council in order to bring Israel into compliance."

But Israeli Ambassador Gabriela Shalev told reporters that her country acted in self-defense.

"We are going to protect our citizens," she said. "The only party to blame is Hamas."

She evaded a question as to whether Israel would comply with the council's call, saying: "We will wait and see whether Hamas is going to abide."

Speaking on US television, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni urged the international community to cast blame on Hamas as world opinion split and tensions soared.

"I expect the international community, including the entire Arab world, to send a clear message to Hamas: 'It is your fault. It's your responsibility. You're the one who's being condemned,'" she told NBC's Meet the Press.

"'You are not going to get legitimacy from the international community this way," she continued. "The responsibility for the lives of civilians in the Gaza Strip is in your hands."

Earlier White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe told reporters that "If Hamas stops firing rockets into Israel, then Israel would not have a need for strikes in Gaza."

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expressed deep concern about the escalating violence in Gaza and urged that the ceasefire "be restored immediately and fully respected."

UN chief Ban Ki-moon said he was "deeply alarmed" by the bloodshed in Gaza and appealed for "an immediate halt to all violence."

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak however warned that "Operation Cast Lead" against Hamas, which has also left some 700 wounded, would continue "as long as necessary."

And in Damascus, exiled Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal called for a new Palestinian intifada, or uprising, against Israel and promised new suicide attacks.

Hamas has not carried out a suicide attack in Israel since January 2005.

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Israel says Gaza assault 'war to the bitter end'

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ioi_0jtO9RjMwPNRoXNCndRPRq3gD95CG0OG0

By IBRAHIM BARZAK and MATTI FRIEDMAN – 2 hours ago

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel obliterated symbols of Hamas power on the third day of what the defense minister described Monday as a "war to the bitter end," striking next to the Hamas premier's home, and devastating a security compound and a university building.

The three-day death toll rose to at least 315 by Monday morning, with some 1,400 wounded. The U.N. said at least 51 of the dead were civilians, and medics said eight children under the age of 17 were killed in two separate strikes overnight. Israel launched its campaign, the deadliest against Palestinians in decades, on Saturday in retaliation for rocket fire aimed at civilians in southern Israeli towns.

Since then, the number of Israeli troops on the Gaza border has doubled and the Cabinet approved the call-up of 6,500 reserve soldiers.

The strikes have driven Hamas leaders into hiding and appear to have gravely damaged the organization's ability to launch rockets, but barrages continued. Sirens warning of incoming rockets sent Israelis scrambling for cover throughout the day.

One medium-range rocket fired at the Israeli city of Ashkelon killed an Arab construction worker there Monday and wounded several others. He was the second Israeli killed since the beginning of the offensive.

On Sunday, Hamas missiles struck for the first time near the city of Ashdod, only 25 miles (40 kilometers) from Israel's heart in Tel Aviv. Hamas leaders have also threatened to renew suicide attacks inside Israel.

At first light Monday, strong winds blew black smoke from the bombed sites over Gaza City's deserted streets. The air hummed with the buzz of drone aircraft and the roar of jets, punctuated by airstrike explosions. Palestinian health officials said one strike killed four Islamic Jihad militants and a child.

Some Palestinians ventured outside for mourning. In northern Gaza, a father lifted the body of his 4-year-old during a funeral Monday for five children from the same family killed in an Israeli missile strike.

On Monday, the White House released a statement saying "in order for the violence to stop, Hamas must stop firing rockets into Israel and agree to respect a sustainable and durable cease-fire."

But in Damascus, Syria, a senior exiled Hamas official said there can be no talk of a truce with Israel until the assault ends and Israel reopens the Gaza crossings.

"We need our liberty, we need our freedom and we need to be independent. If we don't accomplish this objective, then we have to resist. This is our right," the official, Abu Marzouk, told The Associated Press in an English-language interview.

A a six-month truce between Hamas and Israeli expired earlier this month, but Hamas refused to extend it.

Most of those killed since Saturday were members of Hamas security forces, though the precise numbers remain unclear. A Hamas police spokesman, Ehab Ghussen, said 180 members of the Hamas security forces were among the dead, and the U.N. agency in charge of Palestinian refugees said at least 51 of the dead were civilians. A rise in civilian casualties could intensify international pressure on Israel to end the offensive.

Ehud Barak, the Israeli defense minister, told parliament Israel was not fighting the residents of Gaza. "But we have a war to the bitter end against Hamas and its branches," he said. Barak said the goal is to deal Hamas a "severe blow" and that the operation would be "widened and deepened as needed."

Israel's intense bombings — more than 300 airstrikes since midday Saturday — reduced dozens of buildings to rubble. The military said naval vessels also bombarded targets from the sea.

One strike destroyed a five-story building in the women's wing at Islamic University, one of the most prominent Hamas symbols in Gaza. Other attacks ravaged a compound controlled by Preventive Security, one of the group's chief security arms, and destroyed a house next to the residence of Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas prime minister.

Late Sunday, Israeli aircraft attacked a building in the Jebaliya refugee camp next to Gaza City, killing five children and teenagers under age 17 from the same family, Gaza Health Ministry official Dr. Moaiya Hassanain said. In the southern town of Rafah, a toddler and his two teenage brothers were killed in an airstrike aimed at a Hamas commander, Hassanain said. In Gaza City, another attack killed two women.

Some families fled their apartments next to institutions linked to Hamas.

Suad Abu Wadi, 42, kept her six children close on mattresses in her Gaza City living room. Her husband sat with them, chain-smoking. Abu Wadi said he said nothing since seeing their neighbor carrying the body of his child, killed in an airstrike Saturday.

Gaza's nine hospitals were overwhelmed. Hassanain, who keeps a record for the Gaza Health Ministry, said that some of the over 1,400 wounded were now being taken to private clinics and even homes.

Abdel Hafez, a 55-year-old history teacher, waited outside a Gaza City bakery to buy bread. He said he was not a Hamas supporter but believed the strikes would only increase support for the group. "Each strike, each drop of blood are giving Hamas more fuel to continue," he said.

In Israel, 17 people have been killed in attacks from Gaza since the beginning of the year, including nine civilians — six of them killed by rockets — and eight soldiers, according to Israel's Foreign Ministry.

Israeli security officials have warned that the militants' range now includes Beersheba, a major city 30 miles (50 kilometers) from Gaza. Resident Mazal Ivgi, 62, said she had prepared a bomb shelter. "In the meantime we don't really believe it's going to happen, but when the first boom comes people will be worried," she said.

Israel began Saturday's assault by targeting Hamas security installations, and has broadened the attacks since then. On Sunday planes struck dozens of smuggling tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border, cutting off a key lifeline that had supplied Hamas with weapons and Gaza with commercial goods.

In Jerusalem, Israel's Cabinet approved a call-up of 6,500 reserve soldiers Sunday in apparent preparation for a ground offensive. The final decision to call up reserves has yet to be made by the defense minister, and the Cabinet decision could be a pressure tactic. Military experts said Israel would need at least 10,000 soldiers for a full-scale invasion.

The assault has sparked diplomatic fallout. Syria decided to suspend indirect peace talks with Israel, and the U.N. Security Council called on both sides to halt the fighting and asked Israel to allow humanitarian supplies into Gaza. Israel opened one of Gaza's border crossings Monday, and about 40 trucks had entered with food and medical supplies by midday, military spokesman Peter Lerner said.

Egypt also opened its borders to Gaza and allowed trucks loaded with humanitarian aid to enter the Rafah terminal Monday. It was also taking in wounded Palestinians from Gaza, with more than a dozen Egyptian ambulances waiting at the crossing.

The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, who heads a moderate government in the West Bank and is holding peace talks with Israel, issued his strongest condemnation yet of the operation, calling it a "sweeping Israeli aggression against Gaza" and saying he would consult with his bitter rivals in Hamas in an effort to end it.

Israel is trying to avoid civilian casualties, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni told reporters Monday, while "Hamas is looking for children to kill."

"Hamas is targeting deliberately kindergartens and schools and citizens and civilians because this is according to their values. Our values are completely different. We are trying to target Hamas, which hides among civilians," Livni said.

The carnage inflamed Arab and Muslim public opinion, setting off street protests in Arab communities in Israel and the West Bank, across the Arab world, and in some European cities.

On Monday, a Palestinian stabbed and wounded four Israelis in a West Bank settlement before he was shot and wounded. It was not immediately clear if the attack was directly connected to the events in Gaza.

In Iraq, about 1,000 backers of anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr staged a protest Monday in Baghdad demanding Israel immediately stop its air assault. The political party of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki condemned the attacks and called on Islamic countries to cut relations with Israel.

[Gold9472]

Kucinich: UN should investigate Israeli Gaza strikes

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Kucinich_UN_should_investigate_Israeli_Gaza_1229.h tml

12/29/2008

Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) called for an independent investigation to be led by the United Nations into the recent eruption of violence between Israel and Hamas along the Gaza strip that has killed scores of innocent civilians.

Monday brought a third day of Israeli bombing Gaza in what the state is calling its "all-out" war on Hamas. So far, 345 people have been killed by the bombs. At least 57 of the dead are civilians, including 21 children, according to the UN.

Kucinich said he wrote to UN General Secretary Ban ki-Moon urging an "independent inquiry of Israel's war against Gaza." The Democratic lawmaker said Israel's attacks are an example of "collective punishment," which violates the Geneva Conventions.

"The perpetrators of attacks against Israel must also be brought to justice, but Israel cannot create a war against an entire people in order to attempt to bring to justice the few who are responsible. The Israeli leaders know better," Kucinich said in a news release Monday. "The world community, which has been very supportive of Israel's right to security and its right to survive, also has a right to expect Israel to conduct itself in adherence to the very laws which support the survival of Israel and every other nation."

Kucinich compared the latest bombing campaign to Isreal's earlier strikes at southern Lebanon targeted at Hezbollah. Then too, he said, civilians were killed, infrastructure was destroyed and lawlessness took hold in the country.

"All this was, and is, disproportionate, indiscriminate mass violence in violation of international law. Israel is not exempt from international law and must be held accountable," he said. "It is time for the UN to not just call for a cease-fire, but for an inquiry as to Israel's actions."

President Bush, on the other hand, has signaled a continuation of his firm support for Israel.

"In order for the violence to stop, Hamas must stop firing rockets into Israel and agree to respect a sustainable and durable ceasefire," White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said.

Congressional leaders likewise signaled support for Israel.

“I strongly support Israel’s right to defend its citizens against rocket and mortar attacks from Hamas-controlled Gaza, which have killed and injured Israeli citizens, and to restore security to its residents,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said Monday. “Hamas’ failure to stop these attacks only exacerbates the humanitarian situation for the residents of Gaza and undermines efforts to attain peace and security in the region.”

President-elect Barack Obama, vacationing in Hawaii, has tread lightly regarding the conflict. His transition team will only say that he continues to "monitor global events" noting, "There is one president at a time."

Israel has declared some areas around Gaza "closed military zones" and is beginning to amass tanks there saying it is prepared to continue operations as long as necessary.

"The goal of the operation is to topple Hamas," Deputy Prime Minister Haim Ramon said on Monday in televised comments.

[Gold9472]

Iranian group recruits volunteers to fight Israel

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/ML_IRAN_ISRAEL?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

By ALI AKBAR DAREINI
Associated Press Writer

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- A group of influential conservative Iranian clerics launched an online registration drive on Monday seeking volunteers to fight against Israel in response to its air assault on the Gaza Strip. About 3,550 people registered Monday with the Combatant Clergy Society's Web site. The weeklong online campaign gives volunteers three options on ways they can fight Israel: military, financial and propaganda.

The group, which has considerable political and economic power in Iran, did not provide further details on the program including how it would contact the volunteers or implement the program.

The conservative clerics decided to sign up volunteers after Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, issued a religious decree on Sunday that said anyone killed while defending Palestinians in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip against Israeli attacks would be considered a martyr.

Khamenei's religious decree was not considered a government decision and did not oblige the government to launch attacks against Israel.

But Iran considers Israel its archenemy, and its President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called for the destruction of the Jewish state. Iran also is Hamas' main backer, though Tehran denies sending weapons to the Islamic militant group that took control of the Gaza Strip in June 2007.

Israel's airstrikes on the Gaza Strip have sparked outrage in Iran and throughout the rest of the Muslim world. About 300 Palestinians have been killed and more than 1,000 wounded since the air assault began Saturday. Israel says it launched its campaign in retaliation for rocket fire aimed at civilians in southern Israeli towns.

Also Monday, the Iranian Red Crescent sent a ship carrying 2,000 tons of food to Palestinians living in Gaza to be delivered via Egypt. An Iranian military plane also landed at Cairo International Airport carrying 24 tons of food and medicine destined for Gaza.

The head of Iran's Red Crescent, Masoud Khatami, said three more ships were waiting to be loaded with humanitarian aid, and Iranian hospitals were ready to receive injured Gazans, according to the official Iran news agency, IRNA.

[Gold9472]

This isn't good.

[Gold9472]

Iran leader orders Muslims to defend Palestinians

http://uk.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idUKHOS84274820081228?sp=true

By Zahra Hosseinian

TEHRAN, Dec 28 (Reuters) - Iran's Supreme Leader issued a religious decree to Muslims around the world on Sunday, ordering them to defend Palestinians in Gaza against Israeli attacks "in any way possible", state television reported.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also declared Monday a day of public mourning in Iran after Israel killed more than 280 Palestinians in two days of air strikes on Gaza.

"All Palestinian combatants and all the Islamic world's pious people are obliged to defend the defenceless women, children and people in Gaza in any way possible," Khamenei said.

"Whoever is killed in this legitimate defence, is considered a martyr," he said in a statement.

A religious decree is an official statement by a ranking religious leader that commands Muslims to carry out its message. While there is no religious and legal force behind it, Khamenei is respected by many Iranian and non-Iranian Shi'ites.

Iran refuses to recognise Israel, which accuses Tehran of supplying Hamas Islamists with weapons. Iran denies the claim, saying it only provides moral support to the group.

Israeli leaders said their campaign was a response to almost daily rocket and mortar fire by Gaza militants that intensified after Hamas ended a six-month ceasefire a week ago.

Khamenei criticised some Arab governments for their lack of response towards the Israeli raids.

"The even greater catastrophe is the encouraging silence of some Arab governments who claim to be Islamic," he said, also accusing the West of being indifferent to the killing of Palestinians.

Khamenei, Iran's most powerful authority, urged Muslim countries to punish Israeli leaders.

"The officials of this regime ... should be tried and punished for this crime by Islamic governments."

Khamenei's remarks were interpreted by some oil traders as a hint that Iran was calling on oil-producing Arab countries to disrupt energy shipments to Israel.

The West accuses Iran of covertly trying to build nuclear bomb, a charge rejected by Tehran.

But Israel's insistence that the Islamic state must not be allowed to develop atomic weapons has fuelled speculation that the Jewish state, widely assumed to have the Middle East's only nuclear arsenal, could mount its own pre-emptive strike.

Various protests were held in Tehran on Sunday, including one by Iranian lawmakers chanting "Death to Israel".

Iran is ready to receive Palestinians wounded in the raids, foreign ministry spokesman Hassan Qashqavi said.

Tehran denounced Israel's attacks as "unforgivable" on Saturday. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the raids showed Israel's "weakness".

[Gold9472]

US veto blocks UN anti-Israel resolution

http://www.daily.pk/world/middle-east/8851-us-veto-blocks-un-anti-israel-resolution-.html

Written by www.daily.pk (http://www.daily.pk)
Monday, 29 December 2008 03:43

The UN Security Council has been unable to force an end to Israeli attacks against Gaza due to the intervention of the United States. Washington once again used its veto powers on Sunday to block a resolution calling for an end to the massive ongoing Israeli attacks against the Gaza Strip.

The council has only been able to issue a 'non-binding' statement that calls on Israel to voluntarily bring all its military activities in the besieged region to an immediate end.

The statement comes as Israel has begun a fresh wave of air strikes on Gaza on Sunday, killing at least six people. At least 230 people were killed and 800 wounded in similar attacks on Saturday. The number of Palestinians deaths has so far risen to 271.

The council called on the parties to address the humanitarian crisis in the territory but has not criticized the Israeli air attacks.

Croatian UN Ambassador Neven Jurica read out the non-binding statement on behalf of the 15-member body that "called for an immediate halt to all violence" and on the parties "to stop immediately all military activities."

"The members of the Security Council expressed serious concern at the escalation of the situation in Gaza," he said, as the president of the council.

The council also requested the opening of border crossings into Gaza to address the serious humanitarian and economic needs in Gaza and to ensure medical treatment and a continuous supply of food and fuel.

US representative to the UNSC, Zalmay Khalilzad, defended the Israeli move, saying Tel Aviv has the right to self-defense.

"I regret the loss of any of all innocent life," he said, adding that Hamas rockets precipitated this situation.

Palestinian fighters in the Gaza Strip say they fire rockets into Israel in retaliation for the daily Israeli attacks against them. Unlike the state-of-the-art Israeli weapons and ammunition, the home-made Qassam rockets rarely cause casualties.

The US, a staunch ally to Israel, has so far vetoed over 40 anti-Israeli resolutions sought by the council since 1972.

Since 2004, Washington has prevented the adoption of four other resolutions that called for Tel Aviv to halt its operations in the Gaza Strip.

[Gold9472]

Venezuela rejects Israel's attacks on Gaza

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hOPNMFGE7gxk5Q54iw7bjl_v6IugD95BFEJO0

2 days ago

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — President Hugo Chavez says Venezuela condemns Israel for its attacks on Hamas-ruled Gaza.

Israel bombed key security installations Saturday, leaving more than 200 Palestinians dead and more than 400 wounded. Palestinian officials say at least 15 civilians were among the dead.

The Israeli army says Palestinian militants have fired 300 rockets and mortars at Israeli targets over the past week.

But Chavez on Saturday called Israel's retaliation "criminal" and urged a "massive campaign of repudiation."

He says the U.S. is the only government compliant with the attacks. U.S. National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe had criticized the Hamas attacks and said Israel was defending its people.

[Gold9472]

Chavez shocked by US' Gaza reaction

http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=79720&sectionid=351020202

Sun, 28 Dec 2008 06:32:42 GMT

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has questioned the United States' reaction to Israeli attacks on Gaza, calling Washington's response 'shocking.'

Israel's Saturday bombardment of Gaza left at least 230 dead and 800 wounded, making it the biggest such atrocity in 60 years of Israel-Palestine conflict.

Condemning Israel for its air raids on the tiny coastal region, Chavez said “The US is the only government compliant in the attacks.”

The remark came after Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the US National Security Council, criticized the Hamas, saying Tel Aviv was defending its people.

Chavez described the Israeli raids as a “criminal” act which is meant to “annihilate the hope of life for an entire people,” AP reported.

He called for a “massive campaign of repudiation'' of Israeli atrocities.

[Gold9472]

UN official says Israel responsible for breaking truce with Gaza

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1051211.html

By The Associated Press
12/30/2008

Palestinians in Gaza believed Israel had called a 48-hour lull in retaliatory attacks with Hamas when Israel Air Force warplanes launched a massive bombardment of militant installations in the Gaza Strip, a UN official said Monday.

Karen Abu Zayd, commissioner of the UN Relief and Works Agency which helps Palestinian refugees, raised the possible violation of an informal truce in a video press conference with UN reporters from her base in Gaza.

Israel's UN Mission referred any comment on the reported lull to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office in Jerusalem. Olmert's office did not answer telephone calls for comment early Tuesday morning.

Abu Zayd said Palestinians in Gaza were surprised when Israeli warplanes sent more than 100 tons of bombs crashing down on key security installations in Hamas-ruled Gaza starting Saturday morning because it was in the middle of the lull.

The offensive began eight days after a six-month truce between Israel and the militants expired. During that time, the Israel Defense Forces said Palestinian militants fired some 300 rockets and mortars at Israeli targets, and 10 times that number over the past year.

Israel had sent mixed signals on Friday regarding its plans for Gaza. Israeli defense officials said politicians had approved a large-scale incursion into the territory. But at the same time, Israel appeared open to international pressure against an invasion, prying open its border with Gaza to allow deliveries of humanitarian aid.

"What we understood here (was) that there was a 48-hour lull to be called, and this was called by the Israelis," Abu Zayd said. "They said they would wait 48 hours. That was on Friday morning, I believe, until Sunday morning, and that they were going to evaluate."

"There was only one rocket that went out on Friday, so it was obvious that Hamas was trying, again, to observe that truce to get this back under control," she said.

"Then, everything got loose on Saturday morning at 11:30 a.m. We were all at work and very much surprised by this," Abu Zayd said.

When the Israeli offensive began, neither Defense Minister Ehud Barak nor Prime Minister Ehud Olmert made any mention of a lull.

Abu Zayd mentioned the lull when she was asked whether the population of Gaza was aware that this was all commenced by the Hamas government unilaterally ending the cease-fire and firing rockets.

"I don't think they think the truce was violated first by Hamas," she said.

"I think they saw that Hamas had observed the truce quite strictly for almost six months, certainly for four of the six months, and that they got nothing in turn - because there was to be kind of a deal," Abu Zayd said.

"If there were no rockets, the crossings would be opened," she said. "The crossings were not opened at all."

[Gold9472]

From the Free Gaza Movement:

(This is the sixth boat that the Free Gaza movement has sent to Gaza ... in a symbolic effort to end the seige of Gaza. These are small boats, and they do not cross into Israeli waters at all. This Israeli attack on the boat, which occurred in international waters, cannot be described as 'self defense' by any stretch of delusional imagination. CNN has report on this--it helps that one CNN reporter is on board-- : http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2008/12/29/penhaul.gaza.bpr.boat.cnn )

===============================================

URGENT! Israeli Navy Attacking Civilian Mercy Ship! TAKE ACTION IMMEDIATELY!

The Dignity, a Free Gaza boat on a mission of mercy to besieged Gaza, is being attacked by the Israeli Navy in international waters. The Dignity has been surrounded by at least half-a-dozen Israeli warships. They are firing live ammunition around the Dignity, and one of the warships has rammed the civilian craft causing an unknown amount of damage. Contrary to international maritime law, the Israelis are actively preventing the Dignity from approaching Gaza or finding safe haven in either Egypt or Lebanon. Instead, the Israeli navy is demanding that the Dignity return to Cyprus - despite the fact that the ship does not carry enough fuel to do so. Fortunately, no one aboard the ship has yet been seriously injured.

There are 15 civilian passengers representing 11 different countries (see below for a complete list). At approximately 5am (UST), well out in international waters, Israeli warships began surrounding the Dignity, threatening the ship. At 6:45am (UST) we were able to establish brief contact with the crew and were told that the ship had been rammed by the Israeli Navy in international waters, and that the Israelis were preventing the ship from finding safe harbor. We heard heavy gunfire in the background before all contact was lost with the Dignity.

It is urgent that you TAKE IMMEDIATE ACTION!

CALL the Israeli Government and demand that it immediately STOP attacking the Dignity and endangering the lives of its passengers!

CALL Mark Regev in the Prime Minister's office at:
+972 2670 5354 or +972 5062 3264
mark.regev@it.pmo.gov.il

CALL Shlomo Dror in the Ministry of Defence at:
+972 33697 5339 or +972 50629 8148
mediasar@mod.gov.il

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The Dignity departed from Larnaca Port in Cyprus at 7pm (UST) on Monday 29 December, bound for war-devastated Gaza with a cargo of over 3 tons of desperately needed medical supplies donated by the people of Cyprus. At our request, the ship was searched by Cypriot Port authorities prior to departure, to certify that there was nothing "threatening" aboard - only emergency medical supplies.

TAKE ACTION IMMEDIATELY TO STOP THE ISRAELI NAVY FROM ENDANGERING THE DIGNITY AND ITS PASSENGERS!

Civilians aboard the Dignity being threatened by the Israeli military:

(UK) Denis Healey, Captain
Captain of the Dignity, Denis has been involved with boats for 45 years, beginning with small fishing boats in Portsmouth. He learned to sail while atschool and has been part of the sea ever since. He's a certified yachtmaster and has also worked on heavy marine equipment from yachts to large dredgers. This is his fourth trip to Gaza.

(Greece) Nikolas Bolos, First Mate
Nikolas is a chemical engineer and human rights activist. He has served as a crewmember on several Free Gaza voyages, including the first one in August.

(Jordan) Othman Abu Falah
Othman is a senior producer with Al-Jazeera Television. He will remain in Gaza to report on the ongoing military onslaught.

(Australia) Renee Bowyer
Renee is a schoolteacher and human rights activist. She will remain in Gaza to do human rights monitoring and reporting.

(Ireland) Caoimhe Butterly
Caoimhe is a reknowned human rights activist and Gaza Coordinator for the Free Gaza Movement. She will be remaining in Gaza to do human rights monitoring, assist with relief efforts, and work on project development with Free Gaza.

(Cyprus) Ekaterini Christodulou
Ekaterini is a well-known and respected freelance journalist in Cyprus. She is traveling to Gaza to report on the conflict.

(Sudan) Sami El-Haj
Sami is a former detainee at Guantanamo Bay, and head of the human rights section at Al-Jazeera Television. He will remain in Gaza to report on the ongoing military onslaught.

(UK) Dr. David Halpin
Dr. Halpin is an experienced orthopaedic surgeon, medical professor, and ship's captain. He has organized humanitarian relief efforts in Gaza on several occasions with the Dove and Dolphin. He is traveling to Gaza to volunteer in hospitals and clinics.

(Germany) Dr. Mohamed Issa
Dr. Issa is a pediatric surgeon from Germany. He is traveling to Gaza to volunteer in hospitals and clinics.

(UK/Tunisia) Fathi Jaouadi
Fathi is a television producer and human rights activist. He will remain in Gaza to do human rights monitoring and reporting.

(USA) Cynthia McKinney
Cynthia is a former U.S. Congresswoman from Georgia, and the 2008 Green Party presidential candidate. She is traveling to Gaza to assess the ongoing conflict.

(Cyprus) Martha Paisi
Martha is a senior research fellow and experienced human rights activist. She is traveling to Gaza to do human rights work and to assist with humanitarian relief efforts.

(UK) Karl Penhaul
Karl Penhaul is a video correspondent for CNN, based out of Bogotá, Colombia. Appointed to this position in February 2004, he covers breaking news around the world utilizing CNN's new laptop-based 'Digital Newsgathering' system. He is traveling to Gaza to report on the ongoing conflict.

(Iraq) Thaer Shaker
Thaer is a cameraman with Al-Jazeera television. He will remain in Gaza to report on the ongoing military onslaught.

(Cyprus) Dr. Elena Theoharous, MP
Dr. Theoharous is a surgeon and a Member of the Cypriot Parliament. She is traveling to Gaza to assess the ongoing conflict, assist with humanitarian relief efforts, and volunteer in hospitals.

[Gold9472]

That's my President for you.

[Gold9472]

Israel rejects truce appeals as Gaza blitz continues

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gsQTeCjbeNcjdmfW4Ta7i2dt_Ldg

4 hours ago

GAZA CITY (AFP) — Israel rejected world appeals for a truce on Tuesday and warned its deadly assault on Gaza could last for weeks as warplanes pummelled Hamas positions for a fourth day and tanks massed on the border.

Despite the devastating aerial pounding that has now killed at least 363 people, Hamas militants continued to fight back, firing deadly rockets deep inside Israeli territory.

Children again fell victim to Israel's "all-out war" on the Islamist Hamas movement, with two sisters dying when a missile slammed into their donkey cart in the northern town of Beit Hanun.

In Gaza City, residents picked through rubble and broken glass after a night in which Israel hammered the overcrowded territory with some 40 strikes targeting Hamas buildings, training camps and rocket launchers.

Despite repeated pleas by UN chief Ban Ki-moon for a stop to the "unacceptable" violence that has sparked outrage in the Muslim world and protests in many countries, Israel waved aside calls for a truce.

"There is no reason that we would accept a ceasefire at this stage," Infrastructure Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer told AFP.

"If there is a ceasefire, that will allow Hamas to regain strength, recover from the shock and prepare an even stronger attack against Israel," he said.

With tanks and personnel massed on the Gaza border, Israel said infantry was ready to join what it warned would be a prolonged offensive.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the bombardment so far was "the first of several stages approved by the security cabinet," while Deputy Defence Minister Matan Vilnai warned the offensive -- one of Israel's deadliest ever against Gaza -- could last weeks.

"We are ready for a prolonged conflict and for weeks of combat," Vilnai said.

An army spokeswoman said that "the ground forces are ready," adding that "for the moment we are only hitting from the air and the sea."

Defence Minister Ehud Barak, who has described the bombardment as an "all-out war" against Hamas, has repeatedly warned that he is ready to send ground troops into Gaza .

The four days of intensive bombardment, which have killed several senior Hamas officials and reduced many of the group's structures in Gaza to rubble, has failed to stop rocket fire from the territory.

Three Israelis -- two civilians and one soldier -- were killed on Monday by rockets fired from Gaza, with one reaching the deepest yet inside Israel and slamming into the southern port city of Ashdod, more than 30 kilometres (18 miles) from the border.

Hamas has warned it might also launch suicide attacks inside Israel for the first time since January 2005.

Since Israel unleashed its massive aerial attack on Saturday following persistent rocket fire from Gaza, at least 363 Palestinians, including 39 children, have been killed and 1,720 wounded, according to Gaza medics.

Palestinian militants have fired more than 250 rockets, killing four people inside Israel and wounding around two dozen more.

Rebuffing Arab appeals, Israel's main ally Washington has given the offensive strong support but said it was working behind the scenes to forge a truce.

"The United States understands that Israel needs to take actions to defend itself," said White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was reaching out by telephone to key world leaders and diplomats to find a lasting way to end the violence, officials said.

At the United Nations, Ban said he was "deeply alarmed by the current escalation of violence in and around Gaza. This is unacceptable.

"Both Israel and Hamas must halt their acts of violence and... a ceasefire must be declared immediately."

EU foreign ministers were set to meet in Paris on Tuesday to discuss how they can work to help ease the crisis in Gaza.

There was growing concern about the humanitarian situation in the aid-dependent territory of 1.5 million which Israel has virtually sealed off since Hamas seized power in June last year.

The Israeli military opened the Kerem Shalom crossing to allow more than 100 trucks filled with humanitarian aid to enter Gaza on Tuesday, a military spokesman said. On Monday, dozens of trucks were allowed to pass through.

Israel's offensive followed days of rising violence after a tenuous six-month truce in and around Gaza ended on December 19. It also comes ahead of early parliamentary elections in Israel called for February 10.

[simuvac]

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/12/30/gaza.aid.boat/index.html

Gaza relief boat damaged in encounter with Israeli vessel



Story Highlights
Israeli naval vessel, boat with medical volunteers collide in Mediterranean
Boat's crew contends naval vessel rammed it intentionally
Israel denies intentionally hitting boat carrying journalists, medical supplies
Damaged boat arrives safely at Lebanese port after incident
(CNN) -- An Israeli patrol boat struck a boat carrying medical volunteers and supplies to Gaza early Tuesday as it attempted to intercept the vessel in the Mediterranean Sea, witnesses and Israeli officials said.

CNN Correspondent Karl Penhaul was aboard the 60-foot, Gibraltar-registered pleasure boat Dignity when the contact occurred. When the boat later docked in the Lebanese port city of Tyre, severe damage was visible to the forward port side of the boat, and the front left window and part of the roof had collapsed.

The Dignity was carrying 16 passengers and crew who were trying to reach Gaza through an Israeli blockade of the territory.

The captain of the Dignity said the Israelis broadcast a radio message accusing the vessel of being involved in terrorist activity. But Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor denied that and said the radio message simply warned the vessel not to proceed to Gaza (http://topics.cnn.com/topics/Gaza_Strip) because it is a closed military area.

Palmor said there was no response to the radio message, and the vessel then tried to out-maneuver the Israeli patrol boat, leading to the collision. http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/img/2.0/mosaic/tabs/video.gifWatch Penhaul describe the boat damage » (http://cnn.site.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=Gaza+relief+boat+damaged+in+encounter+with+I sraeli+vessel+-+CNN.com&expire=-1&urlID=33352805&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F2008%2FWORLD%2Fmeas t%2F12%2F30%2Fgaza.aid.boat%2Findex.html&partnerID=211911#cnnSTCVideo)

Penhaul said at least two Israeli patrol boats had shadowed the Dignity for about half an hour before the collision, moving around the vessel on all sides. One of the patrol boats then shined its spotlight on the Dignity while the other, with its lights off, "very severely rammed" the boat.

The captain of the Dignity told Penhaul he received no prior warning. Only after the collision did the Israelis come on the radio to say they struck the boat because they believed it was involved in terrorist activities. http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/img/2.0/mosaic/tabs/video.gifWatch the chaos in Gaza and Israel » (http://cnn.site.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=Gaza+relief+boat+damaged+in+encounter+with+I sraeli+vessel+-+CNN.com&expire=-1&urlID=33352805&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F2008%2FWORLD%2Fmeas t%2F12%2F30%2Fgaza.aid.boat%2Findex.html&partnerID=211911#cnnSTCVideo)

The captain and crew said their vessel was struck intentionally, Penhaul said, but Palmor called those allegations "absurd."

"There is no intention on the part of the Israeli navy to ram anybody," Palmor said.

The incident occurred in international waters about 90 miles off Gaza. Israel controls the waters off Gaza's coast and routinely blocks ships from coming into the Palestinian territory as part of an ongoing blockade that also applies to the Israel-Gaza border. Human rights groups have expressed concern about the blockade on Gaza, which has restricted the delivery of emergency aid and fuel supplies.

The collision was so severe, Penhaul said, that the passengers were ordered to put on their life vests and be ready to get in lifeboats. The Dignity began taking on water but the crew managed to pump it out of the hull long enough for the boat to reach shore.

Palmor said the vessel refused assistance after the incident.

The boat was carrying boxes of relief supplies, volunteers and journalists to Gaza, the Palestinian territory now subject to an intense Israeli bombing campaign. Among the passengers were physicians from Britain, Germany and Cyprus and several human rights activists, including former U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney.

"I would call it ramming. Let's just call it as it is," McKinney (http://topics.cnn.com/topics/Cynthia_McKinney) said. "Our boat was rammed three times, twice in the front and one on the side. http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/img/2.0/mosaic/tabs/video.gifWatch Cynthia McKinney discuss the collision » (http://cnn.site.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=Gaza+relief+boat+damaged+in+encounter+with+I sraeli+vessel+-+CNN.com&expire=-1&urlID=33352805&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F2008%2FWORLD%2Fmeas t%2F12%2F30%2Fgaza.aid.boat%2Findex.html&partnerID=211911#cnnSTCVideo)

"Our mission was a peaceful mission, but our mission was thwarted by the Israelis, the aggressiveness of the Israeli military."

Israel (http://topics.cnn.com/topics/Israel) launched airstrikes against Gaza on Saturday in what Defense Minister Ehud Barak called an "all-out war" against the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which has ruled the territory since 2007.

The Palestinian death toll has topped 375, most of them Hamas militants, Palestinian medical sources said Tuesday. At least 60 civilians have been killed in Gaza, U.N. officials said.

Hamas has responded with volleys of rocket fire aimed at southern Israeli towns, which have left six Israelis dead -- five of them civilians.

Hamas has vowed to defend Gaza in the face of what it calls continued Israeli aggression. Each side blames the other for violating an Egyptian-brokered cease-fire, which formally expired December 19 but had been weakening for months.

[Gold9472]

Israeli Gunboats Came out of the Darkness and Rammed us Three Times

http://freegaza.org/index.php?module=latest_news&id=06ec9655d88714c7ffaf8b1534783da3

For more information, please contact:

(Gaza) Ewa Jasiewicz, +972 598 700 497 / freelance@mailworks.org

(Cyprus) Lubna Masarwa +357 99 081 767 / lubnna@gmail.com

(Lebanon) Caoimhe Butterley +961 70 875 727 / sahara78@hotmail.co.uk

http://www.FreeGaza.org (http://www.freegaza.org/)

(Lebanon, Tuesday 30 December) - Today the Free Gaza ship "Dignity" carefully made its way to safe harbor in Tyre, Lebanon's southern-most port city, after receiving serious structural damage when Israeli warships rammed its bow and the port side. Waiting to greet the passengers and crew were thousands of Lebanese who came out to show their solidarity with this attempt to deliver volunteer doctors and desperately needed medical supplies to war-ravaged Gaza. The Lebanese government has pledged to provide a forensic analysis of what happened in the dark morning, when Israel rammed the civilian ship in international waters, and put the people on board in danger of losing their lives.

The Dignity, on a mission of mercy to besieged Gaza, was attacked by the Israeli Navy at approximately 6am (UST) in international waters, roughly 90 miles off the coast of Gaza. Several Israeli warships surrounded the small, human rights boat, firing live ammunition around it, then intentionally ramming it three times. According to ship's captain Denis Healy, the Israeli attack came, ""without any warning, or any provocation."

Caoimhe Butterly, an organizer with the Free Gaza Movement, stated that, "The gunboats gave us no warning. They came up out of the darkness firing flares and flashing huge flood lights into our faces. We were so shocked that at first we didn't react. We knew we were well within international waters and supposedly safe from attack. They rammed us three times, hitting the side of the boat hard. We began taking on water and, for a few minutes, we all feared for our lives. After they rammed us, they started screaming at us as we were frantically getting the life boats ready and putting on our life jackets. They kept yelling that if we didn't turn back they would shoot us."

Cynthia McKinney, former U.S. congresswoman and Green Party presidential candidate, was traveling to Gaza aboard the Dignity in order to assess the impact of Israel's military onslaught against the civilian population of the Gaza Strip. According to McKinney, "Israeli patrol boats...tracked us for about 30 minutes...and then all of a sudden they rammed us approximately three times, twice in the front and once in the side...the Israelis indicated that [they felt] we were involved in terrorist activities."

The Dignity departed from Larnaca Port in Cyprus at 7pm (UST) on Monday 29 December with a cargo of over 3 tons of desperately needed medical supplies donated to Gaza by the people of Cyprus. Three surgeons were also aboard, traveling to Gaza to volunteer in overwhelmed hospitals and clinics. The ship was searched by Cypriot Port authorities prior to departure, and its passenger list was made public.

Israel's deplorable attack on the unarmed Dignity is a violation of both international maritime law and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which states that "the high seas should be reserved for peaceful purposes."

Delivering doctors and urgently needed medical supplies to civilians is a just such a "peaceful purpose." Deliberately ramming a mercy ship and endangering its passengers is an act of terrorism.

CALL the Israeli Government and demand that it immediately STOP attacking the civilian population of Gaza and STOP using violence to prevent human rights and humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people.

Mark Regev in the Prime Minister's office at:
+972 2670 5354 or +972 5 0620 3264
mark.regev@it.pmo.gov.il

Shlomo Dror in the Ministry of Defence at:
+972 3697 5339 or +972 50629 8148
mediasar@mod.gov.il

Major Liebovitz from the Israeli Navy at:
+ 972 5 781 86248

[Gold9472]

How Hypocrisy on 'Terrorism' Kills

http://www.consortiumnews.com/2008/123008.html

By Robert Parry
December 30, 2008

Israel, a nation that was born out of Zionist terrorism, has launched massive airstrikes against targets in Gaza using high-tech weapons produced by the United States, a country that often has aided and abetted terrorism by its client military forces, such as Chile’s Operation Condor and the Nicaraguan contras, and even today harbors right-wing Cuban terrorists implicated in blowing up a civilian airliner.

Yet, with that moral ambiguity excluded from the debate, the justification for the Israeli attacks, which have killed at least 364 people, is the righteous fight against “terrorism,” since Gaza is ruled by the militant Palestinian group, Hamas.

Hamas rose to power in January 2006 through Palestinian elections, which ironically the Bush administration had demanded. However, after Hamas won a parliamentary majority, Israel and the United States denounced the outcome because they deem Hamas a “terrorist organization.”

Hamas then wrested control of Gaza from Fatah, a rival group that once was considered “terrorist” but is now viewed as a U.S.-Israeli partner, so it has been cleansed of the “terrorist” label.

Unwilling to negotiate seriously with Hamas because of its acts of terrorism – which have included firing indiscriminate short-range missiles into southern Israel – the United States and Israel sat back as the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza worsened, with 1.5 million impoverished Palestinians packed into what amounts to a giant open-air prison.

When Hamas ended a temporary cease-fire on Dec. 19 because of a lack of progress in those negotiations and began lobbing its little missiles into Israel once more, the Israeli government reacted on Saturday with its lethal “shock and awe” firepower – even though no Israelis had been killed by the post-cease-fire missiles launched from Gaza. [Since Saturday, four Israelis have died in more intensive Hamas missile attacks.]

Israel claimed that its smart bombs targeted sites related to the Hamas security forces, including a school for police cadets and even regular policemen walking down the street. But it soon became clear that Israel was taking an expansive view of what was part of the Hamas military infrastructure, with Israeli bombs taking out a television station and a university building as well as killing a significant number of civilians.

As the slaughter continued on Monday, Israeli officials confided to Western journalists that the war plan was to destroy the vast support network of social and other programs that undergird Hamas’s political clout.

“There are many aspects of Hamas, and we are trying to hit the whole spectrum, because everything is connected and everything supports terrorism against Israel,” a senior Israeli military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the Washington Post.

“Hamas’s civilian infrastructure is a very, very sensitive target,” added Matti Steinberg, a former top adviser to Israel’s domestic security service. “If you want to put pressure on them, this is how.” [Washington Post, Dec. 30, 2008]

Since the classic definition of “terrorism” is the use of violence against civilians to achieve a political goal, Israel would seem to be inviting an objective analysis that it has chosen its own terrorist path. But it is clearly counting on the U.S. news media to continue wearing the blinders that effectively limit condemnations about terrorism to people and groups that are regarded as Washington’s enemies.

Whose Terrorism?
As a Washington-based reporter for the Associated Press in the 1980s, I once questioned the seeming bias that the U.S.-based wire service applied to its use of the word “terrorist.” A senior AP executive responded to my concerns with a quip. “Terrorist is the word that follows Arab,” he said.

Though meant as a lighthearted riposte, the comment clearly had a great deal of truth to it. It was easy to attach “terrorist” to any Arab attack – even against a military target such the bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks in Lebanon in 1983 after the Reagan administration had joined hostilities against Muslim forces. But it was understood that different rules applied when the terrorism was coming from “our side.”

Then, no American reporter with any sense of career survival would think of injecting the word “terrorist” whatever the justification.

Even historical references to acts of terrorism – such as the brutal practice by American revolutionaries in the 1770s of “tar and feathering” civilians considered sympathetic to the British Crown or the extermination of American Indian tribes – were seen as somehow diluting the moral righteousness against today’s Islamic terrorists and in favor of George W. Bush's "war on terror."

Gone, too, from the historical narrative was the fact that militant Zionists employed terrorism as part of their campaign to establish Israel as a Jewish state. The terrorism included killings of British officials who were administering Palestine under an international mandate as well as Palestinians who were driven violently from their land so it could be claimed by Jewish settlers.

One of the most famous of those terrorist attacks was the 1946 bombing of the King David Hotel in Jerusalem where British officials were staying. The attack, which killed 91 people including local residents, was carried out by the Irgun, a terrorist group run by Menachem Begin who later founded the Likud Party and rose to be Israel’s prime minister.

Another veteran of the campaign of Zionist terrorism was Yitzhak Shamir, who also became a Likud leader and eventually prime minister.

In the early 1990s, as I was waiting to interview Shamir at his Tel Aviv office, I was approached by one of his young female assistants who was dressed in a gray and blue smock with a head covering in the traditional Hebrew style.

As we were chatting, she smiled and said in a lilting voice, “Prime Minister Shamir, he was a terrorist, you know.” I responded with a chuckle, “yes, I’m aware of the prime minister’s biography.”

Blind Spot
To maintain one’s moral purity in denouncing acts of terror by U.S. enemies, one also needs a large blind spot for recent U.S. history, which implicates U.S. leaders repeatedly in tolerance or acts of terrorism.

For instance, in 1973, after a bloody U.S.-backed coup overthrew the leftist Chilean government, the new regime of Gen. Augusto Pinochet joined with other South American dictatorships to sponsor an international terrorist organization called Operation Condor which assassinated political dissidents around the world.

Operation Condor mounted one of its most audacious actions on the streets of Washington in 1976, when Pinochet’s regime recruited Cuban-American terrorists to detonate a car bomb that killed Chile’s former foreign minister Orlando Letelier and an American co-worker, Ronni Moffitt. The Chilean government's role immediately was covered up by the CIA, then headed by George H.W. Bush. [For details, see Robert Parry’s Secrecy & Privilege.]

Only weeks later, a Venezuela-based team of right-wing Cubans – under the direction of Orlando Bosch and Luis Posada Carriles – blew a Cubana Airliner out of the sky, killing 73 people. Bosch and Posada, a former CIA operative, were co-founders of CORU, which was described by the FBI as “an anti-Castro terrorist umbrella organization.”

Though the U.S. government soon learned of the role of Bosch and Posada in the Cubana airline attack – and the two men spent some time in a Venezuelan jail – both Bosch and Posada since have enjoyed the protection of the U.S. government and particularly the Bush Family.

Rebuffing international demands that Bosch and Posada be held accountable for their crimes, the Bushes – George H.W., George W. and Jeb – have all had a hand in making sure these unrepentant terrorists get to live out their golden years in the safety and comfort of the United States.

In the 1980s, Posada even crossed over into another U.S.-backed terrorist organization, the Nicaraguan contras. After escaping from Venezuela, he was put to work in 1985 by Oliver North’s contra-support operation run out of Ronald Reagan’s National Security Council.

The Nicaraguan contras were, in effect, a narco-terrorist organization that partially funded its operations with proceeds from cocaine trafficking, a secret that the Reagan administration worked hard to conceal along with the contras’ record of murder, torture, rape and other crimes in Nicaragua. [See Parry’s Lost History.]

President Reagan joined, too, in fierce PR campaigns to discredit human rights investigators who documented massive atrocities by U.S. allies in Central America in the 1980s – not only the contras, but also the state terrorism of the Salvadoran and Guatemalan security forces, which engaged in wholesale slaughters in villages considered sympathetic to leftist insurgents.

Generally, the major U.S. news outlets treaded very carefully when allegations arose about terrorism by “our side.”

When some brave journalists, like New York Times correspondent Raymond Bonner, wrote about politically motivated killings of civilians in Central America, they faced organized retaliation by right-wing advocacy groups which often succeeded in damaging or destroying the reporters’ careers.

Double Standards
Eventually, the American press corps developed an engrained sense of the double standards. Moral outrage could be expressed when acts of terrorism were committed by U.S. enemies, while studied silence – or nuanced concern – would be in order when the crimes were by U.S. allies.

So, while the U.S. news media had no doubt that the 9/11 terrorist attacks justified invading Afghanistan, there was very little U.S. media criticism when President Bush inflicted his “shock and awe” assault on Iraq, a war that has resulted in hundreds of thousands of Iraqi deaths.

Though many Muslims and others around the world have denounced Bush’s Iraq invasion as “state terrorism,” such a charge would be considered far outside the mainstream in the United States. Instead, Iraqi insurgents are often labeled “terrorists” when they attack U.S. troops inside Iraq. The word “terrorist” has become, in effect, a geopolitical curse word.

Despite the long and bloody history of U.S.-Israeli participation in terrorism, the U.S. news media continues its paradigm of pitting the U.S.-Israeli “good guys” against the Islamic “bad guys.” One side has the moral high ground and the other is in the moral gutter. [For more on the U.S. media’s one-sided approach, see the analysis by Greg Mitchell of Editor & Publisher.]

Any attempt to cite the larger, more ambiguous and more troubling picture draws accusations from defenders of U.S.-Israeli actions, especially the neoconservatives, of what they call “moral equivalence” or “anti-Semitism.”

Yet it is now clear that acquiescence to a double standard on terrorism is not just a violation of journalistic ethics or an act of political cowardice; it is complicity in mass murder. Without the double standard, it is hard to envision how the bloodbaths – in Iraq (since 2003), in Lebanon (in 2006) and in Gaza (today) – would be possible.

Hypocrisy over the word “terrorism” is not an innocent dispute over semantics; it kills.

[Gold9472]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZeNdIGI8os&e

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F34f-AQ3uAQ&e

[Gold9472]

Israel weighs 48-hour halt to Gaza air campaign

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081230/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_palestinians

By IBRAHIM BARZAK and JASON KEYSER, Associated Press Writers
12/30/2008

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – Israel, under international pressure, is considering a 48-hour halt to its punishing four-day air campaign on Hamas targets in Gaza to see if Palestinian militants will stop their rocket attacks on southern Israel, Israeli officials said Tuesday. Any offer would be coupled with a threat to send in ground troops if the rocket fire continues.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert discussed the proposal — floated by France's foreign minister — and other possible next steps with his foreign and defense ministers, Israeli officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not supposed to make the information public.

President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called leaders in the Middle East to press for a durable solution beyond any immediate truce.

And members of the Quartet of world powers trying to promote Mideast peace concluded a conference call with an appeal for an immediate cease-fire. The Quartet powers are the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia.

The European Union itself late Tuesday also urged an immediate truce and for Israel to reopen borders to allow vital supplies to reach Gazans. The Paris statement by the 27-member bloc avoided blaming either side for the current fighting.

In its Tuesday night meeting, Israel's leadership trio stepped up preparations for a ground offensive, conducting a telephone survey among Cabinet ministers on a plan to call up an additional 2,500 reserve soldiers, if required. Earlier this week, the Cabinet authorized a callup of 6,700 soldiers.

After the four-hour meeting, Olmert's office issued a statement early Wednesday saying no details of the discussion would be made public because of the sensitivity of the subject matter.

And even amid talk of a truce, Israeli warplanes continued to unload bombs on targets in Gaza. Powerful airstrikes caused Gaza City's high-rise apartment buildings to sway and showered streets with broken glass and pulverized concrete. Israel's ground forces on Gaza's border also used artillery for the first time.

Hamas kept up its rocket barrages, which have killed four Israelis since the weekend, and sent many more in running for bomb shelters — some of them in cities under threat of attack for the first time, as the range of the rockets grows.

A medium-range rocket hit the city of Beersheba for the first time ever, zooming 28 miles deep into Israel and slamming into an empty kindergarten. A second rocket landed in an open area near the desert city, Israel's fifth-largest. The military said later it successfully struck the group that launched those rockets.

A pattern of daytime lulls and nighttime spikes in rocket fire appeared to be emerging as militants found safer launch cover in darkness.

Four days into a campaign that has killed 374 Palestinians and prompted Arab and international condemnation, a diplomatic push to end the fighting gathered pace.

In two phone calls to Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Monday and Tuesday, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner appealed to him to consider a truce to allow time for humanitarian relief supplies to enter the beleaguered Gaza Strip, two senior officials in Barak's office said.

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni was expected to travel Thursday to Paris for talks with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who has put his growing international stature to use in other conflict zones, most recently to help halt fighting between Russia and Georgia in August.

Israeli media reported that Sarkozy would also travel to Jerusalem Monday for talks with the Israeli and Palestinian leaders.

A Hamas spokesman said any halt to militant rocket and mortar fire would require an end to Israel's crippling blockade of the Gaza Strip. "If they halt the aggression and the blockade, then Hamas will study these suggestions," said Mushir Masri.

Any cease-fire between Israel and Hamas would face questions about its long-term viability. In the past, Hamas has been unable or unwilling to rein in all the militants, some of which belong to different factions. Israel has angered the Palestinians by continuing to target its leaders and by maintaining a blockade of the Gaza Strip.

"It's certainly difficult for Hamas because, having witnessed the losses that they have just suffered on large scale, their credibility is on the line and they're not going to easily agree to a cease-fire that goes back to the conditions that prevailed before, after all these losses," said Shibley Telhami, professor of political science at the University of Maryland and senior fellow at the Brookings Institute. "So, we're likely to see more bloodshed, and I think that is where we are in a way, events on the ground are going to dictate."

Israel's military, meanwhile, pressed on, sending warplanes to strike a Gaza government complex that includes the ministries of interior, foreign affairs and justice. Bombs ripped the tops and sides from buildings that had already been evacuated and left fires blazing in upper floors.

It was the largest government target hit so far and involved the largest number of bombs dropped in a single strike — at least 16 in all.

The airstrikes have sent the people of densely populated Gaza on a zigzagging desperate search for safer ground — hard to find with no way out of the blockaded territory.

"I don't know what's safe anymore," said university student Rasha Khaldeh of Gaza City. She fled her home, fearing Israel would target her Hamas neighbors, then had to leave her uncle's house because of nearby shelling. She listens intently for the approach of pilotless Israeli drones.

After nightfall, Israel destroyed 40 tunnels under the sealed Gaza-Egypt border in another attempt to cut the vital lifeline that supplies Gaza with both commercial goods and weapons for Hamas and other militant groups.

Israel's military said it hit 31 targets on Tuesday, including a Cabinet building, rocket-launching sites, and places were missiles were being built. Some of the hits on sites with weapons stockpiles triggered secondary explosions.

The question still hanging over the Israeli operation is how it can halt rocket fire. Israel has never found a military solution to the barrage of missiles. The "Iron Dome," a system to guard against short-range missiles, will take years to build.

Beyond delivering Hamas a deep blow and protecting border communities, the assault's broader objectives remained cloudy. Israeli President Shimon Peres acknowledged the challenge, saying the operation was unavoidable but more difficult than many people anticipated.

"War against terrorists is harder in some aspects than fighting armies," Peres said.

Hamas also said it would take more to cripple it.

A spokesman for Hamas' military wing, Abu Obeida, said the group remained strong, and he vowed to fight on as long as Israel continues its airstrikes. He noted that even while under heavy airstrikes, militants had fired rockets that reached Israeli towns farther from Gaza than ever. "Rockets will be on your daily agenda," he said in a message to Israelis.

And if there's a ground invasion, he promised worse: "If you enter Gaza, the children will collect your flesh and the remains of your tanks which will be spread out through the streets."

The offensive came shortly after a rocky, six-month truce expired.

Emad Falluji, a former Hamas leader working at a Gaza-based think tank, said he believes Hamas had wanted to renew the truce but felt humiliated by Israel's decision to maintain a tight blockade on Gaza.

"Israel didn't want to give Hamas anything in return for the cease-fire, which was effectively free," he said.

Egypt, which has been blockading Gaza from its southern end, has come under pressure from the rest of the Arab world to reopen its border with the territory because of the Israeli campaign. Egypt has pried open the border to let in some of Gaza's wounded and to allow some humanitarian supplies into the territory. But it quickly sealed the border when Gazans tried to push through forcefully.

In a televised speech Tuesday, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak responded to critics, including the leader of the Lebanese militia Hezbollah, who have accused him of collaborating with Israel.

"We tell anybody who seeks political profits on the account of the Palestinian people: The Palestinian blood is not cheap," he said, describing such comments as "exploiting the blood of the Palestinians."

Mubarak said his country would not throw open the border crossing unless Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas — a Hamas rival — regains control of the border post. Mubarak has been rattled by the presence of a neighboring Islamic ministate in Gaza, fearing it would fuel more Islamic dissidence in Egypt.

Most of the Palestinians killed since Saturday were members of Hamas security forces but the number included at least 64 civilians, according to U.N. figures. Among those killed were two sisters, Haya and Lama Hamdan, ages 4 and 12, who died in an airstrike on a rocket squad in northern Gaza on Tuesday.

Throughout the offensive, Israel's military has released video taken by hovering drone aircraft showing its missiles and bombs hurtling into Gaza targets, including one on Tuesday that sent about a half-dozen bombs simultaneously into a smuggling tunnel under the Gaza-Egypt border.

During brief lulls between airstrikes, Gazans tentatively ventured into the streets to buy goods and collect belongings from homes they had abandoned after Israel's aerial onslaught began Saturday.

The campaign has brought a new reality to southern Israel, too, where one-tenth of the country's population of 7 million has suddenly found itself within rocket range.

"It's very scary," said Yaacov Pardida, a 55-year-old resident of Ashdod, southern Israel's largest city, which was hit Monday. "I never imagined that this could happen, that they could reach us here."

[Gold9472]

Thousands of protestors demand end to Israeli raids in Gaza

http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Thousands_of_protestors_demand_end__12302008.html

12/30/2008

Thousands of people demanded an end to Israeli raids in the Gaza Strip in a protest Tuesday outside the US State Department in Washington.

Protestors carrying red-white-green-and-black Palestinian flags and wearing black-and-white checkered head scarves chanted slogans like "Stop the Killing, Stop the War, Stop the Genocide of Palestinians."

Some of them also held aloft banners that read "Stop US Aid to Israel" and "Free, Free Palestine."

An AFP reporter said there initially appeared to be around 200 protestors, but a larger crowd returned to the State Department later in the evening following a march to the White House.

A police officer told AFP he estimated the later crowd at around 2,500 protesters, while organizers said the number was closer to 5,000 people. Police said the demonstration passed off peacefully.

Mahdi Bray, executive director for the Muslim American Society (MAS) Freedom group, said seven busloads of people came in from Raleigh, North Carolina in addition to crowds from the Washington DC area.

Bray said he wanted Palestinians and Israelis to live in peace but criticized US foreign policy.

"The United States has not been an honest broker" in the Arab-Israeli conflict, Bray told AFP. "The Bush administration has been the worst," he said.

Activists said the protest was organized by a number of Palestinian support groups.

Among other groups organizing the protest was the National Council of Arabs, Bray said.

[Gold9472]

US Joins International Call for Immediate Gaza Cease-fire

http://voanews.com/english/2008-12-30-voa48.cfm

By David Gollust
State Deparment
30 December 2008

The United States has joined other powers in the international Middle East Quartet in urging an immediate Gaza Strip cease-fire. The Quartet - the United States, Russia, the European Union and United Nations - discussed the crisis on Tuesday in a ministerial-level telephone conference call.

The Bush administration had resisted joining calls for an immediate cease-fire, with officials saying they did not want a hasty agreement that would bring about a repeat of the previous truce that Hamas frequently violated and which fell apart earlier this month.

But officials here say U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice joined her Quartet partners in the immediate cease-fire appeal because the four powers also stipulated that it be "fully respected" by both Hamas and Israel.

The telephone conference involving Rice, U.N. Secretary-general Ban Ki-moon, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, European Union chief diplomat Javier Solana, Quartet envoy Tony Blair, and others, highlighted a day of intense diplomacy aimed at restoring peace to Gaza.

A State Department spokesman said the Quartet members called on all parties to address the serious humanitarian and economic needs in Gaza, and take necessary measures to insure the continuous provision of humanitarian supplies.

They also agreed on the urgent need for Israelis and Palestinians to continue on the road to peace and agreed to remain in close touch, though the spokesman said there were no immediate plans for a face-to-face Quartet meeting.

Earlier in Crawford, Texas, White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said a ceasefire in name only - that breaks down in hours or days - serves no one's interest.

"We have got to get a commitment from Hamas that they would respect any crease-fire and make it lasting and durable," said Johndroe. "And so, until we can get that assurance - not the United States, but until Israel can get that assurance from Hamas - then we're not going to have a cease-fire that is worth the paper it's written on."

Johndroe said President Bush, who is spending the holidays at home in Texas, got a video briefing on the Gaza situation from his national security team Tuesday and spoke by telephone with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and the two top leaders of the Palestinian Authority - President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.

Prime Minister Fayyad thanked Mr. Bush for an $85 million commitment of new U.S. humanitarian aid to Palestinians announced earlier in the day.

Although it rejects dealings with Hamas, which is listed by the State Department as a terrorist group, the United States has continued providing food, medicine and other supplies to Gaza Palestinians through the United Nations and other third parties.

Johndroe said Mr. Bush expressed appreciation to President Mubarak for Egypt's leadership and positive role in the current crisis. Egypt has contacts with both Hamas and Israel, and helped broker the previous six-month truce which expired earlier this month and which Hamas refused to renew.

[Gold9472]

Gaza relief boat carrying Cynthia McKinney rammed by Israelis

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Cynthia_McKinneys_boat_rammed_by_Israeli_1230.html

David Edwards and Muriel Kane
Published: Tuesday December 30, 2008

An Israeli patrol boat intercepted a yacht carrying three tons of medical supplies to Gaza in international waters early on Tuesday as it attempted to run an Israeli blockade. According to those on board, the patrol boat accused the relief vessel of being involved in terrorist activity and then deliberately rammed it, forcing it to return to port in Lebanon.

Among the yacht's 16 passengers were doctors, journalists, and human rights activists, including former Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-GA). McKinney spoke to CNN from Lebanon, telling John Roberts, "Our boat was rammed three times, twice in the front and once on the side."

McKinney described as "outright disinformation" a statement by the Israeli Foreign Ministry which called the charge that the ramming was deliberate "absurd." According to the Israeli spokesman, the boat was struck as it attempted to outmaneuver the Israeli vessel.

The Free Gaza movement, which sponsored the relief mission, explained in a press release, "This is the sixth boat that the Free Gaza movement has sent ... in a symbolic effort to end the seige of Gaza. These are small boats, and they do not cross into Israeli waters at all. This Israeli attack on the boat, which occurred in international waters, cannot be described as 'self defense' by any stretch of delusional imagination."

"Our mission was a peaceful mission to deliver medical supplies," McKinney told CNN, "and our mission was thwarted by the Israelis -- the aggressiveness of the Israeli military."

McKinney then appealed to President-elect Obama to "say something, please, about the humanitarian crisis that is being experienced right now by the people of Gaza." She referred to Martin Luther King's description of the United States as "the greatest purveyor of violence on the planet" and noted that "the weapons that are being used by Israel are weapons that are being supplied by the United States."

McKinney has been known for her opposition to Israeli policies, which is blamed in part for her loss of her Congressional seat. According to the Washington Post, "In 2002, two Democrats in Congress with records of voting against Israel's interests -- Reps. Earl Hilliard of Alabama and Cynthia McKinney of Georgia -- faced primary opponents who received substantial support from Jewish donors. A majority of AIPAC board members gave to either McKinney's challenger or Hilliard's or both. Hilliard and McKinney lost."

The full CNN story can be read here.

This video is from CNN's American Morning, broadcast Dec. 30, 2008.

Video At Source

[Gold9472]

Israel rebuffs Gaza truce call and mobilises more troops

http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/news/international/Israel_rebuffs_Gaza_truce_call_and_mobilises_more_ troops.html?siteSect=143&sid=10136604&cKey=1230734270000&ty=ti

By Nidal al-Mughrabi
12/31/2008

GAZA (Reuters) - Israel on Wednesday said the time was not right for a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip and stepped up preparations for a possible ground offensive after Hamas's long-range rockets hit another major population centre.

"If conditions will ripen and we think there will be a diplomatic solution that will ensure a better security reality in the south, we will consider it. But at the moment, it's not there," an aide quoted Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as saying.

"We didn't start this operation just to end it with rocket fire continuing as it did before it began," Olmert said, according to the aide. "Imagine if we declare a unilateral cease-fire and a few days later rockets fall on (the town of) Ashkelon. What will that do to Israel's deterrence?"

Foreign pressure has grown on both sides to end hostilities.

France had proposed a 48-hour truce that would allow in more humanitarian aid for Gaza's 1.5 million residents. Olmert made the remarks -- which did not rule out a cease-fire in the future -- to his security cabinet, which had rebuffed the plan.

Hamas said it was prepared to study proposals for a cease-fire.

"We are for any initiative that will bring an immediate cessation to the aggression and lift the siege entirely," Hamas official Ayman Taha said, referring to Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip, territory controlled by the Islamist group.

Diplomats said the deadliest conflict in the Gaza Strip in four decades appeared close to a tipping point after four days of air strikes that have killed 393 Palestinians, at least a quarter of whom, U.N. figures showed, were civilians.

Palestinian medical officials revised the number of wounded to 1,650 after figures arrived from medical centres that had not reported their casualty statistics earlier. Three Israeli civilians and a soldier have been killed by rockets.

Along the heavily-fortified border fence, Israeli tank crews prepared for battle while Islamist militants, hiding as little as a few hundred yards (meters) away, laid land mines and other booby traps should a ground war break out.

Inside Gaza, for the first time since the fighting began, many residents ventured outside their homes to stock up on supplies, taking advantage of a lull in Israeli air strikes that have turned Hamas government buildings into piles of rubble.

Some children played happily in the rain, as one parent remarked they were finally able to run free after what he called three days of "house arrest."

Despite the pressure from foreign powers for an end to the violence, public anger in Israel over the widening of the rocket attacks to include Beersheba, 40 km (24 miles) from Gaza, could prompt the government to hit Hamas even harder.

Israeli officials said they were open to amendments to the French proposal and alternatives being put forward by international parties.

Cabinet ministers, however, approved the mobilisation of 2,500 army reservists, expanding on an earlier call-up of 6,500 soldiers for the garrison on the Gaza border, officials said.

HUMANITARIAN AID
Israel said it was doing its part to let humanitarian supplies into Gaza despite the rocket fire. More than 100 truckloads of food and medicine were expected to enter on Wednesday, defence official Peter Lerner said.

With Palestinians increasingly enraged over the Gaza offensive, aides said President Mahmoud Abbas would ask the U.N. Security Council to pass a resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.

Arab foreign ministers met in Cairo to seek a common position in response to the Israeli attacks, but the Arab world is deeply divided in its attitude towards Hamas, which took over the Gaza Strip last year after fighting a brief civil war with the secular Fatah faction loyal to Western-backed Abbas.

The diplomatic moves coincided with an escalation in Hamas rocket fire deeper inside Israel.

At least four of the longer-range Grad rockets hit Beersheba, the city Israel calls the capital of the Negev, its southern region. One struck a school that was empty. Municipal authorities had cancelled classes after rockets landed in Beersheba on Tuesday evening for the first time.

Other long-range rockets hit the southern coastal city of Ashkelon. Dozens of short-range rockets pelted border towns.

Israeli aircraft had carried out six air strikes in the Gaza Strip so far on Wednesday, the lowest number since the campaign began, targeting smuggling tunnels on the Gaza-Egypt frontier and Hamas government offices in Gaza City. Palestinian medics said four people -- two militants, a doctor and a paramedic -- were killed.

Rain over the past few days and fresh showers on Wednesday could delay any push soon by Israeli tanks into the territory and also limit air operations. Forecasters predicted several days of clear skies starting late on Thursday.

Gaza City taxi driver Mazen Ahmen called the rain "a truce imposed by God."

Basic food supplies in the Gaza Strip were running low and power cuts were affecting much of the territory. Hospitals were struggling to cope with the high number of casualties from the offensive.

Olmert's centrist government launched the operation six weeks before a February 10 election that opinion polls predict the opposition right-wing Likud party will win, with the goal of halting rocket attacks by militants in Gaza.

The current violence erupted after a six-month cease-fire brokered by Egypt expired on December 19 and Hamas intensified rocket attacks from the Israeli-blockaded Gaza Strip.

France said it would host Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on Thursday and an Israeli official said French President Nicolas Sarkozy planned to visit Jerusalem next Monday.

[Gold9472]

Protesters worldwide keep up pressure over Gaza

http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Protesters_worldwide_keep_up_pressu_12302008.html

12/31/2008

Protesters denouncing Israel's deadly bombardment of the Gaza Strip returned to the streets in demonstrations around the world to keep up the pressure for an end to the violence.

As Israel, under increasing diplomatic pressure, mulled a proposed 48-hour truce and the death toll from its onslaught rose to at least 373 Palestinians, the protesters made their voices heard again.

In France, more than 7,000 protesters marched in a dozen cities across the country to denounce the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, which continued for the fourth day running Tuesday.

In Paris, around 3,500 people according to police -- 5,000 according to the organisers -- marched towards the French foreign ministry on the Quai D'Orsay by the River Seine, shouting slogans and carrying banners denouncing Israel.

Police said another 700 marched in the western city of Nantes, while demonstrations in at least a dozen cities and towns across the country each attracted hundreds of protesters.

In London, between 200 and 300 demonstrators protested peacefully outside the Israeli embassy, after the two previous days' rallies had descended into violence.

This demonstration was smaller than on Sunday and Monday, when scuffles erupted between police and protestors against Israel's air raids, leading to a total of 17 arrests over the two days.

Iranian demonstrators stormed the British diplomatic compound in Tehran Tuesday evening to protest London's stance towards the Israeli onslaught, state news agency IRNA reported.

"A large group of people and students entered the Gholhak gardens, which are occupied by the British embassy to protest at Britain's policies in supporting the Zionist regime and put up the Palestinian flag there," IRNA said.

A media officer at the British embassy in Tehran confirmed the report.

In Washington, between 2,500 and 5,000 people protested outside the US State Department chanting slogans like "Stop the Killing, Stop the War, Stop the Genocide of Palestinians" and with some carrying banners saying "Stop US Aid to Israel".

In Los Angeles, around 500 protestors and pro-Israel activists faced off peacefully near the Israeli Consulate.

At a separate demonstration attended by around 100 protesters in Westwood, actor Mike Farrell, a star of the hit 1970s television series "MASH", said he was "one of those people horrified by Israel's over-response."

"Not that I'm in favor of Hamas by any means, because firing rockets into Israel is not the way these things get resolved in a productive way," he said.

In Tunis, hundreds of lawyers and trade unionists joined opposition activists to defy a police ban and protest the bombing of Gaza, several sources reported.

As some protesters shouted slogans denouncing the lack of response from Arab countries in general and Egypt in particular, police headed off the demonstration as it headed towards the courthouse, said witnesses.

Tunisia's government has already condemned the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip.

Saudi Arabia's interior ministry denied a report by Shiite news website Rasid.com that hundreds had demonstrated Monday afternoon in heavily Shiite Al Qatif, just west of Dammam, leading to several arrests.

Shiite news website Rasid.com reported that police had fired rubber bullets to break up the demonstrations Monday afternoon, which were attended by hundreds of people. But an interior ministry spokesman told AFP there had been no such demonstration.

Demonstrators in the Yemeni port city of Aden briefly broke into the Egyptian consulate to protest Cairo's response to the Israeli offensive, a security official said.

The protesters, mostly students from the university of Aden, "vandalised furniture before they were removed peacefully from the building," the official said, asking not to be identified.

Egypt has come in for strong criticism from Islamists and their sympathisers around the Muslim world for not fully opening its border with Gaza in the face of Israel's devastating air blitz.

In Algeria, about 100 people staged a protest in the capital Algiers after a call from politicians and editors of writers' and artists' magazines. They observed a minute's silence in memory of the dead.

In Panama City, around 200 people protested outside the Israeli embassy to condemn Israel's attacks on the Gaza Strip.

In the Bulgarian capital Sofia, about 200 protesters called on the Bulgarian government to support the peace efforts. Demonstrators carried pro-Palestinian banners and others denouncing Israel.

Earlier Tuesday, about 200 people carrying flowers and candles offered a one-minute prayer in front of the Israeli embassy, with a Buddhist monk ringing a bell for the souls of the victims.

"This is nothing but a bloodbath," organiser Hiroshi Taniyama told demonstrators, who included Arabs living in Japan.

[Gold9472]

Egypt cancels New Year’s Eve over Gaza ‘massacres’

http://rawstory.com/rawreplay/?p=2685

12/31/2008

CAIRO (AFP) — Egypt has cancelled official New Year’s Eve events in solidarity with the suffering of the Palestinians being “massacred” in Gaza, the state-owned Al-Ahram daily reported on Wednesday.

“In solidarity with the painful events in the Palestinian territories and the massacres which Gazans are faced with … the ministries of culture and information have decided to cancel New Year’s festivities,” the paper said.

Cancelled events include a special concert by famed Egyptian singer Mohammed Munir set to be held at Cairo’s Opera House and a variety performance hosted by the ministry of information due to be broadcast on state television.

Egyptian state television official Ossama al-Sheikh said on Tuesday that the launch of new channel “Nile Comedy,” set for January 1, would be delayed “out of solidarity with the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.”

Since Israel unleashed its massive aerial attack on Hamas and the Gaza Strip on Saturday, at least 374 Palestinians, including 39 children, have been killed and 1,720 wounded, Gaza medics say.

During the same period, four Israelis have been killed by rockets fired from Gaza.

[Gold9472]

'Boycott Israel again because it is an enemy,' Kadhafi tells Arab states

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Boycott_Israel_again_because_it_enemy_1231.html

Agence France-Presse
Published: Wednesday December 31, 2008

TRIPOLI (AFP) — Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi has called on Arab states to take a firm stand and boycott Israel because of its onslaught on the Gaza Strip, the official JANA news agency reported on Wednesday.

Speaking to foreign ministers of the five North African Maghreb states in Tripoli late on Tuesday ahead of an Arab League meeting in Cairo on Wednesday, Kadhafi also branded a league peace plan a "plot" and a "masquerade."

The league adopted a Saudi proposal in 2002 which called on Israel to withdraw from territory it occupied in 1967, in return for diplomatic relations with Arab states. The plan was relaunched at a Riyadh summit in 2007.

"We must close this door firmly and boycott Israel again because it is an enemy," JANA quoted Kadhafi as saying. "We have found that negotiations serve only the Zionist programme on the path to our extermination."

"We could give Israel a deadline and say to them 'you have one month and after that the door to peace talks will be firmly closed. We will be in a state of war and Israel will be boycotted."

He threatened to turn his back on the Arab world and focus fully on Africa, saying he intended to travel on Wednesday "to resolve the problems of Guinea, Somalia, Congo and Chad."

"I'm going to Africa. The interests of my country lie in Africa, and its future is in Africa," Kadhafi told the foreign ministers of Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia.

The Libyan leader had been expected in Sierra Leone on Monday, but postponed his trip because of the Israeli air raids on the Islamist-controlled Gaza Strip that have killed at least 390 Palestinians since they began on Saturday.

Foreign ministers of the 22-member Arab League were meeting in Cairo on Wednesday to forge a common stance in the face of the Israeli offensive.

On Sunday Kadhafi lambasted Arab leaders for what he called their "cowardly" response, and vowed to boycott any Arab summit on the Gaza crisis.

"How many times have you called an emergency summit on Palestine?" JANA quoted him as asking his counterparts rhetorically.

"What action has ever resulted? ... For my part, I'm tired of listening to this stuck record. This sort of cowardly, defeatist reaction is shameful."

[Gold9472]

There's plenty of blame to go around for Gaza's war

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/12/30/opinion/edgaza.php

12/31/2008

Israel must defend itself. And Hamas must bear responsibility for ending a six-month cease-fire this month with a barrage of rocket attacks into Israeli territory.

Still we fear that Israel's response - devastating airstrikes that represent the largest military operation in Gaza since 1967 - is unlikely to weaken the militant Palestinian group substantially or move things any closer to what all Israelis and all Palestinians need: a durable peace agreement and a two-state solution.

Israel must make every effort to limit civilian casualties. The leaders of Hamas, especially those safely ensconced in Damascus, are unconcerned about their people's suffering - and masters at capitalizing on it.

Before the conflict spins out of control, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries will have to find ways to cajole or more likely threaten Hamas (or its patrons in Syria and Iran) to accept a new cease-fire.

President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice should be pressing Cairo and Riyadh to use all of their influence with Hamas, and they should be pressing Israel to exercise restraint.

By Monday, some 350 Palestinians - mostly Hamas security forces - were reported killed. A Hamas security compound was among dozens of structures pummeled in the attacks, and the group's leaders were supposedly driven into hiding. The Israeli defense minister, Ehud Barak, promised a "war to the bitter end."

We hope he does not mean a ground war. That, or any prolonged military action, would be disastrous for Israel and lead to wider regional instability. Barak and Israel's foreign minister, Tzipi Livni, both candidates to succeed Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in elections set for February, must not be drawn any further into a competition with the front-runner, Benjamin Netanyahu, over who is the biggest hawk.

There can be no justification for Hamas' attacks or its virulent rejectionism. But others must also take responsibility for the current mess. Hamas never fully observed the cease-fire that went into effect on June 19 and Israel never really lived up to its commitment to ease its punishing embargo on Gaza. When the cease-fire ran out, no one, including the Bush administration, made a serious effort to get it extended.

Meanwhile, the peace process Bush launched with such fanfare in Annapolis last year is moribund. There is plenty of blame to go around for that, too. Olmert's government failed to halt settlements and give the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas - Hamas' sworn enemy - the support he needed. Bush refused to press Olmert to do what was needed but politically unpalatable. Arab leaders never did enough to boost Abbas, or to persuade or pressure Hamas to cut its ties with Iran and join peace efforts.

Rice once hoped to make a Middle East peace her legacy. It is too late for that. But she should do her job. That means getting on a plane for Cairo and Riyadh - now - to enlist their help in brokering a new cease-fire. Then it will be up to President-elect Barack Obama to quickly pick up the pieces and fashion a Middle East peace strategy that may actually bring peace.

[Gold9472]

Hamas defiant as Israel rejects Gaza truce

http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Hamas_defiant_as_Israel_rejects_Gaz_12312008.html

12/31/2008

Hamas vowed on Wednesday to fight "until the last breath" if Israel makes good on threats to send ground troops into Gaza after rejecting calls for a truce and pressing on with its air assault.

"We in Hamas are ready for all scenarios and we will fight until the last breath," senior official Mushir al-Masri told AFP as warplanes pounded Gaza for a fifth day and the enclave's Islamist rulers hit back with rockets.

"Israel will embark on a veritable adventure if it decides to invade Gaza. We have prepared surprises for them," he vowed.

Despite international appeals for the bloodshed to end, Israel's security cabinet rejected proposals for a ceasefire.

"The cabinet decided to continue with the military operation," a senior government official told AFP earlier on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told the meeting conditions were not yet ripe to halt the bombardment, launched in response to persistent rocket fire from the territory that Hamas has run for a year and a half.

"We did not launch the Gaza operation only to end it with the same rocket firing that we had at its start," the official quoted Olmert as saying.

Amid mushrooming protests worldwide, diplomats have been scrambling to find a way to stop one of Israel's deadliest-ever offensives on the Gaza Strip that has so far killed at least 393 Palestinians.

There was no let-up in the violence on Wednesday, with Israel conducting nearly 60 air strikes and Hamas firing more than 60 rockets.

Hamas said it would consider any ceasefire proposal that includes an end to the blockade Israel has imposed on Gaza since the Islamists took power.

The exiled head of Hamas, Khaled Meshaal, speaking by telephone with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, voiced "readiness to cease armed confrontation but on condition of the lifting of the blockade of Gaza," the Russian ministry said.

The White House said it was up to Hamas to make the first move.

"I think President (George W) Bush thinks that Hamas needs to stop firing rockets, and that is what will be the first steps in a ceasefire," White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said.

Secular Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas threatened to abandon peace talks with Israel so as not to support its deadly "aggression" against Gaza.

Israel has warned that its "all-out war" on Hamas could last for weeks. It has massed tanks on the Gaza border, authorised the call-up of 9,000 reservists and warned of a ground invasion.

Since it was launched on Saturday, the Israeli offensive has killed at least 393 people, including 42 children, and wounded more than 1,900, according to Gaza medics.

At least 25 percent of those killed have been civilians, the United Nations said.

The intensive bombardment has reduced much of Hamas's administrative infrastructure to rubble but has failed to stop rocket fire into Israel.

Since the start of the onslaught, Gaza militants have fired more than 250 rockets and mortar shells at Israel, killing three civilians and one soldier and wounding several dozen people.

Five of the rockets fired since late on Tuesday slammed into the desert town of Beersheba some 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the Gaza border -- the deepest yet that its projectiles have reached inside Israel.

Hamas has also threatened to stage suicide attacks inside Israel for the first time since January 2005.

As protests were held in countries from the United States to Iran, Israel's regional ally Turkey condemned the offensive as "ruthless."

"The attacks on Gaza should stop immediately and a permanent ceasefire should be urgently secured to prevent irreversible developments in the region," Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters.

The bombardment has raised concern about the humanitarian situation in Gaza, a tiny, aid-dependent territory of 1.5 million people that Israel has virtually sealed off since Hamas seized power from forces loyal to Abbas in June 2007.

Bush called Olmert, who assured him Israel was taking "appropriate steps" to avoid civilian casualties in Gaza, the White House said.

Israel opened one of its border crossings with Gaza again on Wednesday, bringing to 179 the number of lorryloads of supplies delivered since the Gaza bombardment began, the army said.

Meanwhile, several Arab countries cancelled New Year's Eve festivities in solidarity with Gaza. In the occupied West Bank, celebrations are low-key at the best of times and were expected to be particularly subdued.

At the same time, civil defence officials urged residents in southern Israel to stay indoors.

[Gold9472]

Cynthia McKinney: Oh What a Day!

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/38592

By Cynthia McKinney
12/31/2008

Oh What a Day!

I'm so glad that my father told me to buy a special notebook and to write everything down because that's exactly what I did.

When we left from Cyprus, one reporter asked me "are you afraid?" And I had to respond that Malcolm X wasn't afraid; Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wasn't afraid. But little did I know that just a few hours later, I would be recollecting my life and mentally preparing myself for death.

When we left Cyprus, the Mediterranean was beautiful. I remember the time when it might have been beautiful to look at, but it was also filthy. The Europeans have taken great strides to clean it up and yesterday, it was beautiful. And the way the sunlight hit the sea, I remember thinking to myself that's why they call it azure. It was the most beautiful blue.

But sometimes it was rough, and we got behind on our schedule. We stayed on course, however, despite the roughness of the water and due to our exquisite captain.

There were no other ships or boats around us and night descended upon us all rather quickly. It was the darkest black and suddenly, out of nowhere, came searchlights disturbing our peace. The searchlights stayed with us for about half an hour or so. We knew they were Israeli ships. Who else would they be?

They were fast, and they would come close and then drop back. And then, they'd come close again. And then, all of a sudden there was complete blackness once again and all seemed right. The cat and mouse game went on for at least one half hour. What were they doing? And why?

Calm again. Black sky, black sea. Peace. And then, at that very moment, when all seemed right, out of nowhere we were rammed and rammed again and rammed again the last one throwing me off the couch, sending all our food up in the air; and all the plastic bags and tubs--evidence of sea sicknesses among the crew and passengers--flew all over the cabin and all over us. We'd been rammed by the Israelis. How did we know? Because they called us on the phone afterwards to tell us that we were engaging in subversive, terroristic activity. And if that if we didn't turn around right then and return to Larnaca, Cyprus, we would be fired upon. We quickly grabbed our lifevests and put them on. Then the captain announced that the boat was taking on water. We might have to evacuate. One of my mates told me to prepare to die. And I reflected that I have lived a good and full life. I have tasted freedom and know what it is. I was right with myself and my decision to join the Free Gaza movement.

I remembered my father's parting words, "You all will be sitting ducks." Just like the U.S.S. Liberty. We were engaged in peaceful activity, a harmless pleasure boat, carrying a load of hospital supplies for the people of Gaza, who, too are sitting ducks, currently being bombarded in aerial assault by the Israeli military.

It's been a long day for us. The captain was outstanding. Throughout it all, he remained stoic and calm, effective in every way. I didn't know how to put my life jacket on. One of the passengers kindly assisted me. Another of the passengers pointed out that the Israeli motors for those huge, fast boats was U.S. made--a gift to them from the U.S. And now they were using those motors to damage a pleasure boat outfitted with three tons of hospital supplies, one pediatrician, and two surgeons.

I have called for President-elect Obama to say something. The Palestinian people in the Gaza strip are seeing the worst violence in 60 years, it is being reported. To date, President-elect Obama has remained silent. The Israelis are using weapons supplied to them by the U.S. government. Strict enforcement of U.S. law would require the cessation of all weapons transfers to Israel. Adherence to international law would require the same. As we are about to celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday, let us remember that he said:

1. The United States is the greatest purveyor of violence in the world, and
2. Our lives begin to end the day we remain silent about things that matter.

I implore the President-elect to not send Congress a budget that contains more weapons for Israel. We have so much more to offer. And I implore the Congress to vote "no" on any budget and appropriation bills that provide more weapons transfers, period.

Israel is able to carry out these intense military maneuvers because taxpayers in the U.S. give their hard-earned money to our Representatives in Congress and our Congress chooses to spend that money in this way. Let's stop it and stop it now. There's been too much blood shed. And while we still walk among the living, let us not remain silent about the things that matter.

We really can promote peace and have it if we demand it of our leaders.

--
The shock, awe and heart attacks that followed Madoff's confession that he was 'running a Ponzi scheme' drew as much anger for the money lost and the fall from the moneyed class as for the embarrassment of knowing that the world's biggest exploiters and smartest swindlers on Wall Street, were completely 'taken' by one of their own. Not only did they suffer big losses but their self-image of themselves as rich because they are so smart and of 'superior stock' was utterly shattered: They saw themselves as suffering the same fate as all the schmucks they had previously swindled, exploited and dispossessed in their climb to the top. There is nothing worse for the ego of a respectable swindler than to be trumped by a bigger swindler. As a result, a number of the biggest losers have so far refused to give their names or the amount they lost, working instead through lawyers fighting off other losers.

--James Petras

"And advanced forms of biological warfare that can 'target' specific genotypes may transform biological warfare from the realm of terror to a politically useful tool."

--PNAC, Rebuilding America's Defenses, p. 60

The argument that the two parties should represent opposed ideals and policies, one, perhaps, of the Right and the other of the Left, is a foolish idea acceptable only to doctrinaire and academic thinkers. Instead, the two parties should be almost identical, so that the American people can "throw the rascals out" at any election without leading to any profound or extensive shifts in policy.

--Carroll Quigley, Tragedy and Hope: A History of the World in our Time

[Gold9472]

Gaza puts damper on New Year's celebrations worldwide

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Gaza_puts_damper_on_New_Years_1231.html

Agence France-Presse
Published: Wednesday December 31, 2008

SYDNEY (AFP) — New Year celebrations kicked off in lavish style in Australia Thursday -- but the Gaza conflict, memories of Mumbai and global economic downturn left partygoers elsewhere feeling flat as 2009 crept steadily westwards.

Indeed, 2009 greeted Thailand with tragedy, when a fire ripped through a Bangkok nightclub early Thursday, killing at least 54 New Year revellers, a local administration official said.

Up to 1.5 million Australians and tourists converged on the site surrounding Sydney's world-famous Opera House for the city's biggest-ever -- and multi-million-dollar -- fireworks display.

Sydney was the first major world city to see in the New Year, although New Zealand also staged a dramatic fireworks display from Auckland's Sky Tower two hours earlier and 2009 officially kicked in on Kiritimati, or Christmas Island, in the Pacific Ocean, at 1000 GMT.

Not everyone was in the mood -- with India set for a subdued New Year's Eve and several Arab states cancelling planned celebrations in solidarity with Palestinians in the Islamist-run Gaza Strip who suffered a fifth straight day of Israeli bombardment on Wednesday.

Egypt, Jordan, Dubai and Syria all cancelled festivities including concerts by renowned Arab singers, with Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashed al-Maktoum giving the order "as a sign of solidarity with the brotherly Palestinian people...," his office said.

Morocco even cancelled state television broadcasts, judging the mood inappropriate, according to Rabat's information minister.

Tight security was planned in Mumbai, which is still coming to terms with the trauma of the November terror attacks that left 172 people dead. Police were keeping an especially close watch on traditional boat parties along Mumbai's famed waterfront.

Some of the militants who took part in the November attacks slipped into Mumbai from the sea, and joint police commissioner K.L. Prasad said partygoers on boats would not be allowed to return to shore once celebrations had begun.

"It may create a sense of fear among the crowd if they see somebody alighting from the boat," Prasad said.

The resort state of Goa has banned its famous beach parties -- a huge draw for foreign tourists -- and extra paramilitary troops have been deployed to ensure security.

A sombre note will also be sounded in neighbouring Pakistan as December 31 falls on the second day of the Muslim mourning month of Muharram, which marks the death of the Prophet Mohammed's grandson in the seventh century.

"There are no New Year's functions at the hotel due to Muharram," said Jamil Khawar, a spokesman for the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad, which reopened at the weekend, three months after it was gutted in a suicide truck bombing.

In the southern port of Karachi, luxury hotels are not planning events due to Muharram but people were expected to gather on the city's Arabian Sea beaches to ring in 2009 -- with hundreds of paramilitary police on watch.

Apart from the carnage wrought by militant violence, the global financial meltdown has also dampened spirits.

In Tokyo, laid off workers are camping out in the city's Hibiya Park during the holidays after companies -- including leading carmakers -- cut tens of thousands of jobs.

Japan's Emperor Akihito in his New Year message called on the nation to unite in fighting its recession, saying it "grieves my heart that many people have been left in difficult conditions."

"This year ended with the realisation of a growing economic and social crisis which from now on affects the entire world: a crisis which calls for more restraint and solidarity to help those people and families who have got into serious difficulties," said Pope Benedict XVI in his traditional end-of-year message.

In Hong Kong, the Times Square shopping mall said it had prepared "cheering sticks" printed with phrases of blessings in Chinese characters for its countdown event, such as "everyone's got a job" and "a blooming stock market."

China's main festivities will come later in the month with a week-long holiday for the traditional Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations.

In the Philippines the authorities were bracing themselves for traditional New Year's Eve festivities marked by gunfire and firecrackers. Hospitals are on alert for injuries while the police and military are being warned against firing their guns into the air.

As the celebrations moved towards Middle Eastern and European time zones, Italian men were waiting to see if a group of Naples women would carry out their threat to refuse them sex if they insisted on playing with fireworks at midnight...

Special meals, however, were served up to hundreds of would-be migrants stuck in cold weather in the French port of Calais, hoping to begin a new, more prosperous life in Britain.

[Gold9472]

UN takes up resolution calling for immediate Israeli ceasefire

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/UN_takes_up_resolution_calling_for_1231.html

1/1/2009

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) — Libya presented a draft resolution from the Arab League to a UN Security Council emergency meeting that calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and Hamas.

The draft resolution "strongly condemns all military attacks and the excessive, disproportionate and indiscriminate use of force by Israel, the occupying power, which have led to the death and injury of scores of innocent Palestinian civilians, including women and children."

It calls for "an immediate ceasefire and for its full respect by both sides."

It also calls on Israel "to scrupulously abide by all of its obligations under international humanitarian law, particularly under the Geneva Convention relative to the protection of civilians in time of war."

The emergency council meeting was convened at the behest of Egypt, which assumed the Arab League presidency in December.

The 15-member council is now expected to convene a public debate on the draft resolution that includes representatives from Israel, Egypt, the Arab League and the Palestinian territories.

The British and American ambassadors to the United Nations said the resolution needs to be amended before possible adoption because it fails to mention the ongoing Hamas rocket attacks on Israel that motivated the current Israeli military operation.

"This resolution as currently circulated by Libya is not balanced and therefore, as currently drafted, it is not acceptable to the United States," US ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad told reporters.

Sudan's UN ambassador Abdalmahmud Abdalhaleem Mohamad and Arab League representative Yahya Mahmassani said the Council would likely meet at the foreign minister-level in the coming days, with at least eight Arab countries participating.

Foreign ministers from Arab League nations meeting in Cairo Wednesday called for a binding UN resolution requiring an immediate halt to hostilities.

A delegation headed by chief Saudi diplomat Prince Saud al-Faisal with foreign ministers from Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Qatar, Syria, a Palestinian representative and Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa will likely come to UN headquarters to argue the Arab League's case, Mohamad said.

The Sudanese ambassador said a Security Council meeting with these representatives could be held Sunday or Monday.

The draft resolution also calls "for the immediate and sustained opening of the border crossings of the Gaza Strip," and the resumption of humanitarian aid deliveries to its population.

It "stresses the need for restoration of calm in full in order to pave the way for resolving all issues in a peaceful manner within the context of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process."

The text appears to have been amended since an initial version was released to the press in Cairo. It no longer includes a call for Israel to stop its "barbaric" aggression, lift its blockade of Gaza and stop the "collective punishment" of the Palestinian people.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas also appealed Wednesday for a UN resolution imposing a ceasefire.

Abbas is set to meet Monday with the UN Security Council to discuss the situation.

Hamas has controlled the Gaza Strip since ousting Abbas loyalists in June 2007. Despite winning Palestinian parliamentary elections in 2006, Hamas has since been boycotted by much of the West for refusing to recognize Israel.

Israel's pounding of Gaza began after the December 19 expiry of a six-month truce with Hamas brokered by Egypt and a resumption of rocket fire by Gaza-based militants.

The Arab League talks were taking place as Israel rejected world calls for a truce and vowed to press ahead with its deadly Gaza offensive.

The actions have so far lasted five days, killed nearly 400 Palestinians and left more than 1,900 wounded, according to Gaza emergency services.

[Gold9472]

Israel ordered to allow journalists into Gaza

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/israel-ordered-to-allow-journalists-into-gaza-1219795.html

By Kim Sengupta in Jerusalem
Wednesday, 31 December 2008

Israel’s Supreme Court ruled today that the Israeli government must allow journalists entry into Gaza to cover the ongoing conflict.

The decision came in response to a petition by the Foreign Press Association which has been campaigning for access to the besieged Palestinian enclave since a media ban was imposed more than two months ago.

The legal battle highlights the propaganda war being waged behind the bombs and rockets of the latest conflict. Israel cites as one of the main reasons for blocking foreign journalists from Gaza its belief that the reporting has been unfair and one-sided.

This is hardly the first time that the Israeli government has complained about perceived bias in the foreign media, but this time it is also putting unprecedented resources into getting its message across.

There is a consensus among many Israeli officials that the last war in Lebanon was, in many ways, a public relations disaster for Israel with Hezbollah winning the propaganda war. The same is not being allowed to happen with Hamas in Gaza. Israel has mobilised politicians, diplomats and supporters world wide to present its case.

Correspondents and reporters based in Israel are receiving dozens of SMS messages offering briefings, interviews, facility trips. One team has even been established to concentrate on bloggers.

A country which has fought its many wars by mobilising a citizens’ army has mobilised for the information offensive. A headline in the Jerusalem Post stated “Netanyahu Joins Gaza Op PR Effort”. At the invitation of outgoing premier Ehud Olmert, the opposition Likud leader is now part of the campaign, giving the first in a series of interviews about Gaza to Rupert Murdoch’s Fox News channel.

Meanwhile, foreign minister Tzipi Livni, who as the Kadima party’s candidate will run against Mr Netanyahu in the forthcoming elections briefed more than 80 international representatives at a media centre set up by the government at Sderot, a town which had become totemic after receiving daily Palestinian rocket attacks from Gaza.

Ms Livni also undertook a telephone marathon stating the Israeli justification for the Gaza attacks to Condoleeza Rice, David Milliband, Ban Ki-Moon, the UN Secretary General, the foreign ministers of Russia, China, France and Germany, and the European Union’s foreign policy chief Javier Solana.

Foreign ambassadors to Israel had been taken on a guided tour near the Gaza borders and Israel’s own diplomats, serving and retired, are being pressed into service. Ms Livni declared: "many voices are making themselves heard throughout the world today in English, French and Arabic, and in a clear, strong voice. We are telling them all the truth that is not broadcast on television in the Arab world - and this is the truth that needs to be voiced from this podium to the entire world.”

Some of the interviews with Israeli politicians and officials for the international media have been organised by pro-Israeli think tanks such as BICOM (British Israeli Communications & Research Centre) based in the UK and the Israel Project with its HQ in America.

Mark Regev, the urbane spokesman for the Israeli Prime Minister, has been one of the most prominent advocates for Israel in the world’s media. Earlier this week the Israel Project gathered 600 journalists for a telephone interview with him.

Mr Regev complained that claims by Hamas on casualties are being reported without questioning by news organisations. “There was a guy in Gaza, supposedly a doctor, who said that only 10 per cent of the casualties were combatants and the rest were innocent civilians - and this was put out as fact on the news” said Mr Regev. “Why was no attempt made to find out whether this was true or not ?”

One obvious reason, of course, is the ban on journalists going into Gaza. Mr Regev argues that this has happened in international conflicts. However, his sympathies, he says “ are intrinsically with the media and hopefully the situation will change in the very near future. We would welcome the examination of the claims that Hamas have been making.”

Hamas has, in fact, its own relatively efficient information system which is superior to that of rival Palestinian faction Fatah. The organisation has demonstrated that it understands the needs of the media and knows how to exploit them.

[Gold9472]

Islamists Call for blood as israel hammers on

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSLS69391620090102?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews

By Nidal al-Mughrabi
1/2/2009

GAZA (Reuters) - Palestinian Islamists vowed revenge against Israel on Friday for killing a senior Hamas leader and his family, and said all options including suicide bombs were now open to "strike at Zionist interests everywhere."

On the seventh day of an offensive aimed at stopping Hamas rockets striking southern towns, Israeli warplanes struck 20 targets and Islamist fighters fired rockets at Israel's port of Ashkelon, once again dashing international hopes of a ceasefire.

One rocket blew out windows in an apartment building. Stunned residents spilled onto the street and twisted metal window frames dangled from the building.

In Gaza City, less than 20 km to the south, a lucky few hundred foreign passport holders boarded buses in the pre-dawn murk to quit the Strip, with the help of the International Committee off the Red Cross, their governments and Israeli compliance.

"The situation is very bad. We are afraid for our children," said Ilona Hamdiya, a woman from Moldova married to a Palestinian. "We are very grateful to our embassy."

They left behind 1.5 million Palestinians unable to escape the conflict, a city waking up to another day of bombs, missiles, flickering electricity, queues for bread, tape-up windows and streets littered with broken glass and debris.

"We will not rest until we destroy the Zionist entity," said Hamas leader Fathi Hammad at the funeral of Nizar Rayyan, who was killed with four wives, eight children and four neighbors by an Israeli missile which hit his house on Thursday.

Spokesman Ismail Rudwan said that "following this crime, all options are now open including martyrdom operations to deter the aggression and to strike Zionist interests everywhere."

DAY OF PROTESTS
Bracing for protests and retaliatory violence a day after it killed a senior Hamas leader in an air strike on his Gaza home, Israel sealed off the occupied West Bank to deny entry to most Palestinians, and deployed heavy security at checkpoints.

A pro-Hamas website urged Palestinians to take to the streets in protest.

A statement by Hamas spokesman Ismail Rudwan said Israel's "terrorism, massacre and holocaust will not break us and will not force us to raise a white flag ... killing begets killing and destruction begets destruction."

Israeli air strikes killed two Palestinians in a house that Israel said concealed a tunnel and a weapons dump.

The death toll rose to 421 as some badly wounded succumbed to their injures. A quarter of the dead were civilians, the United Nations estimates.

Some 2,000 Palestinians have been wounded. The Gaza rockets, which have killed four Israelis in the past week, injured two people slightly in Ashkelon.

Rayyan was the highest ranking Hamas official to be killed in the current offensive. He had called loudly for suicide bombings in Israel.

Israeli armored forces remained massed on the Gaza frontier in preparation for a possible ground invasion, ignoring international calls for a halt to the conflict.

Late on Thursday, Israeli war planes bombed the Jabalya mosque. Israeli security officials said it was a meeting place and command post for Hamas militants and the large number of secondary explosions after the strike indicated that rockets, missiles and other weapons had been stored there.

Nine mosques have had been hit since it began on Saturday.

"I will pray at home. You never know, they may bomb the mosque and destroy it on our heads," said one man buying humus from a street stand. Another was defiant: "What better than to die while kneeling before God?" he said.

Analysts said Israeli leaders felt under pressure to act ahead of a February 10 national election, and surveys indicate the assaults may boost support for Barak and Livni, against frontrunner Benjamin Netanyahu of the right-wing Likud party.

Livni says the strikes have been effective.

"I think that even now, after a few days of operation we have achieved changes," she said on Thursday after talks in Paris with French President Nicolas Sarkozy. She rejected a proposed 48-hour respite in fighting, saying food aid was being allowed in and there was "no humanitarian crisis in the Strip."

[Gold9472]

Hamas orders 'day of wrath' over Israel blitz

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Hamas_orders_day_of_wrath_over_0102.html

1/2/2009

GAZA CITY (AFP) - Israeli warplanes pounded militant targets including a mosque in Gaza on Friday as Hamas ordered a "day of wrath" against Israel over the killing of a senior commander.

Thousands of Israeli security personnel were on alert after Hamas called for "massive marches" following the main weekly Muslim prayers, starting off from the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem and from all mosques in the West Bank.

"Police has been placed on a heightened state of alert throughout the country, just under the maximum level that is in effect in war time," police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told AFP.

Thousands of officers were deployed around annexed Arab east Jerusalem alone, he said.

The army also locked down the West Bank for 48 hours, with movement in and out of the territory prohibited except for emergencies and special cases.

Hamas called a "day of wrath" after an Israeli air strike killed Nizar Rayan , a firebrand hardliner, and several of his wives and children. At least 422 Palestinians have now been killed in Israel's seven-day-old blitz.

Rayan is the most senior Islamist figure killed by Israel since Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi in 2004 and Hamas again warned that it could resume suicide operations against Israel for the first time since January 2005 to avenge his death.

"After the last crime, all options are open to counter this aggression, including martyr operations against Zionist targets everywhere," Hamas official Ismail Radwan vowed after the attack.

With tanks and troops massed for a threatened ground offensive around Gaza and no ceasefire in sight, the army allowed foreigners to leave the battered enclave.

"The (border) crossing was specially reopened to allow foreign nationals to leave the Gaza Strip," an army spokesman told AFP, adding that more than 400 people, mostly dual nationals, were expected to cross.

The Israeli military pounded the densely populated territory for a seventh day, carrying out some 20 strikes overnight, bombing rocket launching sites and Hamas buildings, the army said.

Among the targets was a mosque in the northern town of Jabaliya that the military said was a "terror hub," used to stockpile weapons and as a Hamas operations centre.

At least two people were killed in the latest raids, which targeted a house in Jabaliya, medics said.

The Islamist movement kept firing back, sending a handful of rockets slamming into Israeli territory overnight without causing casualties.

Israel unleashed its "Operation Cast Lead" on Hamas in Gaza on Saturday in response to persistent rocket fire from the territory, which has been under a crippling Israeli blockade since the Islamists seized control in June 2007.

At least 422 Palestinians have now been killed in the offensive and a further 2,180 wounded, according to medics. At least 25 percent of those killed are civilians, according to a UN count.

Gaza militants have fired more than 360 rockets into Israel, killing four people and wounding dozens more. Some of the rockets have reached deeper than ever inside Israeli territory, penetrating some 40 kilometres (24 miles) from the Gaza border.

The Israeli offensive -- one of its deadliest-ever on Gaza -- has sparked angry protests in the Muslim world and defied diplomatic efforts to broker a truce.

In the latest protests, more than 4,000 Muslims demonstrated in Sydney and hundreds of Muslims burnt Israeli flags in Indian-administered Kashmir.

UN Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni reiterated that Israel does not think the time is yet ripe for a truce after talks in Paris on Thursday with President Nicolas Sarkozy and other French leaders.

"The question of whether it's enough or not will be the result of our assessment on a daily basis," she said.

Peace moves were also stalled at the UN Security Council even though UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the conflict had become "a dramatic crisis."

The civilian population in Gaza and stability throughout the Middle East "are trapped between the irresponsibility displayed in the indiscriminate rocket attacks by Hamas militants and the disproportionality of the continuing Israeli military operation," Ban said.

The majority of the Israeli public is supporting the Gaza offensive, with some 95 percent of Jewish residents backing the strikes according to a survey published on Friday in the Maariv daily.

[Gold9472]

Gaza rockets put Israel’s nuclear plant in battle zone
Growing concern over Hamas’s new arsenal

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article5430133.ece

1/2/2008

There were growing fears in Israel last night that Hamas missiles could threaten its top-secret nuclear facility at Dimona.

Rocket attacks from Gaza have forced Israelis to flee in ever greater numbers and military chiefs have been shaken by the size and sophistication of the militant group’s arsenal.

In Beersheba, until a few days ago a sleepy desert town in southern Israel, there is little sign of the 186,000 inhabitants. Schools are closed and the streets of shuttered shops echo with the howl of sirens warning of incoming rockets.

Israeli planes, meanwhile, began a new stage yesterday in their offensive on Gaza, killing Nizar Rayyan, a senior Hamas official. The one-tonne bomb in Jabaliya is also understood to have killed two of his four wives and four of his twelve children. More than 400 Palestinians have been killed in the six days of Israeli attacks.

Despite a diplomatic mission by Tzipi Livni, the Israeli Foreign Minister, to Paris, the Israeli army continued to muster thousands of troops and scores of tanks along Gaza’s border for a possible ground offensive. Israel’s airstrikes are designed to blunt Hamas’s capacity to fire its new Grad missiles deep into its territory. The weapons are smuggled in through tunnels and by sea, replacing homemade Qassam rockets.

Israeli officials say that Hamas has also acquired dozens of Iranian-made Fajr-3 missiles with an even longer range. Many fear that as the group acquires ever more sophisticated weaponry it is only a matter of time before the nuclear installation at Dimona, 20 miles east of Beersheba, falls within its sights. Dimona houses Israel’s only nuclear reactor and is believed to be where nuclear warheads are stored.

“Maybe Hamas will get a big present from Iran or Hezbollah, a few good long-range missiles and they’ll use it,” said Limor Brina, 40, a jeweller who is learning the lessons of life under rocket threat: she sleeps with her clothes on and heads to a shelter whenever the siren sounds.

Israel’s worst nightmare is that soon all its cities will be within range either of the Hezbollah Katyushas arrayed on the Lebanese border to the north or the increasingly sophisticated missiles stockpiled by Hamas to the south. Both groups have links to Israel’s archenemy Iran.

Israel has said that its aim is to smash Hamas’s rocket-firing capability but also to topple the hardline Islamist regime that seized power in the Gaza Strip in 2007 after bloody street battles with its secular rivals Fatah. Until that goal is achieved, many in Beersheba are packing their bags and heading for Tel Aviv or Eilat.

“Maybe 30 or 40 per cent of people have left the city,” said Ron Shukron, 26, running one of the few grocery shops still open. As he spoke a siren echoed through the empty streets. With only 15 seconds to take cover, he stepped under a reinforced support beam in the ceiling. Seconds later came the dull thud of a rocket exploding on the edge of town.

[Gold9472]

Israel destroys Hamas homes, flattens Gaza mosque

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090102/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_palestinians

By IBRAHIM BARZAK and MATTI FRIEDMAN, Associated Press Writers
1/2/2009

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – Israel bombed a mosque it claimed was used to store weapons and destroyed homes of more than a dozen Hamas operatives Friday, but under international pressure, the government allowed hundreds of Palestinians with foreign passports to leave besieged Gaza.

Israel has been building up artillery, armor and infantry on Gaza's border in an indication the week-old air assault against Gaza's Hamas rulers could imminently expand with a ground incursion. At the same time, however, international pressure is building for a cease-fire that would block more fighting.

"There is no water, no electricity, no medicine. It's hard to survive. Gaza is destroyed," said Jawaher Haggi, a 14-year-old U.S. citizen who said her uncle was killed in an airstrike when he tried to pick up some medicine for her cancer-stricken father. She said her father died several days later.

Israel launched the aerial campaign Saturday in a bid to halt weeks of intensifying Palestinian rocket fire from Gaza. It has dealt a heavy blow to Hamas, but has failed to halt the rockets. New attacks Friday struck apartment buildings in a southern Israeli city but no serious injuries were reported.

Before the airstrikes Friday, Israel's military called at least some of the houses to warn residents of an impending attack. In some cases, it also fired a sound bomb to warn away civilians before flattening the homes with missiles, Palestinians and Israeli officials said.

After destroying Hamas' security compounds, Israel turned its attention to the group's leadership. In airstrike after airstrike, warplanes hit some 20 houses believed to belong to Hamas militants and members of other armed groups, Palestinians said.

They said the Israelis either warned nearby residents by phone or fired a warning missile to try to reduce civilian casualties. Israeli planes also dropped leaflets east of Gaza giving a confidential phone number and e-mail address for people to report locations of rocket squads. Residents stepped over the leaflets.

Israel used similar tactics during its 2006 war against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Most of the targeted homes Friday belonged to activist leaders and appeared to be empty at the time, but one man was killed in a strike in the Jebaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza.

Separate airstrikes killed five other Palestinians — including a young teenage boy east of Gaza City and three children — two brothers and their cousin — who were playing in southern Gaza, according to Health Ministry official Moaiya Hassanain.

More than 400 Gazans have been killed and some 1,700 have been wounded in the Israeli campaign, Gaza health officials said. The number of combatants and civilians killed is unclear, but Hamas has said around half of the dead are members of its security forces and the U.N. has said more than 60 are civilians, 34 of them children.

Three Israeli civilians and one soldier have also died in the rocket attacks, which have reached deeper into Israel than ever before, bringing an eighth of Israel's population of 7 million within rocket range.

The mosque destroyed Friday was known as a Hamas stronghold, and the army said it was used to store weapons. It also was identified with Nizar Rayan, the Hamas militant leader killed Thursday when Israel dropped a one-ton bomb on his home.

That airstrike killed 20 people, including all four of Rayan's wives and 10 of his 12 children. The strike on Rayan's home obliterated the four-story apartment building and peeled off the walls of others around it, carving out a vast field of rubble.

Israel's military said the homes of Hamas leaders are being used to store missiles and other weapons, and the hit on Rayan's house triggered secondary explosions from the stockpile there.

Israeli defense officials said the military had called Rayan's home and fired a warning missile before destroying the building. That was impossible to confirm. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss military tactics.

Israel has targeted Hamas leaders many times in the past, but halted the practice during a six-month truce that expired last month. Most of Hamas' leaders went into hiding at the start of Israel's offensive.

Israel allowed about 300 Palestinians who hold passports from other countries to cross from Gaza into Israel so they could leave the country. Military liaison officer Maj. Aviad Zilberman said the Israelis had approved the requests following pleas from foreign governments.

The Palestinians who left hold citizenship from the U.S., Russia, Turkey, Norway, Kazakhstan and other countries.

Fear of Israeli attacks led to sparse turnout at Friday's communal prayers at mosques throughout Gaza. But thousands of people attended a memorial service for Rayan. Throngs of people prayed over the rubble of his home and the destroyed mosque nearby.

An imam delivered his sermon over a car loudspeaker as the bodies of Rayan and other family members were covered in green Hamas flags. Explosions from Israeli airstrikes and the sound of warplanes overhead could be heard in the distance.

Following the prayers, a sea of mourners marched with the bodies, with many people reaching out to touch and kiss them.

"The Palestinian resistance will not forget and will not forgive," said Hamas lawmaker Mushir Masri, calling the assassination a "serious" development. "The resistance's response will be very painful."

A rocket barrage hit the Israeli city of Ashkelon early Friday. Two rockets hit apartment buildings, lightly wounding two Israelis, police said. Sirens warning Israelis to take cover when military radar picks up an incoming rocket have helped reduce casualties in recent days.

The military said aircraft destroyed the three rocket launchers used to fire at Ashkelon.

While keeping up the military pressure, Israel also appears to be offering an opening for the intense diplomatic efforts, saying it would consider a halt to the fighting if international monitors were brought in to track compliance with any truce with Hamas.

Concerned about protests, Israeli police stepped up security and restricted access to Friday prayers at Jerusalem's al-Aqsa Mosque, barring all males under 50 from entering.

Jerusalem's mufti, Mohammed Hussein, said a mere 3,000 Palestinians attended Friday's prayers because of the tough restrictions.

"We condemn these measures, and we believe they contradict the principle of freedom of worship," Hussein said.

Those prayers ended without incident, though in a nearby east Jerusalem neighborhood, youths clashed with anti-riot police on horseback. No injuries were reported.

Thousands demonstrated in the West Bank in solidarity with Gazans. In Ramallah, Palestinian police loyal to Hamas' moderate rival, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, barred protesters from chanting pro-Hamas slogans or waving Hamas banners. Three Hamas activists were arrested.

In Nablus, about 3,000 Hamas supporters protested, singing songs and calling for an attack against Israelis in Jerusalem.

[Gold9472]

Israeli attack kills brothers as Hamas stages 'Day of Wrath'

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Israeli_attack_kills_brothers_as_Hamas_0102.html

Agence France-Presse
Published: Friday January 2, 2009

GAZA CITY (AFP) - Israeli warplanes hit Gaza targets including a mosque and a house where three young brothers were killed as Hamas supporters staged angry protests against Israel's week-old offensive.

A missile from one of 30 new Israeli raids hit a house and killed the boys, aged from seven to 10, emergency services said.

At least 430 Palestinians have been killed and 2,250 people wounded in the raids, according to Gaza officials.

The new strikes came as Israeli troops gathered on the Gaza border and thousands of Hamas faithful attended the funeral of Nizar Rayan , the most senior Hamas leadership victim of the offensive, who was killed with his four wives and 11 of his children in another Israeli raid on Thursday.

Rayan and his family were wrapped in green Hamas flags for their burials, during which Hamas vowed that it would not be bowed by the killings.

"I call on the resistance to continue pounding Jewish settlements and cities," said Sheikh Abdelrahman al-Jamal. "We will remain on the path of jihad until the end of days."

Hamas called a "Day of Wrath" against Israel, which brought thousands of protesters out onto the streets of Gaza and the occupied West Bank. Police fired teargas at rock throwing youths in Jerusalem.

Hamas has warned it could resume suicide attacks against Israel for the first time since January 2005 to avenge the death of Rayan, the most senior Islamist killed by Israel since Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi in 2004.

With a ground offensive widely expected and no ceasefire in sight, the Israeli army opened a border crossing to let an estimated 400 foreigners in Gaza leave the battered enclave.

But reporters did not go into Gaza despite a Supreme Court ruling that eight foreign media should be allowed into the territory after the foreign press group objected to the government demand to choose two of the journalists.

Seven days into the offensive, Israeli jets staged more than 30 new raids on the densely populated territory, which it said targeted rocket launching sites and Hamas buildings.

Three young brothers -- Iyad, Mohammed and Abdelsattar al-Astal died in a raid that appeared to target a rocket launcher near their house near the city of Khan Yunis, emergency services said.

A mosque in the northern town of Jabaliya that the military said was a "terror hub" used to stockpile weapons, was also hit.

Long queues formed outside bakeries and other stores which only open during the rare hours when electricity is available. Aid agencies say fuel and food is also in short supply.

Hamas fired more than 20 rockets into Israel, but no casualties were reported.

Israel unleashed "Operation Cast Lead" on Gaza on December 27 in response to persistent rocket fire from the territory, which has been under a crippling Israeli blockade since Hamas seized control in June 2007.

Gaza militants have fired more than 360 rockets into Israel over seven days, killing four people and wounding dozens more. Some rockets have reached up to 40 kilometres (24 miles) inside Israeli territory, the furthest the projectiles have struck.

The Israeli offensive has sparked angry protests in the Muslim world and defied diplomatic efforts to broker a truce.

Tens of thousands took to the streets of Jakarta, thousands demonstrated in Afghanistan and Turkey, some burning Israeli flags, more than 4,000 Muslims paraded in Sydney and hundreds of Muslims burnt Israeli flags in Indian-administered Kashmir.

In Jordan police fired teargas at angry protesters to prevent them from approaching the Israeli embassy in the capital Amman after weekly Muslim Friday prayers.

A leader of Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party, Bulent Gedikli, said Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert "deserved a pair of shoes to be thrown at him," referring to an incident last month when an Iraqi journalist threw shoes at President George W. Bush.

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni reiterated that Israel was not yet ready for a truce after talks in Paris on Thursday with President Nicolas Sarkozy and other French leaders.

"The question of whether it's enough or not will be the result of our assessment on a daily basis," she said.

Peace moves were also stalled at the UN Security Council.

Olmert, Livni and Defence Minister Ehud Barak held talks well into the night and planned to pursue discussions over the weekend, Olmert's office said.

A majority of the Israeli public is supporting the Gaza offensive, with some 95 percent of Jewish residents backing the air strikes according to a survey published on Friday in the Maariv daily.

[Gold9472]

Afghans burn Bush orangutan effigy to protest US, Israel

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Afghans_burn_Bush_orangutan_effigy_to_0102.html

1/2/2009

KABUL (AFP) — Thousands of Afghans demonstrated Friday against Israel's deadly strikes on the Gaza Strip, chanting slogans against the Jewish state and its US ally, and calling for the defence of Islam.

In the capital Kabul, up to 3,000 protesters gathered for several hours outside a key mosque where they shouted "Death to Israel", "Death to infidels" and Islamic chants such as "God is greater," an AFP reporter witnessed.

A shot was fired at an effigy of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and at a toy orangutan with sneakers hanging from its neck meant to represent US President George W. Bush, who had shoes thrown at him in Iraq last month.

The models were both torched as were flags of Israel, Britain and the United States.

The protesters also chanted slogans against the United States -- a key ally of Israel -- and said the more than 30,000 US troops in Afghanistan to help the government fight a Taliban-led insurgency should leave.

"We are here to demonstrate against Israelis who make Palestinians suffer," said 19-year-old Kabul student Mohammad Shafi. "We are here to defend Islam and the Koran."

The demonstration was billed as a spontaneous uprising by angry Afghans. But some in the crowd said they been told by mullahs at weekly prayers to attend, and did not appear to understand the Israeli-Palestinian issue.

In the western city of Herat, near the border with Iran, about 1,000 men and youngsters tore up an Israeli flag, torched banners and set alight a toy representing Israeli President Shimon Peres, an AFP reporter witnessed.

They also demanded a halt to the strikes that started a week ago in retaliation for rocket attacks by the Islamist group Hamas and which have killed more than 420 Palestinians.

"We think this is a war between Islam and infidels," local religious leader Farooq Hussaini told reporters, adding he was ready to send "mujahedeen", or religious fighters, as well as suicide attackers to support the Palestinians.

"We have announced jihad in Herat province against those who recognise Israel as a state and support them," he said, apparently referring to the mainly Western soldiers deployed in Afghanistan to fight the insurgency.

Several hundred people also demonstrated in the northern province of Badakhshan, provincial government spokesman Mahrouf Rasikh told AFP.

Afghanistan, which does not recognise Israel, has also condemned the attacks in Gaza and demanded an immediate halt to the strikes.

This video is from AFP, broadcast Jan. 2, 2008.

Video At Source

[Gold9472]

Gaza Massacres; The Time is Now

(Gold9472: I met Anna at the "Not In Our Name" event this past October. She has a book (http://www.annainthemiddleeast.com/book/) out. She is ridiculously beautiful, and has a lot of good things to say.)

http://www.msu-uci.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/baltzeranna.thumbnail.jpg

Anna Baltzer
1/2/2009

Please, everyone, stop what you're doing. This is not just any report from Palestine, but the worst in my lifetime, the worst in 40 years. At this moment, Israel is raining bombs down on Gaza, an enclosed tiny area that is home to 1.5 million men, women, and children, most of them innocent civilians. This space is tightly sealed by Israel, which constantly denies Gazans electricity, food, medicine, and the ability to leave. Gaza is one big prison being bombed from above. The death toll is up to 428 in the past 7 days. That's more than the number of Israelis killed in the last 7 years. This is what I would call a massacre.

Yes, more Palestinians killed in 7 days than Israelis in 7 years, and yet no comments from President Bush or President-elect Obama. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice places blame solely on Hamas for holding Gazans "hostage," as if Israel's actions were beyond judgment. Would Rice ever respond to a Palestinian attack on Israelis by blaming the Israeli government for holding its citizens hostage with their army's violence?

I am writing you from Jordan. I arrived the day after the attacks began. The day before they began, my friend and colleague Hannah had asked me to deliver a book of poetry to her friend Summer in Gaza, hoping I'd manage to make it on a Free Gaza boat. Since then, these boats bringing unarmed witnesses to Gaza (www.freegaza.org (http://www.freegaza.org)) have been attacked in international waters, and Summer's house has been blown to pieces, her brother almost died under the rubble, and her father desperately needs an operation but the hospitals are overflowing. In every home or shop I enter in Jordan, people are huddled watching the stories unfold: a family killed in their home, a university destroyed, a pharmacy blown to pieces, countless bloody babies screaming or worse, silent.

I wonder if people in the US are also seeing the bodies and faces or, as I fear, only some rubble and angry Gazans. The day after attacks began, Israel's largest newspaper Yediot Aharonot covered almost the entire front page with the words, "500,000 Israelis Under Attack!" In smaller font, one could learn that in addition to 1 Israeli, 225 Palestinians had also been killed. It was surreal. Consider where you are getting your news, and what is not being told to you.

For example, the stated purpose of the attack is to drive out Hamas, i.e. to kill anyone in Hamas and scare the rest into turning against Hamas. Not only does this tactic not work (brutality fosters violence), but it clearly fits the definition of terrorism: unlawful violence intended to frighten or coerce a people or government in order to achieve a political or ideological agenda. Israel is operating as a terrorist state in the true sense of the word.

Hamas is also a terrorist organization by this definition, so it would be easy to simplify the conflict as "an endless cycle of violence" were there no historical context. But there is a context, and there are alternatives: Let us remember that Hamas was elected after an intentional shift away from violence towards a mainstream political agenda. Hamas stopped its attacks and began offering the Palestinian people an alternative to the corruption of Fatah. Hamas was democratically elected and immediately strangled by a US-led boycott, preventing the government from functioning. Hamas continued to hold to its one-sided ceasefire (totaling almost 2 years), meanwhile the US and Israel began to train and arm the opposition government, Fatah, which they preferred. In response to plans for a coup in Gaza (anti-democratic takeover by the US-supported opposition government), Hamas secured its control (again, democratically-elected whether or not we like them) over Gaza, and continues to offer Israel an indefinite ceasefire--no more violent attacks, period--if Israel simply complies with international law. The Arab League (comprised of 22 Arab nation members) has offered the same. These offers are dismissed by Israel and silenced in the US media. Israel says it has tried everything else, but it has not tried the most obvious: complying with international law and accepting repeated offers for a peaceful resolution.

As events unfold in Gaza neither the media nor the people are silent here in Jordan, where people refuse to go on as if nothing were happening to their brothers and sisters (sometimes literally--more than 60% of Jordan's population is Palestinian refugees). Just one day after attacks began, the king of Jordan gave blood to send to Gaza and inspired hundreds of others to do the same (meanwhile President Bush was on vacation in Texas). Spontaneous demonstrations have erupted at least twice here in the capitol today, and thousands are protesting in various major cities around the Middle East and around the world.

Please, wherever you are, do something. Write a letter to the editor. Get a large group to inundate your congressperson at once. Protest! There are demonstrations being organized around the US. If there isn't one happening near you, then do what I would do: buy a poster-board and large marker and write something on it ("Gazans Are People Too," "Massacre in Gaza: Silence is Complicity," "Our Weapons Are Killing Palestinian Children," or anything you can think of). Go outside and stand on a busy corner with it. Force others to confront the reality. Talk to people, invite them to join you. People around the world are empowered enough to take to the streets; we have no excuse not to. The time is now.

[Gold9472]

Civilians take brunt of 7th day of Gaza offensive

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSLS69391620090102?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews

By Nidal al-Mughrabi
1/2/2009

GAZA (Reuters) - The civilian death toll climbed in Israel's air offensive against the Gaza Strip on Friday and Palestinian Islamists vowed revenge for the killing of a senior Hamas leader and his family.

There was no sign of a ceasefire on the seventh day of the conflict, in which at least 425 Palestinians have been killed and 2,000 wounded, but a Palestinian official told Reuters that Egypt had begun exploratory talks with Hamas to halt the bloodshed.

The senior Palestinian official, who declined to be named and who has been close to previous talks between Egypt and Hamas, said the aim of the talks included promoting ideas that would culminate in a new truce.

Four Israeli civilians have been killed by Palestinian rockets fired from Gaza, which strike southern cities and towns at random and cause property damage and panic among the local population.

A United Nations agency said the civilian death toll in Gaza was over 25 percent of the total killed in the violence. A leading Palestinian human rights group put it at 40 percent.

Of six Palestinians reported killed on Friday in more than 30 Israeli air strikes, five were civilians, local medics said.

One missile killed three Palestinian children aged between eight and 12 as they played on a street near the town of Khan Yunis in the south of the strip. One was decapitated.

"These injuries are not survivable injuries," said Madth Gilbert, a Norwegian doctor at Gaza's Shifa hospital who could not save a boy who had both feet blown off. "This is a murder. This is a child," he said.

Islamist fighters earlier fired rockets at Israel's ancient port of Ashkelon, one of which blew out windows in an apartment building. Another house took a direct hit from a long-range missile later in the day, and cars were set ablaze.

Gaza militants mourning a hardline cleric Hamas leader killed by an air strike on Thursday along with his four wives and 11 children said all options including suicide bombings were now open to "strike at Zionist interests everywhere."

A FEW ESCAPE
Israel's armored forces remained massed on the Gaza frontier in preparation for a possible ground invasion, despite international calls for a halt to the conflict. An Israeli naval vessel lying offshore fired at a greenhouse in southern Gaza.

Israeli leaders were in conference on Friday evening and media reports said they were discussing an "imminent" incursion.

The White House said on Friday that Israel must decide for itself whether to go into the Gaza Strip with ground forces, but it cautioned any actions should avoid civilian casualties and ensure the flow of humanitarian goods.

In Gaza City, a few hundred foreign passport holders boarded buses in the pre-dawn murk to quit the Strip, with the help of the International Committee of the Red Cross, their governments and Israeli compliance.

"The situation is very bad. We are afraid for our children," said Ilona Hamdiya, a woman from Moldova married to a Palestinian. "We are very grateful to our embassy."

They left behind 1.5 million Palestinians unable to escape the conflict, a city facing another day of bombs, missiles, flickering electricity, queues for bread, taped-up windows and streets littered with broken glass and debris.

"We will not rest until we destroy the Zionist entity," said Hamas leader Fathi Hammad at the funeral of Nizar Rayyan, the cleric who was killed along with his family.

The bearded Rayyan, who mentored suicide bombers and sent one of his sons on a "martyrdom" mission, was the highest ranking Hamas official to be killed in the current offensive. He had called loudly for bombings in Israeli cities.

Hamas spokesman Ismail Rudwan said that "following this crime, all options are now open including martyrdom operations to deter the aggression and to strike Zionist interests everywhere ... killing begets killing and destruction begets destruction."

PROTESTS AND CLASHES
Bracing for protests and retaliatory violence, Israel sealed off the occupied West Bank to deny entry to most Palestinians and beefed up security at checkpoints.

There were protests by Palestinians in West Bank cities. In Ramallah, Hamas supporters scuffled with the Fatah faction of Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, taunting them as collaborators. Elsewhere, protesters stoned soldiers at checkpoints and some were wounded by rubber bullets.

In the Jordanian capital, Amman, riot police fired teargas to disperse hundreds of protesters marching on the Israeli embassy, chanting: "No Jewish embassy on Arab land."

Late on Thursday, Israeli warplanes bombed the Jabalya mosque. Israeli security officials said it was a meeting place and command post for Hamas militants. It said the large number of secondary explosions after the strike indicated that rockets, missiles and other weapons had been stored there.

Nine mosques have had been hit since last Saturday.

"I will pray at home. You never know, they may bomb the mosque and destroy it on our heads," said one man buying humus from a street stand. Another was defiant: "What better than to die while kneeling before God?" he said.

[Gold9472]

Pity the Poor Neocons

http://www.consortiumnews.com/2009/010209.html

By Robert Parry
January 2, 2009

As bloody and grotesque as Israel’s pounding of Gaza has been, it marks a bitterly disappointing end for seven-plus years of neoconservative dominion over U.S. foreign policy, a period that was supposed to conclude with the dismantling of Israel’s Muslim enemies in the region.

Contrary to those neocon plans, George W. Bush is limping toward a historical judgment as possibly “the worst President ever”; U.S. power is waning in Iraq under a “status-of-forces agreement” that is showing the Americans the door by 2011 if not earlier; and key neocon targets – Iran, Syria and Hezbollah in Lebanon – have gained in regional influence.

All the neocons have left now is to cheer the Israeli air force as it, in effect, shoots fish in a barrel, i.e. blasting away at selected Palestinian targets inside the crowded confines of Gaza, killing more than 400 people, including many children and other civilians, over the past week.

In 2001, especially after 9/11, the neocon dreams were so much more ambitious. The neocons planned to achieve “regime change” in all Middle Eastern countries that were perceived as threats to Israel and replace them with compliant, pro-Western leaders.

First on the list was Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, which was a center for Arab nationalism and an advocate for resisting Israeli occupation of Palestinian land. Since Iraq was too strong – and too far from the effective reach of the Israeli military – U.S. forces would be needed to conquer Iraq.

After that, Iraq was supposed to become the staging area for projecting American power across the region, with the governments of Iran and Syria the next targets.

A favorite neocon joke in 2003 was whether after capturing Baghdad, U.S. forces should go east or west, to either Damascus or Tehran, with the punch line: “Real men go to Tehran.” Of course, unlike American soldiers, the neocons weren’t really going anywhere, except to the next AEI conference or a Georgetown cocktail party.

By replacing the governments of Iran and Syria, the neocons would knock out the support structure for Israel’s two most immediate threats, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Palestinian territories. Then, with Israel – aided by some Arab allies – finishing off those two weakened militant groups, Israel could dictate terms of a final settlement to the Palestinians.

The Palestinians would have little choice but to accept an agreement even if it deprived them of the most desirable land. Peace would be imposed on the region by a neocon Pax Americana.

Pretty Rhetoric
Throughout this ambitious process, the neocons wrapped their plans in pretty or high-blown rhetoric.

There was talk about spreading “democracy” to the region (even though the neocons have never had much use for real democracy, having secured their place of power under George W. Bush after he and five Supreme Court allies overrode the will of American voters in 2000. The neocons also never objected to the plans of Bush’s political operatives to create a “permanent Republican majority” in America – a virtual one-party state – so long as the neocons kept their seat at the table.)

Besides “democracy promotion” in the Middle East, the neocons talked about advancing “human rights,” even as their policies rained death and destruction upon countless thousands of defenseless Arabs. There was also the claim that the United States was acting in post-9/11 self-defense because Saddam Hussein was in league with al-Qaeda’s Osama bin Laden (even though the pair actually were bitter rivals in the Arab world).

So there were plenty of pleasant rationales to justify the brutal strategies, so many that thoughtful analysts to this day express uncertainty over what the Bush administration’s real motivation was for invading Iraq.

It has always been a key part of neocon PR strategy to follow Winston Churchill’s famous advice that "in wartime, truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies." And for the neocons, it is always wartime, if not actual war then it’s the “war of ideas” or the “war on terror.”

Having covered the neocons since their emergence in the early 1980s as junior partners in the Reagan Revolution, I have always been amazed at their facility for clever arguments and their willingness to demonize or marginalize anyone who disagrees with them. In essence, they are intellectual bullies who care only about achieving their political ends.

Though Ronald Reagan “credentialed” many of the key neocons – the likes of Elliott Abrams, Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Perle and Robert Kagan – he mostly kept them focused on Central America and other strategic backwaters.

This was not good news for Central Americans – who died by the tens of thousands as the neocons concealed or downplayed the human rights crimes committed by U.S.-supported military forces in Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua – but at least Reagan knew enough not to give the neocons broad control over U.S. policy in the oil-rich Middle East.

Reagan’s key diplomats in the Middle East were more pragmatic operatives, such as James Baker and Philip Habib. In the 1980s, the Reagan administration mostly played Realpolitik games there, like helping both sides in the Iran-Iraq War to ensure that neither one got too much of an upper hand. There also was ambivalence toward the Arab-Israeli conflict.

That changed when George W. Bush became President as a born-again Christian devoted to Israel. Especially after 9/11, Bush handed control of Middle East policy to the neocons, with officials such as Elliott Abrams holding key posts on the National Security Council, Wolfowitz at the Pentagon, and Lewis Libby serving under the powerful Vice President, Dick Cheney.

Media Megaphone
By then, the neocons also had gained extraordinary sway over the Washington press corps.

In the 1980s, the neocons expanded their megaphone from relatively small-circulation magazines, like Commentary and Dissent, to more general-interest publications, such as the Wall Street Journal’s editorial pages, The New Republic and later Newsweek (where I worked in the late 1980s).

The neocon editorialists – people like Charles Krauthammer and Fred Barnes – also excelled at amplifying their political message through their seats on TV news chat shows, such as “Inside Washington,” “Crossfire” and “The McLaughlin Group.”

By the 1990s, with the emergence of right-wing talk radio and Fox News, the neocons consolidated their power in the national news media. Most notably, the Washington Post’s editorial section fell firmly under neocon domination.

As much as the Right still uttered its ritualistic complaints about the “liberal press,” the reality was quite different. As became acutely clear in 2002 and early 2003, the neocons in the news media worked hand in glove with the Bush administration to rally public support behind the Iraq War by citing such canards as the risk of Saddam Hussein giving his WMD to al-Qaeda.

It turned out, however, that manipulating reality inside the Washington Beltway was a lot easier than controlling it inside Iraq. Rather than happily accepting U.S. occupation, many Iraqis joined an armed resistance, tying down American troops in a bloody quagmire.

Also, failing to find the promised caches of Iraq’s WMD and facing new skepticism about Hussein’s ties to al-Qaeda, Bush elevated “democracy” to be the prime post facto justification for the invasion. But that led to Iraqi elections in early 2005 and they installed a Shiite government with close ties to Iran.

Similarly, U.S.-demanded elections in the Palestine territories led to victory by Hamas and its eventual takeover of Gaza. Other elections in Lebanon strengthened the position of Hezbollah.

So, very few of the Middle East plans were working out as the neocons had airily envisioned them.

Tied down by worsening violence in Iraq, the Bush administration issued belligerent warnings to Syria and Iran but lacked the military manpower to back up the threats.

Another Front
Stymied on plans to roll up Israel’s enemies via U.S.-imposed “regime change” in Iran and Syria – and thus undermine Hamas and Hezbollah – the neocons pinned their hopes on Israel’s ability to punish those two groups with military offensives in 2006 and then possibly move on to invading Syria.

After consultations between President Bush and Israel’s Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Israel engaged in a series of low-key tit-for-tat exchanges with Hamas and Hezbollah, which responded by capturing several Israeli soldiers (the U.S. press corps preferred the word “kidnap”). That was followed by a massive Israeli retaliation that killed more than a thousand people, including many civilians, in Lebanon.

Inside the United States, there was a reprise of the war-drum-beating that had preceded the Iraq War. Well-placed neocons in Washington and elsewhere tried to whip the American people into a new war frenzy. Again, U.S. politicians and much of the U.S. news media fell into line.

On July 17, 2006, New York Sen. Clinton shared the stage in a pro-Israel rally with Dan Gillerman, then Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations who had espoused anti-Arab bigotry in the past and proudly defended Israel’s violence inside Lebanon.

Responding to international concerns that Israel was using “disproportionate” force by bombing Lebanon and killing hundreds of civilians, Gillerman said, “You’re damn right we are.” [NYT, July 18, 2006]

In other statements, Gillerman had been even more disdainful about Muslims. At the American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference in Washington on March 6, 2006, Gillerman virtually equated Muslims with terrorists.

“While it may be true – and probably is – that not all Muslims are terrorists, it also happens to be true that nearly all terrorists are Muslim,” Gillerman quipped to the delight of the AIPAC crowd. [Washington Post, March 7, 2006]

Despite Gillerman’s professed uncertainty about whether “all Muslims are terrorists,” this anti-Muslim bigotry didn’t generate any noticeable protest from American politicians and pundits. It would have been hard to imagine any other ethnic or religious group being subjected to a similar smear without provoking a noisy controversy.

Four months later, Sen. Clinton and other Democrats joined Gillerman at the New York rally to endorse Israel’s devastating military attacks on Lebanon. Clinton, who was then considered the Democratic presidential frontrunner, denounced Hezbollah and Hamas as “the new totalitarians of the 21st Century” who believe in neither human rights nor democracy, even though both groups had done well in elections.

Clinton was joined by two Democratic congressmen who also endorsed Israel’s bombing raids on Lebanon.

“Since when should a response to aggression and murder be proportionate?” asked Rep. Jerrold Nadler.

“President Bush has been wrong about a lot of things,” said Rep. Anthony D. Weiner. “He’s right about this.” [For more details, see Consortiumnews.com’s “A New War Frenzy.”]

Turning Points
However, as it turned out, the Israeli offensive against Lebanon – though very bloody – was generally ineffective. It may even have been counterproductive by enhancing Hezbollah’s status within Lebanon and around the Muslim world for having fought the potent Israeli military to a standstill.

As 2006 wore on, things went from bad to worse for the neocons. Their dreams of a “permanent Republican majority” – with them in charge of U.S. foreign policy – collapsed on Nov. 7, 2006, when American voters turned both houses of Congress over to the Democrats.

Two years later, the Republicans (and the neocons) fared even worse, also losing the White House to Barack Obama, despite a GOP and neocon smear campaign that featured Obama’s middle name “Hussein” and called him a secret Muslim.

Also disheartening was Bush’s capitulation in accepting a timetable for U.S. military withdrawal from Iraq. The President was forced to accept a “status-of-forces agreement” with a timetable for American withdrawal – first from the cities by the end of June and from the country as a whole by the end of 2011 – and possibly earlier if the SOFA is rejected by an Iraqi referendum.

In Washington, the neocons now are scrambling to find themselves new places of influence. Some neocon-lites are hoping to decamp inside Hillary Clinton’s State Department. However, rumors also are rife in Washington that some think tanks are lightening their ranks of neocons in order to retain some influence with the new administration.

Ironically, one of the few remaining neocon strongholds is the Washington news media, where support for Israel’s punishing bombing campaign against Hamas in Gaza is nearly unanimous.

For instance, the Washington Post’s op-ed page has shed even the pretense of offering a balanced picture. On New Year’s Day, the Post ran two long op-ed pieces – one by Ephraim Sneh, chairman of the Strong Israel party, and another by Robert J. Lieber, author of The American Era: Power and Strategy for the 21st Century. Both articles defended Israel’s bombing attacks in retaliation for Hamas rocket fire.

The next day, Jan. 2, the Post offered two more columns, one by neocon stalwart Charles Krauthammer and the other by former Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson. Both op-eds enthusiastically endorsed Israel’s bombing campaign as morally righteous.

“Some geopolitical conflicts are morally complicated,” Krauthammer wrote. “The Israel-Gaza war is not. It possesses a moral clarity not only rare but excruciating.”

Gerson added, “There is no question – none – that Israel’s attack on Hamas in Gaza is justified.”

Gray Areas
Though typical of the absolutist neocon view that Israel is always right, the articles still are striking in their unwillingness to see any gray areas relating to the moral ambiguities that have surrounded the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for more than six decades.

Not only has Israel committed its share of outrages against Palestinians (and vice versa) but the neocons of the Washington news media still refuse to acknowledge the fundamental humanity of people from the Muslim world. In the neocon view, the lives of Arabs and other Muslims are cheap and their aspirations are of even less consequence.

The American neocons echo the stunning opinion of Israel Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who stated on Jan. 1 that – despite the widespread carnage in Gaza – “there is no humanitarian crisis in the strip, and therefore there is no need for a humanitarian truce.”

But that is not the view of everyone. In contrast to the Washington Post editorial section’s inability to see any moral ambiguity in the Israeli bombing campaign, Richard Falk, the United Nations rapporteur for the Palestinian territories, has deemed the Israeli attacks war crimes.

“The Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip represent severe and massive violations of international humanitarian law as defined in the Geneva Conventions, both in regard to the obligations of an Occupying Power and in the requirements of the laws of war,” Falk wrote on Dec. 30. 2008.

Among those violations, Falk cited: “Disproportionate military response. The airstrikes have not only destroyed every police and security office of Gaza's elected government, but have killed and injured hundreds of civilians; at least one strike reportedly hit groups of students attempting to find transportation home from the university.

“Earlier Israeli actions, specifically the complete sealing off of entry and exit to and from the Gaza Strip, have led to severe shortages of medicine and fuel (as well as food), resulting in the inability of ambulances to respond to the injured, the inability of hospitals to adequately provide medicine or necessary equipment for the injured, and the inability of Gaza's besieged doctors and other medical workers to sufficiently treat the victims.”

But the American neocons care little what happens to the Palestinians of Gaza. It matters not that they have been denied basic human rights for the past six decades, nor that some 1.5 million impoverished Palestinians are packed into the Gaza Strip with little hope for meaningful work or the ability to escape from what amounts to a giant prison.

Similarly, the neocons feel little or no remorse for the butchery in Iraq where hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have died and many more have been horribly maimed as a result of the U.S. invasion that the neocons demanded and rationalized. Indeed, it is difficult not to judge the neocons to be racist in their nonchalance toward the killing of Muslims, though the neocons would bristle at the assessment.

In many civilized societies, the intellectual and political authors of a crime against humanity as egregious as the Iraq War would be dragged from their offices in handcuffs and put on trial. In modern Washington, however, they don’t even lose their privileged spot on the Washington Post’s op-ed page.

But perhaps we all should feel some pity for the neocons. Their grand dreams of Middle East conquest – with them as modern-day Alexanders – have been reduced to them cheering as Israeli bombs smash apart the crowded neighborhoods of Gaza.

[Gold9472]

US gives Israel free reign on whether to invade Gaza

http://rawstory.com/news/afp/US_gives_Israel_free_reign_on_wheth_01022009.html

1/2/2009

The United States gave Israel free reign Friday on whether to send troops into the Gaza Strip, insisting that the key to a ceasefire is an Israeli demand for Hamas to permanently halt rocket fire.

But the White House said it has asked Israel to try hard to avoid civilian casualties as reserves were called up for an expected ground incursion on top of a week of air strikes that has killed more than 400 Palestinians.

"We've been in regular contact with the Israelis," White House deputy press secretary Gordon Johndroe told reporters when asked if US officials were trying to prevent a possible ground offensive.

US officials have urged the Israelis "to be mindful that any of the actions that they're taking in Gaza avoid unnecessary civilian casualties and also to help continue with the flow of humanitarian goods," he said.

"So I think any steps they are taking, whether it's from the air or on the ground or anything of that nature, are part and parcel of the same operation," Johndroe said.

"Those will be decisions made by the Israelis," he said.

"Israel has a right to defend itself from these rocket attacks, and so we'll see," Johndroe said when asked about progress toward a ceasefire.

After briefing Bush about events in Gaza, just 18 days before he hands the White House to his successor Barack Obama, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Washington was pursuing diplomacy with its partners in the Middle East.

"We are working toward a ceasefire that would not allow a re-establishment of the status quo ante where Hamas can continue to launch rockets out of Gaza," Rice told reporters outside the White House.

"It is obvious that that ceasefire should take place as soon as possible, but we need a ceasefire that is durable and sustainable."

Rice repeated the US stand that any ceasefire must be a "durable" one, in contrast to the previous six-month agreement that expired on December 19.

Gordon Duguid, a State Department spokesman, added that Rice has since New Year's Day spoken to former British prime minister Tony Blair, the envoy for the Middle East quartet of the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations.

She has also spoken since then to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and her counterparts David Miliband of Britain, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nayhan of the United Arab Emirates, Salah Bashir of Jordan and Ahmed Abul Gheit of Egypt, he said.

Duguid said she also spoke Friday to Karel Schwarzenberg, the foreign minister of the Czech Republic, which has assumed the rotating presidency of the European Union.

In the last week Rice has spoken with counterparts Tzipi Livni of Israel, Saud al-Faisal of Saudi Arabia, Javier Solana of the European Union and King Abdullah II of Jordan.

Rice again pinned the blame for the violence on Hamas, the Islamist Resitance Movement that seized power in Gaza in June 2007 after ousting the US-backed Palestinian Authority of Mahmud Abbas.

Asked if she planned to travel to the Middle East to broker an end to the crisis, Rice replied: "I have no plans at this point."

The Israeli offensive, launched a week ago on Saturday in response to a wave of rockets fired from Gaza, has killed at least 422 people and wounded more than 2,100 others.

It has prompted denunciations from around the world, but particularly from Arab and Muslim countries.

"Arab opinion, I hope will understand what we're trying to do. I understand that passions in the region are inflamed by the situation," Duguid said when asked if the US was concerned about Arab reaction.

"I only can offer them our sincerest efforts to try and work with our partners to achieve a ceasefire and move on and achieve a political settlement," he said.

He said a political dialogue was possible with Israel if Hamas renounces violence and recognizes Israel's right to exist.

Duguid added that the United States arranged for 27 people who are US citizens and their immediate family members to leave the Gaza Strip and travel to Amman, Jordan.

[Gold9472]

Gaza braces for Israeli ground assault
Paper: Invasion may begin 'tonight'

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Gaza_braces_for_Israeli_ground_assault_0102.html

2/2/2008

After a week of airstrikes on Hamas targets, leaving an estimated 420 dead and scores more injured, Israel is poised to launch what's said to be a "major ground offensive" into the Gaza strip.

"All along the border, Israeli tanks and troops have turned fields into makeshift camps from which to launch their offensive into Gaza," reported the Times Online. "The Government has already mobilised more than 6,000 reserve troops and has given the green light to call up almost 3,000 more.

"Artillery barrages were also being fired into the strip while aircraft dropped bombs on open ground that the army will need to cross, and where Hamas has placed mines and dug tunnels to allow its guerrillas to outflank the invaders."

The lives of four Israeli's have been claimed by rockets fired from Palestine. Early Friday, the same rockets were said to have within their potential range Israel's Dimona nuclear facility.

The same day, Hamas called for a "day of wrath" after an Israeli air strike killed Nizar Rayan, a firebrand hardliner, and several of his wives and children.

Rayan is the most senior Islamist figure killed by Israel since Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi in 2004 and Hamas again warned that it could resume suicide operations against Israel for the first time since January 2005 to avenge his death.

"After the last crime, all options are open to counter this aggression, including martyr operations against Zionist targets everywhere," Hamas official Ismail Radwan vowed after the attack.

"Support for Operation Cast Lead is sky high in Israel, with polls showing that almost 85 per cent of the public backing the campaign," said the Times.

"There is also majority support for expanding it into a ground campaign, despite the dangers of high casualties in an urban battlefield against highly trained and motivated guerrillas waging war on their own turf. Almost 42 per cent of Israelis wanted the army to move in, while 39 percent favoured a continued air campaign."

"We've been in regular contact with the Israelis," White House deputy press secretary Gordon Johndroe told reporters when asked if US officials were trying to prevent a possible ground offensive.

US officials have urged the Israelis "to be mindful that any of the actions that they're taking in Gaza avoid unnecessary civilian casualties and also to help continue with the flow of humanitarian goods," he said.

"So I think any steps they are taking, whether it's from the air or on the ground or anything of that nature, are part and parcel of the same operation," Johndroe said.

"Those will be decisions made by the Israelis," he said.

[Gold9472]

Israel set to begin ground war against Hamas in Gaza

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article5434559.ece

2/2/2009

Israel is poised to launch a major ground offensive into Gaza tonight after allowing hundreds of foreigners living in the devastated territory to evacuate.

After a week of air strikes that have killed at least 420 Palestinians and left scores of buildings in rubble, the Israeli army was set to fling hundreds of troops and tanks into a blitz to stamp out Hamas’s military wing, The Times understands.

Despite the looming onslaught, more Hamas rockets – which have so far killed four Israelis – were fired into southern Israel today.

The Islamist group vowed that its attacks, which have lasted for years and which finally provoked the massive Israeli campaign, would not stop.

“I call on the resistance to continue pounding Jewish settlements and cities,” said Sheikh Abdelrahman al-Jamal at the funeral of a hardline Hamas political leader killed, together with his four wives and 11 children, in an Israeli air strike on his home.

“We will remain on the path of jihad until the end of days.”

The funeral was held outdoors because an earlier air raid had smashed the mosque where the service was due to take place. Israel said the building had been used to stockpile weapons.

Among the mounting Palestinian death toll today were three young brothers, aged between seven and 10, who were killed in one of the 30 or so strikes carried out by Israeli warplanes across the strip.

All along the border, Israeli tanks and troops have turned fields into makeshift camps from which to launch their offensive into Gaza. The Government has already mobilised more than 6,000 reserve troops and has given the green light to call up almost 3,000 more.

Artillery barrages were also being fired into the strip while aircraft dropped bombs on open ground that the army will need to cross, and where Hamas has placed mines and dug tunnels to allow its guerrillas to outflank the invaders.

Support for Operation Cast Lead is sky high in Israel, with polls showing that almost 85 per cent of the public backing the campaign.

There is also majority support for expanding it into a ground campaign, despite the dangers of high casualties in an urban battlefield against highly trained and motivated guerrillas waging war on their own turf. Almost 42 per cent of Israelis wanted the army to move in, while 39 percent favoured a continued air campaign.

Hamas has an estimated 15,000 fighters who have used the 18 months that they have controlled the strip to hone their skills and transform a militia into a small army. Hamas’s military wing has been waiting for a ground offensive to face the Israeli army in open combat, despite Israel’s vast military superiority.

The onslaught has provoked large anti-Israeli demonstrations around the world, with protest rallies held today in India, Indonesia, Turkey and Australia.

But Hamas’s call for a “day of wrath” in the Palestinian territories produced only a lukewarm response in the face of clampdowns by Israeli security forces.

Several thousand protesters marched through the West Bank city of Ramallah, while in East Jerusalem youths threw stones at Israeli security forces and some 50 women demonstrated outside the Friday prayers at al-Aqsa mosque.

The demonstrators directed their anger principally at their own Palestinian leaders, and heads of Arab countries whom they felt had not done enough to stop Israel’s seven-day incursion into Gaza.

“Abbas is with the Jews, not with the Arabs. If he really was supporting and working in favour of our Arab brother’s in Gaza, this wouldn’t have happened,” said Um-Mahr, a 66-year-old resident of East Jerusalem.

Akram Jwaeibis, 58, said Arab leaders today were afraid to do more than voice criticism of the Israeli government’s actions. “Most of them just talk. That is why we are waiting for Nasrallah. Or Haniyeh to do something more than talk.”

Diplomatic efforts to contain the crisis were growing after Israel’s surprise offensive in the days after Christmas caught the world off guard. “We are working toward a ceasefire that would not allow a re-establishment of the status quo ante where Hamas can continue to launch rockets out of Gaza,” said Condoleezza Rice, the outgoing US Secretary of State.

“It is obvious that that ceasefire should take place as soon as possible, but we need a ceasefire that is durable and sustainable,” she said.

A high-level European delegation is due in the region at the weekend, as were Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, and Tony Blair, the international community’s envoy to the Middle East.

[Gold9472]

Understanding the Gaza Catastrophe

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/richard-falk/understanding-the-gaza-ca_b_154777.html

Richard Falk
1/2/2009

For eighteen months the entire 1.5 million people of Gaza experienced a punishing blockade imposed by Israel, and a variety of traumatizing challenges to the normalcy of daily life. A flicker of hope emerged some six months ago when an Egyptian arranged truce produced an effective ceasefire that cut Israeli casualties to zero despite the cross-border periodic firing of homemade rockets that fell harmlessly on nearby Israeli territory, and undoubtedly caused anxiety in the border town of Sderot. During the ceasefire the Hamas leadership in Gaza repeatedly offered to extend the truce, even proposing a ten-year period and claimed a receptivity to a political solution based on acceptance of Israel's 1967 borders. Israel ignored these diplomatic initiatives, and failed to carry out its side of the ceasefire agreement that involved some easing of the blockade that had been restricting the entry to Gaza of food, medicine, and fuel to a trickle.

Israel also refused exit permits to students with foreign fellowship awards and to Gazan journalists and respected NGO representatives. At the same time, it made it increasingly difficult for journalists to enter, and I was myself expelled from Israel a couple of weeks ago when I tried to enter to carry out my UN job of monitoring respect for human rights in occupied Palestine, that is, in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, as well as Gaza. Clearly, prior to the current crisis, Israel used its authority to prevent credible observers from giving accurate and truthful accounts of the dire humanitarian situation that had been already documented as producing severe declines in the physical condition and mental health of the Gazan population, especially noting malnutrition among children and the absence of treatment facilities for those suffering from a variety of diseases. The Israeli attacks were directed against a society already in grave condition after a blockade maintained during the prior 18 months.

As always in relation to the underlying conflict, some facts bearing on this latest crisis are murky and contested, although the American public in particular gets 99% of its information filtered through an exceedingly pro-Israeli media lens. Hamas is blamed for the breakdown of the truce by its supposed unwillingness to renew it, and by the alleged increased incidence of rocket attacks. But the reality is more clouded. There was no substantial rocket fire from Gaza during the ceasefire until Israel launched an attack last November 4th directed at what it claimed were Palestinian militants in Gaza, killing several Palestinians. It was at this point that rocket fire from Gaza intensified. Also, it was Hamas that on numerous public occasions called for extending the truce, with its calls never acknowledged, much less acted upon, by Israeli officialdom. Beyond this, attributing all the rockets to Hamas is not convincing either. A variety of independent militia groups operate in Gaza, some such as the Fatah-backed al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade are anti-Hamas, and may even be sending rockets to provoke or justify Israeli retaliation. It is well confirmed that when US-supported Fatah controlled Gaza's governing structure it was unable to stop rocket attacks despite a concerted effort to do so.

What this background suggests strongly is that Israel launched its devastating attacks, starting on December 27, not simply to stop the rockets or in retaliation, but also for a series of unacknowledged reasons. It was evident for several weeks prior to the Israeli attacks that the Israeli military and political leaders were preparing the public for large-scale military operations against the Hamas. The timing of the attacks seemed prompted by a series of considerations: most of all, the interest of political contenders, the Defense Minister Ehud Barak and the Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, in demonstrating their toughness prior to national elections scheduled for February, but now possibly postponed until military operations cease. Such Israeli shows of force have been a feature of past Israeli election campaigns, and on this occasion especially, the current government was being successfully challenged by Israel's notoriously militarist politician, Benjamin Netanyahu, for its supposed failures to uphold security. Reinforcing these electoral motivations was the little concealed pressure from the Israeli military commanders to seize the opportunity in Gaza to erase the memories of their failure to destroy Hezbollah in the devastating Lebanon War of 2006 that both tarnished Israel's reputation as a military power and led to widespread international condemnation of Israel for the heavy bombardment of undefended Lebanese villages, disproportionate force, and extensive use of cluster bombs against heavily populated areas.

Respected and conservative Israeli commentators go further. For instance, the prominent historian, Benny Morris writing in the New York Times a few days ago, relates the campaign in Gaza to a deeper set of forebodings in Israel that he compares to the dark mood of the public that preceded the 1967 War when Israelis felt deeply threatened by Arab mobilizations on their borders. Morris insists that despite Israeli prosperity of recent years, and relative security, several factors have led Israel to act boldly in Gaza: the perceived continuing refusal of the Arab world to accept the existence of Israel as an established reality; the inflammatory threats voiced by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad together with Iran's supposed push to acquire nuclear weapons, the fading memory of the Holocaust combined with growing sympathy in the West with the Palestinian plight, and the radicalization of political movements on Israel's borders in the form of Hezbollah and Hamas. In effect, Morris argues that Israel is trying via the crushing of Hamas in Gaza to send a wider message to the region that it will stop at nothing to uphold its claims of sovereignty and security.

There are two conclusions that emerge: the people of Gaza are being severely victimized for reasons remote from the rockets and border security concerns, but seemingly to improve election prospects of current leaders now facing defeat, and to warn others in the region that Israel will use overwhelming force whenever its interests are at stake.

That such a human catastrophe can happen with minimal outside interference also shows the weakness of international law and the United Nations, as well as the geopolitical priorities of the important players. The passive support of the United States government for whatever Israel does is again the critical factor, as it was in 2006 when it launched its aggressive war against Lebanon. What is less evident is that the main Arab neighbors, Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia, with their extreme hostility toward Hamas that is viewed as backed by Iran, their main regional rival, were also willing to stand aside while Gaza was being so brutally attacked, with some Arab diplomats even blaming the attacks on Palestinian disunity or on the refusal of Hamas to accept the leadership of Mamoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority.

The people of Gaza are victims of geopolitics at its inhumane worst: producing what Israel itself calls a 'total war' against an essentially defenseless society that lacks any defensive military capability whatsoever and is completely vulnerable to Israeli attacks mounted by F-16 bombers and Apache helicopters. What this also means is that the flagrant violation of international humanitarian law, as set forth in the Geneva Conventions, is quietly set aside while the carnage continues and the bodies pile up. It additionally means that the UN is once more revealed to be impotent when its main members deprive it of the political will to protect a people subject to unlawful uses of force on a large scale. Finally, this means that the public can shriek and march all over the world, but that the killing will go on as if nothing is happening. The picture being painted day by day in Gaza is one that begs for renewed commitment to international law and the authority of the UN Charter, starting here in the United States, especially with a new leadership that promised its citizens change, including a less militarist approach to diplomatic leadership.

[Gold9472]

Israeli assault on Gaza enters 2nd week with no end in sight

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jhrFEfw6bwl1IbpenN2C_PFBRSiA

1 hour ago

GAZA CITY (AFP) — Israeli planes and ships pounded Gaza on Saturday as the assault on Hamas entered its second week, with the Islamists' leader promising a "black destiny" if ground troops are sent in.

Amid growing concern for the humanitarian condition in the densely-populated territory, the United States gave its close ally free rein to push on with a ground offensive, insisting that the key to a ceasefire is Israel's demand for Hamas to permanently halt rocket fire.

"I think any steps they are taking, whether it's from the air or on the ground or anything of that nature, are part and parcel of the same operation," said White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe.

"Those will be decisions made by the Israelis."

Hamas's Syrian-based chief Khaled Meshaal told Israel that "if you commit the stupidity of launching a ground offensive then a black destiny awaits you.

"You will soon find out that Gaza is the wrath of God," Meshaal said in pre-taped remarks as the death toll rose from bombing and concerns grew about the humanitarian situation in the Hamas-ruled Palestinian territory.

President George W. Bush, meanwhile, urged all able parties to press Hamas to stop firing on Israel to facilitate a lasting ceasefire.

"The United States is leading diplomatic efforts to achieve a meaningful ceasefire that is fully respected," Bush said in his weekly Saturday radio address, the text of which was released late on Friday.

"I urge all parties to pressure Hamas to turn away from terror, and to support legitimate Palestinian leaders working for peace."

Bush said Hamas was responsible for the latest violence and rejected a unilateral ceasefire that would allow Hamas to continue to fire on Israel.

"This recent outburst of violence was instigated by Hamas -- a Palestinian terrorist group supported by Iran and Syria that calls for Israel's destruction," Bush said.

On the ground, Israeli tanks and troops stood ready along the 60 kilometre (37 mile) border with Gaza, waiting for the government's greenlight.

Warplanes and navy ships carried out 20 strikes against targets across the Gaza overnight on Saturday, hitting homes of senior Hamas figures and several of the group's coastal posts, the army said.

Children continued to fall victim to Israel's assault on Hamas in one of the world's most densely-populated places.

On Friday, a missile fired by an Israeli jet killed three boys when it slammed into a house in southern Gaza. It was one of more than 58 fresh raids carried out on Friday.

A 12-year-old girl died of her wounds after the bombing of a house near Gaza City belonging to a member of Islamic Jihad, and two gunmen from the armed wing of Hamas were killed in Jabaliya after firing rockets, medics said.

At the same time, the armed wing of Hamas said it had repelled a patrol of Israeli special forces attempting to cross the border into Gaza.

A spokesman said the army was "not familiar with the incident," adding that no soldiers had crossed into Gaza since the beginning of the air campaign on December 27.

Since then, at least 435 people have been killed, including 66 children, and 2,150 wounded, according to Gaza medics.

The bombardment has demolished dozens of houses and heightened concern over the humanitarian situation in Gaza, where most of the 1.5 million residents depend on foreign aid.

"The protection of civilians, the fabric of life, the future of the peace talks and of the regional peace process has been trapped between the irresponsibility of the Hamas attacks and the excessiveness of the Israeli response," Robert Serry, the UN envoy for the Middle East, told reporters in Jerusalem.

Max Gaylard, the UN humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinian territories, said "there is a critical emergency in the Gaza Strip right now ... By any definition this is a humanitarian crisis and more."

Thousands of Hamas faithful attended the funeral of Nizar Rayan -- a firebrand hardliner who was killed with his four wives and 11 children on Thursday.

Hamas vowed to avenge the death of the most senior Hamas leader killed by Israel since Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi in 2004 and warned that it could resume suicide attacks against Israel for the first time since January 2005.

Thousands of protesters took to the streets of Gaza and the occupied West Bank after Hamas called for a "day of wrath." Police fired tear gas at rock-throwing youths in annexed east Jerusalem.

With a ground offensive widely expected and no ceasefire in sight, the Israeli army opened a border crossing to allow an estimated 400 people with foreign passports to leave Gaza.

Hamas fired more than 30 rockets into Israel, but no casualties were reported.

Militants have fired more than 360 rockets into Israel over seven days, killing four people and wounding dozens more.

The offensive has sparked angry protests in the Muslim world and elsewhere across the globe and defied diplomatic efforts to broker a truce.

[Gold9472]

Airstrike in Gaza Reportedly Kills Senior Hamas Leader

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,475525,00.html

1/3/2008

An Israeli airstrike Saturday killed a senior Hamas commander, Reuters reported.

The airstrike in Gaza killed Abu Zakaria al-Jamal, a senior leader of the armed wing of Hamas.

The Israeli army would only say it carried out a series of air attacks through the night.

In another strike Friday the Israeli Air Force bombed the house of top Hamas operative Imad Akel. The Israeli military reported hearing secondary blasts at the house, indicating the presence of a stash of weapons and explosives in the home, the Jerusalem Post reported.

On Thursday an Israeli warplane dropped a 2,000-pound bomb on the home of one of Hamas' top five decision-makers, instantly killing him and 18 others.

The airstrike on Nizar Rayan was the first that succeeded in killing a member of Hamas' highest echelon since Israel began its offensive.

Meanwhile, senior leadership in Israel has given the thumbs up for a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip, sources tell FOX News, though the latest developments still don't mean such action is inevitable.

A ground invasion could happen soon if international diplomacy fails to broker a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, who have been trading cross-border fire for the past week.

Israel launched its new round of airstrikes on Gaza in response to renewed missile attacks by Hamas after the two sides' six-month cease-fire ended last month. A ground invasion of the territory has looked increasingly likely, as Israel has been bringing artillery, armor and infantry to the border.

Israel bombed a mosque it claimed was used to store weapons and destroyed homes of more than a dozen Hamas operatives Friday, but under international pressure, the government allowed hundreds of Palestinians with foreign passports to leave besieged Gaza.

Exiled Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal said from Damascus on Friday that his militant group was prepared for an invasion and could abduct more soldiers if Israel attempts the incursion.

"If you commit a foolish act by raiding Gaza, who knows, we may have a second or a third or a fourth Shalit," he said, according to Reuters. Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit was kidnapped by Hamas in a cross-border raid more than two years ago.

Hamas, whose charter specifically calls for the destruction of the state of Israel, had ordered a "day of wrath" against Israel on Friday over the killing of a senior commander.

In last 48 hours, the U.S. government has helped 27 Americans get out of Gaza, and has heard no reports of any Americans being injured during the assault, according to State Department spokesman Gordon Duguid. Evacuated Americans were taken by bus to Amman, Jordan, but more Americans are believed to be in Gaza.

President Bush, in a radio address taped Friday, accused Hamas of an "act of terror" in its rocket attacks into Israel and suggested that no cease-fire would be acceptable without monitoring to halt the flow of weapons to terrorist groups.

Israel launched the aerial campaign last Saturday in a bid to halt weeks of intensifying Palestinian rocket fire from Gaza. The offensive has dealt a heavy blow to Hamas, but failed to halt the rocket fire. New attacks Friday struck apartment buildings in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon, though no serious injuries were reported.

The United Nations estimated Friday that around 100 civilians have been killed in Gaza in the past week, around 25 percent of the 400 estimated killed in the bombing campaign.

The Israeli military called at least some of the houses ahead of time to warn inhabitants of an impending attack. In some cases, it also fired a sound bomb to warn away civilians before flattening the homes with powerful missiles, Palestinians and Israeli defense officials said.

Three Israeli civilians and one soldier have also died in the Hamas rocket attacks, which have reached deeper into Israel than ever before, bringing one-eighth of Israel's population of 7 million within rocket range.

Hamas is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States and many other Western nations. From 2001 through May 2008, Hamas launched more than 3,000 Qassam rockets and 2,500 mortar attacks against Israeli targets.

[Gold9472]

Israel assault on Gaza enters second week, ground troops ready for invasion
CNN reports Israel jets are dropping leaflets on northern Gaza, warning civilians to leave immediately

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Israel_assault_on_Gaza_enters_second_0103.html

1/3/2008

GAZA CITY (AFP) – Israeli air strikes claimed a Hamas military commander and destroyed a Gaza school on Saturday as an assault on Gaza which has so far killed more than 440 Palestinians entered its second week.

Troops and tanks massed at the border remained on alert to advance into Gaza after seven days that have seen more than 750 air raids launched against Hamas leaders and military targets.

Israeli media reports said a ground offensive was imminent.

Exiled Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal warned Israel of a "black destiny" if it invades. But US leaders have given their key Middle East ally free rein to begin a ground operation, again blaming Hamas for sparking the new conflict.

More than 30 air raids on Saturday hit Hamas targets across the densely populated territory.

One strike killed Mohammad al-Jammal, 40, who Gaza sources said was a Hamas military commander. Israel said he was responsible "for the entire rocket launching enterprise in all of Gaza City."

Jammal's death came two days after an air raid killed top Hamas leader Nizar Rayyan.

Another raid demolished a school in northern Gaza and killed a guard there. Israel said its warplanes had targeted "a college used as a base for firing a large number of rockets."

Two people were killed when a strike hit their car in the southern city of Khan Yunis, medics said.

Militants responded with some 10 rockets and mortar rounds, lightly wounding two people in the Israeli port of Ashdod, officials said.

The Israeli strikes have so far failed in their declared aim of ending rocket fire from Gaza. Militants have fired some 500 rockets and mortar rounds at Israel over the past week, killing four people and wounding several dozen.

There is mounting international concern over the humanitarian impact of "Operation Cast Lead" which has left at least 442 Palestinians dead and 2,290 wounded. At least 75 of those killed have been children, Gaza medics said.

Maxwell Gaylard, the UN humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinian territories, said on Friday "there is a critical emergency in the Gaza Strip right now. By any definition this is a humanitarian crisis and more."

About 80 percent of the 1.5 million population relies on international food aid .

But the United States has given fresh backing to Israel, insisting that the key to a truce is Israel's demand that Hamas stop firing rockets.

"I think any steps they are taking, whether it's from the air or on the ground or anything of that nature, are part and parcel of the same operation," White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said.

In his weekly Saturday radio address, the text of which was released by the White House late on Friday, President George W. Bush called on Hamas "to turn away from terror, and to support legitimate Palestinian leaders working for peace."

Bush blamed Hamas for the violence and rejected calls for a unilateral ceasefire that he said would allow the Islamists to continue targeting Israel with rocket and mortar fire.

Thousands of Israeli troops with tanks are waiting along the 60-kilometre (37-mile) border with Gaza for the green light from the government to advance.

Amid new diplomatic efforts to halt the fighting, Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas was to meet French President counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy in Ramallah on Monday. He was then to travel to New York to appeal for a ceasefire at the UN Security Council.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Saturday met Iran's Supreme National Security Council chief Saeed Jalili to discuss the Gaza crisis, Syria's official SANA news agency reported.

Jalili also met the exiled Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal and Islamic Jihad leader Ramadan Abdullah Shallah on Friday, a Palestinian source said.

In a televised speech on Friday night, Meshaal warned Israel: "If you commit the stupidity of launching a ground offensive then a black destiny awaits you."

The week of Israeli strikes has destroyed Hamas government buildings, the homes of senior Islamist officials, mosques, schools and other buildings said to have stored weapons, and roads and tunnels used to smuggle arms and supplies.

Israel has kept the territory virtually sealed since Hamas seized power there in June 2007 from Fatah forces loyal to the secular Abbas.

[Gold9472]

Former television star Roseanne Barr has denounced Israel's military campaign against Hamas in Gaza, labeling Israel a "Nazi state."

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1230733139909&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

1/3/2009

In a post on her personal blog, which appears at her Web site, Roseanne World, the comedienne, who is Jewish, wrote on December 30 that she had planned to travel with pro-Palestinian activists on a protest boat sailing from Cyprus to Gaza.

After an encounter with an Israel Navy vessel, the boat was turned back and sailed into a Lebanese port on Tuesday.

"I said Israel will attack any boat carrying doctors and medical supplies," Barr wrote on her blog, adding that, "Israel is a NAZI state. The Jewish Soul is being tortured in Israel."

The Emmy-award winning actress, who has courted controversy in the past, also condemned Israel's counter-terror operation against Hamas, asserting that, "The destruction of the Jews in Israel has been assured with this inhuman attack on civilians in Gaza."

In her post, Barr likened Hamas to "street gangs" in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Watts, saying that Israel's military campaign is the "equivalent to Los Angeles attacking and launching war on the people of Watts to kill 'the Bloods' and 'the Crips.'"

Barr's comments were revealed by the Newsbusters Web site, which is a project of the conservative media watchdog group, the Media Research Center.

[Gold9472]

Israel invades Gaza in attempt to destroy Hamas
Israel has launched a ground invasion of Gaza, sending a column of troops and tanks into the Palestinian territory to destroy Hamas rocket launchers.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/palestinianauthority/4093083/Israel-invades-Gaza-in-attempt-to-destroy-Hamas.html

By Tim Butcher in Jerusalem
Last Updated: 7:56PM GMT 03 Jan 2009

The incursion, which began under cover of darkness near Beit Lahiya near Gaza’s northern border, represents a significant escalation of the week-long conflict between Israel and Hamas.

“This is the second stage of our operation against Hamas infrastructure,” said an Israeli defence spokeswoman on television. “It is to control the launch sites responsible for launching thousands of rockets at civilians in Israel.

“We will stay as long as we need to stay to achieve our goals.

The sudden move followed a day of heightened air strikes, designed to decapitate the Hamas military leadership, and an artillery bombardment intended to soften up resistence on the ground.

It also came in defiance of calls from European leaders - including Gordon Brown - for Israel to scale back its violent attack on Gaza.

Mr Brown said "too many" had died already.

Television footage - in the green and black tones of night-vision equipment - showed troops and tanks rolling across the border, as tracer fire whipped overhead.

The defence spokeswoman said Israeli troops had trained for the sort of urban guerrilla warfare they are likely to encounter against Hamas.

She also said air strikes had so far destroyed about a third of the tunnels used by Hamas to smuggle weapons into Gaza - and that troops would destroy the rest.

Israel's prime minister Ehud Olmert has said that tens of thousands of Israeli reservists were being called up to help with the invasion.

Open fields near the north Gazan town of Beit Hanoun were churned up by the impacts of 155 mm shells fired by M109 self-propelled howitzers before the invasion.

Artillery is often used before ground assualts to clear territory of booby traps and enemy combatants prior to a land invasion.

Israel had already renewed its attempts to decapitate the leadership of Hamas in missile strikes, killing a top military commander as it pounded targets in Gaza for the eighth day.

The cabinet deliberated late into Friday night before reaching a consensus to prolong the air campaign.

The tactics paid swift dividends with the death of Mohammed al-Jamal, 40, the most senior commander from the Hamas armed wing Izzedine al-Qassam to be killed so far. Jamal, also known by his nom de guerre Abu Zakariya, died from injuries sustained in a street side missile strike.

Israel said he was responsible for all rocket fire from central Gaza City and sources in Gaza described him as military commander for the Tel el Howa district, site of a ministerial compound heavily bombed by Israel in the first week of its campaign.

Debate between Ehud Olmert, Israel's prime minister, Tzipi Livni, foreign minister, Ehud Barak, defence minister, and military chiefs was intense with the meeting running much longer than expected and lasting over four hours. While discussions within the Israeli war cabinet have been increasingly protracted, there have been no signs of fundamental divisions emerging.

Israel has not fired artillery into Gaza since a self-imposed moratorium following an accident in which an Israeli artillery barrage killed 18 members of the Athamneh family in Beit Hanoun two years ago.

Some witnesses saw large numbers of Israeli Merkava main battle tanks moving toward the border and the Israeli government broadcast a warning to all Israeli civilians near the border to expect an intensification of rocket fire from Gaza.

The Israeli army made no immediate comment on the artillery operation which came amid mounting speculation that Israel would send troops into Gaza.

Diplomatic efforts to end the fighting are likely to rest on persuading key decision makers to pause attacks or seek a ceasefire. Mr Brown issued his strongest comments yet on the crisis, calling for an immediate end to hostilities and declaring that "too many" had died.

"The Prime Minister has spoken again today to Prime Minister Olmert, and is pressing hard for an immediate ceasefire," a Downing Street spokesman said. "Rocket attacks from Hamas must stop, and we have called for a halt to Israeli military action in Gaza. Too many have died, and we need space to get humanitarian supplies to those who need them.

"We are working urgently with international partners to address the underlying causes of the conflict, including trafficking of arms into Gaza. Action is necessary to reopen the Gaza/ Egypt border, but in a way that does not undermine Israel's security."

The most senior Hamas military commander to die in previous attacks was Ismail Jaabari, leader of a local militia known as "Protection and God" who was killed at the outset of the attacks a week earlier.

Israel's ability to identify and target an individual Hamas moving in the open raised suspicions they were working with information provided by informers.

Jamal's killing represented another coup for Israel after an airstrike on Thursday killed Nizar Rayan, a senior Hamas political leader responsible for policy and strategy.

Pleas from aid groups, the United Nations and the European Union for an immediate ceasefire to help deal with a humanitarian crisis faced by Gaza's 1.5 million population have so far been frustrated by continuing rocket fire from the Strip. Israel showed no willingness to let up on a campaign that it believes has pushed Hamas into a corner while Hamas militants continued to fire rockets into Israel in spite of the threat of immediate targeted reprisals by Israel.

The war cabinet was briefed on an armed forces list of fresh targets that were later attacked including two houses that Israel claimed were the homes of Hamas leaders.

"The house of Hamas terror operative Ismail Renam in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza Strip, which functioned as a weaponry storage, specifically for rocket launching equipment,'' the list said. "Renam has a central role in the launching of Grad type rockets against Israel.

And in an airstrike on a mosque in the town of Beit Lahiya that was full of worshippers left at least ten Palestinians dead and dozens injured.

At least 10 bodies were pulled from the rubble of the Ibrahim al-Maqadna mosque in Jabaliya, including two brothers aged 10 and 12, they said.

"The house of Azadin Hadad, a Hamas terror operative in Gaza City, that was used to orchestrate terror activity and as a meeting place for terror operatives. Hadad is the head of the Hamas military group in eastern Gaza city.'' In another strike a car near the southern city of Khan Yunis was attacked killing two men, medics said. The identity of the victims was not immediately available.

East of the Khan Yunis refugee camp, a missile narrowly missed a car carrying militants who escaped unharmed, witnesses said.

A guard was killed when a missile struck and demolished a school in the northern town of Beit Lahiya, medics said.

The Israeli armed forces said they had targeted "a college used as a base for firing a large number of rockets."

Israel continued to bar foreign media, including the Telegraph, from reaching Gaza, failing to follow an order from the Israeli supreme court to allow in a limited number. The order came after a case brought the foreign press association in Israel.

According to an unconfirmed count 442 Palestinians and 4 Israelis have been killed since operation Cast Lead began last week.

[Gold9472]

Thousands in London condemn Israeli bombing of Gaza

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Thousands_in_London_condemn_Israeli_bombing_0103.h tml

1/3/2009

LONDON (AFP) — About 12,000 people marched through London Saturday in protest against Israel's military offensive on Gaza, police said, in a demonstration that began peacefully but ended in a string of arrests.

Many people carried red, green, white and black Palestinian flags and some chanted "Israel terrorists" and "Free, free Palestine" as they filed along the River Thames towards Trafalgar Square.

Police said about 12,000 people took part, but organisers of the Stop the War Coalition estimated the crowd at around 50,000.

Some protesters threw their shoes at the iron gates of British premier Gordon Brown's Downing Street home to express their anger at his refusal to condemn Israeli airstrikes that have killed hundreds of Palestinians.

Brown issued a statement saying he had urged Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to agree to an "immediate ceasefire", and foreign minister David Miliband repeated this call after Israeli tanks went in to Gaza later Saturday.

After the march through London, about 5,000 people gathered outside the Israeli embassy, police said, where they were confronted with hundreds of police officers in riot gear.

Police said a small number of people threw sticks at them, but the Stop the War Coalition complained of heavy handed policing. Fifteen arrests were made.

Later, when news of the Israeli ground operation broke, the coalition called for further protests outside the Israeli embassy on Sunday and all next week.

Attending the main march were veteran left-wing politician Tony Benn and former Eurythmics singer Annie Lennox, who said that both the Palestinians and Israelis were "wrong" and a total ceasefire was the only option.

Lennox said the intervention from US President George W. Bush blaming Hamas for starting the violence would only inflame the situation.

"The problem is, from my perspective, they are pouring petrol onto the fire," she told the BBC.

"They have to sit down. This is a small window of opportunity just before things kick off.

"For every one person killed in Gaza, they are creating 100 suicide bombers. It's not just about Gaza, it's about all of us."

One protester, Nadim Dimechkie, a 31-year-old British-Palestinian writer from London, said Israel had been heavy-handed in its response to the firing of Hamas rockets into Israeli territory.

"The Israeli response has been disproportionate and it is creating a lot of angry young Palestinians because you cannot force people to live in a prison. If you do, they will fight," he said.

Alexei Sayle, an actor and comedian well known to British TV audiences, also took part. He said: "As a Jew it's very moving to see so many people who are so outraged at Israel's actions.

"Israel is a democratic country that is behaving like a terrorist organisation."

Protests against Israel's campaign have been held across Britain all week, and on Saturday about 2,000 people gathered in Manchester, northwest England, a further 500 each in Edinburgh and Glasgow in Scotland, and in Portsmouth, southeast England, as well as 300 in the western city of Bristol.

[Gold9472]

No word from Obama as Gaza crisis deepens


http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/assets/library/barack-obama--123088310392765000.jpg

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/No_word_from_Obama_as_Gaza_0103.html

1/3/2009

With less than three weeks until the inauguration of Barack Obama, the president-elect has stayed silent on the deepening crisis in Gaza as Israel begins a ground invasion against Hamas.

Members of Obama's transition team have only said their boss is "monitoring" the situation, where at least 460 people have already been killed in eight days of air raids.

Obama's national security spokeswoman Brooke Anderson issued a statement after the ground assault got underway, but offered no further comment on the violence in Gaza except to use a phrase repeated often by Obama and his aides:

"There is one president at a time and we intend to respect that."

Obama has spent the last several weeks pushing for an economic stimulus plan and has said that fixing the broken US economy is his top priority.

The soon-to-be president would face immense difficulty with his economic plans if he makes any move deemed "anti-Israel," according to a Friday opinion column.

"The White House will see its prime political enterprise, the economic recovery programme, immediately held hostage," according to the column.

Obama's silence is drawing criticism among Arabs who have grown skeptical that his administration will break with the Middle East policies of his predecessor.

The satellite TV network Al Jazeera contrasted footage of Obama wearing shorts and playing golf in Hawaii with scenes of the carnage in Gaza, by way of highlighting what it called "the deafening silence from the Obama team."

[Gold9472]

Kristol says Gaza invasion 'a favor for Obama'

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Kristol_Gaza_invasion_a_favor_for_0104.html

David Edwards and Andrew McLemore
Published: Sunday January 4, 2009

Bill Kristol thinks that President-elect Barack Obama should be thankful for Israel's attack on Gaza.

"If you care about the peace process you should want Israel to embarrass and humiliate Hamas. That's the only chance -- there would be no peace process if Hamas were governing Gaza. That would be the worst thing for Obama. This is a favor for Obama if it de legitimizes and weakens Hamas," Kristol said.

Asked by Wallace how similar the invasion of Gaza is to Israel's battle with Hezbollah in Lebanon in the summer of 2006, Kristol said it would "be an achievement" if Israel could bring peace to its southern border with Palestine the way it did with Lebanon in the north.

But Wallace and Juan Williams of National Public Radio both said there is a real danger that the invasion of Gaza will only "empower" Hamas,

"It seems to me they're aiming for Israel having to occupy Gaza," Williams said. "They say they're not, but how else are you going to in fact stop these folks from firing these rockets?"

"If you really want peace, you cannot have people who do not acknowledge the legitimacy of Israel," Williams said.

Obama has laid low for the Israeli invasion of Gaza, saying nothing to the press about his position on the worsening violence.

Members of Obama's transition team have only said their boss is "monitoring" the situation, where at least 460 people have already been killed in eight days of air raids.

This video is from Fox's Fox News Sunday, broadcast Jan. 4, 2008.

Video At Source

[Gold9472]

US blocks UN Security Council action on Gaza

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gJledWNoIBc43rLj-CsczJss5dXwD95G3Q387

By EDITH M. LEDERER – 16 hours ago

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United States late Saturday blocked approval of a U.N. Security Council statement calling for an immediate cease-fire in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel and expressing concern at the escalation of violence between Israel and Hamas.

U.S. deputy ambassador Alejandro Wolff said the United States saw no prospect of Hamas abiding by last week's council call for an immediate end to the violence. Therefore, he said, a new statement at this time "would not be adhered to and would have no underpinning for success, would not do credit to the council."

France's U.N. Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert, the current council president, announced that there was no agreement among members on a statement. But he said there were "strong convergences" among the 15 members to express serious concern about the deteriorating situation in Gaza and the need for "an immediate, permanent and fully respected cease-fire."

Arab nations demanded that the council adopt a statement calling for an immediate cease-fire following Israel's launch of a ground offensive in Gaza earlier Saturday, a view echoed by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Libya's U.N. Ambassador Giadalla Ettalhi, the only Arab member of the council, said the United States objected to "any outcome" during the closed council discussions on the proposed statement.

He said efforts were made to compromise and agree on a weaker press statement but there was no consensus.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Arab nations demanded Saturday that the United Nations Security Council call for an immediate cease-fire following Israel's launch of a ground offensive in Gaza, a view echoed by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Libya circulated a draft statement to council members before emergency council consultations began expressing "serious concern at the escalation of the situation in Gaza" following Israel's ground assault and calling on Israel and Hamas "to stop immediately all military activities."

The 15-member council then met behind closed doors to discuss a proposed presidential statement that would also call for all parties to address the humanitarian and economic needs in Gaza, including by opening border crossings.

Council diplomats said the United States opposed the presidential statement because it was similar to a press statement issued by members after Israeli warplanes launched the offensive a week ago that was not heeded. Presidential statements become part of the council's official record but press statements are weaker and do not.

The five permanent council members — the U.S., Britain, France, Russia and China — along with Libya, the only Arab nation on the council, then met privately to discuss possibly issuing another press statement.

"We need to have from the Security Council reaction tonight to bring this latest addition of aggression against our people in Gaza to an immediate halt," Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian U.N. observer told reporters.

The statement, if approved, would become part of the council's official record but would not have the weight of a Security Council resolution, which is legally binding.

Mansour said 3,000 Palestinians have been killed and injured since Israeli warplanes starting bombing Gaza a week ago. More than 480 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and four killed in Israel.

International criticism of the offensive has increased steadily, but Israel maintains the offensive is aimed at stopping the rocket attacks from Hamas-controlled Gaza that have traumatized southern Israel.

Before the council met Saturday night, Ban telephoned Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and said he was disappointed that Israel launched a ground offensive and "alarmed that this escalation will inevitably increase the already heavy suffering" of Palestinian civilians, the U.N. spokesman's office said in a statement.

"He called for an immediate end to the ground operation, and asked that Israel do all possible to ensure the protection of civilians and that humanitarian assistance is able to reach those in need," the statement said.

Ban reiterated his call for an immediate cease-fire and urged regional and international partners "to exert all possible influence to bring about an immediate end to the bloodshed and suffering," the statement said.

The secretary-general said the Israeli ground operation is complicating efforts by the Quartet of Mideast peacemakers — the U.N., the U.S., the European Union and Russia — to end the violence.

France's U.N. Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert echoed Ban.

"We think it's time for both parties to stop fighting and go back to the political track," said Ripert. He said he was speaking as French ambassador not as Security Council president, a job he took over on Jan. 1.

Several Arab foreign ministers are expected at U.N. headquarters on Monday to urge the Security Council to adopt a resolution ending the Israeli offensive. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas delayed his arrival until Tuesday so he can meet French President Nicolas Sarkozy in the West Bank.

[Gold9472]

Israel offensive heightens Gaza humanitarian crisis: aid agencies

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Israel_offensive_heightens_Gaza_humanitarian_crisi s_0104.html

Agence France-Presse
Published: Sunday January 4, 2009

GAZA CITY (AFP) — Israel's military onslaught against Hamas has aggravated Gaza's humanitarian crisis, with electricity and communications cut and the population now facing dire food shortages, aid agencies said Sunday.

The Israeli army said the World Food Programme halted emergency shipments to Gaza because its warehouses are full but the UN agency insisted it was desperate to get supplies into the enclave.

"The military incursion compounds the humanitarian crisis following more than a week of shelling and an 18-month long blockade of the territory," the UN humanitarian coordinatory said in a daily report.

There was an "almost total blackout" across most of Gaza and land and mobile phone networks were also down because they depend on backup generators which had no fuel, the report said.

All Gaza City hospitals have been without mains electricity for 48 hours and now rely on backup generators which the UN said were "close to collapse."

The report said that "for the second consecutive day Israeli authorities have refused to allow an ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross) emergency medical team into Gaza" to help at the main Shifa hospital. The territory has been sealed off for more than two days.

At the hospital the breakdown of temporary generators would threaten 70 patients linked to machines in the intensive care unit, including 30 infants.

More than 510 Palestinians have already been killed in Israel's nine day old offensive on Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip, which on Saturday was intensified with the launch of a massive ground operation.

The UN said the tank fire and air attacks were preventing medical staff reaching hospitals and ambulances could not get to injured "because of continuous fire."

The World Food Programme has coordinated emergency food deliveries into Gaza in recent months but the Israeli army said there was plenty of food in Gaza warehouses and that the territory's Hamas rulers had halted distribution.

The Israeli government is adamant there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

"The WFP stopped sending food in there because their warehouses are full to the top," military spokeswoman Major Avital Leibovitz told AFP

"The question is why Hamas is not moving the food around the territory. They say the roads are blocked. Why are the roads blocked for food but they can get around to fire rockets?"

Christine Van Nieuwenhuyse, the WFP representative for the Palestinian territories, told AFP however that the Gaza food warehouses were at less than half capacity.

She said food could not be distributed because it is "too dangerous" in the conflict or because warehouses were in military zones.

Gaza border crossings have been closed for two days and she said the WFP had asked the Israeli government to allow more trucks to go into Gaza.

"Tomorrow (Monday) we hope to send some in. But some roads have been destroyed and some of the Palestinian transporters are afraid to go to the border," Van Nieuwenhuyse said.

[Gold9472]

West Bank protester shot dead by Israeli troops

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/West_Bank_protester_shot_dead_by_0104.html

Agence France-Presse
Published: Sunday January 4, 2009

NABLUS, West Bank (AFP) — A Palestinian demonstrator was shot dead by Israeli troops in the northern West Bank on Sunday during a protest against the Gaza Strip offensive, medics and security officials said.

Mufid al-Walwil, 21, was killed when Israeli troops opened fire on a group of Palestinians who were throwing stones at them near the separation barrier in Qalqilya.

An army spokewoman confirmed that troops had opened fire after the Palestinians threw stones and "two flaming tyres" towards them during a "violent riot."

She said two demonstrators had tried to climb the barrier and had ignored warning shots fired by the soldiers.

"The soldiers aimed at their lower body and realised that they had hit one of them in the knee," she said.

At least 23 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Israel's ground offensive began on Saturday.

In total, more than 485 Palestinians have died since Israeli started a week of bombing raids on December 27.

[Gold9472]

Worldwide alarm at Israeli ground offensive

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Worldwide_alarm_at_Israeli_ground_offensive_0104.h tml

Agence France-Presse
Published: Sunday January 4, 2009

PARIS (AFP) — Israel's tank and troop assault on the Gaza Strip unleashed worldwide cries of alarm on Sunday, but Israel won heavyweight US backing and moves for an immediate ceasefire foundered at the United Nations.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown echoed grave European concerns when he said the ground offensive was a "very dangerous moment" in the conflict, and he called for increased efforts to rapidly secure a ceasefire.

The offensive was condemned across the Middle East, with Egypt saying the UN Security Council's silence on Israel's eight-day campaign of air strikes had effectively given Israel "a green light" for the ground assault.

Asian nations expressed alarm, too, with Pakistan and China calling for an immediate end to the assault and Muslims in Indonesia urging war against the Jewish state.

But in New York, the Security Council failed to agree on a statement calling for a ceasefire after the United States argued that a return to the situation that existed before Israel's ground invasion was unacceptable.

US deputy ambassador Alejandro Wolff said after the four-hour sitting that Washington believed it was important that the region "not return to the status quo" that had allowed Hamas militants to fire rockets into Israel.

"The efforts we are making internationally are designed to establish a sustainable, durable ceasefire that's respected by all," Wolff said. "And that means no more rocket attacks. It means no more smuggling of arms."

As thousands of Israeli soldiers and scores of tanks pushed into Gaza Sunday, the British prime minister said assurances needed to be given to both the Israelis and Hamas to secure a ceasefire.

"I think everybody around the world is expressing grave concerns. What we've got to do almost immediately is to work harder than we've done for an immediate ceasefire," Brown said on BBC television.

"I can see the Gaza issues for the Palestinians -- that they need humanitarian aid -- but the Israelis must have some assurance that there are no rocket attacks coming into Israel," he said.

"So first we need an immediate ceasefire, and that includes a stopping of the rockets into Israel."

Russia dispatched President Dmitry Medvedev's special envoy for the Middle East, Alexander Saltanov, to the region, hoping it could help bring about a ceasefire.

"The new dangerous escalation in the armed conflict after the start of the Israeli land operation in Gaza is a matter of extreme concern," the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement.

"It is essential, without delay, to put an end to the suffering of the civilian population on both sides, to stop the bloodshed and secure a mutual ceasefire."

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said European nations stand ready to contribute international monitors to help keep the peace.

"The ceasefire has to be a ceasefire complied (with) by everybody and be clearly maintained," Solana told the BBC.

At least 23 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Israel's ground offensive began on Saturday, medics said Sunday.

In total, more than 485 Palestinians have died, including 80 children, with more than 2,500 wounded according to Gaza medics since Israeli military operations began on December 27.

Rocket fire from Gaza over the same period has killed four Israelis.

European reaction to the ground offensive revealed a sharp difference in tone from the official US line.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said the decision to send troops into Gaza was a "dangerous military escalation".

The European Union's new Czech presidency said Israel's ground operation was more "defensive than offensive", although it said Israel did not have the right to take military actions "which largely affect civilians".

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit said Israel's incursion into the impoverished territory was in "brazen defiance" of international calls to end the offensive -- and he blamed the Security Council for failing to act.

"The Security Council's silence and its failure to take a decision to stop Israel's aggression since it began was interpreted by Israel as a green light," he said.

In Asia, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said the Israeli offensive was "unjustified" and called for an immediate halt to the fighting.

Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso warned that Israel's ground offensive would only aggravate difficulties for all concerned.

"I'm very worried that the dispatch of ground troops will make the situation much worse," he said.

There was outrage in Africa as well.

Senegalese Pesident Abdoulaye Wade, who also holds the presidency of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, called the Israeli ground offensive a "flagrant violation of the most elementary principles of international law".

[Gold9472]

Gaza's underground lifeline in the sights of Israeli warplanes

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Gazas_underground_lifeline_in_sights_of_0104.html

Agence France-Presse
Published: Sunday January 4, 2009

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AFP) — Abu Ali vows that once the war in Gaza ends he will quickly repair his tunnel under the frontier with Egypt, one of the many underground links used by Palestinian smugglers that have been blasted by Israeli warplanes.

"Life cannot go on in Gaza if the tunnels are destroyed -- they're our only opening to the outside world," he said, speaking inside the Palestinian enclave that has been blockaded by the Jewish state for more than two years.

Hundreds of tunnels have been carved out beneath the Gaza-Egypt frontier, providing a vital conduit to bring basic needs into the territory which has suffered an increasing stranglehold in the past 18 months.

Foodstuffs, building materials, medicines and electric equipment are all brought from Egypt through the passages -- as well as weapons, notably rockets, and ammunition.

Such contraband provides smugglers with a profitable business. It is also a source of income for Hamas, the Islamist movement which has been the sole ruler in the Gaza Strip since June 2007.

The movement levies taxes on the smugglers' income from the tunnels which are linked to the territory's electricity grid with the blessing of Hamas.

Conscious that the goods, particularly weapons, flowing under the border are vital to Hamas in its conflict, Israel has bombed dozens of tunnels since Israel began its offensive on the Gaza Strip on December 27.

Abu Ali vows that he will fix the bomb-damaged tunnel that he shares with four partners, including a chief of Hamas's military wing. But for the moment, he dare not approach the area because "Israeli planes are attacking anyone approaching the frontiers."

Since the attacks on the smugglers' network began, the Hamas sympathiser, his wife and their daughter no longer sleep in the family home in Rafah for fear that he may also have been singled out for elimination by Israeli forces.

Another contraband operator, Ayman, operates two tunnels -- one for goods and the second for fuel.

"We don't know if our tunnels have been hit or not by the Israeli bombs because no one can go down there to see. After all, our life is more important than money or work," he said of the family-run business.

"We've had to pay to have a batch of tins of jam brought in through another tunnel which remains operational. That's going to increase their price in the marketplace," added the 21-year-old.

As far as Ayman is concerned, his smuggling activities are not motivated by profit but are necessary because of the Israeli blockade. He said dozens of Palestinians have died in recent months when tunnels collapsed.

Another smuggler, Iskandar, believes that Egypt will close its eyes to those tunnels which survive the Israeli attacks.

"Egypt does not want the people of Gaza to die of starvation, not forgetting that the tunnels bring Egyptian traders on the other side up to 45 million dollars a month," he said, pointing out that Cairo is being constantly pressed by Israel to deal ruthlessly with the underground corridors on its side.

The destruction of many tunnels in the Israeli offensive over the past week has already meant shortages of some products in Gaza's shops.

Abdel Wahab, who runs a pharmacy, has smugglers bring in medicines worth 6,000 dollars a month from Egypt for resale in Gaza.

"Our losses are huge because of the destruction of the tunnels, and no-one is going to compensate us," he said. "In other countries, tunnels are generally used for drug trafficking, but in Gaza they enable us to continue to live."

Hamas police keep a close eye on the activities of those operating the tunnels to prevent the entry of drugs or arms, the latter being brought in through special underground routes managed by armed Palestinian groups.

Besides the tunnels, the Jewish state's warplanes have damaged the Al-Nijmeh market in Rafah where wholesalers used to buy many products from Egypt.

Before the offensive, the market swarmed with customers. Today, only a handful venture out in search of gas cylinders or diesel fuel.

[Gold9472]

This reminds me of what we did to the Indians.

[Gold9472]

A look at the "dark side"...

Israel Fights Back: Speak Up Now

http://support.adl.org/site/MessageViewer?em_id=20581.0&dlv_id=33641

1/4/2009

Over the last few days we have been working hard to push back against the unjust, unfair, but sadly all-too-expected criticism of Israel as it works to protect its citizens from Hamas’ terror.

Israel needs your support now.
We are particularly outraged that the UN Security Council, in an act of sheer hypocrisy, issued a statement suggesting an "equivalency" between Hamas' terrorism and Israel's attempts to eliminate that terrorism. The Security Council statement ignores Israel's fundamental right and responsibility to protect its people.

We need thousands of people to sign our petition.
The Security Council needs to understand that it is encouraging and emboldening Hamas and other Islamic extremists whose ideology seeks to undermine the rule of law and thwart democracy. The Security Council must understand that this is a critical moment in the struggle against Islamic extremism -- and the world must hear from us.

As President-elect Obama said a few months ago, "If somebody was sending rockets into my house where my two daughters sleep at night, I'm going to do everything in my power to stop that. And I would expect Israelis to do the same thing." And in the words of the White House spokesman last weekend, "Israel is going to defend its people against terrorists like Hamas."

The international community and all those who seek the rule of law, moderation and democracy should now stand with Israel, as the United States has done, in this effort to turn the tide against the extremists who not only threaten Israel, but the whole Middle East and the entire civilized world.

[Gold9472]

Israeli army moves into Gaza capital as war toll passes 510

http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Israeli_army_moves_into_Gaza_capita_01042009.html

1/4/2009

Tens of thousands of Israeli troops backed by tanks battled Hamas fighters in Gaza on Sunday as the death toll from the offensive to end militant rocket attacks passed 510.

Israeli forces moved into the fringe of Gaza City while families fled or hid in cellars awaiting a second night of combat. The Israeli government fought off intense international pressure over its biggest military operation since its 2006 war in Lebanon.

At least 63 Palestinians were killed by tank shells or missiles fired from warplanes since the ground offensive was launched on Saturday night, Gaza medics said.

Israel said one soldier was killed by a mortar shell and about 30 were wounded.

Columns of Israeli troops and tanks surrounded Gaza City and fighting was reported in outer districts. Fierce clashes were also reported around the northern towns of Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanun and Jabaliya.

Explosions and machine gun fire rocked the territory of 1.5 million people. Hamas fighters fired mortar rounds and detonated roadside bombs in front of the advancing troops, witnesses said.

Moawiya Hassanein, head of Gaza medical emergency services, told AFP the number of Palestinians killed since the Israeli operation was launched on December 27 was now 512, including 87 children.

Five members of the same family died when one tank shell hit their car near Gaza City, emergency services said.

Three ambulance workers were killed when they were hit by a missile as they helped wounded victims of the conflict, medics said.

Aid groups said the offensive had aggravated a humanitarian crisis for the population, who have no electricity, no water and now face dire food shortages. Hospitals were only running on backup generators.

International efforts to halt the conflict sought new impetus after the UN Security Council failed to agree a statement on the conflict, with the United States giving strong backing to Israel.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice cancelled a planned trip to China this week because of the Gaza crisis.

A Russian presidential envoy and an EU ministerial delegation headed to the Middle East to make pleas for a ceasefire.

President Nicolas Sarkozy was also to hold talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders on Monday.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert refused to call off the offensive in telephone talks with Sarkozy, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and a host of other foreign leaders, his office said.

The Kremlin said that in the conversation, Medvedev "stressed the importance of reaching a ceasefire as quickly as possible."

Olmert told New York mayor Michael Bloomberg: "Israel is determined to continue its military offensive until the complete cessation of terror attacks against it and the return of calm to southern Israel."

Israel unleashed "Operation Cast Lead" on December 27 with the declared aim of ending rocket attacks into Israel from Gaza that resumed after a six-month truce ended in December.

Rocket fire over the past week has killed four people in Israel. Thirty two rockets and mortar rounds were fired across the border on Sunday and hit Sderot, Ashdod and other towns, lightly injuring three people.

Israel believes Hamas may be seeking "a respectable" way out of the conflict having underestimated the scope of the military offensive, Social Affairs Minister Isaac Herzog said.

He told CNN television that Hamas was under "huge pressure" from the military operation. "The intelligence reports that we've received today in the Israeli cabinet are that the Hamas is looking for a respectable way of finding a way to get out of this situation," he said.

Israeli army spokesman Avi Benayahou told public television that "Hamas has come to the conclusion that it has made an enormous strategic error by refusing to extend a ceasefire accord" which ended on December 19.

But the offensive has sparked spiralling anger in the Muslim world and protests across the globe.

Israeli troops shot and killed a protester during a demonstration in the West Bank. Tens of thousands of Turks staged an anti-Israeli rally in Istanbul.

Protesters threw rocks and eggs at police outside the Israeli embassy in Oslo and police responded with tear gas.

The UN Security Council failed to agree a statement calling for a ceasefire in closed-door consultations late Saturday.

Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhum condemned the Security Council action as "a farce" dominated by the United States, which has strongly supported Israel.

Egypt summoned the ambassadors of the UN Security Council's five permanent members -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- to protest at the delay in passing a ceasefire resolution.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak condemned "in the strongest terms" Israel's ground attack which his office called a "terrifying aggression."

[Gold9472]

Cheney: Israel did not ask US for go-ahead before Gaza incursion

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/middleeast/news/article_1451511.php/Cheney_Israel_did_not_ask_US_for_go-ahead_before_Gaza_incursion_

(Gold9472: Why should they when they know the answer would be "yes.")

1/5/2008

Washington - Israel had not sought the green light from the United States before launching its ground incursion against the radical Islamic Hamas in the Gaza Strip, US Vice-President Dick Cheney said Sunday.

'They didn't seek clearance or approval from us, certainly,' Cheney told US television broadcaster CBC in an interview. The Pentagon earlier said Washington had been informed of the military action.

US Senate majority leader Harry Reid - a Democrat senator - meanwhile showed solidarity with Israel. Hamas was an terrorist organization that threatened the Jewish state with rocket attacks, he told CBS.

[Gold9472]

Peres: Hamas getting a lesson in Gaza

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/01/04/Peres_Hamas_getting_a_lesson_in_Gaza/UPI-95831231111545/

WASHINGTON, Jan. 4 (UPI) -- The Israeli ground invasion of Gaza is giving Hamas "a real and serious lesson," President Shimon Peres said Sunday on U.S. television.

In an interview on ABC's "This Week With George Stephanopoulos," Peres was asked whether Israel's goal is a negotiated peace or the removal of Hamas, considered a terrorist organization by the United States.

"We don't intend either to occupy Gaza nor to crush Hamas, but to crush terror," Peres said. "And Hamas needs a real and serious lesson. They are now getting it. We were careful. We were restrained. We waited. We gave them many chances."

Peres said Hamas had taken over power in Gaza illegitimately after Mahmoud Abbas was elected president of the Palestinian Authority with 62 percent of the vote.

"Anyway, we are not going to mix into their politics, but we have decided not to permit to shoot against us," he added.

When asked Peres about Hamas's victory in parliamentary elections, which triggered a U.S. and Israeli boycott, the president said Hamas is allowing its people to be used by another country, Iran.

[Gold9472]

Israel rains fire on Gaza with phosphorus shells

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article5447590.ece

1/5/2009

Israel is believed to be using controversial white phosphorus shells to screen its assault on the heavily populated Gaza Strip yesterday. The weapon, used by British and US forces in Iraq, can cause horrific burns but is not illegal if used as a smokescreen.

As the Israeli army stormed to the edges of Gaza City and the Palestinian death toll topped 500, the tell-tale shells could be seen spreading tentacles of thick white smoke to cover the troops’ advance. “These explosions are fantastic looking, and produce a great deal of smoke that blinds the enemy so that our forces can move in,” said one Israeli security expert. Burning blobs of phosphorus would cause severe injuries to anyone caught beneath them and force would-be snipers or operators of remote-controlled booby traps to take cover. Israel admitted using white phosphorus during its 2006 war with Lebanon.

The use of the weapon in the Gaza Strip, one of the world’s mostly densely population areas, is likely to ignite yet more controversy over Israel’s offensive, in which more than 2,300 Palestinians have been wounded.

The Geneva Treaty of 1980 stipulates that white phosphorus should not be used as a weapon of war in civilian areas, but there is no blanket ban under international law on its use as a smokescreen or for illumination. However, Charles Heyman, a military expert and former major in the British Army, said: “If white phosphorus was deliberately fired at a crowd of people someone would end up in The Hague. White phosphorus is also a terror weapon. The descending blobs of phosphorus will burn when in contact with skin.”

The Israeli military last night denied using phosphorus, but refused to say what had been deployed. “Israel uses munitions that are allowed for under international law,” said Captain Ishai David, spokesman for the Israel Defence Forces. “We are pressing ahead with the second stage of operations, entering troops in the Gaza Strip to seize areas from which rockets are being launched into Israel.”

The civilian toll in the first 24 hours of the ground offensive — launched after a week of bombardment from air, land and sea— was at least 64 dead. Among those killed were five members of a family who died when an Israeli tank shell hit their car and a paramedic who died when a tank blasted his ambulance. Doctors at Gaza City’s main hospital said many women and children were among the dead and wounded.

The Israeli army also suffered its first fatality of the offensive when one of its soldiers was killed by mortar fire. More than 30 soldiers were wounded by mortars, mines and sniper fire.

Israel has brushed aside calls for a ceasefire to allow humanitarian aid into the besieged territory, where medical supplies are running short.

With increasingly angry anti-Israeli protests spreading around the world, Gordon Brown described the violence in Gaza as “a dangerous moment”.

White phosphorus: the smoke-screen chemical that can burn to the bone

White phosphorus bursts into a deep-yellow flame when it is exposed to oxygen, producing a thick white smoke
It is used as a smokescreen or for incendiary devices, but can also be deployed as an anti-personnel flame compound capable of causing potentially fatal burns
Phosphorus burns are almost always second or third-degree because the particles do not stop burning on contact with skin until they have entirely disappeared — it is not unknown for them to reach the bone
Geneva conventions ban the use of phosphorus as an offensive weapon against civilians, but its use as a smokescreen is not prohibited by international law
Israel previously used white phosphorus during its war with Lebanon in 2006
It has been used frequently by British and US forces in recent wars, notably during the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Its use was criticised widely
White phosphorus has the slang name “Willy Pete”, which dates from the First World War. It was commonly used in the Vietnam era

[Gold9472]

Iran says over 70,000 students sign up for martyrdom operations

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-01/06/content_10608923.htm

www.chinaview.cn (http://www.chinaview.cn) 2009-01-06 00:09:35

TEHRAN, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- The director of the Public Relations of Iran's Students' Basij (Volunteer) Organization Esmaeel Ahmadi said here on Monday that over 70,000 students had signed up for martyrdom operations, the official IRNA news agency reported.

"More than 70,000 students from universities throughout Iran have signed up on the list to conduct Esteshhadi (martyrdom seeking) operations (against Israeli troops in Gaza)," Ahmadi said.

"The students will act as part of Esteshhadi battalions," he added.

Iranian hard-line university students, since the erupt of Israeli war against Hamas in Gaza, have urgently sought the Iranian officials' permission to be deployed to Gaza to fight by the side of Palestinians.

To implement this, they have adopted divers means, including taking sanctuary in Teheran's old Mehrabad airport, staging consecutive rallies and resorting to students' opinions by signing up the list for martyrdom operations.

However, Iran's influential cleric Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said on Friday that Gaza does not need soldiers but political, weaponry and propagandistic support.

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassan Qashqavi on Monday denied that there was anything (like providing weaponry support for Hamas) in Iran's government agenda.

On Saturday, Israel's ground troops entered the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip for the second phase of its offensive on the militant group after eight days of airstrikes.

Israel's military action, aimed at retaliating for Hamas rocket attacks into Israel, has killed over 500 Palestinians and wounded more than 2,600 others since the start of the operation on Dec. 27.

Hamas is strongly backed by Iran which does not recognize Israel as a state of the international community.

[Gold9472]

Iran says 70,000 volunteer for Israel fight

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g3Y3DBA09cm20SrlOg47GI4Ixp4gD95H5LI00

2 hours ago

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — More than 70,000 Iranian students have volunteered to carry out suicide bombings against Israel, Iran's state news agency reported Monday, but President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has not responded to their request for permission.

Volunteer suicide groups have made similar requests in the past and the government never responded, giving the campaigns more of the feel of propaganda.

According to the official IRNA news agency, hardline student leader Esmaeil Ahmadi said the students want to fight Israel in support of Hamas, Gaza's Islamic militant rulers.

Iran is Hamas' main backer, though the country denies sending weapons to the Islamic militant movement that took control of the Gaza Strip in 2007. Iran considers Israel its archenemy, and Ahmadinejad has called for the destruction of the Jewish state.

Five hard-line student groups and a conservative clerical group launched the registration drive for suicide bombers last week and asked the government to allow them to stage the attacks.

In an open letter to Ahmadinejad, the students said "volunteer student suicide groups ... are determined to go to Gaza. You are expected to issue orders to the relevant authorities to pave the way for such action." A copy of the letter was made available to The Associated Press last week.

The hard-liners started signing up volunteers after Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, issued a religious decree Dec. 28 saying anyone killed while defending Palestinians in Gaza against Israeli attacks would be considered a martyr.

Khamenei's religious decree was not considered a government decision and did not oblige the government to launch attacks against Israel.

At a gathering two days later in Tehran, hard-liners distributed registration forms.

Israel's bombardment of Gaza, which has killed hundreds of Palestinians, has outraged many in Iran and throughout the rest of the Muslim world. Israel says it launched its campaign in retaliation for Hamas rocket fire aimed at civilians in southern Israeli towns.

On Dec. 30, IRNA reported that dozens of Iranian students broke into the British Embassy residence in Tehran, accusing Britain of supporting the Israeli air assault that started Dec. 27. The report said the students pulled down the British flag and raised a Palestinian flag at the compound's entrance before police forced them to leave.

The protest lasted about half an hour, and no injuries were reported.

[Gold9472]

Obama on his silence over Gaza violence: 'one president at a time'

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Obama_on_Israels_Gaza_assault_one_0105.html

1/6/2008

President-elect Barack Obama Monday expressed concern about the Gaza crisis but stressed he would not interfere in "delicate negotiations" by the outgoing US administration.

Asked about whether Israel's offensive against Hamas was distracting him from his economic agenda, Obama told reporters "obviously, international affairs are of deep concern."

"I strongly believe that a president or president-elect or his team should be able to do more than one thing at a time. With the situation in Gaza, I've been getting briefed every day," he said.

Obama has faced criticism for his silence on the Middle East violence, especially in the Arab world and European press. It adds to the huge challenges awaiting him when he succeeds President George W. Bush on January 20.

But the president-elect stressed: "I will continue to insist that when it comes to foreign affairs, it is particularly important to adhere to the principle of one president at a time, because there are delicate negotiations taking place right now and we can't have two voices coming out of the United States when you have so much at stake."

Israel has rejected worldwide calls for a ceasefire as the Palestinian death toll from its 10-day offensive in the Gaza Strip against the militant group Hamas tops 550.

Obama did not elaborate on the negotiations he mentioned. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has canceled a planned trip to China this week to deal with the crisis.

According to the Palestinians, Arab states are pushing for a UN Security Council resolution aimed at securing an immediate end to the "Israeli aggression" in Gaza.

Earlier Monday, Bush said he understood Israel's desire to defend itself, adding any Gaza ceasefire must ensure Hamas militants cannot fire rockets on Israeli towns.

[Gold9472]

Group: Israel deliberately attacked Palestinian journalists

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Group_Israel_deliberately_attacked_Palestinian_jou rnalists_0105.html

1/5/2009

GENEVA (AFP) — Israel deliberately targeted Hamas-run media installations in its bombing campaign on Gaza and is practising media censorship, a journalist rights group said Monday.

The installations in question include Al-Aqsa television, Al-Resalah newspaper and Sawt Al-Aqsa radio, which the Israeli army bombed on December 28 and over the weekend respectively, the Geneva-based Press Emblem Campaign said in a statement, citing a Palestinian media non-governmental group.

The press group, which fights for better protection of journalists in conflict zones, also condemned the recent deaths of two journalists as a result of Israeli attacks.

"Two Palestinian journalists were killed one in previous attacks by Israel, photographer Hamza Shahin,who died on 26 December 2008, and another during the current military round on 3 January, Omar Silawi.

"The current attacks against Palestinian journalists remind the media community of the attacks that were committed by Israel against Lebanese media in the July-August war 2006," the press group said, referring to the conflict between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah militia.

It called for Israel to allow non-Palestinian media access to Gaza and denounced the military censorship it said journalists were subjected to in Israel "which questions their ability to cover objectively the conflict from the Israeli side."

The Geneva group called for an independent international probe to look into alleged rights violations during the conflict.

[Gold9472]

How ya like Obama now?

[Gold9472]

Gaza wounded dying because ambulances can't reach them: Red Cross

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Red_Cross_Gaza_wounded_dying_because_0105.html

1/6/2008

GENEVA (AFP) — People wounded in fighting in the Gaza Strip are dying because ambulances cannot reach them, the International Committee of the Red Cross said Monday.

"The situation is extremely dangerous and the coordination of ambulance services is very complex because of the incessant attacks and military operations," ICRC spokeswoman Dorothea Krimitsas said in Geneva.

"Wounded people have died while waiting for Palestinian Red Crescent ambulances," she added.

The International Committee of the Red Cross was also concerned about water supplies in the densely populated coastal strip.

Krimitsas said two out of the 45 wells in the Gaza Strip were out of action after having been hit during Israeli air raids, while the pumps on eight others were no longer working because of power cuts.

"Half a million people, that's about one third of the population of the territory, are threatened with being completely deprived of water," she said.

Krimitsas said technicians needed to gain access to the electrical installations damaged during the fighting.

A team of four ICRC medical staff, including a surgeon, were allowed into the Gaza Strip from Israel on Monday after three days' delay, the relief agency said.

They are due to help staff at the territory's Shifa hospital carry out complex operations on the wounded. The medical team also brought in tetanus vaccines for children and blood supplies, Krimitsas said.

[Gold9472]

Norwegian doctor: Israel intentionally targeting civilians
'They are bombing one and a half million people in a cage'

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Norwegian_doctor_in_Gaza_Israel_targeting_0105.htm l

David Edwards and Stephen C. Webster
Published: Monday January 5, 2009

Mads Gilbert, a Norwegian doctor working in Gaza, told Sky News on Monday that that he believes Israel is deliberately attacking the Palestinian population, not just targeting Hamas as Israeli authorities have said numerous times.

"Just a little bit more than an hour ago, the Israelis bombed the central food market in Gaza City and we had a mass influx of about 50 injured and between 10 and 15 killed," said Gilbert, on the phone with Sky News.

"At the same time they bombed an apartment house with children playing on the roof and we had a lot of children also. This is really like from Dante's Inferno. It's like hell here now and it's been bombing all night. Up till now, close to 500 people have been killed and the number of casualties is getting to 2 to 2 and a half thousand which 50 percent are children and women."

"Are your hospital's reaching capacity?" asked the Sky News correspondent. "Can you deal with these people?"

"We have been doing surgery around the clock," Gilbert replied. "I just talked to to one of my colleagues in the ICU who has not been sleeping for three days and they hospital is completely overcrowded and we are running six, seven OR's and there are injuries that you just don't want to see in this world. Children coming in with open abdomens and legs cut off.

"We just had a child who left. We had to amputate both legs and the arms and the only crime they have done is been civilians -- Palestinians living in Gaza. The relief now is not more doctors and more drugs the relief now is to stop the bombing immediately. This can not go on. It is a disaster."

"You've talked about the civilians, the women and children, the men who aren't involved in this but are you also getting casualties that are Hamas fighters?" asked the reporter.

"To be honest, we came on New Year's Eve in the morning," answered Gilbert. "I've seen one military person among the tens -- I mean, hundreds -- we have seen and treated. So, anybody who tries to claim this as sort of a clean war against another army are lying.

"This is an all out war against the civilian Palestinian population in Gaza and we can prove that with the numbers and you have to remember that the average age of the Gaza inhabitant is 17-years. It's a very young population and 80% are living below the poverty limit of the U.N.

"So, this is a poor and very young people and they are able to escape absolutely nowhere because they can not flee like other populations can in wartime. Because they are fenced in and they are in a cage. So, they are bombing one and a half million people in a cage. And young people and poor people and, you know, you can not separate between the civilians and the fighters in such a situation."

This video is from CBS News, broadcast Jan. 5, 2008.

Video At Source

[Gold9472]

Israeli troops deepen push into Gaza

http://uk.reuters.com/article/burningIssues/idUKTRE5053R720090106

By Nidal al-Mughrabi
Tue Jan 6, 2009 3:11pm GMT

GAZA (Reuters) - Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip killed more than 30 Palestinian civilians on Tuesday, medical officials said, and international efforts to secure a ceasefire focused on an Israeli demand to prevent Hamas from rearming.

"That is the make-or-break issue," Mark Regev, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, said about ensuring an end to weapons smuggling along the Gaza-Egypt frontier.

A senior Israeli official said French President Nicolas Sarkozy, on a Middle East visit and in partnership with Egypt, was pursuing "a serious initiative" for a ceasefire in Israel's 11-day-old operation and Hamas rocket attacks on Israeli towns.

Talks were focusing, the official said, on the size of an "international presence" along the blockaded Gaza-Egypt border, where rockets and other weapons have reached Hamas through a network of tunnels.

Tony Blair, the Middle East envoy of major powers sponsoring Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, said Sarkozy, the European Union and the United States were all in agreement that new anti-smuggling measures would be needed to clinch a ceasefire.

"What is being talked about is a credible plan to stop the smuggling," Blair, a former British prime minister, told reporters in Jerusalem.

He said he hoped the plan could be completed quickly and that enhanced Israeli security would lead to "a significant advance in opening up Gaza to the outside world."

In Damascus, Sarkozy, who met Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday, said after talks with President Bashar al-Assad he had no doubt the Syrian leader "will throw all his weight to convince every one to return to reason."

Syria is one of the main backers of Hamas, an Islamist group that seized the Gaza Strip from Abbas's Fatah group in fighting in 2007.

Hamas, which has rebuffed Western demands to recognize Israel, end violence and accept existing interim peace deals, has demanded a lifting of the blockade of the Gaza Strip in any future ceasefire.

CIVILIAN DEATHTOLL RISES
Palestinian witnesses said Israeli forces pushed into Khan Younis in southern Gaza as the army widened the ground assault it launched four days ago against Hamas militants after a week of air strikes failed to stamp out cross-border rocket fire.

Palestinian medical officials said 35 Palestinian civilians were killed on Tuesday, including 11 in a house that was bombed from the air, 10 on a beach hit by naval shells and three people who had taken refuge in a U.N.-run school.

Four militants also were killed, medical officials said.

Deaths recorded by Palestinian medics reached 588.

Most of the several dozen deaths reported by hospitals in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip in recent days have been civilians.

At least five rockets fired from the Gaza Strip landed in Israel on Tuesday, including one that hit the town of Gadera, 28 km (17 miles) from Tel Aviv, police said. A three-year-old girl was wounded.

The Israeli military said it killed 130 militants since Saturday, a figure that suggested the total Palestinian death toll since December 27 might be close to 700 and that bodies could still be on the battlefield.

Many of the Gaza Strip's 1.5 million people lack food, water or power. In southern Israel, schools remained closed and hundreds of thousands of people have been rushing to shelter at the sound of alarms heralding incoming rockets.

[Gold9472]

White House repeats call for 'durable' ceasefire in Gaza

http://rawstory.com/news/afp/White_House_repeats_call_for_durabl_01062009.html

1/6/2008

The White House reiterated on Tuesday it wanted to see a "durable" ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, stopping short of endorsing a proposed humanitarian truce for Gaza.

"We are working to help bring about a durable ceasefire," spokeswoman Dana Perino told AFP when asked if President George W. Bush would be ready to back a humanitarian truce.

She said that "humanitarian aid has been flowing to the region, provided by Israel and the UN."

Perino spoke as France worked with Arab states on a draft UN resolution calling for an immediate end to the Israeli military offensive in Gaza as well as to rocket fire into Israel by Gaza-based militants.

The text would also urge the lifting of the Israeli siege of Gaza to allow humanitarian access to the beleaguered Palestinian population, protection of Palestinian civilians, a resumption of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and a means to monitor the truce and protect civilians, diplomats said.

Perino struck a cautious tone over French President Nicolas Sarkozy's diplomatic effort to persuade Syria to push its ally Hamas to agree a truce.

"We have not found such talks with the Syrians to be constructive or useful," she said.

"If President Sarkozy is successful in getting Syria to stop supporting Hamas and Hezbollah, that would be good."

Sarkozy arrived in the Syrian capital Damascus earlier Tuesday as part of a Mideast tour trying to broker a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

Syria is a key player in the region and is home to the self-exiled chief of Hamas, Khaled Meshaal.

[Gold9472]

Deadly Israeli raids on schools take Gaza toll to 660

http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Deadly_Israeli_raids_on_schools_tak_01062009.html

1/6/2008

Israeli tanks and troops blazed into towns across the Gaza Strip on Tuesday striking Hamas targets, but hits on three UN-run schools killed at least 48 people and sparked urgent new ceasefire calls.

While troops battled Islamist militants inside Gaza City in the heaviest fighting of the 11-day-old offensive to halt cross-border rocket attacks, Hamas made its deepest rocket strike yet into Israel.

As the Palestinian death toll surged above 660, Arab states pressed for a UN Security Council resolution condemning the onslaught, but Israel rejected ceasefire calls by French President Nicolas Sarkozy and other leaders.

"Europe must open its eyes," President Shimon Peres told an EU ministerial delegation.

"We are not in the business of public relations or improving our image. We are fighting against terror and we have every right to defend our citizens."

The United Nations demanded an investigation after tank and air assaults hit three schools run by its Palestinian relief agency, UNRWA.

At least 43 people sheltering at the Jabaliya refugee camp school in northern Gaza were killed, emergency services said. The UN confirmed at least 30 dead and 55 wounded after the shelling.

The Israeli military said a preliminary inquiry indicated that mortar rounds may have been fired from the Jabaliya school.

Earlier two people were killed when an artillery shell hit a school in the southern city of Khan Yunis. Three people also died in an air strike on another school in Gaza City's Shati refugee camp, medics said.

UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the Palestinian territories Maxwell Gaylard said Israel had the GPS coordinates of all UN buildings in Gaza -- including schools.

"Neither homes nor UN shelters are safe" for civilians, he said in a statement and called for an investigation. "If international humanitarian law has been contravened, those responsible must be held accountable."

Heavy fighting raged in Gaza City and around nearby Deir al-Balah and Bureij. One air raid on Gaza City killed 12 people, including seven children, from the same family.

Tanks with helicopter gunship support rolled into Khan Yunis before dawn, to be met with return fire from Hamas and its allies, witnesses said.

Four Israeli soldiers were killed in two friendly fire incidents during overnight fighting, the army said. Five have now died since Saturday.

The military said another soldier was killed in a clash near Gaza City.

It also said that paratroopers shot at the belt of a suicide bomber running towards them to detonate his bomb.

About 35 Hamas rockets were fired over the border, one landing 45 kilometres (28 miles) inside Israel -- the deepest yet -- slightly wounding a baby, it said.

Three civilians and one soldier have been killed by rockets hitting Israel since the offensive began.

Protests against Israel have spiralled worldwide and the French president led new calls for a truce as he met Israeli leaders in Jerusalem on Monday.

But Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert reaffirmed that there can be no ceasefire until "terrorist" rocket attacks and weapons smuggling into Gaza are ended.

Sarkozy went to Damascus and Beirut and later returned to Egypt to see President Hosni Mubarak, saying there was a "glimmer of hope" for ending the bloodshed. A Hamas delegation also arrived in Cairo.

Egypt brokered a six-month truce that ended on December 19. Hamas refused to renew the deal and started firing rockets, sparking the war.

Israel launched Operation Cast Lead on Hamas on December 27 with a massive air bombardment of Gaza, and sent in thousands of ground troops a week later.

Since then, 660 Palestinians have been killed, including about 200 children, with more than 2,950 wounded, Gaza medics say.

Egypt said on Tuesday the number of Palestinians who have died after being evacuated through the Rafah crossing rose to 11 when four more succumbed to their wounds.

Israel has denied there is a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, but the International Committee of the Red Cross stepped up pressure with a rare public statement.

"There is no doubt in my mind that we are dealing with a full-blown and major crisis in humanitarian terms. The situation for the people in Gaza is extreme and traumatic," said Pierre Kraehenbuehl, ICRC director of operations.

He said ICRC staff in Gaza described the past night as "the most frightening to date" in the territory, where there is no power or water and food rations are severely limited.

The UN Security Council was to meet again on Tuesday to weigh an Arab call for a ceasefire and to protect Palestinian civilians, diplomats said.

Washington has strongly backed Israel, with President George W. Bush saying any truce must ensure an end to militant rocket fire.

President-elect Barack Obama vowed to speak out about the conflict once he takes office, but insisted until then only Bush can speak for the US.

"After January 20 I am going to have plenty to say about the issue," Obama told reporters.

[Gold9472]

Al Qaeda Vows Revenge for Gaza
Ayman al-Zawahiri Vows to Avenge Deaths of Palestinians

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=6588084&page=1

By MADDY SAUER
Jan. 6, 2009

Osama bin Laden's top deputy in al Qaeda has released a new tape in which he threatens the United States and vows revenge for the deaths of Palestinians in Gaza.

"We will never stop until we avenge the death of all who are killed, injured, widowed and orphaned in Palestine and throughout the Islamic world," said Ayman al-Zawahiri in a new 10-minute audio recording released today on extreme Islamist Web forums.

The message is entitled "The Massacre in Gaza and the Siege of the Traitors".

Zawahiri refers directly to President-elect Barack Obama saying he has partnered with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, whom Zawahiri labels as a traitor to Islam.

"What you are facing today is just occupation and settlement that is limited to one area or one country, but is part of a series in the Crusaders war against Islam," says Zawahiri. "These air strikes are a gift from Obama before he takes office, and from Hosni Mubarak, the traitor who is the primary partner in your siege and murder."

To the Palestinians he says: "Be strong and persist in the way of Jihad. The whole Muslim ummah is united with you."

He also vows to carry out al Qaeda's repeated threat that the United States will not live in peace until Palestine does.

"We are at work to carry out the promise of our fighting sheikh Osama Bin Laden (may Allah protect him) who promised that America will not live in peace in their dreams before we live in peace in Palestine, and until all the forces of the infidels leave the lands of Muhammed," Zawahiri says.

[Gold9472]

Dag. Now they got the damn Qaeda involved.

[Gold9472]

Venezuela Expels Israeli Ambassador
Chavez Fiercly Critical Of Gaza Conflict, Israel's "Barbarism"

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/01/06/world/main4703025.shtml

1/6/2008

(CBS/AP) Venezuela ordered the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador and some embassy staff on Tuesday to protest Israel's military offensive in the Gaza Strip.

The decision by President Hugo Chavez, a longtime critic of U.S. and Israeli policy, to kick out the diplomats appeared to be the strongest reaction yet to the Gaza offensive by any country with ties to Israel.

Venezuela's Foreign Ministry announced the move in a statement, saying it "has decided to expel the Israeli ambassador and part of the personnel of the Israeli embassy."

The Israeli offensive in Gaza has killed nearly 600 Palestinians in ground and air strikes. Israel launched the attacks Dec. 27 to stop Palestinian militants from firing rockets into southern Israel.

Venezuela's Foreign Ministry said its U.N. mission is joining with other countries in demanding the Security Council "apply urgent and necessary measures to stop this invasion."

Officials could not immediately be reached at the Israeli Embassy in Caracas, which had closed by the time of the announcement.

Chavez earlier condemned the Israelis carrying out the military campaign as "murderers" and urged Jews in Venezuela to take a stand against the Israeli government.

"Now I hope that the Venezuelan Jewish community speaks out against this barbarism. Do it. Don't you strongly reject all acts of persecution?" Chavez said.

"How far will this barbarism go?" he said in an appearance on state television. "The president of Israel should be taken before an international court together with the president of the United States, if the world had any conscience."

While many countries have protested Israel's offensive, none so far has expelled the ambassador.

Mauritania, which established relations with Israel in 1999, called home its ambassador from the Jewish state on Monday.

Jordan and Egypt, the other two Arab nations with relations with Israel, summoned their Israeli ambassadors to protest the Gaza attacks, but they have resisted popular calls to expel them.

Chavez has long been critical of the Israeli government's policies in the Middle East and has supported the Palestinians' stance in the conflict.

During Israel's 2006 conflict in Lebanon, Chavez withdrew his top envoy from Israel, calling the bombings there "a new Holocaust."

In spite of its criticisms of Israel, Chavez's government has insisted it is friendly toward Jewish people.

Chavez met with Jewish leaders in August, pledging to work against anti-Semitism despite strong differences on Mideast politics.

Chavez's condemnations of Israel's offensive have grown gradually more severe in recent days.

He called on Israelis to "stand up against" their government. As for those leading the offensive in Gaza, he said, "they are cowards - bombing innocent people. What great soldiers they are, how brave the soldiers of Israel are."

Protests against the offensive have been held in Venezuela and other Latin American countries in recent days.

In Argentina, which has the third-largest Jewish population outside Israel as well as a sizable population of Arab descent, hundreds of people marched to the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires to call for an end to the offensive.

Brazil's government says it is sending 14 tons of medicine and food to the Gaza Strip. And in Bolivia, about 100 Palestinians and Arabs marched to protest the violence.

[Gold9472]

Israeli leaders to debate "final" Gaza push

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L6222934.htm

By Dan Williams
07 Jan 2009 07:05:24 GMT

JERUSALEM, Jan 7 (Reuters) - Israeli leaders will debate on Wednesday whether to order their armed forces to storm into the Gaza Strip's urban centres, the planned culmination of a nearly two-week-old offensive, political sources said.

Escalating from a week-long air assault, Israeli troops and tanks invaded the Hamas-ruled territory on Saturday, clashing with Palestinian guerrillas but not advancing beyond the outskirts of the city of Gaza or other densely populated areas.

Israel called the initial ground sweep the "second stage" of the operation, without saying what could follow. The opacity helped spur a frenzy of international mediation to secure a truce under which Hamas would stop cross-border rocket fire.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's security cabinet, due to convene on Wednesday, would discuss the third -- and final -- stage of the offensive, two senior political sources said, though the ministers may defer a vote on approving the plan.

"The plan is to enter the urban centres," said one source, declining to be named.

Postponing a final decision on the plan could allow Israel to keep its forces in readiness while maintaining leeway for any breakthrough in possible truce talks led by Egypt.

Olmert's spokesman Mark Regev declined to comment on Wednesday's meeting, saying: "We do not generally discuss the agendas of the security cabinet."

CHALLENGE
Military analysts believe Israeli forces would be severely challenged by combat in Gaza's congested casbahs and alleyways, where much of their air support would be irrelevant and where Palestinian gunmen would be able to mount hit-and-run ambushes.

Conquering Gaza could amount to a reoccupation of a territory the Jewish state captured from Egypt in a 1967 war and quit in 2005. Israeli leaders have said they do not want to reoccupy Gaza or, for now, to topple the Islamist Hamas group.

Seven Israeli soldiers have died in an offensive that has killed more than 640 Palestinians, at least a quarter of them civilians, medics said. Palestinian rockets, the stated reason for Israel's assault, have killed four Israeli civilians.

Israel said its troops had killed 130 guerrillas since Saturday, a figure that suggested the total Palestinian death toll since Dec. 27 might be close to 770 and that bodies could still be on the battlefield.

According to one Israeli source with knowledge of the security cabinet's discussions, the initial ground sweep was executed well but the military top brass was disappointed by what they saw as relatively little Palestinian resistance.

"The assumption was that our forces could draw out the enemy into open areas where they could be eliminated, but they didn't come out in the number we expected," the source said. "Taking the fight into the populated areas would be much tougher."

Hamas spokesman Abu Ubaida said in a speech on Monday: "We have prepared for you, Zionists, thousands of tough fighters who are waiting for you in every street, every alley and at every house, and they will meet you with iron and fire."

[Gold9472]

Kucinich: Israel may be using American weapons illegally

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Kucinich_Israel_may_be_using_American_0106.html

1/7/2008

Responding to media reports that Israel had bombed a UN school serving as a refuge for Palestinian civilians, Congressman Dennis Kucinich is calling for a Congressional report on Israel's possibly illegal misuse of US weapons.

His letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice follows.

####

Dear Dr. Rice:

I am writing concerning Israel's military offensive against Gaza, which began on December 27th. I support Israel's security and its right to exist in peace, without the fear of rocket attacks from Hamas. Moreover, I abhor the violence being visited upon the citizens of our firm ally. However, no nation is immune from the legal conditions placed on the receipt of U.S. military assistance.

I believe that with the current escalation of violence in Gaza, a legal threshold has been reached, warranting a Presidential examination and report to Congress. I hereby request an examination of Israel’s compliance with the provisions of the Arms Export Control Act of 1976 (AECA).

While neither the AECA nor the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (FAA) define “internal security” and “legitimate self-defense,” I believe that Israel’s most recent attacks neither further internal security nor do they constitute “legitimate” acts of self-defense. They do, however, “increase the possibility of an outbreak or escalation of conflict,” because they are a vastly disproportionate response to the provocation, and because the Palestinian population is suffering from those military attacks in numbers far exceeding Israeli losses in life and property.

Israel’s current military campaign in Gaza has inflicted a significant toll on Palestinian civilians and society. Israel’s recent aerial and ground offensive against Gaza has killed nearly 600 and injured over 2,500. The Associated Press reported: “children are paying the price... The United Nations has said the death toll includes 34 children... But the broad range of Israel's targets--police compounds, fire stations, homes of militants, Hamas-run mosques and university buildings--means most shelling is occurring in residential areas."

The extensive destruction of such civilian institutions violates Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits the wanton destruction of property and collective punishment of a civilian population. There have also been reports of bombings of United Nations (UN) schools, despite the fact that Israeli Defense Forces were allegedly given coordinates of the facilities prior to the current escalation in violence.

The blockade that Israel has imposed on Gaza since 2006 has further exacerbated the extent of collateral damage, as hospitals and morgues have been unable to cope with the magnitude of deaths and injuries as a result of the current escalation in violence and hospitals lack proper supplies needed to treat the injured.

I believe that Israel’s use of defense articles provided by the U.S in the current Gaza military attacks may constitute a violation of the AECA. At a minimum, the conflict is sufficient to warrant an immediate report to Congress as required by 22 U.S.C. §2753. Please contact my office by close of business on January 7, 2009 with the date the report will be submitted.

Sincerely,

Dennis J. Kucinich
Member of Congress

[Gold9472]

Israel to consider French-Egyptian ceasefire plan

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/breaking-news/world/middle-east/israel-to-consider-frenchegyptian-ceasefire-plan-14131261.html

Wednesday, 7 January 2009

Israeli President Shimon Peres has said his country will consider a plan put forward by France and Egypt in a bid to secure a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

The move comes as Israel continues its bombardment of the densely populated Palestinian territory.

The onslaught triggered further international revulsion yesterday when Israeli tanks attacked a UN-controlled school that was being used as a shelter by civilians whom the Israelis had ordered to leave their homes.

At least 40 civilians were killed in the attack.

Israel claims Hamas militants were firing mortars from the school, but Hamas has denied the accusation.

The claims cannot be independently verified because Israel has banned foreign journalists from entering the Gaza Strip.

Meanwhile, Israel has agreed to open a "humanitarian corridor" today to allow aid to be delivered to the impoverished population of Gaza.

It has also reportedly agreed to halt all attacks for three hours to allow residents gain access to aid.

[Gold9472]

Israel conditionally welcomes cease-fire proposal

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090107/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_palestinians

1/7/2009

GAZA CITY, Gaza – Israel said Wednesday that it "welcomes" an Egyptian-French cease-fire proposal for Gaza as long as it halts militant rockets and weapons smuggling in a possible sign that the bloody 12-day offensive could be winding down. Hamas said it would only support a deal that included an opening of Gaza's borders.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said in Paris that both Israel and the moderate Palestinian leadership in charge of the West Bank had accepted the truce proposal. And in Turkey, a diplomat said that country will be given the task of constructing an international force for Gaza.

However, Israel said it would support the proposal only if it halts "hostile fire" from Hamas in Gaza and includes measures to prevent the militant group from rearming, said government spokesman Mark Regev.

A Hamas official offered similar cautions.

"Israel is still widening and escalating its aggression and is not giving any positive signals in response to these efforts," Ghazi Hammad said.

[Gold9472]

What Most US Media Isn't Telling You

Anna Baltzer
1/7/2009

Four days ago, Israel invaded Gaza on the ground to compliment its aerial bombardment. The Palestinian death toll has reached 660. The official Israeli death toll is up to 5, of whom 4 were civilians. Attacks on civilians, no matter who they are, is criminal. Yet the US government, public relations officials, and mainstream media—unlike those of almost every other country in the world—continue to criminalize Palestinian violence while absolving Israel (the undisputed party in power) of almost any responsibility of its own. The official position seems clear: Israel can do as it likes until Hamas stops all violence.

The underlying assumption here is that Palestinians' human rights depend on the actions of their leaders. This is false. Palestinians do not have to earn the human rights inalienable to every person on Earth. Human rights are non-negotiable. Likewise, Israelis do not have to earn their human rights. Israeli state terror notwithstanding, it would be criminal to bombard the entire population of Israel (in which, as in Gaza, fighters live alongside their families in civilian areas) for the crimes of its government.

But this is exactly what Israel is doing in Gaza with US weapons before a seemingly impotent international community. Every day the carnage unfolds on CNN-International (different from CNN-US—the United States is the only country in the world with domestically customized international news coverage): a mother and her 4 kids killed instantly; a 7-year-old shot twice in the chest (I'm not sure how that happens accidentally, but does that even matter?); more than 40 policemen in training obliterated (even Israel does not claim the Palestinian police orchestrates rocket attacks); TV stations and places of worship successfully destroyed; a mortuary out of room for bodies.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, "sewage water is pouring into the streets in Beit Hanoun, following damage to the main pipeline between Beit Hanoun and the Beit Lahiya wastewater treatment plant." Save The Children reports that newborn baby Gazans are battling hypothermia due to power cuts and freezing winter winds.

Some of the worst news comes from the doctors. Can you imagine a hospital functioning without electricity? According to the mainstream British newspaper The Guardian, medics are working around the clock and running out of anesthesia. There is no more gauze so doctors are using cotton, which sticks to wounds. Nurses are forced to draw blood with the wrong sized syringes and without alcohol. The Guardian article was entitled, "The injured were lying there asking God to let them die." Many have gotten their last wish, dying as they wait in the emergency rooms.

Medical workers themselves have also been under fire, with at least 4 killed as they tried to reach victims. Ambulances are not safe, nor are the schools:

When I woke up yesterday a UN school had just been bombed, killing 3 of the civilians who had come to the school seeking shelter. Watching the news later in the evening, I learned the same UN school had been bombed again (twice in one day), killing 40 more. The British director of the school, having lost his usual calm, was irate and imploring the world to understand that nowhere in Gaza is safe anymore—there is nowhere left to go.

Yet reading the Washington Post and watching the nightly news you might believe that Israel's is in fact the most virtuous army in the world, going as far as sending text messages to and dropping leaflets in Palestinian areas explaining that unless civilians leave, they will be attacked. Reported alone, this might sound reasonable, but quickly becomes absurd if you know that Gazans have no place to go to! Nowhere inside the strip of land is safe and there is no way to leave it, since the borders are sealed.

The bombing and invasion have clearly heightened the threat against Gazans' lives, but they did not start it. For the 18 months preceding the invasion, the average Gazan could not reliably go to school, make a living, contact the outside world, divert their sewage, heat their homes, drink clean water, or eat. This was due to the enclosure summed up in the words of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights: "Gaza is a prison and Israel seems to have thrown away the key." This was the reality of Israel's "ceasefire."

The closure pushed Gaza's humanitarian crisis to a new low, with poverty reaching 80%. Any attempt to counter poverty was thwarted. Gaza students dependent on transportation could not reach their schools, and those accepted at foreign universities in America, Europe, and the West Bank were denied permits to leave. Without enough fuel, industrial businesses were either shut down or running below 20% capacity, resulting in the loss of tens of thousands of jobs. Contrary to Israeli court order, the Israeli army allowed just 15% of fuel needed for generators, wells, and transportation, resulting in garbage piled high in the streets while up to 15,000,000 gallons of raw or partially-treated sewage flowed into the sea every day. This was the reality of Israel's "ceasefire."

On November 4th and 5th, Israel broke the "ceasefire" by killing at least 6 Palestinians in Gaza, reported on CNN-International but unlikely by CNN-US. Of course, there was no ceasefire to begin with, since the main requirement on Israel was to sufficiently unseal Gaza's borders, a requirement that was consistently ignored. By the end of the "ceasefire," 262 had Gazans died due to lack of access to proper medical care during the blockade.

Hamas should be condemned for its attacks on civilians, but it is naïve to expect that they would renew a truce that Israel had never adhered to. Whether or not it would cease cross-border attacks in exchange for Israeli reciprocity—as Hamas continues to offer—is something we cannot know, since Israel has never given the offer a chance.

----------------------------------------

10 IDEAS for TAKING ACTION:

Analysis and sympathy have no value if they do not result in any action. There are enough action ideas below that every single person on this list has the power to do at least one, ideally many more.

1. Monitor and contact local media to inform others and counter misinformation. Write letters to the editor (usually 100-150 words) or op-eds (usually 600-800 words) for local newspapers. Also contact radio talk shows and television news departments, especially in response to biased coverage. You can find all local media at:

http://www.congress.org/congressorg/dbq/media/

The US Campaign to End the Occupation compiled a fact sheet about US direct contributions to the war on Gaza, which you can use for facts:

http://www.endtheoccupation.org/downloads/gaza_us_weapons.pdf

2. Organize and join demonstrations in front of Israeli embassies or (if that's not doable) in front of the offices of elected officials or other visible place. Inform the media beforehand. Here is a list of the many demonstrations happening around the country (For example, St Louis, where I live, usually has one a month, but this month there are demonstrations every day):

http://www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=1773

3. Join local activist groups organizing local actions. If there aren't any, start your own. Now is an excellent time to rally support.

4. Initiate boycotts, divestments and sanctions to nonviolently pressure Israeli compliance with international law, as was effective in the struggle against Apartheid in South Africa. Now is an excellent time to rally support and begin a campaign. More info and resources at http://www.bdsmovement.net/

5. Send direct aid to Gaza through one of the following organizations:


United Nations Relief and Works Agency: www.un.org/unrwa/ (http://www.un.org/unrwa/)
United Palestinian Appeal: www.helpupa.com (http://www.helpupa.com/)
Islamic Relief: www.irw.org (http://www.irw.org/)
Canadian Red Cross: www.redcross.ca (http://www.redcross.ca/)
American Near East Refugee Aid: www.anera.org (http://www.anera.org/)
Physicians for Human Rights: www.phr.org.il/phr (http://www.phr.org.il/phr)
Other groups: http://gazasiege.org/support_gaza.html
You can also support solidarity activists on the ground at

www.palsolidarity.org/main/ (http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/)
6. Contact elected and other political leaders in your country to urge them to apply pressure to end the attacks. Find your representatives and their contact info at http://www.congress.org/congressorg/officials/congress

Call the Obama/Biden Transition Office at 202-540-3000, press 2 to speak to staff member. Tell them the U.S. needs a new Middle East policy, which holds Israel accountable to international law and UN resolutions and human rights. Tell them the U.S. should not support Israel with billions of dollars every year and should not be arming Israel with U.S. made weapons. Add your own suggestions. The time is right for President-elect Obama to hear from the peace community.

7. Sign petitions for Gaza, for example:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/gaza_time_for_peace/98.php?cl_tf_sign=1

http://capwiz.com/arab/utr/2/?a=12364076&i=90758629&c

https://secure2.convio.net/pep/site/Advocacy?s_oo=d13BldH27ypl2jxg-1cOFA..&id=233

8. Put a Palestinian flag at your window. Wear a Palestinian head scarf (keffiya). Wear black arm bands (this helps start conversations with people).

9. Do a group fast for peace one day and hold it in a public place.

10. Inform others in your community with flyers, vigils, and conversations. At the very least, forward this on.

This list was based on a call from the Palestinian Center for Rapprochement Between People and Friends of Sabeel.

[Gold9472]

Hamas Rejects Gaza Cease-Fire
France Says Israel Accepts Egyptian-French Plan, But Hamas Tells CBS News Deal Does Not Ensure Open Borders Or End Blockade

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/01/07/world/main4703553.shtml?tag=topStory

1/7/2009

(CBS/AP) French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Wednesday that Israel had accepted an Egyptian-French cease-fire plan for the Gaza Strip, but Hamas officials in Syria told CBS News that they could not agree to the plan because it does not guarantee open border crossings or an end to a crippling blockade.

Nicolas Sarkozy said the Palestinian Authority, which has not had any control in the Strip for more than a year, also agreed to the plan that was offered up by the French and Egyptian foreign ministers at the United Nations Tuesday night.

Sarkozy said he "strongly welcomed the acceptance by Israel and the Palestinian Authority of the French-Egyptian plan presented yesterday by (Egyptian President Hosni) Mubarak."

However, Israel said it would support the proposal only if it halts "hostile fire" from Hamas in Gaza and includes measures to prevent the militant group from re-arming, said government spokesman Mark Regev.

Sarkozy's spokesman, Franck Louvrier, was also more cautious, saying the French president's statement was "a reaction to the fact that, according to contacts with different interlocutors, they would accept the plan introduced yesterday as a departure point for discussion, which would allow a renewal of dialogue."

In Syria, a spokesman for Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal told CBS News' George Baghdadi soon after Sarkozy's comments were made public that the militant group did not accept the terms of the Egyptian-French plan.

Spokesman Abu Omar said Hamas could only agree to a plan which guaranteed to end the economic blockade and to reopen the border crossings as soon as hostilities on both sides were halted; what he called a "complete package."

The Egyptian plan calls for Hamas to stop firing rockets and Israel to stop its military campaign simultaneously - which Hamas is amenable to - but it then states both sides should sit down to discuss further measures to be taken, such as the border crossings and the blockade.

Israel has no direct contacts with Hamas, but Mashaal indicated earlier Wednesday for the first time an apparent willingness to "contribute in reaching a solution to stop the aggression in Gaza."

For any plan to be implemented, Israel would likely demand an absolute guarantee from Hamas that all rocket attacks on southern Israel from the tiny Palestinian territory would stop, and the group would not be permitted to re-arm itself.

About 300 of the more than 670 Palestinians killed in the Israeli operation by Wednesday were civilians, according to Palestinian and U.N. figures. Of those killed, at least 130 were children age 16 and under, said the Gaza-based Palestinian Center for Human Rights, which tracks casualties.

Under intense pressure from the international community and non-profit aid organizations, Israel said earlier Wednesday it would stop its aerial and ground assault on Hamas targets for three-hour periods each day. The Israeli military was in the middle of its first three-hour cessation of fire when news broke about the government apparently accepting the French-Egyptian plan.

Artillery fire resumed later Wednesday.

The brief cease-fire windows were meant to allow for the distribution of humanitarian aid to the roughly 1.5 million besieged residents of the Gaza Strip, but Israel warned it would resume attacks if it detected an imminent threat from Hamas rockets.

Trucks full of food, water, medical supplies and fuel started moving after waiting for weeks on Israel's side of the Gaza border. The Israeli government says it should be safe for them to travel on a designated route, reports CBS News correspondent Richard Roth.

However, just getting aid into Gaza won't solve the huge humanitarian problems. Roads are bombed and blocked, reports Roth and it's still a battle zone full of hazards for people delivering the aid and the people who need it.

John Ging, head of Gaza operations for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, welcomed the short window as, "the first step," but said it was not a solution.

"It will be three hours out of 24 hours," Ging told the British Broadcasting Corp., "We will be able to do what we can do in three hours."

"A million people have no electricity ... Everybody is short of food," he added.

Even as Israel weighed its options over Tuesday night, it moved ahead with its attempts to forcefully stomp out militant rocket fire in Gaza.

Israel said it struck 40 Hamas targets in the cover of night. Gaza officials said one morning airstrike killed four people, and heavy gunfire bellowed in a neighborhood east of Gaza City.

Only five of the 75 Palestinians killed Tuesday were confirmed militants, and the United Nations called for an investigation into the growing civilian casualties after Israeli shelling killed 42 people at a school being operated as a shelter by a U.N. refugee agency.

That agency said Wednesday it was certain that Hamas militants were not using its school to attack Israeli troops. Israel has said militants fired mortar shells at its troops from outside the school, drawing return fire.

Christopher Guinness of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency said Wednesday, "UNWRA is 99.9 percent certain there were no militants or military activity in its school."

That does not necessarily contradict Israel's claim that the militants were operating close by. Guinness said the agency wants an impartial investigation of witnesses, Israeli military photographs or any other evidence.

Palestinians who witnessed the attack near the school have reported seeing militants flee the scene, into the civilian population, after the first of about five shells hit.

The rising civilian death toll in Israel's campaign in Gaza highlights the pitfalls of Israel's powerful army using lethal force against often invisible Hamas guerrillas taking cover among civilians.

The images of maimed or bloodied Palestinian civilians, including children, was likely to heighten international pressure on Israel to abort the offensive before it has obtained its main objective - hitting Hamas hard so it will halt rocket fire on Israeli border towns.

In Israel's campaign against Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas in 1996, errant Israeli artillery shells killed 91 Lebanese civilians at a U.N. base near the village of Qana, turning initial international support for the operation into harsh criticism. In 2006, Israeli shells killed 18 Palestinians in the Gaza town of Beit Hanoun.

[Gold9472]

Israel approves tougher war on Hamas

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Israel_approves_tougher_war_on_Hamas_0107.html

1/7/2009

GAZA CITY (AFP) – Israel on Wednesday approved an even tougher war on Hamas, warning residents to flee southern Gaza ahead of planned bombardments of cross-border tunnels, as the Palestinian death toll passed 700.

After a brief lull to allow Gaza's beleaguered population to hunt for food and fuel, Defence Minister Ehud Barak was given the green light by the security cabinet to order a deeper offensive into Gaza towns as part of the campaign to halt Hamas cross-border rocket attacks.

But Barak has also decided to send an envoy to Cairo on Thursday to get details on an Egyptian ceasefire plan, which secured widespread international backing amid mounting concern about the scale of the civilian casualties.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he hoped the talks would "lead to conditions which will allow" the end of the Israeli offensive which began on December 27 and has so far killed 702 Palestinians and wounded 3,100, Gaza medics say.

Olmert chaired the security cabinet meeting in Jerusalem which "approved continuing the ground offensive, including a third stage that would broaden it by pushing deeper into populated areas," a senior defence official said.

The final decision will be left with Barak, the official added.

Israeli shelling and air attacks around Gaza City were halted for three hours as a humanitarian gesture. Hamas also halted rocket attacks.

People and cars quickly filled the streets of Gaza City and long queues formed outside bakeries which soon ran out of bread. Aid groups sent dozens of truckloads of food and fuel across the border during the truce.

But the fighting equally quickly resumed, inflicting new deaths. A man and his three sons and a nephew were killed in one attack at the Jabaliya refugee camp, according to Gaza medics.

Israel also warned thousands of people in the Rafah zone on the Egyptian border to leave their houses or face air strikes.

"You have until 8:00am (0600 GMT)" on Thursday, said leaflets which were dropped by the Israeli military.

The area around Rafah is criss-crossed by what the Israeli army estimates to be some 300 tunnels and what local residents have told AFP is 500 subterranean passages from Gaza into Egypt.

The tunnels are used to smuggle supplies and arms into Gaza, an impoverished enclave that Israel has virtually locked down since Hamas seized power in June 2007.

Putting a halt to the smuggling is a key element of the ceasefire plan proposed by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

The proposal calls for an "immediate ceasefire," Israeli-Palestinian talks in Egypt on securing Gaza's borders, reopening border crossings and possible Palestinian reconciliation talks under Egyptian mediation.

Egypt has asked the International Committee of the Red Cross to open a humanitarian corridor from its border with Gaza for aid and evacuating the wounded, the foreign ministry in Cairo said.

The Hamas leadership announced it was studying the plan and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas was set to go to Cairo for talks.

The United States signalled it was open to the idea of a ceasefire but the White House said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was clarifying details of the Egyptian plan.

Russia's top Middle East envoy met exiled Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal in Damascus on Wednesday. A Russian foreign ministry statement said Meshaal declared himself ready to take part in a "political-diplomatic solution" but that "the imposition of capitulatory conditions by Israel was unacceptable."

The Israeli government has faced mounting international criticism over its offensive, its deadliest ever in Gaza.

Cardinal Renato Martino, the Vatican's justice and peace minister, was quoted by the online Italian daily Il Sussidiario as saying Gaza had been turned into a "big concentration camp" by two weeks of Israeli bombardments.

Israel responded by saying the comments were "based on Hamas propaganda."

Hundreds of Hamas rockets fired into Israel over the past 12 days have killed four people and wounded dozens. Six Israeli soldiers have also been killed in combat.

Israel was also slammed by the United Nations which expressed outrage and demanded an independent investigation after military strikes on three UN-run schools in Gaza on Tuesday killed 48 people.

Forty-three people were killed in the deadliest strike at Jabaliya. The army said its investigation found militants had fired at Israeli forces from inside the school and Hamas militants were among those killed.

The United Nations denied this.

"Following an initial investigation, we are 99.9 percent sure that there were no militants or militant activities in the school and the school compound," Christopher Gunness, spokesman for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, told AFP.

[Gold9472]

Vatican official: Gaza is now a 'concentration camp'

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Vatican_Gaza_now_concentration_camp_0107.html

Agence France-Presse
Published: Wednesday January 7, 2009

THE Gaza Strip has been turned into a "concentration camp" by two weeks of Israeli bombardments, said a senior Vatican official.

Cardinal Renato Martino, the Vatican's justice and peace minister, was quoted by the online Italian daily Il Sussidiario.

"Let's look at the conditions in Gaza: these increasingly resemble a big concentration camp," said Cardinal Martino.

Cardinal Martino said it was in neither parties interest to carry on fighting and urged both to show more willingness to hold peace talks.

"If they can't come to an agreement, then someone else should do it (for them). The world cannot sit back and watch without doing anything.

"We Christians are not the only ones to call this land 'holy', Jews and Muslims do so too. The fact that this land is the scene of bloodshed seems a great tragedy," he added.

Israel's offensive on Gaza has killed almost 700 Palestinians, including 220 children, and injured 3000 since December 27, according to Gaza medics.

Aid agencies have declared a total humanitarian crisis in Gaza, owing to the ailing stocks of basic food, water and medical supplies.

In response Israel said the comments were "based on Hamas propaganda".

"Making remarks that seem to be based on Hamas propaganda while ignoring its numerous crimes ... does not bring the people closer to truth and peace," foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor told AFP.

[Gold9472]

Attack on Israel from Lebanon threatens 2nd front

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ioi_0jtO9RjMwPNRoXNCndRPRq3gD95ITPBO0

By IBRAHIM BARZAK and STEVE WEIZMAN – 4 hours ago

JERUSALEM (AP) — Lebanese militants fired rockets into northern Israel early Thursday, threatening to open a new front for the Jewish state as it pushed forward with its offensive in the Gaza Strip.

Two people were lightly injured, and the rockets on Israel's north raised the specter of renewed hostilities with Hezbollah, just 2 1/2 years after Israel battled the guerrilla group to a 34-day stalemate. Hezbollah started the 2006 war as Israel was battling Palestinian militants in Gaza.

Lebanon's government, wary of conflict, quickly condemned the rocket fire and said it was trying to determine who was behind the attack. Israel fired mortar shells into southern Lebanon in response.

In new Gaza fighting, Israel killed at five people, including four militants, raising the death toll from its 13-day offensive to nearly 700, according to Palestinian medical officials. With roughly half the dead believed to be civilians, international efforts to broker a cease-fire have been gaining steam.

Later Thursday, Israel said it would halt military action for three hours to allow Gaza residents to stock up on supplies. The lull would enable humanitarian groups to do their work, and Israel would send aid and fuel into the territory, said Israeli military official Peter Lerner.

One of the Lebanese rockets went through the roof of a retirement home in Nahariya, about five miles from the border, and exploded in the kitchen as some 25 residents were eating breakfast in the adjacent dining hall. One resident suffered a broken leg, another bruises, apparently from slipping on the floor after emergency sprinklers came on.

"The rocket entered through the roof, hurling the water heaters into the air. It went through bedrooms upstairs and then into the kitchen. There was a serious blast," said Henry Carmelli, the home's manager.

About three hours later, air-raid sirens went off again. Residents in two northern towns reported explosions of incoming rockets, though some reports suggested there had been a false alarm. Police said they were searching for the fallen projectiles.

Israel has repeatedly said it was prepared for a possible attack on the north since it launched its bruising campaign against Hamas militants in Gaza on Dec. 27. Israel has mobilized thousands of reserve troops for such a scenario, and leaders have warned Hezbollah of dire consequences if it enters the fighting.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the rocket attacks. Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora condemned both the attacks and Israel's retaliatory fire, saying the attackers were trying to undermine stability.

Hezbollah, which did not comment, has said it does not want to draw Lebanon into a new war. Small Palestinian groups, who have rocketed Israel twice since the end of the 2006 war, have recently threatened to open a new front against Israel if the fighting in Gaza continued.

An Israeli Cabinet minister, Meir Sheetrit, suggested that Lebanese splinter groups, not Hezbollah, were responsible. He said the government had no interest in renewing hostilities.

"Even though we have the ability to respond with great force, the response needs to be carefully considered and responsible," Sheetrit told Army Radio. "We don't need to play into their hands."

Shortly after the first rockets fell around the town of Nahariya, five miles south of the Lebanese border, Lebanese TV stations reported Israeli mortar fire on open areas in southern Lebanon. The Israeli military confirmed it carried out "pinpoint fire" in response without elaborating.

Israeli defense commentators said they expected the incident to be a one-time show of solidarity with the Palestinians, not a declaration of war. Still, police said public bomb shelters throughout the north were opened.

Earlier, Palestinians reported some two dozen airstrikes around Gaza City before dawn. One militant was killed and 10 wounded.

An airstrike in northern Gaza killed three members of a rocket-launching cell, Palestinian medical officials said. The attack took place about 150 yards from a hospital and wounded 12 bystanders. The Israeli army has repeatedly said militants use civilian areas for cover.

Also, there were clashes between Israeli armored forces and Hamas militants in southern Gaza.

Israel had resumed its Gaza offensive Wednesday after a three-hour lull to allow in humanitarian aid, bombing heavily around suspected smuggling tunnels near the border with Egypt after Hamas responded with a rocket barrage. Israeli planes destroyed at least 16 empty houses.

The tunnels are Hamas' lifeline, used to bring in arms, money and basic goods. Israel says local homes are used to conceal the tunnels.

Israeli warplanes bombed the border area after leaflets were dropped warning residents to leave. More than 5,000 people fled to two U.N. schools turned into temporary shelters.

Despite the heavy fighting, strides appeared to be made on the diplomatic front with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice saying the U.S. supported a deal being brokered by France and Egypt.

While the U.N. Security Council failed to reach agreement on a cease-fire resolution, Egypt's U.N. Ambassador Maged Abdelaziz said representatives of Israel, Hamas and the Palestinian Authority agreed to meet separately with Egyptian officials in Cairo.

Senior envoy Amos Gilad arrived in Egypt Thursday morning.

The latest casualties brought the total Palestinian death toll during Israel's assault to 692 — including some 350 civilians, among them 130 children - according to Palestinian health officials, and drove home the complexities of finding a diplomatic solution for Israel's Gaza invasion. Ten Israelis have been killed, including three civilians, since the offensive began.

In Turkey, a Mideast diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly said that country would be asked to put together an international force that could help keep the peace. And diplomats in New York worked on a U.N. Security Council statement backing the cease-fire initiative but failed to reach agreement on action to end the violence.

For Israel to accept a proposed cease-fire deal, "there has to be a total and complete cessation of all hostile fire from Gaza into Israel, and ... we have to see an arms embargo on Hamas that will receive international support," said government spokesman Mark Regev.

For its part, Hamas said it would not accept a truce deal unless it includes an end to the Israeli blockade of Gaza — something Israel says it is not willing to do. Israel and Egypt have maintained a stiff economic embargo on Gaza since the Hamas takeover.

The Palestinian Authority controls the West Bank while Hamas rules Gaza — two territories on opposite sides of Israel that are supposed to make up a future Palestinian state. Hamas took control of Gaza from forces loyal to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in June 2007.

Growing international outrage over the human toll of Israel's offensive, which includes 3,000 Palestinians wounded — could work against continued fighting. So could President Bush's departure from office this month and a Feb. 10 election in Israel.

But Israel has a big interest in inflicting as much damage as possible on Hamas, both to stop militant rocket fire on southern Israeli towns and to diminish the group's ability to play a spoiler role in peace talks with Palestinian moderates.

The Israeli Cabinet formally decided on Wednesday to push ahead with the offensive while at the same time pursuing the cease-fire.

The military has called up thousands of reserve troops that it could use to expand the Gaza offensive. Defense officials said the troops could be ready for action by Friday.

In Geneva, the international Red Cross said it found four small children alive next to their mothers' bodies in the rubble of a Gaza home hit by Israeli shelling. The neutral aid group says a total of 15 dead were recovered from two houses in the Zaytun neighborhood of Gaza City on Wednesday.

A Red Cross spokesman said rescuers had been refused permission by Israeli forces to reach the site for four days. It said the delay in allowing rescue services access was "unacceptable."

[Gold9472]

Lebanon criticises rocket attack into Israel

http://uk.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUKTRE50728P20090108

Thu Jan 8, 2009 11:35am GMT

BEIRUT (Reuters) - The Lebanese government criticised a rocket attack from south Lebanon into Israel on Thursday, saying it was a violation of a U.N. Security Council resolution that halted a 2006 war between Hezbollah and the Jewish state.

Information Minister Tareq Mitri said he did not believe the political and military group Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, was behind the attack.

"Hezbollah assured the Lebanese government that it remains engaged in preserving the stability in Lebanon and respects Security Council resolution 1701," the head of Mitri's office, Toufic Yannieh, quoted the minister as saying.

That implied no involvement by Hezbollah, he said. Hezbollah did not immediately comment in public. There were no claims of responsibility for the attack, to which Israel responded with a salvo of artillery shells into south Lebanon.

Prime Minister Fouad Siniora asked the Lebanese authorities to step up measures and their cooperation with U.N. peacekeepers in south Lebanon to "prevent a repeat of these acts," a statement issued from his office said.

At least three rockets were fired from Lebanon, exploding in northern Israel and wounding two people in an attack seen as linked to Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip.

"Prime Minister Siniora regards what happened in the south as a violation of the international resolution 1701 and something he does not accept and rejects," the statement said.

Siniora called for an investigation into the rocket attack and also condemned the Israeli artillery salvo.

U.N. Security Council resolution 1701 halted the 34-day war between the Lebanese guerrilla group Hezbollah and Israel. Under the resolution, the Lebanese army deployed in the south of the country together with thousands of additional U.N. peacekeepers.

[Gold9472]

Hundreds of thousands rally in Syria to protest Gaza attack

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1231167318634&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
1/8/2009

Hundreds of thousands of Syrians swarmed downtown Damascus Thursday in a government-orchestrated rally to protest Israel's military offensive against the Gaza Strip.

It was the biggest protest ever in the Syrian capital since Israel launched an air and ground offensive on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip Dec. 27. The protest was called by Syria's labor unions.

Syria's official news agency SANA and the state-run Syrian Television estimated the number of protesters in downtown Damascus at roughly one million. But independent estimates put it at hundreds of thousands.

Demonstrators in downtown Damascus carried pictures of Syria's president and the leader of Lebanon's militant Hezbollah, both of whom support Hamas.

The crowd, waving Syrian and Palestinian flags, also yelled protests against Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak for refusing to open the Rafah border crossing with Gaza. Many in the Arab world have criticized Egypt for this, perceiving it as abetting Israel.

"Oh Mubarak, listen, listen, the Arab people will not kneel down," the protesters shouted.

Before the huge demonstration dispersed, an estimated few hundred of the protesters, marched to the Egyptian Embassy. The protesters, standing about 110 yards (100 meters) from the embassy, were prevented by Syrian riot police, carrying batons and protective shields, from reaching the building.

The protesters in downtown Damascus also trampled on an Israeli flag before burning it.

Some of the banners they carried read, "The Gazans' blood will not be shed in vain," and "Your blood is pure, Oh Gaza's people ... and the blood of Arab leaders stinks."

Mayadah Nashawati, a 50-year-old housewife, who was at the protest said: "Israel is committing a genocide at a time when the entire world is regretfully watching."

She said the Rafah crossing, which connects the Gaza Strip's 1.4 million residents with Egypt, must reopen to "salvage the Gazans from the holocaust."

Ahmed al-Hamid, a 17-year-old student, also urged Mubarak to open the Rafah crossing. "The Arabs must break their silence on the injustice that has befallen the Palestinian people," he said.

Israel has said that it started its campaign in order to stop Hamas rocket fire. More than 700 Palestinians have been killed since the offensive began.

Meanwhile, an Egyptian foreign ministry official lashed out Thursday at Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the militant group Hezbollah, for remarks Nasrallah made against Egypt in his latest speech. The official, who did not want to be identified due to the sensitivity of the issue, said so far the militant leader has given "nothing to Gaza but some ringing speeches."

[Gold9472]

Lebanon minister says Hezbollah not behind attack

http://uk.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUKTRE5072IT20090108

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon's Information Minister Tareq Mitri said Thursday he did not believe Hezbollah was behind a rocket attack on Israel from southern Lebanon, according to an aide.

"Hezbollah assured the Lebanese government that it remains engaged in preserving the stability in Lebanon and respects Security Council resolution 1701," the head of Mitri's office, Toufic Yannieh, quoted the minister as saying.

Mitri said this implied Hezbollah was not involved in the rocket attack, Yannieh added.

Resolution 1701 ended a 34-day war between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas in 2006.

[Gold9472]

UN truck comes under deadly fire in Gaza

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/01/08/international/i024607S10.DTL

By IBRAHIM BARZAK and STEVE WEIZMAN, Associated Press Writers
Thursday, January 8, 2009

(01-08) 13:19 PST JERUSALEM, Israel (AP) -- The U.N. suspended aid shipments in the Gaza Strip on Thursday and the Red Cross restricted its convoys after their trucks came under Israeli fire. The threat of a wider conflict arose when militants in Lebanon fired two rockets into northern Israel.

One rocket crashed into a retirement home, but there were no serious injuries. Israel responded with mortar shells.

The driver of the U.N. truck died immediately; another worker in the truck died later of his wounds. The truck, which came under fire in northern Gaza, was marked with the U.N. flag and insignia.

During a three-hour pause in the fighting to allow in food and fuel and let medics collect the dead, nearly three dozen bodies were found beneath the rubble of bombed out buildings in Gaza City.

Many of the dead were in the same neighborhood where the international Red Cross said rescuers discovered young children too weak to stand who had stayed by their dead mothers. The aid group accused Israel of an "unacceptable" delay in allowing workers to reach the area.

Relations between Israel and humanitarian organizations have grown increasingly tense as civilian casualties have mounted.

The United Nations demanded an inquiry this week after Israeli shells killed nearly 40 Palestinians near a U.N. school filled with Gazans. Israel said militants had launched an attack from the area, then ran into a crowd of civilians for cover.

The 13-day Israeli offensive has killed about 750 Palestinians, according to Palestinian hospital officials and human rights workers. Two Israeli soldiers were killed in combat Thursday, raising the number of soldiers killed in Gaza to eight since the assault began Dec. 27. Four Israelis, including one soldier, also have been killed by rockets fired at Israeli cities.

"We've been coordinating with them (Israeli forces) and yet our staff continue to be hit and killed," said a U.N. spokesman, Chris Gunness, announcing the suspension. The U.N. is the largest aid provider in Gaza.

Israeli police, meanwhile, said militants in the Gaza Strip fired 24 rockets into Israel on Thursday, injuring four people, one of them seriously. Militants fired larger numbers of rockets in the early days of the conflict.

The Israeli assault is intended to halt years of Palestinian rocket attacks on southern Israel. But with roughly half the Palestinian dead believed to be civilians, international efforts to broker a cease-fire have been gaining steam.

Israeli envoys traveled to Egypt on Thursday to discuss the proposal being brokered by France and Egypt.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said any time lost will play into the hands of those who want war.

"The weapons must go quiet, the escalation must stop, Israel must obtain security guarantees and leave Gaza," he said in Paris.

The U.N. provides food aid to around 750,000 Gaza residents — about half of Gaza's population — and runs dozens of schools and clinics throughout the territory. They have some 9,000 local staffers in Gaza as well as a small team of international staffers.

Elena Mancusi Materi, UNRWA's spokeswoman in Geneva, said the suspension concerned all truck movement in Gaza.

"If someone comes to one of our food distribution centers, we will give that person food," she said. "If people come to our clinics with injuries, we will treat them."

For a second straight day, Israel suspended its Gaza military operation for three hours to allow in humanitarian supplies. Shortly before the pause took effect, the U.N. said one of its aid trucks came under fire from a gunner on an Israeli tank, killing the driver.

U.N. spokesman Adnan Abu Hasna said the U.N. coordinated the delivery in northern Gaza with Israel, and the vehicle was marked with a U.N. flag and insignia. The Israeli army said it was investigating.

Hasna said the truck driver died immediately and another man in the truck died later of his wounds. A third man was also injured.

In Geneva, the international Red Cross said it would restrict its aid operations to Gaza City for at least one day after one of its convoys came under Israeli fire at the Netzarim crossing during the pause in fighting Thursday. One driver was lightly injured.

Dr. Moaiya Hassanain of the Palestinian Health Ministry said 35 bodies were discovered Thursday during the three-hour lull in several areas around Gaza City that have seen fierce fighting between Israeli troops and Hamas militants.

He said it was unclear how many militants were killed because the remains were in poor condition, but that women and children were among the dead. Hassanain said 746 Palestinians have died in the Israeli offensive.

Many of the dead found Thursday were in Gaza City's Zeitoun neighborhood, where the international Red Cross said it found four small children alive next to their mothers' bodies in the rubble of a home hit by Israeli shelling. The aid group says 15 dead were recovered from two houses in Zeitoun on Wednesday.

A Red Cross spokesman says rescuers had been refused permission by Israeli forces to reach the site for four days. It said the delay was "unacceptable."

The Red Cross statement was a rare public criticism from the aid group, which normally conducts confidential negotiations with warring parties.

The Israeli military said in a statement that Hamas militants used Palestinian civilians as human shields, and that Israeli forces work closely with aid groups to help civilians in Gaza.

In other Gaza violence, Israel attacks killed at least 24 Palestinians Thursday, including the U.N. driver, according to Hassanain.

The rockets from Lebanon raised the specter of renewed hostilities on Israel's northern frontier, 2 1/2 years after Israel battled the Hezbollah guerrilla group to a 34-day stalemate. War broke out between Hezbollah and Israel in 2006 as Israel battled Palestinian militants in Gaza, on Israel's southern borders.

No group claimed responsibility. Lebanon's government condemned the attack, and Hezbollah — which is now part of Lebanon's government — denied any responsibility for the rocket fire, which lightly injured two Israelis at a retirement home.

"The rocket entered through the roof, hurling the water heaters into the air. It went through bedrooms upstairs and then into the kitchen," said Henry Carmelli, the home's manager.

Israel has repeatedly said it was prepared for a possible attack on the north since it launched its campaign against Hamas militants in Gaza. Israel has mobilized thousands of reserve troops for such a scenario, and leaders have warned Hezbollah of dire consequences if it enters the fighting.

"We are prepared and will respond as necessary," Defense Minister Ehud Barak said.

The Israeli offensive has reduced Palestinian rocket fire, but not stopped it. Several barrages were reported Thursday, including one strike that damaged a school and sports center in the southern city of Ashkelon, police said. Both buildings were empty.

For Israel to accept a proposed cease-fire deal, "there has to be a total and complete cessation of all hostile fire from Gaza into Israel, and ... we have to see an arms embargo on Hamas that will receive international support," said government spokesman Mark Regev.

Hamas said it would not accept a truce deal unless it includes an end to the Israeli blockade of Gaza — something Israel says it is not willing to do. Israel and Egypt have maintained a stiff economic embargo on Gaza since the Hamas takeover in June 2007.

The Palestinian Authority controls the West Bank while Hamas rules Gaza — territories on opposite sides of Israel that are supposed to make up a future Palestinian state.

[Gold9472]

Congress To Give "Staunch And Unwavering Support" To Israel

http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Congress_offers_staunch_support_to__01082009.html

1/8/2009

The US Congress is set to offer staunch and unwavering support for Israel as the Gaza conflict rages, recognizing its "inalienable right" to defend itself from attacks by Hamas.

Democratic and Republican leaders united to introduce a resolution backing Israel in the US Senate and a similar measure will soon be pending in the House of Representatives with both expected to pass by large majorities.

"When we pass this resolution, the United States Senate will strengthen our historic bond with the state of Israel by reaffirming Israel's inalienable right to defend against attacks from Gaza, as well as our support for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process," said Senate Majority leader Harry Reid.

"Hamas must stop the rocket fire from Gaza into Israel -- that is the stated objective of the Israelis.

"I acknowledge and appreciate the calls by some for a ceasefire.

"Certainly we must encourage a peaceful resolution of the conflict, but we must be certain that any cease-fire is sustainable, durable, and enforceable."

Republican leader Mitch McConnell also placed blame for the start of Israel's war on Hamas on the Islamist group, after the death toll rose to 760 as dozens more bodies were discovered in Gaza.

"This resolution in support of the state of Israel has strong bipartisan support," McConnell said.

"Hamas is a terrorist organization, it clearly started this current conflict by launching rockets on the civilian sites in Israel," he said.

"The Israelis are responding exactly the same way we would if rockets were being launched into the United States from Canada or Mexico," he said.

The resolution calls on Hamas to end the rocket and mortar attacks against Israel, and says any ceasefire reached in the conflict must be "durable, enforceable and sustainable."

It calls for the lives of innocent civilians to be protected and says senators support a strong and secure Israel living in peace with an independent Palestinian state.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the House would take up a corresponding resolution on Friday.

[Gold9472]

250 foreigners flee Gaza fighting

http://rawstory.com/news/afp/250_foreigners_flee_Gaza_fighting_01082009.html

1/8/2009

About 250 foreigners on Thursday took the risky ride from Gaza City to safety across the border, but hundreds are believed still left inside the war-stricken territory, diplomats said.

Some of those trapped, like Spaniard Maria Velasco, have made three attempts to get to the border but say they have been forced back by the fighting between Israel and Hamas or by bureaucratic obstacles.

The International Committee of the Red Cross organised the convoy of six buses that took 48 Canadians along with citizens of Austria, Norway, the Philippines, Romania and Sweden, officials said.

"It was risky," said Palestinian-Canadian Marwan Diad who was on holiday with his family when he became trapped in the war. "Nowhere is safe in Gaza."

At the Erez border crossing with Israel, the foreigners were greeted by diplomats from their countries and most were then escorted away to be taken onwards to Jordan where they were to board flights home.

Nasreen Elmadhoon, another Canadian Palestinian who had returned to Gaza to see her cancer-stricken father, blamed both sides for the conflict. "Everywhere people are being killed, people dying," she said.

"I was supposed to leave on January 1, but I was stuck there, just hearing the bombs, in the house, doing nothing. I am happy because I'm out, but I am worried about my family."

Her seven year-old son, Fawiz, said: "I hate bombs, I was scared. I tried to not hear them. At night, my mum was sleeping. I was the only one awake. There are so many bombs, almost to our house... it didn't come, but it was very close."

Israel allowed a first group of more than 200 foreigners to leave Hamas-controlled Gaza -- where medical workers say more than 760 people have been killed -- on January 2, the day before it sent in thousands of troops to back up a week of air raids.

Several attempts since then to evacuate foreigners have been cancelled because of fighting too close to the route they were meant to take.

Diplomats in Jerusalem estimate there are another 400 foreigners of 22 nationalities left in Gaza. Most are Palestinians with dual nationality or are married to Palestinians.

A Swedish diplomat said the consulate general in Jerusalem had been unable to contact two people on a list of 14 Swedish passport-holders still in Gaza.

"The others we have managed to stay in contact with, though even the mobile phone network is becoming very difficult now."

Maria Velasco, married to a Palestinian doctor, has tried three times to leave Gaza and told AFP by telephone from her home in the besieged southern town of Khan Yunis that she was now desperate.

She had hoped to leave with the others on Thursday but the Spanish consulate had not been able to get authorisation.

Spanish diplomatic sources blamed "circumstances beyond our control" and said the consulate general still hoped to get Velasco, her husband and two-year-old son out as soon as possible.

Velasco said she hoped to make a new attempt to leave on Friday, but was worried as "nowhere is safe."

She criticised what she called a "lack of coordination" by the Spanish government, Israel and the United Nations which had prevented them from being evacuated on Thursday.

She said she has been asking the Spanish consulate to get her out for more than a month.

[Gold9472]

'Pro-Israel' TV ads from group tied to Hagee, Abramoff

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/ProIsrael_group_has_evangelical_and_Abramoff_0107. html

Muriel Kane
Published: Thursday January 8, 2009

A graphic television advertisement pleading for aid to Israel, which has recently run during Countdown with Keith Olbermann and other cable shows, is the product of a group with close ties to neoconservatives, the right-wing evangelical community and former associates of Jack Abramoff.

The ad follows the standard pattern of most conservative fundraising appeals -- after first creating a sense of panic, it then assures viewers they can help by sending money. It begins with a female voice intoning, over what appears to be stock footage of wounded Israelis, "This nightmare is very real, a daily horror happening now for those living in Israel near Palestinian Gaza."

Yechiel Eckstein, identified as founder and president of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, next appears on screen to assert, "Right now, there are thousands of missiles prepared to be launched. The storm is coming. ... They seek to drive us into the sea."

The female voice then returns to plead, over a tollfree number, "Israel and its beleaguered people need our support now. ... Your call can save the life of an innocent man, woman, or child. ... The difference between life and death for Israel and its people is in our hands."

The group behind the ad, the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, is no stranger to controversy. For example, it has been criticized by Israeli newspaper Haaretz for painting an unrealistically bleak picture of life in Israel in order to encourage donations.

However, IFCJ has enjoyed strong support from such right-wing religious stalwarts as Pat Robertson, the late Jerry Falwell, and Pastor John Hagee

When Falwell died in 2007, Eckstein called him "a true friend of Israel and the Jewish people, and a man that I was honored to call a personal friend."

Two years ago, IFCJ bestowed its highest honor on Pastor Hagee. Eckstein stated on that occasion, "More and more Christians are understanding their Jewish roots and the Biblical perspective that calls them to stand with Israel. That didn’t just happen. Committed leaders like John Hagee have led the way, and for that, we are grateful."

Hagee's endorsement last year of Senator John McCain created an uproar when it was revealed that he had described Hitler as doing "God's work" by forcing the Jews to return to Israel and supported a permanent Israeli occupation of all Palestinian lands.

At that time, Eckstein refused to distance himself from Hagee, stating merely, "The Jewish community should accept his support but make known its opposition to those dimensions it finds offensive, including Hagee’s reported attacks on other faiths and his opposition to a two-state solution."

IFCJ's supporters also include two close associates of convicted felon Jack Abramoff -- Rabbi Daniel Lapin and Ralph Reed.

Lapin's Toward Tradition was used by Abramoff as a front group to raise donations for George W. Bush's re-election campaign. It also accepted $50,000 from two Abramoff clients to hire former Tom DeLay aide Tony Ruby's wife, in an arrangement that Abramoff's own plea agreement described as a bribe.

Ralph Reed was closely associated with Abramoff for many years, and his Century Strategies worked directly for Abramoff on Indian gaming issues in 1999-2002. Reed's firm also worked for IFCJ, and he and Eckstein co-founded a group called Stand For Israel in 2002.

According to Media Transparency, " Eckstein ... has raised millions of dollars from conservative Christian evangelicals for his organization's various projects. ... However, on the road to raising tens of millions of dollars, it appears that he has diverted a fair portion of the money to a half dozen media relations, direct mail and telemarketing companies, including Century Strategies, run by Ralph Reed."

A blogger known as "Mrs. Panstreppon," who frequently posts on Abramoff-related topics at Talking Points Memo, remarked tartly of this relationship, "Right Wing Ralph is still leveraging his credentials as a card-carrying member of the 'Christian' right to line his bank account. After helping Jack Abramoff stick it to the Indians big time, Ralphie baby went on to make a few more bucks by pretending to 'care' about the Jews in Israel. ... Ralph Reed and Rabbi Eckstein forgot to mention that most of the funding for the 'Stand Up For Israel' campaign was going to go in Ralph Reed’s pocket."

Panstreppon went on to note certain questionable payments listed in IFCJ's tax filings for 2002-04 and concluded, "If I thought Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein was a crook, I'd guess that the 'Stand Up For Israel' project was created to prepay and disguise illegal 2004 Republican campaign expenses. But I don't know if Rabbi Eckstein is a crook."

[Gold9472]

Obama camp 'prepared to talk to Hamas'
Incoming administration will abandon Bush's isolation of Islamist group to initiate low-level diplomacy, say transition sources

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/08/barack-obama-gaza-hamas

Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington
1/8/2009

The incoming Obama administration is prepared to abandon George Bush's ^doctrine of isolating Hamas by establishing a channel to the Islamist organisation, sources close to the transition team say.

The move to open contacts with Hamas, which could be initiated through the US intelligence services, would represent a definitive break with the Bush ^presidency's ostracising of the group. The state department has designated Hamas a terrorist organisation, and in 2006 ^Congress passed a law banning US financial aid to the group.

The Guardian has spoken to three ^people with knowledge of the discussions in the Obama camp. There is no talk of Obama approving direct diplomatic negotiations with Hamas early on, but he is being urged by advisers to initiate low-level or clandestine approaches, and there is growing recognition in Washington that the policy of ostracising Hamas is counter-productive. A tested course would be to start ^contacts through Hamas and the US intelligence services, similar to the secret process through which the US engaged with the PLO in the 1970s. Israel did not become aware of the contacts until much later.

A draft was agreed last night at the UN, calling for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire between Hamas and Israeli forces in Gaza, the head of the Arab League said. Amr Moussa said Arab countries want the security council to vote on the resolution. It was supported by the US, Israel's closest ally, and Arab countries with ties to Hamas.

Richard Haass, a diplomat under both Bush presidents who was named by a number of news organisations this week as Obama's choice for Middle East envoy, supports low-level contacts with Hamas provided there is a ceasefire in place and a Hamas-Fatah reconciliation emerges.

Another potential contender for a ^foreign policy role in the Obama administration suggested that the president-elect would not be bound by the Bush doctrine of isolating Hamas.

"This is going to be an administration that is committed to negotiating with ^critical parties on critical issues," the source said.

There are a number of options that would avoid a politically toxic scenario for Obama of seeming to give legitimacy to Hamas.

"Secret envoys, multilateral six-party talk-like approaches. The total isolation of Hamas that we promulgated under Bush is going to end," said Steve Clemons, the director of the American Strategy ^Programme at the New America ^Foundation. "You could do something through the Europeans. You could invent a structure that is multilateral. It is going to be hard for the neocons to swallow," he said. "I think it is going to happen.

But one Middle East expert close to the transition team said: "It is highly unlikely that they will be public about it."

The two weeks since Israel began its military campaign against Gaza have heightened anticipation about how Obama intends to deal with the Middle East. He adopted a strongly pro-Israel position during the election campaign, as did his erstwhile opponent and choice for secretary of state, Hillary Clinton. But it is widely thought Obama would adopt a more even-handed approach once he is president.

His main priority now, in the remaining days before his inauguration, is to ensure the crisis does not rob him of the chance to set his own foreign policy agenda, rather than merely react to events.

"We will be perceived to be weak and feckless if we are perceived to be on the margins, unable to persuade the Israelis, unable to work with the international community to end this," said Aaron David Miller, a former state department adviser on the Middle East.

"Unless he is prepared to adopt a policy that is tougher, fairer and smarter than both of his predecessors you might as well hang a closed-for-the-season sign on any chance of America playing an effective role in defusing the current crisis or the broader crisis," he said.

Obama has defined himself in part by his willingness to talk to America's enemies. But the president-elect would be wary of being seen to give legitimacy to Hamas as a consequence of the war in Gaza.

Bruce Hoffman, a ^counterterrorism expert at George^town University's school of foreign ^service, said it was unlikely that Obama would move to initiate contacts with Hamas unless the radical faction in Damascus was crippled by the conflict in Gaza. "This would really be dependent on Hamas's military wing having suffered a real, almost decisive, drubbing."

Even with such caveats, there is ^growing agreement, among Republicans as well as Democrats, on the need to engage Hamas to achieve a sustainable peace in the Middle East – even among Obama's close advisers. In an article published on Wednesday on the website Foreign Affairs, but apparently written before the fighting in Gaza, Haass, who is president of the Council on Foreign Relations, wrote: "If the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas continues to hold and a Hamas-PA reconciliation emerges, the Obama administration should deal with the joint Palestinian leadership and authorise low-level contact between US officials and Hamas in Gaza." The article was written with Martin Indyk, a former US ambassador to Israel and an adviser to Hillary Clinton.

Obama has said repeatedly that ^restoring America's image in the world would rank among the top priorities of his administration, and there has been widespread praise for his choice of Clinton as secretary of state and Jim Jones, the former Marine Corps commandant, as his national security adviser.

He is expected to demonstrate that commitment to charting a new foreign policy within days when he is expected to name a roster of envoys to take charge of key foreign policy areas: Iran, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, India-Pakistan, and North Korea.

Obama has frustrated and confused those who had been looking for a more evenhanded approach to the Israeli-^Palestinian conflict by his refusal to make any substantive comment on Israel's ^military campaign on Gaza, nearly two weeks on.

He said on Wednesday: "We cannot be sending a message to the world that there are two different administrations conducting foreign policy.

"Until I take office, it would be ^imprudent of me to start sending out ^signals that somehow we are running ^foreign policy when I am not legally authorised to do so."

[Gold9472]

That's a clever story to put out there. He's willing to talk to Hamas, which would be a good thing, but oh yeah... um... he can't say anything until he's sworn in.

[Gold9472]

US army engineers helping detect Gaza tunnels: Pentagon

http://rawstory.com/news/afp/US_army_engineers_helping_detect_Ga_01082009.html

1/8/2009

The US Army Corps of Engineers has been helping the Egyptian government detect tunnels used to move weapons and other contraband into Gaza, the Pentagon said Thursday.

A small number of US civilians with the Corps have been providing technical advice to the Egyptians over a period of months, said Geoff Morrell, the Pentagon press secretary.

"There has been a concerted effort for some time by the Egyptians to go after some of these tunnels -- detect them, block them, eliminate them -- and I think the Army Corps of Engineers has provided some technical advice on how to do so," Morrell said.

The Army Corps of Engineers role was providing "strictly technical advice," he said.

Morrell said no US civilians were working near the border with Gaza currently because of the violence arising from an Israeli ground offensive.

Border tunnels were targeted by Israeli aircraft from the outset of the conflict.

The Pentagon press secretary said they were suspected of being used to smuggle in rockets that Hamas has used to attack Israel.

[Gold9472]

US abstains from UN vote on Gaza cease-fire

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g6l-TrnBjEMU0HBCWo667sTBC8eQD95JGC5O1

By EDITH M. LEDERER – 5 hours ago

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United States says it supports a U.N. resolution that calls for a cease-fire in Gaza but abstained from the Security Council vote because it is awaiting the outcome of Egyptian-mediated talks with Hamas and Israel.

Thursday's 14-0 vote came on the 13th day of an Israeli air and ground offensive against the Islamic group Hamas which rules Gaza and has been launching rockets and mortars into southern Israel for years. It followed three days of intense negotiations between ministers from key Arab nations and the council's veto-wielding Western powers — the U.S., Britain and France.

The text of the resolution was hammered out by the United States, Israel's chief ally, and by Arab nations that have ties to Hamas and the Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied territories. It calls for "an immediate, durable and fully respected cease-fire, leading to the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza." While the call is tantamount to a demand on the parties, Israel's troops won't be required to pull out of Gaza until there is a durable cease-fire.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the United States "fully supports" the resolution but abstained because it "thought it important to see the outcomes of the Egyptian mediation," referring to an Egyptian-French initiative aimed at achieving a cease-fire.

The U.S. decision not to block the resolution has provided the Security Council with "a road map for a sustainable, durable peace in Gaza," she said.

"I believe that it is those efforts that will ultimately help to lead to a durable cease-fire ... but to a sustainable peace in Gaza, and we must all support the Egyptian efforts," Rice said.

Israel and Hamas were not parties to the vote and it will now be up to them to stop the fighting.

"We are all very conscious that peace is made on the ground while resolutions are written in the United Nations," British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki told reporters he was "not happy" and had expected all 15 council members to vote for resolution. He said Palestinians are concerned that Israel will delay a cease-fire for several days and expand its attack to new targets in Gaza.

Israel "must immediately implement this resolution," Malki said. "The moment that they do so, I believe that Hamas will do the same."

Malki is a member of moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' government, whose authority extends only to the West Bank after rival Hamas violently took over Gaza in June 2007.

Israeli U.N. Ambassador Gabriela Shalev did not comment directly on the call for an immediate cease-fire, saying the international community must focus its attention on the cessation of "Hamas terrorist activity and make clear that a terrorist organization can never be a legitimate leadership."

"The past eight years have taught us that an arrangement must be fully respected and secured, including the total cessation of rocket fire and smuggling, in order to be durable and to allow the possibility of lasting peace," Shalev said.

With Palestinian civilian casualties mounting, the Arabs were under intense pressure to get a resolution — and several diplomats said they wanted it before Friday prayers at mosques in the region.

As of early Friday, about 760 Palestinians, at least a quarter civilians, had been killed along with 13 Israelis.

The resolution calls on U.N. member states "to intensify efforts to provide arrangements and guarantees in Gaza in order to sustain a durable cease-fire and calm, including to prevent illicit trafficking in arms and ammunition and to ensure the sustained re-opening" of border crossings.

This is a weaker statement than Israel sought, and the U.S. would have liked. There is also no mention in the resolution of an "international observer force" proposed by the Arabs — and the word "Hamas" was dropped during the negotiations.

The resolution "condemns all violence and hostilities directed against civilians," calls for "unimpeded" humanitarian access to Gaza, and welcomes the initiative to open "humanitarian corridors." It urges international efforts to provide humanitarian aid and rebuild Gaza's economy.

Shortly before the final day of U.N. negotiations began, Israeli envoys went to Cairo and held talks with Egyptian officials on an initiative by the presidents of Egypt and France that calls for a temporary truce. Hamas militants have yet to commit to coming to Cairo for talks and said they have major reservations about the plan.

Egypt's Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit told the Security Council his government was "totally satisfied" with the resolution and would "spare no effort" in dealing with the parties to restore calm and revive the peace process.

A joint statement issued by Palestinian groups based in Syria's capital Thursday rejected the Egyptian-French initiative, saying it would undermine Gazans' resistance and give Israel "a free hand" to continue aggression.

Hamas is normally a member of the coalition, but it wasn't clear if it signed the statement. Hamas officials in Syria were not available for comment.

Israel's government said Wednesday that it viewed the Egyptian-French proposal positively but stopped short of acceptance.

The Egyptian-French initiative aims to achieve a "lasting halt" to the fighting and a pullout of Israeli troops along with a cessation of militant rocket fire into Israel and arms smuggling to Hamas, French Foreign Ministry spokesman Eric Chevallier said.

[Gold9472]

Olmert rejects 'unworkable' UN Gaza truce resolution

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1054201.html

By Barak Ravid and Shlomo Shamir, Haaretz Correspondents and News Agencies
1/9/2009

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert rejected a UN Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza as "unworkable" and, noting Palestinians fired rockets at Israel on Friday, said the army would go on defending Israelis.

In Israel's first official response to the resolution, Olmert's office said Israel "has never agreed to let an external body decide its right to protect the security of its citizens."

The military "will continue acting to protect Israeli citizens and will carry out the missions it was given," the statement read.

"The firing of rockets this morning only goes to show that the UN decision is unworkable and will not be adhered to by the murderous Palestinian organizations," he said in a statement.

Hours after the Security Council passed Resolution 1860 calling for an immediate cease-fire in Israel's offensive in Gaza, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said Friday that Israel would continue to act only in its interests and according to its own security needs.

"Israel has acted, is acting and will act only according to its considerations, the security needs of its citizens and its right to self-defense," a statement said. It made no direct reference to how Israel would treat the call for a ceasefire.

Livni, along with Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak, convened in session on Friday to discusss the Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cessation of violence and their next moves in the conflict.

The UN resolution, drafted by Western powers, "stresses the urgency of and calls for an immediate, durable and fully respected cease-fire, leading to the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza."

It also called for arrangements in Gaza to prevent arms smuggling to Palestinian militants and reopen border crossings, and for "unimpeded provision" and distribution of aid in Gaza, where more than 750 Palestinians, many of them civilians, have been killed.

The resolution was passed by a majority vote of 14-0. The United States abstained, saying it was interested in looking at alternative drafts, but voiced support for the objectives of the resolution.

[Gold9472]

Iran bans activists from fighting Israel

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1231167317200&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

1/9/2009

Iran's top leader banned hardline Iranian volunteers on Thursday from leaving the country to carry out suicide bombings against Israel, but he warned that Iran would not spare any effort to assist Hamas in other ways.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's ban sought to tone down calls by allies of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to toughen Iran's stand against Israel. But they also exposed hidden rifts between the supreme leader and the president five months before elections in which Ahmadinejad, whose popularity has been waning, is seeking a second term.

Hardline Iranian student groups had asked the government to authorize volunteers to go carry out suicide bombings in Israel in support of Hamas.

The students began signing up volunteers after Khamenei issued a religious decree on Dec. 28 saying anyone killed while defending Palestinians in Gaza against Israeli attacks would be considered a martyr.

But a week later, Khamenei's comments sharply contrasted his religious order.

"I thank the pious and devoted youth who have asked to go to Gaza ... but it must be noted that our hands are tight in this arena," Khamenei said on state television. He did not elaborate about what efforts Iran would take to help Hamas in other ways.

The student groups claim that more than 70,000 people throughout Iran have registered as volunteer suicide bombers since Israel launched Operation Cast Lead.

Khamenei also criticized the United Nations and European powers for their failure to condemn the Gaza operation, saying Israeli attacks wouldn't stop Palestinian resistance.

"Even if the enemy (Israel), God forbids, kills all Hamas and Palestinian combatants ... such crimes won't resolve the issue. Undoubtedly, Palestine will stand up stronger and will ultimately achieve victory," he said.

Iranian political analyst Saeed Leilaz said hardline student groups, provoked by Ahmadinejad, were getting out of control and Khamenei intervened to end any possible political manipulation of students by the president.

Criticism of Ahmadinejad has been increasing in the wake of rising inflation and the belief by some conservatives and reformists that his anti-Western rhetoric has done more harm than good for the country.

"Ahmadinejad has used the Gaza fighting as an opportunity to further radicalize the political situation in Iran for two reasons: to provoke tensions in order to cause a hike in oil prices and improve his chances of re-election in the presidential vote in June. But the top leader doesn't support a further radicalization of Iran," he said.

Oil prices have plummeted from a high near $150 in July last year to around $35 - severely straining the Iranian economy and undermining Ahmadinejad's ability to pursue his economic agenda. In recent days, oil prices has been increasing, reaching about $43 a barrel on Wednesday.

Khamenei has strongly supported Ahmadinejad since his election in 2005, but the two don't necessarily agree on all issues. Khamenei, who stands above factional politics but generally supports hardliners over reformists, reversed a decision by Ahmadinejad last year and ordered him to implement a law supplying natural gas to remote villages during a dispute with the parliament.

Leilaz said it was clear that Iran won't allow suicide bombers to cross its border and fight Israel and Ahmadinejad simply sought to manipulate the issue for his own political agenda.

In the past week, Ahmadinejad allies have been encouraging hardline students to gather in various cities. Mahdi Kalhor, Ahmadinejad's press adviser, sought to further inflame hardline protests last week when he urged the students take measures beyond street demonstrations.

"We have to be a pioneer nation (in assisting Hamas) ... why should we not be in Gaza today?" Kalhor asked a hardline student gathering on Sunday.

The same day, Ahmadinejad's brother was ordered to address the same students to calm them down.

Davoud Ahmadinejad told the gathering an hour later that it was not possible to send any volunteers to Gaza, according to the semiofficial Fars news agency.

On Dec. 30, dozens of hardline students broke into the British Embassy residence in Teheran, accusing Britain of supporting IAF raids on Gaza.

[Gold9472]

Israel presses on with Gaza strikes despite UN resolution

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Israel_presses_on_with_Gaza_strikes_0109.html

Agence France-Presse
Published: Friday January 9, 2009

GAZA CITY (AFP) - Israel battered Gaza with bombs and shells on Friday, vowing its offensive on Hamas would go on despite an order by the UN Security Council to stop the assault that has killed hundreds of civilians.

"Israel has never agreed for any outside influence to decide on its right to defend its citizens," Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said, according to a statement from his office.

"The IDF (Israel Defence Forces) will continue to operate in order to defend the citizens of Israel and will carry out the task it was given for the operation," said the statement, which was released as the Israeli security cabinet met to debate how to proceed with the two-week-old campaign.

"This morning's rocket fire against the citizens in the south only proves that the UN resolution is not practical and will not be respected by the Palestinian terror organisations," Olmert said.

A Hamas official in Beirut, Raafat Morra, said his group was also rejecting the UN resolution, because "it is not in the best interest of the Palestinian people."

Israel staged more than 50 air strikes in Gaza which Palestinian emergency services said killed 12 civilians, taking the death toll since the campaign began to almost 800.

Hamas and its allies fired more than 15 rockets into southern Israel, injuring one person, the military said. At least four Grad rockets hit Beersheva, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from Gaza.

Pressure on the two sides increased with the UN Security Council resolution which demanded an "immediate, durable" ceasefire leading to the "full withdrawal" of Israeli forces from Gaza.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas called the UN move an "important step," but stressed that applying it was key.

"The credibility of the international community is at stake," his spokesman quoted him as saying. "We need words to be translated into deeds."

Israel has been strongly criticised by UN agencies, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and other aid groups. The text called for "the unimpeded provision and distribution throughout Gaza of humanitarian assistance, including of food, fuel and medical treatment."

Fourteen of the 15 council members voted in favour. The United States, Israel's main ally, abstained but refrained from vetoing the resolution agreed after lengthy negotiations between Arab and Western foreign ministers.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the United States had wanted to see what happened to a peace initiative by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak who has invited Israel and the Palestinians to Cairo for talks on truce conditions.

Olmert, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Defence Minister Ehud Barak, political rivals in the ruling coalition, held a special meeting before starting a security cabinet with other top ministers and military leaders.

The three key ministers are divided over how to continue Operation Cast Lead.

Olmert is reported to be in favour of pursuing the military offensive, while Labour leader Barak wants a ceasefire. Livni has spoken out against any ceasefire with Hamas because this would give implicit recognition of the Islamist movement which Israel and most Western nations have on their terrorist lists.

Israel launched its war against Hamas on December 27 aiming to end rocket attacks in southern Israel and the smuggling of weapons into Gaza from Egypt. Palestinian medics say at least 785 people have been killed since then.

Ten Israeli soldiers and three civilians have been killed in combat or rocket attacks into Israel over the same time. Hamas has demanded the end of Israel's blockade of Gaza, imposed after the Islamist group pledged to Israel's destruction seized power there in June 2007.

The ICRC said it is restricting Gaza operations to the territory's main city after a vehicle was hit, apparently by Israeli forces, a spokeswoman said.

"We had an incident when one of our trucks travelling at the front of a convoy of 13 ambulances delivering medical assistance to south Gaza was shot at," ICRC spokeswoman Anne Sophie Bonefeld told AFP. She said one person was wounded.

"We very much believe it was the IDF (Israeli military)" and the ICRC was temporarily limiting operations to Gaza City to review security arrangements.

There has been mounting criticism of the civilian death toll from Israel's offensive. The main UN Palestinian relief agency, UNRWA, suspended operations in the enclave on Thursday after a UN convoy was hit by two Israeli tank shells, killing a truck driver.

Hamas criticised the decision by the agency, which distributes food to about half of Gaza's 1.5 million people as well as running schools and other centres.

The ICRC has accused Israel of failing to help the wounded after rescuers found four small children clinging to their dead mothers.

Israel has said it was investigating the incidents but has repeatedly insisted Hamas is to blame for civilian deaths because the Islamist fighters operate from densely populated areas.

Thousands of Israeli security forces were deployed in east Jerusalem on Friday after Hamas called for a "day of wrath" over the Gaza offensive following similar protests last week.

The army also sealed off the West Bank for 48 hours, with movement in and out of the territory prohibited except for emergencies and special cases.

[Gold9472]

Gaza children found with mothers' corpses

http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/01/09/africa/09redcross.php

1/9/2009

PARIS: The International Committee of the Red Cross said Thursday it had discovered "shocking" scenes — including small children next to their mothers' corpses — when its representatives gained access for the first time to parts of Gaza battered by Israeli shelling. It accused Israel of failing to meet obligations to care for the wounded in areas of combat.

In response, the Israeli military did not comment directly on the allegation. In a statement, it accused Hamas, its foe in Gaza, of deliberately using "Palestinian civilians as human shields" and said the Israeli Army "works in close cooperation with international aid organizations during the fighting so that civilians can be provided with assistance."

The Israeli military "in no way intentionally targets civilians and has demonstrated its willingness to abort operations to save civilian lives and to risk injury in order to assist innocent civilians," the statement said, promising that "any serious allegation" would "need to be investigated properly, once such a complaint is received formally, within the constraints of the current military operation."

In an unusually blunt criticism, the Geneva-based International Committee of the Red Cross said it had been seeking access to shell-damaged areas in Zeitoun in the east of Gaza City since Saturday but the Israeli authorities granted permission only on Wednesday — the first day that Israel allowed a three-hour lull in the attacks on Gaza on humanitarian grounds.

The statement said a team of four Palestine Red Crescent ambulances accompanied by Red Cross representatives made its way to Zeitoun Wednesday where it "found four small children next to their dead mothers in one of the houses. They were too weak to stand up on their own. One man was also found alive, too weak to stand up. In all, there were at least 12 corpses lying on mattresses."

In another house, the statement said, the rescue team "found 15 other survivors of this attack including several wounded. In yet another house, they found an additional three corpses. Israeli soldiers posted at a military position some 80 meters away from this house ordered the rescue team to leave the area which they refused to do. There were several other positions of the Israeli Defense Forces nearby as well as two tanks."

Because of berms built by Israeli forces, the ambulances could not enter the area so "the children and the wounded had to be taken to the ambulances on a donkey cart," the statement said.

The statement quoted Pierre Wettach, an International Red Cross representative for Israel and the Palestinian areas, as calling the incident "shocking."

"The Israeli military must have been aware of the situation but did not assist the wounded. Neither did they make it possible for us or the Palestine Red Crescent to assist the wounded," he was quoted as saying.

The statement said the international Red Cross "believes that in this instance the Israeli military failed to meet its obligation under international humanitarian law to care for and evacuate the wounded. It considers the delay in allowing rescue services access unacceptable."

[Gold9472]

Ron Paul: Gaza crisis is blowback for past US interventions

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Paul_Expect_blowback_for_US_weapons_0109.html

1/9/2009

Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) spoke on Friday in opposition to a non-binding House resolution (pdf) expressing "strong support for Israel" in its invasion of Gaza and decrying Hamas as a terrorist organization that has put "hundreds of thousands of Israelis in danger."

"I rise in opposition to this resolution, not because I am taking sides and picking who the bad guys are and who the good guys are." Paul stated. "I'm looking at this more from the angle of being a United States citizen, an American, and I think resolutions like this really do us great harm."

"The weapons being used to kill so many Palestinians are American weapons, and American funds, essentially, are being used for this," continued Paul. "There's a political liability, which I think is something that we fail to look at, because too often there's so much blowback from our intervention in areas that we shouldn't be involved in."

Paul pointed out that if Hamas now has too much power, it is the fault of past actions by Israel and the United States. "We first, indirectly and directly through Israel, help establish Hamas," he noted, "then we have an election [in Gaza], then Hamas becomes dominant -- so we have to kill them. It just doesn't make sense."

"There's a lot of reasons why we should oppose this resolution," Paul concluded emphatically. "It is not in the interests of the United States. It's not in the interests of Israel, either."

Paul's statement was consistent with his past positions. Last March, he was the sole member of Congress to vote against a one-sided condemnation of Palestinian rocket attacks on Israeli civilians.

Paul stated on that occasion, "I believe it is appalling that Palestinians are firing rockets that harm innocent Israelis, just as I believe it is appalling that Israel fires missiles into Palestinian areas where children and other non-combatants are killed and injured. Unfortunately, legislation such as this is more likely to perpetuate violence in the Middle East than contribute to its abatement. ... I strongly believe that we must cease making proclamations involving conflicts that have nothing to do with the United States. We incur the wrath of those who feel slighted while doing very little to slow or stop the violence."

This video is from C-SPAN, broadcast Jan. 9, 2009.

Video At Source

[Gold9472]

Rice says it is 'hard' for Israel to spare civilians in Gaza

http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Rice_says_it_is_hard_for_Israel_to__01092009.html

1/9/2009

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Friday "it's hard" for Israeli troops to shield civilians in Gaza because the area is so densely populated and Hamas uses people as human shields.

"It is very difficult in circumstances like Gaza, which is a very densely populated area," Rice told reporters when asked if Israel is living up to its humanitarian obligations during its two-week military offensive in Gaza.

"I might note it's also an area in which Hamas participates in activities like human shields, using buildings that are not designated as military buildings to hide their fighters. So it's hard," Rice said.

Rice has returned to Washington from New York where the United States abstained in a vote Thursday for a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

"I was encouraged that Prime Minister (Ehud) Olmert, after an extensive conversation we had, agreed to open a new humanitarian corridor," Rice said.

"We're going to continue to pass the Israelis information about what we're hearing about the humanitarian situation on the ground," she said, adding that the United States will continue to support efforts by humanitarian groups.

Earlier, White House spokesman Scott Stanzel blamed Hamas for the suffering in Gaza.

"It is a humanitarian crisis. It's a war zone. And war zones are very difficult," Stanzel said.

"We have expressed our deep concerns about the situation with innocent lives being lost," he said. "But, again, this is a problem, unfortunately, that was brought on by Hamas.

Stanzel said Hamas refused to extend a ceasefire and "began lobbing more and more rockets into Israel. And that is a situation that the Israeli government, nor any government would stand for."

He said the United States was "very concerned about the humanitarian situation in Gaza."

"Israel has indicated that they too are concerned and they are taking every step that they can to prevent the loss of innocent life," he said.

But, he said, the situation "will not improve until Hamas stops lobbing rockets into Israel."

Rice repeated the reasons for the US abstention at the United Nations on Thursday.

"The US abstention was principally because we believe it would have been useful to have a little bit more time for the Mubarak initiative to mature," she said.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak invited Israel and the Palestinians to Cairo for talks on conditions of a truce, on securing Gaza borders, reopening of its crossings and lifting the Israeli blockade on the Palestinian enclave.

Washington has called for a "durable" ceasefire that prevents Hamas from resuming rocket fire on Israel.

"Knowing better the terms of the durability is very critical, and we're working to support the Mubarak initiative, including offering to do whatever we can to help with the smuggling and the illegal arms trafficking," Rice said.

But she said she had no plans to actually travel to Egypt.

"We also ... had reservations that no-one would think that there was any equivalence being drawn here between Israel and Hamas," which is "a terrorist organization" and not a state, Rice said.

[Gold9472]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Z6vMAoFwf4&e

[Gold9472]

UN Commissioner: investigate Israel for war crimes
Israel leaflets Gaza, promises fighting will intensify

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/UN_Human_Rights_Commissioner_calls_for_0110.html

Stephen C. Webster
Published: Saturday January 10, 2009

Navi Pillay, the United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights, wants an investigation into what she believes to be war crimes committed by Israeli forces.

She specifically highlighted a recent incident in which Israel attacked a civilian safe house (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article5482850.ece) in Gaza, killing more than 30 people.

Her stinging words arrived just one evening before Israel began dropping leaflets on Gaza Saturday, each warning of a coming escalation (http://apnews.myway.com/article/20090110/D95KB8C80.html).

The UN Office for the Coordinator of Humanitarian Affairs reported that 110 Palestinians, all in a single extended family, were "herded" into the house (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article5485150.ece) and told not to leave by Israeli soldiers. Less than 24 hours later, the house was attacked.

“Those who survived and were able walked two kilometers to Salah Ed Din road before being transported to the hospital in civilian vehicles," reads the UN report. "Three children, the youngest of whom was five months old, died upon arrival at the hospital.”

Pillay said the attack bore "all the elements of war crimes," according to a published report (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/4209242/Israeli-strike-on-civilian-house-may-be-war-crime-says-UN-gaza.html).

According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, four infants, clinging to the corpses of what was believed to be their parents, were discovered after the attack (http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Red_Cross_Gaza_children_found_with_0109.html). The children went undiscovered for over 48 hours, despite Israeli solders being mere yards away.

Pillay, from S. Africa, is a former judge with the International Criminal Court.

Israel denies the incident altogether. The UN report cites specific testimony, though does not identify the origin.

The announcement by the UN commissioner comes on the heels of Red Cross criticism. The aid agency said Israel has failed at helping injured civilians, a key rule of war.

Israel said its military "works in close cooperation with international aid organizations during the fighting so that civilians can be provided with assistance."

"I am concerned with violations of international law," Pillay told Reuters. "Incidents such as this must be investigated because they display elements of what could constitute war crimes."

During the first week of January, the Red Cross criticized Israel for hampering ambulance services to embattled Palestinian civilians.

"The situation is extremely dangerous and the coordination of ambulance services is very complex because of the incessant attacks and military operations," ICRC spokeswoman Dorothea Krimitsas said in Geneva (http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Red_Cross_Gaza_wounded_dying_because_0105.html).

"Wounded people have died while waiting for Palestinian Red Crescent ambulances," she added.

Pakistani ambassador Zamir Akram echoed Pillay's sentiment, in a speech delivered on behalf of the Organization of the Islamic Conference.

"In their totality these constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity," he declared (http://uk.reuters.com/article/UKNews1/idUKTRE50851M20090109?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0).

[Gold9472]

Bush call halted US voting for ceasefire

http://www.independent.ie/world-news/middle-east/bush-call-halted-us-voting-for-ceasefire-1597805.html

By David Usborne in New York
Saturday January 10 2009

Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State, was forced to step back from voting in favour of the Gaza ceasefire resolution at the UN Security Council after orders from Washington, diplomatic sources said yesterday.

The US abstention on the resolution vote early yesterday, which clearly weakened its impact, was the final twist in a tumultuous three-day marathon of negotiations in New York.

When three of the world's top diplomats -- Ms Rice, David Miliband, Britain's foreign secretary, and his French counterpart, Bernard Kouchner -- descended on New York on Tuesday to take action there was plenty of reason to believe that their efforts would end in tears. Most alarming was the prospect of a vote on a ceasefire text tabled by Libya. The US was threatening to veto it.

But by Thursday morning, the US had had a surprising change of heart. It could back a resolution, if the British drafted one, which Mr Miliband and his diplomatic crew duly did.

When finally every last hurdle was cleared and the members of the Security Council were headed to their chamber for the vote, there was a mood of celebration in the building.

But before the vote was due, word began to circulate that America was not going to vote in favour after all. The change of heart came about with a phone call from George Bush to Ms Rice in which he said don't veto the resolution but don't vote for it either.

[Gold9472]

London riots over Israel's Gaza campaign

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/London_riots_over_Israels_Gaza_campaign_0110.html

1/11/2009

Riots in Paris too as Europe in arms over Israeli campaign
A London protest against the Israeli military campaign in Gaza turned violent Saturday night as police charged demonstrators outside the gates of Israel's embassy.

It was one of the largest of many, many demonstrations across Europe on Saturday.

One police officer was knocked unconscious and two were injured in the fray, according to The London Paper (http://www.thelondonpaper.com/cs/Satellite/london/news/article/1157158952461?packedargs=suffix%3DArticleControlle r). An estimated 300 police in riot gear charged protesters as the crowd chanted "free, free Palestine," hurling hundreds of shoes over a police barrier in front of the embassy.

Tensions continued to rise as the crowd found more objects to hurl -- signs, eggs, red paint, barriers, rocks, etc. -- until police began efforts to disperse the demonstrators.

Protesters smashed and destroyed a Starbucks, and the Daily Mail (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1111203/Protesters-clash-police-100-000-strong-London-Gaza-demo-descends-violence.html) reported (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1111203/Protesters-clash-police-100-000-strong-London-Gaza-demo-descends-violence.html) that others tried to set police vehicles on fire.

The Daily Mail also published a striking series of photos (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1111203/Protesters-clash-police-100-000-strong-London-Gaza-demo-descends-violence.html) from the protest.

London police told BBC that just 20,000 people were involved in the protest, but BBC estimated 50,000 (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7821928.stm). The London Paper (http://www.thelondonpaper.com/cs/Satellite/london/news/article/1157158952461?packedargs=suffix%3DArticleControlle r) gave a figure twice that, claiming over 100,000 joined the demonstration.

"We want the British government to take a much stronger position," said Lindsey German, an organizer with protest group 'Stop the War,' in a BBC report (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7821928.stm). "There would have been outrage from governments around the world if this had happened anywhere else - the condemnation has been at best half-hearted."

"The British government and European Union have the economic leverage to stop this carnage," said Ken Livingstone, the former mayor of London, in a prepared statement. "They must take decisive action to force Israel to end the slaughter."

Protests ripple across Europe
About 30,000 people marched through Paris, the interior ministry said, and more than 90,000 joined protests in more than 120 towns and cities elsewhere in France.

In the capital, thousands of French men and women of Arab origin carrying Palestinian banners joined forces with left-wing militants amid cries of "Allahu Akbar" (God is Greater) and "Israel murderer."

Protesters smashed a bus shelter and a telephone box in central Paris, and bottles were later thrown at riot police and shop windows smashed.

Police fired teargas after mobs overturned motor scooters and set them on fire.

A march in the southern city of Nice descended into violence. Seven police were hurt and 11 rioters arrested as youths broke off from a 2,500-strong crowd of protesters and smashed shop windows.

Demonstrations took place on the streets of other European cities including Athens, Berlin, Budapest, Oslo, Sarajevo and Stockholm.

In Sarajevo, peace activist Svetlana Broz told a 1,000-strong pro-Palestinian demonstration that the city knew better than others "what happens when the world remains silent at a time when innocent civilians suffer", referring to the bloody siege of the city in the 1992-95 war in the former Yugoslavia.

Police in Oslo fired teargas after a small group among a crowd of 2,000 pelted them with stones, and up to 5,000 demonstrators gathered outside the Israeli embassy in Stockholm to call for an end to the military campaign.

More than 6,000 people gathered for a peaceful rally in Berlin, with similar shows of support for the Palestinians in Munich and Cologne.

In western Germany, some 10,000 people, largely from the ethnic Turkish community, protested in Duisburg. Police briefly intervened when demonstrators threw snowballs at a window bearing two Israeli flags.

Innsbruck in western Austria staged a peaceful protest of 3,500 people waving banners saying "Stop Israeli terror" and 7,000 protestors turned out in Bern, Switzerland.

In Athens, more than 2,000 people took part in a protest staged by left-wing groups and thousands demonstrated in Milan and Turin.

A rally is planned in Madrid on Sunday, while a pro-Israeli demonstration is scheduled to take place in London.

The following video of violent anti-Israel protests in London was uploaded to YouTube on Jan. 10.

Videos At Source

[Gold9472]

Israel to step up assault on Hamas
Leaflets warn Palestinians not to be 'close to terrorists' as hawks push to extend operations into city streets in phase three

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/10/israel-to-step-up-assault-on-hamas-in-gaza

Chris McGreal in Jerusalem
guardian.co.uk, Saturday 10 January 2009 21.15 GMT

The Israeli military appeared to be preparing for a major new ground assault against Gaza City and other towns tonight after dropping leaflets warning residents it was about to "escalate" its offensive against Hamas.

The tens of thousands of leaflets, dropped on parts of Gaza City, the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya and the south of the territory, warned residents: "The Israeli Defence Force will soon escalate its operations against tunnels, weapons warehouses, terrorist infrastructure and terrorists all over the Gaza Strip. To keep yourself and your families safe, you are ordered not to be close to terrorists, weapons warehouses and the places where the terrorists operate."

Israeli troops were seen on the outskirts of Gaza City as the military kept up its bombardment by air, sea and land for the 15th day. At least eight Palestinians were killed by an Israeli tank shell in Jabaliya refugee camp, north of Gaza City.

The Palestinian death toll rose above 820, including about 235 children and young people. Four Israelis have been killed by Hamas rockets since the assault on Gaza began and nine soldiers have died in the fighting.

But it was not clear whether the Israeli cabinet has given final approval to moving to "phase three" of the military assault, amid divisions among ministers over fears that fighting inside urban areas could lead to a sharp escalation in Israeli casualties.

The prime minister, Ehud Olmert, is reported to be in favour of pressing ahead with the assault because the goal of ending Hamas rocket fire has not been achieved. Hamas fired at least 15 rockets into Israel yesterday, hitting the town of Ashkelon, about 12 miles north of the Gaza Strip.

The defence minister, Ehud Barak, is also reluctant to pull back without having forced Hamas into an agreement. Support for his Labour party has risen dramatically ahead of next month's general election because of Barak's handling of the conflict, but it could slump again if there are a significant number of Israeli casualties or the army pulls out without having stopped Hamas rockets. But others in the cabinet say enough has been done to force Hamas into a ceasefire on Israel's terms and that the dangers of urban fighting are too great.

Elements of the military and intelligence services have been pressing for the escalation, believing that the assault can remove Hamas from power in Gaza.

Rafi Eitan, a member of Israel's security cabinet, said on Israel radio yesterday that, despite international efforts to engineer a ceasefire, the government will press on with the assault on Gaza until the threat of Hamas rocket attacks is removed. "Israel is determined to deal with this matter until its positive conclusion, so that there is no terrorism in Gaza against Israel," he said.

Some military analysts believe Hamas has largely avoided direct combat in order to hold its forces in reserve to fight in Gaza City, where the IDF will be more vulnerable than on the open ground it has so far occupied.

Phase three is one step short of a full reoccupation of the enclave, a move the government has consistently said it will not take. But an escalation will reinforce the growing belief among Palestinians that the assault is intended to topple Hamas. Israeli forces have in effect brought an end to the Hamas administration, with its leadership driven underground and much of the infrastructure of government destroyed.

The Israeli government is counting on Hamas being so weakened that it will agree to a ceasefire on almost any terms, including disarming and sharing power with the Palestinian Authority. It would also be expected to drop its demand for an end to the economic blockade of Gaza as a condition for a ceasefire.

But military and political analysts say that Hamas can block the Israeli strategy simply by refusing to agree to a ceasefire, no matter how bad things get. The military would then be stuck inside a potentially anarchic Gaza Strip, attempting to stop Hamas rockets, every one of which fired into Israel would amount to a victory for the Islamist group.

Hamas remained defiant today in the face of a European diplomatic initiative to deploy international monitors inside the Gaza Strip to verify any ceasefire agreement. The Hamas political leader, Khaled Mashaal, who is in exile in Syria, rejected the proposal and said that his organisation would not agree to any arrangement that infringed on its "right of resistance against Israeli occupation".

Mohammed Nazzal, a Hamas official, told al-Jazeera television: "We cannot accept international forces in the Gaza Strip, because the presence of international forces would be for the protection of the Israelis, and not the protection of the Palestinian people."

Mashaal's statement came shortly after the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, called on Hamas to agree to a ceasefire.

In a further blow to diplomatic attempts to end the conflict, Egypt ruled out deployment of foreign troops on its side of the border with Gaza. "There will be no international troops of any kind on the Egyptian side," the Egyptian foreign minister, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, told a news conference.

[Gold9472]

U.S. seeks ship to move arms to Israel

http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSTRE50874B20090109

By Stefano Ambrogi
1/9/2009

LONDON (Reuters) - The U.S. is seeking to hire a merchant ship to deliver hundreds of tons of arms to Israel from Greece later this month, tender documents seen by Reuters show.

The U.S. Navy's Military Sealift Command (MSC) said the ship was to carry 325 standard 20-foot containers of what is listed as "ammunition" on two separate journeys from the Greek port of Astakos to the Israeli port of Ashdod in mid-to-late January.

A "hazardous material" designation on the manifest mentions explosive substances and detonators, but no other details were given.

"Shipping 3,000-odd tons of ammunition in one go is a lot," one broker said, on condition of anonymity.

"This (kind of request) is pretty rare and we haven't seen much of it quoted in the market over the years," he added.

The U.S. Defense Department, contacted by Reuters on Friday in Washington, had no immediate comment.

The MSC transports amour and military supplies for the U.S. armed forces aboard its own fleet, but regularly hires merchant ships if logistics so require.

The request for the ship was made on December 31, with the first leg of the charter to arrive no later than January 25 and the second at the end of the month.

The tender for the vessel follows the hiring of a commercial ship to carry a much larger consignment of ordnance in December from the United States to Israel ahead of air strikes in the Gaza Strip.

A German shipping firm which won that tender confirmed the order when contacted by Reuters but declined to comment further.

CHARTERS "RARE"
Shipping brokers in London who have specialized in moving arms for the British and U.S. military in the past said such ship charters to Israel were rare.

Israel is one of America's closest allies and both nations regularly sell arms to each other.

A senior military analyst in London who declined to be named said that, because of the timing, the shipments could be "irregular" and linked to the Gaza offensive.

The ship hired by the MSC in December was for a much larger cargo of arms, tender documents showed.

That stipulated a ship to be chartered for 42 days capable of carrying 989 standard 20-foot containers from Sunny Point, North Carolina to Ashdod.

The tender document said the vessel had to be capable of "carrying 5.8 million pounds (2.6 million kg) of net explosive weight," which specialist brokers said was a very large quantity.

The ship was requested early last month to load on December 15.

In September, the U.S. Congress approved the sale of 1,000 bunker-buster missiles to Israel. The GPS-guided GBU-39 is said to be one of the most accurate bombs in the world.

The Jerusalem Post, citing defense officials, reported last week that a first shipment of the missiles had arrived in early December and they were used in penetrating Hamas's underground rocket launcher sites.

[Gold9472]

Protest about the Mideast crisis appears to be peaceful

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/01/10/BAK6157880.DTL&type=politics&tsp=1

Deborah Gage, Chronicle Staff Writer
Saturday, January 10, 2009

(01-10) 14:28 PST SAN FRANCISCO -- A few thousand protesters of all ages rallied in San Francisco's Civic Center, then marched down Market Street in San Francisco today to protest Israel's bombing of Gaza.

At the rally there was a group of 300 to 400 pro-Israel demonstrators, who stood across from the pro-Palestinian group, but did not join the march down Market Street.

Chanting "Free, free Palestine" and "Stop killing children," the pro-Palestine group carried banners, waved pictured of bloodied children and carried white helium balloons representing Palestinians killed in Gaza.

San Francisco police, holding riot helmets, lined the marchers' route and rode motorcycles ahead of the protest, but so far the protest has been peaceful.

Protest organizers from a group called answercoalition.org, clad in neon yellow vests, held hands to form a chain keeping the marchers together along the protest route.

"We're trying to keep the peace for everyone," said Mabil Fara, who was preventing pro-Gaza demonstrators from approaching pro-Israel counter-protesters before the march began.

Separated by police tape, protesters from both sides stood along Polk Street near City Hall, waving flags and shouting slogans at each other.

Mike Harris, of a group called Stand With Us/San Francisco Voice for Israel, said the pro-Israel demonstrators would not march "to ensure their safety."

He said the group's purpose was to show that Israel has a right to exist.

Grace Shalhoub, whose family lives in Lebanon, said she came to the protest because "after 9/11, I feel this is my responsibility and duty" to be involved in Middle Eastern politics.

[Gold9472]

Thousands descend on White House to protest Gaza war

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Thousands_descend_on_White_House_to_0110.html

Agence France-Presse
Published: Saturday January 10, 2009

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Several thousand protesters -- 10,000 according to organizers -- descended on the White House Saturday in support of Palestinians in Gaza, on the heels of other protests across major world capitals.

The protests came as Israel vowed to escalate its war in Gaza that has left 825 Palestinians dead so far, as troops battled fighters from the Islamist movement Hamas into a third week in defiance of a United Nations truce call.

"There are many young people. We feel it's one of the most important demonstrations for Palestine ever in the US," said Eugene Puryear, a coordinator of the protest, which was organized by the ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) coalition.

Thousands of people gathered from about 1:00 pm (1800 GMT) in Lafayette Park, across from the White House, chanting "free Palestine" as others spoke from a podium.

Protesters waived Palestinian flags, wore keffiyeh -- a traditional Palestinian headdress -- and waived signs, some of which read "stop the Gaza holocaust" and "Free Palestine, let Gaza live."

They then led a march passing in front of the headquarters of The Washington Post newspaper to protest "its hard pro-Israeli line," Puryear said, before heading to the offices of military contractor Lockheed Martin.

"I came because there are innocent children dying daily in Palestine. The American people need to know the truth," said 13-year-old Razan Ali, a Palestinian-American who bused in from New York.

A dozen buses filled with protesters came from New Jersey and another seven buses drove in from New York.

Yasmina Farej, a 54-year-old who came from Brooklyn dressed in conservative Muslim garb, said she was motivated to join the protest because of "the war in Gaza; they bomb the innocent children."

Demonstrators against the Israeli offensive also rallied in major cities in Canada and across Europe.

Some 123,000 protesters marched through Paris and many other cities in France, home to Europe's largest Muslim population, the French interior ministry said.

In Lebanon tens of thousands of people took part in a protest organized by the Shiite militia Hezbollah in the southern town of Nabatiyeh, a stronghold of the group, which fought a brutal 34-day war with Israel in the summer of 2006.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NwI0EKdRLY&e

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Israel presses on with Gaza war as death toll tops 850

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Israel_presses_on_with_Gaza_war_0110.html

1/12/2009

GAZA CITY (AFP) — Israel pressed its air and ground assault on Hamas in Gaza on Sunday as the death toll in the 16-day-old war passed 850 and the Islamist movement vowed it would not negotiate a truce "under fire."

Medics in the embattled Gaza Strip said three Palestinians were killed and dozens wounded by heavy Israeli tank fire and air strikes early on Sunday, some allegedly by banned white phosphorous shells that Israel denied using.

With the body count spiralling, Hamas remained defiant in the face of Egyptian-led efforts to broker a cease fire.

Top Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal said the movement would not accept any truce without the withdrawal of all Israeli forces and the lifting of the blockade slapped on the territory when the Islamists seized power in 18 months ago.

"With an open mind we will work with any initiative or any resolution but only based on these demands. We will not accept negotiations on a truce under fire," he said.

A closed-door briefing was told on Saturday that Israeli troops had killed more than 550 Palestinian fighters since the operation began, a senior military official told AFP.

Army spokesman Jacob Dallal declined to confirm the number but said "several hundred" fighters, most of them from Hamas, had been killed since Israel launched its offensive on December 27.

"There is no question that the military ability of Hamas has been diminished," he said.

As fighting spilled over into the early hours of Sunday, the army was accused by Palestinian doctors of using banned white phosphorous shells against civilians, a claim denied categorically by the army.

A woman was killed and 60 people hurt in tank shelling on a village east of Khan Yunis, said Dr Yusef Abu Rish of the city's Nasser hospital.

Of those, 55 "were burned over their bodies in a way that can only be caused by white phosphorous," he told AFP.

His claim was echoed by Dr Muawiya Hassanein, head of Gaza emergency services, who said these weapons had already been used by Israel in the Gaza offensive.

Army Captain Guy Spigelman rejected the report. "We deny that we were operating in that area."

He also reiterated what a spokeswoman had said earlier, that "there is no use of white phosphorous. Everything we use is according to international law."

White phosphorus is used as a smokescreen or for incendiary devices, but can also be deployed as an anti-personnel weapon capable of causing potentially fatal burns.

Meanwhile, Hamas claimed it was repulsing the Israeli offensive, with Meshaal, the head of its powerful Syria-based politburo, accusing Israel of carrying out a "Holocaust" in Gaza.

"You have lost on the moral and humanitarian fronts ... and you have created a resistance in every house," Meshaal said in a pre-recorded statement aired on Arab satellite television.

"I can say with full confidence that on the military level the enemy has totally failed, it has not achieved anything.

"Has it stopped the rockets?" he asked of Israel's declared aim in launching the offensive.

Since the Israeli offensive began on December 27, at least 854 people have been killed, including 270 children, 93 women, and 12 paramedics, according to Palestinian medics.

Another 3,490 people have been wounded, overwhelming Gaza's beleaguered medical facilities.

Meanwhile, Hamas and other armed groups fired at least 13 rockets into Israel on Saturday, wounding four people, the army said.

Egypt has been spearheading Western-backed efforts to end the fighting. On Saturday, President Hosni Mubarak met Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, who urged Israel and his Hamas rivals to accept the plan "without hesitation."

A Hamas delegation was also due to hold talks with Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman.

Mubarak is calling for an immediate truce, opening Gaza's border crossings, preventing arms smuggling and a call for Palestinians to resume reconciliation talks.

Abbas stressed he wanted an international force in Gaza rather than controlling traffic on the Egyptian side of the border, as suggested by European countries.

But Meshaal said Hamas "will consider any international troops imposed on our people as an occupation force" and Hamas and other groups have said they will oppose any measure that hinders the armed "resistance."

Both Hamas and Israel have already brushed aside a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate truce in the territory.

The conflict has sparked worldwide pro-Palestinian demonstrations, including rallies in Europe that drew tens of thousands of protesters.

In London, thousands of protesters clashed with police around the Israeli embassy, while in Paris protesters shattered windows and set scooters on fire after a rally attended by more than 30,000 people.

In Tel Aviv, a few hundred Israelis gathered to call for an end to the fighting in a rally organised by the Peace Now movement.

Ten Israeli soldiers and three civilians have been killed in combat or in rocket attacks since the operation began, as Palestinian militants have fired more than 600 rockets, some of them penetrating deeper than ever inside Israel.

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Israeli forces edge into Gaza city

http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE5053R720090111

By Nidal al-Mughrabi
1/12/2009

GAZA (Reuters) - Israeli forces edged into the Gaza Strip's most populous area on Sunday, killing at least 27 Palestinians in an offensive stepped up in defiance of international calls for a ceasefire.

Medical officials said about half of the Palestinian dead in the latest fighting in the Hamas-ruled territory were civilians.

"Israel is getting close to achieving the goals it set for itself," Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told his cabinet in Jerusalem, giving no timeframe for an end to the 16-day-long war.

"But patience, determination and effort are still needed to realize these goals in a manner that will change the security situation in the south," Olmert said, referring to Hamas rocket attacks that continued to hit Israeli towns.

Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal said his ruling Islamist group would not consider a ceasefire until Israel ended its air, sea and ground assault and lifted a Gaza blockade. A Hamas delegation held talks in Cairo on an Egyptian truce plan.

Israel, describing as unworkable a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire, wants a halt to rocket attacks and arrangements to ensure that Hamas cannot rearm through tunnels under the Egypt-Gaza border.

An Israeli defense official was to visit Egypt on Monday to press for tougher anti-smuggling measures. German diplomatic sources said Berlin offered to send specialists next week to Egypt to discuss ways to improve border security and Cairo had responded positively.

Backed by helicopter gunships, Israeli troops and tanks pushed into eastern and southern parts of the city of Gaza, confronting Hamas militants who fired anti-armor missiles and mortar bombs.

The Palestinian death toll since Israel's offensive began on December 27 stands at 869, many of them civilians, Gaza medical officials said. Thirteen Israelis -- three civilians hit by rocket fire and 10 soldiers -- have been killed, official Israeli figures showed.

In Washington, U.S. President-elect Barack Obama said in broadcast remarks he would begin the search for Middle East peace immediately on becoming president and the Gaza conflict only underscored his determination to become involved early.

New street fighting killed 10 gunmen, Palestinian medical workers said. Another three fighters and a member of the Hamas police force were killed by Israeli air strikes.

Medical officials said 13 civilians, including four members of a family, were killed by Israeli forces and that Israeli shelling of two villages south of the city of Gaza had set 15 houses on fire.

Israel's military said it attacked a mosque used to store weapons, 10 squads of gunmen, three rocket-launching sites and the house of a Hamas commander.

In Jerusalem, Cabinet Secretary Oved Yehezkel said Hamas leaders were hiding in Gaza's foreign missions, hospitals and bunkers to elude Israeli forces. He did not name the missions.

HOMELESS
At the edge of the city of Gaza, Mahmoud Abu Hasseera surveyed the rubble of his house, in an area where Israeli tanks and infantry had battled Palestinian fighters hours earlier.

"Where should we and our children go to sleep? To the streets?" he asked. "We have no mattresses, blankets, cooking gas, food or water. Everything was destroyed."

Though Palestinian rocket salvoes into Israel have diminished, two rockets on Sunday struck Beersheba, 42 km (26 miles) from the Gaza Strip, and at least four others hit other communities, police said. There was some damage but no casualties.

Israel's deputy defense minister, Matan Vilnai, suggested time was running out for the Gaza campaign now that the U.N. Security Council had weighed in with a call to stop it.

"Therefore it seems -- I'm guessing -- that we are close to a cessation of the ground operations and a cessation of the overall operations," Vilnai said on Army Radio.

Olmert convened his cabinet for a discussion expected to include a possible "third stage" of the offensive in which the military would storm into Gaza's urban areas, a politically risky move a month before Israel's national election.

Israel, the prime minister said, "must not miss out, at the last moment, on what has been achieved through an unprecedented national effort."

While Israeli commanders said whole Hamas battalions were being wiped out, Damascus-based Meshaal said Israeli forces had achieved nothing and pointed to the continued rocket fire.

Israeli actions have drawn denunciations from the Red Cross, U.N. agencies and Arab and European governments.

New York-based Human Rights Watch has called on Israel to stop using white-phosphorus munitions in densely populated areas in the Gaza Strip, saying the chemical could severely burn people and set structures and fields on fire.

The group said white phosphorus was apparently being used to create smoke screens, describing this as "a permissible use in principle under international law."

But it also noted media photographs of air-bursting white phosphorus projectiles, which it said can spread burning wafers over an area between 125 and 250 meters (410-820 ft) in diameter, depending on the altitude of the explosion.

Israel said it uses only weapons permitted by international law. It has accused Hamas of using civilians as human shields.

[Gold9472]

Bill Moyers On Mideast Violence

Video
Click Here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Efm9uAnUU00&e) (GooTube)

January 09, 2009

http://www.pbs.org/billmoyers Bill Moyers reflects on the recent violence in the Middle East. PLEASE NOTE: This essay containins video and images of the Israeli and Palestinian casualties including children - in Gaza as well as the Pulitzer prize-winning photo of the nude Vietnamese girl running from napalm bombing. Some viewers may find the images disturbing, but they are in context and germane to the subject matter. Bill Moyers Journal airs Fridays at 9 p.m. on PBS (check local listings). For more: http://www.pbs.org/billmoyers

[Gold9472]

Israel must abide by international law

http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/israel-must-abide-by-international-law/2009/01/11/1231608519453.html

Izzat Abdulhadi
January 12, 2009

Witnesses tell of Israeli jets bombing apartment blocks in which children are playing. Schools, fruit markets, hospitals and universities have been targeted. Tanks fire into crowded cities such as Gaza City and Khan Younis. In one of the world's most densely populated strips of land, massive civilian casualties are inevitable.

As with Lebanon in 2006, Israel is instituting collective punishment of a people for what it sees as the crimes of a militant group. A year ago, the Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, warned that the people of Gaza would suffer for democratically electing the "terrorist" regime of Hamas, and instituted harsh power cuts for hospitals, light, heat and cars. Food cuts followed, and now indiscriminate bombing.

The use of collective punishment of a people is illegal under the fourth Geneva Convention. With 600 or more Palestinians killed already, 200 of whom are said to be civilian, we already have a civilian death toll equivalent to the Bali massacre. And still Israel ignores the entreaties from French and British leaders, the European Union, the United Nations, the Arab League, not to mention the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, and others, to cease its war on Gaza.

As we have seen on the television news, phosphorus bombs, used by the Israeli Air Force in southern Lebanon to devastating effect on the bodies of ordinary Lebanese, are now in use in the crowded streets of Gaza. Terrible injuries will result. Israel continues to defy international legal standards.

It has ignored a series of United Nations resolutions over time, including one allowing the return of refugees, one requiring it to withdraw from the lands it occupied in 1967. It ignored the decision of the International Court of Justice in 2004 declaring its huge concrete wall dividing it from Palestine illegal. It continues to ignore international requirements to declare its stock of nuclear weapons and open them for inspection.

Israel argues, simplistically, that it has a "right to defend itself" against the rocket attacks of Hamas. Of course it does. But a disproportionate war against Palestinian people is not the solution.

In the first place, we must recognize the roots of this conflict, which began with the illegal military occupation of Gaza from 1967 to 2005 and the devastation this inflicted on the economy and civil society of the people of Gaza.

In 2005 Ariel Sharon ordered illegal Israeli settlers to leave Gaza but continued a blockade of the Gaza Strip. At the time, the World Bank estimated that 65 per cent of Gazans lived in poverty. Most had problems with access to education and health services, and half lived below subsistence levels and were dependent on international food aid.

Hamas won the 2006 Palestinian elections and, in response, the US and the EU cut off all aid to Palestine and Israel froze Gaza government access to tax revenues collected from its people. Electricity was cut, food aid slashed and all movement in and out of Gaza slowed to a trickle. The Israeli army arrested 27 Hamas MPs of the new government. It assassinated others.

The Hamas government responded with rocket attacks on the Israeli city of Sederot just across the border. The rockets were largely ineffective and killed no Israelis. Meanwhile, attacks on Palestinian civilians by Israeli fighter jets continued to climb, in one instance killing 19 (including four women and seven children).

An informal "truce" or "Hudna" was agreed between Olmert's government and Hamas. Under its terms, a cessation of the rocket attacks would ease the siege on Gaza. The rocket attacks declined dramatically but as of December last year, no end to the siege was in sight. Hamas declared it would resume rocket attacks. Israel has struck back with its terrible cruelty.

Palestine has no air force, tanks or gunships to counter such an onslaught. The tiny strip of Gaza, with its 1.5 million people, only has its human resources to resist an attack from the region's most powerful army.

It is easy to understand why Israel continues to ban foreign journalists from seeing the results of its war crimes in the Gaza Strip. And why it relies on statements such as "we have the right to defend against rockets".

Israel is not interested in abiding by international legal norms which would require it to demolish the apartheid wall, end the occupation, cease the use of illegal weapons and allow the people of Gaza the freedoms most world citizens expect.

Such actions require a mindset of peace, justice, dialogue and freedom for Palestinians in their own state.

Let's end the war, end the rocket attacks, end the siege of Gaza and begin with dialogue.

[Gold9472]

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/record.xpd?id=111-s20090108-7&bill=sr111-10

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Obama vows to tackle Middle East 'on day one'

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Obama_vows_to_tackle_Middle_East_0111.html

1/12/2009

WASHINGTON (AFP) — US president-elect Barack Obama on Sunday vowed to take swift action on the Middle East peace process and Iran's nuclear ambitions but played for time to shut down the Guantanamo Bay prison camp.

In an interview with ABC's This Week program broadcast Sunday, Obama defended his reluctance to speak out on Israel's bloody offensive in the Gaza Strip before he succeeds President George W. Bush on January 20.

But while he promised rapid efforts on the peace process and diplomatic engagement with Iran, Obama said it would be a "challenge" to close the Guantanamo Bay prison camp in his first 100 days in office.

Obama said he was building a diplomatic team so that "on day one, we have the best possible people who are going to be immediately engaged in the Middle East peace process as a whole."

The team would "be engaging with all of the actors there" so that "both Israelis and Palestinians can meet their aspirations," Obama said.

Until then, he said again that he would leave the Bush administration to speak on foreign policy but indicated some continuity to the peace process.

"I think that if you look not just at the Bush administration, but also what happened under the (Bill) Clinton administration, you are seeing the general outlines of an approach," Obama said in the interview taped Saturday.

Obama noted remarks by Vice President Dick Cheney last week that his team should carefully study the outgoing administration's peace approach before throwing it away just to make a political point.

"I think that was pretty good advice," the president-elect said. "I should know what's going on before we make judgments and that we shouldn't be making judgments on the basis of incomplete information or campaign rhetoric."

Under the Bush administration, the United States has been accused by the Palestinians of siding uncritically with Israel to the detriment of the peace process overall.

Obama stood by his words of July, during a visit to Israel, when he had said: "If somebody was sending rockets into my house where my two daughters sleep at night, I'm going to do everything in my power to stop that. I would expect Israelis to do the same thing."

Asked by ABC if he would repeat the remark in Israel now, he said: "I think that's a basic principle of any country is that they've got to protect their citizens."

Israel indicated for the first time Sunday that an end was in sight to its war on the Palestinian group Hamas, amid some of the heaviest clashes of an offensive that has killed nearly 900 people in the Gaza Strip.

Obama meanwhile took note of a warning from former US defense secretary William Perry Thursday that he would likely face a "serious crisis" over Iran's nuclear ambitions in his first year in office.

"I think that Iran is going to be one of our biggest challenges," the president-elect said, warning a nuclear-armed Iran "could potentially trigger a nuclear arms race in the Middle East."

Obama promised "a new emphasis on respect and a new emphasis on being willing to talk, but also a clarity about what our bottom lines are."

"And we are in preparations for that. We anticipate that we're going to have to move swiftly in that area."

The Islamic republic has defied UN sanctions designed to halt its enrichment of uranium, insisting that its nuclear program is for civilian energy needs and has no military bent.

"And we are going to have to take a new approach. And I've outlined my belief that engagement is the place to start," Obama said.

"That the international community is going to be taking cues from us in how we want to approach Iran."

When asked about his promise to close the controversial prison at Guantanamo Bay, which still holds some 250 "war on terror" suspects, Obama said: "It is more difficult than I think a lot of people realize.

He said his legal and national security advisers were working out the best approach. But Obama added emphatically that the base would be closed.

"I don't want to be ambiguous about this," he said.

"We are going to close Guantanamo and we are going to make sure that the procedures we set up are ones that abide by our constitution," he said, vowing also that his administration would not torture terror suspects.

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Israel says Gaza war nearing end as fighting rages

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Israel_says_Gaza_war_nearing_end_0111.html

1/12/2009

GAZA CITY (AFP) — Israel indicated for the first time on Sunday that an end was in sight to its war on Hamas, amid some of the heaviest clashes of an offensive that has killed nearly 900 people in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli troops pushed deeper into Gaza's main city, sparking some of the fiercest battles yet of the 16-day-old war that Israel launched in response to rocket fire, but that has failed to completely stop the rockets.

Civilians again fell victim in Israel's offensive in the Palestinian enclave, one of the world's most densely populated places where every other person of the 1.5 million population is under 18 years of age.

Two women and four children were killed in a strike on a house in Beit Lahiya, medics and witnesses said. Twelve bodies were pulled from the rubble in Tal al-Hawa including 10 fighters, according to medics.

Israeli officials suggested the Jewish state was nearing the end of its offensive, which has killed hundreds of civilians, despite having last week waved off a UN resolution calling for an immediate halt to the fighting.

"The decision of the (UN) security council doesn't give us much leeway," Deputy Defence Minister Matan Vilnai told public radio.

"Thus it would seem that we are close to ending the ground operation and ending the operation altogether."

Earlier Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the Jewish state was nearing the goals it had set for its operation, but said fighting would continue for now.

"Israel is approaching these goals, but more patience and determination are required," Olmert said at the start of the cabinet meeting.

The premier told ministers that Israel "dealt Hamas an unprecedented blow," government secretary Oved Yehezkel quoted Olmert as saying. "It will never be the same Hamas."

Hamas, however, has vowed to keep fighting and on Sunday some 17 rockets were fired into Israel from Gaza by mid-afternoon, without wounding anyone.

Both Israel and Hamas last week brushed off the UN Security Council resolution that called on both sides to stop fighting, and the early Sunday hours saw Israeli troops push deep into the territory's main population centre.

Troops crept into the southern Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood of Gaza City, encountering roadside bombs, mortar and gunfire from Palestinian fighters, witnesses said.

The troops withdrew at daybreak, but hundreds of panicked residents fled the area, clutching small children and hastily packed bags after a sleepless night.

"We couldn't take anything with us, not even milk for the children," said Ibtisam Shamallah, 22, as she fled with her two children.

Defence Minister Ehud Barak told reporters that Israel was "examining the diplomatic channel" while continuing its offensive.

"There's no contradiction between the two," said Barak, who is due to again send senior aide Amos Gilad to Cairo in the coming days for Egyptian-led talks on ending the war.

Israeli warplanes bombed more than 60 targets throughout Gaza overnight and into morning, hitting arms depots and smuggling tunnels as well as a mosque that was allegedly used to store weapons and train fighters, the army said.

In all, at least 26 Palestinians have been killed in clashes on Sunday, medics said.

With the body count spiralling, the exiled political chief of Hamas, Khaled Meshaal, remained defiant, vowing in an address televised late Saturday that the Islamists would not strike a deal on a permanent truce with Israel, a country the group is pledged to destroying.

"We will not accept a permanent truce because ... as long as there is an occupation there is a resistance," he said, adding that his group will not hold talks on a temporary truce until Israel stops its offensive.

Since the Israeli offensive began on December 27, at least 885 people have been killed, including 275 children, and another 3,620 wounded, according to Gaza medics.

Ten Israeli soldiers and three civilians have been killed in combat or in rocket attacks since the operation began, as Palestinian militants have fired more than 600 rockets, some of them penetrating deeper than ever inside Israel.

Egypt has been spearheading Western-backed efforts to end the fighting, calling for an immediate truce, opening Gaza's border crossings, preventing arms smuggling and relaunching Palestinian reconciliation efforts.

A senior Israeli official told AFP that "Olmert believes Israel can reach an understanding with Egypt but at the moment, there is no intention to let up the pressure on Hamas."

In Washington, US president-elect Barack Obama pledged to immediately engage in Middle East peace efforts as soon as he takes office in nine days.

The conflict has sparked worldwide pro-Palestinian demonstrations, with major cities set to hold fresh protests on Sunday.

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The Warsaw Ghetto

As George Galloway said, we're not saying Israel are the Nazis, but what we are saying is that they are using Nazi tactics.

Part I
Click Here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLsCEWYOQ68&e) (GooTube)

Part II
Click Here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pc_uF2EeyGY&e) (GooTube)

Part III
Click Here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uZkG3kduys&e) (GooTube)

Part IV
Click Here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aqdV_NLW9o&e) (GooTube)

[Gold9472]

Israel protest targets US consulate in Pakistan

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h_spSjn_nNjUPox9jhhVCKsdnH9AD95L409G3

By ASHRAF KHAN – 4 hours ago

KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — Security forces used tear gas and batons to repel anti-Israel protesters who tried to attack a U.S. consulate in Pakistan on Sunday, as tens of thousands in cities across Europe, the Middle East and Asia demonstrated against Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip.

A protest in the Belgian capital that drew 30,000 turned violent as well, with demonstrators overturning cars and smashing shop windows. And in Manila, Philippines, policemen used shields to disperse students protesting outside the U.S. Embassy.

Israel launched its campaign in Gaza on Dec. 27 to stop rocket fire from the militant Palestinian group Hamas. Gaza health officials say nearly 870 Palestinians have been killed, roughly half of them civilians. Thirteen Israelis have also died.

Some 2,000 protesters in the Pakistani port city of Karachi burned U.S. flags and chanted anti-Israel slogans, and several hundred of them marched on the U.S. Consulate, senior police official Ameer Sheikh said.

"They were in a mood to attack," Sheikh said. "They were carrying bricks, stones and clubs."

A U.S. Embassy spokesman in Islamabad, Lou Fintor, said the protesters did not get close to the consulate, which was closed Sunday.

Washington provides a large amount of foreign aid to Israel as well as military and weapons assistance. Israeli military action is often perceived in the Muslim world as being financed and supported by the U.S. While Pakistan's government is a U.S. ally, anti-American sentiment is pervasive in the Muslim majority country.

In Spain, as many as 100,000 people attended rallies in Madrid and the southwestern city of Seville, urging Israel to "Stop the massacre in Gaza" and calling for peace initiatives. Spain's Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos will tour the Middle East starting Monday to promote solutions to the conflict.

An estimated 2,500 Lebanese and Palestinians meanwhile protested peacefully in downtown Beirut, waving Palestinian flags and calling on the international community to intervene in the Israeli attack.

A convoy of some 15 ambulances from an Islamic medical society sounded their sirens for 20 seconds in solidarity with Gaza medics. Leftist participants set fire to a large Israeli flag, while children taking part in the protest held bloody dolls representing Palestinian children killed in Gaza.

The death of children in the Gaza assault has become an enduring theme at protests.

Children carrying effigies of bloody babies headed the march attended by thousands in Brussels, which later turned violent before police intervened with water cannons and arrested 10 protesters. Belgian lawmaker Richard Miller told Le Soir newspaper that he was hit in the face by a stone thrown by a demonstrator.

Jewish communities appeared divided on the Israeli operations. In London, thousands of people gathered at Trafalgar Square to support the action in Gaza, while anti-Israeli protesters held a counter-demonstration nearby. In Antwerp, Belgium, home to a large Hassidic Jewish community, some 800 people took part in a peaceful pro-Israel demonstration.

In a letter published in Britain's Observer newspaper Sunday, 11 leading British Jews urged Israel to end its Gaza campaign and negotiate a settlement for security reasons.

"We are concerned that rather than bringing security to Israel, a continued military offensive could strengthen extremists, destabilize the region and exacerbate tensions inside Israel with its one million Arab citizens," the letter said.

In Syria, as revolutionary songs blared from loudspeakers, demonstrators accused Arab leaders of being complicit in the Gaza assault. "Down, down with the Arab rulers, the collaborators," the crowd in Damascus shouted.

Separately, activists protesting the Israeli campaign were driving from Turkey to Syria in a convoy of 200 cars, and participants hoped Syrian protesters would join them at the border Monday, according to Nezir Dinler, an activist with the Istanbul-based Solidarity Foundation.

A few thousand people marched in largely peaceful pro-Palestinian rallies in the Italian cities of Rome, Naples and Verona. In Rome, municipal authorities were dispatched to erase graffiti — including Stars of David and swastikas — that had been scrawled on Jewish-owned stores and restaurants overnight.

[Gold9472]

Israel sends reserves into Gaza but says end may be in sight

http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Israel_sends_reserves_into_Gaza_but_01112009.html

1/11/2009

Israel began pouring reservists into heavy clashes across the Gaza Strip on Sunday as the death toll from its war on Hamas approached 900 and officials indicated that the end may be in sight.

Israeli troops pushed deeper into Gaza's main city, as warplanes carried out at least 50 air strikes on the 16th day of a war launched to combat Palestinian rocket fire, which has continued despite the offensive.

Israel's Channel Two said the army had begun sending in some of the thousands of reservists called up when the war began on December 27, and an army spokesman said they would be increasingly "integrated" into combat units.

Civilians again fell victim in Israel's offensive on the impoverished and isolated Palestinian enclave, one of the world's most densely populated places where half of the 1.5 million residents are less than 18 years old.

Two women and four children were killed in a strike on a house in Beit Lahiya, medics and witnesses said.

Israeli officials suggested the end may be close of its offensive, which has killed hundreds of civilians, despite having last week waved off a UN resolution calling for an immediate halt to the fighting.

"The decision of the (UN) security council doesn't give us much leeway," Deputy Defence Minister Matan Vilnai told public radio.

"Thus it would seem that we are close to ending the ground operation and ending the operation altogether."

Earlier Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the Jewish state was nearing the goals it had set for its operation, but said fighting would continue for now.

"Israel is approaching these goals, but more patience and determination are required," Olmert said at a cabinet meeting.

He told ministers that Israel "dealt Hamas an unprecedented blow," government secretary Oved Yehezkel quoted Olmert as saying. "It will never be the same Hamas."

Israeli forces have demolished some 200 smuggling tunnels beneath the Gaza-Egypt border -- Hamas's main resupply route -- representing 66 percent of the total, according to military spokeswoman Avital Leibowich.

The army said it had blown up 20 tunnels on Sunday alone, and an Egyptian security official said shrapnel from one of the strikes wounded two Egyptian police officers and two children at the Rafah crossing into Gaza.

Hamas, however, has vowed to keep fighting, and on Sunday 19 rockets were fired into Israel from Gaza, including four long-range Grad rockets, without wounding anyone.

Both Israel and Hamas last week brushed off the UN Security Council resolution that called on both sides to stop fighting.

Early on Sunday troops crept into the narrow streets of the southern Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood of Gaza City, encountering roadside bombs, mortar and gunfire from Palestinian fighters, witnesses said.

The troops withdrew at daybreak, but hundreds of panicked residents fled the area, clutching small children and hastily packed bags after a sleepless night.

"We couldn't take anything with us, not even milk for the children," said Ibtisam Shamallah, 22, as she fled with her two children.

Twelve bodies were later pulled from the rubble in Tal al-Hawa, including 10 fighters, according to medics. In all, at least 26 Palestinians were killed in clashes on Sunday, they said.

But the exiled political chief of Hamas, Khaled Meshaal, remained defiant in an address televised late on Saturday, vowing that his group would not discuss any kind of ceasefire until the Israeli offensive stopped.

"As long as there is an occupation there is a resistance," he said.

Egypt has spearheaded Western-backed efforts to end the fighting, calling for an immediate truce, opening Gaza's border crossings, preventing arms smuggling and relaunching Palestinian reconciliation efforts.

On Sunday Cairo ramped up pressure on Israel by summoning its ambassador to demand that the Jewish state comply with the UN Security Council's call for a ceasefire and opening "humanitarian corridors" in the besieged territory.

Since the Israeli onslaught began on December 27, at least 890 people have been killed, including 275 children, and another 3,800 wounded, according to Dr Muawiya Hassanein, the head of Gaza emergency services.

Ten Israeli soldiers and three civilians have been killed in combat or in rocket attacks since the operation began, as Palestinian militants have fired more than 600 rockets, some of them penetrating deeper than ever inside Israel.

The conflict has sparked worldwide pro-Palestinian demonstrations, and US President-elect Barack Obama

[Gold9472]

Israel’s bombardment of Gaza is not self-defence – it’s a war crime

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/letters/article5488380.ece

1/12/2009

ISRAEL has sought to justify its military attacks on Gaza by stating that it amounts to an act of “self-defence” as recognised by Article 51, United Nations Charter. We categorically reject this contention.

The rocket attacks on Israel by Hamas deplorable as they are, do not, in terms of scale and effect amount to an armed attack entitling Israel to rely on self-defence. Under international law self-defence is an act of last resort and is subject to the customary rules of proportionality and necessity.

The killing of almost 800 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and more than 3,000 injuries, accompanied by the destruction of schools, mosques, houses, UN compounds and government buildings, which Israel has a responsibility to protect under the Fourth Geneva Convention, is not commensurate to the deaths caused by Hamas rocket fire.

For 18 months Israel had imposed an unlawful blockade on the coastal strip that brought Gazan society to the brink of collapse. In the three years after Israel’s redeployment from Gaza, 11 Israelis were killed by rocket fire. And yet in 2005-8, according to the UN, the Israeli army killed about 1,250 Palestinians in Gaza, including 222 children. Throughout this time the Gaza Strip remained occupied territory under international law because Israel maintained effective control over it.

Israel’s actions amount to aggression, not self-defence, not least because its assault on Gaza was unnecessary. Israel could have agreed to renew the truce with Hamas. Instead it killed 225 Palestinians on the first day of its attack. As things stand, its invasion and bombardment of Gaza amounts to collective punishment of Gaza’s 1.5m inhabitants contrary to international humanitarian and human rights law. In addition, the blockade of humanitarian relief, the destruction of civilian infrastructure, and preventing access to basic necessities such as food and fuel, are prima facie war crimes.

We condemn the firing of rockets by Hamas into Israel and suicide bombings which are also contrary to international humanitarian law and are war crimes. Israel has a right to take reasonable and proportionate means to protect its civilian population from such attacks. However, the manner and scale of its operations in Gaza amount to an act of aggression and is contrary to international law, notwithstanding the rocket attacks by Hamas.

Ian Brownlie QC, Blackstone Chambers

Mark Muller QC, Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales

Michael Mansfield QC and Joel Bennathan QC, Tooks Chambers

Sir Geoffrey Bindman, University College, London

Professor Richard Falk, Princeton University

Professor M Cherif Bassiouni, DePaul University, Chicago

Professor Christine Chinkin, LSE

Professor John B Quigley, Ohio State University

Professor Iain Scobbie and Victor Kattan, School of Oriental and African Studies

Professor Vera Gowlland-Debbas, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva

Professor Said Mahmoudi, Stockholm University

Professor Max du Plessis, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban

Professor Bill Bowring, Birkbeck College

Professor Joshua Castellino, Middlesex University

Professor Thomas Skouteris and Professor Michael Kagan, American University of Cairo

Professor Javaid Rehman, Brunel University

Daniel Machover, Chairman, Lawyers for Palestinian Human Rights

Dr Phoebe Okawa, Queen Mary University

John Strawson, University of East London

Dr Nisrine Abiad, British Institute of International and Comparative Law

Dr Michael Kearney, University of York

Dr Shane Darcy, National University of Ireland, Galway

Dr Michelle Burgis, University of St Andrews

Dr Niaz Shah, University of Hull

Liz Davies, Chair, Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyer

Prof Michael Lynk, The University of Western Ontario

Steve Kamlish QC and Michael Topolski QC, Tooks Chambers

[Gold9472]

Israel battles Hamas as toll passes 900

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Israel_battles_Hamas_as_toll_passes_0112.html

1/12/2009

GAZA CITY (AFP) - Israeli infantry units battled with Hamas fighters across Gaza on Monday as Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he hoped Egyptian peace efforts could bring about a swift end to the war.

At least 19 people were reported killed in Monday's clashes, medics said, pushing the overall toll past the 900 mark in a 17-day-old conflict which has also wounded nearly 4,000 people.

Thousands of Israeli reservists also joined battle against Hamas, the Islamist movement which has continued to fire missiles into Israel throughout Operation Cast Lead, launched with the avowed intent of ending the rocket attacks.

In Egypt, which has been spearheading Western-backed efforts to end the war that has sparked widespread protests across the world, talks were due to resume between Egyptian officials and Hamas.

But Israel's pointman for Gaza truce talks, Amos Gilad, delayed a planned visit in what Israeli radio speculated was meant as a pressure tactic on Hamas.

Speaking on a trip to Holon, a suburb of Tel Aviv, Olmert said Israel was achieving its objectives in the conflict.

"We hope that the violence will end swiftly but in order for that to come about, two things must happen: rocket fire must stop and the terror organisations must stop rearming," he said.

"These things are not impossible and we are closer to them today than a few days ago.

"I hope that the efforts of recent days by the Egyptians will allow us to end the war," added Olmert who is to stand down after elections on February 10.

The negotiations in Cairo are based on a three-point plan that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak unveiled last week.

The plan calls for an immediate ceasefire to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza, talks on opening Gaza's border crossings and taking steps to prevent arms smuggling, and relaunching Palestinian reconciliation efforts.

On Sunday, Cairo upped the pressure on Israel by summoning its ambassador to demand that the Jewish state comply with last week's UN Security Council resolution and open humanitarian corridors to relieve the besieged territory.

Both Israel and Hamas have waved off the resolution that called for an immediate end to the fighting.

Officials in Cairo said that the talks with Hamas had been positive, saying the Islamists agreed "on the importance of ... stopping the shedding of Palestinian blood as soon as possible."

Osama Hamdan, Hamas's representative in Lebanon, told Al-Jazeera television afterwards that "there was some progress on some points" of the Egyptian proposal.

"We reject parts of this proposal ... but that does not mean rejection of all the proposal."

Although it has so far ignored the UN ceasefire resolution, Israel is aware it cannot afford to remain diplomatically isolated for long, especially with Barack Obama due to enter the White House next week.

Israeli officials on Sunday suggested that what is now Israel's deadliest onslaught against Gaza could be approaching an end.

"The decision of the (UN) Security Council doesn't give us much leeway, thus it would seem that we are close to ending the ground operation and ending the operation altogether" said deputy defence Minister Matan Vilnai.

Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayad, whose remit is limited to the West Bank, said the Egyptian initiative offered the best hope of peace, putting pressure on both Israel and Hamas to respond positively.

"Not accepting the Egyptian initiative should not be an option. He who refuses, voices reservations or moves slowly on this initiative bears the responsibility of explaining themselves, especially to the people of Gaza," Fayad told a press conference in Ramallah on Monday.

"We need (a ceasefire) in order to bring about an end to the misery and catastrophic human conditions in the Gaza Strip."

Aid deliveries have been massively disrupted by the conflict, with agencies warning that residents are running out of food and even having to burn their furniture to stay warm in the bitterly-cold nights.

Since the start of the operation on December 27, at least 905 people have been killed, including at least 277 children, and another 3,950 wounded, according to Gaza medics.

Ten Israeli soldiers and three civilians have been killed in combat or in rocket attacks since the operation began. Palestinian militants have fired nearly 700 rockets, some of them penetrating deeper than ever inside Israel.

The conflict has sparked worldwide pro-Palestinian demonstrations, and US president elect Obama said he is assembling a team of diplomats to start addressing the Middle East conflict once he is sworn in on January 20.

[Gold9472]


* What Now? *



Anna Baltzer
1/12/2009

As Israel's invasion of the Gaza strip continues its third week with roughly 900 Palestinians killed and thousands more wounded, it is more important than ever to understand the context behind the current escalation, and then to move beyond our understanding into action. 



At the bottom of this email is a piece including analysis inspired by the recent writings and research of Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi (Security General of the Palestinian National Initiative) and Phyllis Bennis (Director of the New Internationalism Project). But first you'll find-—as always, crucially—-a way to take action: WRITE!

* WRITE Now! *


In the first week of the attack on Gaza, the Washington Post ran 7-1 hawkish op-ed/editorials, the Washington Times ran 5-0 hawkish op-ed/editorials, and the Wall Street Journal ran 4-0 hawkish op-ed/editorials. 



Many of us are upset by this, but we don't feel empowered to change it. But biases in mainstream media do not come out of nowhere; they are largely (though not entirely by any means) the result of active media-monitoring by media watch-dog groups that inundate media who stray from the Zionist party line. 



Why can't we be as dedicated as those groups? Why aren't media being inundated by people like us who want to see the truth that is reported to the rest of the world every day? We need to be the change that we seek. We need to write media--not here and there, a couple of us, but consistently, all of us, a collective voice, demanding fair coverage.



I recently discovered the WRITE! Project (www.writetruth.org (http://www.writetruth.org)), which has a team monitoring US media and sending out alerts to peace and justice activists write in response to specific pro-Zionist articles and editorials. They provide the email address to write to, the original piece to respond to, and talking points to use. It doesn't take more than 5 minutes. 



I don't personally have the time to monitor mainstream US media, but every time I get an alert I send a quick email to let the relevant media know what I think. What if all 5,000 people on this list were to do that? We could be the influence that we wish we had!



Contact the WRITE! Team to get alerts at writealert@yahoo.com

Take a minute to write after each alert.



It only works if we do it together. 



* Why Now? *


Contrary to popular belief, plans for Israel's bombing and invasion of Gaza didn't begin when Hamas started firing rockets at the end of last year's ceasefire. According to the Israeli mainstream newspaper Haaretz, plans for a massive attack on the strip began more than six months ago as Israel and Hamas were negotiating the ceasefire (see "IAF strike followed months of planning" - www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1050448.html (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1050448.html)). Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak reasoned that the ceasefire would give Israel time to prepare for a "showdown" as soon as it was over. 



At the end of the ceasefire, Hamas put forth diplomatic initiatives aimed at extending the agreement (based on an end to both cross-border attacks and blockade of the strip), but these efforts were actually dismissed by Israel. With an end to diplomatic possibilities and the continuation of a debilitating blockade, Hamas's returning again to rocket attacks was, albeit lamentable, certainly predictable. Renewed violence, far from coming as a surprise, was presumably precisely what Israel was expecting.



So if the decision to strike Gaza in late December was calculated far in advance, why now? The timing coincided precisely with three things: elected officials' holidays in the US, a transitional period for the US administration (a lame duck president and a president-elect hesitant to say anything prematurely), and most importantly: a tight race in Israel for the next prime minister. In fact Israeli Foreign Minister Tsipi Livni, who rejected Hamas's efforts to negotiate an extension of the ceasefire, is running a tight race with the hawkish Likud party. The latter is campaigning on the claim that Livni's political party, Kadima, is too "soft" on the Palestinians, something Livni is working hard to disprove.



Official Israeli explanations mention nothing about US or Israeli political factors, focusing squarely on eradicating Palestinian violence. But if nonviolence and cooperation are Israel's conditions for returning freedom to Palestinians, why weren't those conditions enough in the past? By the end of the year 2008, more than six months since a single fatal attack on an Israeli and following long-term cooperation between the West Bank Fatah leadership and the Israeli government, settlement expansion had heavily increased in the West Bank, about 5,000 Palestinians had been newly captured and imprisoned by Israel (most of them from the West Bank), and the number of West Bank checkpoints had risen from 521 to 699. If Israel wanted to stop a rise in Hamas, why not show that it is willing to make peace with the more peaceful Palestinian leaders?



During my two weeks in the West Bank, coinciding with a time of calm in Israel, I listened to countless stories of immobility, settler attacks, torture, and humiliation. During my first night at the IWPS house, nearby settlers stoned passing cars. I visited a close friend in the nearby `Azzoun village, where settlers invade several times a week carrying large American-made semi-automatic weapons. The army's response is to declare curfew on Azzoun, forbidding villagers from leaving their home. School and work have been cancelled three times a week for the past month on orders of the army, wanting to "protect Palestinians." One wonders why the army prefers to shut down a Palestinian village rather than standing up to the Israeli settlers themselves (my colleague Hannah wrote an excellent article addressing this question: http://www.counterpunch.org/mermelstein12252008.html). 



I visited the Bethlehem area where settlers routinely visit and spray-paint stars of David and anti-Arab racist slurs (which locals then paint over, until the settlers return the next time). Water and electricity in the city are consistently shut off by the Israeli army (Bethlehem has just one functioning traffic light), and enrollment at Bethlehem University hovers at 70% female given the high proportion of local men spending their youth in prison (similar to figures of African American males in the United States).



The one concession I witnessed was Israel's release of more than 200 Palestinian prisoners as a gift for the Muslim "Eid Al-Adha" holiday last month. Israel continues to hold more than 7,500 Palestinians prisoner, more than 10% of them without charge. Hundreds more are arrested every month. Then, occasionally, Israel lets out a couple hundred as an act of goodwill and generosity, but somehow Palestinians don't seem to find the habit terribly generous.



I traveled to Nablus where I learned one of my friends had been killed while another, a major organizer of nonviolent civil disobedience during Israel's invasion in early 2007, was in prison. On my way, I passed a group of eleven cement factory workers who had been stopped by the army on their way to the factory and I hopped out of my cab to document the situation. After holding the group for more than two hours, the Israeli soldiers decided to let the eleven grown men go to work. Other breadwinners cannot even access the road to work anymore, like a Bethlehem family whose home I found surrounded on three sides by the Wall, their main road cut off.



Given the West Bank Fatah leadership's cooperation with Israel, one might have expected a change in the situation in the West Bank, but everywhere I visited the occupation continued as usual, sometimes enhanced. There is no reason for Palestinians—-or us—-to believe that an end to rocket attacks and suicide bombs would bring real change to Israel's continued occupation since neither has in the past. Rather, Hamas's violence provides a convenient, and unfortunate, excuse for Israel to continue what it has been doing all along: expanding and expanding, destroying any obstacle—-be it a home, an olive tree, or a boy with a rock-—in its way.


[Gold9472]

Israel bans Arab parties from coming election

http://www.salon.com/wires/ap/world/2009/01/12/D95LNB200_ml_israel_arabs/index.html

By JOSEF FEDERMAN Associated Press Writer

Jan 12th, 2009 | JERUSALEM -- Israel on Monday banned Arab political parties from running in next month's parliamentary elections, drawing accusations of racism by an Arab lawmaker who said he would challenge the decision in the country's Supreme Court.

The ruling by parliament's Central Election Committee reflected the heightened tensions between Israel's Jewish majority and Arab minority caused by Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip. Arabs have held a series of demonstrations against the offensive.

Parliament spokesman Giora Pordes said the election committee voted overwhelmingly in favor of the motion, accusing the country's Arab parties of incitement, supporting terrorist groups and refusing to recognize Israel's right to exist. Arab lawmakers have traveled to some of Israel's staunchest enemies, including Lebanon and Syria.

The 37-member committee is composed of representatives from Israel's major political parties. The measure was proposed by two ultranationalist parties but received widespread support.

The decision does not affect Arab lawmakers in predominantly Jewish parties or the country's communist party, which has a mixed list of Arab and Jewish candidates. Roughly one-fifth of Israel's 7 million citizens are Arabs. Israeli Arabs enjoy full citizenship rights, but have suffered from discrimination and poverty for decades.

Arab lawmakers Ahmed Tibi and Jamal Zahalka, political rivals who head the two Arab blocs in parliament, joined together in condemning Monday's decision.

"It was a political trial led by a group of Fascists and racists who are willing to see the Knesset without Arabs and want to see the country without Arabs," said Tibi.

Together, the Arab lists hold seven of the 120 seats in the Knesset, or parliament.

Tibi said he would appeal to the high court, while Zahalka said his party was still deciding how to proceed.

Pordes, the parliament spokesman, said the last party to be banned was the late Rabbi Meir Kahane's Kach Party, a list from the 1980s that advocated the expulsion of Arabs from Israel.

[Gold9472]

Thousands of Israeli reservists move into Gaza

http://www.newsvine.com/_news/2009/01/12/2302298-thousands-of-israeli-reservists-move-into-gaza

1/12/2009

Thousands of Israeli reservists began moving into the Gaza Strip on Monday, signaling that Israel could be ready to escalate its campaign to silence Hamas rocket attacks and enter a new and more punishing phase of its 2-week-old war.

The military announced earlier that it had begun sending reserve units into Gaza to assist the thousands of ground forces already in the Hamas-ruled territory. The deployment of reservists, many in their late 20s and 30s, was the strongest sign that Israel was prepared to intensify its war against Gaza's Hamas rulers.

The army has called up thousands of reserves troops for its Gaza campaign, meant to halt years of Palestinian rocket fire on southern Israel.

"Israel is a small country and (in) all of our battles and all the wars we've had in the past reserve soldiers are called up," Capt. Doron Spilmann, a spokesman for the Israeli military, told Associated Press Television News. "It's standard that they then begin to work hand in hand along with our permanent standing force in the air, on the ground and at sea."

Defense officials say about 5,000 reservists entered Gaza and thousands of others have been drafted.

Reservists in Gaza have been taking over areas cleared out by the regular troops, allowing those forces to push toward new targets, defense officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were discussing classified operational strategy.

President Shimon Peres met with hundreds of reservists at a staging area in southern Israel as they prepared to enter Gaza.

"I don't think that Israel has ever had an army better trained, organized and sophisticated than you," he said. "I came in the name of the nation to say to you a deep thank you for your achievements so far and to wish you luck during battle."

The group he met with were a mixed bunch, some apparently in their early 30s, at least one with a gray ponytail and beard. They were wearing crisp olive battledress, obviously freshly issued, and had M-16 assault rifles slung across their shoulders.

Asked if they knew what they were getting into, one soldier one said he lost a good friend in combat during his compulsory military service 18 years ago and named his son after him.

"I know exactly what the price may be. I left three children at home, one a month-old baby girl, and I came here fully motivated to do whatever needs to be done, with full knowledge of the cost," he said. The reservist was not identified in line with military guidelines.

[Gold9472]

Hamas eyes victory in Gaza as Israel threatens 'iron fist'

http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Hamas_eyes_victory_in_Gaza_as_Israe_01122009.html

1/12/2009

The defiant leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip vowed on Monday the Islamists would emerge victorious from the war in the Palestinian territory as Israeli tanks advanced on the main city.

After 17 days of conflict which have so far killed more than 900 Palestinians, Ismail Haniya made a rare televised address only hours after his Israeli counterpart threatened to hit Hamas with an "iron fist" if it did not end the rocket attacks which the war itself is designed to halt.

But while Prime Minister Ehud Olmert insisted Operation Cast Lead was achieving its objectives, more rockets rained down on Israel, albeit without causing casualties.

Palestinian medics, meanwhile, said that at least another 25 people had been killed during the latest clashes, bringing the overall toll to 917, including 277 children. Another 4,100 have been wounded.

Ten Israeli soldiers and three civilians have been killed in combat or by rocket attacks since the operation began on December 27.

"We are approaching victory," Haniya said in his broadcast from an undisclosed location in Gaza. "The blood which has flowed will not have flowed in vain as it will bring us victory, thanks be to God.

"I tell you that after 17 days of this foolish war, Gaza has not been broken and Gaza will not fall."

Haniya also said that the "blood of children" who have been killed in the conflict would serve as a "curse which will come back to haunt" United States President George W. Bush.

Bush has consistently blamed Hamas for the conflict, telling reporters on Monday that while he wanted to see a "sustainable ceasefire," it was up to Hamas to choose to end its rocket fire on Israel.

"I am for a sustainable ceasefire. And a definition of a sustainable ceasefire is that Hamas stops firing rockets into Israel," he said.

After Israel and Hamas both ignored a UN resolution last week calling for a truce, the focus of peace efforts turned to an Egyptian peace plan which calls for an immediate ceasefire to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza, talks on opening Gaza's border crossings and taking steps to prevent arms smuggling.

Olmert said he was grateful for Cairo's efforts but said Israel's key demands were non-negotiable.

"We want to end the operation when the two conditions we have demanded are met: ending the rocket fire and stopping Hamas's rearmament. If these two conditions are met, we will end our operation in Gaza," he said in the southern town of Ashkelon which has been the target of dozens of Hamas missiles.

"Anything else will meet the iron fist of the Israeli people, who are no longer ready to tolerate the Qassams (rockets)."

An army spokesman said that close to 30 missiles had been launched from Gaza on Monday, although there were no reports of casualties.

Residents said Israeli tanks managed to punch their way to the southern rim of Gaza City, advancing several hundred metres (yards) in the neighbourhoods of Eijline, Tuffah and Zeitun where the crump of gunfire echoed constantly.

Troops also staged an incursion into the southern town of Khan Yunis where witnesses said some 35 houses were destroyed.

A military spokesman said warplanes had hit more than 25 targets, including four rocket launch sites and two cars containing Hamas fighters.

Troops also seized anti-aircraft missiles, mortar rounds and machine guns, the spokesman added.

Israeli officials on Sunday suggested that what is now Israel's deadliest onslaught against Gaza could be approaching its end.

Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad, whose remit is limited to the West Bank, said the Egyptian initiative offered the best hope of peace, putting pressure on both Israel and Hamas to respond positively.

"He who refuses, voices reservations or moves slowly on this initiative bears the responsibility of explaining themselves, especially to the people of Gaza," he said.

Britain's former premier Tony Blair, now a peace envoy for the international community, said after meeting Mubarak that the elements for an immediate truce are in place and talks were "at a sensitive and delicate" stage.

Meanwhile Israel suffered another humiliating reverse at the hands of the United Nations, when the world body's Human Rights Council adopted a resolution accusing it of "grave" human rights violations against Palestinians.

The resolution setting up a fact-finding mission to investigate Israeli violations against Palestinians was passed after a split between Western countries and the others over the wording.

Attention was also focusing on the task of rebuilding Gaza after the war, with the Czech Republic, which currently holds the revolving EU presidency, saying it would convene a donor conference to address humanitarian needs.

Aid deliveries have been massively disrupted by the conflict, with agencies warning that residents are running out of food and even having to burn their furniture to stay warm in the bitterly cold nights.

[Gold9472]

UN headquarters in Gaza hit by Israeli 'white phosphorus' shells

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article5521925.ece

1/15/2009

The main UN compound in Gaza was in flames today after being struck by Israeli artillery fire, and a spokesman said that the building had been hit by shells containing the incendiary agent white phosphorus.

The attack on the headquarters of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) came as Ban Ki Moon, the UN Secretary-General, arrived in Israel on a peace mission and plunged Israel's relations with the world body to a new low.

Mr Ban told reporters in Tel Aviv that he had expressed "strong protest and outrage" to the Israeli Government over the shelling of the compound and was demanding an investigation. He said that Ehud Barak, the Israeli Defence Minister, had told him it was "a grave mistake".

UNWRA, which looks after some four million Palestinian refugees around the region, suspended its operations in Gaza after the attack, in which it said three of its employees had been injured.

Chris Gunness, an UNRWA spokesman, said that the building had been used to shelter hundreds of people fleeing Israel’s 20-day offensive in Gaza. He said that pallets with supplies desperately needed by Palestinians in Gaza were on fire.

"What more stark symbolism do you need?" he said. "You can’t put out white phosphorus with traditional methods such as fire extinguishers. You need sand, we don’t have sand."

The Israeli military has denied using white phosphorus shells in the Gaza offensive, although an investigation by The Times has revealed that dozens of Palestinians in Gaza have sustained serious injuries from the substance, which burns at extremely high temperatures.

The Geneva Convention of 1980 proscribes the use of white phosphorus as a weapon of war in civilian areas, although it can be used to create a smokescreen. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said today that all weapons used in Gaza were "within the scope of international law".

The attack on the UN compound came as Israeli forces pushed deeper into Gaza City and unleashed their heaviest shelling on its crowded neighbourhoods in three weeks of war. At least 15 Palestinians were killed in the Israeli attacks, medical officials said, pushing the death toll up towards 1,100 - a level that Mr Ban described as "unbearable".

It was not clear whether the escalation signalled a new phase in the conflict. Israel has held back from all-out urban warfare in the narrow alleyways of Gaza's cities, where Hamas militants are more familiar with the lay of the land.

Black smoke billowed over Gaza City, terrifying civilians who said they had "nowhere left to hide" from the relentless shelling.

"I am telling you that Gaza is on fire, everything is under attack. We cannot begin to answer all the calls for help, it is desperate. We cannot reach the people, everyone is trapped and we do not know how to help them," said Doctor Moussa El Haddad at Shifa Hospital.

Maha El-Sheiky, 36, said she fled her home in the western suburbs of Gaza City two days ago, moving her family into a school in the centre of the city. "We thought it would be safer here. But now there is shelling everywhere. It is schools and mosques and hospitals. We don’t know what will be next," she said. "We are hiding, it is in God’s hands."

There were reports that the al-Quds hospital in the Tal El Hawa district, Gaza's second-largest, had been shelled, while more than 500 patients were being treated inside.

An explosion also blasted a tower block that houses the offices of Reuters and several other media organisations, injuring a journalist working for the Abu Dhabi television channel.

Reuters journalists working at the time said it appeared the southern side of the 13th floor of the Al-Shurouq Tower in the city centre had been struck by an Israeli missile or shell. Reuters evacuated its bureau.

Several organisations, including the International Committee of the Red Cross and Human Rights Watch, said that they were "certain" that Israel was using white phosphorus shells in Gaza. Human rights workers said that the use of phosphorus in the densely populated Gaza City could constitute a war crime.

Israel launched the offensive on December 27 in an effort to stop militant rocket fire from Gaza that has terrorised hundreds of thousands of Israelis. It says it will press ahead until it receives guarantees of a complete halt to rocket fire and an end to weapons smuggling into Gaza from neighbouring Egypt.

[Gold9472]

Israeli army masses along Lebanon border

http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=82287&sectionid=351020202

Wed, 14 Jan 2009 17:55:06 GMT

Israel deploys military units along the border with Lebanon amid growing concerns that the assault on Gaza was the onset of a multi-front war.

Nineteen days after the start of the Israeli offensive against the Gaza Strip, the Lebanese daily Al Safir reported Wednesday that southern Lebanon had witnessed the build-up of Israeli armored vehicles - tanks, military vessels and Apache helicopters - along the border.

"The Israeli army has mobilized its troops along the border from the western Lebanese village of Naqurah to the southern border village of Al Wazzani."

Citing military officials from Lebanon, the daily added that Israeli forces had also fired flares into the Lebanese territory.

While the report adds that the Lebanese army is on high alert, informed sources told Press TV's correspondent in Beirut that Hezbollah has also put its members on red alert.

Wednesday saw at least three rockets fired from the area of Habaniyeh in southern Lebanon into Israel. No casualties among the Israelis have been reported. Within minutes of the attack, Israel responded by firing eight rockets into southern Lebanon.

Following the rocket exchange, Israel sent telephone warnings to residents of southern Lebanon threatening to start a second front.

"People of Lebanon, launching rockets from southern Lebanon against innocents in northern Israel harms your own interests," one of the warnings said, according to AFP.

Israel's prime minister warned last week that no one in the region should "get the wrong impression" over Israel's determination "on any front."

"We are not afraid of any confrontation or threat. We truly hope that no one will put us to the test," Ehud Olmert said in a speech broadcast on army radio.

On the opening days of the war on Gaza, Former US ambassador to the UN John Bolton said the Israeli offensive would ignite a multi-front war which could lead to a US attack on Iran.

"So while our focus obviously is on Gaza right now, this could turn out to be a much larger conflict," the hawkish US official told FOXNews, adding, "We're looking at potentially a multi-front war."

Amid widespread speculation that the conflict in the Palestinian territory could spill over to other parts of the Middle East, Bolton added that there is "the possibility of the use of military force possibly by the United States, possibly by Israel," on Iran after the current war.

However, after Israel launched the ground phase of its operation last Saturday, Nadim Shehadi, a Lebanese political analyst said "It looks like Israel has enough trouble as it is, and there is no way (Israel) can come out of this saying it was a success."

On December 25, two days before the start of the Israeli offensive against Gaza, Lebanese soldiers found and dismantled eight Katyusha rockets equipped with timers pointed south toward Israel.

Ever since the rocket incident, there has been an escalation of tensions on the border between Israel and Lebanon.

Lebanese president Michel Suleiman suggested Israel was responsible for the eight rockets found in southern Lebanon, saying that he fears "it is an Israeli attack to implicate Lebanon," according to the NOW Lebanon news website.

As the Palestinian casualties from Israel's Operation Cast Lead have topped 1,000 on day 19, Israel refuses to respond to international calls for a ceasefire.

Israeli Defense Minister ruled out the possibility of halting the ongoing offensive against the impoverished Strip on Tuesday.

Ehud Barak said "We heard yesterday, and respect, UN Secretary-general Ban Ki-moon's appeal, and we are closely following the progress on the Egyptian truce initiative, but the fighting goes on and the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] continues to operate our troops."

[Gold9472]

Palestinian Death Toll Tops 1,000 in Gaza

http://voanews.com/english/2009-01-14-voa53.cfm

By VOA News
14 January 2009

Palestinian officials say more than 1,000 people have been killed during Israel's 19-day offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The head of the United Nations children's agency, Ann Venemen said Wednesday that 300 children were among the dead. She said 1,500 others have been wounded and said the casualties were "tragic" and "unacceptable."

Israel has tightly controlled access to the Palestinian territory, so the numbers can not be independently verified. But U.N. officials have said previous estimates have been generally credible. Thirteen Israelis have died in the conflict.

Also on Wednesday, the head of the International Red Cross called the situation in Gaza "shocking." Jakob Kellengerger visited the densely-populated territory Tuesday, as well as the Israeli town of Sderot, which has been repeatedly hit by Hamas rockets. He called on both sides to differentiate between military targets and civilians.

A Palestinian man calls for help as smoke rises from a window following an explosion caused by Israeli military operations in Gaza city, 14 Jan 2009

Meanwhile, Israel bombed more Hamas targets in Gaza on Wednesday, including smuggling tunnels. Hamas launched at least a dozen rockets into southern Israel.

Israeli launched the offensive in Gaza on December 27 to halt years of Palestinian rocket attacks.

Separately, police say three rockets were fired from Lebanon into northern Israel on Wednesday, landing outside the town of Kiryat Shmona. There were no reports of casualties, and no claim of responsibility. The Lebanese government denounced the rocket fire.

It was the second such attack in less than a week.

Officials say Israel fired shells into Lebanon in response.

Also Wednesday, Israeli police said militants fired a phosphorus shell from Gaza into Israel.

Human Rights Watch has accused Israel of illegally using the shells in populated areas. The phosphorus mortars create a smokescreen but also cause burns.

Israel said Wednesday that an Iranian ship carrying two thousand tons of aid to Gaza was turned back Tuesday because it violated a general maritime blockade of the territory, not because of the ships point of origin.

Iran, which does not recognize Israel, has condemned its offensive in Gaza.

[Gold9472]

Medics: Death toll in Gaza rises to 1,017

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-01/15/content_10659501.htm

1/15/2009

GAZA, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- In spite of the good news that Hamas welcomed in Cairo an Egyptian-brokered initiative on a ceasefire, the Israeli offensive on Gaza continued on Wednesday, leaving so far 1,017 people killed.

Gaza emergency chief Mo'aweya Hassanein said on Wednesday night that the Israeli army killed on Wednesday 28 Palestinians and wounded about 80 others, adding that the death toll since Dec. 27 has hit 1,017 with more than 4,600 wounded.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Gaza-based news agency of "Ramattan" said that Hamas has accepted the Egyptian initiative of a ceasefire between the group and Israel, but Israeli warplanes continued striking several targets in the blockaded enclave.

Hassanein said that in an Israeli airstrike on a building north of Gaza City, two people were killed and 17 wounded, three of the mare members of the Palestinian firefighting department.

The Palestinian Popular Resistance Committees said in a statement that two of its fighters were killed in a gun battle with Israeli soldiers east of Gaza City. The group said their attack was launched with the Islamic Jihad militants.

Local radio stations reported on Wednesday evening that IsraeliF-16 warplanes struck Gaza stadium in central Gaza City with several missiles, adding that huge explosions were heard in the city but no injuries were reported.

Medics in Rafah town in southern Gaza Strip said that six Palestinians were seriously injured in an airstrike on the town, adding that Israeli warplanes kept striking on the border route area between the town and Egypt.

Meanwhile, Hamas movement leader in Gaza Salah el-Bardaweel told reporters in Cairo on Wednesday evening that his movement has presented its views on the ceasefire offer to the Egyptian side, adding "Egypt would convey our response to Israel and we will wait for the Israeli response."

[Gold9472]

UNICEF: 300 Children Killed in Gaza

http://voanews.com/english/2009-01-14-voa28.cfm

By VOA News
14 January 2009

The head of the United Nations children's agency says 300 children have been killed during Israel's campaign in the Gaza Strip.

UNICEF director, Ann Venemen, says more than 1,500 other children have been wounded, casualties she calls "tragic" and "unacceptable."

Separately, Palestinian medics say more than 1,000 people have been killed during the 19-day offensive.

Israel has tightly controlled access to the Palestinian territory, so the numbers cannot be independently verified. But U.N. officials have said previous estimates have been generally credible. Thirteen Israelis have died in the conflict.

In Jerusalem Wednesday, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross said the situation in Gaza is shocking. Jakob Kellengerger visited the densely-populated territory Tuesday, as well as the Israeli town of Sderot, which has been repeatedly hit by Hamas rockets. He called on both sides to differentiate between military targets and civilians.

Israeli ground forces exchanged heavy fire with Hamas militants in Gaza City Wednesday, while Hamas fired several rockets into southern Israel.

There were no reports of injuries on the Israeli side. Israel says it will not end its campaign until the attacks stop.

A reporter for VOA in Gaza says aircraft bombed a cemetery and the central park today in the Palestinian territory's largest city.

Police say three rockets fired from Lebanon into northern Israel today landed outside the town of Kiryat Shmona. There were no reports of casualties, and there has been no claim of responsibility.

Officials say Israel fired shells into Lebanon in response.

The incident follows a similar rocket attack last Thursday, blamed on small Palestinian militant groups in Lebanon.

Israel said today that an Iranian ship carrying 2,000 tons of aid to Gaza was turned back Tuesday because it violated a general maritime blockade of the territory, not because of the ships point of origin.

Iran, which does not recognize Israel, has condemned its offensive in Gaza.

And international activists left Cyprus Wednesday in another bid to bring aid to the territory. An attempt earlier this week was canceled because of technical problems on board. Last month, another effort ended when a ship with the Free Gaza group collided with an Israeli naval vessel.

[Gold9472]

Cynthia McKinney Talks About Her Experience In Gaza

Part I
Click Here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Psk5rjjsvy4&e) (GooTube)

Part II
Click Here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jYc70aTHms&e) (GooTube)

[Gold9472]

Is Israel Losing the Media War in Gaza?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20090114/wl_time/08599187148700

1/16/2009

The arrival of Samuel J. Wurzelbacher, a.k.a. Joe the Plumber, at the Israeli border town of Sderot on Sunday caused a minor sensation among the members of the foreign press who were camped out there. Wurzelbacher, who got his first 15 minutes of fame as a prop for John McCain during last year's U.S. election campaign, has swapped his plunger for a reporter's notebook on a mission to cover the Gaza war for the conservative website Pajamas TV. Unable to see much of the fighting himself, Wurzelbacher - who during the election campaign warned that a vote for Barack Obama was a vote for the destruction of Israel - picked a fight of his own. Turning on his new colleagues in the foreign press corps, he groused, "You should be ashamed of yourself. You should be patriotic, protect your family and children, not report like you have been doing for the past two weeks since this war has started." His complaint, it seemed, was that he was seeing too many reports of civilian casualties inside Gaza.

But the reality is that Western reporters have done little reporting from the front lines of this latest phase of the world's most reported conflict. Barred by Israel from entering Gaza even before the firing started, most foreign reporters can only get near the war zone by chasing down the occasional rocket sent by Hamas into Israel. Still, the press has once again found itself caught in a different kind of cross fire: the propaganda battle, across all media platforms, between Israel and Hamas (and the supporters of each) for international sympathy. And the reason Joe the Plumber is angry is that, despite (and perhaps also because of) Israel's overwhelming military superiority, the Jewish state is losing on the propaganda front. (See pictures of 60 years of Israel.)

The Israeli government's media operations are the most sophisticated in the region, and its extensively planned hasbara campaign of public advocacy swung into high gear almost as soon as the current offensive began. Israel and its advocates are stressing a broad theme to frame the conflict - rocket fire from Gaza is an existential threat from which Israel has a right to defend itself, they argue - and they are seeking to limit reporting on civilian suffering in Gaza by challenging how much time or space media outlets devote to such images and by emphasizing the great care being taken by Israeli soldiers to avoid hurting the civilians behind whom Israel's enemies are hiding.

Meanwhile, Israeli politicians and pundits are constantly on the air painting Hamas as an implacable, genocidal foe. Defense Minister Ehud Barak told Fox News, "For us to be asked to have a cease-fire with Hamas is like asking you to have a cease-fire with al-Qaeda" - despite the fact that Israel and Hamas had, in fact, agreed via Egypt to a six-month cease-fire just last June. And Israeli military spokeswoman Major Avital Leibovitch is constantly reassuring TV audiences worldwide that Israeli troops are going the extra mile to avoid collateral damage in Gaza. However, some Israeli officers speak more bluntly when their audience is domestic. ("We are very violent," the commander of the Israeli army's Élite combat engineering unit, Yahalom, told the Israeli press. "We do not balk at any means to protect the lives of our soldiers.") When Israeli forces shelled a United Nations school that left more than 40 dead, the Israeli military initially did its best to back its claim (denied by local U.N. officials) that the school was being used by militants to fire at Israeli forces by releasing video footage from 2007 showing militants fighting from the compound.

Hamas' propaganda efforts are cruder and rely on the civilian casualties inflicted by the Israelis to win international sympathy. Hamas fighters have shed their uniforms and blended into the civilian population, hiding weapons and communications systems in houses and mosques. That may have contributed to a death toll so lopsided that it speaks louder than any Israeli press officer - and weakens Hamas' political rival, the moderate Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Israel's decision to keep the Western press out of Gaza may also have backfired, because it's given a monopoly of coverage to the more inflammatory reporting of Arab satellite television stations such as al-Jazeera and al-Arabiyya, which maintain bureaus in Gaza. And while there are many excellent Palestinian journalists working for the Western press in Gaza, there have been some examples of doctored photographs and suspicious-looking videos showing civilian suffering. Conservative blogs have singled out one video of doctors trying to resuscitate the brother of the CNN cameraman actually shooting the video, and suggested that it was really a re-enactment.

While media wars are par for the course when Israel and the Palestinians clash, this time they seem to be following the traditional media's migration to the Internet. The Israeli military spokesman's office has its own YouTube channel (it has recorded more than 1.5 million views), while Hamas is trying to counter with a website displaying its videos and images. Bloggers have joked that this is the first war to be covered by Twitter - the Israeli Foreign Ministry has in fact been conducting public debates on the social-messaging service - while hackers have been infiltrating Israeli websites and leaving anti-Israel slogans.

The more limited role of traditional media in covering this war hasn't protected it from criticism by Israelis. The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday published an article alleging world media bias against the Israeli operation in Gaza and accusing TIME magazine of leading the charge with its cover story this week.

Ultimately, of course, the perception of Israel's military campaign will be determined by events on the ground. Even then, images will play a vital role, which is why the fighters of both sides are well aware of the need to produce what they hope will be the defining picture or video clip of the war. For Israel, that might mean images of a recognizable Hamas leader killed or captured, while for Hamas, photographs of a burning tank or captured Israeli soldier would be a great prize.

As much as each side seeks to spin the war as advancing their overall vision, Israel has yet to articulate a clear, workable exit plan that will achieve the war's objectives without reoccupying Gaza. Meanwhile, Hamas can stack civilian bodies like cordwood for the cameras and proclaim the virtues of its "steadfast resistance," but it has offered the Palestinians no explanation of how this fight will advance their national goals. To many a foreign journalist, then, this war conjures an image with which Joe the Plumber will be familiar: the proverbial pig whose nature can't be disguised by any amount of lipstick.

[Gold9472]

Rice raises 'difficulties' with Israelis over UN incident

http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Rice_raises_difficulties_with_Israe_01152009.html

1/17/2009

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday she spoke to the Israeli leadership about the "difficulties" caused by the shelling of the main UN compound in the Gaza Strip.

Rice telephoned Israel's Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni after shells triggered a fire at the warehouse for the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestinian refugees in Gaza.

"We had a discussion of the difficulties that this had caused and the need to try to avoid such incidents," Rice told reporters when asked whether she had protested to the Israelis over the incident.

The Israelis told her it had been an "error," Rice added.

"I am quite sure that they are trying to avoid them but it is a difficult environment and our focus has been on what can we do to help get supplies, medical and food and water to the citizens of Gaza," she said.

She described the incident as "unfortunate."

The shelling set fire to a warehouse filled with tonnes of aid and forced the UNRWA to partially suspend operations.

Earlier, Rice's spokesman Sean McCormack said the United States is "deeply, deeply concerned" about the humanitarian situation in Gaza but had no reason to doubt that Israel is doing everything it can to protect civilians.

"It is a dire situation on the ground," McCormack said.

McCormack gave no details when pressed on what the US government was doing to prevent similar incidents.

"We have from the very beginning of this talked about our concerns that innocents not be wrapped in any of the combat and the Israelis assured us that they are taking every possible measure to avoid that," he said.

Asked if he believed the Israelis were doing everything possible, he replied: "I'm not going to try to make a judgment. They've assured us of that and I've no reason to doubt them."

He said that the only way to ultimately tackle the humanitarian problem is through a ceasefire.

Rice said Thursday that the United States is working with Israel and regional partners to establish a "durable ceasefire" but gave no details about the elements of it.

McCormack said the US government is also willing to play a role in guaranteeing that Hamas stops smuggling weapons as part of ceasefire arrangements. "Certainly we would be ready to offer assistance," he said.

The Israeli government said Livni will travel to Washington on Friday to conclude a US-Israeli agreement on measures aimed at preventing arms smuggling into Gaza.

Israeli foreign ministry director general Aharon Abramovich arrived in Washington on Thursday to prepare the agreement on "the long-term treatment of the issue of arms smuggling into Gaza," according to a senior official.

The understanding would include intelligence sharing on arms smuggling and monitoring of smuggling routes into Gaza, he said.

The Israeli offensive in Gaza has left more than 1,100 Palestinians dead since it began on December 27. The operation was launched in retaliation for a barrage of rockets fired by Palestinian militants into southern Israel from the tiny coastal enclave, which is ruled by the Islamist movement Hamas.

[Gold9472]

Israel expected to announce Gaza ceasefire

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Israel_expected_to_announce_Gaza_ceasefire_0117.ht ml

1/17/2009

Despite the absence of a ceasefire agreement, Israel appears to be on the verge of shutting down its military campaign against Hamas in Gaza.

"We believe that our military campaign has achieved its goals and that we are now in a situation where we can cease our military operations against Hamas," Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said.

Regev added that Israel reserves the right to renew Gaza violence if Hamas continues fighting.

"A Hamas official in Beirut said earlier the militants would keep fighting until Israel met their demands, mainly for an end to a crippling economic blockade," reported Reuters (http://af.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idAFLS69391620090117?sp=true).

"Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak urged Israel to end its military operations immediately and planned to host a reconstruction conference, but he did not say when."

"After three weeks of Operation Cast Lead, we are very close to reaching the goals and securing them through diplomatic agreements," said Defense Minister Ehud Barak, during a visit to the south of the country, according to a Saturday statement from his office.

His comments came ahead of a meeting of Israel's security cabinet which is expected to approve a proposal for a unilateral ceasefire while keeping troops in Gaza for an unspecified period.

"The defense forces must continue their operation and be ready for any development," Barak said.

"Tanks and aircraft pounded Hamas positions in the Palestinian territory in the hours before the meeting in Jerusalem," reported the LA Times (http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-gaza18-2009jan18,0,2983698.story). "An Israeli tank shell hit a United Nations school in Beit Lahiya, in northern Gaza, killing two brothers, age 4 and 5, and wounding 36 others who were sheltered there, U.N. officials said."

[Gold9472]

Israel announces ceasefire in Gaza
Troops to remain deployed in Palestine

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Israel_announces_ceasefire_in_Gaza_0117.html

Agence France-Presse
Published: Saturday January 17, 2009

TEL AVIV (AFP) – Israel called a unilateral ceasefire in Gaza on Saturday after a 22-day onslaught against its Islamist rulers which left more than 1,200 Palestinians dead and vast swathes of the territory in ruins.

After a meeting of his security cabinet, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he was calling an immediate end to offensive operations but added that troops would stay in Gaza for the time-being with orders to return fire if attacked.

"At two o'clock in the morning (0000 GMT) we will stop fire but we will continue to be deployed in Gaza and its surroundings," Olmert said in a speech after the vote.

"We have reached all the goals of the war, and beyond," he added.

"If our enemies decide to strike and want to carry on then the Israeli army will regard itself as free to respond with force."

Although there was no immediate response from Hamas, an Islamist group which has ruled Gaza since 2007 and is sworn to the destruction of the Jewish state, one of its leaders earlier vowed there would be no peace while troops remained.

Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak, who had been striving to broker a bilateral truce between the Israelis and Hamas, said only an unconditional ceasefire would suffice and called for all troops to leave the territory.

Mubarak and French President Nicolas Sarkozy are to co-host a summit on Gaza in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh Sunday which will also be attended by a string of European leaders, the king of Jordan and UN chief Ban ki-Moon.

In the hours before the security cabinet meeting, Israel kept lobbing shells into the densely populated urban area, while to the north in Beit Lahiya a UN-run school was set ablaze by bombs.

Two brothers, aged five and seven, were killed and another dozen people wounded in the attack, in which burning embers trailing smoke rained down on a school where some 1,600 people were sheltering, setting parts of it alight.

Ban called the fourth such attack on a UN-run school during the war as "outrageous" and demanded a thorough investigation.

During the course of the war, schools, hospitals, UN compounds and thousands of homes all came under attack with the Palestinian Authority putting the cost of damage to infrastructure to infrastructure alone is 476 million dollars

At least 1,206 Palestinians, including 410 children, have been killed since the start of Israel's deadliest-ever assault on the territory on December 27, according to Gaza medics, who said another 5,300 people have been wounded.

Those slain in the war also include 109 women, 113 elderly people, 14 paramedics, and four journalists, according to Dr. Muawiya Hassanein, the head of Gaza emergency services.

Since the start of the operation 10 Israeli soldiers and three civilians have been killed in combat or in rocket strikes. The army says more than 700 rockets and mortar rounds have been fired into Israel during that period.

One of the main aims of the offensive has been to put a halt to rocket and mortar attacks but a further 23 missiles were fired from Gaza on Saturday, including seven long-range missiles.

The army said that it had carried out 70 aerial attacks against weapons smuggling tunnels along Gaza's border with Egypt, Hamas's rear supply route.

The Islamists, who seized power in Gaza by driving out forces loyal to moderate Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas, continued to strike a defiant note in the build-up to ceasefire announcement.

"This unilateral ceasefire does not foresee a withdrawal" by the Israeli army, Osama Hemdan, the movement's Lebanon representative, told AFP. "As long as it remains in Gaza, resistance and confrontation will continue."

The stop to the violence came after the Jewish state won pledges from Washington and Cairo to help prevent arms smuggling into Gaza, the lesser half of the Palestinians' promised future state.

Although Egypt has not given any details about what assurances it has given Israel, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice signed a pledge on Friday promising "enhanced US security and intelligence cooperation with regional governments on actions to prevent weapons and explosive flows to Gaza."

[Gold9472]

After second rocket volley, Israel warns of war against Lebanon
June 2008 Israeli wargame simulated two-front war with Palestine, Lebanon

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/After_new_rocket_volley_Israel_warns_0117.html

1/17/2009

Lebanese daily newspaper al-Nahar reported Friday the Israeli government has said it will bring war to Lebanon should there be a repeat of Wednesday's three rocket volley that landed on or short of Israel's northern border.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack carried out on the 19th day of a massive Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip. The Lebanese government condemned the rocket salvo, insisting it would not allow the Gaza conflict to drag it into a new war with Israel.

"This gives Israel an excuse to attack Lebanon," said Information Minister Tarek Mitri. "Someone is trying to drag Lebanon into a conflict and is moving rockets from one area to another."

The "excuse" is one for which Israel is ready. In June 2008, Israeli forces participated in a wargame which simulated simultaneous fighting in Palestine and Lebanon.

"The drill, codenamed 'Shiluv Zro'ot III' (Crossing Arms III), was the second largest of its kind since the end of the Second Lebanon War in 2006," reported Jewish news magazine Haaretz.

"The exercise drilled the Israel Air Force and the Home Front Command in dealing with protocol and problem-solving missions under the simulated firing of thousands of rockets and missiles into the heart of Israel's population centers," wrote correspondent Amos Harel.

"In addition to the Northern Command, the air force and the home front command, Crossing Arms involved the IDF Military Intelligence directorate and the general staff. Unlike headquarter-level exercises from the past, Crossing Arms entailed the deployment of troops on the ground, comprising mainly reservists.

"Additionally, helicopter gunships and airplanes were sent on mock raids and evacuation missions. The aircraft did not fire live ammunition, according to army sources."

Brink of war?
"Tel Aviv had formerly notified the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) that it was about to attack the country after the rocket attacks came but it had changed its mind upon international advice," said Iranian network Press TV, which carried the al-Nahar report.

While the situation has not escalated, Israeli forces returned fire and troops have been called up to the border.

"The Israel Police initially said that the rockets had struck open areas in Kiryat Shmona, but after combing the area concluded that two of the three rockets had actually exploded inside Lebanon," reported Haaretz. "There were no reports of damage or injuries. Residents of northern Israel were instructed to go into bomb shelters."

The rockets were fired from the El-Hebbariyeh district, some two and a half miles from the border. Three more rockets which had been booby-trapped were later discovered by Lebanese and UN peacekeeping troops before being made safe.

The Lebanese government also deployed special forces commandos to the border region to try to stop any further rocket fire.

"'We don't want another war with Israel,' said Suhair Hammoud, a 36-year-old teacher,' in a Wall Street Journal report.

Immediately after the rockets landed near the Lebanese border, Israel began sending telephone warnings through south Lebanon. Agence France-Presse received one such call.

"Launching rockets from southern Lebanon against innocents in northern Israel harms your own interests ..." the wire service reported. "If you allow groups like Al-Qaeda and Hezbollah to launch rockets against innocents in northern Israel as you did before, remember what happened to you last time."

UN peacekeepers could not confirm that any rockets landed on Israeli territory, reported Jewish news Web site Ynet. However, they said, debris was found on the Lebanese side.

But there are heightened fears that extremist groups operating in Lebanon could take advantage of the situation to launch attacks on Israel and analysts have said that last week's incident was likely to have been carried out with the militia's tacit approval.

"Nothing happens in the south without Hezbollah's knowledge," said Osama Safa, head of the Lebanese Centre for Policy Studies.

Last week Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah warned that "all possibilities" were open against Israel amid its deadly offensive in Gaza.

[Gold9472]

Israel kept out aid for Gaza

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/israel-kept-out-aid/2009/01/18/1232213448835.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

Jason Koutsoukis in Jerusalem
January 19, 2009

ISRAEL deliberately blocked the United Nations from building up vital food supplies in Gaza that feed a million people daily before the launch of its war against Hamas, according to a senior UN official in Jerusalem.

In a scathing critique of Israeli actions leading up to the conflict, the UN's chief humanitarian co-ordinator in Israel, the former Australian diplomat Maxwell Gaylard, accused Israel of failing to honour its commitments to open its border with Gaza during several months of truce from June 19 last year.

"The Israelis would not let us facilitate a regular and sufficient flow of supplies into the Strip," Mr Gaylard said.

The chief spokesman for Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Yigal Palmor, said the claims were "unqualified bullshit".

"At no time was there a shortage of food in Gaza over the past three weeks," Mr Palmor said.

Mr Gaylard, who is the UN Special Co-ordinator's Office's most senior representative in Israel, told the Herald that when Israel launched its surprise attack on Gaza on December 27, the UN's warehouses in Gaza were nearly empty, with all food and equipment sitting in nearby port facilities. "The food was in Israel but we couldn't get it in. This is before. The blockade was very tight."

As the Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, halted the attacks, declaring Israel had attained its goals in the lethal assault on Gaza that has killed more than 1240 Palestinians - a third of them children - Hamas militants continued to fire rockets into Israel. Thirteen Israelis have also been killed.

A 20-year-old Palestinian was shot dead by Israeli troops in the south of the Strip yesterday. He died after being shot in the chest in a vehicle near the town of Khan Yunis, near the border crossing and was the first fatality since Israel declared a unilateral ceasefire.

Five Qassam rockets hit the Israeli city of Sderot yesterday, with no reported injuries, hours after Mr Olmert said the ceasefire would be maintained as long as Hamas stopped firing rockets.

He said Israel would continue to occupy Gaza and was working with several international partners including the US to prevent Hamas re-arming by putting an end to its smuggling operations.

"Hamas was hit hard," Mr Olmert said. "Both its military capabilities and its governing infrastructure." Operation Cast Lead erupted after Hamas declared it would not extend a six-month truce with Israel that had expired on December 19.

Hamas argued it had no incentive to renew the truce because conditions had not improved during the months of calm.

According to Hamas, in return for stopping the rocket fire, Israel had promised to ease its blockade of Gaza and allow the passage of more food and commercial supplies.

"I think the expectation on the Israeli side was that the rockets would stop. Well, they nearly did. I think there were 40-odd rockets fired over four months roughly," Mr Gaylard said.

Before the truce there was a monthly average of several hundred rockets and mortar shells being fired into Israel.

"The expectation on the Gazan side . . . was that more supplies would be allowed in, and it didn't happen," Mr Gaylard said.

"In fact, we noticed, I think from 19 June for the next four or five months, or up to even 19 December, less of our supplies and spare parts and items of equipment, less got in than before the 19th of June."

Mr Gaylard slammed Israel's siege policy towards Gaza, which he said had strengthened the popularity of Hamas.

"It's difficult to understand the mentality of firing these rockets . . . it is equally hard to understand why the Israelis are strangling this place,' Mr Gaylard said.

"It is to cause Hamas to fall, but my experience of the last year of going in and out of Gaza and staying there, was that it had exactly the opposite effect.

"Hamas did not keep its commitments during the truce, they maintained the rocket fire and continued to attack Israeli technicians who were sent in to Gaza to repair various facilities."

Mr Gaylard, who is also the UN's deputy special co-ordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, said it would require several billion dollars and at least five years to repair the physical damage caused by the last three weeks of fighting.

As for the long-term goal of resolving the 60-year Israeli-Palestinian conflict, he said that had been dealt a severe setback.

Mr Gaylard urged the world to put more pressure on Israel to stop the growth of Jewish settlements in the West Bank, which he said Israel had pledged to do several times, most recently at the Annapolis Middle East Peace conference in November 2007.

[Gold9472]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7836660.stm

[Gold9472]

Israel-Hamas truce holds on Gaza Strip

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/IsraelHamas_truce_holds_on_Gaza_Strip_0119.html

1/19/2009

GAZA CITY (AFP) - A tenuous ceasefire held Monday in Gaza, where Palestinians dug out from the rubble and Hamas put on a show of defiance vowing to fight on after the Jewish state's deadliest war on the strip.

No air strikes, rockets or fighting was reported by either side for the first time since Israel's massive assault was launched on December 27.

The guns had fallen silent around Gaza after Israel announced a unilateral ceasefire from Sunday and Hamas and other militant groups called a week-long truce of their own.

On the ground, the lull saw early efforts at a return to some sort of daily life amid the desolation, AFP reporters said.

Some stores raised their metal shutters and banks opened doors. Hamas police reappeared on the streets and directed traffic at intersections.

Many people were scavenging through rubble to salvage what they could -- clothes, a television, books, tins of food.

Najette Manah, three small children in tow, clutched a box of rice that she found amid the debris of what was her home.

"We don't have homes anymore. I don't have anything anymore," she said.

However, Hamas' armed wing spat defiance at a televised media conference, saying it would rearm and demanding the Jewish state withdraw its forces from the Palestinian enclave by Sunday or face more rocket attacks.

Abu Obeida, masked spokesman for the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, echoed his leader's proclamation that the 22-day operation was a "divine victory" for Hamas.

The movement lost only 48 fighters, the spokesman said, after Israel reported killing more than 500 Hamas members during Operation Cast Lead. He also claimed Israel lost "at least 80 soldiers" in the fighting. The Jewish state listed 10 soldiers killed.

Gaza medics said more than 1,300 Palestinians have died.

Abu Obeida underlined that Hamas' own ceasefire would last only a week unless Israel fully withdrew troops from Gaza.

"We have given the Zionist enemy one week to pull out of the Gaza Strip, failing which we will pursue the resistance," he said.

"Our arsenal of rockets has not been affected and we continued to fire them during the war without interruption. We are still able to launch them and, thanks be to God, our rockets will strike other targets," in Israel.

Israel's efforts, backed by the United States and European leaders, to prevent Hamas from re-arming, would also fail, Abu Obeida said.

"Let them do what they want. Bringing in weapons for the resistance and making them is our mission and we know full well how to acquire weapons.

"What we lost during this war in terms of military capability is small and we managed to compensate for most of it even before the war ended."

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad congratulated Hamas on "victory" while at an Arab summit in Kuwait City, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad called for Israel to be branded a terrorist state.

"Arabs should declare an unequivocal support for the Palestinian resistance ... I call on the Arab summit to officially declare Israel as a terrorist state for the crime it did in Gaza," Assad said.

"Ceasefire does not mean the end of aggression as the invading forces are still in Gaza."

Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah opened the meeting with a call for collective Arab measures and "practical steps to stabilise the ceasefire" while Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz announced the donation of one billion dollars for the reconstruction of the battered Gaza Strip.

Amid the lull, Israel agreed to let nearly 200 trucks loaded with humanitarian aid into Gaza and to supply 400,000 litres of fuel to the territory, an official said.

A total of 40,000 tonnes of food and medicines had been transported into Gaza since the offensive began, military administration spokesman Major Peter Lerner said.

European leaders who had travelled to Israel after attending a summit in Egypt urged the Jewish state to follow up the ceasefire by completely withdrawing troops and opening the territory's border crossings.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy called for a major international conference to "allow us to establish peace this year."

Israel's decision to call a unilateral ceasefire in its war on Hamas came after it won pledges from Washington and Cairo to help prevent arms smuggling into the Gaza Strip -- a task in which Europe has also pledged to help.

[Gold9472]

Palestinian doctor's daughters killed during live Israeli TV report

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Palestinian_doctors_daughters_killed_live_on_0117. html

Stephen C. Webster
Published: Saturday January 17, 2009

War is cruel. But sometimes, a story comes along that redefines what cruel really means.

Saturday morning, a Palestinian doctor who reports for Israel's channel 10 television witnessed three of his daughters killed by Israeli bombs, even as his first moments of insane panic and grief were broadcast live.

Israeli officials said shells were dropped in response to sniper fire in the area.

Dr. Ezzeldeen Abu al-Ashi is an uncommon man. A Palestinian who works for an Israeli hospital, Dr. Ashi has been giving Israelis daily reports on the military campaign in Gaza.

"No one can get to us," he screamed in Arabic on a live phone call with a channel 10 anchor. "My God ... My God ..."

Dr. Ashi told the anchor his family had just been killed, and that he was "overwhelmed."

"My God ... My girls ..." he cried. "Shiomi ... Can't anybody help us please?"

The news anchor asked Dr. Ashi where his house is, and cameras followed as the journalist frantically tried to employ his network of contacts to send help to the doctor. Shortly thereafter, the Israeli Army allowed a Palestinian ambulance to speed to his location.

Only one of al-Ashi's daughters survived.

"Everybody in Israel knows that I was talking on television and on the radio," said Dr. Ashi. "That we are home, that we are innocent people.

"Suddenly, today, when there was hope for ceasefire, on the last day I was talking to my children ... Suddenly, they bombed us; a doctor who takes care of Israeli patients. Is that what's done? Is that peace?"

Eyewitnesses denied Israeli claims of sniper fire in the area.

"But over 90 percent of Israelis still support the war on Gaza, while hundreds of other tragedies remain just a number in a rising Palestinian death toll," reported Al Jazeera's Roza Ibragimova.

The following video was published by Al Jazeera English on Jan. 17.

Video At Source

[Gold9472]

Gaza was demolished in three weeks. Rebuilding it will take years

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/gaza-was-demolished-in-three-weeks-rebuilding-it-will-take-years-1451411.html

By Patrick Cockburn in Jerusalem
Tuesday, 20 January 2009

The rebuilding of Gaza after the Israeli bombardment already faces unique problems and is likely to be the most difficult reconstruction project in the world. This is because of the sheer scale of the devastation, the economic siege of the Palestinian enclave by Israel and Egypt, and the attempt to exclude Hamas, the elected rulers of Gaza, from any role in the rebuilding.

The difficulties are all the greater because of the destruction of much of the tunnel system linking Gaza to Egypt. Israeli and European leaders talk of the tunnel system – by one estimate there are 1,100 of them – as if it was exclusively devoted to supplying weapons and ammunition to Hamas. In reality, "the tunnel economy" has been the way in which food, fuel and everything else has reached Gaza since Israel and Egypt sealed off the Strip 18 months ago, when Hamas drove out the rival Palestinian faction Fatah in 2007. Military supplies were always a very small part of Gaza's imports through the tunnels.

"Everything from Viagra to diesel entered Gaza through the tunnels," said one source. At one point before the Israeli attack, the price of petrol went down in Gaza because a pipeline had been threaded through one of the tunnels, all of which are privately dug and owned. Cooking-gas bottles are in short supply because they previously came in through tunnels that are now closed.

"I know middle-class families in Gaza cutting up their furniture to build fires so they can cook their food," said an aid official yesterday. Spare parts are desperately needed for generators.

The Palestinian tunnels and the Israeli-Egyptian border closure were two issues at the centre of the war and their future is still unresolved.

Until Gaza has continual access to the outside world, any real reconstruction will be impossible. A senior EU official said no aid would be spent rebuilding buildings and infrastructure while Hamas remained in control.

Israel says that it will have withdrawn all its troops from the Gaza Strip by the time Barack Obama is inaugurated today. A first priority forthe UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) will be to bring in foodstuffs and medicines and rebuild its supply system stretching from the Israeli port of Ashdod to the Gaza Strip. Then it will try to restore the electricity, water and sewage systems wrecked by Israeli bombs and shells. Amnesty International yesterday accused Israel of war crimes, saying its use of white phosphorus munitions in densely populated areas of Gaza was indiscriminate and illegal.

UNRWA will probably carry out the preliminary assessment of damage and initial repairs because Israel, Egypt, the US and the Europeans are boycotting Hamas, although UNRWA is nervous of acting as a substitute government of Gaza. One Palestinian estimate suggests that the cost of rebuilding will be $1.4bn (£970m). Saudi Arabia has already pledged $1bn but promises on aid are seldom kept in full.

Rebuilding will take place in a 139-square-mile enclave that is packed with 1.5 million Palestinians, of whom 70 per cent are from refugee families expelled from Israel during the creation of the state. More than a million are already receiving UN food supplies.

The initial assessment is that 20,000 homes lived in by 120,000 people have been somewhat damaged and can be patched up so they are habitable again. The 4,000 homes that have been destroyed cannot be rebuilt because Israel is refusing to let construction materials cross the border into Gaza.

Israel, the US and their European allies are eager to prevent Hamas taking charge of reconstruction because this might add to its political standing among Palestinians. They recall that after the Israeli attack on Lebanon in 2006, many Lebanese at first blamed Hizbollah for provoking the assault. But Hizbollah took charge of rebuilding and Iran reportedly gave $14,000 to every family which had lost its home, money that was channelled to grateful recipients through Hizbollah.

The major potential donors for Gaza will try to get aid distributed through the Palestinian Authority of President Mahmoud Abbas. But he is, if anything, more discredited in the eyes of Palestinians and the Arab world as an Israeli and American stooge than he was before war in Gaza. Hamas, which won the heavily-monitored Palestinian election of 2006, will not want to dilute its power but there will be international pressure on Palestinians to form a government that is acceptable to donors.

If Gaza is to be restored even to the miserable condition it was in before 27 December, then the economic siege has to be lifted. But Israeli leaders like the Foreign Minister, Tzipi Livni, and the Defence Minister, Ehud Barak have claimed success in the war. If the blockade is raised, then Hamas will say it won the war – and the election of Benjamin Netanyahu as the next Prime Minister of Israel in the election on 10 February will become even more certain.

So were there any winners or losers?
What was Hamas's aim? Rocket attacks intended to force Israel to end blockade that has trapped 1.5m Palestinians inside Gaza Strip since Hamas takeover. Hamas also seeking recognition by West

What happened? Security arrangements are to be imposed on Hamas and no ceasefire agreement has been signed with the Islamists

Did they succeed? No.

What was Israel's aim? Gaza offensive launched to "teach Hamas a lesson". Some Israeli politicians called for overthrow of Hamas, while contenders in next month's election sought improved ratings

What happened? The majority of the estimated 20,000 Hamas fighters escaped with their lives. Hamas rockets were still being fired at the end of Israeli offensive when Israel declared unilateral ceasefire

Did they succeed? No.

What was Egypt's aim? To secure end to offensive through ceasefire agreement leading to truce, border security, reopening of crossings, Israeli troop withdrawal and Palestinian reconciliation

What happened? US negotiated separate deal with Israel on arms smuggling. Hamas set its own truce conditions and refused reconciliation with Fatah. Egyptian mediation deepened split between moderate Arab states and others

Did they succeed? No.

What was the EU's aim? To profit from power vacuum in US and play lead negotiating role. To map out road to peace and promise support for Palestinian leadership afterwards

What happened? Plethora of negotiators undermined EU credibility as did the incompetence of Czech EU presidency

Did they succeed? No.

[Gold9472]

Israel 'admits' using white phosphorus munitions

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article5556027.ece

1/21/2009

The Israeli military came close to acknowledging for the first time yesterday its use of white phosphorus munitions during the war in Gaza, but continued to insist that it did not breach international law.

As fresh evidence emerged of Gazan civilians being burned by phosphorus, Avital Leibovich, the army spokeswoman, said its use was “legal according to international law...All the munitions we were using were legal, like the French, American and British armies. We used munitions according to international law.

“They [Hamas] were committing war crimes by putting the civilians in the front line,” she said. “If Hamas chooses to locate training camps, command centres...in the middle of the [civilian population]...look how populated it is...naturally they are endangering the lives of civilians. Hamas is accountable for the loss of the civilians.”

Major-General Amir Eshel, the army's head of strategic planning, said that firing shells to provide a smoke screen was legal. “It is the most nonlethal kind of weapon we used. I don't see any issue with that,” he said.

The Israeli newspaper Ma'ariv reported that the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) had privately admitted using phosphorus bombs, and that the Judge Advocate General's Office and Southern Command were investigating.

The Times first accused Israeli forces of using white phosphorus on January 5, but the IDF has denied the charge repeatedly. Phosphorus bombs can be used to create smoke screens, but their use as weapons of war in civilian areas is banned by the Geneva Conventions.

Yesterday reports emerged from Gaza about the killing of five members of the Halima family, when a single white phosphorus shell dropped on their house in the town of Atatra on January 3. Two others were in a coma and three were seriously wounded, according to doctors and survivors.

Salima Halima, 44, who is in Gaza City's Shifa hospital, said that the chemical burst in all directions after hitting her living room.

Nafiz Abu Shahbah, a doctor who trained in Britain and America, said he was sure white phosphorus was responsible. Her wounds at first appeared superficial “but it eats at the flesh, it digs deeper and gets to the bone...The whole body becomes toxic,” he said.

In the Jabaliya refugee camp, the Associated Press found a crater that was still producing acrid smoke days after the war ended, and in the town of Beit Lahiya a lump of white phosphorus burst into flames after some boys dug it up from beneath some sand.

Ban Ki Moon, the UN Secretary-General, expressed outrage at Israel's destruction of Gaza yesterday, when he became the first world leader to visit the Palestinian territory since the end of the war. “This is shocking and alarming,” he declared while visiting a UN warehouse that was still smouldering after being hit on Thursday, allegedly by white phosphorus shells. “I'm just appalled.”

Visibly angry, he condemned Israel's “excessive” use of force, and demanded that those responsible for shelling schools and other facilities run by the UN Relief and Works Agency during the 22-day offensive should be held to account. “It is an outrageous and totally unacceptable attack on the United Nations,” he said.

Israel has apologised for attacks on UN facilities but insisted in almost every case that Hamas fighters were using the buildings for cover.

[Gold9472]

Last Israeli troops leave Gaza, completing pullout

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ioi_0jtO9RjMwPNRoXNCndRPRq3gD95RKBU00

By AMY TEIBEL – 16 minutes ago

JERUSALEM (AP) — The last Israeli troops left the Gaza Strip before dawn Wednesday, the military said, as Israel dispatched its foreign minister to Europe in a bid to rally international support to end arms smuggling into the Hamas-ruled territory.

The timing of the troop pullout reflected Israel's hopes to defuse the crisis in still-volatile Gaza before President Barack Obama settled into the White House. The military said troops remain massed on the Israeli side of the border, poised for action if militants violated a fragile, three-day-old truce.

The troops' exit marked the end of an Israeli offensive that ravaged Gaza and left some 1,300 Palestinians dead, at least half of them civilians, according to Gaza health officials and a Palestinian human rights group. Thirteen Israelis also died.

Israel launched the war to halt years of militant rocket fire on southern Israel and to stop arms smuggling that put one-eighth of the country's population within rocket range. The death toll in Gaza provoked international outrage, but in Israel, the war was widely seen as a legitimate response to militants' attacks.

The Israeli military announced Wednesday that it would investigate claims by the United Nations and human rights groups that it improperly used white phosphorous — an ingredient in weapons that inflicts horrific burns. Although the use of phosphorus weapons to mask forces is permitted by international law, Amnesty International has accused Israel of committing a war crime by using it in densely populated areas.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon left the region early Wednesday after touring Gaza and southern Israel. Ban called for an investigation into the Israeli shelling of U.N. compounds in Gaza during the fighting, which he termed "outrageous." He also called rocket attacks against Israel "appalling and unacceptable."

Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni was headed to Brussels on Wednesday, hoping to clinch a deal committing the European Union to contribute forces, ships and technology to anti-smuggling operations.

"She will sum up with the the EU representatives their involvement in the international handling of the problem of smuggling into the Gaza Strip," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor.

An EU commitment would build on a deal the U.S. signed with Israel last week promising expanded intelligence cooperation between the two countries and other U.S. allies in the Middle East and Europe.

EU officials said it was too early for that, saying providing humanitarian relief and efforts to secure a lasting cease-fire were their priorities.

"The situation is fragile," Javier Solana, the EU's foreign and security chief, said ahead of the meeting.

The U.S. has promised to supply detection and surveillance equipment, as well as logistical help and training to Israel, Egypt and other nations in the region. The equipment and training would be used to monitor Gaza's land and sea borders.

Some EU nations, notably Germany, have promised to help Israel stop the arms smuggling. The issue will likely be debated at a regular EU foreign ministers meeting scheduled next Monday.

Most of the smuggling was carried out through tunnels underneath the 8-mile (15 kilometer) border between Egypt and Gaza. Egypt has proved unable or unwilling to halt the flow of weapons and medium-range rockets coming through the tunnels, alongside fuel and consumer goods.

During its offensive, Israel said it destroyed most of the hundreds of tunnels in repeated bombing runs by Israeli jets. But Wednesday, smuggling was under way again.

AP Television News footage showed Palestinian smugglers Wednesday filling a fuel truck with petrol that came through a cross-border tunnel from Egypt. The footage also showed workers busy clearing blocked tunnels and bulldozers carrying out other repairs.

Iran has rejected the international attempt to deny Hamas weapons. In statements reported Wednesday on the Web site of Iranian state TV, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said because Israel is so well-armed, Palestinians shouldn't be barred from obtaining weapons.

Iran is one of Hamas' main backers but denies Israel's claims that it arms the Palestinian group.

Meanwhile, a Palestinian human rights group said it had completed its count of the death toll from the Israeli operation.

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights said a total of 1,284 Palestinians were killed and 4,336 wounded in the 23-day war. It said 894 of the dead were civilians, including 280 children or minors ages 17 and under. It cited data collected by its field researchers and checked against information from hospitals and clinics.

The PCHR was a main source of information about dead and wounded during the war.

The Israeli military says 500 Palestinian militants were killed in the fighting. Gaza's militant groups say they lost 158 fighters.

[Gold9472]

Obama urges Israel to open Gaza borders

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7cf745dc-e8ce-11dd-a4d0-0000779fd2ac.html?nclick_check=1

By Daniel Dombey in Washington and Tobias Buck in Jerusalem
Published: January 22 2009 22:07 | Last updated: January 23 2009 00:04

President Barack Obama urged Israel on Thursday to open its borders with Gaza.

The plea came in a speech that signalled the new US administration’s shift from Bush-era policy on the Middle East and the world as a whole. In a high-profile address on his second day in office, just hours after he signed an executive order to close the centre at Guantánamo Bay, Mr Obama proclaimed that the US would “actively and aggressively seek a lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians” in the wake of this month’s Gaza war.

“The outline for a durable ceasefire is clear: Hamas must end its rocket fire: Israel will complete the withdrawal of its forces from Gaza: the US and our partners will support a credible anti-smuggling and interdiction regime, so that Hamas cannot re-arm,” the US president said.

“As part of a lasting ceasefire, Gaza’s border crossings should be open to allow the flow of aid and commerce, with an appropriate monitoring regime, with the international and Palestinian Authority participating.”

Mr Obama and Hillary Clinton, secretary of state, also announced the appointment of George Mitchell, as the US special envoy for the Arab-Israeli conflict and Richard Holbrooke, former US ambassador to the United Nations, as representative for Afghanistan-Pakistan.

The moves signalled another shift from the foreign policy of the Bush administration, which had resisted appointing a high-profile envoy for Middle East peace.

Although Condoleezza Rice, who finished her tenure as secretary of state this week, brokered a 2005 deal to allow open border crossings to Gaza, access was often shut down, with Israel citing security concerns and Hamas launching rocket attacks. The issue is set to test the authority of the new administration as it begins to grapple with the Middle East conflict.

Before Mr Obama gave his speech, an Israeli official said there would be tough conditions for any lifting of the blockade, which he linked with the release of Gilad Shalit, a soldier held captive by Hamas since 2006.

“If the opening of the passages strengthens Hamas we will not do it,” the official said.

“We will make sure that all the [humanitarian] needs of the population will be met. But we will not be able to deal with Hamas on the other side. We will not do things that give legitimacy to Hamas.”

Under its ceasefire, Hamas has given Israel until Sunday to open the borders. Much of Gaza’s civilian infrastructure has been destroyed during the three-week Israeli offensive and, without building materials and other supplies, there is little hope of rebuilding the water, sewage and power networks as well as private homes and key government buildings. But many foreign donors share Israel’s concerns that the reconstruction efforts should not be led by Hamas, or enhance the group’s legitimacy.

“Let me be clear: America is committed to Israel’s security and we will always support Israel’s right to defend itself against legitimate threats,” Mr Obama said.

But in comments referring to the Gaza conflict he added: “I was deeply concerned by the loss of Palestinian and Israeli life in recent days and by the substantial suffering and humanitarian needs in Gaza. Our hearts go out to Palestinian civilians who are in need of immediate food, clean water, and basic medical care, and who’ve faced suffocating poverty for far too long.”

He called on Arab governments to “act on” the promise of a Saudi-led 2002 Arab peace initiative by supporting the Palestinian Authority headed by President Mahmoud Abbas “taking steps towards normalising relations with Israel, and by standing up to extremism that threatens us all.”

[Gold9472]

How IDF legal experts legitimized strikes involving Gaza civilians

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1057648.html

By Yotam Feldman and Uri Blau
1/23/2009

The idea to bombard the closing ceremony of the Gaza police course was internally criticized in the Israel Defense Forces months before the attack. A military source involved in the planning of the attack, in which dozens of Hamas policemen were killed, says that while military intelligence officers were sure the operation should be carried out and pressed for its approval, the IDF's international law division and the military advocate general were undecided.

After months of the operational elements pushing for the attack's approval, the international law division headed by Col. Pnina Sharvit-Baruch gave the go-ahead. In spite of doubts, and also under pressure, Sharvit-Baruch and the division also legitimized the attack on Hamas government buildings and the relaxing of the rules of engagement, resulting in numerous Palestinian casualties. In the division it is also believed that the killing of civilians in a house whose residents the IDF has warned might be considered legally justified, although the IDF does not actually target civilians in this way.

Many legal experts, including former international law division head Daniel Reisner, do not accept this position. "I don't think a person on a rooftop can be incriminated just because he is standing there," he said.

One reason for the international law division's permissive positions is its desire to remain relevant and influential. Sources involved in the work of the Southern Command said that its GOC, Maj. Gen. Yoav Gallant, is quite suspicious of legal experts and has a reputation of not attaching much importance to their advice. The Southern Command's legal adviser was not invited to consultations before the attack, and was compartmentalized when it came to smaller forums. It was actually during the action in Gaza that consideration for his opinions grew.

The legal addendum to Operation Cast Lead's order shows the way the IDF's legal experts legitimized the army's actions: "As much as possible and under the circumstances of the matter, the civilian population in a target area is to be warned," it states, adding "unless so doing endangers the operation or the forces."

The addendum orders commanders to be extremely cautious in the use of "incendiary weapons" (for example, phosphorus bombs), but does not prohibit their use: "Before using these weapons, the the military advocate general or international law division must be consulted on the specific case."

A source who served in the division in the past says it is "more liberal than the attorney general and the High Court petitions department." "The army knows what it wants, and pressure was certainly brought to bear when legal advisers thought that something was unacceptable or problematic," an operational military source said.

According to a senior official in the international law division, "Our goal is not to tie down the army, but to give it the tools to win in a way that is legal."

[Gold9472]

Israel names justice minister to fight war crime charges

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jZ6hcZquoA-VdCfBfa4z913S4CzQ

5 hours ago

JERUSALEM (AFP) — Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has put the justice minister in charge of defending Israel against charges of war crimes during its 22-day Gaza assault, a government source said Friday.

Daniel Friedman will lead an inter-ministerial team to coordinate a legal defence for civilians and the military, the source said.

Israel's military censor has already banned the publication of the identity of the unit leaders who fought against Hamas Islamists on the Gaza Strip for fear they may face war crimes charges.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon demanded Tuesday that those responsible for bombing UN buildings in the Palestinian territory should be made accountable and accused Israel of using excessive force.

Amnesty International said it was "undeniable" that Israel had used white phosphorus in crowded civilian areas, contrary to international law, charging that this amounted to a war crime.

Eight Israeli human rights groups have called on the Israeli government to investigate given the scale of the casualties, describing the number of dead women and children as "terrifying."

Israel insists troops did their best to limit civilian casualties in a heavily-populated area and blamed Hamas for hiding behind civilians to fire rockets at southern Israel.

Palestinian Justice Minister Ali Kashan, meanwhile, was on Thursday in The Hague, where he held talks with International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo, an official said.

Beatrice le Fraper, a special advisor to the prosecutor, told AFP that Kasham and Moreno-Ocampo had "a long discussion ... which included allegations of crimes committed in Gaza."

Gaza medics put the death toll at 1,330 with at least 5,450 wounded. Some 65 percent of the dead were civilians, including 400 children and 100 women.

Ten Israel soldiers and three civilians died during Operation Cast Lead which ended last Sunday with a ceasefire.

UN schools and the main aid headquarters where tonnes of food was stocked were bombed.

[Gold9472]

Israel will defend army against war charges: Olmert

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5h40L47MWPk-hm0X6rFmyuGbeM2uQ

13 hours ago

JERUSALEM (AFP) — Israel will grant legal protection for soldiers who fought in the three-week war in the Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Sunday amid accusations of war crimes.

"The commanders and soldiers sent to Gaza need to know that they are completely safe from different tribunals and Israel will help and protect them," he said.

Olmert confirmed he had appointed Justice Minister Daniel Friedman to chair an inter-ministerial committee "to coordinate Israel's efforts to offer legal defence for anyone who took part in the operation.

"He will formulate questions and answers relating to the army's operations, which self-righteous people ... might use to sue officers and soldiers," the prime minister said.

Israel's military censor has already banned the publication of the identity of the unit leaders who fought against militants of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas on the Gaza Strip for fear they may face war crimes charges.

Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Malki said the Israeli government's move would unlikely halt war crimes probes.

"The decision is not going to prevent governments and human rights organisations around the world to really seek clear legal cases against all Israeli leaders who are responsible for the death and destruction of the Palestinian people," he told journalists.

"More efforts will be seen in the future" to bring cases to justice, he said, adding "there is no immunity against legal actions."

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday demanded that those responsible for bombing UN buildings in the Palestinian territory should be made accountable and accused Israel of using excessive force.

UN schools and the main aid headquarters where tonnes of food was stocked were bombed.

Eight Israeli human rights groups have called on the Israeli government to investigate the scale of the casualties, describing the number of dead women and children as "terrifying."

Israel insists troops did their best to limit civilian casualties in a heavily-populated area and blamed Hamas for hiding behind civilians to fire rockets at southern Israel.

Gaza medics put the Palestinian death toll at 1,330 with at least another 5,450 people wounded. About 65 percent of the dead were civilians, including 437 children.

Ten Israel soldiers and three civilians died during Operation Cast Lead which ended last Sunday with a ceasefire.

Amnesty International, meanwhile, has said it was "undeniable" that Israel had used white phosphorus in crowded civilian areas, contrary to international law, charging that this amounted to a war crime.