Israel tortures Gaza prisoners

GAZA, (PIC)-- The ministry of prisoners' affairs in Gaza has charged that the Israeli occupation authority was using cruel and internationally banned interrogation methods with detainees captured in Gaza during the Israeli onslaught.

The ministry, in a press release on Wednesday, said that the Israeli occupation forces took with them more than 200 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip after their withdrawal and subjected them to torture rounds in order to extract any information on resistance elements and places from where the homemade rockets are being fired at Israeli targets.

It pointed out that the prisoners were subjected to severe beating especially in the upper parts of the body, forced to sit in uncomfortable positions, deprived of sleep and forced to sit on children chairs while both hands and feet shackled in addition to violently shaking them and exposing them to extreme cold.

The ministry underlined that some of those detainees were moved to the Negev desert prison without any clothes, covers or other basic necessities, and noted that the IOA was dealing with those detainees as "unlawful combatants", which meant they had no rights and indefinitely detained without trial or specific charge or knowing the reason for their detention.

The ministry appealed to the Red Cross to inspect those detainees and to get a list of their names at least so as to ensure their relatives they are still alive and to deny the IOA the opportunity to tamper with their destiny. It noted that the IOF soldiers had executed tens of citizens after their arrest in the Strip's border areas and in Tal Al-Hawa suburb in Gaza city without posing any danger on the soldiers.

EGYPT SEES HAMAS AS "NATIONAL ENEMY"

Top Defense Ministry official: Egypt sees Hamas as 'national enemy'
By Haaretz Service and Reuters

Senior Defense Ministry official Amos Gilad said on Tuesday that Egypt views Hamas as a national enemy and a threat to its regime, and is now more willing than ever to fight against the ongoing smuggling of arms into the Gaza Strip.

"Egypt demonstrated extreme tolerance toward the Israel Defense Forces' activities [in Gaza]," said Gilad, who is Israel's top negotiating official on matters with Egypt. "Even today, Egypt is being very strict on Hamas and is not prepared to give the group anything - [including] the opening of the Rafah border crossing.

Gilad said that Egypt's determination against smuggling was unprecedented, saying even the international community has never demonstrated such willingness to curb the illegal flow of arms. Gilad said it remained to be seen whether these intentions would pan out, but he was optimistic that Israel and Egypt were on the same page regarding the smuggling threats..

"All of the understandings that Israel has forged with Egypt following the operation have a created a good basis," he said. "We will act directly with Egypt and make use of international forces."

"An attack like the one today will bring a response from Israel much larger than just closing border crossings and Hamas knows that. It is not in its interest to attack Israel.

Egypt warns EU against sending ships to patrol Gaza coast

Egypt warned European countries earlier Tuesday to think carefully before sending ships to patrol Gaza's coastal waters to prevent arms smuggling, saying such a move could have significant consequences on ties with Arab states.

The warning by Egypt Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit came after Britain, France and Germany offered to send warships to the Middle East to monitor and prevent arms smuggling to Gaza and to help consolidate a shaky ceasefire.

"In my discussions with European foreign ministers yesterday, I warned them and said: 'You must understand Arab and Muslim feelings,'" Aboul Gheit told a news conference, adding that if such a job was needed, the responsibility should be borne by Israel, not Europe.

"I urge you to look and consider this ... because it might have consequences in Palestinian and Arab relations with you," Aboul Gheit said, speaking after talks with EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana.

The three European Union countries have sent a joint letter to the Israeli and Egyptian governments outlining their offer of naval support, according to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. They are also willing to help monitor border crossings in Gaza.

European officials stress their scope for action is limited while Cairo refuses to have a foreign presence on its soil to monitor the Egyptian end of a network of tunnels bringing in supplies - including arms, according to Israel - to Gaza.

Egypt, much criticised in the Arab world for cooperating in the Israeli blockade of Gaza over the past six months, has long been loath to allow any access by foreign troops to its own territory, fearing infringement on its sovereignty.

Aboul Gheit said earlier this month that Egypt would also not allow U.S. vessels to enter Egyptian waters to carry out anti-smuggling operations, and that any such operations should take place on the high seas.

That was after Washington and Israel signed a pact aimed at stopping smuggling that included technical assistance and the use of U.S. "assets" to prevent arms from reaching Hamas by air, land or sea, as well as deployment of vessels from NATO countries to prevent maritime smuggling.

France said on Friday it was sending a frigate carrying helicopters to patrol international waters off the Gaza coast as part of efforts to consolidate the ceasefire.

A statement from French President Nicolas Sarkozy's office said the surveillance, aimed at preventing arms trafficking by sea to Hamas-ruled Gaza, would be carried out in full cooperation with Egypt and Israel.

NATO: 3,000 US troops deploy near Afghan capital

KABUL, Afghanistan – Thousands of U.S. troops originally destined for Iraq have deployed south of Afghanistan's capital in the first illustration of a new military focus on the increasingly difficult fight in the South Asian nation, NATO said Tuesday.

Nearly 3,000 American soldiers with the 3rd Brigade Combat Team of the 10th Mountain Division out of Fort Drum, New York, moved into the provinces of Logar and Wardak to the south of Kabul, the military alliance said. They will serve as part of the 55,000-strong NATO force in the country.

The latest deployment indicates the shifting focus in military operations from Iraq to Afghanistan, where the U.S. and its allies are trying to turn the tide of Taliban gains and prop up the government of embattled President Hamid Karzai.

President Barack Obama is expected to double the size of American troops in Afghanistan this year, as the country becomes one of his foreign policy priorities.

There are some 70,000 foreign soldiers, including 33,000 U.S. troops, in Afghanistan, the highest number since the Taliban were ousted from power in the 2001 U.S. invasion. The majority of the American troops, including the new brigade, fight under NATO command, which is headed by a U.S. four star general. The rest are part of 13,000-strong U.S. coalition.

Last year was the deadliest for foreign troops since the invasion, with 286 killed, up from 222 the previous year. NATO said two of its troops were killed Tuesday in the south.

The new brigade was originally slated to deploy to Iraq but was officially rerouted to Afghanistan in September, NATO said in a statement. It is not included in Obama's plan to send up to 30,000 more troops to the country.

Both provinces where the troops are deploying have become areas of near-daily insurgent activity and little government presence beyond provincial capitals and main roads, creating a sense of encirclement around the capital.

Vice President Joe Biden said Sunday that the world hasn't done enough to provide economic, political and military resources to Afghanistan and that the U.S. and its allies lack a coherent strategy. The result is a country backsliding into Taliban control, Biden said.

The focus of the brigade for the next year will be to help improve security in Wardak and Logar and help bring stronger government and better infrastructure to the local population, NATO said.

"Our first steps are to get forces out into these more populated areas and begin to interact with the people," Col. David B. Haight, the unit commander, said in the statement.

"Knowing the human terrain is as important as knowing the mountainous terrain surrounding our forward operating bases." Haight said.

Underscoring daily violence that afflicts the country, NATO said two of its troops were killed in southern Afghanistan, which is the center of the Taliban-led insurgency.

The military alliance did not provide the troops' nationalities or any other details on the circumstances surrounding their deaths.

In the same region, five Taliban fighters were killed in an overnight gunbattle with Afghan and international forces, said provincial police chief Assadullah Sherzad. There were no casualties among Afghan and foreign troops.

Southern Afghanistan is the center of the Taliban-led insurgency, which has spread over the last three years in many areas of the country. As part of their resurgence, militants have increasingly relied on roadside bombs in their campaign against Afghan and foreign forces.

A roadside bomb struck a police patrol and wounded two officers on Tuesday in southern Kandahar province. The bomb went off in the center of Kandahar city, the provincial capital, said provincial Police Chief Matiullah Khan Qateh.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan's Interior Ministry said three civilians were killed late Monday in eastern Nangarhar province when their minivan was hit by a remote-controlled bomb blast.

___

Associated Press writer Noor Khan in Kandahar contributed to this report from Kandahar, Afghanistan.

Israeli Soldiers Began Screaming

Now that the guns have fallen silent, Palestinian resistance fighters are finally getting a chance to give their account of what happened during 22 days of Israeli attacks.

In exclusive interviews with IslamOnline.net, members and leaders of Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, talked about some of their best resistance operations.

Date: January 5, 2009.

Location: Mount Al-Rayes, Al-Touffah neighborhood, Gaza City

Scene I :

Israeli tanks and armors roll through a passage near Mount Al-Rayes. Warplanes pound the area to allow Israeli armors to advance.

"We began executing our previously-prepared plan once the Israeli tanks began moving into the passage," said a Qassam fighter, who only gave the initials of his name as H.S.

Under the plan, Palestinian fighters discuss over their walky-talkies how that all routes are being manned by them expect one particular passage. "We know that the Israelis were listening and would fall into the trap of moving their troops into that passage," explains H.S.

Israeli jets began blitzing the area with missiles and smoke bombs to clear the way before the troops move in.

Then, a ten-tank convoy and four personnel carriers began advancing. "They moved very slowly and cautiously," recalls the Qassam fighter.

"Then special forces began coming out of the personnel carriers, passing by the first group of our fighters without noticing them.

"Then one of our fighter detonated anti-personnel and anti-armor mines," he said. "The Israeli soldiers began screaming."

Two more Palestinian fighters emerged from their hideout, opening fire at the Israeli soldiers. An Israeli tank began moving its cannon towards the attacking Palestinian fighters.

"But a third group of fighters emerged from underground, firing B-29 RC rockets at the tank, leaving it ablaze." During the fighting, a Palestinian fighter managed to capture an Israeli soldier.

"But an Israeli warplane fired a missile at them killing the soldier and wounding our fighter."

Scene II:

Under heavy shelling, Israeli helicopter gunships land to evacuate the wounded soldiers.

An Israeli force then advances into the passage to move the damaged tanks.

"As the force advances it was ambushed, coming under heavy shelling from Qassam's artillery teams and fighters," recalls H.S. "Several Israeli tanks were damaged in the ambush."

Coming to the rescue of the attacked troops, Israeli warplanes began pounding the area.

"But the Qassam fighters withdrew safely, leaving behind many Israeli soldiers dead and wounded."

Scene III :

Two Qassam fighters hide in an afforested area in Mount El-Rayes, armed with rifles, RPGs and mines. After 30 hours, an Israeli force is seen advancing into the area.

"As tanks rolled, the fighters detonated their explosives," says Abu Obeida, the Qassam spokesman.

Israeli planes began bombing the area. Then, a special force began advancing to clear the area from Palestinian fighters.

"As the force moved on, two of our fighters detonated explosives. Many Israeli soldiers fell to the ground screaming." Israeli aircraft again pounded the area, leaving the two fighters wounded.

"Then, the fighters withdrew into hiding, where they bled for more than 18 hours," says Abu Obeida. A group of Hamas fighters moved under heavy firing to evacuate their wounded comrades.

As a Hamas fighter moved his wounded colleagues out of their hideout, he was chased by Israeli tank shelling. But he still succeeded in evaluating them. "They were given first aid before being taken into Gaza City," says Abu Obeida.

Scene V:

An Israeli special force takes position at a house in Jabal Al-Kashif in eastern Gaza City. The house is surrounded by Israeli tanks to stave off any possible Palestinian resistance attack. Inside the house, Israeli commandoes are sitting comfortably, laughing.

Meanwhile, a group of Qassam fighters was moving into the house through a special tunnel. "At the same time, fighters began shelling the house from outside with RPGs and mortar shells to distract the attention of the soldiers inside," explains Abu Obeida.

Then, the Qassam fighters came out of the tunnel into the house. "In just a few minutes, they killed and injured all Israeli soldiers inside the house before detonating the building and withdrawing safely.

Source: IslamOnline

14 years passed since the "new-year" assault of Jokhar

Publication time: 2 January 2009

In the early morning, on the 31st of December the Russian armored armadas started assaulting of the Chechen capital. 90-thousand-gang of aggressors who had 6 thousand units of the heavy and light military hardware, artillery plants, rocket missile launch facilities and subsidiary weapons and equipment entered Jokhar (former Grozny) from three sides under the permanent aerial cover and massed air raids.

To the order of the Chechen headquarters the columns of the Russian military hardware so as on 26th of October in time of the assault of Grozny (today Jokhar) by the pro-Moscow opposition were admitted to go past at the center of the city. Then the famous Chechen counterattack started. During the only one day the advanced detachments and military equipment of the Russian army entered the city were annihilated.

The embittered battles were performed right near the President palace. The mobile groups of the Chechen soldiers and the village soldiers fired at the tanks and the fight machines of the foot from the grenade launcher. Some units of the Chechen tanks broke through at the center of the city from time to time and attacked the enemies. However, on the third day of fighting the Chechen headquarters had to refuse from using of that military equipment because the village soldiers shoot at the armored vehicles sometimes recognizing them as the military hardware of the enemy.

There were the vice-president of the Chechen republic Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev who executed the common governance on-site and the chief of the main staff of the armed forces of the Chechen republic Aslan Maskhadov who run directly the defense of the city. Dzhokhar Dudayev was at the reserve staff at the settlement Aldy in the west of Grozny at that time and coordinated with the operations of the armed forces of the Chechen republic.

The Chechen soldiers and people's home guard defeated utterly the assaulting Russian army in the battles on 31st of December, 1994. Then there followed many other storms where the Chechen fighters and the village soldiers showed unbending power and courage.

Hundreds of units of the military equipment and thousands of the annihilated aggressors' bodies rolled in the streets of the Chechen capital. The whole regiments and brigades had been sacked in those unexampled battles. Hundreds of the invaders were captured.

Struggles for Groznyy were proceeding for two months and a half. The total losses of the Russian army in battles for Groznyy were from 18 to 22 thousand of soldiers and officers. More than 1200 units of the military equipment were burnt by the Chechen grenade launchers. Only in the middle of March of 1995 the last large subdivisions of the Chechen army left the capital and to the order of Shamil Basayev blasted the television tower.

The Russian propaganda is still trying to disparage the complete military success of the Chechen army who practically 90 per cent consisted of simple village soldiers who took the submachine gun for the first time in their lives at those days.

The occupation command and the Russian generals piled up heaps of lie about the inexistent "Dudayev's pillboxes and bunkers", about many-tier "defensive lines" which had to be "overcome for the cost of the incredible efforts and heroism of the Russian soldiers", about mythical mercenary-professionals and Baltic biathlon-sniper girls who received 1000 dollars per day from Dudayev.

The author of this article as the first-hand participant of those events may be in charge of testifying to the effect that the Rokhlin's division, for instance, was being held back by some tens Chechen fighters during one month and a half (it is not the misprint - exactly some tens) who defended the positions of The Pioneer House, The Old Region Committee (Obcom), The Council of Ministers and the hotel "Caucasus". And the only insuperable line for the Russian armada was a plain Chechen village soldier who came to struggle relying on Allah's rescue.

Said Irbakhaev, especially for Kavkaz Center

Obama pledges new start with Muslims

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama promised to improve U.S. ties with the Muslim world in his inauguration address on Tuesday, after tensions that followed the September 11 attacks and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect," said Obama, who became the first black president of the United States.

Obama, a practicing Christian, spent several years of his childhood in Indonesia, the most populous Muslim nation. His American mother, Ann Dunham, married Muslim Indonesian Lolo Soetoro after the end of her marriage to Obama's Kenyan father.

"To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist," Obama said.

Under President George W. Bush, U.S. relations with Muslim nations have often been fractious, particularly after the September 11 attacks.

Many Muslims were angered by the U.S.-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the opening of a prison for foreign terrorism suspects at the U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, widely seen as a symbol of human rights abuses of mostly Muslim prisoners carried out in the name of the "war on terrorism."

The Council on American Islamic Relations welcomed Obama's promise on seeking better relations with Muslim nations.

"We hope this encouraging statement, coupled with a change in America's previous policies toward the Muslim world, will help improve our nation's image and promote a safe and prosperous future for all of humanity," said Nihad Awad, executive director of the council.

The first Muslim to be elected to the U.S. Congress, Minnesota Democratic Rep. Keith Ellison, said Obama's words were an important signal of goodwill to Muslims in the United States as well as the rest of the world.

"I do believe it could undermine recruiting for al Qaeda," he told Reuters, because "their message depends on trying to demonize the United States as a country that is somehow hostile to Islam and the Muslim world."

Ellison said Obama's outreach would make it hard for al Qaeda to sustain its anti-American message.

Many Muslims are already excited about Obama, he said.

"If you were to go to Damascus, or Cairo, or Jerusalem today, you could find an Obama tee shirt. People are excited about the possibilities for what this means around the globe."

The population of Ellison's district is three or four percent Muslim, he said. Since his election to Congress in 2006, another Muslim has also been voted in: Democrat Andre Carson of Indiana.

About 300 young Muslims from 76 countries signed a letter published in the Washington Post on Tuesday, urging the new president to make policy changes that could improve relations between the Muslim world and the West.

(Additional reporting by Susan Cornwell; editing by Patricia Zengerle)

Likud MP admits failure on Zionist military aggression on GAZA

Zionist Likud lawmaker Yisrael Katz admitted the failure of the Zionist military aggression on the Gaza Strip, asserting that Zionist entity did not achieve its goals in the war which resulted in hundreds of casualties in the ranks of its troops.

Katz said that the military operation in Gaza did not succeed after Zionist premier Ehud Olmert announced a unilateral ceasefire, pointing out that Zionist entity neither eliminated the strength of the Palestinian resistance factions, nor reached an agreement to stop arms supplies to Gaza or get Zionist soldier Gilad Shalit released.

The Observer, one of the best-selling newspapers in the UK, said that the war on Gaza inflicted a moral defeat on Zionist entity.

The newspaper considered that the concept which says that security problems can be resolved by the unilateral use of force is only a delusion dominating the mindset of Zionist politicians.

It added that such a way of thinking did not take into account the fact that an all-out war in the densely populated Gaza against the Palestinian resistance would be essentially an attack on the civilian population of Gaza.

The newspaper noted that Zionist entity would insist on saying that it was able to limit the ability of the Palestinian resistance to fire rockets, but the newspaper recalled that the apparent target of Zionist entity's war was the destruction of that capacity completely.

The truth, however, in the eyes of the newspaper is that the popularity of the Palestinian resistance has increased because of the brutality of the Zionist military aggression on Gaza.

For his part, Dr. Abdelsattar Qassem, a professor of political science at the Najah national university in Nablus, said that the battle in Gaza was settled in favor of the Palestinian resistance in terms of its steadfastness after 22 days of Zionist aggression.

Dr. Qassem stressed that the popularity of the Palestinian resistance spearheaded by Hamas doubled among the Palestinian people and in the Arab and Islamic arenas and would gain further momentum at the expense of the PA in Ramallah.

The professor added that Zionist entity failed to break the back of the Palestinian resistance and to achieve any of its stated goals such as changing the situation in Gaza, bringing back the PA and invading the Gaza Strip cities.

He underscored that Zionist entity is aware now that its achievement of military victory is over because it had been already defeated by the Lebanese resistance and now it made the greatest failure when it failed to invade Gaza despite the fact that it is a small stretch of land under siege for years, besides the Palestinian resistance's defense capability in Gaza is not as that owned by the Lebanese resistance.

SAVE THE PALESTINIANS

SAVE THE PALESTINIANS

Assalamualikum

Adalah dimaklumkan bahwa program 'Save The Palestinians' akan diadakan pada:

Tempat :Bangsar Sport Complex, Jalan Terasek 3, Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur
Tarikh :18hb Januari 2009
Masa :10 pagi - 5 petang
Anjuran :C.O.M.P.L.E. T.E (Coalition of NGOs Against Persecution of Palestinians)

Semua ahli-ahli ACCIN adalah dialu-alukan untuk menyertai program tersebut. ACCIN sub-committee Palestine turut mengambil bahagian didalam program ini.

Sekian, terima kasih.

Said Seyam martyred in an Israeli occupation airstrike

GAZA, (PIC)-- Said Seyam, a prominent Hamas leader and Interior Minister of the elected government of Ismail Haneyya, was martyred Thursday evening along with his son, his brother and his brother's wife in an Israeli airstrike at a house in the Yarmouk neighbourhood at the centre of Gaza city.

Hamas sources said that Seyam was martyred when Israeli occupation airforce bombed the house of Sheikh Eyad Seyam, the brother of Said Seyam during a visit by the latter to his brother's house.

The bodyguard of Said Seyam was also martyred in the attack along with his brother and his brother's wife.

Four other citizens from a neighbouring house were killed in the airstrike, three of them children.

Eyewitnesses said that Israeli occupation airplanes fired two rockets at the house of Said Seyams brother.

Hamas mourned Said Seyam saying that leaders of the movement were always at the forefront and that Seyam has joined previous martyrs of the movement such as Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, Dr. Abdel-Aziz al-Rantisi, Ibrahim al-Maqdmah, Ismail Abu Shanab, Jamal Mansour, Jamal Salim, Salah Shehadeh and Dr. Nizar al-Rayyan.

Said Seyam was born on 22 July 1959 at the Shati' Rafugee camp to the west of Gaza City as his family was uprooted in 1948 from the village of Jura near the city of Askalan.

He graduated at the Teachers College in Ramallah in 1980 with a Diploma in teaching sience and maths. He earned a degree in Islamic Studies from the Jerusalem Open University in 2000.

He taught at UNRWA schools in Gaza from 1980 till 2003 when he resigned as a result of harassment of the employer because of his political affiliation.

He worked as a voluntary Imam of the Yarmouk Mosque in Gaza city as well as other mosques in the Gaza Strip.

He participated in the reconciliation committees formed by late Shiekh Ahmad Yassin during the first intifada.

He was a trustee of the Islamic university, a founder member of the Future Research Centre, head of external relations department and a member of the political leadership of the Hamas movement.

He was elected to the Palestinian Legislative Council in 2006 and was appointed Interior Minister in the tenth PA government.

He was married and a father of six children.

Osama bin Laden Urged Jihad blame Arabs Leaders

An audio recording, attributed to Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda, has called on Muslims to wage jihad against Israel over its offensive in Gaza.

The recording, which was dated to the current month in the Islamic calendar and called "A Call for Jihad to Stop the Aggression against Gaza", was posted on websites on Wednesday.

"God has bestowed us with the patience to continue the path of jihad," the voice on the tape, purported to be that of bin Laden, said.

"The question is, can America continue its war with us for several more decades to come? Reports and evidence would suggest otherwise."

It was not possible to independently verify the voice in the recording.

The 22-minute audio statement said jihad was necessary to restore "Jerusalem and Palestine" and criticised the way Arab governments have handled the war Israel has been waging in Gaza.
"Our brothers in Palestine, you have suffered a lot... the Muslims sympathise with you in what they see and hear. We, the mujahideen, sympathise with you also," the voice in the recording said.

He called on Muslims to rise in support of Gazans and not to rely on Arab leaders "the great majority of whom are allied with the Crusader-Zionist coalition".

Protests

Nearly 1,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive, and more than 4,000 others injured over the last three weeks. Israel says 13 Israelis have been killed.

Thousands of people have taken to the streets across the Arab world in protest against the attacks, but Arab government have responded with little concrete action against Israel.

The speaker on the recording also hailed the global financial crisis as a decline in US influence around the world and said it would, in turn, weaken Israel - one of Washington's closest allies.

Commenting on the recording, Gordon Johndroe, a US White House spokesman, said: "It appears this tape demonstrates his isolation and ... looks to be an effort to raise money as part of [al-Qaeda's] ongoing propaganda campaign."

VENEZUELA Breaks off Israel ties

Venezuela has joined Bolivia in severing ties with Israel in protest against its war in the Gaza Strip, which has left more than 1,000 Palestinians dead."Venezuela ... has decided to break off diplomatic relations with the state of Israel given the inhumane persecution of the Palestinian people," the foreign ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan president, decided to expel Israel's ambassador and embassy staff last week because of the offensive, calling the Israeli onslaught a "holocaust".

Evo Morales, the president of Bolivia and a close ally of Chavez, said that he would seek to get senior Israeli officials, including Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, charged with "genocide" in the International Criminal Court.

'Insecurity Council'

The Bolivian president also dismissed the United Nations and its "Insecurity Council" for its "lukewarm" response to the crisis and said the general assembly should hold an emergency session to condemn the invasion.

"Considering these grave attacks against ... humanity, Bolivia will stop having diplomatic relations with Israel," Morales told diplomats in the Bolivian capital, La Paz.

He also said that Shimon Peres, the Israeli president, should be stripped of his Nobel Peace Prize for failing to stop the invasion.

At least 1,033 Palestinians have now died in Israel's offensive in Gaza, around 40 per cent of whom were civilians, aid agencies and Palestinian medics say.Roberto Nelkenbaum, the Israeli consul in La Paz, told the Reuters news agency that he was "surprised and sad" after hearing Morales's comments in local media.

He said that the two countries have had good diplomatic relations for more than 50 years.

Thirteen Israelis have also died since the assault began, four from rocket fire from Gaza.

Shahrul PESHAWAR - I'm a bit surprise on how Hugo Chavez and Evo Morales respond to the Gaza bloodshed. And I'm more surprise when none of the Islamic-Arab states neighbouring with Palestine did almost nothing in term of political pressure... arent they share the same bloodline? arent they share the same book from ALlah?

Israel Is Committing War Crimes

Hamas's violations are no justification for Israel's actions.

By GEORGE E. BISHARAT

Israel's current assault on the Gaza Strip cannot be justified by self-defense. Rather, it involves serious violations of international law, including war crimes. Senior Israeli political and military leaders may bear personal liability for their offenses, and they could be prosecuted by an international tribunal, or by nations practicing universal jurisdiction over grave international crimes. Hamas fighters have also violated the laws of warfare, but their misdeeds do not justify Israel's acts.

The United Nations charter preserved the customary right of a state to retaliate against an "armed attack" from another state. The right has evolved to cover nonstate actors operating beyond the borders of the state claiming self-defense, and arguably would apply to Hamas. However, an armed attack involves serious violations of the peace. Minor border skirmishes are common, and if all were considered armed attacks, states could easily exploit them -- as surrounding facts are often murky and unverifiable -- to launch wars of aggression. That is exactly what Israel seems to be currently attempting.

Israel had not suffered an "armed attack" immediately prior to its bombardment of the Gaza Strip. Since firing the first Kassam rocket into Israel in 2002, Hamas and other Palestinian groups have loosed thousands of rockets and mortar shells into Israel, causing about two dozen Israeli deaths and widespread fear. As indiscriminate attacks on civilians, these were war crimes. During roughly the same period, Israeli forces killed about 2,700 Palestinians in Gaza by targeted killings, aerial bombings, in raids, etc., according to the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem.

But on June 19, 2008, Hamas and Israel commenced a six-month truce. Neither side complied perfectly. Israel refused to substantially ease the suffocating siege of Gaza imposed in June 2007. Hamas permitted sporadic rocket fire -- typically after Israel killed or seized Hamas members in the West Bank, where the truce did not apply. Either one or no Israelis were killed (reports differ) by rockets in the half year leading up to the current attack.

Israel then broke the truce on Nov. 4, raiding the Gaza Strip and killing a Palestinian. Hamas retaliated with rocket fire; Israel then killed five more Palestinians. In the following days, Hamas continued rocket fire -- yet still no Israelis died. Israel cannot claim self-defense against this escalation, because it was provoked by Israel's own violation.

An armed attack that is not justified by self-defense is a war of aggression. Under the Nuremberg Principles affirmed by U.N. Resolution 95, aggression is a crime against peace.

Israel has also failed to adequately discriminate between military and nonmilitary targets. Israel's American-made F-16s and Apache helicopters have destroyed mosques, the education and justice ministries, a university, prisons, courts and police stations. These institutions were part of Gaza's civilian infrastructure. And when nonmilitary institutions are targeted, civilians die. Many killed in the last week were young police recruits with no military roles. Civilian employees in the Hamas-led government deserve the protections of international law like all others. Hamas's ideology -- which employees may or may not share -- is abhorrent, but civilized nations do not kill people merely for what they think.

Deliberate attacks on civilians that lack strict military necessity are war crimes. Israel's current violations of international law extend a long pattern of abuse of the rights of Gaza Palestinians. Eighty percent of Gaza's 1.5 million residents are Palestinian refugees who were forced from their homes or fled in fear of Jewish terrorist attacks in 1948. For 60 years, Israel has denied the internationally recognized rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes -- because they are not Jews.

Although Israel withdrew its settlers and soldiers from Gaza in 2005, it continues to tightly regulate Gaza's coast, airspace and borders. Thus, Israel remains an occupying power with a legal duty to protect Gaza's civilian population. But Israel's 18-month siege of the Gaza Strip preceding the current crisis violated this obligation egregiously. It brought economic activity to a near standstill, left children hungry and malnourished, and denied Palestinian students opportunities to study abroad.

Israel should be held accountable for its crimes, and the U.S. should stop abetting it with unconditional military and diplomatic support.

Mr. Bisharat is a professor at Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco.

Hamas: We will win war in Gaza

Abu Marzouq insists Hamas will win the war against Israel (Reuters)

By Shane Bauer in Damascus

Israel's war on Gaza has left more than 700 Palestinians dead - nearly a third of them women and children - and more than 3,000 injured.

But at the organisation's headquarters in Damascus, 100km from the territory, Musa Abu Marzouq, the deputy head of Hamas' political bureau, told Al Jazeera why he believes his organisation is on the verge of victory against Israel.

Al Jazeera: Under what conditions will Hamas agree a ceasefire with Israel?
Abu Marzouq: We have three conditions for any peace initiative coming from any state.
First, the aggression of the Israelis should stop. All of the gates should be opened, including the gate of Rafah between the Gaza Strip and Egypt. Finally, Israel has to withdraw from the Gaza Strip.

We are not saying we will stop firing rockets from the Gaza Strip to Israel - we are only talking about stopping the aggression from the Israelis against the civilian population in the Gaza Strip.
When others talk about a ceasefire, they are saying all military operations should stop.

But we are sending a message [by firing rockets]: "We will not surrender. We have to fight the Israelis and we will win this battle."

We know we are going to lose a lot of people from our side, but we are going to win, inshallah.

Members of Hamas have said that Israel is using collective punishment by targeting civilians who support Hamas. But is Hamas' targeting of Israeli civilians also not a type of collective punishment?

We are defending ourselves.

When you talk about any occupation, people should resist the soldiers and the army who occupy their country.

We don't have weapons sophisticated enough to launch at exact targets.

We are sending a message: "You can't provide security to your side until you bring security to the Palestinian side."

We are looking for freedom and for security for the Palestinian people. This is our message to Israel.

They need to understand that we are working for an independent state.

How do you think Israel's war on Gaza will affect Hamas' position?

The Israeli push against Hamas has increased our popularity sharply among the Palestinian people and throughout the Muslim world.

After the Israelis killed Hamas leaders like Ahmed Yassin and Ismail Abu Shanab, Hamas won the elections with 76 seats out of a 132-seat parliament.

Using these means doesn't decrease the popularity of Hamas, it increases it.

What exactly would you consider to be "victory" for Hamas?

A victory for Hamas would mean the Israelis did not accomplish their objectives.

If they can't stop rockets from coming into Israel, that means they failed.

But the real reason for Israel's aggression is to change the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip - they have been thinking about this since Hamas won the elections - it is not because of the rockets.

They failed to lead the people in an uprising against Hamas in the Gaza Strip with their economic embargo.

They tried to push Fatah to stand and fight Hamas, but we defeated them in the Gaza Strip, so the Israelis have taken action themselves.

Why, at the beginning of this conflict, did Hamas decide not to renew the six-month ceasefire?

We agreed to this ceasefire under Egyptian mediation with certain conditions.

All military operations were to be stopped by June 19.

All of the six gates between Israel and Gaza were to remain open.

In the first 10 days of the truce, 30 per cent of the goods coming from Israel to the Gaza Strip were to be allowed in and, after that 10-day period, all supplies were to be allowed to enter.

Also, there was to be a meeting between the Europeans, Egyptians, the Palestinian Authority and Hamas to discuss how to open the Rafah gate.

Finally, the ceasefire was supposed to be extended to the West Bank.

During those six months, the Israelis kept the border crossings closed most of the time.

Only 15 per cent of goods were allowed to enter the Gaza Strip from Israel.

They killed more than 40 people in the last month of the ceasefire, eight of which were in the last week.

On many occasions, the Egyptians told us that the Israelis were not respecting the agreement.

Their refusal to allow supplies to enter was a type of slow killing of the Palestinians.

The Palestinians eventually asked: "What is the use of this ceasefire for us?"

For that reason, we didn't renew that agreement.

Khalid Meshaal, the leader of Hamas, in December called for a "military intifada against the Zionist enemy" and as a "peaceful intifada internally".
What did he mean by an internal peaceful intifada?

I think he meant that there needs to be internal change among the Palestinians.

Right now the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank controls everything. This is not acceptable.

We need to peacefully change these conditions.

How are relations between Hamas and Fatah now?

Now the priority for Hamas, Fatah or any Palestinian organisation is to stand against the Israeli aggression.

After we finish with this battle, I guess we can talk about reconciliation or reuniting with Fatah.

We openly welcome any kind of negotiation or dialogue between Fatah and Hamas to end the separation of the Palestinians.

When French president Nicolas Sarkozy met with Syrian president Bahsar al-Assad, many said he tried to encourage Damascus to put pressure on Hamas to stop firing rockets.

Have you faced any kind of pressure from Syria?

We haven't seen any pressure from Syria.

They respect our independence. They respect our choices. They respect the policies we chose for our people.

Has Hamas had any contact with the administration of Barack Obama, the US president-elect?

No, we haven't had any direct contact.

Do you have any expectations regarding the approach of Hillary Clinton, the US nominee-designate for the post of US secretary of state?

We cannot evaluate something that lies in the future.

We know that in the US senate, Hillary Clinton's vote was always with Israel, but maybe there will be some differences when she becomes secretary of state.

Source: Al Jazeera

US Congress votes to back Israel

The US House of Representatives has voted to endorse a resolution backing Israel in its offensive in Gaza, in which at least 780 Palestinians have been killed.

The body passed Friday's resolution "recognising Israel's right to defend itself against attacks from Gaza" by 390 votes to five.

The measure also noted that the humanitarian situation in Gaza "is becoming more acute" but did not rebuke Israel.

Keith Ellison, the only Muslim member of US congress, was among the 22 members of the House who voted "present", which means that they voted neither in favour or against the resolution.

"I cannot vote against this resolution because I believe every country in the world has the right to defend itself," the Minnesota congressman said in a statement.

"At the same time I cannot vote for this resolution because it barely mentions the human suffering of the Palestinians in Gaza."

Dennis Kucinich, a Democratic congressman for Ohio who voted against the bill said before the vote: "I'm hopeful that we do not support the inhumanity that has been repeatedly expressed by the Israeli army."

"We must take a new direction in the Middle East, and that new direction must be mindful of the inhumane conditions in Gaza".

US-Israel ties

Washington has been Israel's closest ally since 1948, when Harry Truman, the former president, made the US the first country to recognise Israel.

The US has been repeatedly criticised by Arabs for its unstinting support of Israeli actions. The US frequently blocks United Nations resolutions critical of Israel and on Thursday abstained from a Security Council vote calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

The House has passed similar measures in recent years by massive majorities.

In 2006, the House voted to condemn Hamas and Hezbollah for "unprovoked and reprehensible armed attacks against Israel" and supported Israel's incursion into Lebanon.

In 2004, the body voted to support a statement by George Bush, the US president, that it was "unrealistic" to expect Israel to return completely to its pre-1967 borders.

The US senate had voted on Thursday to back its own resolution offering "unwavering commitment" to Israel.

That recognised "its right to act in self-defence to protect its citizens against acts of terrorism" and urged a ceasefire that would keep Palestinians from firing rockets at Israel.

Harry Reid, who leads the Democratic majority in the senate, said on Thursday following that vote: "Our resolution reflects the will of the state of Israel and the will of the American people."

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

Washington diary: While Gaza burns

Most of the world's attention is riveted by the war in Gaza, the raw sights and sounds of which are brought home most vividly by the coverage provided by Al Jazeera's English and Arabic channels.

Here in the US however, the Gaza story is seldom the lead on the major evening news programmes.

The mainstream media is too squeamish to show the reality of war - the blood, the pain, the screaming children.

And US cable networks and satellite systems seem afraid to allow Al Jazeera English into their lineup of channels, quailing at the prospect of a political backlash from far right-wing, self-appointed media "watchdogs" who caricature Al Jazeera as "terror TV".

The preoccupation here in the US is much closer to home: The economic crisis.

'Lingering' recession

With just a few days to go before Barack Obama takes over the White House and Americans bid George Bush a not-so-fond farewell, the president-elect has been outlining his economic recovery plans.

Attacking the growing economic crisis will be the prime objective of Obama's first 100 days in office.

He outlined the economic rescue package he says will create three million jobs, saying it will not be "just another public works programme".

"We'll invest in priorities like energy and education; healthcare and a new infrastructure that are necessary to keep us strong and competitive in the 21st century," Obama said. Obama said this plan will be costly - adding to deficits that will top a trillion dollars.

The total price tag on the package is still unknown - but will certainly be close to a trillion dollars itself. Also in question: Whether such an epic amount can be spent effectively without equally huge waste and mismanagement.

Obama also vowed to undertake a fundamental reform of the freewheeling, hands-off ethos of Wall Street and the anything-goes style of US capitalism. "No longer can we allow Wall Street wrongdoers to slip through regulatory cracks," he vowed.

"No longer can we allow special interests to put their thumbs on the economic scales."

Obama said that congress must work day and night to pass the measure quickly, and Nancy Pelosi, Democratic speaker for the house of representatives, predicted passage by mid-February, promising: "We will not go home until we have an economic reform package." Now, if only the US government would use some of its power to bear on forging a halt to the bloodshed in Gaza.

Obama's silence

Bush, as is his custom, sees the issue in black-and-white terms, with no shades of grey.

He has blamed the entire situation squarely and solely on Hamas, admitting no fault whatsoever on the Israeli side.

And while Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, claims to be working "day and night" to establish a ceasefire, it is quite clear that the Bush administration has given Israel broad latitude to smash Hamas - no matter what the cost in civilian lives.

So far, Obama has largely kept quiet, saying the US could not appear to speak with more than one voice on foreign policy.

He did offer some tepid words of concern for the unfolding humanitarian disaster in Gaza, saying the loss of civilian life in Gaza and in Israel was a source of "deep concern".

By mostly avoiding comment, or by making bland expressions of concern about civilian deaths, Obama is playing a political game: remaining careful not to upset Israel and its many powerful supporters in and out of the US congress, while at the same time giving hope to Arabs who are desperately anxious that Obama will usher in a new chapter in US policy toward the Middle East.

Obama says he will have much more to say about the situation after he takes office January 20 - but by then many more lives may have been lost in the war on Gaza.

Presidential meeting

The new US congress that took its seats on Tuesday includes many enthusiastic supporters of Israel but few members - other than Keith Ellison, the Muslim congressman from Minnesota, and Dennis Kucinich, the Ohio congressman - are willing to speak up for the Palestinians.

On Wednesday, Obama had lunch with all the living presidents at the White House.

Looking at the roomful of grinning leaders past, present and future seemed to me symbolic of the twists, turns and dead ends of four decades of American Middle East policy.

There was the aged Jimmy Carter, who brokered the Camp David accord between Egypt and Israel and has more recently spoken out strongly on behalf of the Palestinians, but whose mishandling of the Islamic Revolution in Iran ushered in nearly 30 years of wasteful hostility between two great nations.

Standing next to Carter was Bill Clinton, who orchestrated the famous Rose Garden handshake between Yasser Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin, sealing the peace agreements of the Oslo process, but who fell short in a later push for a final settlement, and whose final months in office saw the beginning of the second intifada, or uprising, in the Palestinian territories.

Smiling by Obama's right stood George Bush the father, who launched the Madrid peace talks and tried to pressure Israel to stop settlement building on Palestinian land.

'Elusive' peace

And to his left was Bush the son, who gave Israel a free hand to strike the Palestinian territories and Lebanon, and virtually ignored the peace process till his final year in office and whose Annapolis "process" now seems nothing better than a cruel joke. Bush welcomed the newest member of their select club, telling Obama: "All of us who have served in this office understand that the office itself transcends the individual.

"We wish you all the very best and so does the country."

While Obama says he is a strong friend of Israel - during last year's election campaign many American Jews were dubious about whether Obama would protect Israel - doubts he tried to assuage by fervent declarations of unconditional support.

Now, while Gaza burns, he promises to get involved in another round of Middle East peacemaking once he is sworn-in on January 20.

"I am doing everything that we have to do to make sure that the day that I take office we are prepared to engage immediately in trying to deal with the situation there," he said at a news conference.

"Not only the short-term situation, but building a process whereby we can achieve a more lasting peace in the region."

Peace in the Middle East - the same pledge, the same elusive goal, that has pre-occupied a roomful of presidents - now, being passed on to a new one.

Source: Al Jazeera

HAMAS claims it hit IAF base 27km from Tel Aviv

By Yossi Melman, Haaretz Correspondent

Hamas claims it hit an Israel Air Force base 27km from Tel Aviv Hamas claimed on Friday that rockets it fired from the Gaza Strip struck the Israel Air Force base in Tel Nof.

Hamas' military wing published comments on its Web site and aired statements on its Al-Aqsa television station saying they succeeded in striking their furthest target yet - the base of Tel Nof. Tel Nof is located 27 kilometers from Tel Aviv, between Rehovot and Gdera, and serves as a squadron base for fighter jets and helicopters.

The Hamas report did not elaborate on the alleged attack

ISRAEL rejects UN truce resolution, continues GAZA operation

By Barak Ravid, Shlomo Shamir and Natasha Mozgovaya, Haaretz Correspondents and News Agencies

The diplomatic-security cabinet on Friday rejected a United Nations Security Council cease-fire resolution and ordered the Israel Defense Forces to continue its current ground operation against Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip. In a communique released immediately after the cabinet session on Friday, the government stated it would not accept the UN resolution, declaring that "the IDF will continue to act in order to attain the objectives of the operation - to bring about a change in the security situation in the south of the country - this in accordance with the plans that have been approved upon embarking on the operation." "Efforts to prevent the smuggling of weapons into the Gaza Strip will continue," the cabinet statement added.

As such, the cabinet also said Israel would continue to provide humanitarian relief to the local population in Gaza. The army will maintain its policy of declaring a temporary cease-fire so as to allow the supply of food and medicine to reach Gazans in need, the cabinet said.

The cabinet heard reports detailing the military advancement into Gaza as well as the latest on cease-fire talks with Egyptian officials. Amos Gilad, the head of the Defense Ministry's diplomatic-security division, met with his Egyptian counterparts on Thursday.

The government said it would not accept any cease-fire and that the IDF would not withdraw from Gaza until the establishment of a mechanism that would ensure a halt to weapons-smuggling from Egypt into the Hamas-ruled territory.

The cabinet stated that the IDF operation would continue given that Hamas rocket fire has not ceased during the cease-fire deliberations at the Security Council. "Israel has a complete right of self-defense," the communique read.

Earlier Friday, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert rejected the resolution calling for a cease-fire 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.

AIPAC slams UN truce resolution

AIPAC Executive Director Howard Kohr on Friday denounced the UN resolution, saying that, in passing it "the UN Security Council has, once again, shamelessly proven its genuine inability to deal with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in an unbiased manner."

"The Council has refused to acknowledge Israel's right to self-defense against an enemy, Hamas, which openly declares its goal as the complete destruction of the State of Israel - a member state of the world body," Kohr said.

America's pro-Israel lobby also expressed its disappointment with the U.S. administration "for succumbing to pressure exerted by Arab states and agreeing to bring this vote to the UN Security Council - a message contrary to the steadfast and overwhelming support expressed this week by the United States Congress and dozens of elected officials from across the country".

Rockets from Lebanon hit Israel

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – At least three rockets fired from Lebanon exploded in northern Israel on Thursday, wounding two people, police and medics said, in an attack seen as linked to Israel's offensive against Hamas Islamists in the Gaza Strip.

Israel hit back with artillery shells in what an Israeli military spokesman described as "a pinpoint response at the source of fire."

It was not immediately clear whether Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrillas -- against whom Israel fought a 2006 war -- or Palestinians fired the rockets, presenting a new challenge to Israeli leaders who have waged attacks on Gaza for 13 days.

Lebanese security sources said they felt it was unlikely Hezbollah fired the salvoes. Hamas sources in Lebanon denied involvement.

Israeli forces have been on high alert in the north fearing that Hezbollah could fire rockets into northern Israel as it did in the 2006 conflict and lend support to Hamas and the Gaza Strip's 1.5 million inhabitants.

Israeli warplanes bombed targets across the Gaza Strip on Thursday and tanks advanced in the Hamas-ruled territory as U.S. backing for a truce proposal raised expectations of an end to the onslaught that has killed more than 600 Palestinians.

Shi'ite Hezbollah has not opened fire since Israel started bombarding the Gaza enclave nearly two weeks ago to the south of Israel with the declared aim of halting Hamas rocket attacks.
Palestinian groups in Lebanon have also been known to fire rockets and Israeli military affairs commentators said it was more likely they were responsible for the rockets that hit the Israeli resort town of Nahariya and three other locations.

One rocket punched a hole in the roof of a building in Nahariya that Israeli media said was a home for the elderly and was being evacuated.

"I have decided on two steps -- to send schoolchildren home and that people should remain in shelters," Nahariya Mayor Jackie Sabag said on Israel's Channel Two television.

The Magen David Adom ambulance service said two people in northern Israel were slightly wounded and several were treated for shock after what police said were at least three rocket strikes.

In June 2007, Palestinians in Lebanon fired two rockets that landed near the Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona.

HEAVY BOMBARDMENT
In the occupied West Bank, Israeli police shot and killed a Palestinian man who tried to set fire to a gas station at a Jewish settlement, an Israeli rescue service said. Police confirmed the shooting but not the man's condition.

Residents in Gaza described the overnight bombardment to the east of the city as among the heaviest in the offensive. In the south of the territory tanks advanced closer to the town of Khan Younis, witnesses said.

Although Israel pressed on with the offensive, it said it accepted the "principles" of a European-Egyptian ceasefire proposal. The United States urged Israel to study the plan.

Israel's assault resumed after a brief pause on Wednesday to help Gaza's inhabitants stock up on much-needed supplies.

Twenty Palestinians were killed on Wednesday, medics said, including three children in an air strike on a car. It took the total of Palestinian deaths since December 27 to at least 658 -- the bloodiest episode in decades of Israel-Palestinian conflict.

U.N. officials have said a quarter of the Palestinian dead were civilians, while other accounts put that proportion higher.

Ten Israelis have died in the past 13 days, seven of them soldiers, including four killed by "friendly" fire.

With both George W. Bush's outgoing administration and President-elect Barack Obama speaking out on the need for peace, officials said Israel would send an envoy to Cairo to discuss how the Egyptian plan might be implemented.

That may take several days. In the meantime, Israeli military commanders appear determined to keep up the pressure on the ground, even if a decision on whether to launch a new phase by targeting militants in Gaza's urban centres was put off.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice echoed Israel's concerns that a deal must achieve its goal of stopping the Hamas Islamists who rule Gaza from hitting Israel with rockets.

"It has to be a ceasefire that will not allow a return to the status quo," she said.
Hamas said it was looking at the Egyptian plan, brokered by France, which addresses Israel's demand that the militant group be prevented from rearming through smuggling tunnels from Egypt. The proposal also addresses Hamas's call for an end to Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip.
Tuesday's killing by Israeli shells of 42 people, including women and children sheltering in a U.N.-run school in Jabalya refugee camp, intensified international pressure on Israel to call a halt. U.N. officials denied an Israeli army account that militants had been firing from the school.
Israel has said it will press on until Hamas can no longer hit its southern towns with rockets.
Israeli leaders face a parliamentary election in a month and will want to show the public that they have met that objective.

However, U.S. involvement of the kind that helped end the Lebanon war and which was perceived as absent in the first week of the Gaza fighting may indicate that, whatever the state of combat on the ground, a ceasefire could be on the cards.

Some Israeli analysts say Israel faces a deadline to wrap up its campaign by the time Obama is sworn in, or risk a strain in ties with Washington at the outset of the new administration.
European governments have proposed backing the Egyptian ceasefire proposal with an EU force along the Gaza-Egypt border that would prevent Hamas, which seized control of Gaza in 2007, from rearming through its many tunnels.

Hamas called off a six-month ceasefire late last month, accusing Israel of breaking an agreement to ease supplies.

(Additional reporting by Yara Bayoumy in Beirut and Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza; Writing by Alastair Macdonald and Jeffrey Heller; Editing by Louise Ireland)

Israeli troops deepen push into Gaza

GAZA (Reuters) – Israeli forces pressed closer and into cities in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday despite new international calls for a ceasefire in an 11-day-old conflict in which hundreds of Palestinians have been killed.

Palestinian witnesses said Israeli forces moved 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.

There was intense fighting overnight on the outskirts of the city of Gaza, where residents huddled indoors in fear. Deaths recorded by Palestinian medics reached 564.

Most of several dozen deaths reported by hospitals in recent days have been civilians, apparently because dead militants remain on the battlefield. The Israeli military said it had killed 130 militants since Saturday -- an indication that the total Palestinian death toll since December 27 may be close to 700.

Israel's military said three soldiers were killed and 24 were wounded on Monday when an Israeli tank fired at a building in northern Gaza that they had occupied in fighting against the Islamist Hamas group, which seized control of Gaza in 2007.

The "friendly fire" incident caused the military's highest casualty toll since Israel launched its offensive. Eight Israelis, including four civilians hit in Palestinian rocket attacks, have been killed in the conflict.

Palestinian medics said 18 Palestinian civilians were killed on Tuesday, including 10 people who were hit by naval shells along the beach in the central Gaza Strip.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said the assault could get harder for troops. Hamas, vowing to fight on in every street and alley, threatened to fire more rockets across into Israel.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, on a peace mission to the Middle East, and U.S. President George W. Bush, in his final weeks in the White House, both appealed for a ceasefire.

But disagreement on who should stop shooting first and on what terms made the chances of a quick truce seem remote.

Israel, whose leaders fight a parliamentary poll on February 10, made clear its priority was securing the safety of its citizens. Hamas demanded a lifting of Israel's blockade of Gaza. Many of the enclave's 1.5 million people lack food, water or power.

The Jewish state launched the offensive after Hamas called off a six-month truce last month and stepped up cross-border rocket attacks in response to Israeli raids and the blockade.

SUICIDE BOMBERS

Israeli media reported that Hamas gunmen were maneuvering within a well-fortified tunnel system and that Israeli troops had encountered Palestinian suicide bombers.

Militants had been trying to lure Israeli soldiers into built-up areas, witnesses said.

An overnight Israeli air strike in the southern Gaza town of Rafah killed a Palestinian woman, medical officials said.

Barak told Israeli legislators on Monday Hamas had been dealt a heavy blow: "But we cannot say that its fighting capabilities have been harmed ... Difficult moments lie ahead in this operation and the main test could still be ahead," he said.

Hamas leaders, who have support from Iran and Syria but are viewed with suspicion by most Arab states, were defiant.

Thousands of fighters were waiting "in every street, every alley and at every house" to tackle the Israeli forces, Hamas military spokesman Abu Ubaida said in a broadcast speech.

Hamas would increase its rocket strikes on Israel if the Jewish state kept on attacking Gaza, said Ubaida.
Hamas, which wants to reverse the events of 1948 that created the Jewish state and turned Palestinians into refugees, won a parliamentary election in 2006.

It routed rival forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in 2007, taking control of Gaza and creating a schism that has blighted Abbas's bid to found a Palestinian state through U.S.-brokered talks with Israel.

Israel pulled its troops and more than 8,000 settlers out of Gaza in 2005 after 38 years of occupation in a move that many at the time hoped would lead to a breakthrough for relations between Israel and the Palestinians.

(Writing by Ari Rabinovitch; Editing by Ralph Gowling)

Gaza civilians left exposed in Israeli invasion

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – With booms from artillery and airstrikes keeping them awake, the 10 members of Lubna Karam's family spent the night huddled in the hallway of their Gaza City home.

Earlier strikes shattered the living room windows, letting cold air pour in. The Karams haven't had electricity for a week and have run out of cooking gas. The family, including three small children younger than four, eats cold, canned beans.

"It's war food," said Karam, 28. "What else can we do?"

As Israel's offensive against Hamas moves from pinpointed airstrikes to ground fighting and artillery shelling, Gaza's civilians are increasingly exposed. Some two dozen civilians were killed within hours after the start of Israel's ground invasion Saturday night.

Israel says eight days of aerial bombardment, followed by the ground invasion, seek to undermine Hamas' ability to fire rockets at the Jewish state. So far, more than 500 Palestinians and four Israelis have been killed. Palestinian and U.N. officials say at least 100 Palestinian civilians are among the dead.

The ground offensives will put Israeli solders, Gaza militants and civilians in much closer quarters.

The guiding principle of Israel's ground invasion is to move in with full force and try to minimize Israeli casualties, Israeli military correspondent Alex Fishman wrote in the daily Yediot Ahronoth. "We'll pay the international price later for the collateral damage and the anticipated civilian casualties," Fishman said.

While Israeli said its airstrikes have targeted only Hamas installations and leaders, some of the bombs were so powerful that they destroyed or damaged adjacent houses.

Karam said she always felt under threat. She said her family didn't sleep. "We keep hearing the sounds of airplanes and we don't know if we'll live until tomorrow, or not," she said.

Anas Mansour, 21, a resident of the Rafah refugee camp on the Gaza-Egypt border, said he and his family may try to leave the area later Sunday. Mansour said he was sleeping in his clothes, with his identification cards in his pocket in case he had to flee quickly.

He said he could see his neighbor loading a donkey cart with mattresses and blankets to leave, but hadn't yet decided if he'd do the same. "Where can we go? It's all the same," Mansour said.
Deprivation is nothing new in Gaza, but the Israeli-led blockade of the territory has grown increasingly tighter over the past two months, making cooking gas and many foods scare.

Adding to that, last week's bombings damaged the strip's sanitary and electrical infrastructure, leaving many residents without power and water, and most shops are now shuttered.

"When there was a siege, we kept taking about a catastrophe," said Hatem Shurrab, 24, of Gaza City. "But then the airstrikes started, and now we don't even know what word to use. There's no word in the dictionary that can describe the situation we are in."
___
Hubbard reported from Ramallah.

Israeli ground troops invade Gaza to halt rockets

By IBRAHIM BARZAK and JASON KEYSER, Associated Press Writers

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – Thousands of Israeli troops backed by columns of tanks and helicopter gunships launched a ground offensive in Gaza on Saturday night, with officials saying they expected a lengthy fight in the densely populated territory after eight days of punishing airstrikes failed to halt militant rocket attacks on Israel.

The incursion set off fierce clashes with Palestinian militants and Gaza's Hamas rulers vowed the coastal strip would be a "graveyard" for Israelis forces.

"This will not be easy and it will not be short," Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said on national television about two hours after ground troops moved in.

Army ambulances were seen bringing Israeli wounded to a hospital in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba. The military said a total of 30 soldiers were injured in the opening hours of the offensive along with "dozens" of militants.

The night sky over Gaza was lit by the flash of bullets and balls of fire from tank shells. Sounds of explosions were heard across Gaza City, the territory's biggest city, and high-rise buildings shook from the bigger booms.

Troops with camouflage face paint marching single file. As the ground troops moved in, Israel kept pounding Gaza with airstrikes. F-16 warplanes hit three targets within a few minutes, including a main Hamas security compound.

Gaza residents said troops were seen before dawn Sunday in the town of Beit Lahiya, north of Gaza City, and the sound of intense fighting could be heard just east of the city, toward the border with Israel.

In the city itself, the Hamas-run Al Aqsa radio station was in flames from a missile strike. Staff had evacuated the building about a week earlier, at the start of the Israeli offensive, and continued broadcasting from another location.

"We have many, many targets," Israeli army spokeswoman Maj. Avital Leibovich told CNN. "To my estimation, it will be a lengthy operation."

Israeli leaders said the operation, known as Cast Lead, was meant to quell militant rocket and mortar fire on southern Israel. They said it would not end quickly but that the objective was not to reoccupy Gaza or topple Hamas. The depth and intensity will depend in part on parallel diplomatic efforts that so far haven't yielded a truce proposal acceptable to Israel, the officials said.

In the airborne phase of Israel's onslaught, militants were not deterred from bombarding southern Israel with more than 400 rockets — including dozens that extended deeper into Israel than ever before. They fired six rockets into Israel in the first few hours after the ground push began, the military said.

One rocket scored a direct hit on a house in the southern city of Ashkelon earlier Saturday and another struck a bomb shelter there, leaving its above-ground entrance scarred by shrapnel and blasting a parked bus.

"I don't want to disillusion anybody and residents of the south will go through difficult days," Barak said. "We do not seek war but we will not abandon our citizens to the ongoing Hamas attacks."

Israel called up tens of thousands of reservists and the country's north was on high alert in the event Palestinian militants in the West Bank or Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon decide to exploit the broad offensive in Gaza to launch attacks against Israel on other fronts. Israel and Hezbollah fought a 34-day war in the summer of 2006.

White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said U.S. officials have been in regular contact with the Israelis as well as officials from countries in the region and Europe.

"We continue to make clear to them our concerns for civilians, as well as the humanitarian situation," Johndroe said.

The U.N. Security Council held emergency consultations on the escalation in Gaza. But late Saturday, the United States blocked approval of a council statement demanded by Arab nations that calls for an immediate cease-fire.

U.S. deputy ambassador Alejandro Wolff said the United States saw no prospect of Hamas abiding by last week's council call to end the violence. Therefore, he said, a new statement "would not be adhered to and would have no underpinning for success, would not do credit to the council."

Israel's bruising air campaign against Gaza over the past eight days began days after a six-month truce expired. Gaza health officials say the air war has killed more than 480 Palestinians in an attempt to halt Hamas rocket attacks that were reaching farther into Israel than ever before. Four Israelis have been killed by rockets.

Israel is taking a risk by wading into intense urban warfare in densely populated Gaza that could exact a much higher toll on both sides and among civilians.

This sort of urban warfare has not gone well in past campaigns where Israel sent ground forces into Arab population centers in the Palestinian territories or in Lebanon wars in 1982 and 2006. Israeli forces have either gotten bogged down or sustained heavy casualties, without quelling violent groups or halting attacks for good.

The decision to expand the operation, while continuing to batter Gaza from the air and sea, was taken after Hamas refused to stop attacking Israel, government officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because discussions leading up to wartime decisions are confidential.

Before the ground incursion began, heavy Israeli artillery fire hit east of Gaza City, in locations where the military said Hamas fighters were deployed. The artillery shells were apparently intended to detonate Hamas explosive devices and mines planted along the border area before troops marched in.

Hamas has long prepared for Israel's invasion, digging tunnels and rigging some areas with explosives. The group remained defiant as the ground war began.

"You entered like rats," Hamas spokesman Ismail Radwan told Israeli soldiers in a statement on Hamas' Al Aqsa TV, broadcast shortly after the start of the invasion. "Your entry to Gaza won't be easy. Gaza will be a graveyard for you, God willing," he said.

"Gaza will not be paved with flowers for you. It will be paved with fire and hell," Hamas warned Israeli forces.

A text message sent by Hamas' military wing, Izzedine al-Qassam, said "the Zionists started approaching the trap which our fighters prepared for them." Hamas said it also broadcast a Hebrew message on Israeli military radio frequencies promising to kill and kidnap the Israeli soldiers.

"Be prepared for a unique surprise, you will be either killed or kidnapped and will suffer mental illness from the horrors we will show you," the message said.

Hamas has also threatened to resume suicide attacks inside Israel.

Before the ground invasion, defense officials said about 10,000 Israeli soldiers had massed along the border in recent days.

Israel initially held off on a ground offensive, apparently in part because of concern about casualties among Israeli troops and because of fears of getting bogged down in Gaza.

An inner Cabinet of top ministers met with leading security officials for four hours Saturday before deciding to authorize the ground invasion.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told the meeting that Israel's objective was to bring quiet to southern Israel but "we don't want to topple Hamas," a government official quoted the prime minister as saying. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not supposed to share the information.

The immediate aim of the ground operations was to take control of sites militants use as rocket-launching pads, the military said. It said large numbers of troops were taking part but did not give specifics.

Israeli airstrikes intensified just as the ground operation was getting under way, and 28 Palestinians were killed. Palestinian health officials said civilians were among the dead, including a woman, her son and her father who died after a shell hit their house.

One raid hit a mosque in Beit Lahiya, killing 13 people and wounding 33, according to a Palestinian health official. It was not immediately clear why the mosque was hit, but Israel has hit other mosques in its air campaign and said they were used for storing weapons.

Israeli artillery joined the battle for the first time earlier on Saturday. Artillery fire is less accurate than attacks from the air using precision-guided munitions, raising the possibility of a higher number of civilian casualties.

An artillery shell hit a house in Beit Lahiya, killing two people and wounding five, said members of the family living there. Ambulances could not immediately reach them because of a resulting fire, they said.

Resident Abed al-Ghoul said the Israeli army called by phone to tell them to leave the house within 15 minutes.

The ground operation sidelined intense international diplomacy to try to reach a truce. French President Nicolas Sarkozy was to visit the region next week, and President George W. Bush favors an internationally monitored truce.

Israel has already said it wants international monitors. It is unclear whether Hamas would agree to such supervision, which could limit its control of Gaza.

In Hamas' first reaction to the proposal for international monitors, government spokesman Taher Nunu said early Saturday that the group would not allow Israel or the international community to impose any arrangement, though he left the door open to a negotiated solution.

"Anyone who thinks that the change in the Palestinian arena can be achieved through jet fighters' bombs and tanks and without dialogue is mistaken," he said.

Hamas began to emerge as Gaza's main power broker when it won Palestinian parliamentary elections three years ago. It has ruled the impoverished territory of 1.4 million people since seizing control from the rival Fatah forces of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in June 2007.

Israel occupied Gaza for 38 years before pulling out thousands of soldiers in settlers in late 2005. Israel still controls Gaza border crossings.