PSALMS 20:1-9 PRAY THIS FOR ISRAEL EVERY DAY OF THIS WAR
1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. The LORD hear thee in the day of trouble; the name of the God of Jacob defend thee;
2 Send thee help from the sanctuary, and strengthen thee out of Zion;
3 Remember all thy offerings, and accept thy burnt sacrifice; Selah.
4 Grant thee according to thine own heart, and fulfil all thy counsel.
5 We will rejoice in thy salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners: the LORD fulfil all thy petitions.
6 Now know I that the LORD saveth his anointed; he will hear him from his holy heaven with the saving strength of his right hand.
7 Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.
8 They are brought down and fallen: but we are risen, and stand upright.
9 Save, LORD: let the king hear us when we call.
ISRAELS INHERITED LAND IN THE FUTURE
And here are the bounderies of the land that Israel will inherit either through war or peace or God in the future. God says its Israels land and only Israels land. They will have every inch God promised them of this land in the future.
Egypt east of the Nile River, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, The southern part of Turkey and the Western Half of Iraq west of the Euphrates. Gen 13:14-15, Psm 105:9,11, Gen 15:18, Exe 23:31, Num 34:1-12, Josh 1:4.
ALL THIS LAND ISRAEL WILL DEFINATELY OWN IN THE FUTURE, ITS ISRAELS NOT ISHMAELS LAND.
HAMAS AT THERE WORST
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UptNr0v1p3E
WAR COVERAGE
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Special/War/
Audio: Gaza Conceals the True Pathological Nature of Hamas
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Radio/News.aspx/497
Security Cabinet Votes to Continue Operation Cast Lead
by Hana Levi Julian JAN 10,09
(IsraelNN.com) The Security Cabinet voted Friday to continue Operation Cast Lead in Gaza despite a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire.The State of Israel has never agreed that any outside body would determine its right to defend the security of its citizens, read a statement released by the Prime Minister's Office immediately following the meeting.The IDF will continue operations in order to defend Israeli citizens and will carry out the missions with which it has been assigned in the operation. This morning's rocket fire against residents of the south only proves that the UN Security Council Resolution #1860 is not practical and will not be honored in actual fact by the Palestinian murder organizations.
Humanitarian Affairs Coordination Center Opens
Parallel to the decision was the opening this week of a Humanitarian Affairs Coordination Center (HACC) in Tel Aviv. The center is meant to coordinate between the different organizations operating in the field and those of the IDF, according to the IDF Spokesperson's Unit. Its main focus is to expedite evacuation of foreign nationals from Gaza and coordinate the flow of food, fuel and supplies of goods to the humanitarian groups in the field. Hundreds of foreign nationals have been evacuated from Gaza since Operation Cast Lead began.Organizations represented at the center include the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), USAID, World Food Program (WFP), the European Commission, the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East (UNSCO), United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Representatives from Israeli governmental agencies and various IDF departments are also located at the center.
3-Hour Humanitarian Ceasefire
After several scheduling changes, a three-hour humanitarian ceasefire was established to begin in Gaza at 1:00 p.m., lasting until 4:00 p.m.On Thursday, Hamas terrorists did not respect the ceasefire and continued to fire rockets at southern Israel and attack Israeli soldiers in Gaza, despite the IDF ceasefire in the region.
The daily three-hour period of quiet is intended to allow Gaza residents to stock up on free supplies of medicines, basic food commodities and other items provided by international humanitarian aid organizations.
United Nations Calls for Ceasefire, United States Abstains
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu JAN 10,09
(IsraelNN.com) The United Nations Security Council has passed a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza after Western powers agreed to Arab demands. However, the motion does not detail how to carry out a halt in the fighting. The resolution calls for an immediate, durable and fully respected ceasefire that will lead to a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.The United States abstained in the 14-0 vote because it wants to wait for the outcome of an Egyptian truce initiative.The resolution, which is backed by both Western and Arab nations, condemns terror against civilians and calls on Israel to open Gaza crossings and to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza, a move Israel already has made.Arab nations insisted on the insertion of a ceasefire call in the resolution. However, the draft does not spell out details, and it will be up to Hamas and Israel to decide on the field whether to halt fire or continue the battle that began 13 days ago. Egypt and France are continuing their efforts to draw up a plan to carry out a halt in the fighting.
Germany, France and the United States said that Israel cannot be expected to halt its counterterrorist campaign until there is a guaranteed mechanism to stop the smuggling of weapons into Gaza, where Hamas still possesses thousands of deadly rockets.The guns must fall silent, the escalation must stop and Israel must obtain security guarantees and leave Gaza as soon as possible, French President Nicolas Sarkozy told reporters.Israel's position has been weakened to a certain degree by Hamas's putting on display a row of bodies of children who were killed in the IDF shelling of a United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) school in Gaza. Israel and UNRWA issued conflicting claims on whether Hamas terrorists used the school to fire mortar shells on Israeli soldiers.Further criticism of Israel came from the International Committee of the Red Cross, which accused Israel of preventing rescue efforts, and from the UNRWA, which suspended humanitarian aid operations after a truck driver was killed. The IDF said it is investigating the accusations.
WHEN DOESN'T THE WORLD PROTEST ISRAEL.....THE HATERS. I WOULD JUST LOVE TO SEE ALL THESE PROTESTING COUNTRIES LETTING HAMAS SHOOT ROCKETS AT THEM FOR 8 YEARS WITHOUT DOING ANYTHING ABOUT IT. 1 HAMAS BOMB IN EUROPE,AMERICA,CANADA AND OTHER DEMONSTRATING COUNTRIES AND HAMAS AND GAZA WOULD BE IN THE HISTORY BOOKS. ISRAEL HAS A RIGHT TO GET RID OF HAMAS AND TAKE OVER THEIR GOD GIVIN LAND GAZA AND TAKE IT BACK AS THEIR OWN. 10,540 ROCKETS IN ISRAEL SINCE 2001....SICK.
Thousands in Lebanon, Europe demonstrate over Gaza By BASSEM MROUE, Associated Press Writer JAN 10,09
BEIRUT, Lebanon – Nearly 20,000 people marched through southern Lebanon on Saturday to protest Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip, as thousands also took to the streets in several European cities to show their anger.Similar protests have occurred almost daily in the Middle East and elsewhere since Israel launched its operation more than two weeks ago to stop rocket fire from the militant Palestinian group Hamas. The demonstrations have been fueled by the rising death toll in Gaza, which currently stands at over 800 Palestinians. Thirteen Israelis have also died in the fighting.Saturday's rally in the southern Lebanese town of Nabatiyeh was organized by the militant Hezbollah group, a strong ally of Hamas that fought its own war with Israel in the summer of 2006.The thousands of demonstrators who marched through the streets waved Lebanese and Palestinian flags and some carried posters of bloody Palestinian children. Gaza is the nation's battle, read a banner carried by several of the protesters.Thousands of people also protested in several cities across Europe, with the largest crowds in Germany, where some 20,000 took to the streets in Berlin and two other cities.An estimated 8,500 rallied at Berlin's Alexanderplatz and then marched through downtown to the city's main train station. Some 10,000 people also marched in the western city of Duisburg, calling for an immediate end to the violence and a lifting of the blockade of Gaza. They carried signs with slogans like Freedom for Palestine and Down with the murdering of children.Thousands of demonstrators in the Scottish capital of Edinburgh gathered in front of the American consulate to toss shoes at the 19th century town house. Sky News television footage showed police recoiling as a storm of shoes flew over their heads.They were just flying, like hail through the sky, protest organizer Ian Hood said in a telephone interview. He said protesters were angry at the U.S. for failing to stop the bloodshed in Gaza.In London, about 12,000 demonstrators rallied in Hyde Park in support of the Palestinian cause, carrying placards marked Gaza: Stop the massacre and chanting free, free Palestine.Saturday's protests were largely peaceful, but more than 60 people were injured during a large demonstration the previous day in Algeria's capital, many by stone throwing, the Interior Ministry said.
Israel warns of further escalation in third week of Gaza war by Sakher Abu El Oun JAN 10,2009
GAZA CITY (AFP) – Israel vowed to escalate its war in Gaza on Saturday after carrying out more deadly air strikes, as troops battled Hamas fighters into a third week despite growing calls for a ceasefire.As the death rose to 825, Israeli planes sent a cloud of white leaflets fluttering across the Gaza City skyline warning residents it would soon step up its war on Hamas and other militant groups.The airforce also carried out more than 40 air strikes overnight and into Saturday, targeting arms manufacturing sites, weapons depots and smuggling tunnels, the army said.And ground troops, who entered Gaza a week ago, continued to clash with Palestinian fighters across the territory.In one incident, eight members of the same Palestinian family, including a 12-year-old, were killed during the shelling of the northern town of Jabaliya.We were at home when the bombing started, one of the attack's survivors Umm Mohammed told AFP inside a nearby hospital.We fled towards another house and the tanks started firing. Several of us were hit.An Israeli army spokesman denied the incident took place, and Israel has said from the start of the conflict that it is not targeting civilians.Israeli forces killed at least 25 people on Saturday including 17 in heavy fighting in the north and around Gaza City, according to Dr Muawiya Hassanein, head of Gaza emergency services.Since the Israeli offensive began on December 27, at least 825 people have been killed, including 235 children, 93 women, and 12 paramedics, he said.Another 3,350 people have been wounded, overwhelming Gaza's beleaguered medical facilities.Hamas and other armed groups meanwhile fired at least ten rockets into Israel, wounding four people, according to the Israeli army.Egypt has been spearheading US-backed efforts to end the fighting that has sparked spiralling protests across the Muslim world, with President Hosni Mubarak meeting his Palestinian counterpart Mahmud Abbas on Saturday.
A Hamas delegation, including for the first time senior officials from Gaza as well as members of the Islamists' Damascus-based leadership in exile, was also due to hold talks with Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman.Abbas pressed Hamas to accept the Egyptian plan without hesitation, warning that whoever does not accept (the plan) will be responsible for the continuing aggression and for bloodshed.
Mubarak's plan, unveiled on Tuesday, calls for an immediate truce for a specified period, opening Gaza's border crossings, preventing arms smuggling and a call for Palestinians to resume reconciliation talks.Israeli officials said Egypt has proposed that Western-backed forces loyal to Abbas -- which were violently driven out of Gaza when Hamas seized power in 2007 -- patrol the Gaza-Egypt border to help prevent arms smuggling.Both Israel and Hamas have brushed off a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate truce in a territory, already reeling from an 18-month Israeli blockade. UN chief Ban Ki-moon expressed disappointment with Israel's defiance. But Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Israel would not bow to outside influence and would press ahead with its offensive. The flyers which rained down on Gaza warned that the military will soon intensify its operations against the tunnels, arms depots, and terrorists throughout the Gaza Strip.For your security and that of your families, you are asked not to approach terrorists, weapons depots and arms, added the flyers, printed in Arabic. Hamas said it was not consulted on the ceasefire resolution and would not accept a truce that did not see the lifting of the crippling blockade which Israel imposed on the territory after the Islamists seized power in June 2007. The humanitarian impact of Operation Cast Lead was also becoming more acute with the UN warning that families were going hungry as food supplies dry up. The United Nations said it would resume staff movements in the enclave where most of the 1.5 million population depend on foreign aid following an apparent Israeli strike on one of its convoys that killed a driver. But Christopher Gunness, a spokesman for the UN refugee agency, said the situation remains dire. We are receiving reports that some people are starting to burn their furniture to bake bread and to cook. Israel launched its war aiming to end rocket fire against southern towns and the smuggling of weapons into Gaza through tunnels under the border with Egypt. 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.
Israel, Hamas ignore truce calls By Nidal al-Mughrabi JAN 10,09
GAZA (Reuters) – Israeli tanks advanced on Gaza and Hamas militants fired rockets at Israel on Saturday, as both sides ignored international calls to stop the conflict and Israel warned it would escalate its assault.An Israeli tank shell killed eight Palestinians in Jabalya, a refugee camp in the north of the Gaza Strip, and an air strike killed a woman in nearby Beit Lahiya, Palestinian medics said.All of those killed in Jabalya were believed to be men from the same family. The Israeli army denied carrying out any attacks in the area.The deaths, including those of several Palestinian gunmen, raised the Palestinian toll to at least 821, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza. Thirteen Israelis have been killed: 10 soldiers and three civilians hit in rocket fire.The fighting continued even during a three-hour ceasefire window Israel has established in recent days to allow aid into Gaza to sustain the 1.5 million people living there.As Israeli tanks advanced in northern Gaza and aircraft hit targets across the coastal strip, Hamas rockets hit Ashkelon, 20 km (12 miles) north of Gaza, wounding three Israelis.The Israeli military also dropped leaflets on southern Gaza, around the town of Rafah, warning residents to stay away from militants, weapons storage facilities and tunnels as it was about to escalate its bombing throughout the coastal territory.In the coming period, the Israeli army will continue to attack tunnels, weapons caches, and terrorists with escalating force all over the Gaza Strip, the leaflets read.
Concerned about the deepening humanitarian impact of the war, with more than half Gaza's population dependent on U.N. food assistance, the United Nations said it hoped to resume full aid distribution after receiving Israeli assurances that its staff would not be harmed. A U.N. driver was killed on Thursday.Israel has pressed on with its offensive despite a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire and Egyptian-European efforts at mediation, saying it is intent on stopping Hamas rocket fire. Hamas, too, has ignored calls for a halt to hostilities, firing eight rockets at Israel on Saturday.A phalanx of Israeli tanks advanced from the north toward the city of Gaza, creeping in on the large refugee camp of Jabalya, home to around 100,000 people.
EGYPTIAN EFFORT FALTERS
In an attempt to breathe life into a faltering Egyptian-led mediation effort, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose Fatah party is a political foe of Hamas, met Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak for talks in Cairo.They discussed the possible deployment of international forces along the Gaza-Egypt border under any ceasefire deal, but Abbas said they should be in Gaza itself, not along the border.Privately, diplomats believe the Egyptian initiative, also sponsored by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, is in trouble, even if Israel has said talks about the proposal will continue and Hamas has sent representatives to Cairo.There is a growing sense that the Egyptian-French plan is not going to work, a senior European diplomat told Reuters.Following talks with Abbas, Egypt said it would not accept foreign troops on its side of the 15-km (9-mile) border with Gaza to prevent arms smuggling.But Germany, whose foreign minister also met with Egyptian officials, said it would send experts to help assess Egypt's police training needs to bolster anti-smuggling efforts. Israel says the Egyptians have failed in the past to prevent Hamas building up an arsenal of Soviet-designed missiles. As with the Egyptian initiative, the U.N. Security Council resolution late on Thursday calling for an immediate ceasefire appears to have little traction with Israel or Hamas. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert dismissed it as unworkable and Hamas officials in the Gaza Strip said they objected because they had not been consulted.
U.S. BLAMES HAMAS
The United States, which abstained in the U.N. vote, offered further public support for Israel's military goals. This situation will not improve until Hamas stops lobbing rockets into Israel, White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said. He said President George W. Bush had expressed concern to Olmert about the humanitarian situation and the loss of civilian lives during the Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip. With the Palestinian civilian death toll already in the hundreds, Israeli actions have drawn denunciations from the Red Cross, U.N. agencies and Arab and European governments. U.N. sources said Israel also was stepping up operations in the West Bank, detaining Palestinian suspects in rising numbers. Hamas wants any ceasefire deal to include the ending of Israel's crippling economic blockade of the Gaza Strip and the withdrawal of all Israeli forces from the territory, from which Israel withdrew in 2005 after a 38-year occupation. Israel's key demands are for a complete halt to Hamas rocket fire and for international guarantees to stop the group rearming via smuggling tunnels under the border with Egypt. (Additional reporting by Adam Entous and Allyn Fisher-Ilan in Jerusalem and Hans-Edzard Busemann and William Rasmussen in Cairo; Writing by Luke Baker; editing by Michael Roddy)
THIS IS ANOTHER PHAROH REBELLING AGAINST GOD AND HAMAS WILL PAY BIGTIME.
Hamas rejects international observers in Gaza Sat Jan 10, 7:45 am ET
DAMASCUS, Syria – Syria-based Palestinian militant groups including Hamas have rejected the idea of deploying international observers or troops in Gaza.A statement issued by the groups after a meeting Saturday also rejected any security arrangement that infringes on the right of resistance against Israeli occupation. The meeting was attended by Hamas political leader Khaled Mashaal.Hamas seized control of Gaza in 2007. The two-week old Israeli offensive aimed at crippling militants' ability to fire rockets at Israel has resulted in more than 800 deaths in the coastal territory.
The statement comes hours after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called on Hamas to reach an agreement to end the fighting.
U.S. says arms shipment to Israel not linked to Gaza By Stefano Ambrogi Stefano Ambrogi – Fri Jan 9, 8:28 pm ET
LONDON (Reuters) – The U.S. military has sought to hire a merchant ship to deliver ammunition to Israel this month, tender documents show, but the Pentagon said the shipment was not linked to the conflict in the Gaza Strip.A Pentagon spokesman said the ammunition was for a U.S. stockpile in Israel. The U.S. military pre-positions stockpiles in some countries in case it needs supplies at short notice.In the tender documents, 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.Air Force Lt. Col. Patrick Ryder, a Pentagon spokesman, said he would not comment on shipping routes for security reasons but confirmed a shipment of ammunition to Israel was planned.The delivery of ammunition is to a pre-positioned U.S. munitions stockpile in Israel in accordance with a congressionally authorized 1990 agreement between the U.S. and Israel, Ryder said.This previously scheduled shipment is routine and not in support of the current situation in Gaza.The shipment originated in the United States, Ryder said. He provided no further details on the intended cargo.A hazardous material designation on the manifest mentions explosive substances and detonators but gives no other details.
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.A German shipping firm which won that tender confirmed the order when contacted by Reuters but declined to comment further.(Additional reporting by Andrew Gray in Washington)
US House joins Senate to back Israel over Gaza Fri Jan 9, 4:10 pm ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – The US House of Representatives on Friday joined the Senate in offering staunch support to Israel as the conflict rages on in Gaza, calling on Hamas to end rocket attacks.Today, we reaffirm that Israel, like any nation, has a right to self-defense when under attack, said House speaker Nancy Pelosi.The rocket and mortar attacks from Gaza, which were increasing in frequency and range, constituted an unacceptable security threat to which Israel had a responsibility to respond.Pelosi backed the Bush administration position that the ceasefire should address the root causes of the conflict to forge a peace that is durable and sustainable.The resolution calls on Hamas to end rocket and mortar attacks against Israel, recognize Israel's right to exist, renounce violence and verifiably dismantle its terrorist infrastructure.It says civilian lives must intended to the maximum extent possible and expresses condolences to innocent Palestinian and Israeli victims and their families.The resolution, passed unanimously, also reiterates that humanitarian needs in Gaza should be addressed promptly and responsibly.On Thursday, the Senate passed a similar measure, saying Israel had an inalienable right to defend itself from attacks by Hamas.
WELL I'M WARNING RUSSIA,ARAB,MUSLIMS GOD WILL DESTROY 5/6TH OF USE WHEN (NOT IF) USE MARCH TO ISRAEL IN THE FUTURE. 7 MONTHS TO BURY YOU MURDERERS OF INNOCENT ISRAELIS.
Muslim world expresses anger at Gaza assault Fri Jan 9, 3:31 pm ET
ALEXANDRIA, Egypt (AFP) – Ten of thousands of Muslims took to the streets Friday from Jakarta to Nouakchott to demonstrate their anger at the Israeli action in Gaza, with the biggest protest taking place in neighbouring Egypt.More than 50,000 Egyptians rallied after Friday prayers to condemn the assault against Hamas as protests, sometimes violent, took place in other parts of the Muslim world.
Legislators affiliated with the opposition Muslim Brotherhood led the demonstration in the ancient Mediterranean port city of Alexandria, which echoed to such slogans as Down with Israel and with every collaborator.The anger was directed not only at the Jewish state, but at Arab regimes deemed to be complicit in the ongoing Israeli blockade of Gaza that has stopped refugees from getting out and humanitarian aid from getting in.Gaza, excuse us -- opening Rafah is not in our hands, went another slogan, referring to the Gaza-Egyptian border crossing that President Hosni Mubarak's government in Cairo is refusing to keep open permanently.A security official put the turnout at 50,000. Riot police were seen trying to prevent the demonstration from taking place -- only to give up because of the sheer numbers of protesters.In the West Bank city of Ramallah, fights broke out between supporters of Hamas and the rival Fatah faction during a day of wrath protest, prompting police to intervene with tear gas and baton charges.Some 3,000 demonstrated at the behest of Hamas in Hebron, throwing stones at Israeli soldiers who responded with rubber bullets. Several thousand meanwhile shouted Death to Israel in Nablus, while young Palestinians clashed with police in Jerusalem.
Thousands rallied in Doha, Abu Dhabi, Bahrein and Kuwait.
Police fired tear gas at more than 2,000 angry protesters on Friday to prevent them from approaching the Israeli embassy in the Jordanian capital Amman.Water cannon were also used to disperse some of the protesters who had set off after Friday prayers from Kaloti mosque for the embassy, about a kilometre (less than a mile) away in western Amman.Angry followers of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr torched US and Israeli flags in a mass rally in Baghdad on Friday in protest at the two-week-old conflict.Thousands took to the streets of Algiers to show solidarity with the Palestinians. Clashes broke out between police and demonstrators in the city centre and in the upper districts of the seaside city. Arrests were made and there were injuries on both sides.Kenyan police fired tear gas and used water cannon to disperse hundreds of Muslims who had gathered after Friday prayers in Nairobi. Close to a thousand demonstrators started chanting slogans in solidarity with the Palestinians outside the capital's Jamea mosque.Demonstrators and riot police clashed Friday in the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott as protestors called for diplomatic ties with Israel to be cut.In Asia, thousands of people rallied Friday in southwest Pakistan, near the Afghan border, cheering support for Al-Qaeda's Osama bin Laden, police said.The rally in the town of Chaman was organised by the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam political party and was the biggest yet in Pakistan against the Israeli campaign in Gaza.About 200 women protested outside the Egyptian embassy in Jakarta, brandishing posters of dead and wounded Palestinian children and urging Egypt to open its border with Gaza. In Malaysia, Islamic groups urged a boycott of US brands such as Coca-Cola -- and a former prime minister told Malaysians working for Starbucks or McDonald's to quit -- during a protest by around 300 people outside the National Mosque in the capital Kuala Lumpur. In Europe, there were protests involving thousands of people in many cities, including some 2,500 people in the Danish capital Copenhagen. These were just a taster for huge protests planned in European capitals for the weekend.
YES THE COWARDS HAMAS ARE USING WOMEN,CHILDREN AS SHIELDS THERES NO WAY INNOCENTS CAN NOT BE KILLED WITH COWARDS HAMAS HIDING BEHIND THEM.
Hard for Israel to spare Gaza civilians : Rice Fri Jan 9, 2:46 pm ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Friday defended Israel in the face of civilian deaths in Gaza, saying it's hard for Israeli troops to protect residents because the area is so densely populated and Hamas allegedly 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 in the offensive which has left more than 780 Palestinians dead.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.I was encouraged that Prime Minister (Ehud) Olmert, after an extensive conversation we had, agreed to open a new humanitarian corridor, the chief US diplomat added.The mounting civilian death toll from a two-week old Israeli offensive in Gaza has drawn international outrage and a vote a UN vote for an immediate ceasefire, from which Rice abstained Thursday.At a press briefing Friday, Rice's spokesman Sean McCormack was asked to comment on non-government organizations (NGOs) who charge that Israeli is violating international humanitarian law.I can't offer you a full assessment of these allegations. Israeli leaders have said otherwise. You know, I'm not in a position to contradict what they have ... stated, McCormack said.Echoing NGO concerns, Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy demanded an independent inquiry into the rising casualties in Gaza.
Earlier, White House spokesman Scott Stanzel blamed Hamas for the suffering, saying Israel had no choice but to defend itself after Hamas let a six-month ceasefire lapse and fired an increasing number of rockets at Israel.We have expressed our deep concerns about the situation with innocent lives being lost. But, again, this is a problem, unfortunately, that was brought on by Hamas, Stanzel said, adding that the Israelis are taking every step that they can to prevent the loss of innocent life.
But, he said, the situation will not improve until Hamas stops lobbing rockets into Israel.Israeli air strikes against Gaza and Palestinian rocket fire on Israel continued Friday, as both sides rejected the UN Security Council vote on Thursday.
Fourteen of the council's 15 members voted in favor of a compromise resolution that calls for an immediate, durable and fully respected ceasefire, leading to the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.It also calls for major steps to provide humanitarian assistance, including the provision of food and medical treatment.Rice said her government abstained from the vote principally because we believe it would have been useful to have a little bit more time for the Mubarak initiative to mature.
But she said she had no plans to actually travel to Egypt.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 wants a durable ceasefire that prevents Hamas from resuming rocket fire on Israel. It also abstained because it wants to avoid putting Israel on equal footing with a terrorist organization, Rice said.
Canada's PM urges durable ceasefire in Gaza Fri Jan 9, 2:11 pm ET
OTTAWA (AFP) – Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said again on Friday he would like to see a durable ceasefire between Israeli forces and Hamas in Gaza.We would like to see a ceasefire, but an efficient and durable ceasefire, he told a press conference. We have asked for the ceasefire to both parties in this conflict.Since its election in 2006, Harper's Conservative government has been an ardent supporter of Israel, while Hamas is listed by Ottawa as a terrorist organization.On Wednesday, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Peter Kent blamed Hamas for civilian casualties in the conflict, including 40 at a school bombarded by the Israeli military, saying Hamas provoked the attack.
Gaza conflict seen as boost to Mideast hardliners: analysts by Christophe de Roquefeuil Fri Jan 9, 1:06 pm ET
PARIS (AFP) – Israel's military offensive in Gaza plays into the hands of Arab extremists and hardline regimes such as Iran while also killing off hopes for a Palestinian state, experts warn.Islamist groups in the Arab world have been emboldened by a surge in anti-Israeli sentiment as the death toll from two weeks of Israeli air and ground attacks nears 800, they say.What is happening currently strengthens the hand of extreme radicals and risks destabilising moderate governments, said Denis Bauchard, a Middle East specialist from the French Institute of International Relations.Targeted by Israel, the Palestinian militant group Hamas could well come out of the conflict with an elevated status in Arab public opinion even if it is weakened militarily, he said.The fighting in Gaza is a new headache to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak who already faces a difficult social and political situation domestically, under pressure from the opposition Muslim Brotherhood, said Bauchard.US expert Anthony Cordesman from the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) agreed that the violence in Gaza bolstered the standing of radicals across the Muslim and Arab world.
The only way to counter this is to arrive at a political resolution, said Cordesman, in an interview with Le Monde newspaper. But today prospects for that are not good, he warned.World powers at the UN Security Council agreed late Thursday on a resolution calling for an immediate, durable ceasefire paving the way to a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.Israel began its military operation on December 27 to retaliate against rocket attacks by Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that has controlled the Gaza Strip since June 2007.Backed by Washington, Israel is demanding an end to rocket attacks and the closure of tunnels along the border with Egypt that are used by Hamas militants to smuggle in weapons.For Antoine Basbous, director of the Paris-based Observatory of Arab Countries, the confrontation will hurt the position of Mahmud Abbas, president of the internationally-recognised Palestinian authority.Hamas wants to be the symbolic face of Palestine and its claims, taking the place of a worn-out Abbas, said Basbous. A win by Hamas is also a gain for what he calls the Syria-Iran-Hezbollah axis.But if Hamas comes out of this episode crushed, Abbas could then come to the rescue as a wise man who does not take exaggerated risk, he added.The conflict is having regional ramifications, notably in Iran where the regime backs Hamas and its refusal to recognise Israel.With presidential polls in June, Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is suddenly very popular because of his radical position on this situation, said Laleh Khalili of London's Middle East School of Oriental and African studies.Before this crisis came up, the reformists in Iran were doing very well.
The conflict will also cast a long shadow on Israeli elections set for February 10, with incumbent Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzpi Livni locked in a tight battle with Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing Likud.A Likud victory would be widely seen as reducing the chance of creating a Palestinian state and would likely usher in a retreat from the peace process. If Hamas tightens its grip on Gaza while Israeli settlers continue to change the facts on the ground in the West Bank, Bauchard wonders whether there is still room for a Palestinian state that will be more than just an empty shell.
US blames Hamas for Gaza humanitarian crisis Fri Jan 9, 12:19 pm ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – The United States Friday said it was worried about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, but placed blame for the suffering squarely on the shoulders of Hamas, repeating its confidence in Israeli efforts to spare civilians.
It is a humanitarian crisis. It's a war zone. And war zones are very difficult, said White House spokesman Scott Stanzel.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.
Sadr supporters torch US, Israel flags in Iraq by Farhad Pouladi Farhad Pouladi – Fri Jan 9, 11:11 am ET
BAGHDAD (AFP) – Angry followers of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr torched US and Israeli flags in a mass rally in Baghdad on Friday in protest at the two-week-old conflict in the Gaza Strip.About 2,000 Sadr supporters, many waving Iraqi and Palestinian flags gathered in front of the cleric's headquarters in Sadr City to vent their anger at the Jewish state and its chief ally after Friday prayers.We sympathise and understand the suffering of the people in Gaza, and the reason for their misery is the evil trinity of America, Israel and Britain, prayer leader Sheikh Jassem al-Motairi told worshippers.We understand their pain because the innocent are being killed by occupiers.The crowds responded by chanting: No, No, to the Occupier.Motairi read a statement issued by Sadr earlier this week urging Iraqis to take revenge against the US for supporting Israel's offensive in Gaza where at least 785 people have been killed since its launch on December 27.I ask the Iraqi resistance to engage in revenge operations against the United States, the biggest partner of the Zionist enemy, Sadr said in the statement released on Wednesday.
Sadr's movement, which draws broad support from poorer Shiites and dominates the vast and impoverished eastern Baghdad district of Sadr City, has long been a staunch opponent of the US-led military presence in Iraq.Sheikh Salman al-Feraiji, manager of Sadr's office in the district, said the cleric's entreaty was aimed at all Iraqis.
The call covers all Iraqi resistance group and is not exclusive to Sadrist resistance. It is a general call, Feraiji said.On the streets pamphlets of Sadr's newest edict were passed out and worshippers cheered as they carried Palestinian flags and banners, one which read: People of Gaza be patient, we are coming.One of the worshippers, Kamel Saberi al-Sari, said the United States deserved to be punished.We want all nations to stop supporting the Zionist regime which is currently killing our people in Gaza, he said.It is our legitimate right to punish the Zionist regime's biggest supporter, the Great Satan, the United States.Waleed al-Hussein, a local shopkeeper, also railed against the campaign Israel has conducted against Hamas in Gaza with what he said was the help of the United States.Any free-minded human being will call for stop of bloodshed once he sees the atrocities there, Hussein said sitting on a small prayer rug on the street.All divine religions have called for stopping the aggressor and the United States that has been aiding the aggressor, so it shares the blame.As prayers came to an end, a group of youths torched Israeli and US flags before people dispersed. Despite Friday's apparent show of solidarity with residents of Gaza, rights groups have said around 30,000 Palestinians refugees who lived in Baghdad had been ill-treated after the fall of the Saddam Hussein regime in 2003. Many were abducted, tortured and murdered by armed Shiite Muslim groups in the violent bloodletting that followed the US-led invasion in March 2003, according to the rights group Amnesty International. It said in a report late last year that Palestinians had been targeted because they were seen to have received preferential treatment from Hussein, a Sunni like most of them, or were suspected of supporting Sunni insurgents.
Israeli security cabinet opts to continue Gaza offensive Fri Jan 9, 10:36 am ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – The Israeli security cabinet on Friday decided to continue the offensive in Gaza despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire, a senior official told AFP.The ministers were briefed on talks (Israeli envoy) Amos Gilad held in Egypt as well as on the UN Security Council resolution, a senior government official told AFP after the cabinet meeting.The ministers reiterated Israel's full right to defend its citizens to which end the IDF (Israeli Defence Forces) will continue its operations in order to reach the goals of the offensive -- to bringing a change to the security situation in the south of the country.Furthermore the army will continue its operation to prevent weapons smuggling into the Gaza Strip.It was also decided that humanitarian activity that Israel is allowing will continue.
Rocket fire from Lebanon: a second front for Israel? By Ilene R. Prusher and Nicholas Blanford – Fri Jan 9, 3:00 am ET
Nahariya, Israel; and Beirut, Lebanon – With the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza continuing to rage and truce talks still far from bearing fruit, a militant group in Lebanon raised the possibility of opening a new front in the war Thursday.
Three Katyusha rockets were fired from southern Lebanon, one of them hitting a nursing home in the northern city of Nahariya, Israel, injuring two people.Israel responded immediately with five artillery shells, which a military spokesman said was a pinpoint response at the source of fire.Neither Israel nor Hezbollah in Lebanon want another war, say analysts. But that doesn't mean that Hezbollah – or its allies – won't launch small attacks on Israel or target Israeli aircraft over Lebanon, they say.Israeli officials were reluctant to declare this the opening of another front, given that the rockets may have been fired by a pro-Palestinian militant group, but not by the Iranian-backed Hezbollah. Still, the devastating 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah – and by default, all of Lebanon – hangs like a specter over the current fighting and is serving as both a model and an obstacle to reaching a cease-fire with Hamas. The first assumption is that it's not Hezbollah, it's global jihadists, groups much more connected with Al Qaeda, says Col. (Res.) Miri Eisin, a spokesperson for the Israeli government. We're talking about a group that doesn't care about Lebanon or its politics, but uses it as a base, the way other militants do with Afghanistan or Iraq.That's part of the challenge, she adds. Distinguishing between isolated incidents and opening a second front. She points out that just 10 days ago, the Lebanese government dismantled eight rockets it found aimed at Israel, indicating its intent to keep up its commitments to stop rocket fire from its territory.
Lebanon launched an investigation into the rocket attack, an act that Prime Minister Fouad Siniora called a breach of a United Nations resolution that helped end the 2006war between Israel and Lebanon's militant Shiite Hezbollah.In southern Lebanon, schools were closed and Lebanese troops searched vehicles at checkpoints and scoured remote valleys near the border with Israel.Hezbollah and Palestinian groups denied responsibility for the rocket salvo. When Hezbollah does something, it announces it and has no problem doing so, says Mohammed Fneish, minister of labor in Lebanon's national unity government who is also a Hezbollah lawmaker.Suspicion has fallen on the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC), which is based in Damascus, Syria, and is an ally of Hezbollah.Hamzi Bishtawi, a PFLP-GC official in Beirut, says his group was not involved, but it supported the attack. We do not condemn any action against Israel, he says. We are always with the jihadists that attack Israel.If Hezbollah didn't fire the rockets, did it supply them? After decades of conflict, there is no shortage of Katyusha-style rockets in Lebanon. The identity of the perpetrators could indicate whether Hezbollah was aware of the rocket attack beforehand and possibly gave it tacit blessing. Some Palestinian militant groups, such as the PFLP-GC, are allies of Hezbollah and would be unlikely to launch an attack on Israel without at least obtaining prior approval from Hezbollah and Syria. On the other hand, Al Qaeda-style Sunni groups, as Israeli officials note, are suspected of firing rockets into Israel in the past from southern Lebanon. Those militants have little regard for the Shiite Hezbollah and are more likely to act unilaterally.Yet most analysts say that the rocket barrage does not presage the opening of a new front between Israel and Hezbollah. But there may be more rocket attacks.This is not surprising, says Timur Goksel, who for two decades served with the United Nations peacekeeping force in south Lebanon, known as UNIFIL. It's possible we will see more attacks like this in the days ahead. The Lebanese Army and UNIFIL will have their hands full.So far, Hezbollah has restricted its support for its Palestinian ally Hamas to speeches and demonstrations in Beirut.
In June, Lebanon goes to the polls in what is expected to be a tense and closely fought parliamentary election. An electoral win for Hezbollah and its allies against the Western-backed parliamentary majority bloc will give it greater leverage to hold onto its weapons and continue the struggle against Israel. Triggering a potentially devastating fresh war with Israel for the sake of Hamas in Gaza will not be welcomed by its Shiite constituents, let alone other Lebanese, which is a compelling reason for Hezbollah to limit its actions. But if Hamas looks to be facing defeat, spelling the end of anti-Israel resistance from Gaza and the West Bank, it is possible that Hezbollah will come to its assistance from Lebanon. There is no way that Hezbollah can allow Hamas to be destroyed. Hezbollah would have to intervene, says Amal Saad-Ghorayeb, an expert on the Shiite group. Instead of firing rockets into Israel, Hezbollah probably would tailor its actions against Israel to seek legitimacy in the eyes of Lebanese and world opinion. One possibility is to attempt to shoot down Israeli jets that breach Lebanese airspace on a nearly daily basis in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions. The downing of an Israeli aircraft would be considered a red line by Israel. But Hezbollah could argue that its action was a legitimate defense of Lebanese sovereignty rather than an act of aggression against Israel, analysts say. In Nahariya, Thursday afternoon, Chava Carmeli said it was a miracle that all 27 of the people who live in the three-story elder-care facility that she manages were downstairs in the dining room, about to eat breakfast, when the Katyusha rocket pierced through the roof at 7:40 a.m.
The rocket shattered walls, ceilings, windows, and pipes in most of the bedrooms upstairs before landing in the kitchen. There, plates of about-to-be-served hummus and labneh – a staple in Middle Eastern breakfasts – sat covered with shards of glass and flakes of plaster. Now, the building sits with holes wide-open to the sky and is eerily empty of residents, who were soon evacuated to other senior-citizen homes in the area. If they hadn't all come down to the dining room for breakfast, we would have lost tens of them, says Ms. Carmeli, still shaking from the experience and checking for updates on one of her residents, who was in surgery in a nearby hospital. We thought that if there were another missile attack, the siren would warn us and we'd be able to move everyone into the shelters.But the attack came without warning, something Israelis here came to rely on during the Lebanon war in 2006.
Despite that, Miriam Cohen, an 86-year-old Holocaust survivor who lives across the street, felt the familiar crash of the Katyusha while she was baking for the upcoming Sabbath. She knew exactly what she had to do. She turned the oven off, turned the radio on, and made for the shelter in the house they've been in for 50 years. I already don't run so fast, she explains about making her way to the shelter – a protected steel room inside their house. We're already experts in this routine, she says with a wry smile. Then, her eyes pool with tears. We don't see any hope that this will end.
