MEANWHILE 10,600 ROCKETS HAVE BEEN SHOT BY HAMAS INTO ISRAEL SINCE 2001 AND NO FUSS FROM THE WORLD,WERE IS THE OUTRAGE AGAINST HAMAS FOR DESTROYING GOD'S AND ISRAELS PROPERTY AND PEOPLE FOR THE LAST 8 YEARS.
I CAN GUARENTEE AS SOON AS DAYLIGHT COMES IN ISRAEL THE CEASEFIRE WILL BE DONE WITH AS HAMAS CAN'T CONTROL THEIR LUSTFUL DESIRES TO ELIMINATE ISRAEL FROM THE FACE OF THE EARTH.
Israel holds its fire: Statement by PM Ehud Olmert 17 Jan 2009 Beginning at 2:00 a.m., Israel will cease its actions against the terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip and will remain deployed in the Gaza Strip and its environs. Translated from Hebrew]
Citizens of Israel,
Exactly three weeks ago as the Sabbath ended, we sat here before you - my friend Ehud Barak, the Vice Prime Minister Tzipi Livni and myself - and detailed the considerations and goals which guided us in launching a military operation in the Gaza Strip. Today, we face you again and can say that the conditions have been created so that our targets, as defined when we launched the operation, have been fully achieved, and more so:
• Hamas was badly stricken, both in terms of its military capabilities and in the infrastructure of its regime. Its leaders are in hiding. Many of its members have been killed. The factories in which its missiles were manufactured have been destroyed. The smuggling routes, through dozens of tunnels, have been bombed. The Hamas's capabilities for conveying weapons within the Gaza Strip have been damaged. The scope of missile fire directed at the State of Israel has been reduced. The areas from which most of the missiles were launched are under the control of IDF forces. The estimate of all the security services is that the Hamas's capabilities have been struck a heavy blow which will harm its ability to rule and its military capabilities for some time.
• The IDF and the Israel Security Agency have succeeded in conducting an outstanding operation, utilizing all the elements of Israel's force - on land, at sea and in the air. The military operation was characterized by determination, sophistication, courage and an impressive ability in intelligence and operations, which led to significant and numerous achievements. The current campaign proved again Israel’s force and strengthened its deterrence capability vis-a-vis those who threaten us.
• The reserves soldiers, who are the foundation for the IDF’s strength, proved that the spirit of volunteerism and a willingness to sacrifice still very much exist. These forces were made ready in a thorough manner, equipped with all they needed and thus could demonstrate their professionalism and fierceness of spirit.
• During all the days of fighting, the Israeli home front demonstrated its strength, despite hundreds of rockets and mortar shells indiscriminately fired at a population which numbers one million residents; it was the home front that created an unshakable foundation which strengthened us and gave us the ability to continue fighting. Two years of preparation on the home front proved that we learned our lessons and were properly organized. The Government and the heads of the regional local authorities under attack demonstrated the patience, endurance and that same strong spirit which allowed the political echelon to make the right decisions, knowing that the home front could withstand the consequences of those decisions.
• As a decision-making body, the Government of Israel demonstrated unity with regard to goals, and acted professionally and in coordination to achieve those goals. The decisions were all made in a responsible and educated manner, following clarification and in-depth discussions. As an executive branch, the Government met the demands and needs of the population and the fighting forces.
• Alongside the successes, we must also remember the fallen and those who sacrificed their lives to achieve a better reality in the South. The campaign claimed the lives of three residents of the South and ten of our soldiers. Tonight our hearts are with their families. We send our wishes for a speedy recovery to the residents of the South and to the IDF soldiers injured during the operation.
• Today, and in large part due to the success of the military operation, the entire international community is ready to mobilize in order to achieve maximum stability, and knows that, for this to occur, the process of Hamas's strengthening must stop. To this end, we reached a number of understandings - the importance of which cannot be underestimated - which will ensure that the strengthening of Hamas will decrease. We formulated understandings with the Egyptian government with regard to a number of central issues, the realization of which will bring about a significant reduction in weapons smuggling from Iran and Syria to the Gaza Strip.
• On Friday we signed a memorandum of understanding with the American government, in the framework of which the United States will mobilize to take the necessary steps, together with the other members of the international community, to prevent weapons smuggling by terrorists in Gaza. I wish to thank and express my great appreciation to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Vice Prime Minister for her efforts to reach this agreement, for her contribution to the diplomatic steps and for the widespread diplomatic effort she made over the past several weeks, which were an important contribution to the international backing given to the Israeli effort against the terrorist organizations headed by Hamas.
• Today I received a letter from the Prime Minister of Great Britain, Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister of Italy, Silvio Berlusconi, the Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel and the President of France, Nicolas Sarkozy, in which all four expressed their profound commitment to assisting in any way in order to ensure that weapons will not succeed in reaching the murderous terrorist organizations in Gaza.
I have no doubt that were it not for the determined and successful military action, we would not have reached diplomatic understandings, which together create a full picture of impressive accomplishment.
Citizens of Israel,
The Government decided to launch the operation in Gaza only after long thought and great consideration, and only after all attempts through other means to stop the firing and other acts of terror by Hamas failed. Israel, which withdrew from the Gaza Strip to the last millimeter at the end of 2005 - with no intention of returning - found itself under a barrage of missiles. Hamas violently took control of the Gaza Strip and began attacking the communities in the South more intensely. Hamas's methods are incomprehensible. It placed its military system in crowded residential neighborhoods, operated among a civilian population which served as a human shield and operated under the aegis of mosques, schools and hospitals, while making the Palestinian population a hostage to its terrorist activities, with the understanding that Israel - as a country with supreme values - would not act. The external Hamas leadership, which lives in comfort and quiet, continued to set extremist policies while ignoring the population’s ongoing suffering and out of a conspicuous unwillingness to ease its situation.
Hamas in Gaza was built by Iran as a foundation for power, and is backed through funding, through training and through the provision of advanced weapons. Iran, which strives for regional hegemony, tried to replicate the methods used by Hizbullah in Lebanon in the Gaza Strip as well. Iran and Hamas mistook the restraint Israel exercised as weakness. They were mistaken. They were surprised.
The State of Israel has proven to them that restraint is an expression of strength which was exercised in a determined and sophisticated manner when that which we had avoided became unavoidable.
During the operation, the State of Israel demonstrated great sensitivity in exercising its force in order to avoid, as much as possible, harming the civilian population not involved in terror. In cases where there was any doubt that striking at terrorists would lead to harming an innocent civilian population - we abstained from acting. There are not many countries which would act thusly.
We have no disagreement with the residents of Gaza. We consider the Gaza Strip a part of the future Palestinian state with which we hope to live a life of good neighborliness, and we wish for the day when the vision of two states is realized.
During the operation, we made widespread and concerted efforts to see to the humanitarian needs of the Palestinian population. We allowed for the transfer of equipment, food and medicine to prevent a humanitarian crisis. In addition, I appointed Minister Isaac Herzog, the Minister of Social Welfare and Social Affairs, to head up this effort, and tonight the Cabinet instructed him to invest all his efforts in preparing a comprehensive plan so that in the next few days, we will be able to provide an appropriate and comprehensive answer to the civilian population’s needs in the Gaza Strip. I wish to express my great appreciation to the international organizations which acted and continue to act tirelessly to assist us in providing the Palestinian population with appropriate living conditions. Israel will continue to cooperate with them, especially in the coming days and weeks on behalf of the Gazan population.
Citizens of Israel,
Today, before the Government meeting, I spoke with the President of Egypt, Hosni Mubarak, who presented Egypt’s initiative to me, along with his request for a ceasefire. I thanked the President for Egypt’s commitment to finding a solution to this crisis and for the important role it plays in the Middle East. I presented the President’s statement to the Cabinet, along with the totality of our achievements in the operation, as well as the completion of the goals. The Cabinet decided to accept my proposal to declare a ceasefire.
Beginning at 2:00 a.m., Israel will cease its actions against the terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip and will remain deployed in the Gaza Strip and its environs.
It must be remembered that Hamas is not part of the arrangements we came to. These are agreements involving many countries, and a terrorist organization like Hamas is not and need not be a part of them. If our enemies decide that the blows they have already suffered are not enough and they wish to continue fighting, Israel will be ready for that scenario and will feel free to continue responding with force.
Hamas was surprised a number of times during the past several weeks. It did not predict the State of Israel’s determination or the seriousness of its intentions to bring about a change in the reality in the region. Hamas's leaders did not believe that the State of Israel would launch a military operation on such a scale on the eve of elections; it did not predict the force of the military attack and moreover - it did not predict the outcome.
Hamas still does not fully appreciate the difficult blow it received. If Hamas decides to continue its wild terrorist attacks, it may find itself surprised again by the State of Israel’s determination. I do not suggest that it or any other terrorist organization test us.
This statement tonight would be incomplete if I did not mention the kidnapped soldier, Gilad Shalit. One hundred meters from here, there is a demonstration for his release, and I respect each and every one of the participants. The intensive efforts to secure Gilad's release began long before the operation, continued during it and will continue after as well. The Government of Israel is working on many levels to bring him home, and during the operation we carried out various actions to bring us closer to this goal. Due to the sensitivity of the matter, I will not go into detail. I will only say that Gilad is at the top of our agenda, and we do not need any prodding or reminding in this matter. I am hopeful tonight as well that we will soon see him in his family’s embrace.
On a personal note:
For weeks I have been watching the people of Israel day and night as we make the unprecedented effort to fight for and realize our right of self-defense. I saw the brave soldiers, our dear and beloved sons; I saw their commanders and the spirit which buoyed them; I saw the residents of the South, their fierce sprit; and the leadership of the mayors who took care to provide for the needs of their residents; I also saw the actions of the Home Front Command, which quietly and efficiently coordinated the assistance campaign for the southern region; and I heard the bereaved families.
Dear families, the things you said, the pain you expressed, the fierce spirit you demonstrated - these are the foundation for the people of Israel’s strength. On behalf of the entire nation, on behalf of the Government of Israel, I share your profound pain and thank you for the encouragement, the strength and the inspiration your strong stance has granted the entire nation.
I also wish to say something to the people of Gaza: even before the military operation began, and during it, I appealed to you. We do not hate you; we did not want and do not want to harm you. We wanted to defend our children, their parents, their families. We feel the pain of every Palestinian child and family member who fell victim to the cruel reality created by Hamas which transformed you into victims.
Your suffering is terrible. Your cries of pain touch each of our hearts. On behalf of the Government of Israel, I wish to convey my regret for the harming of uninvolved civilians, for the pain we caused them, for the suffering they and their families suffered as a result of the intolerable situation created by Hamas.
The understandings we reached with Egypt, the international backing of the United States and the European countries - all these do not ensure that the firing by Hamas will stop. If it completely stops - the IDF will consider withdrawing from Gaza at a time which it deems right. If not, the IDF will continue to act in defense of our residents.
This is the time to convey our appreciation and gratitude, first and foremost to you, Mr. Minister of Defense, for your work, for the tremendous effort you made, for your skill, professionalism and the understanding you demonstrated throughout he operation - thank you very much. I wish to thank the soldiers of the IDF, their commanders, the Head of the Southern Command Yoav Galant, and the Chief of General Staff Gabi Ashkenazi; to the Israel Security Agency, its fighters and its head, Yuval Diskin; to the Mossad and its hidden fighters, headed by Meir Dagan; to the Israel Police and the emergency services, Magan David Adom and the Fire Department.
Blessed is the nation with such an army and such security and rescue services.
I wish to express my hope that tonight the first step towards a different reality, one of security and quiet for the residents of Israel, will be taken. From the bottom of my heart, I thank the people of Israel, its fighters and their commanders for the fierceness of spirit and the social solidarity they demonstrated over these past weeks.
This is the secret of our strength - it is the foundation for our power and it is the hope of our future.
Thank you.
Israel implements unilateral Gaza cease-fire By MATTI FRIEDMAN and IBRAHIM BARZAK, Associated Press Writers JAN 18,09
JERUSALEM – Israel implemented a unilateral cease-fire early Sunday in its 22-day offensive that turned Gaza neighborhoods into battlegrounds and dealt a stinging blow to the Islamic militants of Hamas. But Israeli troops will stay in the Palestinian territory for now and Hamas threatened to keep fighting until they leave.
In announcing the cease-fire late Saturday, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Israel had achieved its goals and more.Hamas was hit hard, in its military arms and in its government institutions. Its leaders are in hiding and many of its men have been killed, Olmert said.Israel launched the offensive on Dec. 27 to stop years of rocket fire from Gaza at southern Israeli towns. But the rockets did not stop coming throughout the assault. Militants fired about 30 rockets into Israel on Saturday, eight of them around the time Olmert spoke. There was no rocket fire in the first four hours after the truce went into effect, the Israeli military said.More than 1,100 Palestinians have been killed in the offensive, about half of them civilians, according to Palestinian and U.N. officials. At least 13 Israelis have also been killed, according to the Israeli government.According to Olmert's statement, the cease-fire went into effect at 2 a.m. local time (7 p.m. EST). The military warned in a statement early Sunday that attacks on soldiers or civilians will be met with a harsh response.If Hamas holds its fire, the military will weigh pulling out of Gaza at a time that befits us, Olmert said. If not, Israel will continue to act to defend our residents.Israel's insistence on keeping troops in Gaza raises the specter of a stalemate with Hamas, which has insisted that it will not respect any cease-fire until Israel pulls out of the territory, with a population of 1.4 million.Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum in Gaza said a unilateral cease-fire was not enough to end Hamas' resistance — echoing the stance taken earlier by Hamas leaders in exile.The occupier must halt his fire immediately and withdraw from our land and lift his blockade and open all crossings and we will not accept any one Zionist soldier on our land, regardless of the price that it costs, Barhoum said.
In the hours leading up to the vote by the 12-member Security Cabinet, and even as they met, Israel kept bombarding Gaza.Earlier Saturday in the northern town of Beit Lahiya, Israeli shells struck a U.N. school where 1,600 people had sought shelter. One shell scored a direct hit on the top floor of the three-story building, killing two boys, U.N. officials said.Gaza militants launched eight rockets into Israel around the time Olmert announced the cease-fire, the Israeli military said. There were no reports of casualties. Five long-range Grad rockets exploded near the city of Beersheba in the hour after Olmert's televised address, Israel Radio reported.
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni indicated that Israel would renew its offensive if Hamas militants continued to fire rockets at Israel.This campaign is not a one-time event, she said in an interview with the Israeli YNet news Web site. The test will be the day after. That is the test of deterrence.Palestinians reacted with skepticism and called on world leaders attending a summit planned for Sunday in Egypt to put pressure on Israel to withdraw immediately.We had hoped that the Israeli announcement would be matched by total cessation of hostilities and the immediate withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, said Saeb Erekat, a top aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, a Hamas rival. I am afraid that the presence of the Israeli forces in Gaza means that the cease fire will not stand.The cease-fire vote comes just days ahead of Barack Obama's inauguration as president on Tuesday. Outgoing Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the Bush administration welcomed Israel's decision and said the ultimate goal remains a lasting truce that is fully respected and will return peace to Gaza. The summit set for Sunday in Egypt is meant to give international backing to the cease-fire. Leaders of Germany, France, Spain, Britain, Italy, Turkey and the Czech Republic — which holds the rotating EU presidency — are expected to attend along with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. It was not immediately clear whether Israel would send a representative, and Hamas has not been invited. Ban welcomed Israel's move and called on Hamas to stop its rocket fire. He said urgent humanitarian access for the people of Gaza is the immediate priority, and the United Nations is ready to act.During its campaign, Israel said it destroyed roughly 60 percent of the hundreds of tunnels under the eight-mile Egypt-Gaza border. As it seeks a longer-term solution, Israel signed a deal Friday in Washington in which the United States agreed to commit detection and surveillance equipment, as well as logistical help and training to Israel, Egypt and other nations to monitor Gaza's land and sea borders. But Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said Saturday that his country would not be bound by the agreement. Egypt's cooperation is essential if the smuggling is to be stopped. As Israel's Security Cabinet met Saturday evening, airstrikes continued. Walls shook and windows trembled in the southern Gaza border town of Rafah as fighter jets soared above head, apparently focusing their missiles on the no man's land with Egypt where many suspected smuggling tunnels lie. But all was quiet after Olmert's announcement for the first time in three weeks, residents said, giving them a chance to sleep. A total of 13 Palestinians were killed in battles throughout Gaza Saturday, Palestinian medics said. John Ging, the top U.N. official in Gaza, condemned the attack on Beit Lahiya that killed the two boys — the latest in a series of Israeli shellings that have struck U.N. installations. The question that has to be asked is for all those children and all those innocent people who have been killed in this conflict. Were they war crimes? Were they war crimes that resulted in the deaths of the innocents during this conflict? That question has to be answered, he said. The Israeli army said it was launching a high-level investigation into the shelling, as well as four other attacks that hit civilian targets, including the U.N. headquarters in Gaza. The army investigation also includes the shelling of a hospital, a media center and the home of a well-known doctor. Ibrahim Barzak reported from Gaza. Associated Press reporters Alfred de Montesquiou in Rafah, Gaza Strip, and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.
Israel, Hamas hold fire for now in Gaza By Nidal al-Mughrabi Nidal JAN 18,09
FOX News GAZA (Reuters) – Israel ceased fire in the Gaza Strip on Sunday after declaring victory in its three-week offensive but Hamas guerrillas said the war that has cost 1,200 Palestinian lives would go on.Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak invited European leaders to a hastily-called summit to try to bolster the unilateral truce although Israel had sidestepped Cairo's efforts to achieve a negotiated end to the hostilities with Hamas.The racket of explosions and gunfire of the past 22 days went silent in Hamas-ruled Gaza after the Israeli ceasefire went into effect at 2 a.m. (7 p.m. ET).Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in a televised address on Saturday that Hamas had been badly beaten in the offensive, launched before a February election to end Hamas rocket attacks on southern Israel that were undermining support for the governing coalition.Conditions have been created whereby the goals set at the launch of the operation have been more than fully achieved, Olmert said.
Gaza's Islamist rulers said they would keep firing rockets at Israel until it withdrew its troops and ended its trade blockade on the coastal enclave.These constitute acts of war so this won't mean an end to resistance, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said.But there were no reports of rockets fired at Israel in the hours after the ceasefire began, though several were launched shortly after Olmert's announcement.Olmert said Israel's troops would remain in place and hit back if the Palestinians tried to fight on.If our enemies decide the blows they've been dealt are not sufficient and they are interested in continuing the fight, Israel will be prepared for such and feel free to continue to react with force.
SHORT-NOTICE SUMMIT
Mubarak invited European leaders to a short-notice summit on Sunday to find ways to bolster the truce and ease the plight of civilians crammed into the 45-km (28-mile) sliver of Gaza coast.Mubarak will host Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon in Sharm el-Sheikh on Sunday, along with the leaders of France, Britain, Germany, Turkey, Italy and Spain.Olmert cited internationally backed understandings with Egypt, Gaza's southern neighbor, on preventing Hamas from rearming through smuggling tunnels as a reason behind Israel's decision to call off its attacks.U.N. Secretary General Ban welcomed the Israeli ceasefire but also urged it to pull out its forces from Gaza rapidly.U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who had spoken up for what Israel saw as its right to self-defense despite the civilian casualties, said she hoped for a durable ceasefire and a long-term settlement for the problems of Gaza.Rice and President George W. Bush are stepping down and many analysts believe Israel, eager for smooth relations from the outset with the new president, has been keen to end the fighting before Barack Obama takes over the White House on Tuesday.Israel launched air strikes on the Gaza Strip on December 27 and ground troops pushed into the enclave a week later, saying its main aim was an end to the rocket fire that had killed 18 people in Israel over the previous eight years. Without an accord with Hamas, diplomats said they feared Israel would let only a trickle of goods into Gaza, hampering reconstruction and creating more hardship for its people. So long as there is no agreement on the crossings, I frankly cannot see the end to the hostilities, said Shlomo Ben-Ami, who was Israel's left-leaning Labor foreign minister when peace talks with the Palestinians collapsed in 2001. The road ahead for the Obama administration in promoting a peace settlement that has eluded Israelis and Palestinians for the 60 years since Israel was established remains bumpy. Hamas, which won a parliamentary election in 2006 and seized Gaza from Abbas's forces a year later, is shunned by the West but remains a popular force in both Gaza and the West Bank. It is unclear what effect this month's war will have on the division between the Palestinians factions. Without an end to the bitter rift between Hamas and Abbas, a deal with Israel on establishing a Palestinian state still seems distant to many.
MANY IN GAZA DESPERATE
After the deaths of perhaps more than 700 civilians in the Israeli offensive, many of Gaza's 1.5 million people are desperate for a respite. Most of those, their nerves shredded and sleepless with fear and bereavement, just want the war to be over. We do not care how, we want a ceasefire. We want to go back to our homes. Our children need to go back to sleep in their beds, said Ali Hassan, 34 and a father of five, in Gaza city. Figures from an independent Palestinian human rights group put the number of civilians killed in three weeks of aerial bombardment and a two-week-long ground offensive backed by tanks and artillery at over 700. Hundreds of fighters have also died. Ten Israeli soldiers and three civilians have been killed.
Gaza's Hamas-run Health Ministry said some 5,300 wounded had been treated, many at chaotic, sanctions-hit hospitals. It put the death toll to Saturday at 1,206, including 410 children. Of these, two young boys were killed early on Saturday at a United Nations-run school where hundreds of people had taken refuge. U.N. officials called for war crimes inquiries. Israel accuses Hamas fighters of hiding among civilians and says its troops do all they can to avoid hitting non-combatants in a territory where half the population is aged under 18. Olmert said he apologized for the suffering of the innocent, and Israel announced plans to open a clinic Sunday at the Erez Crossing with Gaza to treat the wounded. (Additional reporting by Adam Entous, Ari Rabinovitch, Jeffrey Heller and Luke Baker in Jerusalem, Alaa Shahine in Cairo and Yara Bayoumy in Beirut; Writing by Alastair Macdonald and Allyn Fisher-Ilan; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
Obama prayer leader from group US linked to Hamas By MATT APUZZO, Associated Press Writer – Sat Jan 17, 8:39 pm ET
WASHINGTON – A Muslim scholar chosen to speak at President-elect Barack Obama's inaugural prayer service Wednesday is the leader of a group that federal prosecutors say has ties to terrorists.Ingrid Mattson, president of the Islamic Society of North America, is one of many religious leaders scheduled to speak at the prayer service at Washington's National Cathedral.Mattson has been the guest of honor at State Department dinners and has met with senior Pentagon officials during the Bush administration. She also spoke at a prayer service at the Democratic National Convention in Denver. Mattson, who was elected president of the society in 2006, is a professor of Islamic studies at Hartford Seminary in Hartford, Conn.But in 2007 and as recently as last July, federal prosecutors in Dallas filed court documents linking the Plainfield, Ind.-based Islamic society to the group Hamas, which the U.S. considers a terrorist organization.Neither Mattson nor her organization have been charged. But prosecutors wrote in July that they had a wide array of testimonial and documentary evidence expressly linking the group to Hamas and other radical groups.Linda Douglass, a spokeswoman for Obama's inaugural committee, would not discuss the case or say whether the committee knew about it.She has a stellar reputation in the faith community, Douglass said Saturday night.The existence of the court documents was first reported by Politico.The Islamic Society of North America, which describes itself as the nation's largest mainstream Muslim community-based organization, is fighting its inclusion on a list of coconspirators in the Dallas terrorism case against the Holy Land Foundation. In court documents, Mattson's group says it does not condone terrorism.The court documents represent a complicated picture of the group.
Law enforcement agencies have used the organization's annual convention as part of its outreach to the Muslim community. The group has provided religious training to the FBI, according to court documents. Karen Hughes, a former Bush confidant and under secretary of state, called Mattson a wonderful leader and role model for many, many people.All this was going on while officials in the law enforcement and intelligence community apparently had evidence that the Islamic Society of North America had ties to terrorists and to the Holy Land Foundation. That foundation and five of its former leaders were convicted at a retrial in November of funneling millions of dollars to Hamas.Mark Pelavin, director of inter-religious affairs for the Union for Reform Judaism — another organization participating in the prayer service — called Mattson a really important voice denouncing terrorism.Clearly, Dr. Mattson has been welcome throughout the government, he said. I haven't found anyone anywhere who's found anything Dr. Mattson has said that's anything other than clearly denouncing terrorism in quite explicit Islamic terms.Pelavin's group has a partnership with the Islamic Society to encourage members of mosques and synagogues to build ties nationwide.Attorneys for Mattson's group wrote in court documents that it is not a subject or target of the Holy Land investigation. The group has worked with the Bush administration's Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, according to court documents.According to e-mails filed in the court case, one of the prosecutors seemed willing to ask the judge to remove the group from the list.
I am sorry for the problems for your clients, Assistant U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks wrote in July 2007. I hope to get something to you or file something with the court as soon as possible.The Islamic Society helps certify Muslim chaplains for federal prisons. Mattson leads a program at the Hartford Seminary that trains Muslim chaplains for the U.S. military. Mattson was one of about three dozen leaders, including former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, and two former Republican congressmen, Vin Weber and Steve Bartlett, who developed a report released last fall on how the U.S. can fight extremism in the Muslim world. AP Religion Writer Rachel Zoll contributed to this report.
US welcomes Israel's ceasefire declaration By MATTHEW LEE, Associated Press Writer – Sat Jan 17, 6:54 pm ET
WASHINGTON – The Bush administration on Saturday welcomed Israel's decision to declare a unilateral ceasefire in its military operations against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip and urged both sides to end attacks immediately.In a statement issued shortly after Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced the move, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the ultimate goal remains a lasting truce that is respected by all sides. Hamas has not agreed to end rocket attacks into Israel.The United States welcomes the cessation of hostilities in Gaza announced by Israel and expects that all parties will cease attacks and hostile actions immediately, she said. The goal remains a durable and fully respected ceasefire that will lead to stabilization and normalization in Gaza.Rice also praised Egyptian efforts to bring Hamas on board and secure international backing for a ceasefire at a summit that Egypt will hold on Sunday. She expressed concern for the suffering of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, calling for immediate efforts to assist them.The United States commends Egypt for its efforts and remains deeply concerned by the suffering of innocent Palestinians, Rice said. We welcome calls for immediate coordinated international action to increase assistance flows and will contribute to such efforts.The Obama transition team declined to comment.On Friday, Rice and Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni signed an agreement that commits the United States to boosting its cooperation with nations in the region to stop weapons smuggling into Gaza and prevent Hamas from re-arming, a key demand of Israel.Officials said the deal was a key part of Israel's decision to declare the ceasefire.Israel began its offensive on Dec. 27 in response to eight years of bombardments on Israeli towns. Since then, more than 1,100 Palestinians have been killed in the three weeks of violence, according to Palestinian and U.N. officials. Thirteen Israelis have also died.
In announcing the unilateral cease-fire, Olmert said in a televised address that Israel had achieved its goals and would stop offensive operations but would keep troops on the ground for the time being. If Hamas holds its fire, the military will consider pulling out, he said.Israeli insistence on keeping troops in Gaza raises the specter of a stalemate with Hamas, which has repeated that it will not respect any cease-fire until Israel pulls out of the territory.
Brown offers British naval help to monitor Gaza By RAPHAEL G. SATTER, Associated Press Writer – Sat Jan 17, 5:51 pm ET
LONDON – Britain is prepared to deploy naval resources and provide security at the Gaza Strip's border crossing points as part of an effort secure the cease-fire declared by Israel in the tiny coastal territory, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Saturday.Brown, along with the leaders of France, Germany and Italy, said he was offering military and humanitarian help to implement a cease-fire and ease the suffering in Gaza, where hundreds have died since Israel began its offensive in the territory in late December.The Israelis, Egyptians and Palestinian Authority know this offer is available, Brown said. I think this may make it easier for people to come to a cease-fire.Israel's leaders voted late Saturday to halt an offensive aimed a delivering a crushing blow to Islamic militant group Hamas, which has bombarded southern Israel with rockets from its power base in Gaza. The unilateral cease-fire, due to come into effect at 2 a.m. local time (0000 GMT), would halt more than three weeks of fighting that have killed more than 1,100 Palestinians and 13 Israelis.
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said there would be huge relief at the announcement. He called on Hamas to end its rocket attacks and on Israeli authorities to allow aid agencies immediate access to Gaza and a guarantee of their safety.Too many lives have already been lost, Miliband said in a statement released late Saturday.Earlier, Brown had suggested that Britain could help move injured children out of Gaza so they could receive medical care elsewhere. The prime minister said Britain could also help remove unexploded bombs in the Gaza area and would be prepared to increase the level of its humanitarian aid over the next five years.But the nature of the naval and security assistance being offered was unclear: Britain's Ministry of Defense said the specifics were still being worked out. The country's opposition Conservatives accused the prime minister of grandstanding, saying the Royal Navy was already overstretched.Brown was due in Egypt on Sunday for a summit aimed at giving international backing to the cease-fire. It is also to be attended by the leaders of Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Turkey and the Czech Republic — which holds the rotating EU presidency — as well as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak and U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon.In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel's office released a statement saying that the European leaders all expressed support for the efforts of the Israeli and Egyptian governments to reach a lasting cease-fire in Gaza.Government spokesman Thomas Steg said the most important issue for Israel and Egypt is the basic assurance by the European states that they would support the prevention of weapons-smuggling. He said the specifics of the measures would be discussed in the coming days.Germany has already offered to send a team of police experts to Egypt to offer advice on improving border security.There were continued protests against the Israeli military action Saturday in London and several other British cities. Protests turned violent late Saturday when demonstrators broke into stores in the center of London, smashing windows and looting merchandise, according to police.Earlier Saturday morning, a group of activists broke into a weapons factory in the southern English city of Brighton, damaging machinery and causing what authorities said were substantial losses.The group claimed that the EDO MBM Technology Ltd. plant they raided was manufacturing equipment being used in Gaza by the Israeli air force. There was no answer late Saturday at a number for the company.Local police said they made nine arrests.Associated Press Writers Gregory Katz in London and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.
Egypt FM dismisses US-Israeli anti-smuggling deal By SEBASTIAN ABBOT, Associated Press Writer – Sat Jan 17, 4:30 pm ET
CAIRO, Egypt – Egypt's foreign minister on Saturday dismissed a U.S.-Israeli agreement aimed at cutting off weapons smuggling into the Gaza Strip, raising questions about how effective it would be in preventing arms from reaching the militant Palestinian group Hamas.The deal signed in Washington on Friday helped pave the way for Israeli leaders to approve an Egyptian-brokered cease-fire Saturday, since an effective system to end arms smuggling in Gaza was a key goal of the three-week-old Israeli offensive in the territory.But Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said Saturday that his country would not be bound by the agreement. Egypt's cooperation will be critical to prevent arms getting into Gaza since most of the smuggling is believed to occur through tunnels underneath the Egyptian border.
The U.S.-Israeli deal outlines a framework under which the U.S. commits detection and surveillance equipment, as well as logistical help and training to Israel, Egypt and other nations to be used in monitoring Gaza's land and sea borders.The U.S. and Israel can do what they wish with regard to the sea or any other country in Africa, but when it comes to Egyptian land, we are not bound by anything except the safety and national security of the Egyptian people and Egypt's ability to protect its borders, Aboul Gheit told reporters.It was unclear whether Aboul Gheit's comments indicate Egypt would reject U.S. assistance. The U.S. allocated $23 million last year to help train Egyptian officials to stop smuggling into Gaza through tunnels under the border and sent U.S. Army engineers to carry out the training.Aboul Gheit's comments could simply indicate frustration over Israeli and American efforts to broker their own deal to stem smuggling into Gaza after weeks of Egyptian mediation to end violence in the territory. They could also be intended for domestic consumption to show that Egypt's role will not be dictated by outside powers.But the country has been sensitive about the perception that it cannot police its own border and has rejected calls for international monitors demanded by Israel to be based on its soil.Egypt will never accept any foreign presence of monitors on its land, said Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in a televised speech Saturday. I say this is a red line I have not and will not allow to be crossed.Egypt has said it would like to send more of its own forces to police its border with Gaza, but the number of security forces the country can have on the Sinai peninsula is limited by its 1979 peace treaty with Israel. That agreement placed multinational forces in the Sinai to help keep the peace between the two countries.
Refusing to allow international monitors on their side of the border puts Egypt on collision course with U.S. and will be a problem that the next US administration will have to resolve.But figuring out a solution to the smuggling issue is key to any lasting peace in Gaza.Israel's leaders approved an Egyptian proposal Saturday, under which fighting would stop immediately for 10 days. But Israeli forces will remain in Gaza and the territory's border crossing with Israel and Egypt would remain closed until security arrangements are made to prevent Hamas arms smuggling.
Hamas, in turn, has demanded a full Israeli withdrawal and an opening of Gaza's border crossings to end its attacks against Israel.Israel launched its offensive on Dec. 27 to stop Hamas rocket fire into its territory. More than 1,100 Palestinians have been killed in the fighting, according to Palestinian and U.N. officials. Thirteen Israelis have also died.Despite Egypt's resistance, Turkey has volunteered to put together an international monitoring force that could include other European countries.Egypt has invited Turkey, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Jordan to a meeting Sunday in the Egyptian Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheik to discuss Gaza, Egypt's official news agency reported. French President Nicolas Sarkozy will co-host the summit along with Mubarak, said Sarkozy's office.
Britain, France, Germany offer to combat Gaza arms smuggling Sat Jan 17, 4:07 pm ET
BERLIN (AFP) – Britain, France and Germany Saturday announced they had offered to help prevent arms smuggling into the conflict-torn Gaza Strip, as London said it was ready to provide naval support in the effort.In a joint letter to the Israeli and Egyptian governments published in Berlin Saturday, the three countries said they were ready to take a number of steps to contribute to an end to the arms smuggling to Gaza.They would also continue to work with the governments in Egypt and Israel to implement these measures, according to a German version of the text.Germany, France and the United Kingdom, along with other partners, support efforts by the Israeli and Egyptian governments to reach a lasting truce in Gaza, said Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown in their letter to Israeli Premier Ehud Olmert and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
Britain, France and Germany expect a lasting truce in Gaza to be followed by a new dynamic for a lasting peace in the Middle East, they added.The leaders' letters were handed over by their respective countries' embassies in Israel and Egypt.Olmert was expected to announce later Saturday a unilateral ceasefire in Gaza, where a three-week-old Israeli offensive aimed at ending rocket attacks from the Islamist movement Hamas has left more than 1,200 Palestinians dead.In London Brown told reporters, We are prepared to provide British naval support to stop arms trafficking.We will do everything that we can to prevent the arms trafficking that is at the root of some of the problems that have caused the conflict, he added..Britain is prepared to give naval resources so that we can monitor and stop arms traffic and arms getting into Gaza. I believe that will help get a solution to this crisis.We are prepared to do anything we can to help also with the crossings to make sure that there is proper protection and therefore proper monitoring as well.He added: Other countries are agreeing also that they will provide the support that is necessary to stop arms getting into Gaza.At the same time, we're prepared to provide European support for monitoring at the crossings.However, German government spokesman Thomas Steg said the details had not been worked out yet.
They will be discussed and fixed in the coming days with France and Britain and the other parties concerned on the ground.Merkel, Sarkozy and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero will attend a meeting Sunday hosted by Egypt in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh where European leaders and UN chief Ban Ki-moon have been invited, officials said.Diplomatic sources said invitations had also been sent to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
Sarkozy will meet with Israel's Olmert in Jerusalem after co-chairing the summit with his Egyptian counterpart, while Merkel was to meet the Israeli prime minister in Tel Aviv the same day, French and German officials said. The French government also said it would send medical aid, trauma surgeons and a bomb disposal squad to Egypt on Sunday so as to be ready to deploy an 80-strong team of rescue workers into Gaza once fighting there subsides. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on Friday signed a US-Israeli deal aimed at halting the arms smuggling in a bid to clinch a ceasefire there. The memorandum of understanding provides a series of the steps that the US and Israel will take to stem the flow of weapons and explosives into Gaza, Rice said. The MOU we sign today is ... a vital component for the cessation of hostilities,Livni added. Rice, who blamed Hamas for sparking Israel's military offensive, said at a signing ceremony in Washington that the deal aims to ensure that Gaza can never again be used as a launchpad for rocket and other attacks.
UN chief blasts Israel strike on UN school, calls for Gaza ceasefire by Rima Abushakra – Sat Jan 17, 4:05 pm ET
BEIRUT (AFP) – UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Saturday condemned as outrageous an Israeli strike on a UN-run school in Gaza and called for an immediate ceasefire in the Palestinian enclave, saying the violence there was unprecedented.Both sides must stop the fighting now, Ban said in Lebanon, his latest stop in a regional tour to push for a truce in Israel's 22-day-old war on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.The level of violence in Gaza is unprecedented in recent decades, he told reporters in Beirut, even as Israel's powerful security cabinet was poised to announce a unilateral ceasefire in Gaza, where more than 1,200 Palestinians have been killed since the offensive was launched on December 27.Ban urged Israel to pull its troops out of Gaza and said the embattled territory's Islamist Hamas rulers must stop firing rockets into Israel.Israel launched Operation Cast Lead with the declared aim of halting the rocket attacks.The offensive has killed 1,205 Palestinians, including 41 children, wounded 5,300 and inflicted massive damage to Gaza infrastructure totalling some 476 million dollars, medics and Palestinian officials have said.At least four UN-run schools have been hit in Israeli strikes, including one on Saturday in the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya in which some 1,600 people were sheltering.Two brothers, five and seven years old, were killed and a dozen people wounded in the attack, including the mother of the boys, Gaza medics and UN officials said.I condemn in the strongest terms this outrageous attack, Ban said, adding that this was not the first time a UN-run establishment was hit by Israeli fire since the offensive was launched.
In the deadliest such strike, 43 people were killed when an Israeli tank shell hit a school run by the Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA in the northern Gaza town of Jabaliya on January 6.Israel at first alleged that Hamas militants had fired at troops from within the building, but eventually backed off the claim that was firmly denied by the United Nations.Top Israeli leaders had given me their assurances two days ago when I was visiting Israel that UN premises would be fully respected. I strongly demand a thorough investigation, Ban told the media conference.He urged Israel's security cabinet to adopt a unilateral ceasefire but stressed that it should also be accompanied by a time table for Israeli troop withdrawal... (and) have the corresponding response from Hamas militants.An Israeli defence official has told AFP ground forces will remain in Gaza for several days, even after a unilateral ceasefire has been declared by the Jewish state.Ban also said he will attend a summit of world leaders on the Gaza crisis in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on Sunday, after visiting Syria.French President Nicolas Sarkozy is set to co-chair the summit with his Egyptian counterpart Hosni Mubarak, who has sent out invitations to leaders of Germany, Britain, France, Italy, Spain, Turkey and Jordan.
Ban also voiced concern about rocket attacks on Israel from south Lebanon, saying such incidents could escalate the situation and called for restraint on both side of the tense border.No one has claimed responsibility for the January 8 and January 14 salvo of rockets fired into Israel from southern Lebanon, where UN peacekeepers are deployed. Ban said that Lebanese leaders are well aware of the risk that Lebanon might be dragged into a new conflict with Israel which waged a devastating 34-day war against Lebanon in summer 2006. More than 1,200 people, most of them civilians, were killed during the conflict, which was brought to an end by an UN resolution. More than 160 Israelis also died, most of them soldiers. Israel launched the operation after militants from Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah movement seized two Israeli soldiers in a deadly cross-border raid.
France, Egypt to co-chair Gaza summit By SARAH EL DEEB, Associated Press Writer – Sat Jan 17, 1:48 pm ET
CAIRO, Egypt – The French president's office says he and Egypt's president will co-chair an international summit in Cairo to discuss the Gaza crisis.Nicolas Sarkozy will lead Sunday's meeting in the Red Sea resort Sharm el-Sheik along with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.An Egyptian official says Egypt also has invited, Italy, Britain, Spain, Turkey, United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.The official spoke on condition of anonymity Saturday because there has not been an official announcement.The German government says Chancellor Angela Merkel will attend. The French statement says British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is also going, but Brown's office has not confirmed this.Egypt has been trying to broker a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, now in its 22nd day.
Arab Israelis caught between fear and rebellion by Anna Peligri – Sat Jan 17, 1:32 pm ET
SAKHNIN, Israel (AFP) – The Gaza crisis has left Israeli Arabs caught between a fear of voicing solidarity with the Palestinians and an urge to condemn the onslaught fuelled by a ban on two of their parties from next month's elections.Our state is at war with our Palestinian nation, said Gazal Abu Raya, an Arab Israeli and head of the Jewish-Arab Institute for Peace in Sakhnin, in the northern Galilee region.
Sakhnin, which has an Arab population of 25,000, was the site of a demonstration of around 100,000 people on January 3 to protest the Israeli offensive in Gaza a week after it began.As the death toll has spiralled, spontaneous protests against the war have multiplied in Galilee -- home to around half of the 1.4 million-strong Arab Israeli community, which makes up about 20 percent of Israel's population.Israeli police have stepped up security in the north, including at road checkpoints.For 60 years, we've been under a test of loyalty, said Abu Raya.Arab Israelis, most of whom are descended from the 160,000 Palestinians who remained in Israel when the Jewish state was created in 1948, are concerned about the consequences of their rejection of the Gaza offensive.But on Monday, Israel's election panel disqualified two Arab parties from running in the February 10 elections based on a motion filed by two far-right parties which claimed they did not recognise the Jewish state's right to exist.
Obviously, the right wing is stronger with the war. The Israelis are selling more cheap popularity in the streets, said Jamal Zahalqa, head of the parliamentary group of one of the two parties, the National Democratic Assembly.The Supreme Court is to rule on the ban next week.If the ban is confirmed, Zahalqa warned of an Arab boycott of the elections and a crisis that would deepen the friction with the Jewish population.If we can't participate in the electoral process, and work under political legitimacy we will reconsider our strategy. More and more people will demand an Arab parliament, he said.There will be a crisis between the Palestinian minority and (Israel's) majority.The election panel's decision is an act of racism, an intimidation, said Sakhnin's deputy mayor, Mahmud Abu Raya, who has no party affiliation. We will boycott the elections as a protest.Gazal Abu Raya, who belongs to the same Arab clan as Mahmud, conceded that these are difficult times for the community's fragile relations with Jews in north Israel.He said his institute tries to be a bridge, mediators between the Palestinians and the state of Israel. It's not easy when you see the pictures of children and women dying in Gaza.The leader of the Greek Orthodox community in Sakhnin, father Salah Khoury, has organised a campaign to send food and clothes to Gaza, but fears the consequences of supporting the Palestinians in the enclave.We identify with the people in Gaza, but we don't want to endanger ourselves, said the Arab Israeli. We want to stand in our land. We're scared. Right wing Jews see us as enemies.Khalil Nakhleh, a Palestinian researcher into conflicts and based in the West Bank, agreed. In general, Arabs in Israel feel they are not wanted as citizens in the state, he said.
Captured Israeli soldier curiously missing from Gaza war by Michael Blum Michael Blum – Sat Jan 17, 1:22 pm ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – He was the reason Israel launched its last major offensive in Gaza in June 2006. But in today's war on Hamas hardly anyone mentions the Israeli soldier held by Gaza militants for more than two years.Corporal Gilad Shalit turned from an anonymous 18-year-old conscript into a household name in Israel after he was seized on June 25, 2006 when Hamas and other militants tunnelled out of Gaza and attacked an army post in a deadly raid.For many months, Shalit became a cause-celebre inside the Jewish state, his pimpled baby face staring out from posters throughout the country and officials raising his plight with foreign diplomats at every opportunity.
Shalit, who also has French citizenship, is a potentially valuable prize for Hamas --over the years Israel has released thousands of prisoners to secure the return of its soldiers, dead or alive.Israeli officials have engaged in months of indirect negotiations with the Islamists over a prisoner exchange for him.But since Israel launched Operation Cast Lead against Hamas in Gaza on December 27, hardly anyone in officialdom has mentioned his name.Gilad Shalit is not among the objectives that we had set for ourselves in Gaza, an army spokesman told AFP.Defence Minister Ehud Barak -- a career soldier who has participated in some of Israel's most renowned rescue operations -- has not mentioned his name once since the start of the massive offensive.Nor has Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who had always vowed to free him.
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni was the first to break the unusual silence when she called for international pressure to be exerted on Hamas to allow Red Cross officials to visit the conscript.The unusual silence has set the Israeli rumour mill whirring.On Wednesday, a report spread like wildfire through Israeli newsrooms -- Shalit had been found by a commando unit and evacuated to a hospital in Israel.The army went out of its way to deny anything of the sort.But the media hurried to report that a mysterious naval commando unit was operating inside Gaza amid furious speculation that the military might be aiming to end the war with a spectacular rescue mission.Shalit's father Noam, who has led the public campaign for his son's release, said that in principle I ask that the return of my son be included in any ceasefire accord for the Gaza war.But when told that the freeing of his son was not among the official war aims, he said enigmatically: Things are not as they appear.
Hamas threatens to fight on if Israel ceases fire unilaterally by Mona Salem – Sat Jan 17, 5:46 am ET
CAIRO (AFP) – Hamas official Osama Hemdan said on Saturday that the Islamist group will fight on if Israel orders a unilateral ceasefire in Gaza.This unilateral ceasefire does not foresee a withdrawal by the Israeli army, said Hemdan, the movement's Lebanon representative.As long as it remains in Gaza, resistance and confrontation will continue, he told AFP by telephone.He said that Israel's proposal for a unilateral ceasefire, which was to be put to a vote of the security cabinet later on Saturday, was an attempt to derail the Egyptian plan for a reciprocal truce.
If they insist on this (unilateral ceasefire) position it means that they don't want to let Egypt have success on the regional and international levels, Hemdan said.Talks were to resume in Cairo on Friday between Egyptian mediators and Hamas officials, both from Damascus and from the Gaza Strip.A senior Egyptian official said that Egypt would pass Israel's response and its ceasefire vision to the Hamas delegation, the official MENA news agency said.Our position hasn't changed since Wednesday, said Hemdan. We will listen if there's something new from the Egyptians but we will not start discussing everything again from square one.Hamas's political chief Khaled Meshaal said on Friday that his movement rejected Israel's conditions for a ceasefire.Israel main war objective is to end Hamas and other Gaza militants' ability to fire rockets at the Jewish state, including by ending smuggling through tunnels into Gaza from Egypt.Hemdan said that one of Hamas's key conditions for a ceasefire was ending the blockade on Gaza's crossings, but that the Islamists were prepared to accept guarantees on their reopening.Under the terms of the ceasefire proposal, Israeli troops would remain inside the territory for an unspecified period, an Israeli official told AFP on condition of anonymity.The proposal comes following the signing of the memorandum in Washington and significant progress made in Cairo, the official said.Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on Friday signed a deal with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice under which the United States will assist in preventing smuggling into Gaza from Egypt.The Israeli official said that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was satisfied with the results of the talks in Cairo, which answered Israel's basic requirements for a thorough answer to Israel's demands to halt rocket fire and an agreement on coordination between Israel and Egypt on the opening of the crossings on the Gaza border.Olmert's support does not necessarily mean that the ceasefire will be approved by the security cabinet, however, as ministers have been divided over the conduct of the war.
