ISRAEL TO VOTE ON EGYPTIAN TRUCE

Israel to vote on Egyptian proposal for Gaza truce By IBRAHIM BARZAK and AMY TEIBEL, Associated Press Writers JAN 16,09

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – Israel's Security Cabinet will vote Saturday night on an Egyptian proposal for a truce to end the 3-week-old offensive against Gaza's Hamas rulers, a senior government official said.The official said a vote to approve the truce would amount to a unilateral cease-fire, though Israeli forces would only leave Gaza after an official declaration that the fighting was over. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information.I hope we are entering the endgame and that our goal of sustained and durable quiet in the south is about to be attained, Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said earlier Friday.The truce would begin a phased process in which Israel stops the assault and gauges the reaction from Hamas militants. Israel would resume the offensive if the militants continue to fire rockets, the government official said.

Under the deal, Egypt would shut down weapons smuggling routes with international help, and discussions on the opening of Gaza's blockaded border crossings would take place at a later date.U.N. spokeswoman Michele Montas told The Associated Press that U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is considering attending a truce summit planned for Sunday with Israeli officials.There's been no decision yet, she said Friday afternoon of his travel plans.Israeli media said Cairo would host the summit and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni would attend.The Israeli vote was set hours after the U.S. agreed to provide assurances on ending weapons smuggling into Gaza as part of a cease-fire.Earlier Friday, Hamas' Syrian-based political chief Khaled Mashaal rejected Israeli conditions for a truce and demanded an immediate opening of the besieged territory's borders.More than 1,100 Palestinians have been killed since the war began on Dec. 27, including 346 children, according to the U.N. and Gaza health officials. The death toll rose by 38 on Friday, including 25 people whose bodies were unearthed from rubble and six who died of wounds from previous days, Gaza health officials said.Thirteen Israelis have been killed, four by rocket fire, according to the military.

Israel has demanded that militants halt rocket fire and sought international guarantees that Hamas will not be permitted to rearm.In Washington, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Livni signed an agreement Friday intended to assure Israel that Hamas militants will not be able to rearm if it agrees to a cease-fire in Gaza.At the signing ceremony, Livni described the deal as a vital complement for a cessation of hostility in the troubled region.Rice said she hoped European countries would work out similar bilateral agreements with Israel to bring into being a durable cease-fire, a cease-fire that can actually hold.As you know, there are a number of conditions that need to be obtained if a cease-fire is to be durable. ... And among them is to do something about the weapons smuggling and the potential for resupply of Hamas from other places, including from Iran, she added.In the Qatari capital of Doha, Mashaal took a tough line and asked a summit of Arab countries to back him by cutting off any ties with Israel. We will not accept Israel's conditions for a cease-fire, Mashaal told the summit. Mauritania and Qatar heeded Mashaal's call, suspending political and economic contacts with Israel over the fighting in Gaza. Mauritania has full diplomatic relations with Israel, while Qatar has a trade office and lower-level political ties. Israel launched the war against Gaza militants on Dec. 27 to stop the rocket fire that has traumatized southern Israel for years. But the spiraling Palestinian death toll, which includes hundreds of civilians, has drawn international outrage and touched off intense diplomatic activity to end the violence. Violence was less intense on Friday with Israeli assaults killing seven Palestinians, a lower death toll than that of recent days. Gaza residents said they heard tanks roll away from their positions in the eastern and southern fringes of the city, leaving clouds of dust in their wake. At least 40 tanks and military vehicles retreated into Israel, but a senior security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the tanks were to redeploy, and were not withdrawing.

The easing of violence gave Palestinian medics the chance to dig through rubble from recent clashes and recover 25 bodies. Still, aircraft struck about 40 targets before dawn including smuggling tunnels along the Egyptian border, a rocket launcher ready for firing and a mosque that housed a tunnel entrance and was also used to store arms, the military said. Palestinian medical officials reported an 11-year-old girl was killed in shelling in northern Gaza and witnesses reported an airstrike on a Gaza City mosque as people were headed there for Friday prayers. The Israeli military had no comment. Militants sent rockets flying at Israel more than 10 times, injuring three people, including one critically, officials said. In the West Bank, Palestinian medics said Israeli soldiers shot dead a 20-year-old Palestinian during a violent protest against Israel's Gaza Strip offensive. Witnesses said demonstrators hurled rocks at troops who stopped them from marching into the Israeli-controlled sector of Hebron. The army had no immediate comment. Intense Israeli military activity in Gaza on Thursday exacted a steep price from Hamas when Interior Minister Said Siam was killed in an airstrike. Siam was the commander of Hamas security forces and was widely feared in Gaza. A small crowd of mourners buried Siam in Gaza City on Friday. His white-shrouded body was draped in a green Hamas flag and some of the people who carried it chanted, Greetings from Hamas! One man fired an assault rifle in the area in a traditional salute. Siam was seen as a main architect of the violent Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip in June 2007, when Hamas fighters expelled forces loyal to Western-backed Palestinian President Abbas. He was the highest Hamas official killed in the offensive. Hamas leaders went into hiding before the war began and none attended the funeral. But a statement distributed there in the name of Gaza's Hamas prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh, said, This new crime committed by the Zionist war machine will not affect the determination of our people or drive us to raise the flag of surrender.Amy Teibel reported from Tel Aviv, Israel. Associated Press writers Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations, Matthew Lee in Washington and Barbara Surk in Doha, Qatar contributed to this report.

How the Gaza War Could End: Three Scenarios Fri Jan 16, 9:35 am ET

Reuters – United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon (L) and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas shake hands … Pressure is mounting on Israel and Hamas to find a way of ending the war in Gaza. Both sides have responded positively, if tentatively, to Egyptian proposals for a phased truce that would begin with a lull in fighting for a defined period (10 days by some accounts). That interlude would then allow for the brokering of a more comprehensive cease-fire. But each side's goals from any truce remain antagonistic to those of the other, and reaching an agreement that bridges the vast gap between them remains a Herculean diplomatic challenge. Even before the Israeli invasion began late December, Hamas had offered to renew its six-month cease-fire with Israel on condition that the border crossings from Egypt and Israel into Gaza be opened. Those crossings have been closed as part of a strategy of imposing economic deprivation on the people of Gaza in the hope that they would turn on Hamas; Israel remains reluctant to agree to reopen them as part of a cease-fire deal, since that would be claimed as a victory by Hamas. Hamas also insists on a full and immediate withdrawal of all Israeli forces from Gaza. Israel is reluctant to comply until mechanisms are in place to prevent Hamas rearming. Israel's declared purpose in launching Operation Cast Lead was to halt Palestinian rocket fire from Gaza, and prevent Hamas from being able to rearm through smuggling weapons from Egypt. Israel remains committed, however, to a long-term goal of ending Hamas control of Gaza, and it insists that the movement should gain no recognition or legitimacy as part of any truce - a tough call since Hamas is the key combatant on the Palestinian side. So how will the Gaza conflict be resolved? Israel's dominant military position puts its leaders in a position to decide how the hostilities will. But those leaders remain locked in debate among themselve over the best way to do that. Here are the three most likely scenarios, each with different political consequences for the main players and the future of the conflict:

Scenario 1: Regime Change
Given Israel's long-term goal of ousting Hamas in Gaza, some key military and political leaders have urged that it expand the goals of its current operation, and use its momentum to take control of Gaza City and decapitate Hamas. Most vocal in advocating this option is Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu, the hawkish front-runner in the race for prime minister, who will portray any outcome that leaves Hamas intact in Gaza as a failure - bad news for his chief rivals, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.But the regime-change option is even reported to have support from Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who sees it as a way to restore the control over all Palestinian territories of his peace partner, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Skeptics, including Barak and Livni, warn that pursuing regime-change would require the Israeli military operation to continue for months, risking diplomatic isolation and dramatic increases in casualties. And the Israeli security establishment is justifiably skeptical of the prospects for re-imposing the already enfeebled Abbas on a hostile Gaza. Rather than boost his power, the latest confrontation has seen Abbas further marginalized. Even his future control over the West Bank has come into question. Even if forced out of power, Hamas would maintain a resistance role that would prevent anyone else from governing the territory. (The organization is estimated to have close to 20,000 men under arms in Gaza, of which Israel claims, so far, to have killed no more than 2.5%.) That would force Israel to reoccupy a territory from which it sought to separate in 2005. Still, Israeli leaders hope that the military operation can deal a powerful enough blow to hobble Hamas. They still hope to see the Abbas' authority re-imposed as part of any truce. More realistically, perhaps, Arab mediators and the U.N. Security Council have urged that cease-fire plans restore reconciliation between Abbas and Hamas. Arab countries previously brokered a national unity government between the two, and Hamas remains the ruling party in the Palestinian Authority's legislature. But Israel has long insisted it will not deal with a Palestinian government that includes Hamas. (See pictures of life under Hamas in Gaza.)

Scenario 2: Long-term Cease-fire
Israel has insisted that a cease-fire be sustainable, by ensuring that Hamas is unable to rearm itself. An actual disarming of Hamas' current militias is unlikely without a full-scale reoccupation of Gaza, which would involve tens of thousands more Israeli troops over many months. Anything less will see Hamas continue to be the dominant security presence inside Gaza. So, Israel's priority will be to choke off the supply of rockets and mortar shells, which have been smuggled through tunnels from Gaza and fired at Israel. The Israelis want Egypt to police those tunnels, under U.S. supervision. Egypt has been reluctant to take on the potential domestic political headache of having foreign troops policing the Gaza border on its soil, and fears that Israel will seek to force Cairo to accept increasing responsibility for the territory - a role Cairo steadfastly refuses to play.Egypt is reportedly proposing that an immediate truce, in which Israeli forces retain their current positions but advance no further, be followed by negotiations on a full withdrawal and reopening the crossings. Egypt will likely agree to enhanced mechanisms for policing the smugglers' tunnels, but those tunnels were also Gaza's economic lifeline, and Egypt will insist they can be closed only if the legitimate crossings into Gaza are reopened to allow the flow of normal humanitarian and commercial traffic. That, of course, is what Hamas has been demanding, which will make Israel - and Egypt - uncomfortable. Neither wants to see the radical movement emerge from this confrontation with an enhanced status, but the scale of the humanitarian disaster wrought by Operation Cast Lead renders maintaining the economic blockade untenable. Hamas may claim vindication, but it will not be allowed to directly control the crossings itself, as it had demanded, and will be forced to swallow many other compromises.Policing the crossings on the Palestinian side will likely be the responsibility of the Palestinian Authority, although that will require new agreements between Hamas and President Abbas. Any cease-fire is likely to implicitly recognize Hamas' dominance as an inescapable reality in Gaza. Hamas will claim victory from any truce that results in the crossings being reopened, and its claim may well be echoed by Netanyahu on the campaign trail. After all, ending the current operation on the basis of a formal long-term truce in Gaza will codify Israeli-Hamas coexistence. That's why Israeli journalist Aluf Benn dubbed the conflict Gaza's War of Independence, an allusion to the conflict 60 years ago in which Israel established its existence as an intractable political-military fact.

Scenario 3: The Guns Go Silent Without a Formal Truce
If the offensive cannot deal Hamas a death blow, Israel may see benefit in holding its fire, in line with the first phase of the Egyptian plan but not necessarily concluding a comprehensive cease-fire. It would simply maintain the halt to hostilities and even withdraw its forces on an open-ended basis. Israeli leaders saw Operation Cast Lead as an opportunity to restore Israel's deterrent power, which it believed had been damaged when it was fought to a draw by Hizballah in Lebanon in 2006. But the Gaza operation, with its almost 100-to-1 ratio of Palestinian to Israeli casualties, has issued a painful reminder of Israel's capacity and willingness to abandon restraints and rain devastation on the heads of all challengers.By simply stopping its operation without a formal truce, Israel can claim to have reestablished its deterrent on future rocket fire without recognizing Hamas' authority in Gaza. This option would also allow Israel to avoid accepting any new restraints on its actions in Gaza. It would also bypass the need to deploy international forces, a move that would complicate any future offensive. Israel ended its 2002 offensive against militants in Jenin and other West Bank cities on its own terms, choosing where to remain deployed and continuing to raid those cities as deemed necessary. The six-month truce that maintained calm in Gaza from June until November last year was never formally codified - each side had its own interpretation of understandings reached with the Egyptian mediator, and there was no publicly agreed text or mechanism for monitoring or arbitrating disputes.Some Israeli reports suggest that halting the offensive without an agreement is the option favored by Livni. And its prospects may be enhanced by the fact that negotiations over a formal cease-fire may take more than 10 days and may, in fact, not be resolved before Israel has elected a new government - possibly, one with little interest in a truce with Hamas. But even an unspoken truce would have to involve the opening of crossings to relieve the humanitarian catastrophe, and would require mechanisms for monitoring the flow of goods into Gaza, and tunnel smuggling. In other words, even an unspoken cease-fire will require many of the features of a formal one. Hamas has also insisted that it won't accept another vague or open-ended ceasefire without defined timetables and verifiable goals, although its ability to hold out for its terms will be determined by the resilience of its forces on the ground. But Egypt and other regional players will press Israel to formalize the truce terms in order to prevent a recurrence of the horrors seen in Gaza over the past three weeks.Whichever of these three permutations defines the Gaza outcome, the likelihood is that Operation Cast Lead will not have ended the conflict between Israel and Hamas, but will instead have propelled it into a new phase.

Turkish leaders urge greater UN role in Gaza conflict: report JAN 16,09

ANKARA (AFP) – Turkish leaders on Friday urged visiting UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to do more to bring an end to Israel's deadly military campaign in Gaza, the Anatolia news agency reported.In a closed-door working dinner, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Ban that Turkey would have liked to see the United Nations take a more active role in resolving the Gaza conflict, the state-run agency said.The UN chief got a similar message from President Abdullah Gul, who said that the tragedy in Gaza was hurting the UN's prestige and called for an immediate ceasefire, it added.Last week, the United Nations passed a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, but it has been rejected by both Israel and the Islamist Hamas movement.On Thursday, Israeli forces struck a UN building in Gaza as Ban was in Israel, triggering a strong condemnation from the UN chief.Turkey has been Israel's main regional ally since the two countries signed a military accord in 1996, but the onslaught in Gaza, which has killed more than 1,100 Palestinians, has unleashed anger in the predominantly Muslim country.There are almost daily demonstrations denouncing Israel while the Islamist-rooted government has accused the Jewish State of using indiscriminate force and targeting civilian. Ankara has also protested that the international community has remained silent in the face of Israel's aggression.

As Ban headed for talks with Turkish leaders, hundreds of demonstrators gathered near the UN building in Ankara to denounce Israel's offensive and called for disbanding the United Nations for failing to stop it.Gaza is burning, the world remains silent, shouted the demonstrators, kept some 50 meters (yards) away from the UN building behind police barricades, an AFP photographer at the scene said.Disband the UN, collaborator of Israel and the United States, read placards carried by the demonstrators who often broke into chants of Allah-u Akbar, or God is great in English.Police at the scene estimated the number of protestors to be around 400. The protest ended peacefully.Ban was in Ankara as part of a regional tour to press for a ceasefire. He has already visited Egypt, Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian territories.He left Turkey for Lebanon and will also visit Syria before going to Kuwait to attend an Arab League summit on Monday.Ban's visit comes as efforts gathered pace in Egypt to broker a truce between Israel and the Islamist Hamas movement and secure an end to the Jewish state's 21-day-old campaign in Gaza.A senior Hamas official told Al-Jazeera television that they had received an invitation to Cairo for fresh talks on the truce plan after an Israeli delegation told Egypt their position.Turkey is also actively involved in the truce efforts and a delegation headed by Erdogan's top foreign policy adviser, Ahmet Davutoglu, has been in the region since last week.

US, Israel sign deal to boost Gaza truce effort By MATTHEW LEE, Associated Press Writer JAN 16,09

WASHINGTON – On its final working day, the Bush administration signed a last-minute deal with Israel aimed at cutting off the supply of smuggled weapons to Hamas and boosting Egyptian efforts to broker a cease-fire to end fighting in Gaza.Shortly after Friday's signing, a senior government official in Israel said the country's Security Cabinet would vote Saturday night on an Egyptian proposal for a truce to end the 3-week-old offensive against Gaza's Hamas rulers.The memorandum of understanding signed in Washington by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni calls for expanded intelligence cooperation between the United States and Israel, as well as other U.S. allies in the Middle East and Europe to prevent Hamas from rearming should Israel agree to a truce.At a hastily arranged State Department ceremony, Livni, who arrived in Washington just hours earlier, described the deal as a vital complement for a cessation of hostility in the troubled region.She said it could advance Israeli decision-making on the future of its offensive operations in Gaza, adding that it was meant to complement Egyptian actions and to end of the flow of weapons to Gaza.Rice said the deal should be thought of as one of the elements of trying to bring into being a durable cease-fire, a cease-fire that can actually hold. The Bush administration has backed Israel throughout the crisis in Gaza, insisting that any truce be sustainable.As you know, there are a number of conditions that need to be obtained if a cease-fire is to be durable. ... And among them is to do something about the weapons smuggling and the potential for resupply of Hamas from other places, including from Iran, Rice said.

Livni told reporters later that she hoped European countries, notably Britain, France and Germany, would work out similar bilateral agreements with the Israelis.
The two-and-a-half page document outlines a framework under which the United States will provide military and intelligence assets, including detection and surveillance equipment, as well as logistical help and training to Israel, Egypt and other nations in the region. The equipment and training would be used for monitoring Gaza's land and sea borders.The document also calls for the U.S. to expand work with its NATO partners in the effort, particularly in the Red Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Gulf of Aden, Indian Ocean and eastern Africa, according to a text.It also commits Washington to use relevant components of the U.S. military to assist Mideast governments in preventing weapons and explosives flows to Gaza that originate in or transit their territories.Although signed by the Bush administration, the agreement is binding on the incoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama and Rice and State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said both Obama and Secretary of State-designate Hillary Rodham Clinton had been briefed on the details.Later Friday, Livni met Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky at the Capitol. As the three posed for photographers, the majority leader told Livni that the Congress stands 100 percent behind Israel. Last week, both chambers passed a resolution expressing lawmakers' support for the Jewish nation.Livni was grateful. What we are doing is expressing the right of Israel to defend itself from terror, from this agenda of hatred being represented by Hamas in the Gaza Strip and by Iran in the region, she said.Negotiations on the U.S.-Israel agreement concluded late Thursday after frenetic negotiations designed to address Israeli concerns that agreeing to a cease-fire in Gaza would allow Hamas to stock up on weapons again.

To agree to a cease-fire, Israel is demanding a halt to Hamas rocket attacks into southern Israel and internationally backed guarantees that Hamas will not rearm by smuggling weapons into the tiny Mediterranean strip, which it has controlled since 2007.Less than two hours after Rice and Livni signed the document, the senior Israeli official said a Security Cabinet vote in favor of the truce would amount to a unilateral cease-fire, though Israeli forces would only leave Gaza after an official declaration that the fighting was over.It would begin a phased process in which Israel stops the assault and gauges the reaction from Hamas militants. Israel would resume the offensive if the militants continue to fire rockets, the official said. Under the cease-fire proposal, Egypt would shut down weapons smuggling routes with international help, and discussions on the opening of Gaza's blockaded border crossings would take place later. Associated Press writer Anne Flaherty contributed to this report.

Turkish PM: Israel should be barred from UN By SELCAN HACAOGLU, Associated Press Writer JAN 16,09

ANKARA, Turkey – Israel should be barred from the United Nations while it ignores the organization's calls to stop fighting in Gaza, Turkey's prime minister said Friday, urging the world not to turn a blind eye to Israel's savagery.How is such a country, which totally ignores and does not implement resolutions of the U.N. Security Council, allowed to enter through the gates of the U.N.? Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.Erdogan spoke before U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon arrived in Ankara. Erdogan's comments reflected growing anger in Turkey, Israel's best friend in the Muslim world, over Israel's Gaza operation.Ban is on a weeklong trip to the region to promote a truce after both Israel and Hamas leaders in Gaza ignored a U.N. resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.The U.N. building in Gaza was hit while the U.N. secretary-general was in Israel, Erdogan said. This is an open challenge to the world.Erdogan told Ban at a banquet that Turkey was disappointed the United Nations did not assume a more active role in Gaza, the state-run Anatolia news agency reported on Friday.All border crossings with Gaza must be opened to alleviate the suffering of civilians and Israeli soldiers must simultaneously and urgently leave Gaza, Anatolia quoted Erdogan as saying. Turkey is ready for any mission in each and every step the U.N. will take.Ban said Turkey's proposals were important, Anatolia said.Israel infuriated the U.N. when it shelled the world body's headquarters Thursday in Gaza City, where hundreds of Gazans were seeking shelter. The destruction added to what aid groups say is a humanitarian crisis in Gaza.In an anti-Israel demonstration in Istanbul after Friday prayers, about 1,500 pro-Islamic protesters chanted We're all soldiers of Hamas! And police in Ankara used pepper spray to disperse hundreds of protesters. Several shops were damaged during the clashes in downtown Kizilay district.Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor rebuffed Erdogan's criticism.Maybe if Turkey had voted more with Israel at the U.N. and expressed its anger when Hamas was firing rockets indiscriminately on Israeli civilians, it could have contributed more to bringing peace to southern Israel and Gaza than by making such statements, Palmor said.

Judge refuses to halt case against ex-professor By MATTHEW BARAKAT, Associated Press Writer JAN 16,09

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A judge ruled Friday that prosecutors can go forward with their criminal contempt case against a former Florida professor once accused by the U.S. government of being a top Palestinian terrorist.Sami Al-Arian was charged with contempt after refusing to testify to a federal grand jury about a cluster of Muslim organizations in northern Virginia, even though he'd been given immunity for his testimony. His lawyers wanted the contempt charge dismissed, arguing he was being unfairly being prosecuted on a charge they claimed was rare. They also said prosecutors improperly drafted the paperwork compelling Al-Arian's testimony.In earlier hearings, U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema raised doubts about the indictment, giving Al-Arian hope she would dismiss it. But she rejected defense arguments Friday and set a March 9 trial date.Al-Arian, who once taught computer science at the University of South Florida, struck a plea bargain in 2005 on other charges. He admitted he conspired to assist the radical Palestinian group Islamic Jihad, specifically by helping a family member with links to the group get immigration benefits and by lying to a reporter about another person's links to the organization.The plea bargain came after a lengthy trial in Florida failed to obtain a conviction on more serious charges alleging that Al-Arian had been one of the North American leaders of Islamic Jihad, which is designated as a terrorist group by the U.S. and at various times has been allied with a larger militant group, Hamas.

In that trial, a jury acquitted Al-Arian on some counts and deadlocked on others, with 10 of 12 favoring acquittal.Al-Arian's lawyers were pleased by some rulings the judge made Friday, including a decision that Al-Arian will be allowed to argue to the jury that he was acting on the advice of his lawyers by refusing to testify.

Prosecutors had asked Brinkema to bar Al-Arian from offering such a defense.

Al-Arian declined comment after the hearing. His lawyer, Jonathan Turley, said he has advised Al-Arian not to make any public comments of any kind while the trial is pending.Asked if it has been difficult for Al-Arian, a longtime Palestinian activist, to keep quiet about the current Israeli offensive on the Gaza strip, Al-Arian offered only a frustrated smile.We appreciate his restraint, Turley said.

Iran leader denounces Arab traitors in Gaza crisis JAN 16,09

AFP TEHRAN (AFP) – Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei denounced Arab traitors and hypocrites in the Gaza crisis, in a message Friday to Hamas leader Ismail Haniya, the state news agency IRNA reported.Be proud of your patience, courage and sacrifice... Your Jihad up to this day has exposed America, the Zionist regime and its supporters, the United Nations and the hypocrites among the Islamic nation, Khamenei said.The Arab traitors should know that their fate will not be better than that of the Jews in the Battle of Ahzab, he said, alluding to one of Prophet Mohamed's wars.Nations are with the people and combatants of Gaza. Any government that acts contrary to this deepens the gap between itself and its nation.

You are victorious this very day and by continuing this noble resistance you will bring the hopeless and anti-human enemy further defeat, the all powerful leader said.
More than 1,100 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched an operation into Gaza late last month in retaliation for Hamas rocket attacks, according to Gaza medics.Iran is a staunch supporter of the Islamist Hamas movement, which controls the Gaza Strip, and does not recognise its archfoe Israel.In a letter to Saudi King Abdullah on Thursday Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused some Arab and Islamic states of complicity in genocide being carried out against Palestinians in Gaza.

Qatar suspends ties with Israel By BARBARA SURK, Associated Press Writer – Fri Jan 16, 2:15 pm ET

DOHA, Qatar – Qatar and Mauritania suspended contacts with Israel to protest the Gaza bloodshed at an Arab summit Friday that deepened the divisions between pro-U.S. Arab nations and their rivals in the Middle East.U.S. allies Egypt and Saudi Arabia led a boycott of the gathering in the Qatari capital, which the Gulf nation had called to take a united stance over the Gaza violence but which ended up being dominated by backers of the Palestinian militant group Hamas.Iran's hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a top Hamas supporter, made a surprise appearance, along with Hamas' Syria-based political chief Khaled Mashaal. They and Syria's president made fiery denunciations of Israel and called for Arab and Muslim nations to cut any bilateral ties they have with the Jewish state.Syrian President Bashar Assad repeated an earlier announcement that his country had frozen its indirect peace negotiations with Israel, mediated by Turkey. He also declared that a 2002 Saudi-led Arab peace offer to Israel was dead because of the assault against Hamas in Gaza.Qatar's prime minister, Sheik Hamad bin Jassem Al Thani, announced the suspension in ties with Israel. The oil-rich state does not have diplomatic relations with Israel but has maintained lower-level ties, allowing an Israeli trade mission to operate and hosting Israeli leaders at conferences.Hamad, who is also Qatar's foreign minister, said the Israeli trade mission in the country will have about a week to leave. We will tell the Israeli (trade mission) office that their presence here is unwanted until the circumstances improve and there is a better chance for peace, he told reporters.Mauritania, an Arab League member attending the summit, also announced it was suspending diplomatic relations with Israel over Gaza. Mauritania had full relations with Israel. Earlier this month, the Western African nation recalled its ambassador from Israel amid street protests over Gaza.The Qatar summit issued a final statement urging all Arab states to stop all forms of normalization with Israel and to reconsider their diplomatic and economic ties with it. Egypt and Jordan, which did not attend the summit, are the only Arab countries with peace treaties and full relations with Israel.

The Qatar gathering drew a stark line between Arab nations who support Hamas and those who back its rival, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.Israel and Egypt expressed optimism Friday that a cease-fire could come soon, but the Arab divisions are likely to endure well after the Gaza fighting ends, and they could have an impact on a truce's stability. Any final cease-fire deal for Gaza will likely need cooperation between the two factions to guard key border crossings into the tiny coastal strip — but cooperation could be strained over time if their regional backers are at odds.Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Abbas were preparing to hold a rival summit this weekend in Kuwait.In the past week, Cairo and Riyadh reportedly used their political and financial weight to persuade other Arab countries to boycott the Qatar gathering or to send only low-level figures — hoping to limit the platform for Hamas' backers. Egypt in particular feared that the summit could boost Hamas and undermine Cairo's cease-fire mediation.In the end, the only Arab heads of state to attend in Doha were from Syria, Lebanon, Sudan, Qatar and Algeria — and from the more minor Arab League members, the Comoros Islands and Mauritania. Also attending were Ahmadinejad and the leaders of Hamas and the smaller Palestinian radical group Islamic Jihad and representatives from 9 other Arab and African nations.Syria's Assad criticized Arab nations for not attending and chided them for failing to support Hamas and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah in their armed resistance against Israel.Israel is a country, built on massacres ... the enemy (who) speaks in language of blood only, Assad said. This is a call to resistance ... resistance is the only way to peace.How can those seeking peace, not support resistance, Assad added, referring to Saudi Arabia and Egypt.Mashaal took a tough line, insisting Hamas would not stop fighting in Gaza until its borders are opened. Israel has imposed a crippling embargo on Gaza since Hamas took over there in 2007, saying it was necessary to prevent weapons from reaching the militant group. But the blockade has also caused widespread shortages and suffering among Gaza's 1.4 million people.

In Iran, supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei sent a message to Hamas' chief Ismail Hanieh in Gaza, saying Hamas' resistance will lead to the defeat of Israel and infamy of hypocrites and traitors in the Islamic and Arab world, state TV reported.

In another sign of division between the two camps, Qatar's emir announced ahead of Friday's gathering that his country would give $250 million in aid for rebuilding Gaza — and he said it should go directly to Gaza, implying that it would not go through Abbas' government, based in the West Bank. The rival summit in Kuwait is expected to announce up to $500 million in aid for Abbas' Palestinian Authority to help rebuilding.

Hamas returns to Cairo for fresh truce talks by Samer al-Atrush Samer – Fri Jan 16, 2:15 pm ET

CAIRO (AFP) – A Hamas delegation visiting Cairo on Friday evening for its second round of truce talks this week will insist on a prompt Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and an end to the blockade, a Hamas official said.Representatives of the Islamist movement's Damascus leadership were invited for another meeting with Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman after Israeli defense official Amos Gilad met him on Friday afternoon.The visit came as Israeli government officials said the cabinet will vote in favour of a unilateral ceasefire on Saturday that would allow Israeli soldiers to stay in Gaza for an unspecified period. Such a ceasefire would not require Israel to reach an agreement with Hamas.The Islamist movement had proposed earlier this week a year-long renewable ceasefire with Israel, in return for an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza within a week and an end to Israel's blockade of the embattled Palestinian enclave.If what will be proposed (in the meeting) contradicts what our delegation spoke about, the delegation will have to either refuse it or return for consultations with (Hamas's) leadership, Osama Hamdan, the group's representative in Lebanon, told AFP.He said an end to the blockade was a pre-condition for a ceasefire, but Hamas would be willing to accept gurantees ahead of the truce.We want guarantees that the crossings will remain open. If Israel accepts the principle of guarantees, then we will start talking about their details.Earlier on Friday, Mussa Abu Marzuk, the Damascus-based deputy head of Hamas's powerful politburo, told AFP that a blockade of Gaza after any truce would be seen by the group as war.There will be no ceasefire if the siege continues to be enforced, he said.

Hamas officials had said they were waiting for Israel's response but not yet been told of Gilad's reaction to Hamas's proposal. Gilad's meeting with Suleiman was the second one in as many days.Israeli officials said Gilad would tell Suleiman that Israel wants an open-ended Gaza truce and will only agree to Palestinian Authority forces on the enclave's border with Egypt.The Egyptians told us come, there is something new. We tried to understand it over the phone but they refused, one source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said.The source said that a main obstacle to the agreement was the opening of Egypt's Rafah border crossing with Egypt.The Egyptian side insists on the Palestinian Authority being present alone at the crossing, and we say no, he said.Egypt has refused to permanently open the crossing after Hamas took over Gaza in 2007, routing forces loyal to Palestinian Authority President Mahmud Abbas.Egypt cites a 2005 agreement that requires the presence of PA and European Union monitors at the crossing. It has accused Hamas of seeking legitimacy by having the crossing permanently opened, despite the agreement.

Hamdan said Hamas had proposed a structure that represented the Presidency as well as the government in Gaza.And we have no objections to European monitors, as long as they are not under Israeli control, he said. If Israel withdraws and the guarantees are offered, then we can say we have surpassed the problems, said Hamdan. His comments came as US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni Friday signed a US-Israeli deal aimed at halting arms smuggling into Gaza. Conditions set by Israel for ending its three-week offensive in Gaza include a halt to militant rocket fire from Gaza against southern Israel and creation of a mechanism to stem weapons smuggling between Egypt and the Islamists-ruled enclave. The war has killed more 1,100 Palestinians and 13 Israelis.

Arab leaders accuse Israel of crimes of war and genocide by Taieb Mahjoub – Fri Jan 16, 2:06 pm ET

DOHA (AFP) – Arab and other Muslim leaders meeting on Friday in Qatar accused Israel of crimes of war and genocide in Gaza, where the Jewish state has conducted a three-week onslaught against rulers Hamas.Proposals adopted in Doha call for an immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Israeli forces and suspension of the Arab peace initiative, while accusing Israel of committing crimes of war and genocide, the final statement said.The proposals will be presented to Arab leaders in Kuwait on Monday at an official Arab League summit.Other demands mentioned in the statement were the opening of all border crossings, lifting of the blockade, and holding Israel responsible for paying compensation.We request that this crime stops, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani said at the press conference that followed the meeting.Also in Doha, Qatar and Mauritania announced the suspension of the relations with Israel.The move followed appeals by both the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad for Arab states to sever any ties they had with Israel.Mauritania has diplomatic ties to Israel, while Qatar is the only Gulf Arab country with commercial relations with the Jewish state.

Egypt and Jordan are the only Arab countries which have signed peace treaties with Israel and which have Israeli embassies.Ahmadinejad called for the prosecution of Israeli leaders by the International Court of Justice for crimes against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.He urged punishing the criminal leaders of the Zionist entity, for the 21-day-old Israeli offensive on Gaza, which so far has killed more than 1,100 and wounded another 5,000.The Arab peace initiative, adopted in 2002 and again in 2007, offers Israel peace if it retreats from all territories it has occupied since 1967.The Doha meeting was attended by 13 of the Arab League's 22 members plus hardline Israeli foe Ahmadinejad. Turkey also took part, with Ankara sending an aide to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.The gathering went ahead despite the objections of the Palestinian leadership and regional heavyweights Egypt and Saudi Arabia and the lack of a quorum of 15 members to make the summit an official meeting of the Arab League.Meanwhile, Arab foreign ministers met in Kuwait on Friday and adopted a proposal that called for an immediate halt of Israeli aggressions, and lifting the blockade.It also appealed for a committment to rebuild the Gaza Strip and Palestinian territories and provide all the necessary finances, which are estimated at two billion dollars, in coordination with the Palestinian Authority.The proposals adopted in Kuwait will also be presented to the Arab leaders meeting on Monday.The double meetings highlight the divisions between Arab countries, with some backing the Islamist movement Hamas and some backing the Palestinian leadership headed by President Mahmud Abbas. The Qatari prime minister said he had talked with the Palestinian president before the summit, but that Abbas said he couldn't attend the Qatari summit because of pressures.Abu Mazen told me, I cannot attend, because I am under pressures, the Qatari prime minister told reporters at the meeting.

Gaza war fuels anti-Israeli anger in Indonesia By ANTHONY DEUTSCH, Associated Press Writer – Fri Jan 16, 1:00 pm ET

JAKARTA, Indonesia – Islamic hard-liners enraged by Israel's assault on the Gaza Strip marched to the synagogue's gates chanting: Go to hell Israel!The only Jewish religious site in the world's most populous Muslim state — which has no rabbi and only a few followers — then closed its doors.Across Indonesia, Malaysia and Pakistan, sentiments are running high about the conflict, fueled by disturbing TV footage of Palestinian casualties.This is the way to show our solidarity for the Palestinian people and to condemn the Israeli attacks, said Abdusshomad Buchori, a local leader of the Ulema Council, which is pushing for the permanent closure of Beth Hashem synagogue in Surabaya, Indonesia's second-largest city.If Israel refuses to stop its attacks and oppression of the Palestinian people, we don't need to defend (the synagogue's) presence here, said Buchori, who led around 100 hard-liners to the synagogue, where they burned an Israeli flag.The woman who has run the synagogue since the 1970s went underground after the Jan. 7 incident, in which Buchori also threatened to drive any remaining Jews out of town.The incident was not unique: An outlet of the American fried chicken chain KFC was shut on Sulawesi island after protesters upset with Washington's Middle East policies hurled chairs and overturned tables. And thousands have rallied in the capital, Jakarta, waving Palestinian flags and shouting insults outside the U.S. Embassy.The Israeli attacks against Palestine and Lebanon have resulted in increased anti-Semitism, said Hendardi, chairman of the Setara Institute for Democracy and Peace, a human rights group. Like many Indonesians, he uses a single name.The government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, which is seeking re-election in April, donated millions of dollars in aid, sent doctors and humanitarian workers to Gaza and offered peacekeepers — moves that could win votes.Smaller radical groups seeking to create an Indonesian Muslim state staged publicity stunts where they claimed to be signing up martyrs for a jihad, or holy war, to combat Israeli troops.Despite the calls for volunteers and a message from Osama bin Laden urging Muslims to fight in Gaza, there are no known cases of Indonesians leaving to defend the Palestinians.Emotions have nonetheless been stirred by the media coverage. One Indonesian broadcaster, tvOne, has been running ads showing footage of Palestinian parents weeping over dead children under the heading: Tears for Palestine.

The vast majority of Indonesia's Muslims practice a moderate form of the faith and do not advocate violence against Israelis, but they support the creation of a Palestinian state. Jakarta hosts a Palestinian embassy but has no political links with Israel.Other major Muslim countries in Asia have also seen an outpouring of support for Palestinians since Israel began its Gaza offensive Dec. 27.Malaysian leaders called for a boycott of iconic American brands like McDonald's and Coca-Cola, and pro-Palestinian charities and newspapers have collected millions of dollars in aid.Lawmakers sharply criticized Israel's use of force in a six-hour-long debate and tens of thousands of people held prayer sessions for Palestinians. The conflict is a topic of heated discussion across Malaysia.We are Muslims. We are very angry, said Zaiton, a 50-year-old Malaysian teacher who declined to give her full name while attending a protest with her four daughters and grandson. You see the (Palestinian) children. Looking at the newspaper, it's enough to break your heart.In Pakistan, there are near-daily protests from the southern city of Karachi to towns on the border with Afghanistan. Protesters have burned U.S. and Israeli flags and effigies of Israeli leaders. Some of the protests have been dominated by women or children. However, most have been limited in size and marshaled mainly by an Islamist political party. All the Muslims of the world should stand united against Israel, said Qari Shafiq, a principal at an Islamic seminary. But unfortunately we are divided into countries and sects.Associated Press writers Ashraf Khan in Karachi, Sean Yoong in Kuala Lumpur, Niniek Karmini in Jakarta contributed to this report.

Iran's Ahmadinejad says Obama regime hostile to Gazans Fri Jan 16, 12:47 pm ET

DOHA (AFP) – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Friday accused the incoming government of US president-elect Barack Obama of hostility towards the people of Gaza, which is under Israeli attack.Many analysts believe that hostility towards people of Gaza is a completely American plan and that it is from the new US administration, Ahmadinejad told a summit in Doha, according to Iranian state television.Obama will take office on January 20.What has been seen is that no changes have taken place, enmity has doubled and the new leaders are following the previous policies, Ahmadinejad said about Washington's new administration.The new US administration has made some comments about changing its stance on Palestine. These changes had better be to condemn the Zionist regime not supporting it, he added.

Ahmadinejad's new comments appear to differ from what he told a press conference in Tehran on Thursday.If changes are fundamental, genuine and based on respect... we wait and see and do not make premature judgement, he said when asked about Tehran's stance toward normalisation of ties with Washington.Iran is a staunch supporter of the Islamist Hamas movement, which controls the Gaza Strip, and does not recognise its archfoe Israel.In part of his speech translated from Farsi into Arabic in Doha, Ahmadinejad demanded the prosecution of Israeli leaders by the International Court of Justice for crimes against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.He urged punishing the criminal leaders of the Zionist entity, for the 21-day-old Israeli offensive on Gaza, which so far has killed more than 1,100 and wounded more than 5,000.

Ahmadinejad called on Arab and Muslim countries to boycott all products of the Zionist entity and on countries with ties to Israel to cut them.This is the minimum for the solidarity with the Palestinian people and the resistance in Gaza, the Iranian leader said.He also criticised a split in Islamic countries which has prevented them from taking a firm stance on the Israeli attack.The Zionist entity is using the rift in our Muslim world. I we had a united stance (it) would not have carried out this aggression, he said.We have to stand by the Palestinian people and the resistance. We have no doubt the resistance will be victorious eventually.Iran had observer status at the summit, to which Qatar had invited all members of the Arab League. Only 13 of the 22 attended, with heavyweights Saudi Arabia and Egypt among those which stayed away.Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas was among the absentees though the Hamas movement, which controls Gaza after splitting with Abbas in 2007, was represented by its exiled political leader Khaled Meshaal.The Iranian president's call for a boycott of Israel echoed requests from Meshaal and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to sever all ties with Israel. Egypt, Jordan and Mauritania are the only Arab countries with diplomatic ties to Israel, while Qatar has trade ties with the Jewish state.The meeting continued behind closed doors.

Israel's Gaza offensive will not help security: Sarkozy Fri Jan 16, 11:18 am ET

PARIS (AFP) – French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Friday that Israel's three-week offensive against Hamas in Gaza would do nothing to improve its security and renewed a call for a ceasefire.This intervention is not reinforcing Israel's security, Sarkozy told foreign diplomats based in Paris. The crisis in Gaza is a useless and bloody humanitarian tragedy. This tragedy must end.France has been pushing for Hamas and Israel to accept an Egyptian-led peace initiative, which would see Israel pull out of Gaza in exchange for a ceasefire and international measures to halt Palestinian arms smuggling.Sarkozy called on Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to take risks for peace and stressed that France was a friend of Israel as well as a strong supporter of the Palestinian cause.There is, on the one hand, an Israeli government that stands accused by the world at a time when Israel needs solidarityy and, on the other, a divided Arab world whose moderate leaders have been weakened, Sarkozy said.France will do everything to help bring peace in this region of the world, he declared.Sarkozy spoke some 10 days after he travelled to the region to push for a ceasefire deal and end the bloodletting that has killed more than 1,100 people, the worst fighting in the Palestinian area in decades.French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Thursday after meeting Mideast envoy Tony Blair in Paris that a peace place would include a renewable one-year ceasefire, the withdrawal within five to seven days of Israeli forces from Gaza and a reopening of Gaza's frontier crossings, which Israel and Egypt have blocked.The Israeli military on Friday pounded Gaza with some 40 air strikes against fighters, tunnels and a mosque suspected of being used as a weapons store, the army said.France, home to Europe's biggest Jewish and Muslim communities, has been on edge over a spate of anti-Semitic attacks that have prompted Sarkozy and religious leaders to appeal for calm.

Mauritania suspends diplomatic ties with Israel Fri Jan 16, 10:54 am ET

NOUAKCHOTT, Mauritania – Mauritania's foreign minister says his nation is suspending diplomatic ties with Israel over the fighting in Gaza.But Mohammad-Mahmoud Ould Mohamedou says Israel's embassy in Mauritania will remain and its ambassador is not being expelled.Mohamedou spoke Friday by telephone from Doha, Qatar, where Arab League leaders have gathered for an emergency summit on the Gaza crisis. He said there would be no diplomatic, political or economic contact while fighting rages in Gaza.Mauritania, which is overwhelmingly Muslim, is one of only three Arab League countries to have diplomatic ties with the Jewish state.Earlier this month, the government recalled its ambassador from Israel amid street protests against Israel's attack on Gaza.

Russia urges Iran, Syria to pressure Hamas on ceasefire Fri Jan 16, 9:26 am ET

MOSCOW (AFP) – Russia has called on Iran and Syria to persuade Palestinian Islamist group Hamas to accept a plan pushed by Egypt to end the fighting in Gaza, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Friday.We are sending the appropriate signals to Hamas representatives and to those states that have influence on Hamas, meaning above all Iran and Syria, of the need to accept the Egyptian plan, Lavrov said at a news conference.The Russian minister said the Egyptian initiative, launched by President Hosni Mubarak on January 6, was the optimal way to put an end to the war in Gaza that has killed more than 1,100 people in the past three weeks.We believe all forces need to throw their support behind it, Lavrov said.Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit has said the Mubarak plan calls for an immediate ceasefire and acceptance of withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip.A Hamas official said Wednesday that the Islamist movement had accepted broad outlines of the Egyptian plan without approving it outright.Russia is a member of the Mideast quartet but is the only one formally to be on speaking terms with Hamas, which is classified as a terrorist organization by the United States and the EU.Lavrov said Russia was in close contact with all the parties but placed particular emphasis on Moscow's channels of communication with Tehran, Damascus and the Hamas leadership.Referring to the Egyptian initiative, Lavrov said: I hope everyone will focus in this direction. This is the most important thing at the moment. Everything else can be dealt with later.

Gaza Fighting Intensifies Despite Truce Talks Thu Jan 15, 9:40 pm ET

Afghans give money and blood to Gaza cause AFP As the leaders of Israel and Hamas examined the fine points of an Egyptian cease-fire proposal, Israeli forces pushed hard into central Gaza Thursday, striking more than 70 enemy targets, officials said. But a few Israeli artillery shells went amiss, crashing into the United Nations compound and a hospital inside the besieged Palestinian territory. Dozens more civilians were killed, according to Palestinian hospital staff. Meanwhile, as Hamas and Israel seemed to edge closer to accepting a cease-fire, Israeli forces subjected the enclave's main city of over 500,000 people to a relentless hammering. Israeli media reported that three top Hamas commanders - Said Siam, the Interior Minister; security chief Salah Abu Shrek; and Mahmoud Watfah, head of the military wing - were killed in an air strike inside Jabaliya refugee camp. Israeli military sources told TIME that Siam, a hard-liner ranked third within the political hierarchy, had been on the list of targeted Hamas leaders since the 20-day-old operation began. Hamas had promised us a big surprise when we entered Gaza, but the killing of Siam is the surprise we're giving them, exulted one senior Israeli intelligence officer.U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called the shelling of the U.N. compound an outrage and demanded a full investigation. The bombardment occurred shortly before the Secretary-General was to meet with Israeli officials to plead for an end to what he called the unbearable conflict in Gaza. Diplomatic niceties were not much in evidence, however. The shelling puts a further strain on already tense relations between the U.N. and Israel. Relief officials of the world body in Gaza have strongly criticized the Israeli action for its humanitarian toll, and Israelis are generally suspicious of an organization they accuse of long-standing bias toward the Palestinians. Three people were injured when a shell slammed into the U.N. warehouse that stores fuel for Gaza's overburdened hospitals and food for thousands of poor Palestinian families. Eyewitnesses said the burning sacks of food blazed into the evening, covering Gaza's sky with a pall of greasy black smoke. Many of the 700 Gazans who had retreated inside the U.N. compound to take refuge from the fighting then fled into the streets with nowhere left to go as artillery shells thudded into buildings around them, showering the area with chunks of concrete and glass, eyewitness said.

Palestinians say more than a dozen civilians died in the fighting on Thursday, pushing the death toll to over 1,060. Witnesses described thousands of families carrying babies and pushing their elderly in wheelchairs to flee Israeli tanks. Civilians in the densely packed slice of land carpeted with teeming slums are finding themselves with no safe places of refuge as the Israelis tighten their grip. TIME correspondent Azmy Keshawi recounted the scene in his neighborhood: We knew that an Israeli sniper was on top of the next-door apartment building. As one of our neighbors tried to leave the building, he was shot four times and just bled to death. There was nothing we could do, with the sniper there.Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told the U.N. Secretary-General that he regretted the shelling of the U.N. compound but added, I don't know if you know, but Hamas attacked from within the UNRWA [United Nations Relief and Works Agency] compound during the humanitarian cease-fire. One U.N. official dismissed this claim as nonsense, and spokesman Chris Gunness claimed that in a liaison meeting between U.N. and Israeli officials, the military admitted that the firing did not originate inside the U.N. compound but several hundred meters away. He added, This isn't the first time that the Israeli government spokesman has made baseless accusations against the U.N. It's incrementally diminishing their credibility.Israeli envoy Amos Gilad returned from Cairo on Thursday night to brief Olmert and his Defense and Foreign Ministers about Hamas' response to the Egyptian truce proposals. Israeli officials claim that Hamas may be willing to drop two previous demands: that Israel withdraw its troops from Gaza before Hamas stops firing its rockets into Israel and that Hamas control the Gaza border crossings with Israel and Egypt. These sources say Hamas has agreed that the Gaza crossings be manned by a force loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, a Hamas rival supported by Israel and the U.S. So far, Olmert is still pondering his reply to the cease-fire offer. Hamas, too, seemed out to inflict as much damage as possible on Israel before any truce. Militants fired more than 30 rockets at Israeli towns on Thursday, wounding at least five people in Beersheba, including a child. - With reporting by Aaron J. Klein / Tel Aviv

Analysis: Divisions complicate Gaza truce efforts By LEE KEATH, Associated Press Writer – Thu Jan 15, 7:39 pm ET

CAIRO, Egypt – Sealing a lasting peace between Israel and Hamas over Gaza will mean overcoming a dizzying array of splits — the Palestinians are deeply divided politically, Arab countries are feuding and Iran is firing off heated rhetoric at Israel.Adding to the complexity, multiple mediators are trying to untangle the strands, while the United States has largely stood on the sidelines, with the administration of President George W. Bush in its final days and President-elect Barack Obama not yet sworn in.The difficulty is that so many different parties will have to agree to make any deal work and that is complicating the task of clearing the obstacles from the path to a cease-fire.At the same time, Israel is hiking up the pressure on Hamas to sign onto a cease-fire deal, pushing deeper into Gaza City and targeting the movement's leadership. A strike Thursday evening killed Hamas' Interior Minister Said Siam, who oversaw thousands of security agents.Negotiations have been snarled in part over who will control border crossings into the Gaza Strip. Hamas wants the crossings opened to commerce and travel to end a crippling Israeli-Egypt blockade since 2007. But Israel wants internationally backed guarantees that the crossings and underground tunnels won't be used to smuggle weapons to Hamas, which controls the government in the tiny Mediterranean coastal strip with a population of nearly 1.4 million Palestinians.

Both Hamas and its rival, the Palestinian Authority headed by President Mahmoud Abbas, want a hand in running the borders. Egypt is trying to cobble together an arrangement that would involve both factions in crossing security.But that would require the two Palestinian factions to resolve the virulent rift between them over control of Gaza, which Hamas seized after driving out Abbas loyalists in bloody fighting in 2007. Meanwhile, Israel and the United States, which along with the European Union consider the group a terror organization, would be reluctant to accept a Hamas role at the crossings.The other key to controlling the border is international monitors to prevent smuggling. Turkey has volunteered to put together a monitoring mission, but the question is what powers they would have? Israel wants them to actively search out smuggling tunnels along the border and has also suggested it wants direct American involvement, which Hamas would likely oppose. Egypt also rejects any international force on its side of the border, insisting it can handle anti-smuggling efforts.Egypt, the main mediator between Hamas and Israel, is now pushing for an immediate 10-day cease-fire that would stop the fighting but leave Israeli troops in Gaza until negotiators work out border security arrangements.

This proposal appears to have been stalled by differences within Hamas. The movement's officials in Gaza — the ones being pounded by the Israeli onslaught — seem more willing to accept a plan that would not require an immediate Israeli withdrawal.But Hamas' leadership in exile, based in Damascus, is taking a tougher line. Hamas' exiled top political leader, Khaled Mashaal, went on Syrian television Thursday and insisted any cease-fire must be simultaneous with an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and the opening of the borders.These are our demands and we don't accept any political movement that does not accept them, Mashaal said. Now we are at the critical moments. There must be a cease-fire but it must meet our conditions.At the same time, the divisions have heightened among Middle Eastern nations — between U.S. allies like Egypt and Saudi Arabia and their rivals Syria and Iran, both top backers of Hamas and other militant groups.Egypt and Saudi Arabia fear that Hamas' hold on Gaza gives Iran a stronghold on Israel's doorstep. Their state media have accused Tehran of sabotaging a deal and using Hamas to stir up turmoil and fuel the Gaza bloodshed.Tehran and Damascus, meanwhile, have used the Gaza violence as a club to batter pro-Western governments, depicting them as failing to back the Palestinian cause and impotent while more than 1,000 Gazans have been killed, according to Palestinian medical officials.Iran's hard-line president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad — known for his anti-Israeli rhetoric — had his toughest words yet for Israel since the Gaza war began 20 days ago. He told reporters in Tehran on Thursday that the fighting showed Israel's absolute defeat and demonstrated the continuation of the Zionist regime's life in the region is not feasible.He also sent a letter to Saudi King Abdullah, chiding him to break your silence over the massacre of your children in Gaza and urged Arab nations to pressure the West to stop Israel. The Arab divisions have erupted most clearly in a dispute over what would appear to outsiders — and even many in the Arab world — an enormously petty issue: where to hold a summit of Arab leaders to discuss the Gaza crisis. For the past week, Egypt and Saudi Arabia have been trying to thwart an attempt by Qatar to host an Arab summit Friday. They fear the summit would turn into a platform for Syria to boost Hamas and undermine Egypt's cease-fire efforts. The bickering could have a serious impact on the ground. The multiple divisions could mean any deal reached will be short lived. Syria and its ally Iran have enormous influence with Hamas. Iran funds the group to the tune of millions of dollars and is believed to supply it with weapons, though Tehran denies arming the militants. In another complication, Israel holds elections on Feb. 9, and a change in its leadership could mean an even tougher line toward Hamas and Gaza.

A top Israeli envoy on Thursday delivered to Cairo his country's demands for a stop to Hamas rocket fire and guarantees the militant group won't be able to rearm. After returning home and meeting with top government officials, the envoy was ordered back to Egypt for more talks Friday. More broadly, Israel hopes Hamas will be crippled by the offensive, boosting Abbas, with whom Israel hopes to eventually negotiate a final peace agreement. But Hamas could emerge stronger just by surviving the Israeli onslaught and winning the opening of Gaza's borders. The movement hopes any resolution will give a tacit recognition of its rule in Gaza. That would force its rivals to deal with it on nearly equal footing with Abbas in the future — an outcome Israel, the United States, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Abbas himself want to avoid. Lee Keath is The Associated Press' Middle East News Editor and has covered the region for four years.