10TH DAY ISRAEL PROTECTS CITIZENS

Israel escalates offensive into Gaza cities by Mai Yaghi Mai Yaghi – Tue Jan 6, 9:16 am ET

GAZA CITY (AFP) – Israeli tanks and helicopter gunships went blazing into towns across the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, attacking Hamas targets and searching for its leaders as the war death toll approached 600.Troops fought Islamist militants around the back alleys of Gaza's main city in the heaviest fighting of the 11-day-old offensive to halt rocket attacks on Israel. Hamas made its deepest rocket strike yet into Israel.On the diplomatic front, Arab nations pressed the case for a UN Security Council resolution condemning the onslaught, but Israel rejected ceasefire calls by French President Nicolas Sarkozy and other leaders.Europe must open its eyes, President Shimon Peres told an EU ministerial delegation that demanded a truce. We are not in the business of public relations or improving our image. We are fighting against terror and we have every right to defend our citizens.Black smoke covered districts of Gaza City and the edges of Deir al-Balah and al-Bureij where heavy fighting raged on Tuesday.Tanks backed by helicopter gunships rolled into the southern town of Khan Yunis before dawn, to be met by return fire from Hamas and its allies, witnesses said.One air strike killed 12 people -- including seven children --from the same family in Gaza City. Israeli strikes also hit two UN-run schools, one crowded with refugees, killing at least five Palestinians, medics and UN officials said.Two people were killed when an artillery shell slammed into a school in Khan Yunis and three people were killed in an air strike on a school in the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City, they said.Four Israeli soldiers were killed in two friendly fire incidents during the overnight surge in fighting, the army said. Five have now died since Saturday.About 12 Hamas rockets were fired over the border, one reaching 45 kilometres (28 miles) inside Israeli territory, the deepest yet, lightly wounding a baby, the army said.Three civilians and one soldier have been killed by rocket fire inside Israel since the offensive was launched.Protests against Israel's action have spiralled around the globe and the French president led new calls for a truce in talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders on Monday.

We, Europe, want a ceasefire as soon as possible, Sarkozy said in Jerusalem. Time is working against peace. The weapons must be silenced and there must be a temporary humanitarian truce.But Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert vowed that the campaign will continue until Israel completely wipes out Hamas's ability to fire rockets into Israel.Sarkozy also called Hamas rocket attacks irresponsible and unforgivable, sparking the Islamists' retort that he was totally biased towards Israel.Israel launched Operation Cast Lead on Hamas on December 27 with a massive air bombardment of Gaza , and sent in thousands of ground troops a week later.Since then, at least 592 Palestinians have been killed, including more than 160 children, and more than 2,700 wounded, according to Gaza medics.Israel has denied there is a humanitarian crisis in Gaza but the International Committee of the Red Cross said Tuesday that there is a full blown crisis and people are dying because ambulances cannot reach them. I cannot sufficiently underline the level of concern and anxiety that is felt at the ICRC in relation to the crisis in Gaza, said Pierre Kraehenbuehl, the ICRC director of operations. There is no doubt in my mind that we are dealing with a full blown and major crisis in humanitarian terms. The situation for the people in Gaza is extreme and traumatic as a result of 10 days of uninterrupted fighting.

Kraehenbuehl said ICRC staff in Gaza described the past night as the most frightening to date in the territory where there is no power or water and finding food is a daily struggle. Israeli officials have insisted they are doing all to prevent civilians casualties and have blamed Hamas for operating from civilian centres. Olmert and Sarkozy agreed the French leader should pursue a peace deal involving Egypt which brokered a six-month truce that ended on December 19. Hamas refused to renew the deal, sparking the war. The UN Security Council was to meet again on Tuesday to weigh an Arab call for an immediate ceasefire and for protection of Palestinian civilians, diplomats said. Israel's main ally the United States has given strong support to the operation, with President George W. Bush saying any truce must ensure an end to rocket fire.

Sarkozy urges Syria to put pressure on Hamas Tue Jan 6, 9:12 am ET

DAMASCUS (AFP) – French President Nicolas Sarkozy called on Syria on Tuesday to put pressure on its ally Hamas to return to a truce in the Gaza Strip where Israeli troops are battling Islamist fighters, and where hundreds of civilians have been killed.It's up to Syria to put pressure on the players (in the conflict) and notably on Hamas so that peace returns, Sarkozy told journalists after talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.Sarkozy arrived in the Syrian capital Damascus earlier in the day as part of a Mideast tour trying to achieve a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

Syria is a key player in the region and is home to the self-exiled chief of Hamas, Khaled Meshaal.The French president, architect of efforts to bring Damascus back into the world scene, added: I am convinced that Syria can make an important contribution to the search for a solution. President Assad can play a role. He must convince Hamas it should choose reason, peace and reconciliation.Sarkozy was referring to the bitter split between the supporters of Hamas and those who back Fatah of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.Speaking at a news conference with Assad, the French leader also said he hoped that humanitarian corridors could be created into the Gaza Strip where United Nations officials are expressing alarm at a growing crisis among civilians there.At least 580 Palestinians, including 160 children, have been killed by Israeli bombs and shelling, medics say. Another 2,700 have been wounded.I hope that today some European non-governmental bodies will be able to enter Gaza, that humanitarian corridors can be installed and medicines distributed, he said.Everything must be done so that humanitarian aid reaches Gaza.

Along with the Europeans we have condemned Israel's disproportionate reaction, said Sarkozy.In the same way, firing of rockets on Israel is inadmissible, he said.Since the offensive began, four Israelis have been killed by militants' rockets and dozens wounded. Five Israeli troops have died in the offensive in Gaza.Addressing the conference, the Syrian president strongly condemned the Jewish state's onslaught. He compared Gaza -- which has been under a tight Israeli blockade for more than 18 months -- to a concentration camp and a war crime.We are now seeking a rapid solution to this human tragedy. We are convinced, with Mr Sarkozy, of the importance of a ceasefire, a withdrawal (of Israeli forces) and the lifting of the blockade, said Assad.For Assad, the Israel blockade was a slow death.It is difficult to impose a ceasefire without lifting the blockade, he said, adding that Israel's aggression will not break the determination of the Palestinian people to build their independent state. said Assad.Sarkozy said also that he wanted a halt to hostilities and the Israeli offensive, accompanied by serious guarantees for the security of Israel, which means an effective and durable halt to the rocket firing.Now, he added, it was up to each side to be wise enough to take the first step. The European Union would help to do this, alongside Syria, Turkey and Egypt, Sarkozy added. The French president, who handed over the rotating presidency of the European Union to the Czech Republic earlier this month, began his trip on Monday, holding talks with leaders in Egypt, Israel and the Israeli-occupied West Bank, the base of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas. Sarkozy later left for Lebanon which had been due to be the last stop of his trip. However in Beirut he confirmed that he would return later to Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt for further talks with President Hosni Mubarak. Israel launched its massive air offensive on the Hamas rulers of the Gaza Strip on December 27, and followed this with a ground invasion last Saturday night. Israeli leaders say the operation is aimed at halting rocket fire on Israel by Gaza militants. A separate EU delegation is also visiting the region to seek a ceasefire. Israel has rebuffed all calls to halt its offensive, receiving strong backing from the United States.

Saudi royal blasts US reckless position on Gaza Tue Jan 6, 9:05 am ET

RIYADH (AFP) – A member of the Saudi royal family blasted the US government on Tuesday for its reckless position towards Israel's attacks on the Gaza Strip.The Bush administration has left you (with) a disgusting legacy and a reckless position towards the massacres and bloodshed of innocents in Gaza, Prince Turki al-Faisal said in a message directed at President-elect Barack Obama.Enough is enough, today we are all Palestinians and we seek martyrdom for God and for Palestine, following those who died in Gaza, Faisal, a former ambassador to the United States, said at a forum on relations between the Gulf region and the US.Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal slammed Israeli politicians for shedding Palestinian blood in what has become a tactic for Israeli parties to settle their election battles.In an address read out at the forum by his deputy, the minister said peace in the region will not be achieved unless Israel pulls out of the territories it occupies.He called on Obama to live up to his campaign message of change, urging cooperation with the Arab world.

Together we can reach a peaceful and permanent solution for the Arab-Israeli conflict, he said.According to Palestinian medics at least 592 Palestinians have died and more than 2,700 have been wounded since Israel unleashed its Operation Cast Lead against the Hamas rulers of Gaza on December 27.

Gaza offensive to go on until south Israel is calm: Barak Tue Jan 6, 7:44 am ET

JERUSALEM (AFP) – Defence Minister Ehud Barak said on Tuesday the Gaza offensive will continue until calm returns to southern Israel, which has faced daily rocket attacks from the Hamas-ruled Palestinian territory.We launched this operation to deal a heavy blow to Hamas, to change conditions of life in the south of the country, to bring calm and security to citizens and to stop weapons smuggling into Gaza, he said.Those are the goals and we intend to reach them, Barak said during a visit to the southern Israeli city of Sderot which for the past eight years has been the main target of rocket attacks by Palestinian militants.No country in the world can allow a terrorist group to make life bitter for its citizens, the minister said on the 11th day of Israel's Operation Cast Lead.He also told public radio that Israeli forces have cut the Gaza Strip in two and surrounded Gaza City.

Closing Gaza tunnels could bring quick ceasefire: Blair Tue Jan 6, 5:30 am ET

LONDON (AFP) – Cutting off Gaza's smuggling tunnels from Egypt could secure an immediate ceasefire, Middle East Quartet envoy Tony Blair said Tuesday, while warning that Israel was otherwise in for a protracted campaign.The former British prime minister said the situation in the Gaza Strip was hell as Israel wages Operation Cast Lead against Hamas fighters.The Quartet, comprising the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States, is struggling to mediate the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians.There are circumstances in which we could get an immediate ceasefire, and that's what people want to see, Blair told BBC radio in Jerusalem.Those circumstances focus very much around clear action to cut off the supply of arms and money through the tunnels that go from Egypt into Gaza.If there were strong, clear definitive action on that then I think that gives us the best context to get an immediate ceasefire and start to change this situation.

That is the one basis on which you can bring a quick halt to this, otherwise I think we're into a more protracted campaign.And he added: The Egyptians, in principle, are prepared to do this, they want to do it, they recognise it's in their own interests as well.The question is, can this be put together in such a way that we get the immediate ceasefire that people want to see, and then we have to address the longer term question of how you get Palestinian unity.Blair said most people in the international community -- himself included -- wanted to get into a dialogue with Hamas, but there had to be a set of common principles of agreement before doing so.

Citing his experiences resolving the sectarian strife in Northern Ireland, he said discussions with paramilitaries could only take place on the basis that there were certain key principles that everyone understood.One of those principles was that there should be the pursuit of political objectives exclusively through peaceful means, he said.It's very hard to do this if you've got an organisation like Hamas that still says that we're perfectly justified in sending suicide bombers to kill innocent civilians in Israel.Blair said returning Gaza to some sort of civilisation and reuniting it with the West Bank was the only solution in the end.He added, however, that it was really, really difficult to judge whether Hamas were prepared to strike a deal.The truth is for anyone living in Gaza, it's hell. It's bound to be. You've got a situation where you're in an effective warzone, he said.Blair said one of the most frustrating things about his job was that a peaceful settlement between Israel and the Palestinians was achievable.Israeli troops battled Hamas fighters in major cities of overcrowded Gaza on Tuesday as Israel rebuffed appeals to stop a war on the Islamists that has killed at least 560 Palestinians.

UN Security Council to weigh new call for effective Gaza truce by Gerard Aziakou Gerard Aziakou – Mon Jan 5, 11:09 pm ET

UNITED NATIONS, (AFP) – The UN Security Council was to meet again Tuesday to weigh an Arab call for an immediate ceasefire in the conflict in the Gaza Strip and for protection of Palestinian civilians, diplomats said.French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the 15-member body this month, was to chair Tuesday's meeting, scheduled for 5 pm (2200 GMT), according to France's UN Ambassador to the UN Jean-Maurice Ripert said.A Western diplomat said France was working with Arab states to finalize a draft resolution that would call for an immediate ceasefire, specifically an end to the Israeli military assault as well as to rocket firing into Israel by Gaza-based militants.The text would also urge the lifting of the Israeli siege of Gaza to allow humanitarian access to the beleaguered Palestinian population, protection of Palestinian civilians, a resumption of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and a mechanism to monitor the truce and the protection of civilians, diplomats said.Israel has sealed its border with Gaza during its military offensive there, allowing no movement to and from the territory apart from its own armed forces.UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Monday met with a delegation of Arab foreign ministers led by Arab League Arab League chief Amr Mussa and the two reported a convergence of views on the need for the Security Council to act decisively and swiftly to end the Gaza bloodletting.We must insist that Israel end its military assault, which is clearly excessive, Ban told the Arab ministers.

At least 555 Palestinians -- including more than 90 children -- have been killed since Israel launched Operation Cast Lead in Gaza on December 27 to put an end to rocket firing by Gaza-based militants. More than 2,500 have been wounded.We must insist that Hamas (the Palestinian Islamist movement) end immediately its rocket attacks (on Israel), which are so terribly counter-productive, in addition to being completely unacceptable. There must be an immediate ceasefire, durable and fully respected by all, Ban noted.We have also agreed to discuss a credible mechanism to ensure the protection of the Palestinian people, as well as humanitarian assistance, and to prevent the further occurrence of this situation, he later told reporters.

The UN secretary general told reporters that he would make the same point to US President George W. Bush during a White House meeting Tuesday morning.After conferring with Ban, the Arab ministerial delegation met separately with each of the five permanent members of the council -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- and later with the 10 non-permanent council members.US Ambassador to the UN Zalmay Khalilzad said after his meeting with the Arab team that he shared "their concern about the urgency of the situation.We want this conflict to end as quickly as possible but for an enduring ceasefire, practical arrangements have to be put in place in which everyone has confidence, he added.He was referring to the need to ensure that the rocket firing into Israel will end once and for all and to prevent smuggling of weapons once crossing points between Israel and Gaza are reopened.We did not want them (Arab ministers) to have false expectations that those practical arrangements can be arrived in the coming hours, Khalilzad told reporters.

Mussa meanwhile slammed the Israeli military offensive in Gaza as naked aggression ... that has to be condemned.Japan's UN Ambassador Yukio Takasu, whose country is one of the 10 non-permanent council members, said a key issue was how to set up a credible, effective monitoring mechanism of the truce. But he said details of such a mechanism were not raised during the meeting with the Arab delegation. Earlier, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki expressed hope that the proposed draft resolution could be adopted at Tuesday's meeting, which Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas plans to attend.

Olmert rebuffs Sarkozy call for Gaza ceasefire Mon Jan 5, 7:32 pm ET

JERUSALEM (AFP) – French President Nicolas Sarkozy urged Israel on Monday to halt its war in Gaza, but was rebuffed by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who rejected any truce that fails to end the Islamist group's rocket attacks on Israel.Sarkozy met Olmert after talks with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, the architect of a six-month truce whose expiry on December 19 unleashed a series of events that resulted in the Israeli invasion of Gaza.Sarkozy said after meeting Abbas: We, Europe want a ceasefire as soon as possible. Time is working against peace. The weapons must be silenced and there must be a temporary humanitarian truce.But Olmert's response was that the results of the operation must be... that Hamas must not only stop firing but must no longer be able to fire.We cannot accept a compromise that will allow Hamas to fire in two months against Israeli towns, his office quoted the premier as saying.The UN Security Council was to hold a ministerial meeting on Tuesday to discuss an Arab call for an immediate ceasefire and for protection of Palestinian civilians, diplomats said.But Olmert said: At this time and in view of the diplomatic developments, it will not be wise to pass a (Security Council) resolution on the issue because experience has shown that Israel cannot afford losing its freedom to act against terrorism.In that vein, a senior Israeli official said peace efforts were under way in the Middle East itself, led by Washington, that would probably be more fruitful than any Security Council action.There are currently a few regional initiatives led by the US... They are making progress... Israel believes that these regional initiatives involving several Arab countries, mainly Egypt, would be more effective than a UNSC resolution.

Concretely, Olmert and Sarkozy agreed that the French president would continue to push for a deal involving Egypt.The French president had harsh words for Hamas, which refused to renew the six-month ceasefire and continued to fire rockets as Israel bombarded Gaza.Hamas acted in an irresponsible and unforgiveable manner... Hamas is to blame for the suffering of the Palestinians, he said.Hamas accused Sarkozy of total bias towards Israel.Abbas called for an immediate and unconditional end to the Israeli aggression against my people in the Gaza Strip.Talks earlier on Monday with Mubarak in Cairo focused on Egyptian efforts to reach an immediate ceasefire in Gaza... and a return to the truce between Palestinians and Israelis, Egypt's official MENA news agency reported.Cairo, whose role as mediator has been shaken by accusations of complicity in Israel's campaign, controls Rafah, Gaza's only border crossing which bypasses the Jewish state.Also in Egypt on Monday was a delegation of EU foreign ministers, and Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit said their talks touched on getting the Security Council to pass a resolution on a ceasefire.After Egypt, the European foreign ministers headed for Jerusalem, Ramallah in the occupied West Bank and Amman, along with EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana. Hamas said it was sending a delegation to Egypt for talks on the war in Gaza, the first such contact since the fighting began.

We have received an invitation from Egypt and we're going to Cairo to listen to Egyptian officials and discuss with them suspended issues, notably the (permanent) reopening of the Rafah crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, Beirut-based Hamas official Ossama Hemdan told AFP. We want an immediate end to Israeli aggression and the lifting of the blockade and we will listen to Egyptian proposals on the subject, he added. Hamas, which has controlled the strip since June 2007, has said it would be open to a ceasefire if Israel lifted its blockade and opened the crossings into the densely populated and impoverished coastal strip.

US suggests conditions of a Gaza cease-fire By ROBERT BURNS, Associated Press Writer – Mon Jan 5, 6:58 pm ET

WASHINGTON – The Bush administration stuck to its defense of Israel's expanding offensive in the Gaza Strip on Monday and pushed for a cease-fire including a lasting halt to Hamas' rocket attacks on Israel and a reopening of border crossings that are Gaza's economic lifeline.President George W. Bush, in his first public comments on the conflict since Israel launched a ground offensive over the weekend, said the Jewish state was justified in protecting itself against Hamas militants.

The situation now taking place in Gaza was caused by Hamas, Bush told reporters in the Oval Office, referring to the Islamist movement that rules Gaza and is deemed by Washington to be a terrorist group.Instead of caring about the people of Gaza, Hamas decided to use Gaza to launch rockets to kill innocent Israelis, Bush said. Israel's obviously decided to protect herself and her people.While France and many other countries have pressed for an immediate cease-fire, the United States has insisted that any truce be sustainable — and that Hamas go first in ending the exchange of fire. Hamas has launched hundreds of rockets into southern Israel, while Israel has pursued a ferocious campaign that began as a week of aerial bombing and was expanded Saturday into a ground offensive.Bush, without explicitly endorsing Israel's ground campaign, laid blame for the conflict squarely on Hamas. He said he hopes for a cease-fire but added that it would not work unless Hamas stops its attacks.Bush also expressed concern about the grave humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where people have lived under hard and worsening conditions and Israeli bombardment. The violence must stop, Bush said, but not at the expense of an agreement that does not prevent the crisis from happening again.President-elect Barack Obama said that he's been getting daily briefings on the situation in the Middle East, but offered little comment beyond noting that delicate negotiations are taking place and that there can't be two voices coming out of the United States.Obama's chief national security spokeswoman, Brooke Anderson, declined to comment on the three-point cease-fire proposal announced by the State Department, which was quickly rejected by a Hamas official as slanted in favor of Israel.State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had 17 phone conversations over the weekend with foreign leaders in a bid for international consensus on those three points, which include a halt to Hamas' rocket firing into Israel.

The cease-fire proposal also would include a key Hamas demand: an arrangement for reopening crossing points on the border with Israel, McCormack said. The third element would address the tunnels into Gaza from Egypt through which Hamas has smuggled materials and arms.We're doing a lot of work on these three elements. The secretary is trying to get the international system and various actors in the international system to coalesce around those three elements, McCormack said.

McCormack said arrangements to reopen the border crossings could be worked out on the basis of a 2005 movement and access accord that has not been fully implemented by the Israelis and Palestinians. He said some additional equipment and technical expertise might have to be supplied as part of such an arrangement. He offered no further details.In Damascus, Syria, a Hamas official rejected the U.S. proposal, saying it reflects the Israeli view. The deputy head of Hamas' political leadership in Syria, Moussa Abu Marzouk, told The Associated Press the U.S. plan would serve to encourage continued Israeli attacks, creating more massacres in Gaza.Israel has said it intends to press its offensive until it silences the Hamas rockets, but it has been less explicit about its long-term objectives. A senior U.S. defense official said Monday that, so far, Americans see no indication inside Gaza that Israel is preparing for a long-term occupation of the territory. The defense official requested anonymity in order to discuss intelligence.At the Pentagon, spokesman Bryan Whitman said Defense Secretary Robert Gates spoke Sunday with his Israeli counterpart, but Whitman declined to give details. About 100 American troops are in Israel to maintain and provide crew for an advanced U.S. radar that gives Israel early warning in case of a missile attack, Whitman said.An Israeli official in Washington said Monday that his country is not seeking additional equipment or other U.S. military help. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the country's discussions with the Bush administration, also said there are no plans to use cluster bombs in Gaza.The State Department determined a year ago that Israel probably misused U.S.-made cluster bombs during its 2006 war with Hezbollah militants in Lebanon. Cluster bomblets are packed by the hundreds into artillery shells, bombs or missiles, which scatter them over vast areas. Some fail to explode immediately. The unexploded bomblets can then lie dormant for years until they are disturbed, often by children attracted by their small size and bright colors. The State Department has withheld direct comment on the Israel ground thrust into Gaza, which began Saturday. Pressed for comment Monday, McCormack said, Every sovereign state has to decide for itself how best to defend itself. He also reiterated the administration's concern about the conflict's impact on civilians. The Gaza crisis prompted Rice to cancel a long-planned trip to China this week. While Rice has been making phone calls to allies to foster a cease-fire in Gaza, McCormack said Monday that she has no current plans to visit the Mideast as part of that effort. Associated Press writers Ben Feller, Anne Gearan and Pauline Jelinek contributed to this report.

Wanted: Border monitors to oversee Gaza truce By KARIN LAUB, Associated Press Writer – Mon Jan 5, 5:53 pm ET

JERUSALEM – The contours of a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas are emerging, with diplomacy focusing on international guarantees, including foreign border monitors to oversee any agreement.Various truce ideas have been floated in recent days in a swirl of diplomacy in the Middle East and at the United Nations, most involving international monitors.Israel has two key objectives — to prevent weapons smuggling from Egypt into Gaza, and to create enough deterrence to persuade Hamas to halt rocket attacks for good.Once these objectives are achieved and are followed by very strict and credible international guarantees, we will leave Gaza, having created this new situation, said Dan Gillerman, a senior Israeli diplomat.Hamas says it will only halt rocket fire in exchange for lifting the stifling blockade of Gaza, enforced by Israel and Egypt since the Hamas takeover in 2007.Opening the borders without conditions would mean de facto recognition of the rule of Hamas, something Israel, Egypt and much of the international community are loathe to do. The Islamic militants are branded as a terrorist movement by many, and have refused to recognize Israel or commit to previous peace agreements.Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki, who represents the West Bank Palestinian Authority that is a rival to Hamas, suggested Monday that an international force would observe and monitor the Arab crossings and provide protection to Palestinians.Israel's concept is tougher, authorizing international forces to destroy tunnels that Hamas has used to smuggle in large amounts of rockets and explosives since seizing control of Gaza from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in June 2007.Some 300 tunnels were running under the Gaza-Egypt border before the offensive began, the Israeli military says, and Israeli warplanes have bombed them in a series of strikes in the past 10 days, including dozens on Monday.During a six-month truce that expired Dec. 19, Israel only allowed in a trickle of goods, increasing Hamas' frustration and willingness to call off the deal. Hamas fired repeated rocket barrages into southern Israel after the cease-fire lapsed, drawing the latest Israeli invasion.Over the weekend, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spoke to 17 foreign leaders to discuss components of a cease-fire, including preventing smuggling and opening Gaza crossings, said spokesman Sean McCormack.

A Rice-brokered deal in 2005 between Abbas and Israel would likely form the basis for any new arrangement. Under that agreement, EU monitors were deployed at the Rafah terminal on the Gaza-Egypt border to prevent smuggling of weapons and militants, while Israel observed Palestinian-supervised border traffic from a distance, via closed-circuit TV.The European Union is proposing that monitors return to the Rafah terminal, and says the mission could also be expanded to Israel's cargo and passenger crossings with Gaza, according to a European diplomat. He spoke on condition of anonymity because French President Nicolas Sarkozy was discussing truce ideas with Israeli and Palestinian leaders Monday.Europe appears willing to contribute monitors in any number of scenarios.These could include watching entrances and exits from Gaza, monitoring a cease-fire if all sides agree, and even acting as customs agents to police what is coming in and out of Gaza. We'll go as far as possible, the European diplomat said. Everything depends on whether the Israelis trust us. If they want us to go as far as playing a customs role, we will.

Turkey, Israel's closest Muslim ally, also expressed willingness to contribute monitors.Still, a key sticking point is who would be deployed on the Gaza side of the border. Egypt says it will only open Rafah if Abbas' forces staff the crossing. Egypt, worried about Islamic fundamentalism at home, is trying to contain Hamas, which is backed by Iran and Syria.Abbas, who is eager to gain a new foothold in the territory, was to fly to New York later Monday to lobby at the United Nations for reviving the 2005 deal, his aides said. However, Hamas has been cool to the idea of letting Abbas back into Gaza. Similar proposals were raised in the past as part of failed power-sharing talks between the two bitter rivals. It's also not clear what sort of role Israel is ready to give the militant group. There has been no direct contact between Abbas and Hamas in recent days, but a Hamas delegation from Damascus was heading to Cairo to hear what the Egyptians have to offer. Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said reviving talks between the rivals is key to any cease-fire. Hamas and Abbas have been at odds since Hamas won 2006 parliament elections, and they view each other with distrust and even hatred. Israel, for its part, won't be satisfied with bringing back EU monitors who lack policing powers.

Israel has been disappointed by the performance of international peacekeepers deployed in southern Lebanon under a cease-fire that ended its 2006 war with Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas. Israeli officials say Hezbollah has been amassing weapons, despite the presence of the observers. As a result, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni says international monitors on the Gaza border should be empowered to close tunnels used to smuggle weapons to Hamas from Egypt — broader powers than those apparently envisioned by Abbas and the Arabs. Malki, Abbas' foreign minister, said there is broad Arab support for monitors at Gaza's crossings and the tunnels should be shut down, though he did not say who should be responsible. If you are talking about observers that will go and shut down tunnels, they are not really observers, Malki told reporters at U.N. headquarters in New York. We are talking about observers that will observe and monitor the performance at the Arab crossings.Within this package, of course, the whole industry of tunnels should be really shut down and should be really closed, and this is really a part of the total objective, he added. Danny Ayalon, a former Israeli ambassador to the U.S., said physical obstacles on the Gaza-Egypt border should also be considered. Ideas floated in the past include scaffolding or concrete poured deep into the ground, he said. Associated Press writers John Leicester in Paris, Edie Lederer at the United Nations and Sarah El Deeb in Cairo contributed to this report.

Bush says Gaza ceasefire must stop Hamas by Laurent Lozano Laurent Lozano – Mon Jan 5, 4:09 pm ET

WASHINGTON, Jan 5, 2009 (AFP) – President George W. Bush on Monday maintained his firm support for Israel and said any Gaza ceasefire must ensure Hamas militants can no longer fire rockets on Israeli towns.As global calls mounted for a halt to the Israeli military assault aimed at stopping mortar and rocket attacks from the impoverished coastal territory, Bush said he understood Israel's wish to defend itself.I understand Israel's desire to protect itself and that the situation now taking place in Gaza was caused by Hamas, Bush said.The United States was concerned about the humanitarian crisis unfolding in the Gaza Strip on the 10th day of a relentless Israeli air and land assault against Hamas militants, Bush said.All of us of course would like to see, you know, violence stop, but not at the expense of an agreement that does not prevent the crisis from happening again, the US leader said.

I know people are saying: let's have a ceasefire. (Those are) noble ambitions. But any ceasefire must have the conditions in it so that Hamas does not use Gaza as a place from which to launch rockets.Medics say 555 Palestinians have been killed since Israel's Operation Cast Lead was launched on December 27 to stop Hamas and its militant allies from launching rocket attacks across the border into southern Israel.

The Israeli government has so far rejected European-led calls for a ceasefire, and Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak told parliament Monday the Hamas war would go on.
Gaza City is partially surrounded, Barak told MPs. We have hit Hamas hard, but we have not yet reached all the goals that we have set for ourselves and the operation continues.Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since breaking with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and seizing power in June 2007, has also remained defiant.Victory is coming, the movement's senior leader in Gaza, Mahmud Zahar, said in a television address. They (Israel) have legitimized the murder of their own children by killing the children of Palestine.White House spokeswoman Dana Perino reiterated Washington's concern for civilians in the densely populated territory which is home to 1.5 million people, and said Israel was trying to protect innocent life.We urge them to be very cautious when it comes to civilian casualties. We want to keep those to an absolute minimum, Perino said.One of the unfortunate things is that Hamas often hides amongst innocent civilians. And I know that Israel has said that they are trying to take care to make sure that they are protected.

Perino added that the White House wants a ceasefire as soon as possible, but it has to be something that is durable. We don't want to go back to the status quo ante, where it's okay for Hamas to be lobbing rockets into Israel that terrorize innocent people.State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said any ceasefire must meet three conditions: halt rocket fire on Israel, open crossings into Gaza and resolve the problem of tunnels used to smuggle weapons between Gaza and Egypt.He also said that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had made 17 phone calls over the weekend, trying to strike a deal for a truce.Meanwhile, president-elect Barack Obama expressed concern about the Gaza crisis but stressed he would not interfere in delicate negotiations by the outgoing US administration. Asked whether Israel's offensive against Hamas was distracting him from his economic agenda a day after he arrived in Washington to prepare his transition, Obama said: Obviously, international affairs are of deep concern.With the situation in Gaza, I've been getting briefed every day, said Obama, who is to be inaugurated on January 20. I will continue to insist that when it comes to foreign affairs, it is particularly important to adhere to the principle of one president at a time, because there are delicate negotiations taking place right now and we can't have two voices coming out of the United States when you have so much at stake.

Calls to use oil as weapon in Gaza fight fall flat By ADAM SCHRECK, AP Business Writer – Mon Jan 5, 2:20 pm ET

Bahrain, oil … DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – The call to use oil as a weapon against Israel's friends once would have echoed in capitals across the Middle East. But even as fighting widens in Gaza, threats of an oil embargo by some in Iran and Bahrain are falling flat.Key Persian Gulf producers like Saudi Arabia and even top officials in the countries behind the boycott calls are keeping quiet, reflecting a focus on their struggle to deal with the steep plunge in world oil prices.An oil embargo is just bad for business, said Serene Gardiner, oil products analyst at Standard Chartered Bank in Dubai.On Sunday, Iran's official IRNA news agency quoted an Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander as urging Muslim countries to use oil as a weapon to pressure an end to Israel's offensive in Gaza.Iran's foreign ministry didn't distance itself from Brig. Gen. Mirfaysal Bagherzadeh's comments when asked about them Monday. We do support any action for realizing two main steps: an immediate stop to the invasion and an end to the Gaza blockade, spokesman Hasan Qashqavi said.But Bagherzadeh is not among the top oil officials in Iran, OPEC's second-biggest producer, and his suggestions drew no comment from those leaders.

A few days earlier, members of Bahrain's lower house of parliament said Arab states should use oil and the region's huge investment funds to pressure the West over Israel's offensive. That call drew only silence from leaders of the island kingdom, an important American ally and host to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet.Arab oil producers most famously used crude supplies as a weapon during the 1973 Yom Kippur War between Israel and Arab armies led by Egypt and Syria. Their decision to stop shipments to the U.S. and other allies of Israel led to shortages and a steep spike in the price of oil.But analysts said times have changed.We're not in 1973. We've moved beyond that, said Raja Kiwan, a Dubai-based analyst with the consulting firm PFC Energy. The (Persian) Gulf realizes it's plugged into what's happening in the rest of the world.The region's leaders are embracing more pragmatic politics increasingly distant from the angry rhetoric of the past. Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal, for example, has repeatedly said his country, the world's biggest oil exporter, would not use oil as a weapon.There hasn't been, in the history of Saudi Arabia's oil production over the past at least 20 years, any attempt to change the demand-supply equilibrium, said John Sfakianakis, chief economist with SABB, formerly known as Saudi British Bank.I don't think that they want to destabilize that, nor do they want to see oil prices go to levels that disturb the ability of the global economy to revive itself, Sfakianakis said.In large part, the pragmatism stems from a focus on economic development that hinges on careful management of energy resources.

Countries in the region are racing to diversify their economies before oil profits run out, seeking to establish themselves as financial, tourism and commercial hubs with glittering skyscrapers and other attractions.Oil resources are for the development of countries, said Abdel Aziz Daghestani, an independent Saudi economist and analyst when asked about the Iranian general's oil-as-weapon proposal.Despite declining oil revenues from the price slide, Saudi Arabia and some other countries like the United Arab Emirates recently set new budgets that call for ramped-up spending on key services and sectors such as education and health care.Even the Islamic government in Iran has to tread carefully. It depends on oil revenue for as much as 90 percent of its foreign income and is suffering badly from the price fall.

As a key backer of the militant groups Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, Iran also needs money to fuel its proxy fights with Israel and the Arab nations that are ideological opponents, particularly Saudi Arabia. Halting oil sales to the West would be a severe blow for Iran, analysts say. They cannot afford to reduce production, Standard Chartered's Gardiner said. Associated Press writers Tarek El-Tablawy in Cairo, Egypt, and Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.

Iran says 70,000 volunteer for Israel fight Mon Jan 5, 2:04 pm ET

TEHRAN, Iran – More than 70,000 Iranian students have volunteered to carry out suicide bombings against Israel, Iran's state news agency reported Monday, but President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has not responded to their request for permission.

Volunteer suicide groups have made similar requests in the past and the government never responded, giving the campaigns more of the feel of propaganda.According to the official IRNA news agency, hardline student leader Esmaeil Ahmadi said the students want to fight Israel in support of Hamas, Gaza's Islamic militant rulers.

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

Five hard-line student groups and a conservative clerical group launched the registration drive for suicide bombers last week and asked the government to allow them to stage the attacks.In an open letter to Ahmadinejad, the students said volunteer student suicide groups ... are determined to go to Gaza. You are expected to issue orders to the relevant authorities to pave the way for such action. A copy of the letter was made available to The Associated Press last week.The hard-liners started signing up volunteers after Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, issued a religious decree Dec. 28 saying anyone killed while defending Palestinians in Gaza against Israeli attacks would be considered a martyr.Khamenei's religious decree was not considered a government decision and did not oblige the government to launch attacks against Israel.At a gathering two days later in Tehran, hard-liners distributed registration forms.Israel's bombardment of Gaza, which has killed hundreds of Palestinians, has outraged many in Iran and throughout the rest of the Muslim world. Israel says it launched its campaign in retaliation for Hamas rocket fire aimed at civilians in southern Israeli towns.On Dec. 30, IRNA reported that dozens of Iranian students broke into the British Embassy residence in Tehran, accusing Britain of supporting the Israeli air assault that started Dec. 27. The report said the students pulled down the British flag and raised a Palestinian flag at the compound's entrance before police forced them to leave.The protest lasted about half an hour, and no injuries were reported.

First major Israel-Hamas fighting in Gaza City: witnesses, army Mon Jan 5, 12:52 pm ET

GAZA CITY (AFP) – Israeli troops and Hamas militants fought their first major battles in Gaza City on Monday night, military sources and witnesses said.Large explosions and heavy exchanges of fire rocked Shejaiya neighbourhood of eastern Gaza City as Israel pressed its campaign to halt Hamas rocket attacks.Hamas said in a statement that its fighters had fired missiles at seven tanks in the same district. The Islamic Jihad movement said several of its members were killed in the fighting.

Israeli military sources confirmed that troops were involved in heavy clashes in that area.Flares lit up the skies over the blacked-out neighbourhood. Assault helicopters were also seen.

Defiant Hamas chief vows victory against Israel by Mai Yaghi Mai Yaghi – Mon Jan 5, 8:18 am ET

GAZA CITY (AFP) – A top Hamas leader defiantly vowed to win victory against Israel on Monday as Islamist fighters battled to prevent Israeli troops from taking over their Gaza stronghold.Victory is coming, God willing, Mahmud Zahar said in his first television address since the launch of Israel's offensive against Hamas on December 27.Zahar insisted the group's armed wing, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, has given the most beautiful performances during its confrontation with the army that the world thought invincible.We will defeat it, God willing.The statement came as a Hamas delegation was to travel to Egypt for talks on ending the offensive that Israel unleashed in response to persistent rocket fire by Gaza militants.Dressed entirely in black, his face sombre and his tone grim, Zahar read out a statement in what appeared to be a hastily prepared recording, sitting in an empty room.The painful tests of today will help us realise our national aspirations of tomorrow, he said, adding that Hamas was not renouncing its aim to free all of Palestine.The hardliner, widely considered to be the most influential Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip, lashed out against the United Nations and the West, accusing the international community of doing nothing to prevent the devastating Israeli offensive.

He called for an end to the aggression, the withdrawal of (Israeli) forces and the lifting of the blockade that Israel imposed on Gaza after Hamas seized control of the territory in June 2007.If that happens, we will be ready to discuss anything that can be in the interest of the Palestinian people, he said.A delegation of senior Hamas officials was to leave for Egypt for talks on how to end the war in the tiny territory sandwiched between Israel and Egypt.We have received an invitation from Egypt and we're going to Cairo to listen to Egyptian officials and discuss with them suspended issues, notably the (permanent) reopening of the Rafah crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, said Hamas politburo member Ossama Hemdan.The delegation heading to Cairo will include two members of Hamas's political leadership, Emad al-Alami and Mohammed Nasr, Hemdan said.We want an immediate end to Israeli aggression and the lifting of the blockade and we will listen to Egyptian proposals, he added.Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said the army had dealt a heavy blow to Hamas.A senior Israeli minister said on Sunday that the Islamists may be seeking a respectable way out of the conflict having underestimated the scope of the offensive.The intelligence reports that we've received today in the Israeli cabinet are that the Hamas is looking for a respectable way of finding a way to get out of this situation, Welfare Minister Isaac Herzog told CNN television, adding that the Islamists were under huge pressure.

Israelis relieved as army moves to halt rockets By ARTHUR MAX, Associated Press Writer – Mon Jan 5, 7:48 am ET

SDEROT, Israel – Israelis bombarded by Palestinian rockets have begun to emerge from homes and shelters, regaining confidence after columns of Israeli soldiers moved into Gaza to crush the militants who have rained missiles on them for eight years.

Towns near the Gaza Strip virtually shut down after Israel's conflict with Gaza militants escalated into a showdown on Dec. 27. Israel launched an air campaign against the missile launchers and against Hamas, the Islamic militant movement that rules the territory, while the militants stepped up the barrage against Israeli towns and villages.The ground offensive that began Saturday night brought cheer to Israeli civilians, convinced their government meant to end the missile terror even at the cost of what is likely to be heavy army casualties.However, the armored and infantry assault brought no immediate respite from rocket attacks. At least 45 missiles fell on southern Israel on Sunday, wounding five people.It's good that the troops went in. Finally we are doing something, said Yamit Azulai, emptying a shopping cart full of groceries into her car. It was the first time in a week she had been to the supermarket in Sderot, a town just beyond Gaza's northeast corner that has absorbed thousands of missiles since 2001.Until now, it was Hamas who decided when to fire missiles. It was always in their hands. Now we are taking control, she said.Moves toward normalcy were tentative. Some shops and cafes reopened in Sderot, but about half remained shuttered. Schools and nonessential industries stayed shut within a 25-mile reach of Gaza, the maximum range in Hamas' missile arsenal. Some people like Azulai who ventured out finished their chores quickly to return home.I'm not letting the children outside, she said.The offensive brought a kind of vindictive satisfaction to Sderot, which had long urged the government to strike at Hamas and take out the missile threat. With only 20,000 people, many believed the authorities were unwilling to risk a major confrontation on their behalf.

I'm glad Ashdod and Beersheba got hit, said construction worker Zohar Shapado, referring to two large Israeli cities that were rocketed for the first time last month. "It was only then that they decided to act.Sderot has built up formidable defenses. Every bus stop has a small concrete hut to protect against the shrapnel and pellets packed into the warhead of homemade Qassam rockets. Homes and apartment blocks are built with windowless rooms with steel doors.People are edgy, but resigned to being targets.We're used to it, said Shapado, calmly abandoning the coffee he was drinking at a sidewalk cafe and moving inside to safety as yet another rocket alert resounded through town. Seconds later, the boom of the rocket crashing harmlessly in a field outside of town was the signal for customers to return to their tables and resume conversations.Police say 10 people have been killed in Sderot since 2004, including three toddlers. That compares with more than 500 Palestinians killed in Gaza in the last week, including about 100 civilians.But the damage often is psychological. Soroka Hospital in Beersheba, where most casualties from southern Israel are brought, has treated 164 civilian patients since the Israeli air war began. All but 10 were stress related, Shlomi Cabish, the hospital's deputy director, told The Associated Press.Not everyone is happy with the decision to send infantry troops into the narrow warrens of Gaza, where Palestinian resistance was fierce and dozens of soldiers were wounded and at least one was killed in the first 24 hours.Sitting under a date palm in Beersheba's Old City, Benny Fryand argued with his friend Amos Shem Tov over the advisability of a ground war.You want to send in the army like cowboys, said Fryand, 59, arguing that the air war had been conducted with devastating effect without a single military casualty. Fryand, who splits his time between Israel and Brooklyn, New York, expected Hamas to take revenge by firing even more rockets. Shem Tov, 61, voicing what appeared from several interviews to be the majority view, said the war against Hamas cannot be won from the air. What would Stalin say? You can't have war without casualties, said the veteran immigrant from the Caucasus region of Russia. After that comes the victory.

Czech PM says has plan to resolve Gaza situation Mon Jan 5, 7:35 am ET

PRAGUE (AFP) – Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, whose country took the EU presidency on January 1, said Monday he had a plan whose goal is to at least suspend fighting in Gaza following Israel's assault.We have a scenario to take a more active step in this matter to at least suspend the fighting, Topolanek said at a news conference without giving details about the plan.He only said he had discussed the scenario with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and that he was going to call US President George W. Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert later Monday.The plan exceeds the borders of the EU. It is necessary first to consult all parties involved as well as other parties that are not involved directly, Topolanek's spokesman Jiri Frantisek Potuznik told AFP without elaborating.Israel unleashed a massive bombing campaign on Hamas targets in Gaza on December 27 in response to constant rocket fire from the territory and poured in ground troops to back up the bombardments a week later.Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg is heading a high-level EU delegation to the Middle East that set off from Prague on Sunday to seek a ceasefire.Topolanek also said on Monday that Potuznik would keep his job despite issuing a statement that had angered the Arab world last Saturday by suggesting the EU saw the ground assault on Gaza as defensive.

Israel allows humanitarian aid into Gaza Mon Jan 5, 5:09 am ET

JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel allowed a convoy of humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip on Monday, as it pressed on with a massive offensive against the Palestinian group Hamas, the army said.A convoy of 80 trucks transporting humanitarian aid has started to pass through the Kerem Shalom crossing in the south, a military spokesman said.The aid included medicine and food which was sent from Egypt, Jordan, Greece and UN aid agencies, he said.The Nahal Oz terminal in the north was also opened on Monday to allow the transfer of 200,000 litres of fuel for Gaza's electricity station as well as 120 tonnes of cooking gas, he said.The Erez crossing in the north meantime was opened to allow some 200 Palestinian holders of foreign passports to leave the territory.Israel unleashed a massive bombing campaign of Hamas targets in Gaza on December 27 in response to consistent rocket fire from the territory and poured in ground troops to back up the bombardments a week later.Aid groups have repeatedly warned of a worsening humanitarian crisis in the densely-populated territory, where most of the 1.5 million residents depend on foreign aid.

TWO STATE UNWORKABLE - US EX ENVOY

US ex-envoy says Mideast two-state solution unworkable Mon Jan 5, 3:42 am ET

WASHINGTON, (AFP) – Former US ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton said Monday settling the Arab-Israeli conflict on the basis of a two-state solution was no longer workable and suggested giving the Palestinian territories to Egypt and Jordan.Let's start by recognizing that trying to create a Palestinian Authority from the old PLO has failed and that any two-state solution based on the PA is stillborn, Bolton wrote in The Washington Post.Hamas has killed the idea, and even the Holy Land is good for only one resurrection.A two-state solution has been officially adopted as the basis for solving the Middle East conflict by all interested parties, including Israel and the administration of US President George W. Bush, in which Bolton has served.But Bolton now argues that the Middle East peace process is obviously not progressing... probably going backward while the US- and UN-backed road map for peace has still to show results.Instead, we should look to a three-state approach, where Gaza is returned to Egyptian control and the West Bank in some configuration reverts to Jordanian sovereignty, says the former ambassador, who now works for the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank in Washington.

Having the two Arab states re-extend their prior political authority is an authentic way to extend the zone of peace and, more important, build on governments that are providing peace and stability in their own countries, he concluded.Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal says in an editorial that a nation like Israel must maintain an aura of invincibility if it is to have any chance at peaceful co-existence with its Arab neighbors.It was that aura after two wars that induced Egypt to agree to peace with Israel in the 1970s, The Journal argued.By contrast, the 2006 Lebanon campaign convinced radical Arabs and Persians that Israel had grown soft and could be beaten. Israel can't let Hamas maintain a similar mythology at the end of this operation, or the costs will be far higher down the road.

Muslim states seek UN session on Gaza conflict Mon Jan 5, 3:06 am ET

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Muslim countries plan to seek a U.N. General Assembly special session to press for a halt to the escalating violence in Gaza, Malaysia's leader said Monday.Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said Malaysia's permanent representative to the U.N. will hold discussions with other officials in the 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference, or OIC, on how best to push for such a session.I hope the United States and its allies will not impede efforts to convene the special general assembly, Abdullah was quoted as saying by the national news agency, Bernama.Foreign ministers from OIC countries issued a statement following a meeting in Saudi Arabia over the weekend saying all Muslim nations should cooperate with other U.N. members to call for a special General Assembly session titled Uniting for Peace.The U.S. Embassy in Kuala Lumpur said it had no immediate response to Abdullah's statement.The United States late Saturday blocked approval of a U.N. Security Council statement calling for an immediate cease-fire between Israel and Hamas and expressing serious concern at the escalation of violence, council diplomats said.Israel sent troops and tanks into Gaza on Saturday after a weeklong aerial bombardment.At least 512 Palestinians have been killed and more than 2,500 injured since the air attacks began. One Israeli soldier was killed in the ground assault. Israel says it launched the offensive to stop rocket attacks from Hamas-controlled Gaza that have killed several Israelis.In a separate statement, Abdullah said Israel's ground offensive is an act of total war which the international community should not tolerate.Abdullah added that he has authorized $1 million of immediate humanitarian aid from the Malaysian government to be channeled through relief supplies for the Palestinians.

How Israel, Hamas define victory in Gaza By Joshua Mitnick Joshua Mitnick – Mon Jan 5, 3:00 am ET

Tel Aviv – Escalating a week-long assault against Hamas, Israel invaded Gaza over the weekend to stop the Islamist militants who continue to launch cross-border rocket attacks.But what victory means for each side still remains vague. The Israeli military says the ground offensive is aimed at eliminating militant rocket-launching sites, destroying weapon caches, and pursuing fighters hiding in the crowded coastal strip. Will it be satisfied if the militants stop firing rockets or if it destroys the hundreds of tunnels to Egypt that make up Hamas's supply line? Some experts say Israel wants to force a more extensive cease-fire with Hamas, compel the creation of an international peacekeeping force in the coastal strip, or destroy the Islamist group altogether.For Hamas, survival might be victory. It will be lauded across the Arab world if it can hold out against the region's strongest military.One of the most important things in this conflict between state and nonstate actors is what is the meaning of victory? says Eitan Azani, a former Israeli Defense Forces colonel and a deputy director at the Institute for Counter Terrorism at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya. A lot of people from [Hamas] dying? A collapse? Or most of the operational capability destroyed? This is up for debate. We are in a very complicated situation.In the 2006 Lebanon war, the Shiite militant group Hezbollah showed the world it could not only survive Israel's superior firepower but that it could confront them on the battlefield. Israel withdrew from the 34-day war with Hezbollah claiming a divine victory.So far, Hamas has succeeded in stirring up regional and domestic sympathy under the Israeli pummeling during the first week in the war. But as the fighting continues, the militant group risks seeing its fighting force quickly degraded.There may be a push to unseat its hold on Gaza, says Nicolas Pelham, a regional analyst for the International Crisis Group. It still appears to have retained authority and control in Gaza. There's no internal forces seeking to challenge Hamas.

In the first day of the ground war, Palestinian health authorities reported that 30 Gazans had been killed in the fighting, many of them civilians, according to news wires. An Israeli military spokesperson said that one Israeli soldiers had died in the fighting and three were seriously wounded. Since the operation began on Dec. 27, at least 500 Palestinians have been killed. The United Nations estimates that at least 100 of the dead are civilians.On Sunday, human rights organizations warned of a burgeoning humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. As a result of the fighting, Gaza City and its main medical center, Shiffa Hospital, have been left without electricity. More than 1 out of every 3 residents are without water and sewage is running in the streets, according to Gisha, an Israeli human rights group.The ground invasion comes just as international mediators are arriving to the region to begin brokering a cease-fire that is believed to be the seldom-mentioned endgame for both sides.The ground action that we began last night, as part of the overall operation, is designed to establish our aspiration to change the security reality in the south, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told the Israeli cabinet, according to a statement. It cannot be that the home front will be subject to attack and a daring, strong and well-trained military does not defend it.Though Israel has struck at hundreds of targets across the Gaza Strip, it has yet to seriously injure Hamas's fighting force, the Izz ed-Din al Qassam Brigades. The main risk for Israel is that it will drag out into a full occupation of the Gaza Strip, says Shlomo Brom, the former head of the army's planning branch. If we will have very few casualties in this operation, it may lead some to say why don't we topple Hamas? Despite the offensive, Palestinian militants were able to fire about 30 rockets into southern Israel Sunday, according to the Israeli army. Since the offensive began, militants have fired hundreds of rockets into Israel, killing three civilians. Israel said its air force hit 15 targets across Gaza on Sunday. The Qassam wing predicted that the Israeli soldiers would fall prey to the trap laid by the Islamist militants.The Zionist enemy will be surprised and will regret carrying out such an operation at such a heavy price, the organization said in a statement Saturday. Our militants are waiting patiently to confront the soldiers face to face.The start of the ground operation comes on the eve of stepped-up international efforts to prod a cease-fire. Representing the European Union's presidency, Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg, is planning to visit Israel and French President Nicholas Sarkozy is scheduled to arrive Monday. Much of Israel's firepower has been focused on destroying Gaza tunnels that are a channel for missiles and consumer goods into the strip. Shutting down the free flow of weapons trade over the border figures as one of the major goals of the operation, according to analysts. But it is far from certain who will enforce the closure of the tunnels when Israel leaves.

The nine mile-long Gaza-Egypt frontier has long been crisscrossed by a network of tunnels. The Gaza assault has included several air force sorties in which bunker buster bombs were dropped on the area, exploding underground and sending out shockwaves designed to collapse the secret passages. The issue of rearming is fundamental. We want to prevent Hamas from being rearmed like Hezbollah was after the Lebanon war, a senior Israeli official said. Palestinians in northern and eastern Gaza said that they can hear the sounds of the Israeli tanks and armored vehicle engines entering Gaza. Kamel Kafarna, a resident of the northern Gaza village of Beit Hanoun, says Israeli forces are in the fields outside of the village, but haven't entered the residential area. His family of four is running low on flour and wheat, and has run out of cooking gas. But the engineering teacher says he hasn't left his house for three days for fear of getting caught in the crossfire.

It's crazy. The bullets and rockets are flying over our heads, says Mr. Kafarna, who was reached by phone. Most of the civilians I believe were killed by mistake. And you don't know if you are going to be the next mistake.

Thousands across Middle East protest Gaza attack By BASSEM MROUE, Associated Press Writer – Sun Jan 4, 10:50 pm ET

BEIRUT, Lebanon – Thousands protesting Israel's ground offensive on Gaza converged Sunday in Beirut and Istanbul as the leaders of the only two Mideast Arab nations to sign peace treaties with Israel demanded an end to the attack.In Yemen, security officials said anti-Israel protesters attacked several Jewish homes in the northern province of Omran, smashing windows and pelting them with rocks. The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media, said at least one Jewish resident was injured among the tiny minority community.Lebanese police used water hoses to try to push about 250 demonstrators away from the U.S. Embassy in Lebanon's capital. When that failed, they fired tear gas, Lebanese security officials said. A second Beirut protest — a sit-in outside the U.N. building — drew thousands of supporters of Hamas and Lebanon's Islamic Group.In Turkey, more than 5,000 people held an anti-Israel rally in Istanbul, waving Palestinian flags and burning effigies of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and President George W. Bush. Also in Istanbul, club-wielding police broke up a small demonstration by protesters who hurled eggs at the Israeli Consulate, the private Dogan news agency reported. There were no reports of arrests or injuries.

In Morocco, tens of thousands gathered in the capital Rabat for a peaceful march to protest the Gaza offensive. Police estimated the turnout at 50,000, according to the official MAP news agency. Organizers said the number was bigger, but did not give a precise figure.Israel's weeklong aerial bombardment of Gaza and the start of the ground offensive Saturday against Hamas have drawn condemnation across the Muslim and Arab world and news coverage of the invasion has dominated Arab satellite television stations.Thousands in cities from Tehran to Damascus have also taken to the streets to protest the attacks, which have killed about 500 Palestinians and wounded more than 1,600, according to Gaza officials.In some cases, the protests of the past week were as directed against Arab governments as much as Israel, with many criticizing their perceived inaction or lack of sufficient support of the Palestinians.On Sunday, the leaders of Egypt and Jordan — the only two Mideast Arab countries to sign a peace agreement with Israel and maintain diplomatic ties — condemned the ground offensive and called for an end to Israel's onslaught in Gaza.

Several hundred Jordanians shouting death to Israel protested against the Gaza offensive Sunday in two separate demonstrations in central Amman, the Jordanian capital. The protests were peaceful and police made no arrests.In parliament, the Jordanian government came under criticism from Islamic opposition lawmakers demanding that it suspend relations with Israel.All options are available to assess the relationship with every side, especially Israel, Prime Minister Nader al-Dahabi told parliament during a heated debate.We will reconsider relations according to our higher national interests, he said. We will not remain silent about the situation and the serious deterioration in Gaza and neither about the threat which risks the security of the whole area and its stability.Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who runs his own Palestinian administration from the West Bank, also denounced Israel's ground offensive as brutal aggression in his harshest words yet in describing Israel's assault on his Hamas rivals.Israel says the aim of the operation is to stop the Palestinian militant Hamas group from firing rockets at southern Israeli towns. Hamas is opposed to any peace settlement with Israel and calls for the destruction of the Jewish state.This battle will end a (peace) settlement forever, Hamas' representative in Lebanon, Osama Hamdan, told the protesters at the sit-in. This battle will show who are the men.Five civilians and one policeman were lightly injured in the clash outside the U.S. Embassy earlier in the day, according to the Lebanese officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Meanwhile, the leader of Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, discussed the situation in Gaza with visiting chief Iranian nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, the group's Al-Manar TV said. Al-Manar did not give further details but said Nasrallah and Jalili, who arrived here Saturday from neighboring Syria, discussed ways of ending this aggression.Hezbollah, which is a strong ally of Hamas, possesses a formidable arsenal of rockets and missiles that bloodied Israel during a monthlong war in 2006. Hezbollah has not threatened to join Hamas in its current battle with Israel, but Nasrallah said last week that his men are on alert in case Israel attacks Lebanon. Associated Press reporters Jamal Halaby in Amman, Jordan, and Ahmed Al-Haj in San'a, Yemen, contributed to this report.

Canada blames Hamas, calls for durable ceasefire in Gaza Sun Jan 4, 4:01 pm ET

OTTAWA (AFP) – Canada on Sunday urged a sustainable and durable ceasefire in Gaza, a day after Israeli troops poured into the embattled territory, and called for a halt to rocket attacks from Hamas.Canada is deeply concerned by the increase in hostilities between Israel and Hamas, said Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon in a statement.We urge renewed international diplomatic efforts to achieve a sustainable and durable ceasefire, starting with the halting of all rocket attacks on Israel.

Rocket attacks from Hamas militants and other factions into southern Israel were to blame for the crisis, said Cannon, adding that civilian safety has to be taken into account as the conflict intensifies.Just as urgent diplomatic efforts are needed to bring about an end to this crisis, it is essential that the international community come together to address the humanitarian situation, he said. This includes ensuring access to food, medical and fuel supplies.Tens of thousands of Israeli troops backed by tanks battled Hamas Sunday, on the ninth day of a massive military operation on the Islamist-controlled territory as the Palestinian death toll from the offensive passed 500.

Hamas shares responsibility for civilian suffering: Sarkozy Sun Jan 4, 3:27 pm ET

PARIS (AFP) – Hamas bears a heavy responsibility in the suffering of the Palestinian people in Gaza, French President Nicolas Sarkozy told Lebanese newspapers in an interview out Monday.While condemning the Israeli ground offensive itself, Sarkozy told the newspapers: I want to say again here that we condemn with the same firmness (Hamas') continuing rocket fire, which is an unacceptable provocation.Hamas, which decided to break the truce and to resume rocket fire on Israel, bears a heavy responsibility in the suffering of the Palestinians of Gaza, he added.Sarkozy's interview with the three dailies, An Nahar, As Safir and L'Orient le Jour, came ahead of a two-day tour of the region.Sarkozy will travel to Israel, the West Bank and Egypt on Monday before heading to Syria and Lebanon on Tuesday to try to push for a end to the violence.The launching of the Israeli ground offensive makes the need to get a ceasefire even more urgent, said Sarkozy.This offensive, we have condemned along with our European partners, because it takes us that little bit further away from the changes of peace, and because it makes it more difficult to get aid to the people of Gaza.And I will say again to the Israeli authorities that it is absolutely essential that they let humanitarian aid through to Gaza, he added.

A French foreign ministry statement late Saturday condemned both Israel's decision to send ground troops into the Gaza Strip and Hamas' continued firing of rockets into Israel.Tens of thousands of Israeli troops backed by tanks were battling Hamas Sunday, as the Palestinian death toll from the offensive to end militant rocket attacks passed 500.

Gaza crisis forces Rice to cancel China trip Sun Jan 4, 2:23 pm ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) – US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has canceled a planned trip to China this week to deal with Israel's military offensive in Gaza, the State Department said Sunday.Due to events in the Middle East, Secretary Rice will not be able to travel to Beijing, China, as she had expected, State Department spokesman Fred Lash said in a statement.He said Rice's deputy John Negroponte will travel instead to Beijing on Wednesday for what was scheduled to be her final trip as secretary of state, to mark 30 years of Sino-US diplomatic relations.With Israel launching a ground attack on Hamas-held Gaza, the State Department says it is working toward a ceasefire but does not want a status quo ante in which the Palestinian group can fire rockets at Israel.It is obvious that that ceasefire should take place as soon as possible, but we need a ceasefire that is durable, sustainable, and not time limited, department spokesman Sean McCormack said Saturday.

President George W. Bush's administration has staunchly defended its Israeli allies' right to defend themselves from militant attacks, and placed the blame for the crisis on the Islamists of Hamas.President-elect Barack Obama, who takes office on January 20, has not commented on the crisis with aides insisting there is only one president at a time.With the Bush administration making way for Obama's in just over a fortnight, Rice had indicated that little of substance appeared likely to emerge from her visit to China scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday.The United States switched its diplomatic recognition to communist-ruled China on January 1, 1979, ending decades of US support for Taiwan's Nationalist government.Bush informed Chinese President Hu Jintao of the decision to call off Rice's trip in a telephone call Sunday, China's official Xinhua news agency said.China understood the decision and would welcome a visit by Negroponte, it quoted a foreign ministry spokesman as saying.

New York mayor, in Israel, backs strikes on Hamas By PAUL SCHEMM, Associated Press Writer – Sun Jan 4, 12:45 pm ET

JERUSALEM – New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg expressed solidarity with Israelis threatened by Hamas rockets on Sunday in a daylong trip to Israel that included visits to two towns targeted by the Islamic militant movement in recent weeks.

During the visit to the embattled town of Sderot, Bloomberg and his party, which included Rep. Gary Ackerman, a New York Democrat, were briefly hustled to a bomb shelter when a missile warning went off.In a telephone interview with The Associated Press, Bloomberg said he fully understood Israel's actions. You should rest assured, if anyone in New York was being threatened, my instruction to the NYPD (New York police) would be to use all the resources at their disposal to protect civilians, Bloomberg said.I think as a New Yorker, we've been attacked twice by al-Qaida itself, said the mayor, who is Jewish. We've seen enormous devastation and courage and after that you sort of feel you have a bond, if you will, for those who live in a dangerous world and subject to someone trying to kill them.Israel is in the ninth day of its strikes against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, which have killed more than 500 Palestinians. Ground forces pushed into Gaza Saturday night amid widespread world condemnation.Bloomberg blamed the current situation entirely on the militant Hamas movement, which controls the Gaza Strip and began launching rockets against Israeli towns in the south after its six-month truce with Israel lapsed last month.All Hamas has to do is stop sending rockets over to kill people and agree on the accords that were negotiated earlier and come to an agreement that is verifiable, durable and effective to stop people from being killed, he added.

Ghazi Khankan, a spokesman for the New York chapter of the American Muslim Alliance, said Bloomberg was elected as mayor of New York City and not of Tel Aviv. He should represent all New Yorkers, not one segment of the population.Khankan added, He should call for peace negotiations, not for supporting the Israeli side against the Palestinian side. He should be wise enough to realize that there is no military solution. There must be a political solution.International criticism of Israel has centered on the civilian deaths that have accompanied the attacks on Hamas and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where food, water and electricity are in short supply.

Ackerman, who accompanied Bloomberg to the southern Israeli towns of Ashkelon and Sderot, said the onus of the civilian deaths was on Hamas for using them as human shields.They have been the main victimizers of the innocent Palestinian people by inviting these kinds of attacks, said Ackerman, who chairs the House subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia.Associated Press writer Karen Mattews in New York contributed to the report.

Gaza death toll passes 500: medics Sun Jan 4, 11:40 am ET

GAZA CITY (AFP) – At least 500 Palestinians have died in Israel's nine-day offensive on Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip, medics said on Sunday.The number of martyrs has reached at least 500, including 87 children, and more than 2,450 have been wounded, Moawiya Hassanein, the head of Gaza medical emergency services, told AFP.The number of the dead can be much higher, since there are many martyrs and wounded in the streets, but we have not been able to get to them, he said.

Abbas seeks French pressure on Israel over Gaza blitz Sun Jan 4, 10:36 am ET

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AFP) – Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said on Sunday he would ask French President Nicolas Sarkozy to press Israel to end its nine-day offensive in the Gaza Strip.The two will meet in the West Bank town of Ramallah on Monday shortly after Sarkozy arrives in the region bidding to end the Israeli offensive against the Hamas-ruled territory that has killed more than 490 Palestinians.The Palestinian leadership is responding with all the means to end the Gaza aggression. Tomorrow we will receive the French president and ask him and the European Union to press Israel to end its aggression, Abbas said at the start of a meeting with Palestinian leaders in Ramallah.The beleaguered Palestinian president, whose forces were ousted from the Gaza Strip by Hamas in June 2007, strongly condemned the brutal Israeli operation.

Israel hit by 32 Gaza rockets: army Sun Jan 4, 9:41 am ET

JERUSALEM (AFP) – Militants in the Gaza Strip fired at least 32 rockets and mortar rounds into Israel on Sunday, lightly wounding three people as Israeli troops pushed deeper into the Palestinian territory, the army and medics said.One of the rockets scored a direct hit on a house in the southern town of Sderot, lightly wounding one woman. The town, which lies several kilometres (miles) from the Gaza border, has borne the brunt of the rocket fire since 2001.Medics also treated another two people who were lightly wounded -- one in the Israeli port city of Ashdod and another in kibbutz Nir Oz.At least 12 of the missiles were longer-range Grad rockets, which fell near Ashdod, and the towns of Ofaqim and Netivot which are both east of Gaza, the army said.Palestinian militants in Gaza have fired more than 500 rockets and mortar rounds into Israel since the beginning of the Jewish state's massive offensive on Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip on December 27, killing four people and wounding several dozen others, according to Israeli officials.At least 30 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Israel's ground offensive began on Saturday.In total, more than 485 Palestinians have died since Israel began its offensive against Gaza on December 27.

EU foreign policy chief Solana calls for Gaza ceasefire Sun Jan 4, 8:28 am ET

LONDON (AFP) – EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana called on Sunday for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, adding that European nations stand ready to contribute international monitors to help keep the peace.The ceasefire has to be a ceasefire complied (with) by everybody and be clearly maintained, Solana told the BBC.We are ready to cooperate with other members of the international community to see if necessary how we can monitor the ceasefire, he said.Solana said deploying monitors can be done, but that cannot be done in 24 hours. And for that we need a ceasefire first.Thousands of Israeli troops and scores of tanks pushed deep into Gaza on Sunday, moving towards the enclave's capital on a mission to end militant rocket attacks.

Pope urges Israel, Hamas to act immediately on Gaza Sun Jan 4, 8:20 am ET

VATICAN CITY (AFP) – Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday called on Israeli and Palestinian leaders to act immediately to end the current tragic situation in the Gaza Strip.The pontiff deplored the refusal to dialogue which has resulted in an indescribable worsening of conditions through ground fighting for the coastal strip's population,once again the victims of hatred and war.At least 23 Palestinians, the majority of them civilians, have been killed in Gaza since Israel's ground offensive in the Hamas-run enclave began on Saturday, medics said on Sunday.In total, more than 485 Palestinians have died, including 80 children, with more than 2,500 wounded according to Gaza medics since Israeli military operations began on December 27.

Rocket fire from Gaza over the past week has killed four people in Israel.The Vatican has yet to confirm that the pope will visit Israel, reportedly set for May 8-15.Benedict added after Sunday Angelus prayers that: War and hatred are not solutions to problems.Today, in all the churches of the Holy Land, church leaders are calling on worshippers to pray for the end to the conflict in the Gaza Strip and (for) justice and peace for their land, the pope also said.I join in their prayers and invite you to do the same.In his New Year's and World Peace Day message on Thursday, the pope warned that violence, hatred and mistrust are themselves forms of poverty -- perhaps the greatest -- that must be fought.The deep desire to live in peace... rises in the hearts of the great majority of the Israeli and Palestinian peoples, once more placed in danger by the massive violence that has broken out in the Gaza Strip in response to other violence.May this not prevail, the pope urged, having called last Sunday on the international community to help both sides abandon this dead-end road.Israel unleashed a massive bombardment of Hamas targets in Gaza on December 27 in response to militant rocket and mortar fire.

EU tells Israel to respect humanitarian law in Gaza, offers more aid Sun Jan 4, 8:00 am ET

BRUSSELS (AFP) – The European Commission on Sunday called on Israel to respect international law and allow access to people suffering and dying in Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip.The commission, the European Union's executive arm, announced an extra three million euros (4.2 million dollars) of emergency aid in the Gaza Strip, and urged Israel to allow a humanitarian space for delivery of vital relief.One and a half million people are crammed into an area that is just over one percent the size of Belgium. They rely on supplies from outside for their survival and, with every day that passes, their situation becomes more desperate, EU Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Louis Michel said in a statement.The obligation to respect the principals of international humanitarian law "is universal and attacks from either side that kill or injure civilians indiscriminately are unacceptable," he added.

Israeli troops pushed deeper into Gaza and clashed in fierce battles with Hamas fighters on Sunday as Israel raised the stakes in its deadly offensive on the Islamists' overcrowded stronghold.Blocking access to people who are suffering and dying is also a breach of humanitarian law. I call on the Israeli authorities to respect their international obligations and ensure a humanitarian space for the delivery of vital relief, said Michel.The new EU aid will be deployed as rapidly as possible to meet the basic needs of people affected by the Israeli airstrikes and by continuing access restrictions.The European Union is the biggest aid donor to the Palestinians.The latest three million euros will be focused on food, emergency shelter repairs and further medical support, all areas identified as priorities by the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in their flash appeal of December 31.

European foreign ministers were to fly to Egypt Sunday at the start of a Middle East trip where they hope to persuade Israeli and Palestinian leaders to move towards a humanitarian truce in the Gaza Strip, officials said.On Monday the EU delegation will hold separate meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders in Jerusalem and the West Bank before finishing their trip in Jordan.Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg, whose nation took over the EU presidency on New Year's Day, will head the mission along with his French and Swedish counterparts plus EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner.Late Saturday Schwarzenberg stressed that Israel does not have the right to take military actions which largely affect civilians, though its launching of land operations in the Gaza Strip was no surprise.

UN Security Council fails to agree on Gaza ceasefire call by Herve Couturier Herve Couturier – Sun Jan 4, 7:55 am ET

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) – The UN Security Council has failed to agree on a statement calling for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip after the United States argued a return to the situation that existed before Israel's ground invasion was unacceptable.After nearly four hours of closed-door consultations late Saturday, members of the council emerged without reaching agreement that would have asked Israel and Hamas to end eight-day hostilities that have claimed the lives of at least 460 Palestinians.The meeting was the Security Council's third since the conflict erupted on December 27.French Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert, who presides in the council this month, said there was no formal agreement between member states on a Gaza statement.But I have noted strong convergencies about our concern at the escalation of violence and the deterioration of the situation and strong convergencies on our call for an immediate, durable and respected ceasefire, Ripert told reporters after the meeting.A draft statement submitted earlier for the council's consideration by Libya on behalf of the Arab League had expressed serious concern about the ground invasion and called on the parties to observe an immediate ceasefire and for its full respect.However, the document made no mention of the ongoing Hamas rocket attacks on Israeli territory that Israel said prompted its retaliatory offensive against Gaza, and the British and US ambassadors said the draft seemed too partial.

US deputy envoy Alejandro Wolff, talking to reporters after the consultations, said Washington believed it was important that the region not return to the status quo that had allowed Hamas to fire rockets into Israel.The efforts we are making internationally are designed to establish a sustainable, durable ceasefire that's respected by all, Wolff said. And that means no more rocket attacks. It means no more smuggling of arms.As Israel's closest ally, Washington has regularly vetoed Security Council resolutions it sees as too critical of the Jewish state.Libyan Ambassador Giadalla Ettalhi said the impasse had produced a sad day for the Security Council as it failed once again to voice its outrage at the escalation of the situation in Gaza.The Libyan draft, however, still remains on the table, and Arab foreign ministers are expected here next week to push for a ceasefire statement. They will be joined by Western-backed Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas.

And France's President Nicolas Sarkozy is due to fly to the Middle East on Monday, hoping to rally key players in the region behind a French plan to pressure Israel and Hamas to renew a failed ceasefire.The French leader will visit Egypt, the West Bank, Israel, Syria and Lebanon.Earlier in Cairo, Arab League chief Amr Mussa accused the Security Council of ignoring Israel's onslaught on Gaza, saying the delay in agreeing on a resolution was proof of failure to handle the conflict.The continuation of ... the international community and the Security Council ignoring this situation is a very dangerous thing, he told reporters at a press conference in the pan-Arab organization's Cairo headquarters.On Friday, US President George W. Bush made clear he would not condemn an Israeli ground offensive, arguing that Israel had a right to defend itself against Hamas, which is firing rockets into Israel.However, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called for an immediate halt to the violence and urged Israel to allow humanitarian aid into the impoverished Palestinian territory. A statement released by Ban's office before the Security Council meeting said the secretary general had spoken to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and conveyed his extreme concern and disappointment.He called for an immediate end to the ground operation, and asked that Israel do all possible to ensure the protection of civilians and that humanitarian assistance is able to reach those in need, the statement went on to say. Permanent Palestinian observer at the United Nations Riyad Mansour warned that if the Israeli assault is not stopped immediately, thousands more Palestinian civilians will be killed and injured. This is immoral, this is illegal, this is unacceptable, and the Security Council cannot continue to sit on its hands and not force Israel to comply with its position, the position that it adopted on Sunday morning, Mansour said. UN General Assembly President Miguel d'Escoto of Nicaragua called the Israeli incursion a monstrosity.
And once again, the world is watching in dismay the dysfunctionality of the Security Council, D'Escoto argued.

Brown says Israeli ground offensive dangerous moment Sun Jan 4, 5:52 am ET

LONDON (AFP) – Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Sunday that Israel's ground offensive in Gaza had created a very dangerous moment in the conflict and he called for increased efforts to secure a ceasefire.This is a very dangerous moment, Brown said in an interview with BBC television.I think everybody around the world is expressing grave concerns. What we've got to do almost immediately is to work harder than we've done for an immediate ceasefire.Brown said assurances needed to be given to both the Israelis and Hamas.He explained: I can see the Gaza issues for the Palestinians -- that they need humanitarian aid -- but the Israelis must have some assurance that there are no rocket attacks coming into Israel.So first we need an immediate ceasefire, and that includes a stopping of the rockets into Israel. Secondly, we need some resolution of the problem over arms trafficking into Gaza and, thirdly, we need the borders and the crossings open and that will need some international solution.Brown said the Arab powers had to apply pressure to ensure that the illegal tunnels used for supplying Gaza with arms were closed.He explained: I sense that the Arab powers are as worried as we are about the turn of events.What I believe has got to happen over the next few days is that we have got to work with them and of course with the United States and the European Union, and (French) President (Nicolas) Sarkozy is visiting the region tomorrow.Israeli troops pushed deep into Gaza Sunday with thousands of soldiers and scores of tanks battling Hamas fighters and moving towards the capital in a bid to end militant rocket attacks.

Israel not interested in new front in the north: PM Sun Jan 4, 5:04 am ET

TEL AVIV (AFP) – Israel is not interested in opening up a new front in the north as it carries out a massive offensive on Hamas in Gaza, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Sunday in a veiled reference to Lebanon's Hezbollah militia.Israel has no interest in opening new fronts other than the one in the south, Olmert said at the start of the cabinet meeting. Not to the east and not to the north.But caution is required, and I have therefore instructed the defence establishment to be extremely alert and prepared for any development in the event that someone might think that this is his opportunity to take advantage of Israel focusing on the southern front in order to try and change the stable reality created following events in the past.

His comments were a thinly veiled reference to Lebanon's Hezbollah militia with which Israel fought a war in 2006 just weeks into Israel's last major offensive against the Gaza Strip.Two weeks after Israel launched its assault on Gaza in June 2006 -- after militants in the territory seized a soldier in a cross-border raid -- Hezbollah launched a deadly cross-border raid of its own in Israel's north and seized two soldiers.In response Israel unleashed a war on Hezbollah that lasted for 34 days and killed more than 1,200 Lebanese, mostly civilians, and more than 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers.

U.S. thwarts Libyan push for Gaza truce demand at U.N. By Louis Charbonneau Louis Charbonneau – Sat Jan 3, 11:50 pm ET

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The United States thwarted an effort by Libya on Saturday to persuade the U.N. Security Council to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza after Israel launched a ground invasion, diplomats said.French U.N. Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert, currently Security Council president, told reporters after a closed-door session there was no agreement, but there (were) serious convergences to express serious concern about the crisis.The convergences of opinions among council members included the need for an immediate and permanent ceasefire and easing the humanitarian crisis Gazans are in, Ripert said.British Ambassador John Sawers said he was very disappointed about the council's failure to agree on a statement during Saturday's 4-hour emergency meeting.Libya, the only Arab member of the council, had circulated a draft statement expressing serious concern at the escalation of the situation in Gaza, in particular, after the launching of the Israeli ground offensive and urged all parties to observe an immediate ceasefire.But diplomats said the United States refused to back the Libyan-drafted text and killed the initiative, since council statements must be passed unanimously. Later the United States refused to back a watered-down call for a truce, the diplomats said.The United States, one of five permanent Security Council members, insists that any statement or resolution state that the Palestinian militant group Hamas is a terrorist organization that seized power in Gaza from the legitimate Palestinian Authority.U.S. envoy Alejandro Wolff said there was no point in issuing statements that Hamas, which unilaterally declared an end to a 6-month old ceasefire last month, would ignore.I don't think it does the council any good ... to issue statements that aren't going to be observed, Wolff said. Israel's self-defense is not negotiable.Libya and other Arab states oppose the U.S. view, leaving the 15-nation Security Council deadlocked on the Gaza crisis.

LAW OF THE JUNGLE

Israel launched the ground offensive in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, sending tanks and infantry into battle with Hamas fighters, who have defied eight days of deadly air strikes with salvos of rocket fire into Israeli towns.Israel insists its Gaza action aims to halt Hamas rocket attacks. The strip is home to 1.5 million Palestinians.Riyad Mansour, the permanent Palestinian observer to the United Nations, said it was the council's responsibility to demand that Israel stop this aggression immediately.Israel cannot continue to behave as a state above international law -- this is the law of the jungle, he said.The United States and Libya have clashed repeatedly on the Israeli-Palestinian issue since Libya joined the council a year ago, and Washington has tried to keep the topic off the agenda whenever possible.U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for an immediate end to Israel's ground operation in Gaza. Speaking by telephone with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Ban conveyed his extreme concern and disappointment, his press office said in a statement.At least a quarter of the 453 Palestinians killed have been civilians, a U.N. agency said. Four Israelis have been killed by rockets that continue to pound southern Israel.(Editing by Patricia Zengerle and Chris Wilson)

Jordan king tells Blair world's Gaza 'silence' unacceptable Sat Jan 3, 4:00 pm ET

AMMAN (AFP) – Jordan's King Abdullah II told Middle East peace Quartet envoy Tony Blair on Saturday that the world's silence on the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip is unacceptable, the palace said.The humanitarian situation in Gaza has deteriorated in a way that silence has become unacceptable, a palace statement quoted the king as telling Blair over the telephone.The international community should help end this tragedy and press Israel to stop its aggression and open border crossings to allow aid and evacuate the wounded, the king said, according to the statement.The Quartet includes the United States, the United Nations, the European Union, and Russia.The king and Blair discussed international efforts to halt Israel's military operations in Gaza, the statement said.Jordan plans to build a field hospital in Gaza and send daily aid shipments to densely populated and impoverished territory.On Thursday it evacuated eight Gazans from the Egyptian's city of El-Arish near Gaza to treat them in a military hospital in Amman.More than 460 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's deadly campaign against the Islamist group Hamas, which rules Gaza.

UN Security Council has failed in Gaza: Arab League Sat Jan 3, 3:55 pm ET

CAIRO (AFP) – Arab League chief Amr Mussa accused the UN Security Council on Saturday of ignoring Israel's onslaught on Gaza, saying the delay in agreeing a resolution is proof of failure to handle the conflict.Arab regimes cannot put pressure on Israel but the Security Council could pressure the Jewish state into ending its eight-day bombardment of Gaza, he said.Israel does not respect the Arabs. And we do not respect its policies, he said.A delegation of Arab foreign ministers is expected to leave for the UN's headquarters in New York on Sunday evening, he said.The continuation of... the international community and the Security Council ignoring this situation is a very dangerous thing, he told reporters at a press conference in the pan-Arab organization's Cairo headquarters.We see that its not convening is a clear proof of failure in dealing with this huge crisis and allowing Israel an opportunity, he said.Mussa also dismissed as Israeli disinformation reports that some Arab regimes have accepted or supported Israel's campaign against Hamas.He accused Israel of using banned weapons in Gaza.Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit also said in an Egyptian television interview that the Security Council was not doing its job of quickly ending the conflict, according to a BBC Monitoring transcript.

The UN Security Council (UNSC) is not doing its job or quickening its pace to shoulder its responsibilities, he said.No one should leave an operation such as this for seven days, as if it (the UNSC) wants a repetition of what happened in [the Israeli] operation in Lebanon, he added, referring to Israel's war against Hezbollah in 2006.The Security Council issued a resolution calling for a ceasefire a month into that conflict, which killed at least 1,200 Lebanese, most of them civilians, and more than 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers.At least 460 Palestinians have died in Israeli air strikes and naval bombardment of Gaza since Israel launched its campaign.

The US, a close ally of Israel and one of five countries with veto power in the Security Council, has said it would reject a Libyan draft resolution that called on both sides to abide by a ceasefire because it did not explicitly mention Hamas rocket attacks.Israel says it is trying to deter the Islamist Hamas movement which controls Gaza from firing rockets into Israel.Hamas rockets have killed four Israelis in the past eight days, while medics say Israel's air blitz has killed at least 460 Palestinians and wounded 2,350 others.

Israel interrupts its radio, TV broadcasts in Gaza: Hamas Sat Jan 3, 11:27 am ET

GAZA CITY (AFP) – Hamas on Saturday accused Israel of interrupting its radio and television broadcasts in Gaza as the Jewish state's deadly offensive on the Islamists entered its second week.The enemy is trying to break our frequencies... do not listen to this, said a broadcast on Al-Aqsa radio.Earlier the radio's programme was interrupted with a man's voice speaking in Hebrew-accented Arabic: Hamas leaders are hiding in the tunnels and are leaving you on the frontline of Israel's Defence Forces.Hamas leaders are lying to you and they are hiding in hospitals, he said. Launching rockets puts civilians in danger.Meanwhile a broadcast on Al-Aqsa television was interrupted with an image of a ringing phone that no one was answering.Hamas leaders are hiding and they are leaving you on the front line, says a voice in accented Arabic.The Israeli army did not have immediate comment.On Friday, Hamas's political supremo Khaled Meshaal was calling on Palestinians to rise up against Israel when his picture suddenly disappeared from the Al-Aqsa TV broadcast.Hamas has misled you and abandoned you, a man's voice said in Arabic. If you call any leader of Hamas, nobody will answer.An Al-Aqsa official said the Israeli army was behind the spoiler interruption, which was repeated several times during the broadcast of what appeared to be a pre-recorded speech.

EU team off to Middle East, hoping for Gaza truce by Paul Harrington Paul Harrington – Sat Jan 3, 9:38 am ET

BRUSSELS (AFP) – European foreign ministers set off Saturday for the Middle East where they hope to persuade Israeli and Palestinian leaders to move towards a humanitarian truce in the Gaza Strip, officials said.Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg, whose nation took over the EU presidency on New Year's Day, will go to the region with French and Swedish counterparts plus EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner.We are going to discussing the situation, Schwarzenberg's spokeswoman Zuzana Opletalova told AFP on Saturday.There is no concrete message yet. We are going to listen to our partners and we will see what we can do to obtain a ceasefire again in the region.The European Union -- the biggest foreign donor to the Palestinian territories -- is concerned about the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip after more than a week of Israeli air strikes.The foreign ministers will be seeking hard information -- not least from aid agencies on the ground -- about how much help is needed and what supplies are actually getting into Gaza.We want to find out what are the possibilities for humanitarian aid amid conflicting reports on the situation, said Opletalova by telephone from the Czech capital Prague.The key day for the tour, which will begin Sunday in Cairo, is Monday when the Europeans will meet in Jerusalem with Israeli President Shimon Peres, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and the Jewish state's foreign and defence ministers.

From there they will go to the West Bank town of Ramallah, seat of the government of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who will be making his own separate trip to the region, will also attend the meetings in Ramallah with Abbas and his prime minister Salam Fayyad.Sarkozy embarks on his two-day, four-nation tour of the Middle East on Monday, hoping to rally support for a ceasefire in Gaza which was launched last month when France still help the rotating EU presidency.Since Israel unleashed Operation Cast Lead on December 27 in response to consistent rocket attacks from Gaza, at least 436 Palestinians have been reported killed and 2,290 wounded.At least 75 of those killed have been children, according to emergency services inside Gaza.Concerns are rising over the humanitarian situation in one of the world's poorest and most densely populated places, where the vast majority of people depend on foreign aid.The goal is an immediate ceasefire and especially a humanitarian truce. That's what we're going to ask Israel and we hope they'll accept, said Spanish Miguel Angel Moratinos this week.Israeli officials have said they could consider international calls for a pause in fighting to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza. But both they and Hamas, which controls Gaza, have rebuffed appeals for a lasting truce.Euroepan Commission spokeswoman Christiane Hohmann said the EU foreign ministers' trip was a concrete example of the involvement of the 27-nation European Union in the Middle East.We have always said we are an actor in the Middle East and we want to do that, she said. Us going there is a manifestation of that.Other European officials said the European Union is keen to show show leadership as the United States awaits the inauguration on January 20 of Barak Obama as its next president. The French, Czech and Swedish foreign ministers represent the past, present and future EU presidencies. All 27 EU foreign ministers are likely to discuss Gaza when they meet in Prague next Thursday.

Muslims around the world protest Gaza assault By REBECCA SANTANA, Associated Press Writer – Fri Jan 2, 9:10 pm ET

CAIRO, Egypt – Thousands protested Friday against Israel's air offensive targeting Hamas at demonstrations in the Middle East and several continents.Similar protests have been held daily across the Middle East since Israel launched the bombing campaign last Saturday. But these gatherings held mostly after Friday prayers were larger — mainly because Friday prayers are a traditional gathering opportunity for Muslims — and seemed to be more far-reaching in the number of countries where protests occurred.The Israeli offensive has killed more than 400 Palestinians and sparked outrage among the Arab public. Israel says its offensive is aimed at silencing Hamas rockets.In Tehran, a crowd of about 6,000 stretching for a half-mile (kilometer) marched from prayers at Tehran University to Palestine Square, chanting Death to Israel and Death to America and burning Israeli flags.Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki warned Israel that entering Gaza by land will be the biggest mistake of the Zionist regime.Iran is a major backer of Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, giving it millions of dollars. The U.S. and Israel accuse Iran of giving weapons and rockets to Hamas, though Tehran denies arming Hamas.In Egypt, authorities clamped down hard to prevent protests Friday. Hundreds of riot police surrounded Cairo's main Al-Azhar Mosque, where a rally had been called, and scuffled with would-be protesters, keeping most from approaching.Police also arrested 40 members of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood that called for protests.

More than 3,000 people marched in the northern Sinai city of el-Arish.Many governments in the Arab world such as Egypt have been wary about protests at home over Israel's Gaza assault lest the protests spiral out of control.In Jordan, police fired volleys of tear gas and scuffled with protesters who tried to reach the Israeli Embassy in Amman. A few of the protesters threw stones at police, but the security forces dispersed the group, arresting several.About 30,000 Jordanians gathered at a stadium in Amman shouting their support for Gaza and calling for the abolition of the Jordanian-Israeli peace treaty signed in 1994.More than 10,000 Muslims marched through Indonesia's capital Jakarta to protest the ongoing bombing raids in Gaza, aiming fake missiles labeled Target: Tel Aviv, Israel at the U.S. Embassy.Protests were also held after Friday prayers in other cities in the world's most populous Muslim country, in what was the largest turnout since Israel began the operation.In the Afghan capital of Kabul, about 3,000 people gathered outside a prominent mosque, according to police estimates. Men in the crowd threw stones and shoes at an effigy of President George W. Bush.Dozens of demonstrators gathered in the Philippines capital Manila, carrying placards saying Israel is a butcher of children.In Turkey, Israel's closest ally in the region, some 5,000 people denounced the Israeli raids outside a mosque in Istanbul, burning Israeli and U.S. flags and reciting funeral prayers for the victims.In Syria, some 2,000 marched in a Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus, carrying Palestinian flags and chanting jihad will unite us.Syrian President Bashar Assad talked with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Friday and called on the U.N. Security Council to adopt a resolution forcing Israel to immediately halt its Gaza offensive, Syria's official news agency SANA reported. In Sudan, thousands marched in downtown Khartoum, urging Muslims to jihad and denouncing Israel and America.

Protests erupted as well in the Palestinian territories. In the West Bank city of Ramallah, thousands demonstrated in solidarity with Gazans, calling for Palestinian unity and accusing Arab leaders of silence over Israel's bombardment. There were also protests in the United States. Thousands gathered in Washington to express outrage over Israel's attacks, marching from the Israeli embassy Friday to the Egyptian embassy to criticize Egypt's handling of the attacks. In Los Angeles, about 350 protesters and counterprotesters demonstrated. The pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered outside the Israeli Consulate, while supporters of Israel lined the opposite side of the street. No incidents were immediately reported. Ex-Eurythmics singer Annie Lennox and other celebrities, including activist Bianca Jagger, comedian Alexei Sayle and former London mayor Ken Livingstone, held a news conference in London demanding Israel halt the onslaught. In Sao Paulo, Brazil almost 200 people led by local Muslim leaders gathered outside the Sao Paulo Art Museum to protest the Israeli offensive in Gaza. Several demonstrators carried Palestinian flags, and banners reading End the Genocide in Gaza.In Bern, Switzerland, hundreds of people marched, calling for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza and demanding the international community impose sanctions against Israel. Russian authorities detained about 37 people after a small protest outside the Israeli Embassy in Moscow demanding an end to attacks on the Gaza Strip. Hundreds of Muslims held a rally at the main mosque in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, hoisting banners that said Palestinian Blood Is Human Blood and shouting for Kenya to sever ties with Israel. Meanwhile, Abu Musab Abdul Wadud, the leader of al-Qaida in Islamic North Africa, an offshoot of Osama bin Laden's terrorist network, has issued a message urging Muslims to attack Jews everywhere, according to the SITE Intelligence, a group which monitors extremist Web sites. The message was issued on jihadist forums on Thursday, SITE said.

Israel keeps ban on foreign journalists in Gaza By DIAA HADID, Associated Press Writer – Fri Jan 2, 3:54 pm ET

EREZ CROSSING, Israel – Israel maintained its ban on foreign journalists entering the Gaza Strip Friday despite a recent Supreme Court order to allow a limited number of reporters to enter the territory.The ban has been in place since a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas began to fray on Nov. 5. Israel eased the ban last month but tightened it again after launching its air offensive against Gaza's Hamas rulers a week ago.A legal challenge by the Foreign Press Association, which represents foreign media in Israel, prompted the court ruling this week to allow groups of up to 12 foreign journalists to cross the border whenever the Erez crossing between Israel and Gaza is open for humanitarian cases.That was the case on Friday, when Israel opened the crossing to allow nearly 300 Palestinians with foreign passports to leave Gaza. But authorities defied the court order and kept reporters out.We call on the Israeli government to immediately honor the will of the court and allow foreign journalists access to Gaza, the Foreign Press Association said in a statement. The authorities' position that there was not enough time to coordinate and allow the journalists to enter does not seem reasonable.A military spokesman said Israel kept the journalists out because authorities at the crossing point were focused on processing the hundreds of Palestinians exiting Gaza.

The crossing today was overwhelmed dealing with the emergency evacuation of people, said army spokesman Peter Lerner. He said journalists might be allowed to cross on Sunday, when Israel plans to open the crossing for injured Palestinians to enter Israel for medical treatment.The ban on foreign journalists has made it more difficult for news organizations to verify the extent of damage from the offensive, the number of civilian casualties or the seriousness of humanitarian problems such as shortages of food and medicine.Some organizations, such as The Associated Press, are relying on journalists who live in Gaza and cover the conflict full-time but would normally have sent in reinforcements to cover the story more extensively.The Israeli government has long banned Israeli journalists from entering Gaza because of fears for their safety, but foreign reporters have been permitted to go in, even during times of heavy fighting.While Israel has restricted media access to Gaza in the past, a ban this long is unprecedented. Journalists have protested the restrictions as a grave blow to press freedom.