Israel Air Strikes On Gaza Kill 155

Kristol says Gaza invasion 'a favor for Obama'

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Kristol_Gaza_invasion_a_favor_for_0104.html

David Edwards and Andrew McLemore
Published: Sunday January 4, 2009

Bill Kristol thinks that President-elect Barack Obama should be thankful for Israel's attack on Gaza.

"If you care about the peace process you should want Israel to embarrass and humiliate Hamas. That's the only chance -- there would be no peace process if Hamas were governing Gaza. That would be the worst thing for Obama. This is a favor for Obama if it de legitimizes and weakens Hamas," Kristol said.

Asked by Wallace how similar the invasion of Gaza is to Israel's battle with Hezbollah in Lebanon in the summer of 2006, Kristol said it would "be an achievement" if Israel could bring peace to its southern border with Palestine the way it did with Lebanon in the north.

But Wallace and Juan Williams of National Public Radio both said there is a real danger that the invasion of Gaza will only "empower" Hamas,

"It seems to me they're aiming for Israel having to occupy Gaza," Williams said. "They say they're not, but how else are you going to in fact stop these folks from firing these rockets?"

"If you really want peace, you cannot have people who do not acknowledge the legitimacy of Israel," Williams said.

Obama has laid low for the Israeli invasion of Gaza, saying nothing to the press about his position on the worsening violence.

Members of Obama's transition team have only said their boss is "monitoring" the situation, where at least 460 people have already been killed in eight days of air raids.

This video is from Fox's Fox News Sunday, broadcast Jan. 4, 2008.

Video At Source

US blocks UN Security Council action on Gaza

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gJledWNoIBc43rLj-CsczJss5dXwD95G3Q387

By EDITH M. LEDERER – 16 hours ago

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United States late Saturday blocked approval of a U.N. Security Council statement calling for an immediate cease-fire in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel and expressing concern at the escalation of violence between Israel and Hamas.

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

France's U.N. Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert, the current council president, announced that there was no agreement among members on a statement. But he said there were "strong convergences" among the 15 members to express serious concern about the deteriorating situation in Gaza and the need for "an immediate, permanent and fully respected cease-fire."

Arab nations demanded that the council adopt a statement calling for an immediate cease-fire following Israel's launch of a ground offensive in Gaza earlier Saturday, a view echoed by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Libya's U.N. Ambassador Giadalla Ettalhi, the only Arab member of the council, said the United States objected to "any outcome" during the closed council discussions on the proposed statement.

He said efforts were made to compromise and agree on a weaker press statement but there was no consensus.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Arab nations demanded Saturday that the United Nations Security Council call for an immediate cease-fire following Israel's launch of a ground offensive in Gaza, a view echoed by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Libya circulated a draft statement to council members before emergency council consultations began expressing "serious concern at the escalation of the situation in Gaza" following Israel's ground assault and calling on Israel and Hamas "to stop immediately all military activities."

The 15-member council then met behind closed doors to discuss a proposed presidential statement that would also call for all parties to address the humanitarian and economic needs in Gaza, including by opening border crossings.

Council diplomats said the United States opposed the presidential statement because it was similar to a press statement issued by members after Israeli warplanes launched the offensive a week ago that was not heeded. Presidential statements become part of the council's official record but press statements are weaker and do not.

The five permanent council members — the U.S., Britain, France, Russia and China — along with Libya, the only Arab nation on the council, then met privately to discuss possibly issuing another press statement.

"We need to have from the Security Council reaction tonight to bring this latest addition of aggression against our people in Gaza to an immediate halt," Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian U.N. observer told reporters.

The statement, if approved, would become part of the council's official record but would not have the weight of a Security Council resolution, which is legally binding.

Mansour said 3,000 Palestinians have been killed and injured since Israeli warplanes starting bombing Gaza a week ago. More than 480 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and four killed in Israel.

International criticism of the offensive has increased steadily, but Israel maintains the offensive is aimed at stopping the rocket attacks from Hamas-controlled Gaza that have traumatized southern Israel.

Before the council met Saturday night, Ban telephoned Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and said he was disappointed that Israel launched a ground offensive and "alarmed that this escalation will inevitably increase the already heavy suffering" of Palestinian civilians, the U.N. spokesman's office said in a statement.

"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 said.

Ban reiterated his call for an immediate cease-fire and urged regional and international partners "to exert all possible influence to bring about an immediate end to the bloodshed and suffering," the statement said.

The secretary-general said the Israeli ground operation is complicating efforts by the Quartet of Mideast peacemakers — the U.N., the U.S., the European Union and Russia — to end the violence.

France's U.N. Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert echoed Ban.

"We think it's time for both parties to stop fighting and go back to the political track," said Ripert. He said he was speaking as French ambassador not as Security Council president, a job he took over on Jan. 1.

Several Arab foreign ministers are expected at U.N. headquarters on Monday to urge the Security Council to adopt a resolution ending the Israeli offensive. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas delayed his arrival until Tuesday so he can meet French President Nicolas Sarkozy in the West Bank.

Israel offensive heightens Gaza humanitarian crisis: aid agencies

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Israel_offensive_heightens_Gaza_humanitarian_crisis_0104.html

Agence France-Presse
Published: Sunday January 4, 2009

GAZA CITY (AFP) — Israel's military onslaught against Hamas has aggravated Gaza's humanitarian crisis, with electricity and communications cut and the population now facing dire food shortages, aid agencies said Sunday.

The Israeli army said the World Food Programme halted emergency shipments to Gaza because its warehouses are full but the UN agency insisted it was desperate to get supplies into the enclave.

"The military incursion compounds the humanitarian crisis following more than a week of shelling and an 18-month long blockade of the territory," the UN humanitarian coordinatory said in a daily report.

There was an "almost total blackout" across most of Gaza and land and mobile phone networks were also down because they depend on backup generators which had no fuel, the report said.

All Gaza City hospitals have been without mains electricity for 48 hours and now rely on backup generators which the UN said were "close to collapse."

The report said that "for the second consecutive day Israeli authorities have refused to allow an ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross) emergency medical team into Gaza" to help at the main Shifa hospital. The territory has been sealed off for more than two days.

At the hospital the breakdown of temporary generators would threaten 70 patients linked to machines in the intensive care unit, including 30 infants.

More than 510 Palestinians have already been killed in Israel's nine day old offensive on Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip, which on Saturday was intensified with the launch of a massive ground operation.

The UN said the tank fire and air attacks were preventing medical staff reaching hospitals and ambulances could not get to injured "because of continuous fire."

The World Food Programme has coordinated emergency food deliveries into Gaza in recent months but the Israeli army said there was plenty of food in Gaza warehouses and that the territory's Hamas rulers had halted distribution.

The Israeli government is adamant there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

"The WFP stopped sending food in there because their warehouses are full to the top," military spokeswoman Major Avital Leibovitz told AFP

"The question is why Hamas is not moving the food around the territory. They say the roads are blocked. Why are the roads blocked for food but they can get around to fire rockets?"

Christine Van Nieuwenhuyse, the WFP representative for the Palestinian territories, told AFP however that the Gaza food warehouses were at less than half capacity.

She said food could not be distributed because it is "too dangerous" in the conflict or because warehouses were in military zones.

Gaza border crossings have been closed for two days and she said the WFP had asked the Israeli government to allow more trucks to go into Gaza.

"Tomorrow (Monday) we hope to send some in. But some roads have been destroyed and some of the Palestinian transporters are afraid to go to the border," Van Nieuwenhuyse said.

West Bank protester shot dead by Israeli troops

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/West_Bank_protester_shot_dead_by_0104.html

Agence France-Presse
Published: Sunday January 4, 2009

NABLUS, West Bank (AFP) — A Palestinian demonstrator was shot dead by Israeli troops in the northern West Bank on Sunday during a protest against the Gaza Strip offensive, medics and security officials said.

Mufid al-Walwil, 21, was killed when Israeli troops opened fire on a group of Palestinians who were throwing stones at them near the separation barrier in Qalqilya.

An army spokewoman confirmed that troops had opened fire after the Palestinians threw stones and "two flaming tyres" towards them during a "violent riot."

She said two demonstrators had tried to climb the barrier and had ignored warning shots fired by the soldiers.

"The soldiers aimed at their lower body and realised that they had hit one of them in the knee," she said.

At least 23 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Israel's ground offensive began on Saturday.

In total, more than 485 Palestinians have died since Israeli started a week of bombing raids on December 27.

Worldwide alarm at Israeli ground offensive

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Worldwide_alarm_at_Israeli_ground_offensive_0104.html

Agence France-Presse
Published: Sunday January 4, 2009

PARIS (AFP) — Israel's tank and troop assault on the Gaza Strip unleashed worldwide cries of alarm on Sunday, but Israel won heavyweight US backing and moves for an immediate ceasefire foundered at the United Nations.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown echoed grave European concerns when he said the ground offensive was a "very dangerous moment" in the conflict, and he called for increased efforts to rapidly secure a ceasefire.

The offensive was condemned across the Middle East, with Egypt saying the UN Security Council's silence on Israel's eight-day campaign of air strikes had effectively given Israel "a green light" for the ground assault.

Asian nations expressed alarm, too, with Pakistan and China calling for an immediate end to the assault and Muslims in Indonesia urging war against the Jewish state.

But in New York, the Security Council failed to agree on a statement calling for a ceasefire after the United States argued that a return to the situation that existed before Israel's ground invasion was unacceptable.

US deputy ambassador Alejandro Wolff said after the four-hour sitting that Washington believed it was important that the region "not return to the status quo" that had allowed Hamas militants 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 thousands of Israeli soldiers and scores of tanks pushed into Gaza Sunday, the British prime minister said assurances needed to be given to both the Israelis and Hamas to secure a ceasefire.

"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 on BBC television.

"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," he said.

"So first we need an immediate ceasefire, and that includes a stopping of the rockets into Israel."

Russia dispatched President Dmitry Medvedev's special envoy for the Middle East, Alexander Saltanov, to the region, hoping it could help bring about a ceasefire.

"The new dangerous escalation in the armed conflict after the start of the Israeli land operation in Gaza is a matter of extreme concern," the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement.

"It is essential, without delay, to put an end to the suffering of the civilian population on both sides, to stop the bloodshed and secure a mutual ceasefire."

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said 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.

At least 23 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Israel's ground offensive began on Saturday, medics said 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 same period has killed four Israelis.

European reaction to the ground offensive revealed a sharp difference in tone from the official US line.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said the decision to send troops into Gaza was a "dangerous military escalation".

The European Union's new Czech presidency said Israel's ground operation was more "defensive than offensive", although it said Israel did not have the right to take military actions "which largely affect civilians".

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit said Israel's incursion into the impoverished territory was in "brazen defiance" of international calls to end the offensive -- and he blamed the Security Council for failing to act.

"The Security Council's silence and its failure to take a decision to stop Israel's aggression since it began was interpreted by Israel as a green light," he said.

In Asia, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said the Israeli offensive was "unjustified" and called for an immediate halt to the fighting.

Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso warned that Israel's ground offensive would only aggravate difficulties for all concerned.

"I'm very worried that the dispatch of ground troops will make the situation much worse," he said.

There was outrage in Africa as well.

Senegalese Pesident Abdoulaye Wade, who also holds the presidency of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, called the Israeli ground offensive a "flagrant violation of the most elementary principles of international law".

Gaza's underground lifeline in the sights of Israeli warplanes

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Gazas_underground_lifeline_in_sights_of_0104.html

Agence France-Presse
Published: Sunday January 4, 2009

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AFP) — Abu Ali vows that once the war in Gaza ends he will quickly repair his tunnel under the frontier with Egypt, one of the many underground links used by Palestinian smugglers that have been blasted by Israeli warplanes.

"Life cannot go on in Gaza if the tunnels are destroyed -- they're our only opening to the outside world," he said, speaking inside the Palestinian enclave that has been blockaded by the Jewish state for more than two years.

Hundreds of tunnels have been carved out beneath the Gaza-Egypt frontier, providing a vital conduit to bring basic needs into the territory which has suffered an increasing stranglehold in the past 18 months.

Foodstuffs, building materials, medicines and electric equipment are all brought from Egypt through the passages -- as well as weapons, notably rockets, and ammunition.

Such contraband provides smugglers with a profitable business. It is also a source of income for Hamas, the Islamist movement which has been the sole ruler in the Gaza Strip since June 2007.

The movement levies taxes on the smugglers' income from the tunnels which are linked to the territory's electricity grid with the blessing of Hamas.

Conscious that the goods, particularly weapons, flowing under the border are vital to Hamas in its conflict, Israel has bombed dozens of tunnels since Israel began its offensive on the Gaza Strip on December 27.

Abu Ali vows that he will fix the bomb-damaged tunnel that he shares with four partners, including a chief of Hamas's military wing. But for the moment, he dare not approach the area because "Israeli planes are attacking anyone approaching the frontiers."

Since the attacks on the smugglers' network began, the Hamas sympathiser, his wife and their daughter no longer sleep in the family home in Rafah for fear that he may also have been singled out for elimination by Israeli forces.

Another contraband operator, Ayman, operates two tunnels -- one for goods and the second for fuel.

"We don't know if our tunnels have been hit or not by the Israeli bombs because no one can go down there to see. After all, our life is more important than money or work," he said of the family-run business.

"We've had to pay to have a batch of tins of jam brought in through another tunnel which remains operational. That's going to increase their price in the marketplace," added the 21-year-old.

As far as Ayman is concerned, his smuggling activities are not motivated by profit but are necessary because of the Israeli blockade. He said dozens of Palestinians have died in recent months when tunnels collapsed.

Another smuggler, Iskandar, believes that Egypt will close its eyes to those tunnels which survive the Israeli attacks.

"Egypt does not want the people of Gaza to die of starvation, not forgetting that the tunnels bring Egyptian traders on the other side up to 45 million dollars a month," he said, pointing out that Cairo is being constantly pressed by Israel to deal ruthlessly with the underground corridors on its side.

The destruction of many tunnels in the Israeli offensive over the past week has already meant shortages of some products in Gaza's shops.

Abdel Wahab, who runs a pharmacy, has smugglers bring in medicines worth 6,000 dollars a month from Egypt for resale in Gaza.

"Our losses are huge because of the destruction of the tunnels, and no-one is going to compensate us," he said. "In other countries, tunnels are generally used for drug trafficking, but in Gaza they enable us to continue to live."

Hamas police keep a close eye on the activities of those operating the tunnels to prevent the entry of drugs or arms, the latter being brought in through special underground routes managed by armed Palestinian groups.

Besides the tunnels, the Jewish state's warplanes have damaged the Al-Nijmeh market in Rafah where wholesalers used to buy many products from Egypt.

Before the offensive, the market swarmed with customers. Today, only a handful venture out in search of gas cylinders or diesel fuel.

This reminds me of what we did to the Indians.

A look at the "dark side"...

Israel Fights Back: Speak Up Now

http://support.adl.org/site/MessageViewer?em_id=20581.0&dlv_id=33641

1/4/2009

Over the last few days we have been working hard to push back against the unjust, unfair, but sadly all-too-expected criticism of Israel as it works to protect its citizens from Hamas’ terror.

Israel needs your support now.
We are particularly outraged that the UN Security Council, in an act of sheer hypocrisy, issued a statement suggesting an "equivalency" between Hamas' terrorism and Israel's attempts to eliminate that terrorism. The Security Council statement ignores Israel's fundamental right and responsibility to protect its people.

We need thousands of people to sign our petition.
The Security Council needs to understand that it is encouraging and emboldening Hamas and other Islamic extremists whose ideology seeks to undermine the rule of law and thwart democracy. The Security Council must understand that this is a critical moment in the struggle against Islamic extremism -- and the world must hear from us.

As President-elect Obama said a few months ago, "If somebody was sending rockets into my house where my two daughters sleep at night, I'm going to do everything in my power to stop that. And I would expect Israelis to do the same thing." And in the words of the White House spokesman last weekend, "Israel is going to defend its people against terrorists like Hamas."

The international community and all those who seek the rule of law, moderation and democracy should now stand with Israel, as the United States has done, in this effort to turn the tide against the extremists who not only threaten Israel, but the whole Middle East and the entire civilized world.

Israeli army moves into Gaza capital as war toll passes 510

http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Israeli_army_moves_into_Gaza_capita_01042009.html

1/4/2009

Tens of thousands of Israeli troops backed by tanks battled Hamas fighters in Gaza on Sunday as the death toll from the offensive to end militant rocket attacks passed 510.

Israeli forces moved into the fringe of Gaza City while families fled or hid in cellars awaiting a second night of combat. The Israeli government fought off intense international pressure over its biggest military operation since its 2006 war in Lebanon.

At least 63 Palestinians were killed by tank shells or missiles fired from warplanes since the ground offensive was launched on Saturday night, Gaza medics said.

Israel said one soldier was killed by a mortar shell and about 30 were wounded.

Columns of Israeli troops and tanks surrounded Gaza City and fighting was reported in outer districts. Fierce clashes were also reported around the northern towns of Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanun and Jabaliya.

Explosions and machine gun fire rocked the territory of 1.5 million people. Hamas fighters fired mortar rounds and detonated roadside bombs in front of the advancing troops, witnesses said.

Moawiya Hassanein, head of Gaza medical emergency services, told AFP the number of Palestinians killed since the Israeli operation was launched on December 27 was now 512, including 87 children.

Five members of the same family died when one tank shell hit their car near Gaza City, emergency services said.

Three ambulance workers were killed when they were hit by a missile as they helped wounded victims of the conflict, medics said.

Aid groups said the offensive had aggravated a humanitarian crisis for the population, who have no electricity, no water and now face dire food shortages. Hospitals were only running on backup generators.

International efforts to halt the conflict sought new impetus after the UN Security Council failed to agree a statement on the conflict, with the United States giving strong backing to Israel.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice cancelled a planned trip to China this week because of the Gaza crisis.

A Russian presidential envoy and an EU ministerial delegation headed to the Middle East to make pleas for a ceasefire.

President Nicolas Sarkozy was also to hold talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders on Monday.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert refused to call off the offensive in telephone talks with Sarkozy, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and a host of other foreign leaders, his office said.

The Kremlin said that in the conversation, Medvedev "stressed the importance of reaching a ceasefire as quickly as possible."

Olmert told New York mayor Michael Bloomberg: "Israel is determined to continue its military offensive until the complete cessation of terror attacks against it and the return of calm to southern Israel."

Israel unleashed "Operation Cast Lead" on December 27 with the declared aim of ending rocket attacks into Israel from Gaza that resumed after a six-month truce ended in December.

Rocket fire over the past week has killed four people in Israel. Thirty two rockets and mortar rounds were fired across the border on Sunday and hit Sderot, Ashdod and other towns, lightly injuring three people.

Israel believes Hamas may be seeking "a respectable" way out of the conflict having underestimated the scope of the military offensive, Social Affairs Minister Isaac Herzog said.

He told CNN television that Hamas was under "huge pressure" from the military operation. "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," he said.

Israeli army spokesman Avi Benayahou told public television that "Hamas has come to the conclusion that it has made an enormous strategic error by refusing to extend a ceasefire accord" which ended on December 19.

But the offensive has sparked spiralling anger in the Muslim world and protests across the globe.

Israeli troops shot and killed a protester during a demonstration in the West Bank. Tens of thousands of Turks staged an anti-Israeli rally in Istanbul.

Protesters threw rocks and eggs at police outside the Israeli embassy in Oslo and police responded with tear gas.

The UN Security Council failed to agree a statement calling for a ceasefire in closed-door consultations late Saturday.

Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhum condemned the Security Council action as "a farce" dominated by the United States, which has strongly supported Israel.

Egypt summoned the ambassadors of the UN Security Council's five permanent members -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- to protest at the delay in passing a ceasefire resolution.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak condemned "in the strongest terms" Israel's ground attack which his office called a "terrifying aggression."

Cheney: Israel did not ask US for go-ahead before Gaza incursion

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/middleeast/news/article_1451511.php/Cheney_Israel_did_not_ask_US_for_go-ahead_before_Gaza_incursion_

(Gold9472: Why should they when they know the answer would be "yes.")

1/5/2008

Washington - Israel had not sought the green light from the United States before launching its ground incursion against the radical Islamic Hamas in the Gaza Strip, US Vice-President Dick Cheney said Sunday.

'They didn't seek clearance or approval from us, certainly,' Cheney told US television broadcaster CBC in an interview. The Pentagon earlier said Washington had been informed of the military action.

US Senate majority leader Harry Reid - a Democrat senator - meanwhile showed solidarity with Israel. Hamas was an terrorist organization that threatened the Jewish state with rocket attacks, he told CBS.

Peres: Hamas getting a lesson in Gaza

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/01/04/Peres_Hamas_getting_a_lesson_in_Gaza/UPI-95831231111545/

WASHINGTON, Jan. 4 (UPI) -- The Israeli ground invasion of Gaza is giving Hamas "a real and serious lesson," President Shimon Peres said Sunday on U.S. television.

In an interview on ABC's "This Week With George Stephanopoulos," Peres was asked whether Israel's goal is a negotiated peace or the removal of Hamas, considered a terrorist organization by the United States.

"We don't intend either to occupy Gaza nor to crush Hamas, but to crush terror," Peres said. "And Hamas needs a real and serious lesson. They are now getting it. We were careful. We were restrained. We waited. We gave them many chances."

Peres said Hamas had taken over power in Gaza illegitimately after Mahmoud Abbas was elected president of the Palestinian Authority with 62 percent of the vote.

"Anyway, we are not going to mix into their politics, but we have decided not to permit to shoot against us," he added.

When asked Peres about Hamas's victory in parliamentary elections, which triggered a U.S. and Israeli boycott, the president said Hamas is allowing its people to be used by another country, Iran.

Israel rains fire on Gaza with phosphorus shells

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article5447590.ece

1/5/2009

Israel is believed to be using controversial white phosphorus shells to screen its assault on the heavily populated Gaza Strip yesterday. The weapon, used by British and US forces in Iraq, can cause horrific burns but is not illegal if used as a smokescreen.

As the Israeli army stormed to the edges of Gaza City and the Palestinian death toll topped 500, the tell-tale shells could be seen spreading tentacles of thick white smoke to cover the troops’ advance. “These explosions are fantastic looking, and produce a great deal of smoke that blinds the enemy so that our forces can move in,” said one Israeli security expert. Burning blobs of phosphorus would cause severe injuries to anyone caught beneath them and force would-be snipers or operators of remote-controlled booby traps to take cover. Israel admitted using white phosphorus during its 2006 war with Lebanon.

The use of the weapon in the Gaza Strip, one of the world’s mostly densely population areas, is likely to ignite yet more controversy over Israel’s offensive, in which more than 2,300 Palestinians have been wounded.

The Geneva Treaty of 1980 stipulates that white phosphorus should not be used as a weapon of war in civilian areas, but there is no blanket ban under international law on its use as a smokescreen or for illumination. However, Charles Heyman, a military expert and former major in the British Army, said: “If white phosphorus was deliberately fired at a crowd of people someone would end up in The Hague. White phosphorus is also a terror weapon. The descending blobs of phosphorus will burn when in contact with skin.”

The Israeli military last night denied using phosphorus, but refused to say what had been deployed. “Israel uses munitions that are allowed for under international law,” said Captain Ishai David, spokesman for the Israel Defence Forces. “We are pressing ahead with the second stage of operations, entering troops in the Gaza Strip to seize areas from which rockets are being launched into Israel.”

The civilian toll in the first 24 hours of the ground offensive — launched after a week of bombardment from air, land and sea— was at least 64 dead. Among those killed were five members of a family who died when an Israeli tank shell hit their car and a paramedic who died when a tank blasted his ambulance. Doctors at Gaza City’s main hospital said many women and children were among the dead and wounded.

The Israeli army also suffered its first fatality of the offensive when one of its soldiers was killed by mortar fire. More than 30 soldiers were wounded by mortars, mines and sniper fire.

Israel has brushed aside calls for a ceasefire to allow humanitarian aid into the besieged territory, where medical supplies are running short.

With increasingly angry anti-Israeli protests spreading around the world, Gordon Brown described the violence in Gaza as “a dangerous moment”.

White phosphorus: the smoke-screen chemical that can burn to the bone

• White phosphorus bursts into a deep-yellow flame when it is exposed to oxygen, producing a thick white smoke
• It is used as a smokescreen or for incendiary devices, but can also be deployed as an anti-personnel flame compound capable of causing potentially fatal burns
• Phosphorus burns are almost always second or third-degree because the particles do not stop burning on contact with skin until they have entirely disappeared — it is not unknown for them to reach the bone
• Geneva conventions ban the use of phosphorus as an offensive weapon against civilians, but its use as a smokescreen is not prohibited by international law
• Israel previously used white phosphorus during its war with Lebanon in 2006
• It has been used frequently by British and US forces in recent wars, notably during the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Its use was criticised widely
• White phosphorus has the slang name “Willy Pete”, which dates from the First World War. It was commonly used in the Vietnam era

Iran says over 70,000 students sign up for martyrdom operations

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-01/06/content_10608923.htm

www.chinaview.cn 2009-01-06 00:09:35

TEHRAN, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- The director of the Public Relations of Iran's Students' Basij (Volunteer) Organization Esmaeel Ahmadi said here on Monday that over 70,000 students had signed up for martyrdom operations, the official IRNA news agency reported.

"More than 70,000 students from universities throughout Iran have signed up on the list to conduct Esteshhadi (martyrdom seeking) operations (against Israeli troops in Gaza)," Ahmadi said.

"The students will act as part of Esteshhadi battalions," he added.

Iranian hard-line university students, since the erupt of Israeli war against Hamas in Gaza, have urgently sought the Iranian officials' permission to be deployed to Gaza to fight by the side of Palestinians.

To implement this, they have adopted divers means, including taking sanctuary in Teheran's old Mehrabad airport, staging consecutive rallies and resorting to students' opinions by signing up the list for martyrdom operations.

However, Iran's influential cleric Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said on Friday that Gaza does not need soldiers but political, weaponry and propagandistic support.

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassan Qashqavi on Monday denied that there was anything (like providing weaponry support for Hamas) in Iran's government agenda.

On Saturday, Israel's ground troops entered the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip for the second phase of its offensive on the militant group after eight days of airstrikes.

Israel's military action, aimed at retaliating for Hamas rocket attacks into Israel, has killed over 500 Palestinians and wounded more than 2,600 others since the start of the operation on Dec. 27.

Hamas is strongly backed by Iran which does not recognize Israel as a state of the international community.

Iran says 70,000 volunteer for Israel fight

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g3Y3DBA09cm20SrlOg47GI4Ixp4gD95H5LI00

2 hours ago

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — 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.

Obama on his silence over Gaza violence: 'one president at a time'

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Obama_on_Israels_Gaza_assault_one_0105.html

1/6/2008

President-elect Barack Obama Monday expressed concern about the Gaza crisis but stressed he would not interfere in "delicate negotiations" by the outgoing US administration.

Asked about whether Israel's offensive against Hamas was distracting him from his economic agenda, Obama told reporters "obviously, international affairs are of deep concern."

"I strongly believe that a president or president-elect or his team should be able to do more than one thing at a time. With the situation in Gaza, I've been getting briefed every day," he said.

Obama has faced criticism for his silence on the Middle East violence, especially in the Arab world and European press. It adds to the huge challenges awaiting him when he succeeds President George W. Bush on January 20.

But the president-elect stressed: "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."

Israel has rejected worldwide calls for a ceasefire as the Palestinian death toll from its 10-day offensive in the Gaza Strip against the militant group Hamas tops 550.

Obama did not elaborate on the negotiations he mentioned. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has canceled a planned trip to China this week to deal with the crisis.

According to the Palestinians, Arab states are pushing for a UN Security Council resolution aimed at securing an immediate end to the "Israeli aggression" in Gaza.

Earlier Monday, Bush said he understood Israel's desire to defend itself, adding any Gaza ceasefire must ensure Hamas militants cannot fire rockets on Israeli towns.

Group: Israel deliberately attacked Palestinian journalists

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Group_Israel_deliberately_attacked_Palestinian_journalists_0105.html

1/5/2009

GENEVA (AFP) — Israel deliberately targeted Hamas-run media installations in its bombing campaign on Gaza and is practising media censorship, a journalist rights group said Monday.

The installations in question include Al-Aqsa television, Al-Resalah newspaper and Sawt Al-Aqsa radio, which the Israeli army bombed on December 28 and over the weekend respectively, the Geneva-based Press Emblem Campaign said in a statement, citing a Palestinian media non-governmental group.

The press group, which fights for better protection of journalists in conflict zones, also condemned the recent deaths of two journalists as a result of Israeli attacks.

"Two Palestinian journalists were killed one in previous attacks by Israel, photographer Hamza Shahin,who died on 26 December 2008, and another during the current military round on 3 January, Omar Silawi.

"The current attacks against Palestinian journalists remind the media community of the attacks that were committed by Israel against Lebanese media in the July-August war 2006," the press group said, referring to the conflict between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah militia.

It called for Israel to allow non-Palestinian media access to Gaza and denounced the military censorship it said journalists were subjected to in Israel "which questions their ability to cover objectively the conflict from the Israeli side."

The Geneva group called for an independent international probe to look into alleged rights violations during the conflict.

How ya like Obama now?

Gaza wounded dying because ambulances can't reach them: Red Cross

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Red_Cross_Gaza_wounded_dying_because_0105.html

1/6/2008

GENEVA (AFP) — People wounded in fighting in the Gaza Strip are dying because ambulances cannot reach them, the International Committee of the Red Cross said Monday.

"The situation is extremely dangerous and the coordination of ambulance services is very complex because of the incessant attacks and military operations," ICRC spokeswoman Dorothea Krimitsas said in Geneva.

"Wounded people have died while waiting for Palestinian Red Crescent ambulances," she added.

The International Committee of the Red Cross was also concerned about water supplies in the densely populated coastal strip.

Krimitsas said two out of the 45 wells in the Gaza Strip were out of action after having been hit during Israeli air raids, while the pumps on eight others were no longer working because of power cuts.

"Half a million people, that's about one third of the population of the territory, are threatened with being completely deprived of water," she said.

Krimitsas said technicians needed to gain access to the electrical installations damaged during the fighting.

A team of four ICRC medical staff, including a surgeon, were allowed into the Gaza Strip from Israel on Monday after three days' delay, the relief agency said.

They are due to help staff at the territory's Shifa hospital carry out complex operations on the wounded. The medical team also brought in tetanus vaccines for children and blood supplies, Krimitsas said.

Norwegian doctor: Israel intentionally targeting civilians
'They are bombing one and a half million people in a cage'

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Norwegian_doctor_in_Gaza_Israel_targeting_0105.html

David Edwards and Stephen C. Webster
Published: Monday January 5, 2009

Mads Gilbert, a Norwegian doctor working in Gaza, told Sky News on Monday that that he believes Israel is deliberately attacking the Palestinian population, not just targeting Hamas as Israeli authorities have said numerous times.

"Just a little bit more than an hour ago, the Israelis bombed the central food market in Gaza City and we had a mass influx of about 50 injured and between 10 and 15 killed," said Gilbert, on the phone with Sky News.

"At the same time they bombed an apartment house with children playing on the roof and we had a lot of children also. This is really like from Dante's Inferno. It's like hell here now and it's been bombing all night. Up till now, close to 500 people have been killed and the number of casualties is getting to 2 to 2 and a half thousand which 50 percent are children and women."

"Are your hospital's reaching capacity?" asked the Sky News correspondent. "Can you deal with these people?"

"We have been doing surgery around the clock," Gilbert replied. "I just talked to to one of my colleagues in the ICU who has not been sleeping for three days and they hospital is completely overcrowded and we are running six, seven OR's and there are injuries that you just don't want to see in this world. Children coming in with open abdomens and legs cut off.

"We just had a child who left. We had to amputate both legs and the arms and the only crime they have done is been civilians -- Palestinians living in Gaza. The relief now is not more doctors and more drugs the relief now is to stop the bombing immediately. This can not go on. It is a disaster."

"You've talked about the civilians, the women and children, the men who aren't involved in this but are you also getting casualties that are Hamas fighters?" asked the reporter.

"To be honest, we came on New Year's Eve in the morning," answered Gilbert. "I've seen one military person among the tens -- I mean, hundreds -- we have seen and treated. So, anybody who tries to claim this as sort of a clean war against another army are lying.

"This is an all out war against the civilian Palestinian population in Gaza and we can prove that with the numbers and you have to remember that the average age of the Gaza inhabitant is 17-years. It's a very young population and 80% are living below the poverty limit of the U.N.

"So, this is a poor and very young people and they are able to escape absolutely nowhere because they can not flee like other populations can in wartime. Because they are fenced in and they are in a cage. So, they are bombing one and a half million people in a cage. And young people and poor people and, you know, you can not separate between the civilians and the fighters in such a situation."

This video is from CBS News, broadcast Jan. 5, 2008.

Video At Source

Israeli troops deepen push into Gaza

http://uk.reuters.com/article/burningIssues/idUKTRE5053R720090106

By Nidal al-Mughrabi
Tue Jan 6, 2009 3:11pm GMT

GAZA (Reuters) - Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip killed more than 30 Palestinian civilians on Tuesday, medical officials said, and international efforts to secure a ceasefire focused on an Israeli demand to prevent Hamas from rearming.

"That is the make-or-break issue," Mark Regev, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, said about ensuring an end to weapons smuggling along the Gaza-Egypt frontier.

A senior Israeli official said French President Nicolas Sarkozy, on a Middle East visit and in partnership with Egypt, was pursuing "a serious initiative" for a ceasefire in Israel's 11-day-old operation and Hamas rocket attacks on Israeli towns.

Talks were focusing, the official said, on the size of an "international presence" along the blockaded Gaza-Egypt border, where rockets and other weapons have reached Hamas through a network of tunnels.

Tony Blair, the Middle East envoy of major powers sponsoring Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, said Sarkozy, the European Union and the United States were all in agreement that new anti-smuggling measures would be needed to clinch a ceasefire.

"What is being talked about is a credible plan to stop the smuggling," Blair, a former British prime minister, told reporters in Jerusalem.

He said he hoped the plan could be completed quickly and that enhanced Israeli security would lead to "a significant advance in opening up Gaza to the outside world."

In Damascus, Sarkozy, who met Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday, said after talks with President Bashar al-Assad he had no doubt the Syrian leader "will throw all his weight to convince every one to return to reason."

Syria is one of the main backers of Hamas, an Islamist group that seized the Gaza Strip from Abbas's Fatah group in fighting in 2007.

Hamas, which has rebuffed Western demands to recognize Israel, end violence and accept existing interim peace deals, has demanded a lifting of the blockade of the Gaza Strip in any future ceasefire.

CIVILIAN DEATHTOLL RISES
Palestinian witnesses said Israeli forces pushed into Khan Younis in southern Gaza as the army widened the ground assault it launched four days ago against Hamas militants after a week of air strikes failed to stamp out cross-border rocket fire.

Palestinian medical officials said 35 Palestinian civilians were killed on Tuesday, including 11 in a house that was bombed from the air, 10 on a beach hit by naval shells and three people who had taken refuge in a U.N.-run school.

Four militants also were killed, medical officials said.

Deaths recorded by Palestinian medics reached 588.

Most of the several dozen deaths reported by hospitals in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip in recent days have been civilians.

At least five rockets fired from the Gaza Strip landed in Israel on Tuesday, including one that hit the town of Gadera, 28 km (17 miles) from Tel Aviv, police said. A three-year-old girl was wounded.

The Israeli military said it killed 130 militants since Saturday, a figure that suggested the total Palestinian death toll since December 27 might be close to 700 and that bodies could still be on the battlefield.

Many of the Gaza Strip's 1.5 million people lack food, water or power. In southern Israel, schools remained closed and hundreds of thousands of people have been rushing to shelter at the sound of alarms heralding incoming rockets.