Israel to step up assault on Hamas
Leaflets warn Palestinians not to be 'close to terrorists' as hawks push to extend operations into city streets in phase three

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009...-hamas-in-gaza

Chris McGreal in Jerusalem
guardian.co.uk, Saturday 10 January 2009 21.15 GMT

The Israeli military appeared to be preparing for a major new ground assault against Gaza City and other towns tonight after dropping leaflets warning residents it was about to "escalate" its offensive against Hamas.

The tens of thousands of leaflets, dropped on parts of Gaza City, the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya and the south of the territory, warned residents: "The Israeli Defence Force will soon escalate its operations against tunnels, weapons warehouses, terrorist infrastructure and terrorists all over the Gaza Strip. To keep yourself and your families safe, you are ordered not to be close to terrorists, weapons warehouses and the places where the terrorists operate."

Israeli troops were seen on the outskirts of Gaza City as the military kept up its bombardment by air, sea and land for the 15th day. At least eight Palestinians were killed by an Israeli tank shell in Jabaliya refugee camp, north of Gaza City.

The Palestinian death toll rose above 820, including about 235 children and young people. Four Israelis have been killed by Hamas rockets since the assault on Gaza began and nine soldiers have died in the fighting.

But it was not clear whether the Israeli cabinet has given final approval to moving to "phase three" of the military assault, amid divisions among ministers over fears that fighting inside urban areas could lead to a sharp escalation in Israeli casualties.

The prime minister, Ehud Olmert, is reported to be in favour of pressing ahead with the assault because the goal of ending Hamas rocket fire has not been achieved. Hamas fired at least 15 rockets into Israel yesterday, hitting the town of Ashkelon, about 12 miles north of the Gaza Strip.

The defence minister, Ehud Barak, is also reluctant to pull back without having forced Hamas into an agreement. Support for his Labour party has risen dramatically ahead of next month's general election because of Barak's handling of the conflict, but it could slump again if there are a significant number of Israeli casualties or the army pulls out without having stopped Hamas rockets. But others in the cabinet say enough has been done to force Hamas into a ceasefire on Israel's terms and that the dangers of urban fighting are too great.

Elements of the military and intelligence services have been pressing for the escalation, believing that the assault can remove Hamas from power in Gaza.

Rafi Eitan, a member of Israel's security cabinet, said on Israel radio yesterday that, despite international efforts to engineer a ceasefire, the government will press on with the assault on Gaza until the threat of Hamas rocket attacks is removed. "Israel is determined to deal with this matter until its positive conclusion, so that there is no terrorism in Gaza against Israel," he said.

Some military analysts believe Hamas has largely avoided direct combat in order to hold its forces in reserve to fight in Gaza City, where the IDF will be more vulnerable than on the open ground it has so far occupied.

Phase three is one step short of a full reoccupation of the enclave, a move the government has consistently said it will not take. But an escalation will reinforce the growing belief among Palestinians that the assault is intended to topple Hamas. Israeli forces have in effect brought an end to the Hamas administration, with its leadership driven underground and much of the infrastructure of government destroyed.

The Israeli government is counting on Hamas being so weakened that it will agree to a ceasefire on almost any terms, including disarming and sharing power with the Palestinian Authority. It would also be expected to drop its demand for an end to the economic blockade of Gaza as a condition for a ceasefire.

But military and political analysts say that Hamas can block the Israeli strategy simply by refusing to agree to a ceasefire, no matter how bad things get. The military would then be stuck inside a potentially anarchic Gaza Strip, attempting to stop Hamas rockets, every one of which fired into Israel would amount to a victory for the Islamist group.

Hamas remained defiant today in the face of a European diplomatic initiative to deploy international monitors inside the Gaza Strip to verify any ceasefire agreement. The Hamas political leader, Khaled Mashaal, who is in exile in Syria, rejected the proposal and said that his organisation would not agree to any arrangement that infringed on its "right of resistance against Israeli occupation".

Mohammed Nazzal, a Hamas official, told al-Jazeera television: "We cannot accept international forces in the Gaza Strip, because the presence of international forces would be for the protection of the Israelis, and not the protection of the Palestinian people."

Mashaal's statement came shortly after the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, called on Hamas to agree to a ceasefire.

In a further blow to diplomatic attempts to end the conflict, Egypt ruled out deployment of foreign troops on its side of the border with Gaza. "There will be no international troops of any kind on the Egyptian side," the Egyptian foreign minister, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, told a news conference.