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Thread: Israel Air Strikes On Gaza Kill 155

  1. #111
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    Rice says it is 'hard' for Israel to spare civilians in Gaza

    http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Rice_sa..._01092009.html

    1/9/2009

    US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Friday "it's hard" for Israeli troops to shield civilians in Gaza because the area is so densely populated and Hamas uses people as human shields.

    "It is very difficult in circumstances like Gaza, which is a very densely populated area," Rice told reporters when asked if Israel is living up to its humanitarian obligations during its two-week military offensive in Gaza.

    "I might note it's also an area in which Hamas participates in activities like human shields, using buildings that are not designated as military buildings to hide their fighters. So it's hard," Rice said.

    Rice has returned to Washington from New York where the United States abstained in a vote Thursday for a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

    "I was encouraged that Prime Minister (Ehud) Olmert, after an extensive conversation we had, agreed to open a new humanitarian corridor," Rice said.

    "We're going to continue to pass the Israelis information about what we're hearing about the humanitarian situation on the ground," she said, adding that the United States will continue to support efforts by humanitarian groups.

    Earlier, White House spokesman Scott Stanzel blamed Hamas for the suffering in Gaza.

    "It is a humanitarian crisis. It's a war zone. And war zones are very difficult," Stanzel said.

    "We have expressed our deep concerns about the situation with innocent lives being lost," he said. "But, again, this is a problem, unfortunately, that was brought on by Hamas.

    Stanzel said Hamas refused to extend a ceasefire and "began lobbing more and more rockets into Israel. And that is a situation that the Israeli government, nor any government would stand for."

    He said the United States was "very concerned about the humanitarian situation in Gaza."

    "Israel has indicated that they too are concerned and they are taking every step that they can to prevent the loss of innocent life," he said.

    But, he said, the situation "will not improve until Hamas stops lobbing rockets into Israel."

    Rice repeated the reasons for the US abstention at the United Nations on Thursday.

    "The US abstention was principally because we believe it would have been useful to have a little bit more time for the Mubarak initiative to mature," she said.

    Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak invited Israel and the Palestinians to Cairo for talks on conditions of a truce, on securing Gaza borders, reopening of its crossings and lifting the Israeli blockade on the Palestinian enclave.

    Washington has called for a "durable" ceasefire that prevents Hamas from resuming rocket fire on Israel.

    "Knowing better the terms of the durability is very critical, and we're working to support the Mubarak initiative, including offering to do whatever we can to help with the smuggling and the illegal arms trafficking," Rice said.

    But she said she had no plans to actually travel to Egypt.

    "We also ... had reservations that no-one would think that there was any equivalence being drawn here between Israel and Hamas," which is "a terrorist organization" and not a state, Rice said.
    No One Knows Everything. Only Together May We Find The Truth JG


  2. #112
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    No One Knows Everything. Only Together May We Find The Truth JG


  3. #113
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    UN Commissioner: investigate Israel for war crimes
    Israel leaflets Gaza, promises fighting will intensify

    http://rawstory.com/news/2008/UN_Hum..._for_0110.html

    Stephen C. Webster
    Published: Saturday January 10, 2009

    Navi Pillay, the United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights, wants an investigation into what she believes to be war crimes committed by Israeli forces.

    She specifically highlighted a recent incident in which Israel attacked a civilian safe house in Gaza, killing more than 30 people.

    Her stinging words arrived just one evening before Israel began dropping leaflets on Gaza Saturday, each warning of a coming escalation.

    The UN Office for the Coordinator of Humanitarian Affairs reported that 110 Palestinians, all in a single extended family, were "herded" into the house and told not to leave by Israeli soldiers. Less than 24 hours later, the house was attacked.

    “Those who survived and were able walked two kilometers to Salah Ed Din road before being transported to the hospital in civilian vehicles," reads the UN report. "Three children, the youngest of whom was five months old, died upon arrival at the hospital.”

    Pillay said the attack bore "all the elements of war crimes," according to a published report.

    According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, four infants, clinging to the corpses of what was believed to be their parents, were discovered after the attack. The children went undiscovered for over 48 hours, despite Israeli solders being mere yards away.

    Pillay, from S. Africa, is a former judge with the International Criminal Court.

    Israel denies the incident altogether. The UN report cites specific testimony, though does not identify the origin.

    The announcement by the UN commissioner comes on the heels of Red Cross criticism. The aid agency said Israel has failed at helping injured civilians, a key rule of war.

    Israel said its military "works in close cooperation with international aid organizations during the fighting so that civilians can be provided with assistance."

    "I am concerned with violations of international law," Pillay told Reuters. "Incidents such as this must be investigated because they display elements of what could constitute war crimes."

    During the first week of January, the Red Cross criticized Israel for hampering ambulance services to embattled Palestinian civilians.

    "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.

    Pakistani ambassador Zamir Akram echoed Pillay's sentiment, in a speech delivered on behalf of the Organization of the Islamic Conference.

    "In their totality these constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity," he declared.
    No One Knows Everything. Only Together May We Find The Truth JG


  4. #114
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    Bush call halted US voting for ceasefire

    http://www.independent.ie/world-news...e-1597805.html

    By David Usborne in New York
    Saturday January 10 2009

    Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State, was forced to step back from voting in favour of the Gaza ceasefire resolution at the UN Security Council after orders from Washington, diplomatic sources said yesterday.

    The US abstention on the resolution vote early yesterday, which clearly weakened its impact, was the final twist in a tumultuous three-day marathon of negotiations in New York.

    When three of the world's top diplomats -- Ms Rice, David Miliband, Britain's foreign secretary, and his French counterpart, Bernard Kouchner -- descended on New York on Tuesday to take action there was plenty of reason to believe that their efforts would end in tears. Most alarming was the prospect of a vote on a ceasefire text tabled by Libya. The US was threatening to veto it.

    But by Thursday morning, the US had had a surprising change of heart. It could back a resolution, if the British drafted one, which Mr Miliband and his diplomatic crew duly did.

    When finally every last hurdle was cleared and the members of the Security Council were headed to their chamber for the vote, there was a mood of celebration in the building.

    But before the vote was due, word began to circulate that America was not going to vote in favour after all. The change of heart came about with a phone call from George Bush to Ms Rice in which he said don't veto the resolution but don't vote for it either.
    No One Knows Everything. Only Together May We Find The Truth JG


  5. #115
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    London riots over Israel's Gaza campaign

    http://rawstory.com/news/2008/London...aign_0110.html

    1/11/2009

    Riots in Paris too as Europe in arms over Israeli campaign
    A London protest against the Israeli military campaign in Gaza turned violent Saturday night as police charged demonstrators outside the gates of Israel's embassy.

    It was one of the largest of many, many demonstrations across Europe on Saturday.

    One police officer was knocked unconscious and two were injured in the fray, according to The London Paper. An estimated 300 police in riot gear charged protesters as the crowd chanted "free, free Palestine," hurling hundreds of shoes over a police barrier in front of the embassy.

    Tensions continued to rise as the crowd found more objects to hurl -- signs, eggs, red paint, barriers, rocks, etc. -- until police began efforts to disperse the demonstrators.

    Protesters smashed and destroyed a Starbucks, and the Daily Mail reported that others tried to set police vehicles on fire.

    The Daily Mail also published a striking series of photos from the protest.

    London police told BBC that just 20,000 people were involved in the protest, but BBC estimated 50,000. The London Paper gave a figure twice that, claiming over 100,000 joined the demonstration.

    "We want the British government to take a much stronger position," said Lindsey German, an organizer with protest group 'Stop the War,' in a BBC report. "There would have been outrage from governments around the world if this had happened anywhere else - the condemnation has been at best half-hearted."

    "The British government and European Union have the economic leverage to stop this carnage," said Ken Livingstone, the former mayor of London, in a prepared statement. "They must take decisive action to force Israel to end the slaughter."

    Protests ripple across Europe
    About 30,000 people marched through Paris, the interior ministry said, and more than 90,000 joined protests in more than 120 towns and cities elsewhere in France.

    In the capital, thousands of French men and women of Arab origin carrying Palestinian banners joined forces with left-wing militants amid cries of "Allahu Akbar" (God is Greater) and "Israel murderer."

    Protesters smashed a bus shelter and a telephone box in central Paris, and bottles were later thrown at riot police and shop windows smashed.

    Police fired teargas after mobs overturned motor scooters and set them on fire.

    A march in the southern city of Nice descended into violence. Seven police were hurt and 11 rioters arrested as youths broke off from a 2,500-strong crowd of protesters and smashed shop windows.

    Demonstrations took place on the streets of other European cities including Athens, Berlin, Budapest, Oslo, Sarajevo and Stockholm.

    In Sarajevo, peace activist Svetlana Broz told a 1,000-strong pro-Palestinian demonstration that the city knew better than others "what happens when the world remains silent at a time when innocent civilians suffer", referring to the bloody siege of the city in the 1992-95 war in the former Yugoslavia.

    Police in Oslo fired teargas after a small group among a crowd of 2,000 pelted them with stones, and up to 5,000 demonstrators gathered outside the Israeli embassy in Stockholm to call for an end to the military campaign.

    More than 6,000 people gathered for a peaceful rally in Berlin, with similar shows of support for the Palestinians in Munich and Cologne.

    In western Germany, some 10,000 people, largely from the ethnic Turkish community, protested in Duisburg. Police briefly intervened when demonstrators threw snowballs at a window bearing two Israeli flags.

    Innsbruck in western Austria staged a peaceful protest of 3,500 people waving banners saying "Stop Israeli terror" and 7,000 protestors turned out in Bern, Switzerland.

    In Athens, more than 2,000 people took part in a protest staged by left-wing groups and thousands demonstrated in Milan and Turin.

    A rally is planned in Madrid on Sunday, while a pro-Israeli demonstration is scheduled to take place in London.

    The following video of violent anti-Israel protests in London was uploaded to YouTube on Jan. 10.

    Videos At Source
    No One Knows Everything. Only Together May We Find The Truth JG


  6. #116
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    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.
    No One Knows Everything. Only Together May We Find The Truth JG


  7. #117
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    U.S. seeks ship to move arms to Israel

    http://www.reuters.com/article/polit...50874B20090109

    By Stefano Ambrogi
    1/9/2009

    LONDON (Reuters) - The U.S. is seeking to hire a merchant ship to deliver hundreds of tons of arms to Israel from Greece later this month, tender documents seen by Reuters show.

    The U.S. Navy's Military Sealift Command (MSC) said the ship was to carry 325 standard 20-foot containers of what is listed as "ammunition" on two separate journeys from the Greek port of Astakos to the Israeli port of Ashdod in mid-to-late January.

    A "hazardous material" designation on the manifest mentions explosive substances and detonators, but no other details were given.

    "Shipping 3,000-odd tons of ammunition in one go is a lot," one broker said, on condition of anonymity.

    "This (kind of request) is pretty rare and we haven't seen much of it quoted in the market over the years," he added.

    The U.S. Defense Department, contacted by Reuters on Friday in Washington, had no immediate comment.

    The MSC transports amour and military supplies for the U.S. armed forces aboard its own fleet, but regularly hires merchant ships if logistics so require.

    The request for the ship was made on December 31, with the first leg of the charter to arrive no later than January 25 and the second at the end of the month.

    The tender for the vessel follows the hiring of a commercial ship to carry a much larger consignment of ordnance in December from the United States to Israel ahead of air strikes in the Gaza Strip.

    A German shipping firm which won that tender confirmed the order when contacted by Reuters but declined to comment further.

    CHARTERS "RARE"
    Shipping brokers in London who have specialized in moving arms for the British and U.S. military in the past said such ship charters to Israel were rare.

    Israel is one of America's closest allies and both nations regularly sell arms to each other.

    A senior military analyst in London who declined to be named said that, because of the timing, the shipments could be "irregular" and linked to the Gaza offensive.

    The ship hired by the MSC in December was for a much larger cargo of arms, tender documents showed.

    That stipulated a ship to be chartered for 42 days capable of carrying 989 standard 20-foot containers from Sunny Point, North Carolina to Ashdod.

    The tender document said the vessel had to be capable of "carrying 5.8 million pounds (2.6 million kg) of net explosive weight," which specialist brokers said was a very large quantity.

    The ship was requested early last month to load on December 15.

    In September, the U.S. Congress approved the sale of 1,000 bunker-buster missiles to Israel. The GPS-guided GBU-39 is said to be one of the most accurate bombs in the world.

    The Jerusalem Post, citing defense officials, reported last week that a first shipment of the missiles had arrived in early December and they were used in penetrating Hamas's underground rocket launcher sites.
    No One Knows Everything. Only Together May We Find The Truth JG


  8. #118
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    Protest about the Mideast crisis appears to be peaceful

    http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...politics&tsp=1

    Deborah Gage, Chronicle Staff Writer
    Saturday, January 10, 2009

    (01-10) 14:28 PST SAN FRANCISCO -- A few thousand protesters of all ages rallied in San Francisco's Civic Center, then marched down Market Street in San Francisco today to protest Israel's bombing of Gaza.

    At the rally there was a group of 300 to 400 pro-Israel demonstrators, who stood across from the pro-Palestinian group, but did not join the march down Market Street.

    Chanting "Free, free Palestine" and "Stop killing children," the pro-Palestine group carried banners, waved pictured of bloodied children and carried white helium balloons representing Palestinians killed in Gaza.

    San Francisco police, holding riot helmets, lined the marchers' route and rode motorcycles ahead of the protest, but so far the protest has been peaceful.

    Protest organizers from a group called answercoalition.org, clad in neon yellow vests, held hands to form a chain keeping the marchers together along the protest route.

    "We're trying to keep the peace for everyone," said Mabil Fara, who was preventing pro-Gaza demonstrators from approaching pro-Israel counter-protesters before the march began.

    Separated by police tape, protesters from both sides stood along Polk Street near City Hall, waving flags and shouting slogans at each other.

    Mike Harris, of a group called Stand With Us/San Francisco Voice for Israel, said the pro-Israel demonstrators would not march "to ensure their safety."

    He said the group's purpose was to show that Israel has a right to exist.

    Grace Shalhoub, whose family lives in Lebanon, said she came to the protest because "after 9/11, I feel this is my responsibility and duty" to be involved in Middle Eastern politics.
    No One Knows Everything. Only Together May We Find The Truth JG


  9. #119
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    Thousands descend on White House to protest Gaza war

    http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Thousa...e_to_0110.html

    Agence France-Presse
    Published: Saturday January 10, 2009

    WASHINGTON (AFP) - Several thousand protesters -- 10,000 according to organizers -- descended on the White House Saturday in support of Palestinians in Gaza, on the heels of other protests across major world capitals.

    The protests came as Israel vowed to escalate its war in Gaza that has left 825 Palestinians dead so far, as troops battled fighters from the Islamist movement Hamas into a third week in defiance of a United Nations truce call.

    "There are many young people. We feel it's one of the most important demonstrations for Palestine ever in the US," said Eugene Puryear, a coordinator of the protest, which was organized by the ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) coalition.

    Thousands of people gathered from about 1:00 pm (1800 GMT) in Lafayette Park, across from the White House, chanting "free Palestine" as others spoke from a podium.

    Protesters waived Palestinian flags, wore keffiyeh -- a traditional Palestinian headdress -- and waived signs, some of which read "stop the Gaza holocaust" and "Free Palestine, let Gaza live."

    They then led a march passing in front of the headquarters of The Washington Post newspaper to protest "its hard pro-Israeli line," Puryear said, before heading to the offices of military contractor Lockheed Martin.

    "I came because there are innocent children dying daily in Palestine. The American people need to know the truth," said 13-year-old Razan Ali, a Palestinian-American who bused in from New York.

    A dozen buses filled with protesters came from New Jersey and another seven buses drove in from New York.

    Yasmina Farej, a 54-year-old who came from Brooklyn dressed in conservative Muslim garb, said she was motivated to join the protest because of "the war in Gaza; they bomb the innocent children."

    Demonstrators against the Israeli offensive also rallied in major cities in Canada and across Europe.

    Some 123,000 protesters marched through Paris and many other cities in France, home to Europe's largest Muslim population, the French interior ministry said.

    In Lebanon tens of thousands of people took part in a protest organized by the Shiite militia Hezbollah in the southern town of Nabatiyeh, a stronghold of the group, which fought a brutal 34-day war with Israel in the summer of 2006.
    No One Knows Everything. Only Together May We Find The Truth JG


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    No One Knows Everything. Only Together May We Find The Truth JG


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