AI
Sunday, December 28, 2008 3:22:03 AM
Israel maintains strikes on Gaza
December 28 2008
The missile strikes caused panic in Gaza .. VIDEO inside .. one of the most crowded places on earth, so
civilians live around security targets .. police stations et al .. "even if you kill thousands of us we won't give in" ..
Airstrikes have continued to target the Gaza Strip as Israel's leaders warn
operations would continue until Hamas rocket attacks from Gaza ceased.
Palestinian officials said at least 230 people were killed on Saturday,
which if confirmed would make it the bloodiest day in Gaza's history.
The UN Security Council is discussing a statement calling for a ceasefire.
Gazans are preparing to hold funerals while a general strike has been called for the Palestinian territories.
Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said operations would continue on
the ground if air strikes were not enough to change Hamas's behavior.
'Protecting citizens'
The Security Council was said to be discussing a Russian-drafted statement calling for Israel to
halt its military operations and for the Palestinian militants to stop firing rockets at Israel from Gaza.
Just before the council gathered, Israel's ambassador to the UN, Gabriela Shalev, repeated
Israel's stance that it was taking action to "protect its citizens from further terrorist attacks".
"No country would allow continuous rocketing of its civilian population
without taking the necessary actions to stop it," she said in a statement.
Israel's mixed motives for strikes
.. air strikes by Israel are the worst in living memory ..
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7801657.stm
Gaza: World reaction in quotes
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7801444.stm
Most of those killed were policemen in the Hamas militant movement,
which controls Gaza, but women and children also died, Gaza officials said.
About 700 others were wounded, as missiles struck security compounds and militant bases, the officials added.
Israel said it was responding to an escalation in rocket attacks from Gaza and would bomb "as long as necessary".
The air raids continued into Sunday morning, while Israeli tanks were deployed just outside Gaza.
Palestinian medical officials said two people were killed when a mosque was struck late on Saturday night in Gaza City.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the operation "may
take some time" - but he pledged to avoid a humanitarian crisis.
"It's not going to last a few days,' he said in a televised statement,
flanked by Defence Minister Barak and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.
Staff at the main hospital in Gaza said operating rooms were overflowing,
it was running out of medicine, and there were not enough surgeons to cope.
'Time for fighting'
The raids came days after a truce with Hamas expired.
Mr Barak said "there is a time for calm and a time for fighting, and now the time has
come to fight". He told the BBC it was "not realistic" to call off the operation at this stage.
The exiled leader of Hamas, Khaled Meshaal, called for a new
intifada, or uprising, against Israel, in response to the attacks.
The movement's Gaza leader, Ismail Haniyeh, said there would be no white flags
and no surrender. "Palestine has never witnessed an uglier massacre," he said.
Israel hit targets across Gaza, striking in the territory's main population centres,
including Gaza City in the north and the southern towns of Khan Younis and Rafah.
Hamas said all of its security compounds in Gaza were destroyed
by the air strikes, which Israel said hit some 40 targets.
Most of the dead and injured were reported to be in Gaza City.
A Hamas police spokesman, Islam Shahwan, said a police compound in Gaza
City was hit as a graduation ceremony for new personnel was taking place.
The Hamas police headquarters in Gaza City was hit and the head of Gaza's police forces, Tawfik Jaber, was killed.
Hospitals were filled to overflowing and mosques issued urgent appeals for people to donate blood.
Egypt opened its border crossing to the Gaza Strip at Rafah to treat some of those injured in the south of the territory.
In the West Bank, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas - whose Fatah faction
was ousted from Gaza by Hamas in 2007 - condemned the attacks and called for restraint.
Palestinians staged demonstrations in the West Bank cities of Ramallah
and Hebron, and there were some scuffles with Israeli troops there.
Restraint urged
Hamas vowed to carry out revenge attacks on Israel and fired Qassam rockets into Israeli territory as an immediate reply.
One Israeli was killed by a rocket strike on the town of Netivot, 20 kilometres (12 miles) east of Gaza, doctors said.
The air strikes come amid rumours that an Israeli ground operation is imminent.
////////////////////////////////////
INSERT: JERUSALEM, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Israel has no plan to invade the Gaza Strip in its efforts to end the
continuing rocket attacks from the Hamas-ruled enclave, President Shimon Peres said in an interview published Saturday.
"Israel will take all steps demanded of it in order to stop the rocket fire,"
he told the London-based newspaper Asharq al-Awsat, adding that "We will not
go into Gaza. There are other ways. We didn't leave Gaza in order go back."
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-12/27/content_10568052.htm
///////////////////////////////////
Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak defends Gaza strike .. AUDIO inside ..
no choice, but to respond .. even Great Britain would not accept it
Israeli media said on Saturday evening that Israeli troops were massing on the Gaza border.
US officials accused Hamas of having triggered the new bout of violence.
"The United States is deeply concerned about the escalating violence
in Gaza," US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in a statement.
"We strongly condemn the repeated rocket and mortar attacks against Israel and hold Hamas responsible for breaking
the ceasefire and for the renewal of violence there. The ceasefire must be restored immediately and fully respected."
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also urged an immediate halt to the violence,
condemning what he called Israel's "excessive use of force leading to the killing
and injuring of civilians" and "the ongoing rocket attacks by Palestinian militants".
Calls for a ceasefire also came from Middle East envoy Tony Blair and the French EU presidency.
Election prelude
Palestinian militants frequently fire rockets against Israeli towns from inside the Gaza
Strip; large numbers of rocket and mortar shells have been fired at Israel in recent days.
A resident describes the attacks in Gaza .. AUDIO inside ..
shifts were changing .. it was a very busy time in the streets ..
to be honest none of the people in the world expected this .. it is
too much in just one hour .. of 1.5 million most are civilians ..
The BBC's Katya Adler in Jerusalem says the timing of Israel's operation is significant,
as Israeli politicians are keen to score points ahead of a general election in February.
It is the worst attack in Gaza since 1967 in terms of the number
of Palestinian casualties, a senior analyst told the BBC in Jerusalem.
Although a six-month truce between Hamas and Israel was agreed earlier this year,
it was regularly under strain and was allowed to lapse when it expired this month.
Hamas blamed Israel for the end of the ceasefire, saying it had not respected its terms, including the
lifting of the blockade under which little more than humanitarian aid has been allowed into Gaza.
Israel said it initially began easing the blockade, but this was halted when Hamas failed to fulfil
what Israel says were agreed conditions, including ending all rocket fire and halting weapons smuggling.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7801662.stm
December 28 2008
The missile strikes caused panic in Gaza .. VIDEO inside .. one of the most crowded places on earth, so
civilians live around security targets .. police stations et al .. "even if you kill thousands of us we won't give in" ..
Airstrikes have continued to target the Gaza Strip as Israel's leaders warn
operations would continue until Hamas rocket attacks from Gaza ceased.
Palestinian officials said at least 230 people were killed on Saturday,
which if confirmed would make it the bloodiest day in Gaza's history.
The UN Security Council is discussing a statement calling for a ceasefire.
Gazans are preparing to hold funerals while a general strike has been called for the Palestinian territories.
Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said operations would continue on
the ground if air strikes were not enough to change Hamas's behavior.
'Protecting citizens'
The Security Council was said to be discussing a Russian-drafted statement calling for Israel to
halt its military operations and for the Palestinian militants to stop firing rockets at Israel from Gaza.
Just before the council gathered, Israel's ambassador to the UN, Gabriela Shalev, repeated
Israel's stance that it was taking action to "protect its citizens from further terrorist attacks".
"No country would allow continuous rocketing of its civilian population
without taking the necessary actions to stop it," she said in a statement.
Israel's mixed motives for strikes
.. air strikes by Israel are the worst in living memory ..
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7801657.stm
Gaza: World reaction in quotes
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7801444.stm
Most of those killed were policemen in the Hamas militant movement,
which controls Gaza, but women and children also died, Gaza officials said.
About 700 others were wounded, as missiles struck security compounds and militant bases, the officials added.
Israel said it was responding to an escalation in rocket attacks from Gaza and would bomb "as long as necessary".
The air raids continued into Sunday morning, while Israeli tanks were deployed just outside Gaza.
Palestinian medical officials said two people were killed when a mosque was struck late on Saturday night in Gaza City.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the operation "may
take some time" - but he pledged to avoid a humanitarian crisis.
"It's not going to last a few days,' he said in a televised statement,
flanked by Defence Minister Barak and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.
Staff at the main hospital in Gaza said operating rooms were overflowing,
it was running out of medicine, and there were not enough surgeons to cope.
'Time for fighting'
The raids came days after a truce with Hamas expired.
Mr Barak said "there is a time for calm and a time for fighting, and now the time has
come to fight". He told the BBC it was "not realistic" to call off the operation at this stage.
The exiled leader of Hamas, Khaled Meshaal, called for a new
intifada, or uprising, against Israel, in response to the attacks.
The movement's Gaza leader, Ismail Haniyeh, said there would be no white flags
and no surrender. "Palestine has never witnessed an uglier massacre," he said.
Israel hit targets across Gaza, striking in the territory's main population centres,
including Gaza City in the north and the southern towns of Khan Younis and Rafah.
Hamas said all of its security compounds in Gaza were destroyed
by the air strikes, which Israel said hit some 40 targets.
Most of the dead and injured were reported to be in Gaza City.
A Hamas police spokesman, Islam Shahwan, said a police compound in Gaza
City was hit as a graduation ceremony for new personnel was taking place.
The Hamas police headquarters in Gaza City was hit and the head of Gaza's police forces, Tawfik Jaber, was killed.
Hospitals were filled to overflowing and mosques issued urgent appeals for people to donate blood.
Egypt opened its border crossing to the Gaza Strip at Rafah to treat some of those injured in the south of the territory.
In the West Bank, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas - whose Fatah faction
was ousted from Gaza by Hamas in 2007 - condemned the attacks and called for restraint.
Palestinians staged demonstrations in the West Bank cities of Ramallah
and Hebron, and there were some scuffles with Israeli troops there.
Restraint urged
Hamas vowed to carry out revenge attacks on Israel and fired Qassam rockets into Israeli territory as an immediate reply.
One Israeli was killed by a rocket strike on the town of Netivot, 20 kilometres (12 miles) east of Gaza, doctors said.
The air strikes come amid rumours that an Israeli ground operation is imminent.
////////////////////////////////////
INSERT: JERUSALEM, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Israel has no plan to invade the Gaza Strip in its efforts to end the
continuing rocket attacks from the Hamas-ruled enclave, President Shimon Peres said in an interview published Saturday.
"Israel will take all steps demanded of it in order to stop the rocket fire,"
he told the London-based newspaper Asharq al-Awsat, adding that "We will not
go into Gaza. There are other ways. We didn't leave Gaza in order go back."
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-12/27/content_10568052.htm
///////////////////////////////////
Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak defends Gaza strike .. AUDIO inside ..
no choice, but to respond .. even Great Britain would not accept it
Israeli media said on Saturday evening that Israeli troops were massing on the Gaza border.
US officials accused Hamas of having triggered the new bout of violence.
"The United States is deeply concerned about the escalating violence
in Gaza," US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in a statement.
"We strongly condemn the repeated rocket and mortar attacks against Israel and hold Hamas responsible for breaking
the ceasefire and for the renewal of violence there. The ceasefire must be restored immediately and fully respected."
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also urged an immediate halt to the violence,
condemning what he called Israel's "excessive use of force leading to the killing
and injuring of civilians" and "the ongoing rocket attacks by Palestinian militants".
Calls for a ceasefire also came from Middle East envoy Tony Blair and the French EU presidency.
Election prelude
Palestinian militants frequently fire rockets against Israeli towns from inside the Gaza
Strip; large numbers of rocket and mortar shells have been fired at Israel in recent days.
A resident describes the attacks in Gaza .. AUDIO inside ..
shifts were changing .. it was a very busy time in the streets ..
to be honest none of the people in the world expected this .. it is
too much in just one hour .. of 1.5 million most are civilians ..
The BBC's Katya Adler in Jerusalem says the timing of Israel's operation is significant,
as Israeli politicians are keen to score points ahead of a general election in February.
It is the worst attack in Gaza since 1967 in terms of the number
of Palestinian casualties, a senior analyst told the BBC in Jerusalem.
Although a six-month truce between Hamas and Israel was agreed earlier this year,
it was regularly under strain and was allowed to lapse when it expired this month.
Hamas blamed Israel for the end of the ceasefire, saying it had not respected its terms, including the
lifting of the blockade under which little more than humanitarian aid has been allowed into Gaza.
Israel said it initially began easing the blockade, but this was halted when Hamas failed to fulfil
what Israel says were agreed conditions, including ending all rocket fire and halting weapons smuggling.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7801662.stm
Discover What Traders Are Watching
Explore small cap ideas before they hit the headlines.
