Special report: Palestine-IsraelConflicts
JERUSALEM, Dec. 30 (Chinese media) -- Israel on Tuesday
rejected worldwide appeals for a truce as its air strikes on the Hamas-ruled
Gaza Strip went on for a fourth day.
The operation, dubbed Cast Lead, continued early Tuesday, with at least 10 people killed and 40 others wounded when Israeli war planes bombed a series of Gaza targets, according to Palestinian reports.
Smoke rises after an Israel air strike in Gaza December 30, 2008. (Chinese media/Reuters Photo)
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The death toll on the Palestinian side has so far
risen to more than 380 killed and more than 1,600 others have been injured in
the ongoing air strikes.
Despite Israel's devastating air assaults, Hamas
militants continued to fight back, pelting Israeli territory with rockets and
mortar shells.
The United Nations and many countries repeatedly
urged Israel to stop the bloodshed but Israeli officials rejected any truce with
Hamas, warning that the country was ready for "long weeks of action."
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said that Israel
Defense Forces (IDF) would continue military action in Gaza "until all the goals
are met."
The IDF operation would intensify "as much as needed
to meet the goals we set for ourselves, to bring quiet to the South," Israel
Army Radio quoted Barak as saying.
The operation also aims "to strike a severe blow to
Hamas," he said, "in order to bring about an end to firing and other operations
against Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers."
Earlier Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
said the military operation is so far "the first phase in a series of steps
approved by the cabinet."
Olmert made the remarks while meeting with Israeli
President Shimon Peres to brief him on the most recent developments in the
operation.
Peres said Hamas is the party responsible for
creating the current situation in the Gaza Strip.
"Israel is not fighting against the Palestinian
population, only against the terror organization that has etched on its flag the
continuation of violence and the undermining of regional stability," he said.
"There isn't a person in the world who understands
what the goals of Hamas are and why they continue to fire rockets. The firing
defies reason and logic and it doesn't stand a chance," Peres added.
With Israeli forces gearing up for a possible ground
incursion into the Gaza Strip, Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai said the
military has "made preparations for long weeks of action."
"We are ready for a prolonged conflict and for weeks
of combat," Vilnai said in broadcast remarks.
After a meeting overnight Monday with IDF Chief of
General Staff Gabi Ashkenazi and other leaders of the security establishment,
Olmert stressed that Israel would strike Hamas with an "iron fist" but would
treat Gaza civilians with "kid gloves" in its humanitarian effort, local daily
Jerusalem Post reported.
During the meeting, security officials said the IDF
had given telephone warnings to about 90,000 people living near Hamas facilities
targeted by the Israeli air force. They stressed that the sites were bombed only
after civilians had left their homes.
Israel let about 100 trucks carrying humanitarian
supplies from Jordan, Turkey and international aid groups into Gaza via the
Kerem Shalom border crossing, said the report, adding that five new ambulances
donated by Turkey were allowed into the Hamas-ruled enclave.
Israel launched massive air raids against the Gaza
Strip on Saturday, while Hamas shelled Israeli territory after a six-month
ceasefire that ended Dec. 19.
An Israeli soldier stands on the hood of
a military vehicle near the border with the Gaza Strip Dec. 28, 2008.
(Chinese media/Reuters Photo)
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Israeli defense minister vows to
continue Gaza operation until all goals
met
JERUSALEM, Dec. 30
(Chinese media) -- Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will continue its military action in
Gaza Strip against Hamas until all the goals are met, Israeli Defense Minister
Ehud Barak said on Tuesday.
Barak made the remarks to Israel Army Radio, as the
operation, dubbed Cast Lead, entered the fourth day. Hundreds of places in Gaza
were bombed during the unprecedented air strikes beginning Saturday, killing
more than 380 Palestinians so far. Full story
Hamas says it will achieve final win
over Israel
GAZA, Dec.
30 (Chinese media) -- Hamas on Tuesday said it will be the victor of the current
offensive that Israel launched against the Islamic movement in Gaza Strip.
"Those who believe that these strikes will end Hamas
have to remember what happened in Lebanon in 2006," said Ismail Radwan, a Hamas
spokesman, referring to the war between Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah
guerrilla. Full story
Israel appears closer to ground
maneuver
SDEROT, Israel, Dec. 29 (Chinese media) -- The Israel
Defense Forces (IDF) on Monday continued gearing up for a possible ground
operation in the Gaza Strip, declaring the border area as a "closed military
zone."
Out of what the army said was security concerns,
journalists were no longer allowed to approach the border on the Israeli side,
where the IDF has reinforced its presence with infantry troops and armored
units, apparently in preparations for a widely speculated ground incursion
following the ongoing deadly airstrikes at the Hamas-ruled area. Full story
Palestine asks Security Council to
stop Israeli violence in Gaza
UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 29 (Chinese media) -- Palestinian
and Egyptian UN ambassadors said here Monday that they asked the UN Security
Council to bring Israel into compliance with the world call to put an immediate
end to the violence and military actions in Gaza.
The ambassadors spoke to reporters after their
meeting with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who voiced his repeated calls for
an immediate end to the "unacceptable" acts of violence in Gaza, which has left
at least 345 people dead and hundreds of others wounded. Full story
UN chief: Continued violence in and
around Gaza "unacceptable"
UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 29 (Chinese media) -- UN Chief Ban Ki-moon
said on Monday that he was deeply alarmed by the current escalation of violence
in and around Gaza, and that such continued violence is "unacceptable."
"I have been repeatedly condemning the rocket attacks
by Hamas militants against Israel. While recognizing Israel's right to defend
itself, I have also condemned the excessive use of force by Israel in Gaza," Ban
told a press conference at UN Headquarters. Full story
Palestinian death toll continues
increase in Gaza airstrikes
Bodies of Hamas policemen lie on the
ground of their destroyed police compound following an Israeli air strike
in Gaza Dec. 27, 2008. (Chinese media Photo)
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Gallery
GAZA, Dec. 29 (Chinese media) -- Palestinians death toll has
risen to 345 killed and over 1,600 wounded in the on-going Israeli warplanes
intensified airstrikes on Monday evening.
Israeli warplanes intensified its airstrikes on more
targets, mainly mosques, cars and militants' houses belong to Islamic Hamas
movement in the Gaza Strip, security sources said. Full story
"Free Gaza" ship to send emergency aid
to Gaza
GAZA BORDER, Israel, Dec. 29 (Chinese media) -- International
rights activists will sail with a "Free Gaza Movement" ship to make a "symbolic"
attempt to cross the border into the Gaza Strip on an emergency mission to help
ease the suffering of the Palestinians in the coastal area, according to a
coordinator of the movement on Monday.
The coordinator, Caiomhe Butterly, told Chinese media on
phone that the activists including some doctors and journalists had boarded the
ship at the Cypriot port of Larnaca late Monday afternoon. Full story
Barak: Gaza operation to be widened,
deepened if necessary
JERUSALEM, Dec. 29 (Chinese media) -- Israel's ongoing
operation in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip will be widened and deepened if
necessary, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Monday.
"Hamas is responsible for everything that
happens in Gaza and which emanates from it," Barak was quoted by local daily
Ha'aretz as telling a Knesset (parliament) session. "This operation will be
widened, deepened as we see fit." Full story
Israel's Defence Minister Ehud Barak
attends a joint news conference with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni (both not pictured) in Tel Aviv Dec. 27,
2008. (Chinese media/Reuters,FilePhoto)
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Gallery
Hamas health minister: Medical
situation in Gaza deteriorates
GAZA, Dec. 29 (Chinese media) -- The health minister in the
deposed government of Hamas Bassem Na'eem said on Monday that medical situation
in Gaza Strip that his government rules, is deteriorating due to Israeli
strikes.
Israel has been carrying out since Saturday mourning
unprecedented intensive airstrikes on hundreds of targets belonging to Hamas
movement in Gaza Strip. Full story
Report: Israel uses new U.S.-supplied
smart bomb in Gaza air strike
JERUSALEM, Dec. 29 (Chinese media) -- The Israel Air Force
used a new U.S.-supplied smart bomb in strikes against Hamas targets in the Gaza
Strip on Saturday, local daily The Jerusalem Post reported on Monday.
The GPS-guided missile, called GBU-39, was developed
in recent years by the United States as a small-diameter bomb for low-cost,
high-precision and low collateral damage strikes. Full story
Israeli strikes on Gaza, Arab
emergency meeting high on agenda of GCC summit
MUSCAT, Dec. 29 (Chinese media) -- Israeli raids on the
Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip and preparation for an emergency meeting of Arab foreign
ministers in Cairo are high on the agenda of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)
meeting scheduled later Monday.
Leaders of the six GCC members will convene at the
29th annual summit in the Omani capital of Muscat to discuss core regional
security issues and economic integration among the bloc, which groups six Gulf
Arab states --Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Oman, Qatar
and Bahrain. Full story
Israeli army ready for ground
invasion
GAZA BORDER, Israel, Dec. 28 (Chinese media) -- Roye, 36, was at
his home in Jerusalem with his wife and two children to enjoy a family dinner
for Jewish holiday Hanukkah and Shabbat. Suddenly, his phone screeched and
didn't stop ringing as he was drafted as a reservist.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is calling 6,500
reservists to duty as part of the military offensive on the Hamas-ruled Gaza
Strip, which started on Saturday, according to local daily Ha'aretz on its
website. Full story
Israeli jets carry out another round
of airstrikes on Gaza
GAZA, Dec. 28 (Chinese media) -- Israeli F16 warplanes resumed on
Sunday night another round of airstrikes on security and police installations
belonging to Hamas movement as well as other targets, including cars and
buildings. Full story
News Analysis: Analysts expect more
violence in future
RAMALLAH, Dec. 27 (Chinese media) -- Palestinian analysts expect
more violence throughout the territories in future following Israeli massive
airstrikes on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, causing extensive Palestinian
casualties. Full story
A Palestinian fire fighter extinguishes
the fire from a destroyed building of Hamas TV following an Israel air
strike in Gaza Strip Dec. 28, 2008.(Chinese media/Reuters Photo)
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Gallery
Palestinians take part in a protest
against Israeli air strikes on Gaza in the West Bank city of Hebron, Dec.
27, 2008.(Chinese media Photo/Yin Bogu)
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