June 15, 2009
By ISABEL KERSHNER
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/15/world/middleeast/15mideast.html?hp
JERUSALEM — The prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, on Sunday endorsed for the first time the principle of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, but on condition that the state was demilitarized and that the Palestinians recognized Israel as the state of the Jewish people.
In a much-anticipated speech meant in part as an answer to President Obama’s address in Cairo on June 4, Mr. Netanyahu reversed his longstanding opposition to Palestinian statehood, a move seen as a concession to American pressure.
But he firmly rejected American demands for a complete freeze on Israeli settlements in the West Bank, the subject of a rare public dispute between Israel and its most important ally on an issue seen as critical to peace negotiations.
And even his assent on Palestinian statehood, given the caveats, was immediately rejected as a nonstarter by Palestinians.
In a half-hour speech broadcast live in Israel, Mr. Netanyahu, the leader of the conservative Likud Party, laid out what he called his “vision of peace”: “In this small land of ours, two peoples live freely, side-by-side, in amity and mutual respect. Each will have its own flag, its own national anthem, its own government. Neither will threaten the security or survival of the other.”
But Mr. Netanyahu insisted on “ironclad” guarantees from the United States and the international community for Palestinian demilitarization and recognition of Israel’s Jewish character.
Given those conditions, Mr. Netanyahu said, “We will be ready in a future peace agreement to reach a solution where a demilitarized Palestinian state exists alongside the Jewish state.” He also said that no new settlements would be created and no more land would be expropriated for expansion, but that “normal life” must be allowed to continue in the settlements, a term he has used to mean that limited building should be allowed to continue within existing settlements to accommodate “natural growth.”
While this position did not diverge from Mr. Netanyahu’s previous statements, he delivered it on Sunday in the context of a speech he had billed as a major foreign policy address, one he had personally urged Mr. Obama to watch. It came 10 days after Mr. Obama bluntly rejected “the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements” in his address to the Muslim world in Cairo.
The White House reaction was positive, if limited, focusing on what it called “the important step forward” of Mr. Netanyahu’s support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
In a statement, the White House press secretary, Robert Gibbs, reiterated the president’s vow for a two-state solution that “can and must ensure both Israel’s security and the fulfillment of the Palestinians’ legitimate aspirations for a viable state,” and he said that Mr. Obama “welcomes Prime Minister Netanyahu’s endorsement of that goal.”
Indeed, in moving closer to the American and international consensus for a two-state solution, Mr. Netanyahu risked alienating right-wing ideologues within his party and his governing coalition. Ron Dermer, the prime minister’s director of communications and policy planning, said that in accepting the notion of a Palestinian state, Mr. Netanyahu had “crossed a personal Rubicon.”
Citing the biblical vision of Isaiah of swords beaten into plowshares, Mr. Netanyahu said of the Palestinians, “We do not want to rule over them, to govern their lives, or to impose our flag or our culture on them.”
But beyond the idea of a state, he seemed to offer little room for compromise or negotiation.
He referred repeatedly to the West Bank, the territory presumed to comprise the bulk of a future Palestinian state, by its biblical name of Judea and Samaria, declaring it “the land of our forefathers.”
Mr. Netanyahu made no mention of existing frameworks for negotiations, like the American-backed 2003 peace plan known as the road map.
He did not address the geographical area a Palestinian state might cover, and he said that the Palestinian refugee problem must be resolved outside Israel’s borders, negating the Palestinian demand for a right of return for refugees of the 1948 war and for their millions of descendants.
He insisted that Jerusalem remain united as the Israeli capital. The Palestinians demand the eastern part of the city as a future capital.
“Benjamin Netanyahu spoke about negotiations, but left us with nothing to negotiate as he systematically took nearly every permanent status issue off the table,” Saeb Erekat, the Palestinian negotiator, said in a statement. “Nor did he accept a Palestinian state. Instead, he announced a series of conditions and qualifications that render a viable, independent and sovereign Palestinian state impossible.”
Palestinian negotiators have long refused to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, contending that it would prejudge the refugees’ demand for a right of return and would be detrimental to the status of Israel’s Arab minority.
Mr. Dermer, the communications director for Mr. Netanyahu, said that Palestinians’ recognition of Israel as a Jewish state was “not a precondition” for negotiations. But, he said, “there will not be an agreement without that recognition.”
Mr. Netanyahu delivered his speech to an invited audience at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan University outside Tel Aviv. The university is an academic bastion of Israel’s national-religious camp.
Timed to coincide with the Israeli evening television news, the speech was rich in Zionist rhetoric and seemed aimed as much at Israelis as at the Obama administration. Experts said it was unlikely to cause a political earthquake here, since it largely expressed the consensus in Israel.
“It was a balanced speech that the coalition can live with,” said Prof. Efraim Inbar, the director of the Begin-Sadat Center.
Contrary to the expectations of many here, Mr. Netanyahu did not make the threat of a nuclear Iran a focal point, though he described it as one of the greatest challenges facing Israel, along with the global economic crisis and forging of peace.
He called on Arab leaders to meet with him to discuss peace, and for Arab countries and entrepreneurs to help in lifting the Palestinian economy and to engage in regional projects with Israel.
Regarding Gaza, where the militant Islamic movement Hamas holds sway, Mr. Netanyahu said it is up to the Western-backed Palestinian Authority to establish the rule of law there and “overcome” the group.
Mr. Netanyahu announced a week ago that he would deliver a major policy speech, leading to feverish speculation up to the last minute of what it would contain. The Israeli leader spent much of the last week in consultation with political partners and potential rivals and met twice with the country’s experienced and popular president, Shimon Peres.
Mr. Peres said in a statement that the speech was “true and courageous” and that it constituted an opening toward “direct negotiations for both a regional peace and a bilateral peace between Israel and the Palestinians.”
Showing posts with label Mediterranean. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mediterranean. Show all posts
14 March 2009
American citizen shot in the head by Israeli forces in West Bank
Various, Friday, March 13th, 2009
AMERICAN CITIZEN CRITICALLY INJURED AFTER BEING SHOT IN THE HEAD BY ISRAELI FORCES IN NI’LIN
The link to watch for this story:
http://palsolidarity.org/2009/03/5324
For Immediate Release
13th March 2009, Ni’lin Village--An American citizen has been critically injured in the village of Ni’lin after Israeli forces shot him in the head with a tear-gas canister.
Tristan Anderson from California USA, 37 years old, has been taken to Israeli hospital Tel Hashomer, near Tel Aviv. Anderson is unconscious and has been bleeding heavily from the nose and mouth. He sustained a large hole in his forehead where he was struck by the canister. He is currently being operated on.
Tristan was shot by the new tear-gas canisters that can be shot up to 500m. I ran over as I saw someone had been shot, while the Israeli forces continued to fire tear-gas at us. When an ambulance came, the Israeli soldiers refused to allow the ambulance through the checkpoint just outside the village. After 5 minutes of arguing with the soldiers, the ambulance passed.
The Israeli army began using to use a high velocity tear gas canister in December 2008. The black canister, labeled in Hebrew as “40mm bullet special/long range,” can shoot over 400 meters. The gas canister does not make a noise when fired or emit a smoke tail. A combination of the canister’s high velocity and silence is extremely dangerous and has caused numerous injuries, including a Palestinian male whose leg was broken in January 2009.
Please Contact: Adam Taylor (English), ISM Media Office +972 8503948
Sasha Solanas (English), ISM Media Office - +972 549032981
Woody Berch (English), at Tel Hashomer hospital +972 548053082
Tristan Anderson
Tristan Anderson was shot as Israeli forces attacked a demonstration against the construction of the annexation wall through the village of Ni’lin’s land. Another resident from Ni’lin was shot in the leg with live ammunition.
Four Ni’lin residents have been killed during demonstrations against the confiscation of their land.
Ahmed Mousa (10) was shot in the forehead with live ammunition on 29th July 2008. The following day, Yousef Amira (17) was shot twice with rubber-coated steel bullets, leaving him brain dead. He died a week later on 4 August 2008. Arafat Rateb Khawaje (22), was the third Ni’lin resident to be killed by Israeli forces. He was shot in the back with live ammunition on 28 December 2008. That same day, Mohammed Khawaje (20), was shot in the head with live ammunition, leaving him brain dead. He died three days in a Ramallah hospital.
Residents in the village of Ni’lin have been demonstrating against the construction of the Apartheid Wall, deemed illegal by the International Court of Justice in 2004. Ni’lin will lose approximately 2500 dunums of agricultural land when the construction of the Wall is completed. Ni’lin was 57,000 dunums in 1948, reduced to 33,000 dunums in 1967, currently is 10,000 dunums and will be 7,500 dunums after the construction of the Wall.
Updates:
Orly Levi, a spokeswoman at the Tel Hashomer hospital, tells Ha’aretz:
He’s in critical condition, anesthetized and on a ventilator and undergoing imaging tests,” She described Anderson’s condition as life-threatening.
Israeli activist Jonathan Pollack told Ynet:
… the firing incident took place inside the village and not next to the fence. There were clashes in the earlier hours, but he wasn’t part of them. He didn’t throw stones and wasn’t standing next to the stone throwers.
There was really no reason to fire at them. The Dutch girl standing next to him was not hurt. It only injured him, like a bullet.
AMERICAN CITIZEN CRITICALLY INJURED AFTER BEING SHOT IN THE HEAD BY ISRAELI FORCES IN NI’LIN
The link to watch for this story:
http://palsolidarity.org/2009/03/5324
For Immediate Release
13th March 2009, Ni’lin Village--An American citizen has been critically injured in the village of Ni’lin after Israeli forces shot him in the head with a tear-gas canister.
Tristan Anderson from California USA, 37 years old, has been taken to Israeli hospital Tel Hashomer, near Tel Aviv. Anderson is unconscious and has been bleeding heavily from the nose and mouth. He sustained a large hole in his forehead where he was struck by the canister. He is currently being operated on.
Tristan was shot by the new tear-gas canisters that can be shot up to 500m. I ran over as I saw someone had been shot, while the Israeli forces continued to fire tear-gas at us. When an ambulance came, the Israeli soldiers refused to allow the ambulance through the checkpoint just outside the village. After 5 minutes of arguing with the soldiers, the ambulance passed.
The Israeli army began using to use a high velocity tear gas canister in December 2008. The black canister, labeled in Hebrew as “40mm bullet special/long range,” can shoot over 400 meters. The gas canister does not make a noise when fired or emit a smoke tail. A combination of the canister’s high velocity and silence is extremely dangerous and has caused numerous injuries, including a Palestinian male whose leg was broken in January 2009.
Please Contact: Adam Taylor (English), ISM Media Office +972 8503948
Sasha Solanas (English), ISM Media Office - +972 549032981
Woody Berch (English), at Tel Hashomer hospital +972 548053082
Tristan Anderson
Tristan Anderson was shot as Israeli forces attacked a demonstration against the construction of the annexation wall through the village of Ni’lin’s land. Another resident from Ni’lin was shot in the leg with live ammunition.
Four Ni’lin residents have been killed during demonstrations against the confiscation of their land.
Ahmed Mousa (10) was shot in the forehead with live ammunition on 29th July 2008. The following day, Yousef Amira (17) was shot twice with rubber-coated steel bullets, leaving him brain dead. He died a week later on 4 August 2008. Arafat Rateb Khawaje (22), was the third Ni’lin resident to be killed by Israeli forces. He was shot in the back with live ammunition on 28 December 2008. That same day, Mohammed Khawaje (20), was shot in the head with live ammunition, leaving him brain dead. He died three days in a Ramallah hospital.
Residents in the village of Ni’lin have been demonstrating against the construction of the Apartheid Wall, deemed illegal by the International Court of Justice in 2004. Ni’lin will lose approximately 2500 dunums of agricultural land when the construction of the Wall is completed. Ni’lin was 57,000 dunums in 1948, reduced to 33,000 dunums in 1967, currently is 10,000 dunums and will be 7,500 dunums after the construction of the Wall.
Updates:
Orly Levi, a spokeswoman at the Tel Hashomer hospital, tells Ha’aretz:
He’s in critical condition, anesthetized and on a ventilator and undergoing imaging tests,” She described Anderson’s condition as life-threatening.
Israeli activist Jonathan Pollack told Ynet:
… the firing incident took place inside the village and not next to the fence. There were clashes in the earlier hours, but he wasn’t part of them. He didn’t throw stones and wasn’t standing next to the stone throwers.
There was really no reason to fire at them. The Dutch girl standing next to him was not hurt. It only injured him, like a bullet.
09 March 2009
Senate Will Vote Tonight!! No Discrimination Against Palestinian Refugees in Gaza
The Senate will vote tonight on Senator Kyl's amendment. The late breaking nature of the amendment means even just a few letters faxed to some key Senators could determine the outcome of this vote.
Add your name to our letter opposing the Kyl amendment and we'll fax it automatically to your Senators' offices.
Background Information
The recent fighting between Israel and Palestinian armed groups (including Hamas) left at least1300 Palestinians and 13 Israelis dead. In addition, schools, universities, mosques and thousands of homes in Gaza were destroyed. In surveying the damages in Gaza, Amnesty International researcher Donatella Rovera said "there is no camera lens wide enough to capture the destruction," adding that Gaza looked like a "moonscape."
The conflict only exacerbated the dismal conditions that were set in place well before the fighting broke out between Israel and Hamas. Hospitals faced severe electrical and supply shortages and some hospitals were only able to function for a few hours a day. Of the estimated 5,000 wounded Palestinians, many have not been able to seek proper medical attention because the facilities in Gaza are inadequate and often the wounded were prevented from entering Egypt or Israel for treatment. Amnesty International also reported that schools have not been able to fully operate because they have not received the paper needed to print textbooks. Employment continues to be a problem with the blockade affecting many factories and other factories being destroyed during the recent conflict. According to the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, unemployment in Gaza reached 45% in June 2008, the highest in the world.
The US has taken an important step in pledging $900 million in humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza. But some of the aid, such as basic foods supplies like pasta, are still prevented by Israel from entering Gaza, a fact that Senator John Kerry mentioned during his visit to Gaza. Many of the containers of aid are sitting in cargo trucks but because of strict Israeli blockades, Palestinians in Gaza often cannot even access to US funded aid that awaits them just at the border.
The United States is a party to the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees. All countries that are party to the Convention or its Protocol are obliged to consider claims for refuge without discrimination. The US provides world leadership on refugee issues by refusing to discriminate on the basis of nationality, ethnicity or religion when determining who will be admitted as a refugee. Indeed, the goal of the 1980 Refugee Act sought to assure greater equity in the protection of refugees by repealing the previous law's discriminatory treatment of refugees. Contrary to 30 years of extending protection to refugees on the basis of need, the Kyl amendment seeks to discriminate against an entire group based on nationality alone. Any refugee deemed in need of third country resettlement who meets the criteria of the US refugee program and the security protocols of the Department of Homeland Security should have access to our program irrespective of his or her nationality, ethnicity, or religion.
The Obama administration has taken admirable steps to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including dispatching Middle East envoy George Mitchell on the second day of the new administration. US refugee policy should reflect this positive commitment by refusing to discriminate against Palestinian refugees from Gaza, and considering for resettlement any refugee deemed in need who meets the criteria of the US refugee program and security protocols of the Department of Homeland Security, irrespective of his or her nationality, ethnicity, or religion.
Add your name to our letter opposing the Kyl amendment and we'll fax it automatically to your Senators' offices.
Add your name to our letter opposing the Kyl amendment and we'll fax it automatically to your Senators' offices.
Background Information
The recent fighting between Israel and Palestinian armed groups (including Hamas) left at least1300 Palestinians and 13 Israelis dead. In addition, schools, universities, mosques and thousands of homes in Gaza were destroyed. In surveying the damages in Gaza, Amnesty International researcher Donatella Rovera said "there is no camera lens wide enough to capture the destruction," adding that Gaza looked like a "moonscape."
The conflict only exacerbated the dismal conditions that were set in place well before the fighting broke out between Israel and Hamas. Hospitals faced severe electrical and supply shortages and some hospitals were only able to function for a few hours a day. Of the estimated 5,000 wounded Palestinians, many have not been able to seek proper medical attention because the facilities in Gaza are inadequate and often the wounded were prevented from entering Egypt or Israel for treatment. Amnesty International also reported that schools have not been able to fully operate because they have not received the paper needed to print textbooks. Employment continues to be a problem with the blockade affecting many factories and other factories being destroyed during the recent conflict. According to the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, unemployment in Gaza reached 45% in June 2008, the highest in the world.
The US has taken an important step in pledging $900 million in humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza. But some of the aid, such as basic foods supplies like pasta, are still prevented by Israel from entering Gaza, a fact that Senator John Kerry mentioned during his visit to Gaza. Many of the containers of aid are sitting in cargo trucks but because of strict Israeli blockades, Palestinians in Gaza often cannot even access to US funded aid that awaits them just at the border.
The United States is a party to the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees. All countries that are party to the Convention or its Protocol are obliged to consider claims for refuge without discrimination. The US provides world leadership on refugee issues by refusing to discriminate on the basis of nationality, ethnicity or religion when determining who will be admitted as a refugee. Indeed, the goal of the 1980 Refugee Act sought to assure greater equity in the protection of refugees by repealing the previous law's discriminatory treatment of refugees. Contrary to 30 years of extending protection to refugees on the basis of need, the Kyl amendment seeks to discriminate against an entire group based on nationality alone. Any refugee deemed in need of third country resettlement who meets the criteria of the US refugee program and the security protocols of the Department of Homeland Security should have access to our program irrespective of his or her nationality, ethnicity, or religion.
The Obama administration has taken admirable steps to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including dispatching Middle East envoy George Mitchell on the second day of the new administration. US refugee policy should reflect this positive commitment by refusing to discriminate against Palestinian refugees from Gaza, and considering for resettlement any refugee deemed in need who meets the criteria of the US refugee program and security protocols of the Department of Homeland Security, irrespective of his or her nationality, ethnicity, or religion.
Add your name to our letter opposing the Kyl amendment and we'll fax it automatically to your Senators' offices.
03 February 2009
U.S. Bombs Used in Raid Against Gaza Strip
Hours before Israel announced a ceasefire, an Amnesty International fact finding mission gained access to Gaza. Their initial reports are disturbing: the team found first hand evidence of war crimes, serious violations of international law and possible crimes against humanity by all parties to the conflict.
AI researchers continue investigating attacks against southern Israel and are currently documenting the true scale of devastation wrought on civilians in Gaza. The stories they report are harrowing.
In the early afternoon of January 4th, three young paramedics walked through a field on a rescue mission to save a group of wounded men in a nearby orchard. A 12-year-old boy, standing by his house, assisted the operation by pointing to where the men could be found. An Israeli air strike on the area killed all four.
The bodies of the four victims could not be retrieved for two days. Ambulance crews who tried to approach the site came under fire from Israeli forces.
Our researchers later traveled to the scene of the strike with the two ambulance drivers who witnessed the attack. They met with the boy’s distraught mother and found the remains of the missile. The label of the missile read, “guided missile, surface attack” and cited the United States as the country of origin.
This is just one of many similar stories.
Under the Geneva Conventions, medical personnel searching, collecting, transporting or treating the wounded must be protected and respected in all circumstances. Clearly, this was not the case on Jan. 4th.
Since we last communicated with you, more than 87,000 of you have written Congress and former administration officials. These emails, along with the massive outpouring of letters from around the world from other Amnesty sections, are making an impact. Just this week:
~The United Nations pledged $613 million in aid for Gaza
~60 members of Congress signed a letter to Secretary of State Hillary of Clinton ~Calling for humanitarian support for Gaza
~And hours ago, the US pledged $20 million in aid1-2
We have a small window of opportunity to build on this momentum: urge Secretary Clinton and Ambassador Susan Rice to push for a full-fledged independent investigation.
This investigation is critical for many reasons, not the least of which is the clear evidence of the use of white phosphorous, as well as the mounting evidence of the misuse of US arms3. As you read this, Amnesty researchers continue documenting the use of arms, and we expect an action specifically calling on Congress to investigate the misuse of US weapons in this conflict in the coming weeks.
Everyone is responsible for the protection of international law. The US government must not turn a blind eye to possible war crimes and crimes against humanity. It should support an independent international inquiry by the United Nations into allegations of violations of international humanitarian and human rights law - by all groups participating in the conflict.
The story of the paramedics and the young boy is not an anomaly. Write Secretary Clinton and Ambassador Rice today and urge accountability for abuses in Gaza and southern Israel now.
Thank you for your continuing support,
Zahir Janmohamed
Advocacy Director
Middle East and North Africa
P.S. For comprehensive information on the conflict, go to www.amnestyusa.org/gaza. For late breaking updates, visit our blog, Human Rights Now. For organizing resources on the conflict, visit the Gaza Resources page.
AI researchers continue investigating attacks against southern Israel and are currently documenting the true scale of devastation wrought on civilians in Gaza. The stories they report are harrowing.
In the early afternoon of January 4th, three young paramedics walked through a field on a rescue mission to save a group of wounded men in a nearby orchard. A 12-year-old boy, standing by his house, assisted the operation by pointing to where the men could be found. An Israeli air strike on the area killed all four.
The bodies of the four victims could not be retrieved for two days. Ambulance crews who tried to approach the site came under fire from Israeli forces.
Our researchers later traveled to the scene of the strike with the two ambulance drivers who witnessed the attack. They met with the boy’s distraught mother and found the remains of the missile. The label of the missile read, “guided missile, surface attack” and cited the United States as the country of origin.
This is just one of many similar stories.
Under the Geneva Conventions, medical personnel searching, collecting, transporting or treating the wounded must be protected and respected in all circumstances. Clearly, this was not the case on Jan. 4th.
Since we last communicated with you, more than 87,000 of you have written Congress and former administration officials. These emails, along with the massive outpouring of letters from around the world from other Amnesty sections, are making an impact. Just this week:
~The United Nations pledged $613 million in aid for Gaza
~60 members of Congress signed a letter to Secretary of State Hillary of Clinton ~Calling for humanitarian support for Gaza
~And hours ago, the US pledged $20 million in aid1-2
We have a small window of opportunity to build on this momentum: urge Secretary Clinton and Ambassador Susan Rice to push for a full-fledged independent investigation.
This investigation is critical for many reasons, not the least of which is the clear evidence of the use of white phosphorous, as well as the mounting evidence of the misuse of US arms3. As you read this, Amnesty researchers continue documenting the use of arms, and we expect an action specifically calling on Congress to investigate the misuse of US weapons in this conflict in the coming weeks.
Everyone is responsible for the protection of international law. The US government must not turn a blind eye to possible war crimes and crimes against humanity. It should support an independent international inquiry by the United Nations into allegations of violations of international humanitarian and human rights law - by all groups participating in the conflict.
The story of the paramedics and the young boy is not an anomaly. Write Secretary Clinton and Ambassador Rice today and urge accountability for abuses in Gaza and southern Israel now.
Thank you for your continuing support,
Zahir Janmohamed
Advocacy Director
Middle East and North Africa
P.S. For comprehensive information on the conflict, go to www.amnestyusa.org/gaza. For late breaking updates, visit our blog, Human Rights Now. For organizing resources on the conflict, visit the Gaza Resources page.
27 January 2009
Obama Signals New Tone in Relations With Islamic World
January 28, 2009
By ALAN COWELL
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/28/world/middleeast/28arabiya.html?_r=1&hp
PARIS — In an interview with one of the Middle East’s major broadcasters, President Barack Obama struck a conciliatory tone toward the Islamic world, saying he wanted to persuade Muslims that “the Americans are not your enemy.” He also said “the moment is ripe” for negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians.
The interview with Al Arabiya, an Arabic-language news channel based in Dubai, signaled a shift — in style and manner at least — from the Bush administration, offering what he depicted as a new readiness to listen rather than dictate.
It was Mr. Obama’s first televised interview from the White House and the first with any foreign news outlet.
In a transcript published on Al Arabiya’s English language Web site, Mr. Obama said it is his job “to communicate to the Muslim world that the Americans are not your enemy.”
He added that “we sometimes make mistakes,” but said that America was not born as a colonial power and that he hoped for a restoration of “the same respect and partnership that America had with the Muslim world as recently as 20 or 30 years ago.”
Mr. Obama spoke as his special Middle East envoy, George J. Mitchell, arrived in Egypt to begin an eight-day tour that will include stops in Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, France and Britain. In Egypt, Mr. Mitchell planned to meet President Hosni Mubarak.
In discussing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Mr. Obama told Al Arabiya that “the most important thing is for the United States to get engaged right away.” He said that he told Mr. Mitchell to “start by listening, because all too often the United States starts by dictating.”
“Ultimately, we cannot tell either the Israelis or the Palestinians what’s best for them. They’re going to have to make some decisions,” Mr. Obama said. “But I do believe that the moment is ripe for both sides to realize that the path that they are on is not going to result in prosperity and security for their people. And that, instead, it’s time to return to the negotiating table.”
Several hours after he spoke on Monday night, an explosion on the Israel-Gaza border killed an Israeli soldier and threatened new violence. The war in Gaza, which lasted three weeks, had stopped 10 days ago when both sides declared unilateral cease fires.
Mr. Obama said Israel “will not stop being a strong ally of the United States and I will continue to believe that Israel’s security is paramount. But I also believe that there are Israelis who recognize that it is important to achieve peace. They will be willing to make sacrifices if the time is appropriate and if there is serious partnership on the other side.”
He also said that although he would not put a time frame on it, he believed it was “possible for us to see a Palestinian state.” He described the state as one “that allows freedom of movement for its people, that allows for trade with other countries, that allows the creation of businesses and commerce so that people have a better life.”
But he also said the Israel-Palestine conflict should not be seen in isolation. “I do think it is impossible for us to think only in terms of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and not think in terms of what’s happening with Syria or Iran or Lebanon or Afghanistan and Pakistan,” Mr. Obama said.
He spoke at length about America’s future relationship with the Muslim world, saying his “job is to communicate to the American people that the Muslim world is filled with extraordinary people who simply want to live their lives and see their children live better lives.”
He drew a distinction between “extremist organizations” committed to violence and “people who may disagree with my administration and certain actions, or may have a particular viewpoint in terms of how their countries should develop.”
“We can have legitimate disagreements but still be respectful. I cannot respect terrorist organizations that would kill innocent civilians and we will hunt them down,” he said. “But to the broader Muslim world what we are going to be offering is a hand of friendship.”
He also said it was “important for us to be willing to talk to Iran, to express very clearly where our differences are, but where there are potential avenues for progress.”
“As I said during my inauguration speech, if countries like Iran are willing to unclench their fist, they will find an extended hand from us,” he said.
He was not asked whether he would continue the policy of former President George Bush in refusing to exclude military action in the dispute over Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
By ALAN COWELL
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/28/world/middleeast/28arabiya.html?_r=1&hp
PARIS — In an interview with one of the Middle East’s major broadcasters, President Barack Obama struck a conciliatory tone toward the Islamic world, saying he wanted to persuade Muslims that “the Americans are not your enemy.” He also said “the moment is ripe” for negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians.
The interview with Al Arabiya, an Arabic-language news channel based in Dubai, signaled a shift — in style and manner at least — from the Bush administration, offering what he depicted as a new readiness to listen rather than dictate.
It was Mr. Obama’s first televised interview from the White House and the first with any foreign news outlet.
In a transcript published on Al Arabiya’s English language Web site, Mr. Obama said it is his job “to communicate to the Muslim world that the Americans are not your enemy.”
He added that “we sometimes make mistakes,” but said that America was not born as a colonial power and that he hoped for a restoration of “the same respect and partnership that America had with the Muslim world as recently as 20 or 30 years ago.”
Mr. Obama spoke as his special Middle East envoy, George J. Mitchell, arrived in Egypt to begin an eight-day tour that will include stops in Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, France and Britain. In Egypt, Mr. Mitchell planned to meet President Hosni Mubarak.
In discussing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Mr. Obama told Al Arabiya that “the most important thing is for the United States to get engaged right away.” He said that he told Mr. Mitchell to “start by listening, because all too often the United States starts by dictating.”
“Ultimately, we cannot tell either the Israelis or the Palestinians what’s best for them. They’re going to have to make some decisions,” Mr. Obama said. “But I do believe that the moment is ripe for both sides to realize that the path that they are on is not going to result in prosperity and security for their people. And that, instead, it’s time to return to the negotiating table.”
Several hours after he spoke on Monday night, an explosion on the Israel-Gaza border killed an Israeli soldier and threatened new violence. The war in Gaza, which lasted three weeks, had stopped 10 days ago when both sides declared unilateral cease fires.
Mr. Obama said Israel “will not stop being a strong ally of the United States and I will continue to believe that Israel’s security is paramount. But I also believe that there are Israelis who recognize that it is important to achieve peace. They will be willing to make sacrifices if the time is appropriate and if there is serious partnership on the other side.”
He also said that although he would not put a time frame on it, he believed it was “possible for us to see a Palestinian state.” He described the state as one “that allows freedom of movement for its people, that allows for trade with other countries, that allows the creation of businesses and commerce so that people have a better life.”
But he also said the Israel-Palestine conflict should not be seen in isolation. “I do think it is impossible for us to think only in terms of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and not think in terms of what’s happening with Syria or Iran or Lebanon or Afghanistan and Pakistan,” Mr. Obama said.
He spoke at length about America’s future relationship with the Muslim world, saying his “job is to communicate to the American people that the Muslim world is filled with extraordinary people who simply want to live their lives and see their children live better lives.”
He drew a distinction between “extremist organizations” committed to violence and “people who may disagree with my administration and certain actions, or may have a particular viewpoint in terms of how their countries should develop.”
“We can have legitimate disagreements but still be respectful. I cannot respect terrorist organizations that would kill innocent civilians and we will hunt them down,” he said. “But to the broader Muslim world what we are going to be offering is a hand of friendship.”
He also said it was “important for us to be willing to talk to Iran, to express very clearly where our differences are, but where there are potential avenues for progress.”
“As I said during my inauguration speech, if countries like Iran are willing to unclench their fist, they will find an extended hand from us,” he said.
He was not asked whether he would continue the policy of former President George Bush in refusing to exclude military action in the dispute over Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
19 January 2009
Israel Continues Gaza Withdrawal as Cease-Fire Holds
January 20, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/20/world/middleeast/20mideast.html
By ISABEL KERSHNER
JERUSALEM — Israeli troops and tanks continued to leave Gaza on Monday as a fragile cease-fire opened the way for intensified international efforts to build a more durable peace.
Small skirmishes broke out on Sunday but Gaza was largely quiet after Israel, then Hamas, announced unilateral cease-fires, ending a devastating 22-day battle in which more than 1,300 Palestinians and 13 Israelis died. Some news reports said Israeli forces planned to complete their withdrawal in time for the inauguration on Tuesday of Barack Obama as president of the United States.
But an Israeli military spokesman, speaking in return for customary anonymity, said there was “no official basis for that report but there’s a gradual thinning of troops going on.” He declined to discuss the timetable for the withdrawal to be completed. In Gaza, residents said police officers had returned to their posts and there had been no apparent renewal of hostilities.
European and Arab leaders met in Egypt, where they pledged support for rebuilding Gaza, and called for an end to arms smuggling, as Israel has demanded, and the opening of Gaza’s borders, as demanded by Hamas, the Islamic militant movement that rules Gaza.
Six European leaders went on to Jerusalem, where Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told them that Israel was interested in leaving Gaza “as quickly as possible,” as soon as the circumstances allowed. A military official confirmed on Sunday evening that a “gradual withdrawal” was under way.
When it embarked on the campaign, Israel said its main military objective was to significantly reduce the Hamas rocket fire out of Gaza and to fundamentally change the security situation in Israel’s south. The results so far seem inconclusive.
Palestinian militants in Gaza fired at least 19 rockets at southern Israel on Sunday, including some after Hamas and other militant groups had declared the cease-fire. Most landed without causing injury, but one struck a house in the Israeli port city of Ashdod, lightly wounding one woman, the military said.
Israel said it carried out three air strikes in Gaza on Sunday, one against a group of gunmen who opened fire on its forces and two against rocket-launching squads. There were conflicting reports of casualties, with either one man or one girl said to have been killed.
B’Tselem, an Israeli human rights organization, cited a Gaza resident who had said that his brother, a farmer, was killed by Israeli fire.
In a speech broadcast Sunday night on Hamas’s Al Aqsa television, the Hamas leader Ismail Haniya, who has been in hiding for the past three weeks, claimed victory against Israel. He pledged to provide compensation to families who suffered damage during the war.
On Monday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, called Khaled Meshal, Hamas’s senior exiled leader, in Damascus to tell him that: "Today is the beginning of victory and perseverance will complete the links of victory,” the Iranian IRNA news agency reported.
Gaza health officials increased the Palestinian death toll on Sunday to about 1,300 people, including 104 women and 410 children. The number is expected to rise as more bodies are found.
Israel’s cease-fire took effect early Sunday. About 12 hours later, Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza announced their immediate, weeklong cease-fire.
Hamas and its associates gave Israeli troops a week to leave the coastal enclave. Hamas had previously said it would continue fighting as long as Israeli forces remained.
Referring to the one-week deadline, Mark Regev, a spokesman for Mr. Olmert, said Israel did not “take dictates from Hamas.” But he also insisted that Israel, which began an air offensive against Hamas on Dec. 27 and sent ground forces in a week later, had no desire to stay in Gaza for long. “If it is quiet, it will be easier for us to leave expeditiously,” he said.
Israeli military and political leaders have emphasized that Israel will respond to any attacks, but on Sunday the guns largely gave way to diplomacy.
Hamas demands the opening of the Gaza border crossings as a condition for a lasting truce. Israel’s primary condition is an internationally guaranteed mechanism to prevent weapons smuggling across Egypt’s border into Gaza.
At a summit meeting at the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el Sheik on Sunday, European and moderate Arab leaders offered their support for both goals. “We are ready to offer technical, diplomatic, military and marine assistance to Israel and Egypt to stop the smuggling of weapons,” President Nicolas Sarkozy of France said at a news conference after the meeting.
Egypt also hopes to force Hamas into reconciliation talks with its rival, Fatah, as a means of unifying the Palestinian leadership and eventually returning Gaza to more moderate Palestinian Authority rule. Hamas seized control of Gaza in 2007, routing the Fatah forces loyal to the authority.
Hamas, which is classified by Israel, the United States and the European Union as a terrorist organization, has been severely battered by the Israeli military operation in Gaza but remains in control.
From Sharm el Sheik, the French, British, German, Spanish, Italian and Czech leaders traveled to Jerusalem for dinner with Mr. Olmert, who told his guests that undermining Hamas rule in Gaza depended on strengthening the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah, whose power is currently confined to the West Bank.
On Sunday, France also sent four planes carrying medical supplies, water treatment equipment and 80 aid workers including surgeons, doctors and bomb disposal experts to Egypt, the French Foreign Ministry said. The equipment and personnel were on standby on the Egyptian side of the Gaza border, ready to enter as soon as they could.
Meanwhile, competition for control of the reconstruction of Gaza seems to have begun.
Salam Fayyad, the prime minister of the Palestinian Authority, complained that European leaders and the United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, had proposed setting up an interim international committee to finance and organize the reconstruction. Such a committee would cut out Hamas, but it would also bypass the authority.
Robert F. Worth contributed reporting from Beirut, Lebanon,, and Ethan Bronner from Gaza City.
Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/20/world/middleeast/20mideast.html
By ISABEL KERSHNER
JERUSALEM — Israeli troops and tanks continued to leave Gaza on Monday as a fragile cease-fire opened the way for intensified international efforts to build a more durable peace.
Small skirmishes broke out on Sunday but Gaza was largely quiet after Israel, then Hamas, announced unilateral cease-fires, ending a devastating 22-day battle in which more than 1,300 Palestinians and 13 Israelis died. Some news reports said Israeli forces planned to complete their withdrawal in time for the inauguration on Tuesday of Barack Obama as president of the United States.
But an Israeli military spokesman, speaking in return for customary anonymity, said there was “no official basis for that report but there’s a gradual thinning of troops going on.” He declined to discuss the timetable for the withdrawal to be completed. In Gaza, residents said police officers had returned to their posts and there had been no apparent renewal of hostilities.
European and Arab leaders met in Egypt, where they pledged support for rebuilding Gaza, and called for an end to arms smuggling, as Israel has demanded, and the opening of Gaza’s borders, as demanded by Hamas, the Islamic militant movement that rules Gaza.
Six European leaders went on to Jerusalem, where Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told them that Israel was interested in leaving Gaza “as quickly as possible,” as soon as the circumstances allowed. A military official confirmed on Sunday evening that a “gradual withdrawal” was under way.
When it embarked on the campaign, Israel said its main military objective was to significantly reduce the Hamas rocket fire out of Gaza and to fundamentally change the security situation in Israel’s south. The results so far seem inconclusive.
Palestinian militants in Gaza fired at least 19 rockets at southern Israel on Sunday, including some after Hamas and other militant groups had declared the cease-fire. Most landed without causing injury, but one struck a house in the Israeli port city of Ashdod, lightly wounding one woman, the military said.
Israel said it carried out three air strikes in Gaza on Sunday, one against a group of gunmen who opened fire on its forces and two against rocket-launching squads. There were conflicting reports of casualties, with either one man or one girl said to have been killed.
B’Tselem, an Israeli human rights organization, cited a Gaza resident who had said that his brother, a farmer, was killed by Israeli fire.
In a speech broadcast Sunday night on Hamas’s Al Aqsa television, the Hamas leader Ismail Haniya, who has been in hiding for the past three weeks, claimed victory against Israel. He pledged to provide compensation to families who suffered damage during the war.
On Monday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, called Khaled Meshal, Hamas’s senior exiled leader, in Damascus to tell him that: "Today is the beginning of victory and perseverance will complete the links of victory,” the Iranian IRNA news agency reported.
Gaza health officials increased the Palestinian death toll on Sunday to about 1,300 people, including 104 women and 410 children. The number is expected to rise as more bodies are found.
Israel’s cease-fire took effect early Sunday. About 12 hours later, Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza announced their immediate, weeklong cease-fire.
Hamas and its associates gave Israeli troops a week to leave the coastal enclave. Hamas had previously said it would continue fighting as long as Israeli forces remained.
Referring to the one-week deadline, Mark Regev, a spokesman for Mr. Olmert, said Israel did not “take dictates from Hamas.” But he also insisted that Israel, which began an air offensive against Hamas on Dec. 27 and sent ground forces in a week later, had no desire to stay in Gaza for long. “If it is quiet, it will be easier for us to leave expeditiously,” he said.
Israeli military and political leaders have emphasized that Israel will respond to any attacks, but on Sunday the guns largely gave way to diplomacy.
Hamas demands the opening of the Gaza border crossings as a condition for a lasting truce. Israel’s primary condition is an internationally guaranteed mechanism to prevent weapons smuggling across Egypt’s border into Gaza.
At a summit meeting at the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el Sheik on Sunday, European and moderate Arab leaders offered their support for both goals. “We are ready to offer technical, diplomatic, military and marine assistance to Israel and Egypt to stop the smuggling of weapons,” President Nicolas Sarkozy of France said at a news conference after the meeting.
Egypt also hopes to force Hamas into reconciliation talks with its rival, Fatah, as a means of unifying the Palestinian leadership and eventually returning Gaza to more moderate Palestinian Authority rule. Hamas seized control of Gaza in 2007, routing the Fatah forces loyal to the authority.
Hamas, which is classified by Israel, the United States and the European Union as a terrorist organization, has been severely battered by the Israeli military operation in Gaza but remains in control.
From Sharm el Sheik, the French, British, German, Spanish, Italian and Czech leaders traveled to Jerusalem for dinner with Mr. Olmert, who told his guests that undermining Hamas rule in Gaza depended on strengthening the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah, whose power is currently confined to the West Bank.
On Sunday, France also sent four planes carrying medical supplies, water treatment equipment and 80 aid workers including surgeons, doctors and bomb disposal experts to Egypt, the French Foreign Ministry said. The equipment and personnel were on standby on the Egyptian side of the Gaza border, ready to enter as soon as they could.
Meanwhile, competition for control of the reconstruction of Gaza seems to have begun.
Salam Fayyad, the prime minister of the Palestinian Authority, complained that European leaders and the United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, had proposed setting up an interim international committee to finance and organize the reconstruction. Such a committee would cut out Hamas, but it would also bypass the authority.
Robert F. Worth contributed reporting from Beirut, Lebanon,, and Ethan Bronner from Gaza City.
Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
12 January 2009
Hamas Defiant as Israeli Forces Push Into Gaza City
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/13/world/middleeast/13mideast.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss&src=ig
January 13, 2009
By STEVEN ERLANGER and ETHAN BRONNER
JERUSALEM — Israeli ground forces called in a series of air strikes as fierce fighting continued in Gaza on Monday, the 17th day of Israel’s war against Hamas.
On Sunday, Israeli troops pushed into a heavily populated area of Gaza City from the south, and senior Israeli officials said for the first time in the war that they believed that the Hamas military wing was beginning to crack and that Hamas leaders inside Gaza were “eager” for a cease-fire.
Hamas leaders in Gaza, however, said Monday that the organization would continue to fight until the siege was ended and the crossings to Israel and Egypt were reopened. News agencies reported Monday that militants fired as many as 10 missiles out of Gaza into southern Israel, causing no casualties.
"We confirm to our people that victory is closer than ever," the Hamas cabinet in Gaza said in a statement distributed to journalists, according to a Reuters translation.
The Israeli military said that warplanes attacked five Hamas operatives along with weapons caches, tunnels and other targets, while Israeli gunboats fired from the sea. By midday, the Israeli military said its warplanes had struck 25 targets, including, it said, a mosque where Hamas stored rockets and mortars.
During a three-hour lull in fighting on Monday, the military said 165 truckloads of aid had been allowed into Gaza.
Egypt allowed at least two delegations into Gaza from its Rafah border crossing on Monday, relenting on a policy of blocking aid to the area, because of its relationship with Israel. A group of 38 Arab doctors passed through, after being held at the border for four days, and made their way to hospitals to help treat the thousands of wounded. Also, a group of European diplomats entered, returning later in the day.
Overnight, the Israeli military said, its warplanes carried out fewer strikes than on some previous nights.
Israel is facing intensifying accusations from around the world that its offensive is disproportionate to the damage caused by Hamas rocket fire into Israel, and that it has created a humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The Gaza medical authorities are reporting 908 deaths, including at least 380 civilians. The Israeli military says it has killed at least several hundred Hamas fighters. Hamas has said it is not taking its wounded to public hospitals.
Thirteen Israelis have been killed, Israel has said.
Growing numbers of Palestinians are reporting being injured from burns by a phosphorous-type gas used by Israel to obscure its moves from Hamas fighters and render their infrared detectors useless. The substance is legal under international law, but its use is discouraged by Human Rights Watch, whose ballistics expert Mark Garlasco, said causes fires and serious burns in crowded civilian areas.
In Geneva, the United Nations Human Rights Council broadly condemned Israel’s military offensive in Gaza, saying it “resulted in massive violations of human rights of the Palestinian people.” The council voted 33 to 1 for the resolution, with Canada the only opposing vote. The United States is not a member.
President Bush, a strong supporter of Israel, said Monday at his final White House news conference that the solution to ending the war in Gaza was for Hamas to “stop firing rockets into Israel.”
“There will not be a sustainable cease-fire if they continue firing rockets,” he said in response to a question. “Israel has a right to defend herself.”
Israel has remained unwavering in pressing its campaign. On Sunday, Israel’s prime minister, Ehud Olmert, told the nation that Israel was “getting close to achieving the goals it set for itself,” but that “more patience, determination and effort are still demanded.”
Mr. Olmert was speaking in the public part of the regular weekly cabinet meeting, and his words were broadcast to an Israeli populace that supports the war against Hamas in Gaza but is nervous about how and when it will end.
Mr. Olmert gave no time frame, but said Israel “must not miss out, at the last moment, on what has been achieved through an unprecedented national effort.”
Israeli officials also said Sunday that the military had been sending reserve units into Gaza since Thursday. They did not specify the number of reservists.
The announcement that additional forces had joined the fight in Gaza appeared aimed at adding pressure on Hamas, and raised the possibility of an expansion in the conflict, which began Dec. 27.
Cease-fire discussions were held on Monday in Cairo, where Hamas leaders met over the weekend with Egypt’s intelligence service chief, Omar Suleiman. Tony Blair, the former British prime minister and now an international envoy to the Palestinians, met with the Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak, following talks with Israeli leaders on Sunday.
But a senior Israeli Defense Ministry official who was to arrive in Cairo on Monday, Amos Gilad, postponed his trip, in a sign a truce was not on the immediate horizon.
Hamas officials who were in Cairo traveled to Damascus, where the group’s political director, Khaled Meshal, lives in exile. They were due to return Monday evening to continue talks, a Mubarak spokesman for told Bloomberg.
The Israeli cabinet secretary, Oved Yehezkel, told reporters that in the Sunday cabinet meeting the heads of army intelligence, Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin, and of the Shin Bet security service, Yuval Diskin, said, “It is the inclination within Hamas to agree to a cease-fire, given the harsh blow it received and given the absence of accomplishment on the ground.”
The Israelis said this view inside Gaza was a contrast to the “unyielding stands” of Mr. Meshal. But Hamas “is not expected to wave a white flag” and is reserving rockets and weaponry to fire at the end of the conflict, the intelligence chiefs said.
Another senior Israeli security official said that Israeli soldiers had “confirmed through their sights” the killing of 300 Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters on the ground in Gaza, and that Hamas units were making mistakes and fighting without clear direction.
“I can say with a high level of confidence that for two days, what we have been hearing repeatedly is that Hamas inside Gaza is eager — eager — to achieve a cease-fire,” said the senior official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the issue’s delicate nature. “This is as opposed to the leadership in Damascus that is willing to fight to the last Palestinian.”
The Israelis were clearly all pushing a concerted message, but no official provided details on how Israel supported its assertion. It was impossible to get a response from Hamas leaders in Gaza, because they were in hiding from Israeli military strikes.
On Saturday, Mr. Meshal said in Damascus that Hamas would not consider a cease-fire until Israel ended the assault and opened all crossings into Gaza. He said that the ferocity of the Israeli campaign had crossed the line and called it a “holocaust,” adding, “You have destroyed the last chance for negotiations.”
Israel and the United States are trying to secure agreement on a deal brokered by Egypt that would mean a Hamas commitment to stop all rocket firing into Israel and an Egyptian commitment to block smuggling tunnels into Gaza, to stop the resupplying of Hamas with weaponry and cash. In return, Israel would agree to a cease-fire and the opening of its crossings into Gaza for goods and fuel and the opening of the Rafah crossing into Egypt, with European Union supervision.
If the Egyptian effort fails, Israeli officials said, the military is likely to go to a “third stage” of the war against Hamas in Gaza, with the reserve troops thrown into the battle.
An expansion of the war would most likely mean Israeli troops moving into southern Gaza, to take a strip of land at least 500 yards wide inside Gaza at the Egyptian border. Israel has been bombing the area to try to destroy smuggling tunnels between Gaza and Egypt.
Mr. Olmert and his two top cabinet ministers, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, were reported to disagree about the best way to win the war and consolidate Israeli gains. But they are under pressure from the army to decide on whether to expand the war or end it, in part because the soldiers become easier targets unless they are constantly moving.
There was a new development on Sunday in the investigation into one of the deadliest attacks so far — an Israeli mortar strike near a United Nations school on Tuesday that killed up to 43 Palestinians. The newspaper Haaretz reported that a military investigation had concluded that two Israeli shells hit a Hamas mortar unit that had fired first, but that an errant Israeli shell hit near the school.
The army later rebutted the article, saying its initial inquiry showed “mortars were fired from within the school” at Israeli forces nearby, “and those forces returned fire.”
United Nations officials have denied that any Palestinian fighters were in the school grounds and called for an independent international investigation, and the army had earlier gone back and forth about whether the Hamas mortars were fired within the school or near it.
Steven Erlanger and Ethan Bronner reported from Jerusalem. Taghreed El-Khodary contributed reporting from Gaza City, Sabrina Tavernise from Jerusalem. and Alan Cowell from London.
January 13, 2009
By STEVEN ERLANGER and ETHAN BRONNER
JERUSALEM — Israeli ground forces called in a series of air strikes as fierce fighting continued in Gaza on Monday, the 17th day of Israel’s war against Hamas.
On Sunday, Israeli troops pushed into a heavily populated area of Gaza City from the south, and senior Israeli officials said for the first time in the war that they believed that the Hamas military wing was beginning to crack and that Hamas leaders inside Gaza were “eager” for a cease-fire.
Hamas leaders in Gaza, however, said Monday that the organization would continue to fight until the siege was ended and the crossings to Israel and Egypt were reopened. News agencies reported Monday that militants fired as many as 10 missiles out of Gaza into southern Israel, causing no casualties.
"We confirm to our people that victory is closer than ever," the Hamas cabinet in Gaza said in a statement distributed to journalists, according to a Reuters translation.
The Israeli military said that warplanes attacked five Hamas operatives along with weapons caches, tunnels and other targets, while Israeli gunboats fired from the sea. By midday, the Israeli military said its warplanes had struck 25 targets, including, it said, a mosque where Hamas stored rockets and mortars.
During a three-hour lull in fighting on Monday, the military said 165 truckloads of aid had been allowed into Gaza.
Egypt allowed at least two delegations into Gaza from its Rafah border crossing on Monday, relenting on a policy of blocking aid to the area, because of its relationship with Israel. A group of 38 Arab doctors passed through, after being held at the border for four days, and made their way to hospitals to help treat the thousands of wounded. Also, a group of European diplomats entered, returning later in the day.
Overnight, the Israeli military said, its warplanes carried out fewer strikes than on some previous nights.
Israel is facing intensifying accusations from around the world that its offensive is disproportionate to the damage caused by Hamas rocket fire into Israel, and that it has created a humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The Gaza medical authorities are reporting 908 deaths, including at least 380 civilians. The Israeli military says it has killed at least several hundred Hamas fighters. Hamas has said it is not taking its wounded to public hospitals.
Thirteen Israelis have been killed, Israel has said.
Growing numbers of Palestinians are reporting being injured from burns by a phosphorous-type gas used by Israel to obscure its moves from Hamas fighters and render their infrared detectors useless. The substance is legal under international law, but its use is discouraged by Human Rights Watch, whose ballistics expert Mark Garlasco, said causes fires and serious burns in crowded civilian areas.
In Geneva, the United Nations Human Rights Council broadly condemned Israel’s military offensive in Gaza, saying it “resulted in massive violations of human rights of the Palestinian people.” The council voted 33 to 1 for the resolution, with Canada the only opposing vote. The United States is not a member.
President Bush, a strong supporter of Israel, said Monday at his final White House news conference that the solution to ending the war in Gaza was for Hamas to “stop firing rockets into Israel.”
“There will not be a sustainable cease-fire if they continue firing rockets,” he said in response to a question. “Israel has a right to defend herself.”
Israel has remained unwavering in pressing its campaign. On Sunday, Israel’s prime minister, Ehud Olmert, told the nation that Israel was “getting close to achieving the goals it set for itself,” but that “more patience, determination and effort are still demanded.”
Mr. Olmert was speaking in the public part of the regular weekly cabinet meeting, and his words were broadcast to an Israeli populace that supports the war against Hamas in Gaza but is nervous about how and when it will end.
Mr. Olmert gave no time frame, but said Israel “must not miss out, at the last moment, on what has been achieved through an unprecedented national effort.”
Israeli officials also said Sunday that the military had been sending reserve units into Gaza since Thursday. They did not specify the number of reservists.
The announcement that additional forces had joined the fight in Gaza appeared aimed at adding pressure on Hamas, and raised the possibility of an expansion in the conflict, which began Dec. 27.
Cease-fire discussions were held on Monday in Cairo, where Hamas leaders met over the weekend with Egypt’s intelligence service chief, Omar Suleiman. Tony Blair, the former British prime minister and now an international envoy to the Palestinians, met with the Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak, following talks with Israeli leaders on Sunday.
But a senior Israeli Defense Ministry official who was to arrive in Cairo on Monday, Amos Gilad, postponed his trip, in a sign a truce was not on the immediate horizon.
Hamas officials who were in Cairo traveled to Damascus, where the group’s political director, Khaled Meshal, lives in exile. They were due to return Monday evening to continue talks, a Mubarak spokesman for told Bloomberg.
The Israeli cabinet secretary, Oved Yehezkel, told reporters that in the Sunday cabinet meeting the heads of army intelligence, Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin, and of the Shin Bet security service, Yuval Diskin, said, “It is the inclination within Hamas to agree to a cease-fire, given the harsh blow it received and given the absence of accomplishment on the ground.”
The Israelis said this view inside Gaza was a contrast to the “unyielding stands” of Mr. Meshal. But Hamas “is not expected to wave a white flag” and is reserving rockets and weaponry to fire at the end of the conflict, the intelligence chiefs said.
Another senior Israeli security official said that Israeli soldiers had “confirmed through their sights” the killing of 300 Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters on the ground in Gaza, and that Hamas units were making mistakes and fighting without clear direction.
“I can say with a high level of confidence that for two days, what we have been hearing repeatedly is that Hamas inside Gaza is eager — eager — to achieve a cease-fire,” said the senior official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the issue’s delicate nature. “This is as opposed to the leadership in Damascus that is willing to fight to the last Palestinian.”
The Israelis were clearly all pushing a concerted message, but no official provided details on how Israel supported its assertion. It was impossible to get a response from Hamas leaders in Gaza, because they were in hiding from Israeli military strikes.
On Saturday, Mr. Meshal said in Damascus that Hamas would not consider a cease-fire until Israel ended the assault and opened all crossings into Gaza. He said that the ferocity of the Israeli campaign had crossed the line and called it a “holocaust,” adding, “You have destroyed the last chance for negotiations.”
Israel and the United States are trying to secure agreement on a deal brokered by Egypt that would mean a Hamas commitment to stop all rocket firing into Israel and an Egyptian commitment to block smuggling tunnels into Gaza, to stop the resupplying of Hamas with weaponry and cash. In return, Israel would agree to a cease-fire and the opening of its crossings into Gaza for goods and fuel and the opening of the Rafah crossing into Egypt, with European Union supervision.
If the Egyptian effort fails, Israeli officials said, the military is likely to go to a “third stage” of the war against Hamas in Gaza, with the reserve troops thrown into the battle.
An expansion of the war would most likely mean Israeli troops moving into southern Gaza, to take a strip of land at least 500 yards wide inside Gaza at the Egyptian border. Israel has been bombing the area to try to destroy smuggling tunnels between Gaza and Egypt.
Mr. Olmert and his two top cabinet ministers, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, were reported to disagree about the best way to win the war and consolidate Israeli gains. But they are under pressure from the army to decide on whether to expand the war or end it, in part because the soldiers become easier targets unless they are constantly moving.
There was a new development on Sunday in the investigation into one of the deadliest attacks so far — an Israeli mortar strike near a United Nations school on Tuesday that killed up to 43 Palestinians. The newspaper Haaretz reported that a military investigation had concluded that two Israeli shells hit a Hamas mortar unit that had fired first, but that an errant Israeli shell hit near the school.
The army later rebutted the article, saying its initial inquiry showed “mortars were fired from within the school” at Israeli forces nearby, “and those forces returned fire.”
United Nations officials have denied that any Palestinian fighters were in the school grounds and called for an independent international investigation, and the army had earlier gone back and forth about whether the Hamas mortars were fired within the school or near it.
Steven Erlanger and Ethan Bronner reported from Jerusalem. Taghreed El-Khodary contributed reporting from Gaza City, Sabrina Tavernise from Jerusalem. and Alan Cowell from London.
08 January 2009
Rockets Fired From Lebanon Into Israel
By STEVEN ERLANGER
Published: January 8, 2009
JERUSALEM — Rockets fired from Lebanon landed in northern Israel on Thursday, raising concerns they could represent a broadening of the conflict, but both governments played down their significance. International efforts to end the 13-day war in the Gaza Strip continued with the arrival of Israeli negotiators in Cairo.
Israeli shells hit Jabaliya. A Hamas rocket struck Gadera. More Photos »
Egyptian officials said the Israeli officials were meeting with the head of Egyptian military intelligence, Omar Suleiman, to explore a proposal devised by Egypt and France as what officials in Paris called a road map to a cease-fire. There was no immediate word on the outcome of the talks.
As Israel’s offensive in Gaza continued with tanks on the ground in the beleaguered coastal strip and bombardment from the air, Israel again ordered a temporary lull in the fighting on Thursday to give the 1.5 million population a three-hour opportunity to seek medical help and buy supplies.
A similar pause yesterday enabled rescue teams from the International Committee of the Red Cross to enter some areas for the first time since Israel’s ground offensive began last weekend after days of air-strikes. In one area, the Committee reported Thursday, its representatives discovered “shocking” scenes including four children next to their mother’s corpses. The children were too weak to stand on their own, the aid organization said.
The discussions in Cairo got underway hours after at least three missiles from Lebanon landed near the northern Israeli town of Nahariya, slightly injuring two Israelis, and the Israeli army responded with fire. The rockets from Lebanon raised concern that they could presage a second front in the conflict that would complicate peace efforts and revive memories of the bloody war between Israel and the militant group Hezbollah in southern Lebanon in 2006.
But the Israeli Army later dismissed the rockets on Thursday as “a minor event” and, in Lebanon, the government said Hezbollah had distanced itself from the attack. Prime Minister Fouad Siniora of Lebanon immediately condemned the rocket-fire. In a statement, Lebanese Information Minister Tarek Mitri said: “Hezbollah assured the Lebanese government that it remains engaged in preserving the stability in Lebanon and respects Security Council resolution 1701.”
United Nations Security Council resolution 1701 laid out the terms of the ceasefire that ended the war between Israel and Lebanon in August 2006.
The Israeli Army said it “responded with fire against the source of the rockets,” which landed near the town of Nahariya. Two Israelis were slightly wounded, the police said.
The rockets from Lebanon fell in residential areas. Shimon Koren, head of the northern district police, instructed residents of Nahariya and Kabri to enter bomb shelters and he instructed residents in nearby localities to open their shelters. School was canceled in Nahariya and nearby Shlomi.
So far there has been no claim of responsibility.
The lull Thursday coincided with news from Cairo that the Israeli delegation had arrived to open talks. Israeli officials said on Wednesday that their country would be represented at the Cairo talks by two officials — a senior aide to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Shalom Turgeman, and a senior defense official, Amos Gilad.
International pressure for a negotiated cease-fire intensified after Israeli shells killed some 40 people at a United Nations school in Gaza on Tuesday. Israel said Hamas militants had fired mortar shells from the school compound prior to Israel’s shelling.
The Israeli government said Wednesday that it welcomed the efforts of France and Egypt to work out a durable cease-fire. It said it would end its assault if Hamas stopped firing rockets into Israel and ended the smuggling of weapons from Egypt. It said that if a durable cease-fire took hold, it would reopen border crossings into Gaza for goods and people. But Israeli and Hamas officials both denied an assertion on Wednesday by the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, that a cease-fire had been agreed upon.
“There is an agreement on general principles, that Hamas should stop rocket fire and mustn’t rearm,” a senior Israeli official said Wednesday evening. “But that’s like agreeing that motherhood is a good thing. We have to transform those agreed principles into working procedures on the ground, and that’s barely begun.”
The United States has been involved behind the scenes, senior Israeli and French officials said, with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice “constantly on the phone” with Mr. Olmert, according to one Israeli official.
In Washington, the White House spokeswoman, Dana M. Perino, said of talks about a cease-fire: “As I understand, the Israelis are open to the concept, but they want to learn more about the details; so do we.”
At the United Nations, several Arab delegates said Wednesday night that they thought they now had enough votes to approve a Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire. That would likely put the United States and other Western powers, which oppose a binding resolution, in the awkward position of having to veto a cease-fire.
A senior French official in Paris said that Mr. Sarkozy’s earlier comment about an agreement on a cease-fire was misunderstood: “The plan is not a cease-fire; the plan is a road map toward a cease-fire.” One crucial aspect of any deal is how to prevent new smuggling tunnels from being built under Egypt’s border with Gaza.
The senior Israeli official raised the possibility of reaching “tacit agreements” with Hamas to end rocket fire, while also persuading Egypt to allow American and perhaps European army engineers to help seal its border with Gaza above and below ground.
Hamas is insisting that any new arrangement include the reopening of border crossings for trade with Israel and the reopening of the Rafah crossing into Egypt for people.
Casualty figures in the Gaza war are hard to verify, but officials at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City and the Gazan Ministry of Health said 683 Palestinians had died since the conflict began Dec. 27, including 218 children and 90 women. They said 3,085 had been wounded. The Palestinian Center for Human Rights in Gaza said 130 children age 16 or under had died. The United Nations estimated a few days ago that a quarter of the dead were civilians.
But Palestinian residents and Israeli officials say that Hamas is tending its own wounded in separate medical centers, not in public hospitals, and that it is difficult to know the number of dead Hamas fighters, many of whom were not wearing uniforms.
Israel says it has killed at least 130 Hamas fighters. Ten Israelis have been killed during the offensive, including three civilians. Most of the seven dead Israeli soldiers were killed in so-called friendly fire.
Thanassis Cambanis contributed reporting from Beirut, and Michael Slackman from Cairo. Alan Cowell and Katrin Bennhold contributed from Paris.
Published: January 8, 2009
JERUSALEM — Rockets fired from Lebanon landed in northern Israel on Thursday, raising concerns they could represent a broadening of the conflict, but both governments played down their significance. International efforts to end the 13-day war in the Gaza Strip continued with the arrival of Israeli negotiators in Cairo.
Israeli shells hit Jabaliya. A Hamas rocket struck Gadera. More Photos »
Egyptian officials said the Israeli officials were meeting with the head of Egyptian military intelligence, Omar Suleiman, to explore a proposal devised by Egypt and France as what officials in Paris called a road map to a cease-fire. There was no immediate word on the outcome of the talks.
As Israel’s offensive in Gaza continued with tanks on the ground in the beleaguered coastal strip and bombardment from the air, Israel again ordered a temporary lull in the fighting on Thursday to give the 1.5 million population a three-hour opportunity to seek medical help and buy supplies.
A similar pause yesterday enabled rescue teams from the International Committee of the Red Cross to enter some areas for the first time since Israel’s ground offensive began last weekend after days of air-strikes. In one area, the Committee reported Thursday, its representatives discovered “shocking” scenes including four children next to their mother’s corpses. The children were too weak to stand on their own, the aid organization said.
The discussions in Cairo got underway hours after at least three missiles from Lebanon landed near the northern Israeli town of Nahariya, slightly injuring two Israelis, and the Israeli army responded with fire. The rockets from Lebanon raised concern that they could presage a second front in the conflict that would complicate peace efforts and revive memories of the bloody war between Israel and the militant group Hezbollah in southern Lebanon in 2006.
But the Israeli Army later dismissed the rockets on Thursday as “a minor event” and, in Lebanon, the government said Hezbollah had distanced itself from the attack. Prime Minister Fouad Siniora of Lebanon immediately condemned the rocket-fire. In a statement, Lebanese Information Minister Tarek Mitri said: “Hezbollah assured the Lebanese government that it remains engaged in preserving the stability in Lebanon and respects Security Council resolution 1701.”
United Nations Security Council resolution 1701 laid out the terms of the ceasefire that ended the war between Israel and Lebanon in August 2006.
The Israeli Army said it “responded with fire against the source of the rockets,” which landed near the town of Nahariya. Two Israelis were slightly wounded, the police said.
The rockets from Lebanon fell in residential areas. Shimon Koren, head of the northern district police, instructed residents of Nahariya and Kabri to enter bomb shelters and he instructed residents in nearby localities to open their shelters. School was canceled in Nahariya and nearby Shlomi.
So far there has been no claim of responsibility.
The lull Thursday coincided with news from Cairo that the Israeli delegation had arrived to open talks. Israeli officials said on Wednesday that their country would be represented at the Cairo talks by two officials — a senior aide to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Shalom Turgeman, and a senior defense official, Amos Gilad.
International pressure for a negotiated cease-fire intensified after Israeli shells killed some 40 people at a United Nations school in Gaza on Tuesday. Israel said Hamas militants had fired mortar shells from the school compound prior to Israel’s shelling.
The Israeli government said Wednesday that it welcomed the efforts of France and Egypt to work out a durable cease-fire. It said it would end its assault if Hamas stopped firing rockets into Israel and ended the smuggling of weapons from Egypt. It said that if a durable cease-fire took hold, it would reopen border crossings into Gaza for goods and people. But Israeli and Hamas officials both denied an assertion on Wednesday by the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, that a cease-fire had been agreed upon.
“There is an agreement on general principles, that Hamas should stop rocket fire and mustn’t rearm,” a senior Israeli official said Wednesday evening. “But that’s like agreeing that motherhood is a good thing. We have to transform those agreed principles into working procedures on the ground, and that’s barely begun.”
The United States has been involved behind the scenes, senior Israeli and French officials said, with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice “constantly on the phone” with Mr. Olmert, according to one Israeli official.
In Washington, the White House spokeswoman, Dana M. Perino, said of talks about a cease-fire: “As I understand, the Israelis are open to the concept, but they want to learn more about the details; so do we.”
At the United Nations, several Arab delegates said Wednesday night that they thought they now had enough votes to approve a Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire. That would likely put the United States and other Western powers, which oppose a binding resolution, in the awkward position of having to veto a cease-fire.
A senior French official in Paris said that Mr. Sarkozy’s earlier comment about an agreement on a cease-fire was misunderstood: “The plan is not a cease-fire; the plan is a road map toward a cease-fire.” One crucial aspect of any deal is how to prevent new smuggling tunnels from being built under Egypt’s border with Gaza.
The senior Israeli official raised the possibility of reaching “tacit agreements” with Hamas to end rocket fire, while also persuading Egypt to allow American and perhaps European army engineers to help seal its border with Gaza above and below ground.
Hamas is insisting that any new arrangement include the reopening of border crossings for trade with Israel and the reopening of the Rafah crossing into Egypt for people.
Casualty figures in the Gaza war are hard to verify, but officials at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City and the Gazan Ministry of Health said 683 Palestinians had died since the conflict began Dec. 27, including 218 children and 90 women. They said 3,085 had been wounded. The Palestinian Center for Human Rights in Gaza said 130 children age 16 or under had died. The United Nations estimated a few days ago that a quarter of the dead were civilians.
But Palestinian residents and Israeli officials say that Hamas is tending its own wounded in separate medical centers, not in public hospitals, and that it is difficult to know the number of dead Hamas fighters, many of whom were not wearing uniforms.
Israel says it has killed at least 130 Hamas fighters. Ten Israelis have been killed during the offensive, including three civilians. Most of the seven dead Israeli soldiers were killed in so-called friendly fire.
Thanassis Cambanis contributed reporting from Beirut, and Michael Slackman from Cairo. Alan Cowell and Katrin Bennhold contributed from Paris.
07 January 2009
Israel Puts Media Clamp on Gaza
January 7, 2009
By ETHAN BRONNER
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/07/world/middleeast/07media.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss&src=ig
JERUSALEM — Three times in recent days, a small group of foreign correspondents was told to appear at the border crossing to Gaza. The reporters were to be permitted in to cover firsthand the Israeli war on Hamas in keeping with a Supreme Court ruling against the two-month-old Israeli ban on foreign journalists entering Gaza.
Each time, they were turned back on security grounds, even as relief workers and other foreign citizens were permitted to cross the border. On Tuesday the reporters were told to not even bother going to the border.
And so for an 11th day of Israel’s war in Gaza, the several hundred journalists here to cover it waited in clusters away from direct contact with any fighting or Palestinian suffering, but with full access to Israeli political and military commentators eager to show them around southern Israel, where Hamas rockets have been terrorizing civilians. A slew of private groups financed mostly by Americans are helping guide the press around Israel.
Like all wars, this one is partly about public relations. But unlike any war in Israel’s history, in this one the government is seeking to entirely control the message and narrative for reasons both of politics and military strategy.
“This is the result of what happened in the 2006 Lebanon war against Hezbollah,” said Nachman Shai, a former army spokesman who is writing a doctoral dissertation on Israel’s public diplomacy. “Then, the media were everywhere. Their cameras and tapes picked up discussions between commanders. People talked on live television. It helped the enemy and confused and destabilized the home front. Today, Israel is trying to control the information much more closely.”
The government-commissioned investigation into the war with Hezbollah reported that the army had found that when reporters were allowed on the battlefield in Lebanon, they got in the way of military operations by posing risks and asking questions.
Maj. Avital Leibovich, an army spokeswoman, said, “If a journalist gets injured or killed, then it is Central Command’s responsibility.” She said the government was trying to protect Israel from rocket fire and “not deal with the media.”
Beyond such tactical considerations, there is a political one. Daniel Seaman, director of Israel’s Government Press Office, said, “Any journalist who enters Gaza becomes a fig leaf and front for the Hamas terror organization, and I see no reason why we should help that.”
Foreign reporters deny that their work in Gaza has been subject to Hamas censorship or control. Unable to send foreign reporters into Gaza, the international news media have relied on Palestinian journalists based there for coverage.
But it seems that many Israelis accept Mr. Seaman’s assessment and shed no tears over the restrictions, despite repeated protests by the Foreign Press Association of Israel, including on Tuesday.
A headline in Tuesday’s issue of Yediot Aharonot, the country’s largest selling daily newspaper, expressed well the popular view of the issue. Over a news article describing the generally negative coverage so far, especially in the European media, an intentional misspelling of a Hebrew word turned the headline “World Media” into “World Liars.”
This attitude has been helped by supportive Israeli news media whose articles have been filled with “feelings of self-righteousness and a sense of catharsis following what was felt to be undue restraint in the face of attacks by the enemy,” according to a study of the first days of media coverage of the war by a liberal but nonpartisan group called Keshev, the Center for the Protection of Democracy in Israel.
The Foreign Press Association has been fighting for weeks to get its members into Gaza, first appealing to senior government officials and ultimately taking its case to the country’s highest court. Last week the justices worked out an arrangement with the organization whereby small groups would be permitted into Gaza when it was deemed safe enough for the crossings to be opened for other reasons.
So far, every time the border has been opened, journalists have not been permitted to go in.
On Tuesday, the press association released a statement saying, “The unprecedented denial of access to Gaza for the world’s media amounts to a severe violation of press freedom and puts the state of Israel in the company of a handful of regimes around the world which regularly keep journalists from doing their jobs.”
At the same time that reporters have been given less access to Gaza, the government has created a new structure for shaping its public message, ensuring that spokesmen of the major government branches meet daily to make sure all are singing from the same sheet.
“We are trying to coordinate everything that has to do with the image and content of what we are doing and to make sure that whoever goes on the air, whether a minister or professor or ex-ambassador, knows what he is saying,” said Aviv Shir-On, deputy director general for media in the Foreign Ministry. “We have talking points and we try to disseminate our ideas and message.”
Israelis say the war is being reduced on television screens around the world to a simplistic story: an American-backed country with awesome military machine fighting a third-world guerrilla force leading to a handful of Israelis dead versus 600 Gazans dead.
Israelis and their supporters think that such quick descriptions fail to explain the vital context of what has been happening — years of terrorist rocket fire on civilians have gone largely unanswered, and a message had to be sent to Israel’s enemies that this would go on no longer, they say. The issue of proportionality, they add, is a false construct because comparing death tolls offers no help in measuring justice and legitimacy.
There are other ways to construe the context of this conflict, of course. But no matter what, Israel’s diplomats know that if journalists are given a choice between covering death and covering context, death wins. So in a war that they consider necessary but poorly understood, they have decided to keep the news media far away from the death.
John Ging, an Irishman who directs operations in Gaza for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, entered Gaza on Monday as journalists were kept out. He told Palestinian reporters in Gaza that the policy was a problem.
“For the truth to get out, journalists have to get in,” he said.
By ETHAN BRONNER
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/07/world/middleeast/07media.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss&src=ig
JERUSALEM — Three times in recent days, a small group of foreign correspondents was told to appear at the border crossing to Gaza. The reporters were to be permitted in to cover firsthand the Israeli war on Hamas in keeping with a Supreme Court ruling against the two-month-old Israeli ban on foreign journalists entering Gaza.
Each time, they were turned back on security grounds, even as relief workers and other foreign citizens were permitted to cross the border. On Tuesday the reporters were told to not even bother going to the border.
And so for an 11th day of Israel’s war in Gaza, the several hundred journalists here to cover it waited in clusters away from direct contact with any fighting or Palestinian suffering, but with full access to Israeli political and military commentators eager to show them around southern Israel, where Hamas rockets have been terrorizing civilians. A slew of private groups financed mostly by Americans are helping guide the press around Israel.
Like all wars, this one is partly about public relations. But unlike any war in Israel’s history, in this one the government is seeking to entirely control the message and narrative for reasons both of politics and military strategy.
“This is the result of what happened in the 2006 Lebanon war against Hezbollah,” said Nachman Shai, a former army spokesman who is writing a doctoral dissertation on Israel’s public diplomacy. “Then, the media were everywhere. Their cameras and tapes picked up discussions between commanders. People talked on live television. It helped the enemy and confused and destabilized the home front. Today, Israel is trying to control the information much more closely.”
The government-commissioned investigation into the war with Hezbollah reported that the army had found that when reporters were allowed on the battlefield in Lebanon, they got in the way of military operations by posing risks and asking questions.
Maj. Avital Leibovich, an army spokeswoman, said, “If a journalist gets injured or killed, then it is Central Command’s responsibility.” She said the government was trying to protect Israel from rocket fire and “not deal with the media.”
Beyond such tactical considerations, there is a political one. Daniel Seaman, director of Israel’s Government Press Office, said, “Any journalist who enters Gaza becomes a fig leaf and front for the Hamas terror organization, and I see no reason why we should help that.”
Foreign reporters deny that their work in Gaza has been subject to Hamas censorship or control. Unable to send foreign reporters into Gaza, the international news media have relied on Palestinian journalists based there for coverage.
But it seems that many Israelis accept Mr. Seaman’s assessment and shed no tears over the restrictions, despite repeated protests by the Foreign Press Association of Israel, including on Tuesday.
A headline in Tuesday’s issue of Yediot Aharonot, the country’s largest selling daily newspaper, expressed well the popular view of the issue. Over a news article describing the generally negative coverage so far, especially in the European media, an intentional misspelling of a Hebrew word turned the headline “World Media” into “World Liars.”
This attitude has been helped by supportive Israeli news media whose articles have been filled with “feelings of self-righteousness and a sense of catharsis following what was felt to be undue restraint in the face of attacks by the enemy,” according to a study of the first days of media coverage of the war by a liberal but nonpartisan group called Keshev, the Center for the Protection of Democracy in Israel.
The Foreign Press Association has been fighting for weeks to get its members into Gaza, first appealing to senior government officials and ultimately taking its case to the country’s highest court. Last week the justices worked out an arrangement with the organization whereby small groups would be permitted into Gaza when it was deemed safe enough for the crossings to be opened for other reasons.
So far, every time the border has been opened, journalists have not been permitted to go in.
On Tuesday, the press association released a statement saying, “The unprecedented denial of access to Gaza for the world’s media amounts to a severe violation of press freedom and puts the state of Israel in the company of a handful of regimes around the world which regularly keep journalists from doing their jobs.”
At the same time that reporters have been given less access to Gaza, the government has created a new structure for shaping its public message, ensuring that spokesmen of the major government branches meet daily to make sure all are singing from the same sheet.
“We are trying to coordinate everything that has to do with the image and content of what we are doing and to make sure that whoever goes on the air, whether a minister or professor or ex-ambassador, knows what he is saying,” said Aviv Shir-On, deputy director general for media in the Foreign Ministry. “We have talking points and we try to disseminate our ideas and message.”
Israelis say the war is being reduced on television screens around the world to a simplistic story: an American-backed country with awesome military machine fighting a third-world guerrilla force leading to a handful of Israelis dead versus 600 Gazans dead.
Israelis and their supporters think that such quick descriptions fail to explain the vital context of what has been happening — years of terrorist rocket fire on civilians have gone largely unanswered, and a message had to be sent to Israel’s enemies that this would go on no longer, they say. The issue of proportionality, they add, is a false construct because comparing death tolls offers no help in measuring justice and legitimacy.
There are other ways to construe the context of this conflict, of course. But no matter what, Israel’s diplomats know that if journalists are given a choice between covering death and covering context, death wins. So in a war that they consider necessary but poorly understood, they have decided to keep the news media far away from the death.
John Ging, an Irishman who directs operations in Gaza for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, entered Gaza on Monday as journalists were kept out. He told Palestinian reporters in Gaza that the policy was a problem.
“For the truth to get out, journalists have to get in,” he said.
Israel Hits U.N.-Run School in Gaza
40 Die at Shelter That Military Says Hamas Was Firing From
By Griff Witte and Sudarsan Raghavan
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, January 7, 2009; A01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/06/AR2009010603504.html?sid%3DST20090107http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/contenhttp://www.washingtonpost.com:80/ac2/wp-dyn?node=admin/registration/register&sub=AR
JERUSALEM, Jan. 6 -- Israeli soldiers battling Hamas gunmen in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday fired mortar shells at a U.N.-run school where Palestinians had sought refuge from the fighting, killing at least 40 people, many of them civilians, Palestinian medical officials said.
The Israeli military said its soldiers fired in self-defense after Hamas fighters launched mortar shells from the school. The United Nations condemned the attack and called for an independent investigation.
"We are completely devastated. There is nowhere safe in Gaza," said John Ging, head of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency in the Gaza Strip.
The incident -- one of the single most deadly during Israel's 11-day offensive -- underscored the dangers Palestinian civilians face as thousands of Israeli soldiers fight their way across Gaza against an enemy that does not wear uniforms or operate from bases, but instead mingles with the population.
In all, at least 85 Palestinians died in attacks across the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, said Mowaiya Hassanien, a senior Gaza hospital official. He said the Palestinian death toll since the start of Israel's massive military campaign stood at 625, with more than 2,900 injured. The United Nations says 30 percent of those killed have been women and children.
Tuesday's attack on the school came only hours after an Israeli missile struck a residential area in al-Bureij refugee camp, injuring seven U.N. workers in a nearby medical clinic, U.N. officials said. Late Monday, an Israeli airstrike on a U.N. school in Gaza City had killed three members of a family.
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called the attacks "totally unacceptable."
"After earlier strikes, the Israeli government was warned that its operations were endangering U.N. compounds," he said in a statement. "I am deeply dismayed that despite these repeated efforts, today's tragedies have ensued."
Since the fighting began, the United Nations has opened 23 of its schools as emergency shelters for the 1.5 million residents of Gaza, who are unable to leave the territory. By Tuesday night, the number of displaced Palestinians flooding into the schools had reached 15,000.
Ging, the U.N. official in Gaza, said that all U.N. facilities are clearly marked with flags and that the Israeli military has been given precise Global Positioning System coordinates.
Using unusually strong language for a body known for quiet diplomacy, Ging declared Tuesday that both Israeli and Hamas leaders, as well as the international community, are to blame for the mounting civilian death toll.
"The political leaders who are responsible on both sides have to call a halt," Ging said. "The civilian population is paying a horrific price. We need this right now. Not tomorrow. The civilians in Gaza have international rights to be protected not by verbal protection, but actual protection."
Both Hamas and Israel have rejected calls for a truce.
Speaking in Washington, President-elect Barack Obama commented for the first time on the Israeli offensive, saying that "the loss of civilian life in Gaza and in Israel is a source of deep concern to me, and after January 20th I'll have plenty to say about the issue."
The comments contrasted with statements from the Bush administration, which has focused its public remarks on condemning Hamas's role in initiating the violence. Bush has said that only after Hamas has stopped firing rockets should Israel be required to halt its military campaign.
Rockets continued to be launched from the strip Tuesday, with 35 landing in Israel, the military said. A 3-month-old child in Gedera, about 25 miles north of Gaza, was lightly wounded.
Israeli officials blamed Hamas, which has run Gaza for the past 18 months, for the deaths at the schools.
"Unfortunately, this is not the first time that Hamas has deliberately abused a U.N. installation," said Mark Regev, spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
Israeli military officials said soldiers operating in the area around the Jabalya refugee camp in northern Gaza came under mortar fire and responded by targeting the source: the U.N.-run al-Fakhora School.
"When you're fired at, you have to fight back," said reserve Brig. Gen. Ilan Tal, a military spokesman.
Tal said two known Hamas gunmen were killed in the Israeli strike just outside the school, in addition to members of a mortar squad.
U.N. officials said they did not know whether fighters had been in the school, and wanted the matter investigated.
At the local hospital where dozens of the injured were treated, physician Basam Warda said a large number of the casualties were women and children who had gathered at the school because they considered it a haven from the fighting. At the time of the attack, people were standing outside the gate of the school, where hundreds of families had sought shelter.
"The wounded arrived with multiple fractures, ripped stomachs, amputated limbs," he said. "The bodies were ripped apart."
Warda said many of the wounded had to be placed on the floor and treated there because of a bed shortage. Others were sent to another hospital, in Gaza City. "Some might have died on the way," he said.
Ging called the fighting "the product of political failure" and accused Israel of depriving Palestinians of critically needed infrastructure.
In a report, the U.N. humanitarian office in Gaza said Tuesday that water and sewage systems in the strip were on the verge of collapse because of power outages and that a third of Gaza's residents are completely cut off from running water.
As the sense of crisis in Gaza deepened, Israeli forces battled on both ends of the 40-mile-long strip, and reports from within the territory suggested the military was tightening its grip. Witnesses said that Israel made gains in Khan Younis, in the south, and that there was intense fighting around Gaza City, in the north.
One Israeli soldier was killed Tuesday, bringing to six the total dead since Israel launched its ground offensive Saturday night. Of those, four were killed in "friendly fire" incidents.
Three Israeli civilians and a soldier were killed by rocket fire earlier in the campaign.
In his remarks, Obama said he was "not backing away at all from what I said during the campaign. . . . Starting at the beginning of our administration, we're going to engage effectively and consistently in trying to resolve the conflict in the Middle East."
Leading the push for a truce in Gaza is French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who has been visiting Middle Eastern capitals this week, urging an immediate cease-fire.
Sarkozy said the deaths at the school illustrated the need for a nonmilitary solution. "This reinforces my determination for this to end as quickly as possible," Sarkozy told reporters in the southern Lebanese town of At Tiri after learning of the school attack. "Time works against us; that's why we must find a solution."
Sarkozy was also in Damascus, Syria, on Tuesday, in a bid to get President Bashar al-Assad to pressure Hamas into agreeing to a truce. Syria and Iran are two of Hamas's biggest backers.
Assad called Israel's offensive "a war crime." But he also urged a cease-fire.
Hamas, which has never recognized Israel, has vowed to fight on. Israel says it will not stop its offensive until it has international guarantees that Hamas can be prevented from continuing to fire rockets.
As Sarkozy visited Egypt late Tuesday, President Hosni Mubarak said he would propose an immediate cease-fire, followed by talks on the Israeli blockade of Gaza and on ways of keeping arms from being smuggled into Gaza via Egypt.
Egypt mediated a cease-fire between Hamas and Israel this summer. The expiration of that truce Dec. 19 precipitated the latest round of violence.
In New York, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Olmert had responded to Mubarak's initiative with an offer to open a humanitarian corridor into Gaza but did not say whether Israel would participate in talks with the Palestinians. "We are awaiting the Israeli response and we harbor hope that it will be a positive one," Kouchner said.
Staff writer Colum Lynch at the United Nations and special correspondents Reyham Abdel Kareem in Gaza City and Samuel Sockol in Jerusalem contributed to this report.
By Griff Witte and Sudarsan Raghavan
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, January 7, 2009; A01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/06/AR2009010603504.html?sid%3DST20090107http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/contenhttp://www.washingtonpost.com:80/ac2/wp-dyn?node=admin/registration/register&sub=AR
JERUSALEM, Jan. 6 -- Israeli soldiers battling Hamas gunmen in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday fired mortar shells at a U.N.-run school where Palestinians had sought refuge from the fighting, killing at least 40 people, many of them civilians, Palestinian medical officials said.
The Israeli military said its soldiers fired in self-defense after Hamas fighters launched mortar shells from the school. The United Nations condemned the attack and called for an independent investigation.
"We are completely devastated. There is nowhere safe in Gaza," said John Ging, head of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency in the Gaza Strip.
The incident -- one of the single most deadly during Israel's 11-day offensive -- underscored the dangers Palestinian civilians face as thousands of Israeli soldiers fight their way across Gaza against an enemy that does not wear uniforms or operate from bases, but instead mingles with the population.
In all, at least 85 Palestinians died in attacks across the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, said Mowaiya Hassanien, a senior Gaza hospital official. He said the Palestinian death toll since the start of Israel's massive military campaign stood at 625, with more than 2,900 injured. The United Nations says 30 percent of those killed have been women and children.
Tuesday's attack on the school came only hours after an Israeli missile struck a residential area in al-Bureij refugee camp, injuring seven U.N. workers in a nearby medical clinic, U.N. officials said. Late Monday, an Israeli airstrike on a U.N. school in Gaza City had killed three members of a family.
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called the attacks "totally unacceptable."
"After earlier strikes, the Israeli government was warned that its operations were endangering U.N. compounds," he said in a statement. "I am deeply dismayed that despite these repeated efforts, today's tragedies have ensued."
Since the fighting began, the United Nations has opened 23 of its schools as emergency shelters for the 1.5 million residents of Gaza, who are unable to leave the territory. By Tuesday night, the number of displaced Palestinians flooding into the schools had reached 15,000.
Ging, the U.N. official in Gaza, said that all U.N. facilities are clearly marked with flags and that the Israeli military has been given precise Global Positioning System coordinates.
Using unusually strong language for a body known for quiet diplomacy, Ging declared Tuesday that both Israeli and Hamas leaders, as well as the international community, are to blame for the mounting civilian death toll.
"The political leaders who are responsible on both sides have to call a halt," Ging said. "The civilian population is paying a horrific price. We need this right now. Not tomorrow. The civilians in Gaza have international rights to be protected not by verbal protection, but actual protection."
Both Hamas and Israel have rejected calls for a truce.
Speaking in Washington, President-elect Barack Obama commented for the first time on the Israeli offensive, saying that "the loss of civilian life in Gaza and in Israel is a source of deep concern to me, and after January 20th I'll have plenty to say about the issue."
The comments contrasted with statements from the Bush administration, which has focused its public remarks on condemning Hamas's role in initiating the violence. Bush has said that only after Hamas has stopped firing rockets should Israel be required to halt its military campaign.
Rockets continued to be launched from the strip Tuesday, with 35 landing in Israel, the military said. A 3-month-old child in Gedera, about 25 miles north of Gaza, was lightly wounded.
Israeli officials blamed Hamas, which has run Gaza for the past 18 months, for the deaths at the schools.
"Unfortunately, this is not the first time that Hamas has deliberately abused a U.N. installation," said Mark Regev, spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
Israeli military officials said soldiers operating in the area around the Jabalya refugee camp in northern Gaza came under mortar fire and responded by targeting the source: the U.N.-run al-Fakhora School.
"When you're fired at, you have to fight back," said reserve Brig. Gen. Ilan Tal, a military spokesman.
Tal said two known Hamas gunmen were killed in the Israeli strike just outside the school, in addition to members of a mortar squad.
U.N. officials said they did not know whether fighters had been in the school, and wanted the matter investigated.
At the local hospital where dozens of the injured were treated, physician Basam Warda said a large number of the casualties were women and children who had gathered at the school because they considered it a haven from the fighting. At the time of the attack, people were standing outside the gate of the school, where hundreds of families had sought shelter.
"The wounded arrived with multiple fractures, ripped stomachs, amputated limbs," he said. "The bodies were ripped apart."
Warda said many of the wounded had to be placed on the floor and treated there because of a bed shortage. Others were sent to another hospital, in Gaza City. "Some might have died on the way," he said.
Ging called the fighting "the product of political failure" and accused Israel of depriving Palestinians of critically needed infrastructure.
In a report, the U.N. humanitarian office in Gaza said Tuesday that water and sewage systems in the strip were on the verge of collapse because of power outages and that a third of Gaza's residents are completely cut off from running water.
As the sense of crisis in Gaza deepened, Israeli forces battled on both ends of the 40-mile-long strip, and reports from within the territory suggested the military was tightening its grip. Witnesses said that Israel made gains in Khan Younis, in the south, and that there was intense fighting around Gaza City, in the north.
One Israeli soldier was killed Tuesday, bringing to six the total dead since Israel launched its ground offensive Saturday night. Of those, four were killed in "friendly fire" incidents.
Three Israeli civilians and a soldier were killed by rocket fire earlier in the campaign.
In his remarks, Obama said he was "not backing away at all from what I said during the campaign. . . . Starting at the beginning of our administration, we're going to engage effectively and consistently in trying to resolve the conflict in the Middle East."
Leading the push for a truce in Gaza is French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who has been visiting Middle Eastern capitals this week, urging an immediate cease-fire.
Sarkozy said the deaths at the school illustrated the need for a nonmilitary solution. "This reinforces my determination for this to end as quickly as possible," Sarkozy told reporters in the southern Lebanese town of At Tiri after learning of the school attack. "Time works against us; that's why we must find a solution."
Sarkozy was also in Damascus, Syria, on Tuesday, in a bid to get President Bashar al-Assad to pressure Hamas into agreeing to a truce. Syria and Iran are two of Hamas's biggest backers.
Assad called Israel's offensive "a war crime." But he also urged a cease-fire.
Hamas, which has never recognized Israel, has vowed to fight on. Israel says it will not stop its offensive until it has international guarantees that Hamas can be prevented from continuing to fire rockets.
As Sarkozy visited Egypt late Tuesday, President Hosni Mubarak said he would propose an immediate cease-fire, followed by talks on the Israeli blockade of Gaza and on ways of keeping arms from being smuggled into Gaza via Egypt.
Egypt mediated a cease-fire between Hamas and Israel this summer. The expiration of that truce Dec. 19 precipitated the latest round of violence.
In New York, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Olmert had responded to Mubarak's initiative with an offer to open a humanitarian corridor into Gaza but did not say whether Israel would participate in talks with the Palestinians. "We are awaiting the Israeli response and we harbor hope that it will be a positive one," Kouchner said.
Staff writer Colum Lynch at the United Nations and special correspondents Reyham Abdel Kareem in Gaza City and Samuel Sockol in Jerusalem contributed to this report.
Israel Halts Operations To Allow Aid Shipments
By Craig Whitlock, Griff Witte and Sudarsan Raghavan
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, January 7, 2009; 9:33 AM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/07/AR2009010700791.html?nav=igoogle
JERUSALEM, Jan. 7 -- Israel paused its military operations in the Gaza Strip for three hours on Wednesday to allow for deliveries of humanitarian aid, as Israeli leaders said they were considering an Egyptian proposal for a more lasting ceasefire.
The Israeli government said it "views as positive" talks brokered by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and French President Nicolas Sarkozy. But Israel officials would not confirm a statement issued by Sarkozy Wednesday afternoon in Paris asserting that Israel had agreed to a truce.
Details of the ceasefire proposal were unclear, but Israel has insisted it will not end its 12-day military campaign in Gaza without guarantees that Hamas will stop smuggling rockets and other weapons into the Palestinian territory.
Meantime, the Israeli military prepared to resume operations in Gaza as the three-hour lull in fighting came to a close. Israeli military officials said they agreed to the temporary break to give besieged Gaza residents an opportunity to emerge from their homes to seek food, fuel and other emergency supplies. Israel has allowed some aid deliveries since it began airstrikes Dec. 27 but relief workers said they have been unable to reach much of the population because of heavy fighting.
The opening of "humanitarian corridors" each day is meant to relieve a situation that international aid agencies say has reached crisis proportions.
The militant group Hamas, which is in charge of the Gaza Strip, said it would not launch any missiles during the three-hour pause.
"There will be no missile launching in these three hours," Hamas deputy leader Moussa Abu Marzouk told Dubai-based Al Arabiya television.
Relief agencies have warned of rapidly worsening conditions in Gaza, with most residents lacking electricity and running water, as well as access to emergency medical care. About 625 Palestinians have died since the start of Israel's massive military campaign, with more than 2,900 injured, according to Palestinian health officials. The United Nations says 30 percent of those killed have been women and children.
Seven Israeli soldiers and three civilians have died in the conflict.The World Bank said Wednesday that Gaza faced a "severe public health crisis" due to a lack of potable water and failing sewage systems. It warned that a major sewage reservoir in Beit Lahiya was at risk of collapse.
"Failure of the lake structure would put about 10,000 residents of the surrounding area in danger of drowning and spark a wider environmental and public health disaster," the agency said in a statement.
The Israeli cabinet met Wednesday morning to discuss a ceasefire proposal floated by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak Tuesday night. Israeli officials said they were taking the proposal seriously. But they repeated that they would only end their military operation on the condition that Hamas be prevented from smuggling arms and rockets into Gaza from Egypt.
At the same time, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that the cabinet was weighing a plan to intensify the ground offensive in Gaza to further weaken Hamas before a possible withdrawal. The newspaper said that most of Israel's military objectives had already been met.
Meanwhile, heavy fighting was reported in the Zeitoun neighborhood east of Gaza City. The Israeli military said it attacked more than 40 targets overnight, including 15 tunnels.
The daily pause in fighting comes a day after Israeli soldiers battling Hamas gunmen fired mortar shells at a U.N.-run school where Palestinians had sought refuge from the fighting. The incident killed at least 40 people, many of them civilians, Palestinian medical officials said.
The Israeli military said its soldiers fired in self-defense after Hamas fighters launched mortar shells from the school. The United Nations condemned the attack and called for an independent investigation.
"We are completely devastated. There is nowhere safe in Gaza," said John Ging, head of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency in the Gaza Strip.
It was one of the single most deadly attacks during Israel's 11-day offensive and underscored the dangers Palestinian civilians face as thousands of Israeli soldiers fight their way across Gaza against an enemy that does not wear uniforms or operate from bases, but instead mingles with the population.
In all, at least 85 Palestinians died in attacks across the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, said Mowaiya Hassanien, a senior Gaza hospital official.
Tuesday's attack on the school came only hours after an Israeli missile struck a residential area in al-Bureij refugee camp, injuring seven U.N. workers in a nearby medical clinic, U.N. officials said. Late Monday, an Israeli airstrike on a U.N. school in Gaza City had killed three members of a family.
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called the attacks "totally unacceptable."
"After earlier strikes, the Israeli government was warned that its operations were endangering U.N. compounds," he said in a statement. "I am deeply dismayed that despite these repeated efforts, today's tragedies have ensued."
Since the fighting began, the United Nations has opened 23 of its schools as emergency shelters for the 1.5 million residents of Gaza, who are unable to leave the territory. By Tuesday night, the number of displaced Palestinians flooding into the schools had reached 15,000.
Ging, the U.N. official in Gaza, said that all U.N. facilities are clearly marked with flags and that the Israeli military has been given precise Global Positioning System coordinates.
Using unusually strong language for a body known for quiet diplomacy, Ging declared Tuesday that both Israeli and Hamas leaders, as well as the international community, are to blame for the mounting civilian death toll.
"The political leaders who are responsible on both sides have to call a halt," Ging said. "The civilian population is paying a horrific price. We need this right now. Not tomorrow. The civilians in Gaza have international rights to be protected not by verbal protection, but actual protection."
Both Hamas and Israel have rejected calls for a truce.
Speaking in Washington, President-elect Barack Obama commented for the first time on the Israeli offensive, saying that "the loss of civilian life in Gaza and in Israel is a source of deep concern to me, and after January 20th I'll have plenty to say about the issue."
The comments contrasted with statements from the Bush administration, which has focused its public remarks on condemning Hamas's role in initiating the violence. Bush has said that only after Hamas has stopped firing rockets should Israel be required to halt its military campaign.
Rockets continued to be launched from the strip Tuesday, with 35 landing in Israel, the military said. A 3-month-old child in Gedera, about 25 miles north of Gaza, was lightly wounded.
Israeli officials blamed Hamas, which has run Gaza for the past 18 months, for the deaths at the schools.
"Unfortunately, this is not the first time that Hamas has deliberately abused a U.N. installation," said Mark Regev, spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
Israeli military officials said soldiers operating in the area around the Jabalya refugee camp in northern Gaza came under mortar fire and responded by targeting the source: the U.N.-run al-Fakhora School.
"When you're fired at, you have to fight back," said reserve Brig. Gen. Ilan Tal, a military spokesman.
Tal said two known Hamas gunmen were killed in the Israeli strike just outside the school, in addition to members of a mortar squad.
U.N. officials said they did not know whether fighters had been in the school, and wanted the matter investigated.
At the local hospital where dozens of the injured were treated, physician Basam Warda said a large number of the casualties were women and children who had gathered at the school because they considered it a haven from the fighting. At the time of the attack, people were standing outside the gate of the school, where hundreds of families had sought shelter.
"The wounded arrived with multiple fractures, ripped stomachs, amputated limbs," he said. "The bodies were ripped apart."
Warda said many of the wounded had to be placed on the floor and treated there because of a bed shortage. Others were sent to another hospital, in Gaza City. "Some might have died on the way," he said.
Ging called the fighting "the product of political failure" and accused Israel of depriving Palestinians of critically needed infrastructure.
In a report, the U.N. humanitarian office in Gaza said Tuesday that water and sewage systems in the strip were on the verge of collapse because of power outages and that a third of Gaza's residents are completely cut off from running water.
As the sense of crisis in Gaza deepened, Israeli forces battled on both ends of the 40-mile-long strip, and reports from within the territory suggested the military was tightening its grip. Witnesses said that Israel made gains in Khan Younis, in the south, and that there was intense fighting around Gaza City, in the north.
One Israeli soldier was killed Tuesday, bringing to six the total dead since Israel launched its ground offensive Saturday night. Of those, four were killed in "friendly fire" incidents.
Three Israeli civilians and a soldier were killed by rocket fire earlier in the campaign.
In his remarks, Obama said he was "not backing away at all from what I said during the campaign. . . . Starting at the beginning of our administration, we're going to engage effectively and consistently in trying to resolve the conflict in the Middle East."
Leading the push for a truce in Gaza is French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who has been visiting Middle Eastern capitals this week, urging an immediate cease-fire.
Sarkozy said the deaths at the school illustrated the need for a nonmilitary solution. "This reinforces my determination for this to end as quickly as possible," Sarkozy told reporters in the southern Lebanese town of At Tiri after learning of the school attack. "Time works against us; that's why we must find a solution."
Sarkozy was also in Damascus, Syria, on Tuesday, in a bid to get President Bashar al-Assad to pressure Hamas into agreeing to a truce. Syria and Iran are two of Hamas's biggest backers.
Assad called Israel's offensive "a war crime." But he also urged a cease-fire.
Hamas, which has never recognized Israel, has vowed to fight on. Israel says it will not stop its offensive until it has international guarantees that Hamas can be prevented from continuing to fire rockets.
As Sarkozy visited Egypt late Tuesday, President Hosni Mubarak said he would propose an immediate cease-fire, followed by talks on the Israeli blockade of Gaza and on ways of keeping arms from being smuggled into Gaza via Egypt.
Egypt mediated a cease-fire between Hamas and Israel this summer. The expiration of that truce Dec. 19 precipitated the latest round of violence.
In New York, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Olmert had responded to Mubarak's initiative with an offer to open a humanitarian corridor into Gaza but did not say whether Israel would participate in talks with the Palestinians. "We are awaiting the Israeli response and we harbor hope that it will be a positive one," Kouchner said.
Staff writer Colum Lynch at the United Nations and special correspondents Reyham Abdel Kareem in Gaza City and Samuel Sockol in Jerusalem contributed to this report.
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, January 7, 2009; 9:33 AM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/07/AR2009010700791.html?nav=igoogle
JERUSALEM, Jan. 7 -- Israel paused its military operations in the Gaza Strip for three hours on Wednesday to allow for deliveries of humanitarian aid, as Israeli leaders said they were considering an Egyptian proposal for a more lasting ceasefire.
The Israeli government said it "views as positive" talks brokered by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and French President Nicolas Sarkozy. But Israel officials would not confirm a statement issued by Sarkozy Wednesday afternoon in Paris asserting that Israel had agreed to a truce.
Details of the ceasefire proposal were unclear, but Israel has insisted it will not end its 12-day military campaign in Gaza without guarantees that Hamas will stop smuggling rockets and other weapons into the Palestinian territory.
Meantime, the Israeli military prepared to resume operations in Gaza as the three-hour lull in fighting came to a close. Israeli military officials said they agreed to the temporary break to give besieged Gaza residents an opportunity to emerge from their homes to seek food, fuel and other emergency supplies. Israel has allowed some aid deliveries since it began airstrikes Dec. 27 but relief workers said they have been unable to reach much of the population because of heavy fighting.
The opening of "humanitarian corridors" each day is meant to relieve a situation that international aid agencies say has reached crisis proportions.
The militant group Hamas, which is in charge of the Gaza Strip, said it would not launch any missiles during the three-hour pause.
"There will be no missile launching in these three hours," Hamas deputy leader Moussa Abu Marzouk told Dubai-based Al Arabiya television.
Relief agencies have warned of rapidly worsening conditions in Gaza, with most residents lacking electricity and running water, as well as access to emergency medical care. About 625 Palestinians have died since the start of Israel's massive military campaign, with more than 2,900 injured, according to Palestinian health officials. The United Nations says 30 percent of those killed have been women and children.
Seven Israeli soldiers and three civilians have died in the conflict.The World Bank said Wednesday that Gaza faced a "severe public health crisis" due to a lack of potable water and failing sewage systems. It warned that a major sewage reservoir in Beit Lahiya was at risk of collapse.
"Failure of the lake structure would put about 10,000 residents of the surrounding area in danger of drowning and spark a wider environmental and public health disaster," the agency said in a statement.
The Israeli cabinet met Wednesday morning to discuss a ceasefire proposal floated by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak Tuesday night. Israeli officials said they were taking the proposal seriously. But they repeated that they would only end their military operation on the condition that Hamas be prevented from smuggling arms and rockets into Gaza from Egypt.
At the same time, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that the cabinet was weighing a plan to intensify the ground offensive in Gaza to further weaken Hamas before a possible withdrawal. The newspaper said that most of Israel's military objectives had already been met.
Meanwhile, heavy fighting was reported in the Zeitoun neighborhood east of Gaza City. The Israeli military said it attacked more than 40 targets overnight, including 15 tunnels.
The daily pause in fighting comes a day after Israeli soldiers battling Hamas gunmen fired mortar shells at a U.N.-run school where Palestinians had sought refuge from the fighting. The incident killed at least 40 people, many of them civilians, Palestinian medical officials said.
The Israeli military said its soldiers fired in self-defense after Hamas fighters launched mortar shells from the school. The United Nations condemned the attack and called for an independent investigation.
"We are completely devastated. There is nowhere safe in Gaza," said John Ging, head of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency in the Gaza Strip.
It was one of the single most deadly attacks during Israel's 11-day offensive and underscored the dangers Palestinian civilians face as thousands of Israeli soldiers fight their way across Gaza against an enemy that does not wear uniforms or operate from bases, but instead mingles with the population.
In all, at least 85 Palestinians died in attacks across the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, said Mowaiya Hassanien, a senior Gaza hospital official.
Tuesday's attack on the school came only hours after an Israeli missile struck a residential area in al-Bureij refugee camp, injuring seven U.N. workers in a nearby medical clinic, U.N. officials said. Late Monday, an Israeli airstrike on a U.N. school in Gaza City had killed three members of a family.
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called the attacks "totally unacceptable."
"After earlier strikes, the Israeli government was warned that its operations were endangering U.N. compounds," he said in a statement. "I am deeply dismayed that despite these repeated efforts, today's tragedies have ensued."
Since the fighting began, the United Nations has opened 23 of its schools as emergency shelters for the 1.5 million residents of Gaza, who are unable to leave the territory. By Tuesday night, the number of displaced Palestinians flooding into the schools had reached 15,000.
Ging, the U.N. official in Gaza, said that all U.N. facilities are clearly marked with flags and that the Israeli military has been given precise Global Positioning System coordinates.
Using unusually strong language for a body known for quiet diplomacy, Ging declared Tuesday that both Israeli and Hamas leaders, as well as the international community, are to blame for the mounting civilian death toll.
"The political leaders who are responsible on both sides have to call a halt," Ging said. "The civilian population is paying a horrific price. We need this right now. Not tomorrow. The civilians in Gaza have international rights to be protected not by verbal protection, but actual protection."
Both Hamas and Israel have rejected calls for a truce.
Speaking in Washington, President-elect Barack Obama commented for the first time on the Israeli offensive, saying that "the loss of civilian life in Gaza and in Israel is a source of deep concern to me, and after January 20th I'll have plenty to say about the issue."
The comments contrasted with statements from the Bush administration, which has focused its public remarks on condemning Hamas's role in initiating the violence. Bush has said that only after Hamas has stopped firing rockets should Israel be required to halt its military campaign.
Rockets continued to be launched from the strip Tuesday, with 35 landing in Israel, the military said. A 3-month-old child in Gedera, about 25 miles north of Gaza, was lightly wounded.
Israeli officials blamed Hamas, which has run Gaza for the past 18 months, for the deaths at the schools.
"Unfortunately, this is not the first time that Hamas has deliberately abused a U.N. installation," said Mark Regev, spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
Israeli military officials said soldiers operating in the area around the Jabalya refugee camp in northern Gaza came under mortar fire and responded by targeting the source: the U.N.-run al-Fakhora School.
"When you're fired at, you have to fight back," said reserve Brig. Gen. Ilan Tal, a military spokesman.
Tal said two known Hamas gunmen were killed in the Israeli strike just outside the school, in addition to members of a mortar squad.
U.N. officials said they did not know whether fighters had been in the school, and wanted the matter investigated.
At the local hospital where dozens of the injured were treated, physician Basam Warda said a large number of the casualties were women and children who had gathered at the school because they considered it a haven from the fighting. At the time of the attack, people were standing outside the gate of the school, where hundreds of families had sought shelter.
"The wounded arrived with multiple fractures, ripped stomachs, amputated limbs," he said. "The bodies were ripped apart."
Warda said many of the wounded had to be placed on the floor and treated there because of a bed shortage. Others were sent to another hospital, in Gaza City. "Some might have died on the way," he said.
Ging called the fighting "the product of political failure" and accused Israel of depriving Palestinians of critically needed infrastructure.
In a report, the U.N. humanitarian office in Gaza said Tuesday that water and sewage systems in the strip were on the verge of collapse because of power outages and that a third of Gaza's residents are completely cut off from running water.
As the sense of crisis in Gaza deepened, Israeli forces battled on both ends of the 40-mile-long strip, and reports from within the territory suggested the military was tightening its grip. Witnesses said that Israel made gains in Khan Younis, in the south, and that there was intense fighting around Gaza City, in the north.
One Israeli soldier was killed Tuesday, bringing to six the total dead since Israel launched its ground offensive Saturday night. Of those, four were killed in "friendly fire" incidents.
Three Israeli civilians and a soldier were killed by rocket fire earlier in the campaign.
In his remarks, Obama said he was "not backing away at all from what I said during the campaign. . . . Starting at the beginning of our administration, we're going to engage effectively and consistently in trying to resolve the conflict in the Middle East."
Leading the push for a truce in Gaza is French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who has been visiting Middle Eastern capitals this week, urging an immediate cease-fire.
Sarkozy said the deaths at the school illustrated the need for a nonmilitary solution. "This reinforces my determination for this to end as quickly as possible," Sarkozy told reporters in the southern Lebanese town of At Tiri after learning of the school attack. "Time works against us; that's why we must find a solution."
Sarkozy was also in Damascus, Syria, on Tuesday, in a bid to get President Bashar al-Assad to pressure Hamas into agreeing to a truce. Syria and Iran are two of Hamas's biggest backers.
Assad called Israel's offensive "a war crime." But he also urged a cease-fire.
Hamas, which has never recognized Israel, has vowed to fight on. Israel says it will not stop its offensive until it has international guarantees that Hamas can be prevented from continuing to fire rockets.
As Sarkozy visited Egypt late Tuesday, President Hosni Mubarak said he would propose an immediate cease-fire, followed by talks on the Israeli blockade of Gaza and on ways of keeping arms from being smuggled into Gaza via Egypt.
Egypt mediated a cease-fire between Hamas and Israel this summer. The expiration of that truce Dec. 19 precipitated the latest round of violence.
In New York, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Olmert had responded to Mubarak's initiative with an offer to open a humanitarian corridor into Gaza but did not say whether Israel would participate in talks with the Palestinians. "We are awaiting the Israeli response and we harbor hope that it will be a positive one," Kouchner said.
Staff writer Colum Lynch at the United Nations and special correspondents Reyham Abdel Kareem in Gaza City and Samuel Sockol in Jerusalem contributed to this report.
31 December 2008
Israel Rejects 48-Hour Cease-Fire Plan
January 1, 2009
By ETHAN BRONNER and TAGHREED EL-KHODARY
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/01/world/middleeast/01mideast.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss&src=igw
JERUSALEM — After five straight days of punishing air attacks, Israel rejected a proposal for a 48-hour cease-fire in its military onslaught in Gaza on Wednesday, saying it would maintain pressure on Hamas. But it did not rule out future diplomacy and was open to ways of increasing humanitarian aid.
The decision was announced after a security cabinet meeting here.
The Israeli air strikes on Gaza continued on Wednesday, and at least 20 more rockets were fired by Hamas militants in reprisal into southern Israel, including three that landed in the city of Beersheba. Mark Regev, the spokesman for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, said earlier that the country’s leaders “view it as important to keep up the pressure on Hamas.”
“We cannot give them a respite to rearm and regroup,” he said. “We need a real, sustainable solution, not a Band-Aid.” But he added that Israel would still explore ways to expedite humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians in Gaza and would also explore a broader diplomatic effort to achieve a lasting cease-fire.
He and other officials said Israel was continuing to talk to American and European leaders about finding a longer-term diplomatic solution.
The idea of a 48-hour cease-fire emerged from a conversation between Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner of France and Defense Minister Ehud Barak of Israel. It was supposed to establish at least a temporary pause in the fighting that would allow humanitarian relief to be delivered to the besieged coastal strip.
“The leading option right now is still a ground invasion, but the target of this operation is an improved cease-fire, and if that can come without the invasion, fine,” a close aide to Mr. Barak said Tuesday, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he is not Mr. Barak’s authorized spokesman. “But, of course, Hamas has to agree, and there has to be a mechanism to make it work.”
On Wednesday, rockets fired by Hamas militants struck targets more than 20 miles from Gaza, displaying greater range than earlier in the conflict. In Beersheba, one hit an empty school, according to news reports. Schools in Beersheba were ordered closed Tuesday because of an earlier missile strike. The Israeli military says that, while some Hamas rockets are home-made, the longer-range missiles are more sophisticated and are smuggled into Gaza.
Israeli warplanes bombed tunnels along Gaza’s border with Egypt which provide crucial supply lines. The crump of bombing could be heard from the Egyptian side of the frontier.
With Gaza’s food and medical supplies threatened by the conflict, a British government minister, Douglas Alexander, said aid was “desperately needed.”
“The human cost of this conflict is unacceptable and the humanitarian situation is getting worse by the hour,” said Mr. Alexander, the international development secretary, as he announced a $10 million emergency aid package on Wednesday.
In Cairo, a meeting of foreign ministers from the 22-member Arab League began amid calls by some Arab leaders for Palestinians to end disputes between Hamas in Gaza and the Fatah movement led by Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, in the West Bank, according to news reports.
The latest European diplomacy began Tuesday when Mr. Kouchner met with his European Union colleagues over the Gaza crisis and called publicly for a permanent cease-fire. A similar call came from the so-called quartet of powers focused on the region — the United Nations, the European Union, the United States and Russia.
President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made phone calls to Israeli and Arab leaders to explore prospects for halting the fighting. They emphasized that any cease-fire should be “durable and sustainable,” compelling Hamas to end its rocket attacks, a State Department spokesman said.
“That is different from the cease-fire that existed in the last six months,” said the spokesman, Gordon Duguid, noting that Hamas had routinely violated the previous agreement by firing rockets into southern Israel.
The flurry of diplomacy appeared to be mostly byplay in Jerusalem and Gaza, as Israeli officials spoke of a continuing and expanding military operation, and Hamas vowed to step up its resistance. It was also clear that the number of targets available from the air was declining, making the likelihood of a ground offensive greater.
In Gaza, Hamas militants issued a taped statement vowing revenge for those killed in the Israeli air raids since Saturday and warning that a ground invasion would prove painful for Israel. Palestinian officials say that more than 370 people have been killed, among them, the United Nations says, at least 62 women and children and an unknown number of civilian men. Two sisters, ages 4 and 11, were killed in a strike in the north as concern was growing around the world that the assault was taking a terrible toll on civilians.
“It would be easier to dry the sea of Gaza than to defeat the resistance and uproot Hamas, which is in every house of Gaza,” said the statement from the military wing of Hamas. It was played on Hamas’s television station, which had been shut down by an Israeli missile but went back on the air by broadcasting from a mobile van. The statement added that if there was a ground invasion, “the children of Gaza will be collecting the body parts of your soldiers and the ruins of tanks.”
Israeli warplanes, returning repeatedly to the same section of Gaza City overnight, pummeled the main government complex with about 20 missiles, residents said Tuesday. The building had been evacuated since the start of the operation on Saturday, which also hit nearly all of Hamas’s security complexes, its university and other symbols of its sovereignty and power.
The Nakhala family, which lives next to the compound, was inspecting the damage on Tuesday morning and recounting the utter fear and panic they all felt as the missiles hit.
“We have no shelters in Gaza,” said the father, Osama Nakhala. “Where shall we go? I also have to worry about my mother, who is 80 years old and paralyzed.”
His 13-year-old son, Yousef, was with him. When asked his view of the situation, Yousef took an unusual stand for someone in Gaza, where Israel is being cursed by most everyone. “I blame Hamas. It doesn’t want to recognize Israel. If they did so there could be peace,” he said. “Egypt made a peace treaty with Israel, and nothing is happening to them.”
His brother Amjad, 16, disagreed and blamed the Palestinian president in the West Bank, Mahmoud Abbas, saying that he had sided with Israel.
Gaza City was entirely without electricity for the first time, the result of an air attack that hit the system’s infrastructure. Repair workers said they were afraid to work because of the possibility of more raids.
The few open bakeries and grocery stores had lines stretching outside as people tried to stock up. But essentials, like diapers, baby food, bread, potatoes and fresh vegetables, were in short supply and costlier than normal.
Israel sent in about 100 trucks with emergency supplies of food and medicine, the military reported.
At the Hassouna Bakery near Shifa Hospital, about 100 men and 50 women waited in separate lines to buy bread. Amal Altayan was telling others in the line that she kept her cellphone in her pocket so that if an Israeli missile destroyed her house she would be able to phone for help. The other women mocked her, saying that if a missile hit her house, she would be gone. Showing familiarity with the kind of knowledge circulating in Gaza these days, Ms. Altayan replied, “It depends. If it is an F-16 I will turn into biscuits, but if it is an Apache I may have a chance.”
Osama Alaf, 41, said he spent four hours waiting in line to buy bread. “I bought flour until now,” he said. “I don’t have cooking gas, but I make a fire out of cartons and paper and make bread that way.” Asked whom he blamed, he said, “Israel, which is slaughtering us, and whoever is cooperating with Israel, like Egypt.”
Anger at Egypt has grown across the Arab and Muslim worlds because it has declined to open its border with Gaza and is seen as cooperating with Israel.
Ethan Bronner reported from Jerusalem, and Taghreed El-Khodary from Gaza. Steven Erlanger contributed reporting from Rafah, Egypt; Mark Landler from Washington and Alan Cowell from London.
By ETHAN BRONNER and TAGHREED EL-KHODARY
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/01/world/middleeast/01mideast.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss&src=igw
JERUSALEM — After five straight days of punishing air attacks, Israel rejected a proposal for a 48-hour cease-fire in its military onslaught in Gaza on Wednesday, saying it would maintain pressure on Hamas. But it did not rule out future diplomacy and was open to ways of increasing humanitarian aid.
The decision was announced after a security cabinet meeting here.
The Israeli air strikes on Gaza continued on Wednesday, and at least 20 more rockets were fired by Hamas militants in reprisal into southern Israel, including three that landed in the city of Beersheba. Mark Regev, the spokesman for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, said earlier that the country’s leaders “view it as important to keep up the pressure on Hamas.”
“We cannot give them a respite to rearm and regroup,” he said. “We need a real, sustainable solution, not a Band-Aid.” But he added that Israel would still explore ways to expedite humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians in Gaza and would also explore a broader diplomatic effort to achieve a lasting cease-fire.
He and other officials said Israel was continuing to talk to American and European leaders about finding a longer-term diplomatic solution.
The idea of a 48-hour cease-fire emerged from a conversation between Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner of France and Defense Minister Ehud Barak of Israel. It was supposed to establish at least a temporary pause in the fighting that would allow humanitarian relief to be delivered to the besieged coastal strip.
“The leading option right now is still a ground invasion, but the target of this operation is an improved cease-fire, and if that can come without the invasion, fine,” a close aide to Mr. Barak said Tuesday, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he is not Mr. Barak’s authorized spokesman. “But, of course, Hamas has to agree, and there has to be a mechanism to make it work.”
On Wednesday, rockets fired by Hamas militants struck targets more than 20 miles from Gaza, displaying greater range than earlier in the conflict. In Beersheba, one hit an empty school, according to news reports. Schools in Beersheba were ordered closed Tuesday because of an earlier missile strike. The Israeli military says that, while some Hamas rockets are home-made, the longer-range missiles are more sophisticated and are smuggled into Gaza.
Israeli warplanes bombed tunnels along Gaza’s border with Egypt which provide crucial supply lines. The crump of bombing could be heard from the Egyptian side of the frontier.
With Gaza’s food and medical supplies threatened by the conflict, a British government minister, Douglas Alexander, said aid was “desperately needed.”
“The human cost of this conflict is unacceptable and the humanitarian situation is getting worse by the hour,” said Mr. Alexander, the international development secretary, as he announced a $10 million emergency aid package on Wednesday.
In Cairo, a meeting of foreign ministers from the 22-member Arab League began amid calls by some Arab leaders for Palestinians to end disputes between Hamas in Gaza and the Fatah movement led by Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, in the West Bank, according to news reports.
The latest European diplomacy began Tuesday when Mr. Kouchner met with his European Union colleagues over the Gaza crisis and called publicly for a permanent cease-fire. A similar call came from the so-called quartet of powers focused on the region — the United Nations, the European Union, the United States and Russia.
President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made phone calls to Israeli and Arab leaders to explore prospects for halting the fighting. They emphasized that any cease-fire should be “durable and sustainable,” compelling Hamas to end its rocket attacks, a State Department spokesman said.
“That is different from the cease-fire that existed in the last six months,” said the spokesman, Gordon Duguid, noting that Hamas had routinely violated the previous agreement by firing rockets into southern Israel.
The flurry of diplomacy appeared to be mostly byplay in Jerusalem and Gaza, as Israeli officials spoke of a continuing and expanding military operation, and Hamas vowed to step up its resistance. It was also clear that the number of targets available from the air was declining, making the likelihood of a ground offensive greater.
In Gaza, Hamas militants issued a taped statement vowing revenge for those killed in the Israeli air raids since Saturday and warning that a ground invasion would prove painful for Israel. Palestinian officials say that more than 370 people have been killed, among them, the United Nations says, at least 62 women and children and an unknown number of civilian men. Two sisters, ages 4 and 11, were killed in a strike in the north as concern was growing around the world that the assault was taking a terrible toll on civilians.
“It would be easier to dry the sea of Gaza than to defeat the resistance and uproot Hamas, which is in every house of Gaza,” said the statement from the military wing of Hamas. It was played on Hamas’s television station, which had been shut down by an Israeli missile but went back on the air by broadcasting from a mobile van. The statement added that if there was a ground invasion, “the children of Gaza will be collecting the body parts of your soldiers and the ruins of tanks.”
Israeli warplanes, returning repeatedly to the same section of Gaza City overnight, pummeled the main government complex with about 20 missiles, residents said Tuesday. The building had been evacuated since the start of the operation on Saturday, which also hit nearly all of Hamas’s security complexes, its university and other symbols of its sovereignty and power.
The Nakhala family, which lives next to the compound, was inspecting the damage on Tuesday morning and recounting the utter fear and panic they all felt as the missiles hit.
“We have no shelters in Gaza,” said the father, Osama Nakhala. “Where shall we go? I also have to worry about my mother, who is 80 years old and paralyzed.”
His 13-year-old son, Yousef, was with him. When asked his view of the situation, Yousef took an unusual stand for someone in Gaza, where Israel is being cursed by most everyone. “I blame Hamas. It doesn’t want to recognize Israel. If they did so there could be peace,” he said. “Egypt made a peace treaty with Israel, and nothing is happening to them.”
His brother Amjad, 16, disagreed and blamed the Palestinian president in the West Bank, Mahmoud Abbas, saying that he had sided with Israel.
Gaza City was entirely without electricity for the first time, the result of an air attack that hit the system’s infrastructure. Repair workers said they were afraid to work because of the possibility of more raids.
The few open bakeries and grocery stores had lines stretching outside as people tried to stock up. But essentials, like diapers, baby food, bread, potatoes and fresh vegetables, were in short supply and costlier than normal.
Israel sent in about 100 trucks with emergency supplies of food and medicine, the military reported.
At the Hassouna Bakery near Shifa Hospital, about 100 men and 50 women waited in separate lines to buy bread. Amal Altayan was telling others in the line that she kept her cellphone in her pocket so that if an Israeli missile destroyed her house she would be able to phone for help. The other women mocked her, saying that if a missile hit her house, she would be gone. Showing familiarity with the kind of knowledge circulating in Gaza these days, Ms. Altayan replied, “It depends. If it is an F-16 I will turn into biscuits, but if it is an Apache I may have a chance.”
Osama Alaf, 41, said he spent four hours waiting in line to buy bread. “I bought flour until now,” he said. “I don’t have cooking gas, but I make a fire out of cartons and paper and make bread that way.” Asked whom he blamed, he said, “Israel, which is slaughtering us, and whoever is cooperating with Israel, like Egypt.”
Anger at Egypt has grown across the Arab and Muslim worlds because it has declined to open its border with Gaza and is seen as cooperating with Israel.
Ethan Bronner reported from Jerusalem, and Taghreed El-Khodary from Gaza. Steven Erlanger contributed reporting from Rafah, Egypt; Mark Landler from Washington and Alan Cowell from London.
30 December 2008
Help Palestinians in the Gaza Strip
Israel's massive bombardment of Gaza must end immediately.
The Bush Administration must demand that the bombing stop, that Gaza's borders be reopened under UN supervision, and that negotiations resume toward reinstating an effective cross-border ceasefire.
Again, as in the past, Israel's overwhelming and disproportionate violence in retaliation puts innocent civilians in the firing line, thereby inflaming Palestinian and regional passions. Indeed, this is the third such devastating assault launched by Israel with the Bush Administration's acquiescence (remember the re-conquest of the West Bank in 2003, and the wars on Gaza and Lebanon in 2006). And to what end? All these attacks on Gaza bring massive civilian deaths, destruction of property, and deepening bitterness toward Israel and the United States. The conditions in Gaza are already deplorable; what hope can Gaza cling to in its darkest hour of need? A nation without hope has nothing to lose, and already, factions are calling for a renewed intifada against Israel.
One cannot view this tragic episode outside the context of Israel's long and cruel history in Gaza which has been criminal, by any measure of international law and conventions.
Should the White House once again fail to act to restrain Israel and to provide real leadership in the search for peace, this tragedy will continue to grow: Palestinian suffering and bitterness will deepen, Israelis will remain insecure, and extremism will be further fueled by anti-American anger.
The bottom line, here, is that, while the stupidity of Hamas' reckless behavior cannot be excused because of the continued danger such ill-considered actions pose to the security and well-being of its own constituents, there can be no justification for Israel's massive and brutal assault.
What can you do today?
These and other organizations are collecting donations for relief to Gaza:
UNRWA
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East is accepting donations: http://www.un.org/unrwa/emergency/donation/emergency_activities.html
ANERA
-Accepting donations for medical supplies:
https://secure2.convio.net/anera/site/Donation2?df_id=1280&1280.donation=form1
Palestine Red Crescent Society
-Cash donations are being accepted into an established bank account http://www.palestinercs.org/news_details.aspx?nid=39
Medical Aid for Palestinians
-Donations for medical supplies (Donations taken in pounds not dollars)
-Donations made at https://www.bmycharity.com/V2/main_V2.aspx?p=donation&id=395758
The Bush Administration must demand that the bombing stop, that Gaza's borders be reopened under UN supervision, and that negotiations resume toward reinstating an effective cross-border ceasefire.
Again, as in the past, Israel's overwhelming and disproportionate violence in retaliation puts innocent civilians in the firing line, thereby inflaming Palestinian and regional passions. Indeed, this is the third such devastating assault launched by Israel with the Bush Administration's acquiescence (remember the re-conquest of the West Bank in 2003, and the wars on Gaza and Lebanon in 2006). And to what end? All these attacks on Gaza bring massive civilian deaths, destruction of property, and deepening bitterness toward Israel and the United States. The conditions in Gaza are already deplorable; what hope can Gaza cling to in its darkest hour of need? A nation without hope has nothing to lose, and already, factions are calling for a renewed intifada against Israel.
One cannot view this tragic episode outside the context of Israel's long and cruel history in Gaza which has been criminal, by any measure of international law and conventions.
Should the White House once again fail to act to restrain Israel and to provide real leadership in the search for peace, this tragedy will continue to grow: Palestinian suffering and bitterness will deepen, Israelis will remain insecure, and extremism will be further fueled by anti-American anger.
The bottom line, here, is that, while the stupidity of Hamas' reckless behavior cannot be excused because of the continued danger such ill-considered actions pose to the security and well-being of its own constituents, there can be no justification for Israel's massive and brutal assault.
What can you do today?
These and other organizations are collecting donations for relief to Gaza:
UNRWA
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East is accepting donations: http://www.un.org/unrwa/emergency/donation/emergency_activities.html
ANERA
-Accepting donations for medical supplies:
https://secure2.convio.net/anera/site/Donation2?df_id=1280&1280.donation=form1
Palestine Red Crescent Society
-Cash donations are being accepted into an established bank account http://www.palestinercs.org/news_details.aspx?nid=39
Medical Aid for Palestinians
-Donations for medical supplies (Donations taken in pounds not dollars)
-Donations made at https://www.bmycharity.com/V2/main_V2.aspx?p=donation&id=395758
29 December 2008
Gaza Toll Hits 300 in 3rd Day of Israel Strikes
December 30, 2008
By TAGHREED EL-KHODARY and ISABEL KERSHNER
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/30/world/middleeast/30mideast.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss&src=igw
GAZA — In a third straight day of deadly air strikes against the emblems and institutions of Hamas on Monday, Israeli warplanes pounded targets in Gaza including the Interior Ministry while the Israeli Army declared areas around the beleaguered enclave a “closed military zone.”
The attacks brought the death toll in Gaza to more than 300, according to Palestinian medical officials.
Israel says that its onslaught — its most ferocious against Palestinians in decades — is designed to prevent Palestinians from attacking towns in southern Israel with missiles. But a rocket fired from Gaza killed a man and wounded seven in the Israeli town of Ashkelon on Monday, the Israeli Army said. Three Israelis were also stabbed by a Palestinian in a Jewish settlement in the West Bank, the army said.
The air strikes followed bombing late Sunday that hit the Islamic University in Gaza, a Hamas stronghold, and the Interior Ministry, according to Hamas. Footage recorded from Israeli warplanes showed bombs striking the entrances to tunnels allegedly used to smuggle weapons into Gaza from Egypt.
The Hamas-owned television station Al Aqsa was also hit, as was a mosque that the Israeli military said was being used as a terrorist base. Speaking in Parliament, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said that the attack in Gaza would be “widened and deepened as is necessary” and referred to its operations as part of Israel’s long-term struggle against Israel’s Islamist enemies, the newspaper Haaretz reported on its Web site.
The Bush administration placed the responsibility for ending the violence on Hamas.
“In order for the violence to stop, Hamas must stop firing rockets into Israel and agree to respect a sustainable and durable cease-fire,” a White House spokesman, Gordon D. Johndroe, told reporters in Texas. “Hamas has once again shown its true colors as a terrorist organization.”The United Nations Relief and Works Agency said more than 50 of those killed by Israeli strikes were civilians, Reuters reported. The agency based its assessment on visits by agency officials to hospitals and medical centers.
In a statement on Monday, the Israeli Army said some areas around Gaza had been declared a “closed military zone,” a move which some analysts depicted as a potential precursor to a ground offensive. The military said the declaration meant that civilians, including journalists, could be denied access to an area up to two miles from Gaza.
On Sunday, Israeli troops and tanks massed along the Gaza border and the government said it had called up reserves for a possible ground operation.
A military spokeswoman, Maj. Avital Leibovich, said the closed zone around Gaza had mostly to do with concerns of safety. She said the military had information that Hamas may employ either suicide bombers or more powerful missiles from the border area and it wanted to clear the area. She said she was sure journalists would be permitted to return.
“No one is trying to hide anything,” she said.
The continued airstrikes, which Israel said were in retaliation for sustained rocket fire from Gaza into its territory, unleashed a furious reaction across the Arab world, raising fears of greater instability in the region.
Much of the anger was also directed at Egypt, seen by Hamas and some nearby governments as having acceded to Israel’s military action by sealing its border with Gaza and forcing back many Palestinians at gunpoint who were trying to escape the destruction.
Witnesses at the Rafah border crossing described a chaotic scene as young men tried to force their way across into Egypt, amid sporadic exchanges of gunfire between Hamas and Egyptian forces. Egyptian state television reported that one Egyptian border guard was killed by a Hamas gunman. A Palestinian man was killed by an Egyptian guard near Rafah, Reuters reported.
In Gaza, officials said medical services, stretched to the breaking point after 18 months of Israeli sanctions, were on the verge of collapse as they struggled to care for the more than 600 people wounded in two days.
At Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, women wailed as they searched for relatives among bodies that lay strewn on the hospital floor. One doctor said that given the dearth of facilities, not much could be done for the seriously wounded, and that it was “better to be brought in dead.”
The International Committee of the Red Cross appealed on Sunday for urgent humanitarian assistance, including medical supplies, to be allowed to enter Gaza. Israeli officials said that some aid had been allowed in through one of the crossings. Egypt temporarily opened the Rafah crossing on Saturday to allow some of the wounded to be taken to Egyptian hospitals.
Israel made a strong push to justify the attacks, saying it was forced into military action to defend its citizens. At the same time, the supreme religious leader of Iran and the leader of Hezbollah expressed strong support for Hamas.
Across Gaza, families huddled indoors as Israeli jets streaked overhead. Residents said that there were long blackouts and that they had no cooking gas. Some ventured out to receive bread rations at bakeries or to brave the streets to claim their dead at the hospitals. There were few mass funerals; rather, families buried the victims in small ceremonies.
At dusk on Sunday, Israeli fighter jets bombed over 40 tunnels along Gaza’s border with Egypt. The Israeli military said that the tunnels, on the Gaza side of the border, were used for smuggling weapons, explosives and fugitives. Gazans also use many of them to import consumer goods and fuel in order to get around the Israeli-imposed economic blockade.
In the first two days of the operation Israeli jets destroyed at least 30 targets in Gaza, including the main security compound and prison in Gaza City known as the Saraya, metal workshops throughout Gaza that were suspected of manufacturing rockets, and Hamas military posts.
Israel appeared to be settling in for a longer haul. The government on Sunday approved the emergency call-up of thousands of army reservists in preparation for a possible ground operation as Israeli troops, tanks, armored personnel carriers and armored bulldozers massed at the border.
Speaking before the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, Israel’s defense minister, Ehud Barak, said the army “will deepen and broaden its actions as needed” and “will continue to act.” Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Israel’s goal was not to reoccupy Gaza, which it left unilaterally in 2005, but to “restore normal life and quiet to residents of the south” of Israel.
Tzipi Livni, Israel’s foreign minister, appeared on American talk shows to press Israel’s case. She said on “Fox News Sunday” that the operation “is needed in order to change the realities on the ground, and to give peace and quiet to the citizens in southern Israel.”
Militants in Gaza fired barrages of rockets and mortar shells the farthest yet into Israel on Sunday. One rocket fell in Gan Yavneh, a village near the major port city of Ashdod, almost 20 miles north of Gaza. Two landed in the coastal city of Ashkelon. Several Israelis were wounded.
Fawzi Barhoum, a spokesman for Hamas, told reporters that Israel had started a “war” but that it would not be able to choose how it would end. He called for revenge in the form of strikes reaching “deep into the Zionist entity using all means,” including suicide attacks.
The hundreds of thousands of Israeli citizens now within rocket range have been instructed by the authorities to stay close to protected spaces.
In Lebanon, the leader of the Shiite militant group Hezbollah, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, put his fighters on alert, expressing strong support for Hamas and saying that he believed Israel might try to wage a two-front war, as it did in 2006. He called for a mass demonstration in Beirut on Monday. And he, too, denounced Egypt’s leaders. “If you don’t open the borders, you are accomplices in the killing,” he said in a televised speech.
Iran’s supreme religious leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, condemned the silence of some Arab countries, which he said had prepared the grounds for the “catastrophe,” an Iranian news agency, ISNA, reported.
“The horrible crime of the Zionist regime in Gaza has once again revealed the bloodthirsty face of this regime from disguise,” he said in a statement. “But worse than this catastrophe is the encouraging silence of some Arab countries who claim to be Muslim,” he said, apparently in a reference to Egypt and Jordan.
Egypt has mediated talks between Israel and the Palestinians and between Hamas and Hamas’s rival, Fatah, leaving it open to criticism that it is too willing to work with Israel. In turn, Egypt and other Western-allied Sunni Arab nations are deeply opposed to Hezbollah and Hamas, which they see as extensions of Iran, their Shiite nemesis.
Across the region, the Israeli strikes were being broadcast in grisly detail almost continually on Arab satellite networks.
In the Syrian capital, Damascus, a large group of protesters marched to Yusuf al Azmeh Square, where they chanted slogans and burned Israeli and American flags.
In Beirut, protesters were bused to a rally outside the United Nations building, holding up Palestinian flags and Hamas banners. Muhammad Mazen Ibrahim, a 25-year-old Palestinian who lives in one of the refugee camps here, choked up when asked about the assault on Gaza.
“There’s an agreement between Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Israel against Hamas,” he said. “They want to end them; all the countries are in league against Hamas, but God willing, we will win.”
That sentiment is widespread here. Many see Ms. Livni’s visit to Cairo last week as evidence that Egypt, eager to be rid of Hamas, had consented to the airstrikes.
The anger echoes what happened in July 2006, when the leaders of Saudi Arabia and Egypt publicly blamed Hezbollah for starting the conflict with Israel. Popular rage against Israel soon forced the leaders to change their positions.
Hamas, sworn to the destruction of Israel, took control of Gaza when it ousted Fatah last year. An Egyptian-brokered six-month truce between Israel and Hamas, always shaky, began to unravel in early November. It expired 10 days ago.
Taghreed El-Khodary reported from Gaza, and Isabel Kershner from Jerusalem. Reporting was contributed by Ethan Bronner from Jerusalem, Robert F. Worth and Hwaida Saad from Beirut, Lebanon, Nazila Fathi from Tehran, Rina Castelnuovo from the Israel-Gaza border, Khaled Abu Aker from Ramallah, West Bank, an employee of The New York Times from Syria and David Stout from Washington.
By TAGHREED EL-KHODARY and ISABEL KERSHNER
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/30/world/middleeast/30mideast.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss&src=igw
GAZA — In a third straight day of deadly air strikes against the emblems and institutions of Hamas on Monday, Israeli warplanes pounded targets in Gaza including the Interior Ministry while the Israeli Army declared areas around the beleaguered enclave a “closed military zone.”
The attacks brought the death toll in Gaza to more than 300, according to Palestinian medical officials.
Israel says that its onslaught — its most ferocious against Palestinians in decades — is designed to prevent Palestinians from attacking towns in southern Israel with missiles. But a rocket fired from Gaza killed a man and wounded seven in the Israeli town of Ashkelon on Monday, the Israeli Army said. Three Israelis were also stabbed by a Palestinian in a Jewish settlement in the West Bank, the army said.
The air strikes followed bombing late Sunday that hit the Islamic University in Gaza, a Hamas stronghold, and the Interior Ministry, according to Hamas. Footage recorded from Israeli warplanes showed bombs striking the entrances to tunnels allegedly used to smuggle weapons into Gaza from Egypt.
The Hamas-owned television station Al Aqsa was also hit, as was a mosque that the Israeli military said was being used as a terrorist base. Speaking in Parliament, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said that the attack in Gaza would be “widened and deepened as is necessary” and referred to its operations as part of Israel’s long-term struggle against Israel’s Islamist enemies, the newspaper Haaretz reported on its Web site.
The Bush administration placed the responsibility for ending the violence on Hamas.
“In order for the violence to stop, Hamas must stop firing rockets into Israel and agree to respect a sustainable and durable cease-fire,” a White House spokesman, Gordon D. Johndroe, told reporters in Texas. “Hamas has once again shown its true colors as a terrorist organization.”The United Nations Relief and Works Agency said more than 50 of those killed by Israeli strikes were civilians, Reuters reported. The agency based its assessment on visits by agency officials to hospitals and medical centers.
In a statement on Monday, the Israeli Army said some areas around Gaza had been declared a “closed military zone,” a move which some analysts depicted as a potential precursor to a ground offensive. The military said the declaration meant that civilians, including journalists, could be denied access to an area up to two miles from Gaza.
On Sunday, Israeli troops and tanks massed along the Gaza border and the government said it had called up reserves for a possible ground operation.
A military spokeswoman, Maj. Avital Leibovich, said the closed zone around Gaza had mostly to do with concerns of safety. She said the military had information that Hamas may employ either suicide bombers or more powerful missiles from the border area and it wanted to clear the area. She said she was sure journalists would be permitted to return.
“No one is trying to hide anything,” she said.
The continued airstrikes, which Israel said were in retaliation for sustained rocket fire from Gaza into its territory, unleashed a furious reaction across the Arab world, raising fears of greater instability in the region.
Much of the anger was also directed at Egypt, seen by Hamas and some nearby governments as having acceded to Israel’s military action by sealing its border with Gaza and forcing back many Palestinians at gunpoint who were trying to escape the destruction.
Witnesses at the Rafah border crossing described a chaotic scene as young men tried to force their way across into Egypt, amid sporadic exchanges of gunfire between Hamas and Egyptian forces. Egyptian state television reported that one Egyptian border guard was killed by a Hamas gunman. A Palestinian man was killed by an Egyptian guard near Rafah, Reuters reported.
In Gaza, officials said medical services, stretched to the breaking point after 18 months of Israeli sanctions, were on the verge of collapse as they struggled to care for the more than 600 people wounded in two days.
At Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, women wailed as they searched for relatives among bodies that lay strewn on the hospital floor. One doctor said that given the dearth of facilities, not much could be done for the seriously wounded, and that it was “better to be brought in dead.”
The International Committee of the Red Cross appealed on Sunday for urgent humanitarian assistance, including medical supplies, to be allowed to enter Gaza. Israeli officials said that some aid had been allowed in through one of the crossings. Egypt temporarily opened the Rafah crossing on Saturday to allow some of the wounded to be taken to Egyptian hospitals.
Israel made a strong push to justify the attacks, saying it was forced into military action to defend its citizens. At the same time, the supreme religious leader of Iran and the leader of Hezbollah expressed strong support for Hamas.
Across Gaza, families huddled indoors as Israeli jets streaked overhead. Residents said that there were long blackouts and that they had no cooking gas. Some ventured out to receive bread rations at bakeries or to brave the streets to claim their dead at the hospitals. There were few mass funerals; rather, families buried the victims in small ceremonies.
At dusk on Sunday, Israeli fighter jets bombed over 40 tunnels along Gaza’s border with Egypt. The Israeli military said that the tunnels, on the Gaza side of the border, were used for smuggling weapons, explosives and fugitives. Gazans also use many of them to import consumer goods and fuel in order to get around the Israeli-imposed economic blockade.
In the first two days of the operation Israeli jets destroyed at least 30 targets in Gaza, including the main security compound and prison in Gaza City known as the Saraya, metal workshops throughout Gaza that were suspected of manufacturing rockets, and Hamas military posts.
Israel appeared to be settling in for a longer haul. The government on Sunday approved the emergency call-up of thousands of army reservists in preparation for a possible ground operation as Israeli troops, tanks, armored personnel carriers and armored bulldozers massed at the border.
Speaking before the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, Israel’s defense minister, Ehud Barak, said the army “will deepen and broaden its actions as needed” and “will continue to act.” Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Israel’s goal was not to reoccupy Gaza, which it left unilaterally in 2005, but to “restore normal life and quiet to residents of the south” of Israel.
Tzipi Livni, Israel’s foreign minister, appeared on American talk shows to press Israel’s case. She said on “Fox News Sunday” that the operation “is needed in order to change the realities on the ground, and to give peace and quiet to the citizens in southern Israel.”
Militants in Gaza fired barrages of rockets and mortar shells the farthest yet into Israel on Sunday. One rocket fell in Gan Yavneh, a village near the major port city of Ashdod, almost 20 miles north of Gaza. Two landed in the coastal city of Ashkelon. Several Israelis were wounded.
Fawzi Barhoum, a spokesman for Hamas, told reporters that Israel had started a “war” but that it would not be able to choose how it would end. He called for revenge in the form of strikes reaching “deep into the Zionist entity using all means,” including suicide attacks.
The hundreds of thousands of Israeli citizens now within rocket range have been instructed by the authorities to stay close to protected spaces.
In Lebanon, the leader of the Shiite militant group Hezbollah, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, put his fighters on alert, expressing strong support for Hamas and saying that he believed Israel might try to wage a two-front war, as it did in 2006. He called for a mass demonstration in Beirut on Monday. And he, too, denounced Egypt’s leaders. “If you don’t open the borders, you are accomplices in the killing,” he said in a televised speech.
Iran’s supreme religious leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, condemned the silence of some Arab countries, which he said had prepared the grounds for the “catastrophe,” an Iranian news agency, ISNA, reported.
“The horrible crime of the Zionist regime in Gaza has once again revealed the bloodthirsty face of this regime from disguise,” he said in a statement. “But worse than this catastrophe is the encouraging silence of some Arab countries who claim to be Muslim,” he said, apparently in a reference to Egypt and Jordan.
Egypt has mediated talks between Israel and the Palestinians and between Hamas and Hamas’s rival, Fatah, leaving it open to criticism that it is too willing to work with Israel. In turn, Egypt and other Western-allied Sunni Arab nations are deeply opposed to Hezbollah and Hamas, which they see as extensions of Iran, their Shiite nemesis.
Across the region, the Israeli strikes were being broadcast in grisly detail almost continually on Arab satellite networks.
In the Syrian capital, Damascus, a large group of protesters marched to Yusuf al Azmeh Square, where they chanted slogans and burned Israeli and American flags.
In Beirut, protesters were bused to a rally outside the United Nations building, holding up Palestinian flags and Hamas banners. Muhammad Mazen Ibrahim, a 25-year-old Palestinian who lives in one of the refugee camps here, choked up when asked about the assault on Gaza.
“There’s an agreement between Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Israel against Hamas,” he said. “They want to end them; all the countries are in league against Hamas, but God willing, we will win.”
That sentiment is widespread here. Many see Ms. Livni’s visit to Cairo last week as evidence that Egypt, eager to be rid of Hamas, had consented to the airstrikes.
The anger echoes what happened in July 2006, when the leaders of Saudi Arabia and Egypt publicly blamed Hezbollah for starting the conflict with Israel. Popular rage against Israel soon forced the leaders to change their positions.
Hamas, sworn to the destruction of Israel, took control of Gaza when it ousted Fatah last year. An Egyptian-brokered six-month truce between Israel and Hamas, always shaky, began to unravel in early November. It expired 10 days ago.
Taghreed El-Khodary reported from Gaza, and Isabel Kershner from Jerusalem. Reporting was contributed by Ethan Bronner from Jerusalem, Robert F. Worth and Hwaida Saad from Beirut, Lebanon, Nazila Fathi from Tehran, Rina Castelnuovo from the Israel-Gaza border, Khaled Abu Aker from Ramallah, West Bank, an employee of The New York Times from Syria and David Stout from Washington.
22 October 2008
In Turkey, Mosque Gets A Woman's Touch
by Ivan Watson
All Things Considered, October 21, 2008 ·
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95940942
(If you want to listen to the interview click on the link above!)
The role of women in Islam is an issue that's been furiously debated, especially in Turkey — an overwhelmingly Muslim country with a strict secular constitution.
The governing pro-Islamic political party was almost banned this year after it tried to allow women who wear Islamic head scarves to study at universities.
In the midst of this controversy, several Muslim women who do not wear head scarves have quietly reached a new milestone — these artists are helping build a mosque.
For centuries, Istanbul was the seat of the caliphate, the capital of the Islamic world and home to hundreds of magnificent old mosques. Now this city of countless domes and minarets is about to get a unique new addition.
Zeynep Fadillioglu is one member of a team of interior designers and architects overseeing the construction of the Sakirin Mosque. It is Fadillioglu's first mosque.
"I think I don't know of any other person — a woman — who has designed a mosque before," she says.
Tall and fashionably dressed, with long blond hair, Fadillioglu is better known in Turkey as a figure from the country's cocktail-sipping jet set. She made a career decorating restaurants, boutique hotels and homes for the very wealthy.
A Contemporary Spin On Ancient Art
In the mosque, Fadillioglu is putting a contemporary spin on religious art from the Ottoman era.
The iron on the mosque's enormous iron and glass facade was hand-crafted by specialists in Istanbul, Fadillioglu says. "The glass etching has got different layers of gilding on it, which is from verses of the Koran," she says. "We wanted people to feel more left alone with God in this place, rather then being distracted by too much ornamentation. I think that makes it more contemporary at the same time"
Fadillioglu also brought in other female artists to help her on the project.
On one particular day, beneath the mosque's 130-foot diameter dome, Nahide Buyukkaymakci instructs a worker on how to hang dozens of blown-glass rain drops from an asymmetrical bronze and Plexiglas chandelier.
The glass drops are inspired by a prayer that says Allah's light should fall on you like rain, Buyukkaymakci explains.
"Even though I'm not really a practicing Muslim, this is a very special project for me, because it's the first mosque to be designed by women," she says.
Professor Ali Kose studies the psychology of religion at Marmara University's School of Theology.
"Traditionally, the mosque is thought to be a place for men only," Kose says. But he says women played a much greater public role in mosques in the days of the Prophet Muhammad. That role, he says, deteriorated over time.
"Islamic societies, by time, have become male dominant societies," Kose says, "and this affected every part of life, and also affected the religion as well."
'More Room For Us To Pray'
Istanbul's Mihrimah Sultan Mosque was built in 1547 in honor of a daughter of the sultan. Muslim women are allowed to attend prayers here in specially designated women's sections.
They are ushered with their children to a small, curtained-off area in the back of the mosque, while the men kneel in front on a vast carpet enjoying an unobstructed view of the mosque's beautiful stained glass windows.
After prayers, a woman named Deniz Urash and her mother complain that the women's section is too small and crowded.
"It would be nice if they made more room for us to pray," Urash says.
Fadillioglu says in many Turkish mosques, the women's sections have suffered from neglect.
"I have been to some mosques of that sort, and that disturbed me," Fadillioglu says. "So, I prefer the women to use the mosque as much as the man if they want to, of course, and the same way."
As workmen paint and sand this new place of worship, Fadillioglu vows to make the second-floor balcony — where the women will one day pray — every bit as beautiful as the men's part of the mosque.
Related Story on BBC.com
All Things Considered, October 21, 2008 ·
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95940942
(If you want to listen to the interview click on the link above!)
The role of women in Islam is an issue that's been furiously debated, especially in Turkey — an overwhelmingly Muslim country with a strict secular constitution.
The governing pro-Islamic political party was almost banned this year after it tried to allow women who wear Islamic head scarves to study at universities.
In the midst of this controversy, several Muslim women who do not wear head scarves have quietly reached a new milestone — these artists are helping build a mosque.
For centuries, Istanbul was the seat of the caliphate, the capital of the Islamic world and home to hundreds of magnificent old mosques. Now this city of countless domes and minarets is about to get a unique new addition.
Zeynep Fadillioglu is one member of a team of interior designers and architects overseeing the construction of the Sakirin Mosque. It is Fadillioglu's first mosque.
"I think I don't know of any other person — a woman — who has designed a mosque before," she says.
Tall and fashionably dressed, with long blond hair, Fadillioglu is better known in Turkey as a figure from the country's cocktail-sipping jet set. She made a career decorating restaurants, boutique hotels and homes for the very wealthy.
A Contemporary Spin On Ancient Art
In the mosque, Fadillioglu is putting a contemporary spin on religious art from the Ottoman era.
The iron on the mosque's enormous iron and glass facade was hand-crafted by specialists in Istanbul, Fadillioglu says. "The glass etching has got different layers of gilding on it, which is from verses of the Koran," she says. "We wanted people to feel more left alone with God in this place, rather then being distracted by too much ornamentation. I think that makes it more contemporary at the same time"
Fadillioglu also brought in other female artists to help her on the project.
On one particular day, beneath the mosque's 130-foot diameter dome, Nahide Buyukkaymakci instructs a worker on how to hang dozens of blown-glass rain drops from an asymmetrical bronze and Plexiglas chandelier.
The glass drops are inspired by a prayer that says Allah's light should fall on you like rain, Buyukkaymakci explains.
"Even though I'm not really a practicing Muslim, this is a very special project for me, because it's the first mosque to be designed by women," she says.
Professor Ali Kose studies the psychology of religion at Marmara University's School of Theology.
"Traditionally, the mosque is thought to be a place for men only," Kose says. But he says women played a much greater public role in mosques in the days of the Prophet Muhammad. That role, he says, deteriorated over time.
"Islamic societies, by time, have become male dominant societies," Kose says, "and this affected every part of life, and also affected the religion as well."
'More Room For Us To Pray'
Istanbul's Mihrimah Sultan Mosque was built in 1547 in honor of a daughter of the sultan. Muslim women are allowed to attend prayers here in specially designated women's sections.
They are ushered with their children to a small, curtained-off area in the back of the mosque, while the men kneel in front on a vast carpet enjoying an unobstructed view of the mosque's beautiful stained glass windows.
After prayers, a woman named Deniz Urash and her mother complain that the women's section is too small and crowded.
"It would be nice if they made more room for us to pray," Urash says.
Fadillioglu says in many Turkish mosques, the women's sections have suffered from neglect.
"I have been to some mosques of that sort, and that disturbed me," Fadillioglu says. "So, I prefer the women to use the mosque as much as the man if they want to, of course, and the same way."
As workmen paint and sand this new place of worship, Fadillioglu vows to make the second-floor balcony — where the women will one day pray — every bit as beautiful as the men's part of the mosque.
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