GAZA CITY, Gaza – Israel tentatively welcomed a proposal Wednesday for a Gaza cease-fire and ordered regular suspensions of its offensive to allow aid to reach Palestinian civilians, but also instructed the military to press ahead with its assault on Hamas.
Israel said it needs guarantees that any cease-fire will halt rocket fire and prevent Hamas from rearming, while Hamas demands that Gaza's blockaded border crossings be opened.
Despite the reservations, the proposal offered by France and Egypt could mark the first sign of a possible exit from 12 days of bloodshed in Gaza, accompanied by continued Hamas rocket fire on southern Israel.
Israel ordered a three-hour pause in its Gaza offensive Wednesday to allow food and fuel to reach besieged Palestinians, and allowed in 80 trucks of supplies as well as industrial fuel for Gaza's power plant.
Medics tried to retrieve bodies in areas that had previously been too dangerous to approach. Ambulance sirens wailed as drivers rushed to the border crossing with Egypt to evacuate the wounded during the relative lull.
Several Israeli airstrikes were reported immediately after the 1 to 4 p.m. halt ended, and Hamas resumed rocket fire.
The Israeli military said a humanitarian corridor into Gaza will be opened at least every other day for a few hours, depending on the security situation.
Col. Moshe Levi, a Gaza liaison officer, told reporters the plan is to open the corridor daily. Peter Lerner, a military spokesman, said the corridor would more likely be open every other day, depending on security.
The precise details of the Egyptian-French proposal remain unclear, but it comes as international outrage grows over civilian deaths in Gaza.
About 300 of the more than 670 Palestinians killed so far were civilians, according to Palestinian and U.N. figures. Of those killed, at least 130 are children 16 and younger, says the Gaza-based Palestinian Center for Human Rights, which tracks casualties.
Israel has lost six soldiers since launching a ground offensive on Saturday — four of them to "friendly fire" — and four other Israelis have been killed by rocket fire, three of them civilians, since fighting began on Dec. 27.
In Paris, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said that both Israel and the moderate Palestinian leadership in charge of the West Bank had accepted the truce proposal, but Israeli officials did not confirm that.
"Israel welcomes the initiative of the French president and the Egyptian president to bring about a sustainable quiet in the south," Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said, stopping short of acceptance.
Turkey has already been asked to put together an international force in Gaza, according to a Mideastern diplomat familiar with the country's efforts to end the conflict. He said the responsibilities of the force were yet to be determined.
The diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information, and Turkish officials would not immediately comment.
The Bush administration withheld firm backing Wednesday for the Egyptian-French proposal, but urged a lasting agreement that would end the violence.
"What we are seeking is a cease-fire that would actually last," said White House press secretary Dana Perino. "I think the worst thing that we could have is to have this vicious cycle continue."
However, Israeli government officials said the country's top leadership decided for now to push ahead with the offensive. They also said Israel rejects Hamas' call to open the border crossings, which Israel has largely kept closed since the group seized the territory by force in June 2007.
The military has called up thousands of reserve troops that it could use to expand the Gaza offensive, supporting the three brigade-size formations of regular troops now inside. Defense officials said the troops could be ready for action by Friday. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the army's preparations are classified.
Osama Hamdan, a Hamas representative in Lebanon close to the group's leadership in Syria, told al-Jazeera television that Hamas will not accept any initiative that does not include the withdrawal of the Israeli army from Gaza and the opening of all of the territory's border crossings.
"Any proposal that does not include these bases is unacceptable and no one should bother by presenting such proposals," he said.
"The idea of an international force is rejected and such forces which will come to Gaza to protect Israel will be dealt with as enemy forces," he said.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said the initiative he proposed with Sarkozy calls for an immediate cease-fire by Israel and Palestinian factions for a limited period to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza and an urgent meeting of Israel and the Palestinian side on arrangements to prevent any repetition of military action and to deal with the causes.
A World Bank statement Wednesday said there are growing signs of a severe public health crisis in Gaza because of a shortage of drinking water and an escalating failure of the sewage system. Much of the territory has no power or running water, because pumps are dependent on electricity.
More than 500 aid trucks have been shipped into Gaza since operations began. But even when aid reaches Gaza, military operations have prevented officials from distributing it, leading to food shortages in some areas.
Before Wednesday's brief lull, Israel said it struck 40 Hamas targets overnight. Gaza health officials said strikes Wednesday morning killed eight people. The number of Palestinian fighters killed is unclear, as Hamas is keeping its casualties secret.
Militants hit the Israeli cities of Ashkelon, Beersheba and elsewhere with medium-range rockets, causing no casualties.
Life in Israel's south remains largely been paralyzed. Rocket fire has fallen off somewhat as Israeli troops tighten their hold on Gaza, taking over open areas used to launch rockets, but Gaza residents say militants are still launching from heavily populated areas.
An Israeli lieutenant-colonel near the Gaza border in southern Israel said soldiers overwhelmingly opposed a truce. "We went in and we have to finish it off," said the officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because military regulations forbid him from speaking to the press.
Outrage grew over an Israeli shelling Tuesday near a U.N. school, with the U.N. agency responsible for the building demanding an "impartial investigation" into the attack. Gaza health officials put the death toll from the strike at 39, while the U.N. says 40 were killed in the deadliest single strike of the fighting.
Israel says its forces fired at militants who launched mortars from that location.
Israel's military said its shelling of the U.N. school — the deadliest single episode since Israeli ground forces invaded Gaza on Saturday following a weeklong air bombardment — was an attack on a military target and accused Hamas militants of using civilians as cover.
Christopher Gunness of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, responsible for the school, demanded an investigation and punishment for anyone found to have violated international law.
Two residents of the area who spoke with The Associated Press by telephone said they saw a small group of militants firing mortar rounds from a street near the school. They spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal. Gunness said 1,300 people were taking shelter from the shelling at the school.
Fawzi Barhoum, the Hamas spokesman, said there were no militants there at the time.
The Gaza-based Palestinian Center for Human Rights said the presence of militants did not justify Israel's response. "The presence of armed resistance does not justify in any way the use of excessive force that is disproportionate," the center said in a statement.
From: Yahoo News
No comments:
Post a Comment