Israel sends reservists into Gaza

Israel has begun sending reserve units into the Gaza Strip as the military continues to pound the territory for the 16th consecutive day.

The move came amid some of the most intense fighting since the ground offensive began on January 3, with Palestinian fighters putting up stiff resistance to the Israeli advance around Gaza City.

Israel has not specified how many extra troops it is sending in, but it called up tens of thousands of reservists two weeks ago after it launched the air, naval, and land bombardment of the territory.

"I can confirm that a few reserve units have entered Gaza to participate in the operation," major Avital Leibovich, an Israeli military spokeswoman, told Al Jazeera.

"We are not talking about a massive amount of forces, rather a limited one to join in the fighting."

Al Jazeera's Alan Fisher, reporting from the Israel-Gaza border, said: "I think what we are seeing here is preparations for what the media, according to the Israelis, is calling stage three, which is moving troops into the towns and cities of Gaza.

"They have called up a number of reservists, but by no means all the reservists that have been put on standby, and moved them into Gaza.

"They are there, ready for if the word comes that stage three is to begin. If there is to be this massive push then the soldiers are there ready to act," he said.

Palestinian fears

Medical sources said that dozens of Palestinian fighters were killed in clashes on Sunday, taking the total number of Palestinian deaths since Israel began its war on the territory to 890, many of them women and children.
Almost 4,000 Palestinians have also been wounded since the beginning of the offensive.

Al Jazeera's Ayman Mohyeldin, reporting from Gaza City, said that the Israeli manouevres had raised speculation that a full attack on targets in the city was being planned for the coming days.

Israeli tanks were positioned on the edge of the city to the north and east, while a column of tanks to the south advanced only to later pull back.

Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, told an Israeli cabinet meeting on Sunday that the military had nearly completed the goals set for the war on Gaza.

"Israel is getting close to achieving the goals it set for itself," he said.

He told ministers that Israel had "dealt Hamas an unprecedented blow ... It will never be the same Hamas," Oved Yehezkel, the Israeli cabinet secretary, said.

The cabinet meeting had been expected to include discussion of a possible "third stage" of the offensive in which the military would enter Gaza's urban areas.

However, several Israeli officials suggested that the offensive could be drawing to a close after last week's UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire.

"The decision of the security council doesn't give us much leeway," Matan Vilnai, the deputy defence minister, told public radio.

"Thus it would seem that we are close to ending the ground operation and ending the operation altogether."

Military goals

Giroa Eiland, a former Israeli national security adviser, told Al Jazeera that there was a debate within the Israeli government and security establishment about what the goals of the operation should be at this stage.

"The main question is how to conclude and accomplish the missions," he said.
"As far as I can understand one of the reasons the military option might be expended is in order to give an Israeli solution to the situation."

Amos Gilad, a senior Israeli official, was expected to travel to Cairo in the coming days to discuss a plan to end the fighting after Hamas officials met Egyptian officials on Sunday.

The Israeli military onslaught has, so far, failed to achieve the stated aim of stopping Palestinian fighters from firing rockets into southern Israel.

At least 17 rockets had been fired across the border by mid-afternoon on Sunday, but failed to cause any casualties.

Thirteen Israelis have been killed since the military offensive began, including three civilians hit by rockets fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel.

Khaled Meshaal, the exiled political chief of Hamas, said Hamas would not accept any truce initiative while "we are still under attack".

"I address the Israelis and say to them; 'What have you achieved through this war you have supported? And you supported your leaders to conduct it,'" he said.

"You have achieved nothing but killing innocent children and leaving Gaza in a sea of blood."

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

UN watchdog condemns war on Gaza

A resolution condemning Israel's military offensive in Gaza has been adopted by the UN Human Rights Council.

The non-binding resolution, approved in Geneva on Monday, said Israel's operation had "resulted in massive violations of human rights of the Palestinian people".

More than 900 Palestinians have died during the fighting, many of them women and children, and a further 4,100 have been wounded.

At least 25,000 have been displaced due to the ongoing bombardment, but are unable to flee the overcrowded territory as crossing points remain closed.

The resolution, drafted by Arab, Asian and African countries, called for an international mission to be sent immediately to the Gaza Strip to investigate Israel's actions.

It also called for an immediate end to the "launching of the crude rockets against Israeli civilians" by the Palestinian factions.
Israel launched its operation on December 27 after a ceasefire with Hamas ended a week earlier, stating its objective was to target the Palestinian faction's infrastructure and bring an end to the firing of homemade rockets into southern Israel.

'Fairytale world'

Fewer states than expected supported the resolution, which passed by 33 votes to one, with 13 abstentions. The US, not a member of the council, took no part in the debate.

Israel dismissed it as one-sided and reflecting the "fairytale world" of the 47-member council.

The text of the document said the council "strongly condemns the ongoing Israeli military operations ... which have resulted in massive violations of human rights of the Palestinian people and systematic destruction of the Palestinian infrastructure".

The resolution was opposed by Canada while European countries, Japan and South Korea abstained.

The resolution was backed by, among others, Russia, China, Argentina and Brazil.

During a debate on the resolution, Pakistan, speaking for the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), denounced what it called Israel's "unrestrained use of force, killing of innocent civilians" and violation of UN havens.

At least 40 people died last Tuesday when the UN-run school they were sheltering in was hit by Israeli fire.

'Massive violations'

All European Union countries abstained and Canada voted against the resolution.

Rupert Colville, a spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, told Al Jazeera: "In the end they [the UN] passed the resolution, it was not unanimous. I would not say it was that heated, at the end of the day there were still differences of opinion.
"Many states praised the Palestinian delegation for the flexibility they had shown in the negotiations, but they could not quite reach a consensus."

Speaking in the Gaza Strip, John Ging, head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) operations in Gaza, repeated his call for an immediate end to the fighting.

"I say now, to all politicians, here in Israel and internationally, you have an obligation to the ordinary people in the name of humanity and all that is civilised, we need to stop this now. Those who help will never be forgotten.

"Israel is responsible for its own actions and it is very clear to us that there are a lot of actions in this conflict that will need to be fully investigated independently and internationally.

"Those who have been killed and injured, those who are innocent, deserve accountability."

Peter Splinter, Amnesty International's representative at the United Nations in Geneva, backed the call for an investigation, saying "there must be a full accountability for war crimes".

"Evidence of war crimes is presenting itself each day," he told Al Jazeera.

Boutros Boutros-Ghali, a former UN secretary-general, added his perspective on the situation, saying the assault on Gaza "is a present the Israelis gave to the fundamentalists".

"It will reinforce extremists, fundamentalists, all over Arab countries and even inside Israel," he said.

Boutros-Ghali was headed the UN from 1992 to 1997.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

Israel pushes further into Gaza

The Swiss Red Cross has criticised the Israelis for 'targeting Palestinian ambulance crews'

Israeli troops have made their deepest push yet into Gaza since the beginning of the 18-day-old conflict, as Palestinians prepare for another night of heavy shelling.

The Israeli military said on Tuesday its air force had hit what it described as 60 Hamas targets overnight, while 19 rockets were fired from Gaza into southern Israel in the same period.

Israeli jets have continued to pound the city of Rafah in southern Gaza near the border with Egypt.

Israel is using "bunker-busting" bombs in an attempt to destroy underground tunnels it says have been used to smuggle weapons and goods into the blockaded Gaza Strip.

Ayman Mohyeldin, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Gaza, said tens of thousands of Palestinians had fled their homes after the Israeli military dropped leaflets warning them of intensive air strikes.
"A large part of Rafah has been completely reduced to rubble... it has been described as hell on earth by some of the witnesses we have met," he said.

Moyheldin said Israeli troops were also closing in on Gaza City, which is now surrounded by both tanks and navy vessels along the coast.

He said the Israelis appeared to be intensifying their assault on Gaza City after dark.

"The pattern [that is emerging is] the Israeli military engaging overnight in fierce fighting and then by early morning the military returns to its position.

"As the sun sets around us that's what many Palestinians are bracing themselves for - another night of deadly and intense firing," Mohyeldin said.
Israelis 'softening up' targets

Mohyeldin said there was speculation that Israeli soldiers were limiting their operation during the day because of stiff resistance from Palestinian fighters on the ground during daylight hours.

Many also suggest that the Israelis might also be looking to "soften up" what they believe to be Hamas targets - such as booby-trapped homes and weapons stores.

Al Jazeera - the only international broadcaster with journalists based both inside Gaza and Israel - reported on Tuesday that the heaviest fighting between Israeli and Palestinian fighters was in Tal al-Hawa, in the south of Gaza City.

Serious clashes were also reported in Beit Lahiya, to the north of the city, and east of Khan Younis.

The AFP news agency reported Israeli tanks, supported by warplanes, had moved into several southern neighbourhoods of Gaza City and that Palestinian fighters were responding with mortar fire.

A spokesman for the Palestinian health ministry said dozens of calls for ambulances had been received, but none could be dispatched because of the fighting.

Combat continued despite another day of pleas from both the United Nations and the European Union to stop the violence, which has so far killed around 970 Palestinians and wounded 4,300 others.

Civilians make up about 40 per cent of casualties, with the majority of those being women and children.

Diplomatic frustration

Expressing frustration at the failure of both sides to adhere to a legally binding UN resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire, Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, said he planned to visit the region in a bid to help end Israel's air and ground offensive in Gaza, as well as Hamas rocket fire into southern Israel.
"To both sides, I say: just stop, now," the UN chief told a news conference on Monday. "Too many people have died. There has been too much civilian suffering. Too many people, Israelis and Palestinians, live in daily fear of their lives."

But Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, said the offensive which includes the latest deployment of reservists into Palestinian neighbourhoods, must continue until Hamas is completely disarmed.

He said the military operation would end once Hamas's military wing halted its rocket attacks.

"We want to end the operation when the two conditions we have demanded are met: ending the rocket fire and stopping Hamas's rearmament. If these two conditions are met, we will end our operation in Gaza," he said in the southern Israeli town of Ashkelon.

The Israeli military said air raids were carried out on at least 25 targets across the Gaza Strip and Shimon Peres, the Israeli president, said on Monday that the army had "achieved in 16 days what no other country in the world fighting terror has done in 16 years".

Ismail Haniya, the Hamas leader and ousted Palestinian prime minister, said that Israel would not emerge victorious from Gaza City.

"This holy blood that has been spilt will never be in vain, it will make the victory. The children's and women's blood and bodies will be a curse which will haunt this occupation," he said.

Meanwhile, Christer Zettergren, the secretary-general of the Swedish Red Cross, said seven ambulances operated by the Red Crescent were damaged last week in Gaza.

Zettergren on Tuesday accused Israeli soldiers of firing at emergency crews and described the shootings as "very deliberate".

He is due to travel to the region on Wednesday to donate 10 ambulances to the Red Crescent.

Also on Tuesday, the AFP news agency reported that the US military had been forced to cancel a shipment of munitions from a Greek port to a US warehouse in Israel because of objections from Athens.
Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

HRW: Israeli Should Allow Humanitarian Groups Into Gaza

JERUSALEM, January 14, 2009 (WAFA)- Israel should immediately allow humanitarian groups broad access to Gaza and the evacuation of the wounded to alleviate the suffering of the civilian population,Human Rights Watch said in a report released, Tuesday.

Human Rights Watch also urged the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who is to visit Israel on January 15, to take urgent steps to help alleviate the suffering of Gazan civilians.

Nineteen months of a highly restrictive blockade and two weeks of intense military operations have left Gazans in desperate need of food, water, electricity, and sanitation. Medical care is woefully inadequate to deal with the thousands wounded in the fighting. Civilians have nowhere to flee the aerial and ground attacks engulfing the Strip.

Human Rights Watch said that United Nations agencies have only been able to reach a small portion of those dependent on aid, which includes more than 80 percent of the population, since the Israeli offensive began on December 27, 2008. The electricity supply has slightly improved in recent days but remains low, and in some places open sewage is spilling into the streets. The ongoing fighting is preventing many families from leaving their homes to purchase food or obtain food aid. Children, who make up 56 percent of Gaza's residents, are especially vulnerable.

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, Israeli attacks in Gaza had killed at least 997 Palestinians and wounded another 4525. More than 311 children and 100 women are among the dead; more than 1,459 children and 625 women had been wounded. According to the UN, more than 40% of the dead and 50% of the wounded are women and children.

'Gaza was in the midst of a humanitarian crisis even before this fighting started due to Israel's unlawful blockade, aided by Egypt's cooperation in keeping its border with Gaza closed,' said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch 'And now it is facing a catastrophe.'

The wounded are getting only rudimentary care from facilities that lack equipment, material and personnel. Hospitals have been running full-time on generators since December 30, when Gaza's only power plant stopped functioning, and in some hospitals, generator fuel is running low. According to humanitarian agencies and medical officials, many patients are needlessly dying because of a lack of timely medical care. A key problem has been the inability to transfer seriously wounded persons out of Gaza. According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, at least 413 wounded were in critical condition as of January 11.

'The UN secretary-general's visit is an opportunity to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the need for protecting civilians,' said Roth. 'He needs to lean on all actors, protect civilians, and ensure accountability. Only an impartial international investigation can achieve that.'
Source: AJP

Children of Gaza, run to the angels

By Suzanne Baroud
Ironically, it was in Palestine, 20 years ago, I concluded that there is no God. For how God is said that all the love that the impartiality and treat all the horrors, as happened in Palestine?
Paganism is growing stronger every day with the night, each strike of mourning over the death of a martyr, was forced by beheading in the middle of the shot square in the bright afternoon he Ramallah a few years ago. However cemented day I have to tell my students to one of the five years that his brother has just done by the army of Israel. His sentence, he was limp, the fear of the shoulder as she cried with classmates ... This is what eventually happened.

Almost 20 years have passed since that day, and I have been married to the family in Gaza. I am a wife and mother, sister and aunt of a large number of children who lived the horror of what has become the Gaza Strip. If we see the images attack Israel, I hear yourself murmuring when I see children tortured to death, "Run Run .... thrilled." After many years so this is a dream is to promote a desire to once again believe in the Hereafter.

Cage, starved, sniped, smothered. They were slaughtered like sheep, but the leaders of the free world can not find the time to comment. Golf vacation, Obama, Bush, the European Union, they were not important enough. I have become a gallop mutters. I call this a little broken and torn bodies, honestly have never known life lost. The only entertainment for the rest of death.

A crowd gathered, dressed in gas, smoke and dust. In the future, there are eight children's father, each holding a white wrapped all have a son, daughter. For some time, no yelling, crying, or do not sing, but when the peace and stillness that hangs over a network that has requested the favor, bringing the ball Toddler sniper or a young father, who will find a way to live now?

A boy sitting on a sidewalk next to his mother. It was placed against the wall of the building collapsed and his life is bleeding from all parts of the road. He splashed on his face and shirt color. Using the last of his strength to lift the arms and hands in relation to play and then they left. That is located in the head and hands cries. He was alone.

The camera zooms in the new building, a civilian house. Some of the girls brown hair covered with dust and eyes wide open, which can be found. His mother, the wall and taken her hair, while his father, powerful search through the rubble for the rest to the girls, where they will be? Whispered me back, "you again in heaven. Run to the angels."

What a lot of faith. How strong the father lost his father, mother, wife and eight children, that this person can say something, "God is great, thank God for everything." He holds his son, and even gray, he stifles kissed him, then take back with two bullets in the chest. Placing child care, in addition to his brother and once again, take back the skin of young people is to a sniper bullet in the chest. He almost can not calm himself and moans about the camera man sympathizers, "God is Great, thank God for everything."

Imam old and wrinkled like a little girl is in love with the place that lifeless body, such as the wrong approach may cause more pain, thanks to the soft and Mumbles than she is my sister and brothers in the pit. I try to comfort him saying: "Finally, a safe place. Stay close with my sister. Your brother. Put your fears to rest and to respond to your beloved prophet and many of your friends is dead before you."

Hospitals, schools, mosques, civil buildings, where the United Nations, all worthy goals. Doctors, medicines, food and water, the exemption of trucks from all over the world online for miles on the border of Egypt, but they refused. Security is high, food is scarce, water is completely lost.

Faith in the water when it seems strange. For me, it seems the circle of despair and fear death, because of snow and white blood dismembered many innocent lives Gaza.

Workers of the United Nations in coordination with the Israelis, to get people to safety in a school of the United Nations. Hundreds of people sheltered in the harbor mutually agreed safe. Immediately after school, Israel falls under the fire. Bruised and battered refugee Satan see the face, dressed in fatigues. Hundreds injured, dozens of deaths, the victims and relaxed.

Government to negotiate with the cease-fire. Rumors of plots buzz. The U. S. The President is elected forever silent. Parents in the collapse of the wall that is still their children. Shattered concrete, random arms and legs, broken glass, thrown into bloody-podge laborer. But in my mind, I see all their little body quickly swept in Heaven, and I called them, "Run!"

- Suzanne Baroud is the editor of PalestineChronicle.com.

Source: AJP