Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Israelis strike 60 Gaza targets

About 100 lorries entered from Israel during the ceasefire
Israeli planes have attacked more than 60 targets in Gaza as its offensive against Hamas entered its 18th day.
The air assault came as Israeli troops advanced into the southern and eastern suburbs of Gaza City.
Aid lorries entered Gaza during a three-hour ceasefire called by Israel. However, witnesses have said there was increased shelling during that period.
The head of the Red Cross accompanied the aid convoy, during a visit to assess Gaza's humanitarian needs.
Explosions
The BBC's Aleem Maqbool, on the Israeli-Gaza border, said shelling had continued, included air and land attacks, throughout the morning ceasefire.
One Israeli officer was critically wounded when a bomb exploded in a booby-trapped house, the Israeli military said.
Earlier western areas of Gaza City later came under shellfire from Israeli gunboats.
It earlier denied a Hamas claim that it had destroyed two Israeli tanks.


Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.

emp_load.getEmpEmbeddedParams("emp_7825509");

Cannot play media.You do not have the correct version of the flash playerBan Ki-moon calls for an immediate ceasefire
During the ceasefire, which began at 0900 local time (0700 GMT), the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Jacob Kellenberger, went into Gaza.
He was due to go the the main Shifa hospital in Gaza City to visit patients and medical teams, as well as hold talks with senior Israeli and Palestinian officials.
Last week the ICRC accused Israel of failing to fulfil its duty to help wounded civilians in Gaza, and said it was a "full-blown humanitarian crisis".
The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, is due in the region on Wednesday to push for a truce.
He has implored Israel and Palestinian militants to halt the fighting in Gaza immediately.
Mr Ban said too many people had died and there had been too much civilian suffering.

Analysis: Where is Israel heading?
Why Gaza war looks set to go on
In pictures: Advance continues
"My message is simple, direct and to the point: the fighting must stop," Mr Ban told a news conference in New York ahead of his departure on Tuesday for the Middle East.
"In Gaza, the very foundation of society is being destroyed: people's homes, civic infrastructure, public health facilities and schools."
His diplomatic tour will see talks with the leaders of Egypt, Israel and Syria as well as the Palestinian president in Ramallah.
However, UN officials say he will not be meeting representatives of Hamas, and it is not clear whether he will go to Gaza itself during his week-long trip.
Also on Tuesday, the Israeli army said one of its patrol in the West Bank came under fire from inside Jordan. No-one was hurt in the incident and the patrol returned fire.
However, the Jordanian Armed Forces General Command has denied there was any shooting from Jordan.
An army spokesman called the Israeli military report "categorically baseless."
GAZA CRISIS BACKGROUND
Profile: Gaza Strip
Q&A: Gaza conflict
Who are Hamas?
Middle East conflict: History in maps
"An investigation showed there was no shooting at the border into Israel," he said in the statement.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Palestinian militants will keep on feeling Israel's "iron fist" as long as Hamas fires rockets at Israel.
But a senior Hamas leader, Ismail Haniya, said the group was "approaching victory".
Both Hamas and Israel rejected last week's UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire.
Palestinian medical sources say 920 people have been killed in Gaza so far, of whom 292 were children and 75 were women. Israeli officials say 13 Israelis, including three civilians, have been killed.
Israel is preventing international journalists from entering Gaza, making it impossible to independently confirm casualty figures.
Bookmark with:
Delicious

No comments: