Israel set for prolonged Gaza op

12/28/2008


So much for peace treaties. Israeli F-16 bombers hit targets across the Gaza Strip on Saturday, killing at least 227 people, local medics say. "If what we're doing in the air will not suffice we'll continue on the ground," Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak told BBC News. Israel's air raids were the heaviest on the Gaza Strip for decades. Most of those killed were policemen in the Hamas militant movement, which controls Gaza, but women and children also died, Gaza officials said. About 700 others were wounded, as missiles struck security compounds and militant bases, the officials added. Israel said it was responding to an escalation in rocket attacks from Gaza and would bomb "as long as necessary". Air raids have continued into the night, while Israeli tanks are deployed just outside Gaza. Palestinian medical officials said two people were killed when a mosque was struck late on Saturday night in Gaza City. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the operation "may take some time" - but he pledged to avoid a humanitarian crisis. "It's not going to last a few days,'' he said in a televised statement, flanked by Defence Minister Barak and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. Staff at the main hospital in Gaza said operating rooms were overflowing, it was running out of medicine, and there were not enough surgeons to cope. 'Time for fighting' The raids came days after a truce with Hamas expired. Mr Barak said "there is a time for calm and a time for fighting, and now the time has come to fight". He told the BBC it was "not realistic" to call off the operation at this stage. The exiled leader of Hamas, Khaled Meshaal, called for a new intifada, or uprising, against Israel, in response to the attacks. The movement's Gaza leader, Ismail Haniyeh, said there would be no white flags and no surrender. "Palestine has never witnessed an uglier massacre," he said. Israel hit targets across Gaza, striking in the territory's main population centres, including Gaza City in the north and the southern towns of Khan Younis and Rafah. Hamas said all of its security compounds in Gaza were destroyed by the air strikes, which Israel said hit some 40 targets. Most of the dead and injured were reported to be in Gaza City. A Hamas police spokesman, Islam Shahwan, said a police compound in Gaza City was hit as a graduation ceremony for new personnel was taking place. The Hamas police headquarters in Gaza City was hit and the head of Gaza's police forces, Tawfik Jaber, was killed. Hospitals were filled to overflowing and mosques issued urgent appeals for people to donate blood. Egypt opened its border crossing to the Gaza Strip at Rafah to treat some of those injured in the south of the territory. In the West Bank, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas - whose Fatah faction was ousted from Gaza by Hamas in 2007 - condemned the attacks and called for restraint. Palestinians staged demonstrations in the West Bank cities of Ramallah and Hebron, and there were some scuffles with Israeli troops there. Restraint urged Hamas vowed to carry out revenge attacks on Israel and fired Qassam rockets into Israeli territory as an immediate reply. One Israeli was killed by a rocket strike on the town of Netivot, 20 kilometres (12 miles) east of Gaza, doctors said. The air strikes come amid rumours that an Israeli ground operation is imminent. Israeli media said on Saturday evening that Israeli troops were massing on the Gaza border. Mr Olmert said "we tried to avoid, and I think quite successfully, to hit any uninvolved people - we attacked only targets that are part of the Hamas organisations". US officials accused Hamas of having triggered the new bout of violence. "The United States is deeply concerned about the escalating violence in Gaza," US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in a statement. "We strongly condemn the repeated rocket and mortar attacks against Israel and hold Hamas responsible for breaking the ceasefire and for the renewal of violence there. The ceasefire must be restored immediately and fully respected." UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also urged an immediate halt to the violence, condemning what he called Israel's "excessive use of force leading to the killing and injuring of civilians" and "the ongoing rocket attacks by Palestinian militants". Calls for a ceasefire also came from Middle East envoy Tony Blair and the French EU presidency. Election prelude Palestinian militants frequently fire rockets against Israeli towns from inside the Gaza Strip; large numbers of rocket and mortar shells have been fired at Israel in recent days. The BBC's Katya Adler in Jerusalem says the timing of Israel's operation is significant, as Israeli politicians are keen to score points ahead of a general election in February. It is the worst attack in Gaza since 1967 in terms of the number of Palestinian casualties, a senior analyst told the BBC in Jerusalem. Although a six-month truce between Hamas and Israel was agreed earlier this year, it was regularly under strain and was allowed to lapse when it expired this month. Hamas blamed Israel for the end of the ceasefire, saying it had not respected its terms, including the lifting of the blockade under which little more than humanitarian aid has been allowed into Gaza. Israel said it initially began easing the blockade, but this was halted when Hamas failed to fulfil what Israel says were agreed conditions, including ending all rocket fire and halting weapons smuggling. SOURCE: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7801662.stm classic layouts