Jan. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Fighting resumed in the Gaza Strip after Israel suspended military operations against Hamas for three hours to allow humanitarian aid to reach civilians struggling amid the 12-day conflict.
Israel said today that while an Egyptian-French proposal for a permanent cease-fire in the Gaza Strip looked promising, more conditions must be met before an end to the fighting can be achieved. More than 600 Palestinians, including civilians, have died since Israel began its offensive.
“We have welcomed the Egyptian-French plan,” said government spokesman Mark Regev following a cabinet meeting in which the proposal was discussed. “We are working with them to make this a success.”
Israel expanded its hold over the 40-kilometer-long (25- mile) coastal territory, fighting in the streets of Gaza City in the north and Khan Yunis in the south to halt rocket attacks on southern Israel. The army continued military operations through the night, striking at least 40 targets including rocket- launching sites, groups of Hamas gunmen and tunnels used for weapons storage, the army said in an e-mailed statement.
The Israeli military dropped leaflets calling on residents of Rafah in southern Gaza to leave the area before a planned bombing of tunnels to Egypt, Agence France-Presse reported, citing witnesses.
‘Working Arms Embargo’
A truce plan would have to include a total end to hostile fire into Israel from Gaza, and a “working arms embargo on Hamas that has support from the international community,” Regev said.
His comments came after the French government said Israel and the Palestinian Authority had accepted the truce proposal.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s called for a cease-fire for a “limited period” that would allow food, fuel and medicine to enter Gaza and give time for talks on a “comprehensive and lasting” agreement to end the fighting, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said.
The three-hour break in military operations against Hamas, a militant Islamic movement that seized control of Gaza in 2007, allowed aid convoys to bring in food and fuel as mounting casualties among Palestinian civilians increased pressure for a truce.
The Israeli government decided to halt its air and ground assault from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the wake of yesterday’s strike on a Gaza school compound run by the United Nations that killed least 40 Palestinians. The army may institute a similar suspension every other day if allowed by the “operational situation,” Major Peter Lerner, a military spokesman, said.
Hamas said it would hold fire during those hours too, AFP reported, and the break was largely quiet.
Diplomatic Urgency
The deaths yesterday at the school, which was being used as a shelter, added urgency to diplomatic efforts as Olmert’s security cabinet met to weigh military options in continuing the campaign, which started Dec. 27. Israel said the building was housing Hamas militants who were firing mortars.
The incident may force Israel to scale back its offensive.
“The only question was when it was going to happen, not whether,” said Yossi Beilin, a peace activist and former Israeli justice minister who advocates an immediate cease-fire. “Once you enter populated areas, it’s very clear things like this will happen even if you’re very, very careful.”
Beilin was a top aide to Shimon Peres when he was prime minister in 1996 and Israel shelled a UN compound at Kafr Kana, Lebanon, killing more than 100 civilians.
‘Nobody’s Interested’
“Even when you try to explain what really happened and that Israel doesn’t target civilians, nobody’s interested,” Beilin said in a telephone interview from Tel Aviv. “The bottom line is that a lot of people are dead.”
At least 630 Palestinians and nine Israelis have been killed. UN officials said as many as a quarter of the Palestinians killed were civilians, a figure Israel disputes as too high. At least 2,600 Palestinians have been wounded, said Mu’awia Hassanein, chief of emergency medical services in Gaza.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, UN Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice backed the cease-fire proposal and Mubarak’s call for peace talks in Cairo.
At least five rockets from Gaza struck Israel today, police said. About 35 rockets struck Israeli territory yesterday, compared with 40 the day before, according to the army. That’s down from a peak of 76 on Dec. 27, the first day of the operation. Israel said as many as 3,200 rockets and mortar shells were fired at the country last year. Rocket attacks have killed four Israelis since fighting began.
Water, Sewage
Gaza’s water and sewage systems are on the verge of collapse because of power shortages, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said yesterday. More than 530,000 people among Gaza’s population of 1.4 million are completely cut off from running water and the rest receive water only every few days, the agency said in an e-mailed statement.
Israel’s attack on Gaza is “genocide,” Abbas told the UN Security Council late yesterday.
Israel began the campaign to halt rocket attacks after a six-month cease-fire with Hamas expired Dec. 19. Hamas, designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. and the European Union, refused to renew the truce because it said Israel hadn’t eased its economic blockade of Gaza.
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Topic: Gaza Fighting Resumes as Israel Says It Seeks Truce (Read 395 times)