|
World Jewish News
Gaza deaths rise in Israeli strikes (As reported by CNN)
28.12.2008
At least 275 people have died, and 600 others have been wounded in Gaza since Israeli air strikes began, Gaza Palestinian medical sources said Sunday.
Smoke rises after an Israeli air force attack against Hamas militants in Gaza on Sunday as seen from Israel's border.
Smoke rises after an Israeli air force attack against Hamas militants in Gaza on Sunday as seen from Israel's border.
At least three people have died in attacks Sunday morning, the sources added.
The Israeli airstrikes against Hamas targets in Gaza continued, as United Nations Security Council members "expressed serious concern" and called for "an immediate halt to all violence."
The Security Council president, Croatian Ambassador Neven Jurica, read the short statement after a four-hour-long emergency meeting that ended early Sunday.
Among the targets hit Sunday morning were Gaza City's main police station, according to a Gaza-based journalist.
CNN's Paula Hancocks, standing on the Israeli side of the border, also witnessed three large blasts, followed by black plumes of smoke rising on the horizon in Gaza at about 8:15 a.m. (1:15 a.m. ET).
It was not immediately clear what those three strikes were targeting.
An Israel Defense Forces spokesman confirmed the raids were continuing Sunday, bringing to 210 the number of Hamas targets hit since the operation began Saturday morning.
Hamas militants have launched more than 110 rockets into Israel since Saturday morning, one of them killing an Israeli woman when it landed on a home, the IDF spokesman said.
Palestinian envoy Riyad Mansour, before entering the U.N. Security Council meeting Saturday, said he sought a condemnation from the U.N. of the deadly violence.
"There is no justification for punishing 1.5 million in the Gaza Strip because of the actions of a few," he said.
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak has called the airstrikes a response to escalating rocket attacks against southern Israel.
In the past few weeks, an estimated 200 rockets have fallen inside Israel.
Yet Hamas blamed Israel for the artillery exchange, accusing it of violating a cease-fire intended to stem violence in the region.
The Egypt-brokered cease-fire between Hamas and Israel expired December 19.
Barak said the Israeli attacks would continue as long as necessary until Hamas militants were ready to "change their behavior."
"This will not be a short operation. The war on terrorism is an ongoing one, and we will have to stand firm in order to change the situation in the south," Barak said Saturday.
Barak told CNN that Israel was compelled to respond with force after evacuating Gaza three years ago "to the last square inch" only to face continuous attacks.
"We have to experience shelling and rocket attacks on innocent civilians, that's something we will not accept," he told CNN. "I am confident that the American government would not have waited one day before they would have responded if San Diego [California] would have been bombed or shelled or rocketed from Tijuana [Mexico] with thousands of rockets."
Hamas vowed to retaliate.
"We will stand up, we will defend our own people, we will defend our land, and we will not give up," senior Hamas spokesman Osama Hamdan said.
Hamdan also denied accusations that Hamas had provoked Israel attacks by violating the cease-fire with rocket attacks.
"Hamas did not fire rockets through the cease-fire. It's clear that the one who violated the cease-fire is the Israelis," Hamdan told CNN. "For half the period of cease-fire, they closed all the checkpoints, and they killed 28 Palestinians."
The exchange of accusations came as bodies piled up on the streets of Gaza City, where hospitals and medical personnel were overwhelmed by the influx of wounded.
"People are suffering and dying because of shortages of medical equipment," said Dr. Mahmoud el-Khazndar, who works at Gaza City's Shifa Hospital. "The hospital is not accustomed to accept mass casualties like this."
The Egyptian government sent 20 ambulances and medical personnel to its border with Gaza to help treat and transport the wounded, an Egyptian official said.
Tensions had been building between Hamas and Israel despite the six-month truce. The tenuous agreement was weakened in recent weeks as violence escalated.
White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said the United States places the blame for the Israeli military action squarely on Hamas.
"We want the cease-fire to be restored, but we understand that Israel is reacting to the hundreds of rockets that have been fired upon the innocent people of Israel over the last few days," he said. "Hamas must end its terrorist activities if it wishes to play a role in the future of the Palestinian people."
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice also called for the cease-fire to be restored.
"We strongly condemn the repeated rocket and mortar attacks against Israel and hold Hamas responsible for breaking the cease-fire and for the renewal of violence there. The cease-fire must be restored immediately and fully respected," she said.
The Arab League condemned the attacks and scheduled an emergency meeting in Cairo, Egypt, on Sunday to discuss the situation. The meeting is set for 7 p.m. (noon ET).
"The situation is lending itself to escalation," Secretary General Amr Moussa told CNN International. "The attacks have resulted in casualties among the civilians, among the young, among the population."
Moussa said the Arab League would call on the U.N. Security Council to issue a statement or resolution calling on all parties to end violence and enter into mediation.
"Also, we are calling on the Palestinians to close ranks and stop feuds between different organizations in Palestine," Moussa said, referring to struggles between warring factions struggling for power
Palestinian legislator Hanan Ashrawi also accused Israel of ignoring the terms of the cease-fire that expired December 19.
"This is certainly a very cruel escalation, a relentless bombardment of a captive civilian population that has already been under siege for months, that has been deprived of basic requirements like food and medicines and fuel and power," she said from Ramallah in the West Bank. Video Watch Ashrawi condemn the airstrikes »
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was "deeply alarmed" and called for "an immediate halt to all violence," a spokesman said in a statement.
Israeli military officials accused Hamas militants of firing more than 65 rockets into southern Israel on Wednesday, and the Israeli air force said it killed a Hamas militant whom it accused of helping launch the rockets against Israel.
In a letter Saturday to Ban and the U.N. Security Council stated, Israeli Ambassador Gabriela Shalev said Hamas holds "the sole responsibility for the latest events in Gaza" and claimed Israel was exercising self-defense.
"No country would allow continuous rocketing of its civilian population without taking the necessary actions to stop it," Shalev said. "Israel expects the understanding and support of the international community to its actions, as it confronts terrorism and advances the interest of all those who wish that peace and coexistence will prevail in our region."
Источник: CNN
|
|
