US Blocks UN Security Council Action on Gaza
The United States late Saturday blocked approval of a U.N. Security Council statement calling for an immediate cease-fire in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel and expressing concern at the escalation of violence between Israel and Hamas.
U.S. deputy ambassador Alejandro Wolff said the United States saw no prospect of Hamas abiding by last week's council call for an immediate end to the violence. Therefore, he said, a new statement at this time "would not be adhered to and would have no underpinning for success, would not do credit to the council."
France's U.N. Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert, the current council president, announced that there was no agreement among members on a statement. But he said there were "strong convergences" among the 15 members to express serious concern about the deteriorating situation in Gaza and the need for "an immediate, permanent and fully respected cease-fire."
Meantime,BBC News reported that Israel has sent ground forces into the Gaza Strip after a week of air strikes to try to halt rocket attacks by Palestinian militants.
Its troops were reported to be engaged in heavy clashes with Hamas fighters in northern Gaza. Both sides have reported casualties in the fighting.
The UN secretary general called for an immediate halt to operations.
Witnesses say Israeli military convoys supported by attack helicopters crossed into northern Gaza at four separate points after nightfall on Saturday.
Advancing Israeli tanks were reported to be in battles around Gaza City and the northern towns of Beit Lahiya and Jabaliya, the Afp news agency reported. Hamas fighters replied with mortars and rockets, witnesses said.
The Israeli army said 30 of its soldiers had been wounded in the ground offensive, two of them seriously.
Palestinian medical officials said eight Gazans had been killed by Israeli troops, five of them gunmen.
An Israeli military spokeswoman said the objective of the ground operation was "to destroy the Hamas terror infrastructure in the area of operations".
Defence Minister Ehud Barak said the ground campaign against Hamas "will not be easy or short, but we are determined".
"Our aim is to force Hamas to stop its hostile activities against Israel and Israelis from Gaza, and to bring about a significant change in the situation in the southern part of Israel," he told a news conference.
"We have carefully weighed all our operations. We are not war-hungry, but we shall not allow a situation in which our towns, villages and civilians are constantly targeted by Hamas."
Mr Barak also said Israel would "keep a sensitive eye" on its northern border with Lebanon, where it fought a short but bloody war with the Shia Hezbollah movement in 2006.
"We hope the situation will remain calm. Nevertheless, we are ready and alert to face any unwanted development in that area," he added.
There are said to be some 10,000 Israeli troops and hundreds of tanks massed on the border with Gaza.
As Israel’s tanks and troops poured into Gaza on Saturday, the next phase in its fierce attempt to end rocket attacks, a question hung over the operation: can the rockets really be stopped for any length of time while Hamas remains in power in Gaza?
And if the answer is determined to be no, then is the real aim of the operation to remove Hamas entirely, no matter the cost?
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni of Israel said, “There is no doubt that as long as Hamas controls Gaza, it is a problem for Israel, a problem for the Palestinians and a problem for the entire region.”
Vice Premier Haim Ramon went even further in an interview on Israeli television, saying Israel must not end this operation with Hamas in charge of Gaza.
“What I think we need to do is to reach a situation in which we do not allow Hamas to govern,” Mr. Ramon said on Channel One. “That is the most important thing.”
U.S. deputy ambassador Alejandro Wolff said the United States saw no prospect of Hamas abiding by last week's council call for an immediate end to the violence. Therefore, he said, a new statement at this time "would not be adhered to and would have no underpinning for success, would not do credit to the council."
France's U.N. Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert, the current council president, announced that there was no agreement among members on a statement. But he said there were "strong convergences" among the 15 members to express serious concern about the deteriorating situation in Gaza and the need for "an immediate, permanent and fully respected cease-fire."
Meantime,BBC News reported that Israel has sent ground forces into the Gaza Strip after a week of air strikes to try to halt rocket attacks by Palestinian militants.
Its troops were reported to be engaged in heavy clashes with Hamas fighters in northern Gaza. Both sides have reported casualties in the fighting.
The UN secretary general called for an immediate halt to operations.
Witnesses say Israeli military convoys supported by attack helicopters crossed into northern Gaza at four separate points after nightfall on Saturday.
Advancing Israeli tanks were reported to be in battles around Gaza City and the northern towns of Beit Lahiya and Jabaliya, the Afp news agency reported. Hamas fighters replied with mortars and rockets, witnesses said.
The Israeli army said 30 of its soldiers had been wounded in the ground offensive, two of them seriously.
Palestinian medical officials said eight Gazans had been killed by Israeli troops, five of them gunmen.
An Israeli military spokeswoman said the objective of the ground operation was "to destroy the Hamas terror infrastructure in the area of operations".
Defence Minister Ehud Barak said the ground campaign against Hamas "will not be easy or short, but we are determined".
"Our aim is to force Hamas to stop its hostile activities against Israel and Israelis from Gaza, and to bring about a significant change in the situation in the southern part of Israel," he told a news conference.
"We have carefully weighed all our operations. We are not war-hungry, but we shall not allow a situation in which our towns, villages and civilians are constantly targeted by Hamas."
Mr Barak also said Israel would "keep a sensitive eye" on its northern border with Lebanon, where it fought a short but bloody war with the Shia Hezbollah movement in 2006.
"We hope the situation will remain calm. Nevertheless, we are ready and alert to face any unwanted development in that area," he added.
There are said to be some 10,000 Israeli troops and hundreds of tanks massed on the border with Gaza.
As Israel’s tanks and troops poured into Gaza on Saturday, the next phase in its fierce attempt to end rocket attacks, a question hung over the operation: can the rockets really be stopped for any length of time while Hamas remains in power in Gaza?
And if the answer is determined to be no, then is the real aim of the operation to remove Hamas entirely, no matter the cost?
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni of Israel said, “There is no doubt that as long as Hamas controls Gaza, it is a problem for Israel, a problem for the Palestinians and a problem for the entire region.”
Vice Premier Haim Ramon went even further in an interview on Israeli television, saying Israel must not end this operation with Hamas in charge of Gaza.
“What I think we need to do is to reach a situation in which we do not allow Hamas to govern,” Mr. Ramon said on Channel One. “That is the most important thing.”
posted by Ah Yun Wong at
2:26 PM
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