MIDDLE EAST: Israelis and Palestinians prepare for end of the Gaza ceasefire between Hamas and Israel

Record ID: 1519763

  • Title: MIDDLE EAST: Israelis and Palestinians prepare for end of the Gaza ceasefire between Hamas and Israel
  • Date: 18th December 2008
  • Summary: GAZA CITY, GAZA (DECEMBER 18, 2008) (REUTERS) HAMAS SPOKESMAN, FAWZI BARHOUM, SITTING IN HIS OFFICE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) HAMAS SPOKESMAN, FAWZI BARHOUM, SAYING: "The Hamas position is not for the extension of the truce. The ones who called for the truce and did not commit to it and worked towards its collapse are the Zionist occupiers." VARIOUS OF VEGETABLE AND FRUIT VENDORS IN MARKET
  • Embargoed: 3rd January 2009 11:40
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  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA5BR99ZSGD4WXOYL2F1PMU2S7F
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: Israelis and Palestinians on both sides of the volatile Gaza border are bracing themselves for fresh violence as a six-month-old truce is expected to end on Friday (December 19).
    In the southern Israeli town of Sderot, a frequent target of rocket attacks launched by Palestinian militants, residents were still recovering from a barrage of rockets that hit the town on Wednesday (December 17), wounding two residents. The rocket attack was followed by an Israeli air strike on the Gaza Strip that killed one.
    Sderot residents called for the government to take more action to protect them, saying the ceasefire had done little to stop the rocket attacks.

    "Listen, in my point of view we didn't have any calm anyways, because if we get hit by a Qassam in the morning and by a Qassam in the night... and enough with this fear, all day long we have to be ready, in fear, to be in a state of readiness, in my opinion this is not calm. I really hope that the army will give an appropriate answer," said one resident Shimon Buskila.
    Another resident Yossi Timsit was interrupted by an air raid siren, announcing incoming rocket attacks.
    The rockets fired from Gaza rarely kill people, but sometimes cause property damage. Residents of Sderot and nearby communities frequently have to take shelter when alarms sound.
    Israeli officials have said they would not be opposed to a continuation of the Egyptian-brokered truce, but said no proposals had been put forward.
    Speaking at a Holon high school on Thursday (December 18) Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak, said Israel was prepared to take broader military action if necessary.

    "We will not be deterred from carrying out as wide an action as necessary in Gaza, but are also not racing to do so. When the situation will require a broad action we will of course take action. Until then we shall decide at every stage the extent of action and the place it must be carried out," he said.
    Hamas Islamists, who seized control of the Gaza Strip in June 2007 after routing Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' secular Fatah group, have said they do not expect the truce with Israel to be extended.
    In Gaza City Thursday, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said Hamas did not favour an extension of the ceasefire.

    "The Hamas position is not for the extension of the truce. The ones who called for the truce and did not commit to it and worked towards its collapse are the Zionist occupiers," he said.
    Israel often shuts crossings to Gaza when rocket attacks occur. The closures result in severe shortages of everything in Gaza from food to fuel which helps to power Gaza's electricity plant.
    At a Gaza City market on Thursday, Palestinians had mixed views about the ceasefire.
    "In regards to the truce we have not seen any results. Before the truce we were in a much better position than the position we are in now," said father of seven, Fayek Al-Hilu.
    "We want a truce, and I support such a truce," said Mohammed Murad, a resident of northern Gaza.
    "I am against the extension of the truce, because this truce was for the benefit of the Jews, and we did not benefit anything from it," Abu Ousama, another Gaza resident said.
    On Thursday a funeral was held for a man killed during an Israeli missile strike on Wednesday night. Palestinian men and militants carried the man's body through the streets of a northern Gaza community before he was buried.
    The man's wife condemned the Israeli attack which killed her husband, saying he was not a militant. She added though that she would like to see a continuation of the truce.

    "I am with the truce and peace so prosperity will prevail upon us, on our Palestinian people," she said.
    Hamas, who won a 2006 parliamentary election but are shunned by Israel for refusing to renounce violence, seem set on consolidating control of Gaza.
    Hamas sees its support dependent on maintaining pressure on Israel, such as with improvised rockets, but seems wary of provoking an all-out Israeli offensive or heavy strikes targeting its leadership.
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