ISRAEL: F16 attack on Gaza border

Record ID: 353196

  • Title: ISRAEL: F16 attack on Gaza border
  • Date: 2nd January 2009
  • Summary: ISRAEL-GAZA BORDER AREA, ISRAEL (JANUARY 1, 2009) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF ISRAELI F16 JET FIGHTER FLYING AND DROPPING BOMBS VARIOUS OF SMOKE RISING FROM GROUND JET FIGHTER FLYING SMOKE RISING FROM RECENT STRIKE CLOSE-UP OF SMOKE F16 FIGHTER JET SMOKE RISING IN DISTANCE
  • Embargoed: 17th January 2009 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Israel
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: Defence / Military
  • Reuters ID: LVA5JFTO3MQFBM68WSNA2NIRC39S
  • Story Text: Israel launches New Year F16 attack on Gaza border.
    Israeli warplanes attacked government buildings in the Gaza Strip on New Year's Day after Israel and its Islamist Hamas foe both spurned ceasefire calls in a conflict that has killed about 400 Palestinians.
    Israeli tanks and troops were massed near the border of the densely populated coastal enclave and the Haaretz newspaper reported on Thursday (January 1) the Israeli army had recommended a major but short-term ground offensive.
    Hamas rockets fired from Gaza hit an Israeli city on Wednesday (December 31), scaring residents and hardening Israel's resolve to stamp out a threat that has killed three Israeli civilians and a soldier since renewed hostilities broke out on December 27.
    Foreign pressure grew on both sides to end hostilities but Israel brushed aside as "unrealistic" a French proposal for a 48-hour truce that would allow in more humanitarian aid for Gaza's 1.5 million residents.
    In New York, the U.N. Security Council held an emergency session but adjourned without a vote after Arab countries pushed for a demand for an immediate ceasefire. Western delegates described the Arab-drafted resolution as unbalanced and said negotiations would continue to reach an agreed text.
    France said it would host Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on Thursday and an Israeli official said French President Nicolas Sarkozy planned to visit Jerusalem on Monday (January 5).
    But in Gaza and Israel, the violence continued for a sixth day as Israeli warplanes struck, after having carried out 10 raids on Wednesday.
    Gunmen in Gaza retaliated, firing a long-range rocket at the southern Israeli city of Beersheba.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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