MIDDLE EAST: Gaza operations continue as Israeli security cabinet convenes to discuss UN resolution

Record ID: 359125

  • Title: MIDDLE EAST: Gaza operations continue as Israeli security cabinet convenes to discuss UN resolution
  • Date: 10th January 2009
  • Summary: ISRAEL-GAZA BORDER AREA, ISRAEL (JANUARY 9, 2009) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF ISRAELI F-15 FIGHTER JETS SHOOTING OVER GAZA STRIP VARIOUS OF HUGE SMOKE CLOUD BILLOWING IN GAZA, AS SEEN FROM ISRAELI SIDE OF BORDER GAZA CITY, GAZA (JANUARY 9, 2009) (REUTERS) SMOKE AND EXPLOSIONS OVER GAZA CITY TEL AVIV, ISRAEL (JANUARY 9, 2009) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF ISRAEL'S DEFENCE MINISTRY BUI
  • Embargoed: 25th January 2009 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA8QUQ83IF8GZQCFUDEOHW7PAWY
  • Story Text: Israel pushed ahead with its two-week-old offensive in the Gaza Strip on Friday (January 9), defying a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire. As bombs blasted the coastal enclave for a 14th day, senior Israeli ministers met to consider the next move.
    Reuters video from the Israeli-Gaza border showed a huge explosion that rocked the Gaza Strip.
    Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert rejected the U.N. resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza as "unworkable" and, noting Palestinians fired rockets at Israel on Friday, said the army would go on defending Israelis.
    Israeli media reported Palestinian militants had fired as many as 30 rockets by early afternoon on Friday.
    Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni also gave indications the guns were unlikely to fall silent.
    The security cabinet meeting came hours after a U.N. Security Council resolution was passed in New York that appeared to place little new pressure to halt attacks that have killed hundreds of Palestinians -- key ally the United States, abstained, noting talks on a truce were still under way under Egyptian mediation.
    The resolution spoke of a ceasefire that was not only "immediate" but also "durable and fully respected" -- language that chimes with Israeli and U.S. demands in those negotiations that Israel secure guarantees that its Hamas Islamist enemies will be unable to rearm by halting smuggling from Egypt.
    Olmert's security cabinet on Wednesday (January 7) put off a decision on whether to launch a massive escalation of the offensive on Hamas guerrillas by moving troops in a third phase deep into urban areas, a move that would mean calling in reservists.
    The onslaught in Gaza, has solid support among Israeli voters who go to the polls in a month. A poll on Friday showed over 90 percent support among Israel's Jewish majority.
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