MIDEAST: U.S. Secretary of State Rice meets Israeli and Palestinian leaders as the Israeli army resumes raids inside Gaza Strip

Record ID: 784389

  • Title: MIDEAST: U.S. Secretary of State Rice meets Israeli and Palestinian leaders as the Israeli army resumes raids inside Gaza Strip
  • Date: 5th March 2008
  • Summary: (W4) KISSUFIM, ISRAEL-GAZA BORDER, ISRAEL (MARCH 4, 2008) (REUTERS) ****NIGHT SHOTS**** ISRAELI ARMOURED VEHICLE PREPARING TO ENTER GAZA STRIP VEHICLE DRIVING VARIOUS OF ISRAELI SOLDIERS ON TOP OF TANKS HEAVILY ARMOURED VEHICLE DRIVING TOWARDS GAZA STRIP
  • Embargoed: 20th March 2008 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: International Relations,Defence / Military
  • Reuters ID: LVA7E0BNQSRJGAUJU08KYYQFTR7D
  • Story Text: Israeli ground forces and Hamas militants clashed inside the Gaza Strip on Tuesday (March 4) in the first raid of its kind since a five-day Israeli incursion that killed more than 120 Palestinians ended on Monday.
    The renewed operation in Gaza comes as U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice failed to win a public commitment from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to resume peace talks with Israel.
    Abbas suspended negotiations in protest at the Israeli offensive in the Gaza.
    Though Israeli troops withdrew on Monday (March 03) from the enclave, which is controlled by Abbas' Islamist rivals, Israeli soldiers again clashed with Hamas militants on the ground late on Tuesday.
    "The latest events have created a dangerous escalation... The suffocating siege on the Gaza Strip, has stopped any progress in the negotiations," Abbas said in a joint news conference with Rice in Ramallah.
    Abbas said 20 children had been among dozens of civilians killed in the Gaza operation, Israel's most powerful thrust into the territory since it withdrew settlers and its army in 2005 after 38 years of occupation.
    "Israelis have a right to defend themselves. I have also told said to the Israelis that it is extremely important that they remember that there has to be a day after, a partner to work with, and that innocent people who have the bad fortune to have to live under Hamas control should not be subject to injury and death. There should really be a very strong effort to spare innocent life," Rice said.
    U.S. officials said while Abbas avoided making clear when he might resume talks, they expected him to return soon, saying it was not politically feasible for him to do it now.
    The United States hopes a deal on Palestinian statehood can be reached before President George W. Bush leaves office in January. In Washington, Bush said he was "optimistic," after White House talks with Jordan's King Abdullah on Tuesday.
    After meeting Abbas and Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, Rice went to Jerusalem where she dined with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
    She is scheduled to hold further talks with Israeli and Palestinian officials on Wednesday (March 5) before leaving the region for Brussels.
    Israel says Hamas bears responsibility for civilian deaths because its gunmen launch rockets from heavily populated areas.
    On the Gaza-Israel border on Tuesday evening, Israeli forces and armoured vehicles were seen preparing and then entering the Gaza Strip.
    Palestinian witnesses and Hamas officials said a column of Israeli armoured vehicles crossed the border in central Gaza and came under mortar and machine-gun fire.
    Israeli helicopters circled overhead as the soldiers surrounded the home of a militant. The Hamas-allied Islamic Jihad movement said the man was a leader of its armed wing.
    An Israeli army spokeswoman confirmed there was a military operation under way in Gaza but declined to give details.
    Israeli troops frequently carry out raids in Gaza within a few hundred metres from the border.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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