ISRAEL/GAZA: Israel discusses response to attack on troops, Solana tries to consolidate ceasefire

Record ID: 792296

  • Title: ISRAEL/GAZA: Israel discusses response to attack on troops, Solana tries to consolidate ceasefire
  • Date: 29th January 2009
  • Summary: JERUSALEM (JANUARY 28, 2009) (REUTERS) ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER EHUD OLMERT'S SPOKESPERSON, MARK REGEV, WALKING (SOUNDBITE) (English) SPOKESMAN FOR ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER, MARK REGEV, SAYING: "If the ceasefire crumbles, Hamas will have no one to blame but itself." EU FOREIGN POLICY CHIEF JAVIER SOLANA ARRIVING AT ISRAELI PRESIDENT'S RESIDENCE ISRAELI PRESIDENT SHIMON PERES GREETING SOLANA, SHAKING HANDS
  • Embargoed: 13th February 2009 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Reuters ID: LVA246GAV1ABZKWRTG41RN5X052Y
  • Story Text: Tension builds as Israel and Hamas blame each other for breaks in a fragile ceasefire, while top peace brokers from Europe and the U.S. arrive in the region.
    Israeli aircraft bombed smuggling tunnels under the Egypt-Gaza border on Wednesday (January 28) in a response to the killing of an Israeli soldier, violence that strained a fragile ceasefire before the arrival of a U.S. peace envoy in the region.
    The surge of violence has threatened the separate ceasefires that Israel and Hamas put into effect on January 18 after the 22-day offensive that Israeli leaders launched with the declared aim of ending cross-border rocket attacks.
    Both sides blame the other for the renewed violence.

    "The ongoing Zionist aggression on the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip is a dangerous escalation. The Zionist enemy alone is responsible for the ramifications that result from this escalation," said Hamas spokesman, Mushir Al Masri.
    Spokesman for the Israeli Prime Minister, Mark Regev made a similar accusation:
    "If the ceasefire crumbles Hamas will have no one to blame but itself."
    Israel's cabinet met to discuss how to move forward following Tuesday's attack on its armed forces.
    EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana also arrived to the region in an effort to bolster peace negotiations. He met with Israeli President Shimon Peres ahead of meetings with both Palestinian and Israeli leaders later in the day.
    George W. Mitchell, U.S. President Barack Obama's special envoy to the Middle East, planned to meet Israeli leaders later on Wednesday as well, and hold talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the occupied West Bank on Thursday.
    Western diplomats said he would not meet officials from Hamas, the Islamist group that runs the Gaza Strip and which the United States and European Union shun over its refusal to recognise Israel, renounce violence and accept existing interim peace deals.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register