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Israel bombs Gaza mosque, kills 10, and Israel keeps ban on foreign reporters
Israel bombs Gaza mosque, kills 10
By IBRAHIM BARZAK and JOSEF FEDERMAN
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – Palestinian medical officials say an Israeli airstrike on a mosque in the Gaza Strip has killed 10 people and wounded dozens.
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/ynews;_ylt=AlCM.MkgnxLLffGEqyMtMiIU...
Israel allows some Gazans to flee bloodshed -video
http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Israel-launches-airstrikes-Gaza/ss/ev...
Israel launches strike on Gaza - slideshow
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/ynews;_ylt=AgT9o.nGq3jKy2BB2LTvR0gU...
Israel blasts range of Hamas targets - video
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/ynews;_ylt=AsXD4zAemvHhCkTW0lIryMkU...
Bush says Hamas is to blame - video
http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Gaza-Strip/photo//090103/481/c7fec812...
An explosion from an Israeli strike in the northern Gaza Strip is seen from the Israel side of the border … photo
It was not immediately clear whether the dead were Hamas militants. The mosque is named after a founder of Hamas who was killed by Israel in 2004.
The medical officials say more than 30 people were wounded in Saturday's airstrike in the northern town of Beit Lahiya. At least seven are in critical condition.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli warplanes, gunboats and artillery units bombarded more than 40 Hamas targets Saturday, including weapons storage facilities, training centers and leaders' homes as Israel's offensive against Gaza's Islamic militant rulers entered a second week.
There were tentative signs that the current phase of fighting may be nearing an end.
Most of the airstrikes targeted empty buildings and abandoned sites, suggesting Israel may be running out of targets.
In another indication the campaign was entering a new phase, Israeli artillery units attacked Gaza for the first time, military officials said. The shelling was directed at open areas, but was seen as a possible signal that a ground invasion could be nearing.
Israeli defense officials said some 10,000 troops, including tank, artillery and special operations units, were massed on the Gaza border and prepared to invade. They said top commanders are split over whether to send in ground forces, in part because such an operation could lead to heavy casualties but also because they believe Hamas already has been dealt a heavy blow. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were classified discussions.
At the same time, international cease-fire efforts were also gaining momentum. French President Nicolas Sarkozy is visiting the region next week to try to end the violence, and President George W. Bush and U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon both spoke in favor of an internationally monitored truce.
But Hamas, in its first reaction to the proposal on Saturday, reacted coolly to the idea of international monitors.
Israel launched the offensive on Dec. 27 in response to intensifying rocket fire by Hamas militants in Gaza. The operation has killed more than 430 Palestinians, including dozens of civilians, according to Palestinian and U.N. counts. Four Israelis have also been killed, and rocket attacks on southern Israel persist.
The Israeli army would not say when the operation might end, repeating its position that it would continue as long as necessary. But officials confirmed that the number of airstrikes is down, from more than 100 a day in the first days to 60 or so a day now.
The Israeli offensive has sparked large protests around the world over the past few days. Tens of thousands rallied Saturday in about a dozen European countries against the Israeli action. Some hurled shoes at iron gates near the British prime minister's residence in London, in an echo of the Iraq journalist who angrily threw his shoes at President George W. Bush while he was visiting Iraq last month.
Tens of thousands of Israeli Arabs demonstrated in the northern town of Sakhnin, by far the biggest protest in Israel so far. Marchers held Palestinian flags and a smattering of green Hamas flags. But there were no reports of violence.
In the latest attacks, the Israeli army struck the homes of two Hamas operatives, saying the buildings were used to store weapons and plan attacks. Hamas outposts, training camps and rocket launching sites also were targeted, it said.
The army also struck the American International School, the most prestigious educational institution in Gaza. The school is not connected to the U.S. government, but it teaches an American curriculum in English.
The airstrike demolished the school's main building and killed a night watchman. Two other Palestinians were killed in a separate airstrike, while four others, including a mid-level militant commander, died of wounds sustained earlier, Gaza health officials said.
Early Saturday, it dropped leaflets in downtown Gaza City ordering people off the streets.
Palestinian militants fired at least 10 rockets into southern Israel, lightly wounding one person, police said. One rocket scored a direct hit on a house in the southern city of
Ashkelon and another struck a bomb shelter there, leaving its above-ground entrance scarred by shrapnel.
The Israeli airstrikes have badly damaged Gaza's infrastructure, knocking out power and water in many areas and raising concerns of a looming humanitarian disaster.
Israel briefly opened its border Friday to allow nearly 300 Palestinians with foreign passports to flee the besieged area. The evacuees told of crippling shortages of water, electricity and medicine.
Maxwell Gaylard, U.N. humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinians Territories, estimated that a quarter of the Palestinians killed were civilians and a "significant number" of the dead were women and children. He said some 2,000 people have been wounded in the past week.
"There is a critical emergency right now in the Gaza Strip," he said.
Israel denies there is a humanitarian crisis in Gaza and has increased its shipments of goods into Gaza. It says it has confined its attacks to militants while trying to prevent civilian casualties.
While ground troops remained poised to enter Gaza, Israel also has left the door open to a diplomatic solution, saying it would accept a cease-fire if it is enforced by international monitors.
This latest round of violence erupted after the expiration of a six-month cease-fire that was repeatedly marred by sporadic rocket attacks on Israel.
Israel's call for international monitors appeared to be gaining steam.
At the United Nations, Ban urged world leaders to intensify efforts to achieve an immediate cease-fire that includes monitors to enforce the truce and possibly protect Palestinian civilians.
In Washington, Bush on Friday branded the rocket fire an "act of terror" and outlined his own condition for a cease-fire in Gaza, saying no peace deal would be acceptable without monitoring to halt the flow of smuggled weapons to terrorist groups.
"The United States is leading diplomatic efforts to achieve a meaningful cease-fire that is fully respected," Bush said in his weekly radio address.
The spokesman for the Hamas government in Gaza, Taher Nunu, said the group would not allow Israel or the international community to impose any arrangement, though he left the door open to a negotiated solution.
"Anyone who thinks that the change in the Palestinian arena can be achieved through jet fighters' bombs and tanks and without dialogue is mistaken," he said.
With time running out on the Bush presidency, the crisis in Gaza is likely to carry over to President-elect Barack Obama. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice continued telephone diplomacy to arrange a truce, but said she had no plans to make an emergency visit to the region.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas delayed a planned trip to the United Nations so he could meet with Sarkozy and a high-level EU delegation on Monday. He now plans on speaking at the U.N. on Tuesday, said Abbas aide Saeb Erekat.
At the U.N., Abbas is expected to urge the Security Council to adopt an Arab draft resolution that would condemn Israel and demand a halt to its bombing campaign in Gaza.
Abbas, whose forces in Gaza were ousted by Hamas in June 2007, still claims authority over the area.
The council is expected to discuss the draft resolution on Monday. But the United States said the draft is "unacceptable" and "unbalanced" because it makes no mention of halting Hamas rocket attacks.
___
Federman reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press writer Ben Feller in Washington contributed to this report.
Israel keeps ban on foreign journalists in Gaza
By DIAA HADID
http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Gaza-Strip-Erez-crossing/photo//09010...
An Israeli security guard walks in front of a boy dragging a suitcase as Palestinian holders of foreign … photo
EREZ CROSSING, Israel – Israel maintained its ban on foreign journalists entering the Gaza Strip Friday despite a recent Supreme Court order to allow a limited number of reporters to enter the territory.
The ban has been in place since a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas began to fray on Nov. 5. Israel eased the ban last month but tightened it again after launching its air offensive against Gaza's Hamas rulers a week ago.
A legal challenge by the Foreign Press Association, which represents foreign media in Israel, prompted the court ruling this week to allow groups of up to 12 foreign journalists to cross the border whenever the Erez crossing between Israel and Gaza is open for humanitarian cases.
That was the case on Friday, when Israel opened the crossing to allow nearly 300 Palestinians with foreign passports to leave Gaza. But authorities defied the court order and kept reporters out.
"We call on the Israeli government to immediately honor the will of the court and allow foreign journalists access to Gaza," the Foreign Press Association said in a statement.
"The authorities' position that there was not enough time to coordinate and allow the journalists to enter does not seem reasonable."
A military spokesman said Israel kept the journalists out because authorities at the crossing point were focused on processing the hundreds of Palestinians exiting Gaza.
"The crossing today was overwhelmed dealing with the emergency evacuation of people," said army spokesman Peter Lerner. He said journalists might be allowed to cross on Sunday, when Israel plans to open the crossing for injured Palestinians to enter Israel for medical treatment.
The ban on foreign journalists has made it more difficult for news organizations to verify the extent of damage from the offensive, the number of civilian casualties or the seriousness of humanitarian problems such as shortages of food and medicine.
Some organizations, such as The Associated Press, are relying on journalists who live in Gaza and cover the conflict full-time but would normally have sent in reinforcements to cover the story more extensively.
The Israeli government has long banned Israeli journalists from entering Gaza because of fears for their safety, but foreign reporters have been permitted to go in, even during times of heavy fighting.
While Israel has restricted media access to Gaza in the past, a ban this long is unprecedented. Journalists have protested the restrictions as a grave blow to press freedom.
By IBRAHIM BARZAK and JOSEF FEDERMAN
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – Palestinian medical officials say an Israeli airstrike on a mosque in the Gaza Strip has killed 10 people and wounded dozens.
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/ynews;_ylt=AlCM.MkgnxLLffGEqyMtMiIU...
Israel allows some Gazans to flee bloodshed -video
http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Israel-launches-airstrikes-Gaza/ss/ev...
Israel launches strike on Gaza - slideshow
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/ynews;_ylt=AgT9o.nGq3jKy2BB2LTvR0gU...
Israel blasts range of Hamas targets - video
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/ynews;_ylt=AsXD4zAemvHhCkTW0lIryMkU...
Bush says Hamas is to blame - video
http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Gaza-Strip/photo//090103/481/c7fec812...
An explosion from an Israeli strike in the northern Gaza Strip is seen from the Israel side of the border … photo
It was not immediately clear whether the dead were Hamas militants. The mosque is named after a founder of Hamas who was killed by Israel in 2004.
The medical officials say more than 30 people were wounded in Saturday's airstrike in the northern town of Beit Lahiya. At least seven are in critical condition.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli warplanes, gunboats and artillery units bombarded more than 40 Hamas targets Saturday, including weapons storage facilities, training centers and leaders' homes as Israel's offensive against Gaza's Islamic militant rulers entered a second week.
There were tentative signs that the current phase of fighting may be nearing an end.
Most of the airstrikes targeted empty buildings and abandoned sites, suggesting Israel may be running out of targets.
In another indication the campaign was entering a new phase, Israeli artillery units attacked Gaza for the first time, military officials said. The shelling was directed at open areas, but was seen as a possible signal that a ground invasion could be nearing.
Israeli defense officials said some 10,000 troops, including tank, artillery and special operations units, were massed on the Gaza border and prepared to invade. They said top commanders are split over whether to send in ground forces, in part because such an operation could lead to heavy casualties but also because they believe Hamas already has been dealt a heavy blow. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were classified discussions.
At the same time, international cease-fire efforts were also gaining momentum. French President Nicolas Sarkozy is visiting the region next week to try to end the violence, and President George W. Bush and U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon both spoke in favor of an internationally monitored truce.
But Hamas, in its first reaction to the proposal on Saturday, reacted coolly to the idea of international monitors.
Israel launched the offensive on Dec. 27 in response to intensifying rocket fire by Hamas militants in Gaza. The operation has killed more than 430 Palestinians, including dozens of civilians, according to Palestinian and U.N. counts. Four Israelis have also been killed, and rocket attacks on southern Israel persist.
The Israeli army would not say when the operation might end, repeating its position that it would continue as long as necessary. But officials confirmed that the number of airstrikes is down, from more than 100 a day in the first days to 60 or so a day now.
The Israeli offensive has sparked large protests around the world over the past few days. Tens of thousands rallied Saturday in about a dozen European countries against the Israeli action. Some hurled shoes at iron gates near the British prime minister's residence in London, in an echo of the Iraq journalist who angrily threw his shoes at President George W. Bush while he was visiting Iraq last month.
Tens of thousands of Israeli Arabs demonstrated in the northern town of Sakhnin, by far the biggest protest in Israel so far. Marchers held Palestinian flags and a smattering of green Hamas flags. But there were no reports of violence.
In the latest attacks, the Israeli army struck the homes of two Hamas operatives, saying the buildings were used to store weapons and plan attacks. Hamas outposts, training camps and rocket launching sites also were targeted, it said.
The army also struck the American International School, the most prestigious educational institution in Gaza. The school is not connected to the U.S. government, but it teaches an American curriculum in English.
The airstrike demolished the school's main building and killed a night watchman. Two other Palestinians were killed in a separate airstrike, while four others, including a mid-level militant commander, died of wounds sustained earlier, Gaza health officials said.
Early Saturday, it dropped leaflets in downtown Gaza City ordering people off the streets.
Palestinian militants fired at least 10 rockets into southern Israel, lightly wounding one person, police said. One rocket scored a direct hit on a house in the southern city of
Ashkelon and another struck a bomb shelter there, leaving its above-ground entrance scarred by shrapnel.
The Israeli airstrikes have badly damaged Gaza's infrastructure, knocking out power and water in many areas and raising concerns of a looming humanitarian disaster.
Israel briefly opened its border Friday to allow nearly 300 Palestinians with foreign passports to flee the besieged area. The evacuees told of crippling shortages of water, electricity and medicine.
Maxwell Gaylard, U.N. humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinians Territories, estimated that a quarter of the Palestinians killed were civilians and a "significant number" of the dead were women and children. He said some 2,000 people have been wounded in the past week.
"There is a critical emergency right now in the Gaza Strip," he said.
Israel denies there is a humanitarian crisis in Gaza and has increased its shipments of goods into Gaza. It says it has confined its attacks to militants while trying to prevent civilian casualties.
While ground troops remained poised to enter Gaza, Israel also has left the door open to a diplomatic solution, saying it would accept a cease-fire if it is enforced by international monitors.
This latest round of violence erupted after the expiration of a six-month cease-fire that was repeatedly marred by sporadic rocket attacks on Israel.
Israel's call for international monitors appeared to be gaining steam.
At the United Nations, Ban urged world leaders to intensify efforts to achieve an immediate cease-fire that includes monitors to enforce the truce and possibly protect Palestinian civilians.
In Washington, Bush on Friday branded the rocket fire an "act of terror" and outlined his own condition for a cease-fire in Gaza, saying no peace deal would be acceptable without monitoring to halt the flow of smuggled weapons to terrorist groups.
"The United States is leading diplomatic efforts to achieve a meaningful cease-fire that is fully respected," Bush said in his weekly radio address.
The spokesman for the Hamas government in Gaza, Taher Nunu, said the group would not allow Israel or the international community to impose any arrangement, though he left the door open to a negotiated solution.
"Anyone who thinks that the change in the Palestinian arena can be achieved through jet fighters' bombs and tanks and without dialogue is mistaken," he said.
With time running out on the Bush presidency, the crisis in Gaza is likely to carry over to President-elect Barack Obama. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice continued telephone diplomacy to arrange a truce, but said she had no plans to make an emergency visit to the region.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas delayed a planned trip to the United Nations so he could meet with Sarkozy and a high-level EU delegation on Monday. He now plans on speaking at the U.N. on Tuesday, said Abbas aide Saeb Erekat.
At the U.N., Abbas is expected to urge the Security Council to adopt an Arab draft resolution that would condemn Israel and demand a halt to its bombing campaign in Gaza.
Abbas, whose forces in Gaza were ousted by Hamas in June 2007, still claims authority over the area.
The council is expected to discuss the draft resolution on Monday. But the United States said the draft is "unacceptable" and "unbalanced" because it makes no mention of halting Hamas rocket attacks.
___
Federman reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press writer Ben Feller in Washington contributed to this report.
Israel keeps ban on foreign journalists in Gaza
By DIAA HADID
http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Gaza-Strip-Erez-crossing/photo//09010...
An Israeli security guard walks in front of a boy dragging a suitcase as Palestinian holders of foreign … photo
EREZ CROSSING, Israel – Israel maintained its ban on foreign journalists entering the Gaza Strip Friday despite a recent Supreme Court order to allow a limited number of reporters to enter the territory.
The ban has been in place since a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas began to fray on Nov. 5. Israel eased the ban last month but tightened it again after launching its air offensive against Gaza's Hamas rulers a week ago.
A legal challenge by the Foreign Press Association, which represents foreign media in Israel, prompted the court ruling this week to allow groups of up to 12 foreign journalists to cross the border whenever the Erez crossing between Israel and Gaza is open for humanitarian cases.
That was the case on Friday, when Israel opened the crossing to allow nearly 300 Palestinians with foreign passports to leave Gaza. But authorities defied the court order and kept reporters out.
"We call on the Israeli government to immediately honor the will of the court and allow foreign journalists access to Gaza," the Foreign Press Association said in a statement.
"The authorities' position that there was not enough time to coordinate and allow the journalists to enter does not seem reasonable."
A military spokesman said Israel kept the journalists out because authorities at the crossing point were focused on processing the hundreds of Palestinians exiting Gaza.
"The crossing today was overwhelmed dealing with the emergency evacuation of people," said army spokesman Peter Lerner. He said journalists might be allowed to cross on Sunday, when Israel plans to open the crossing for injured Palestinians to enter Israel for medical treatment.
The ban on foreign journalists has made it more difficult for news organizations to verify the extent of damage from the offensive, the number of civilian casualties or the seriousness of humanitarian problems such as shortages of food and medicine.
Some organizations, such as The Associated Press, are relying on journalists who live in Gaza and cover the conflict full-time but would normally have sent in reinforcements to cover the story more extensively.
The Israeli government has long banned Israeli journalists from entering Gaza because of fears for their safety, but foreign reporters have been permitted to go in, even during times of heavy fighting.
While Israel has restricted media access to Gaza in the past, a ban this long is unprecedented. Journalists have protested the restrictions as a grave blow to press freedom.
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