 Israel, Hamas defy UN call for ceasefire
(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-01-10 07:44
JERUSALEM: Israeli jets and helicopters bombarded Gaza on Friday and Hamas responded with a barrage of rockets on two cities as both sides defied a UN call for an immediate ceasefire. One Israeli airstrike killed two Hamas militants and another unidentified man, while another flattened a five-story building in northern Gaza, killing at least seven people, including an infant, Hamas officials said. Israeli aircraft struck more than 30 targets before dawn, and there were constant explosions after first light. By afternoon, 22 Palestinians had been killed, pushing the death toll to 776 in the two-week-old conflict, according to Gaza health officials who said at least half of those killed were civilians. Thirteen Israelis have also been killed. A UN Security Council resolution approved on Thursday night called urgently for an immediate, durable and fully respected ceasefire, leading to the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. The US, Israel's closest ally and a veto-wielding member of the Security Council, abstained. While the call is tantamount to a demand on the parties, Israel's troops won't be required to pull out of Gaza until there is a durable ceasefire. The resolution calls on UN member states to intensify efforts to provide guarantees in Gaza to sustain a lasting truce, including prevention of illicit trafficking in arms and ammunition. In Israel's first official response to the resolution, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office said the Hamas rockets fired at Israel Friday "only prove that the UN's decision is not practical and will not be kept in practice by the Palestinian murder organizations." A Hamas spokesman said the Islamic militant group "is not interested" in the ceasefire because it was not consulted and the resolution did not meet its minimum demands. The Security Council action came hours after a UN agency suspended food deliveries to Gaza, and the Red Cross accused Israel of blocking medical assistance after forces fired on aid workers. It also followed concerns of a wider conflict after militants in Lebanon fired rockets into northern Israel early Thursday. Agencies
(China Daily 01/10/2009 page1) |
