At least 228 die as
Israel hammers Hamas run Gaza
Israeli warplanes have hammered
Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip in retaliation for rocket fire,
killing at least 228 people in one of the bloodiest days of the
decades-long Middle East conflict.
Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said "Operation Cast Lead"
against the Islamist movement, which has also left some 700 wounded,
will continue "as long as necessary.
"The battle will be long and difficult, but the time has come to act
and to fight," he said.
Exiled Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal called in Damascus for a new
Palestinian intifada, or uprising, against Israel and promised new
suicide attacks.
Following mid-morning bombings, in which some 60 warplanes struck
more than 50 targets in just a few minutes, Hamas fired more than 70
rockets and mortars into Israel killing one person and injuring
four, according to a new Israeli army toll.
Israeli air strikes continued sporadically throughout the day and
into the night.
Two Hamas members were killed in an Israeli helicopter raid in
eastern Gaza City while they were preparing to fire more rockets
into Israel, a medical source said.
Two other Palestinians were wounded in that late Saturday attack, as
Israeli helicopters also targeted four metals factories in the city
where rockets are believed to be stored or built.
A mosque near the Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City was damaged when
Israeli air-ground missiles targeted two Hamas policemen standing
near its doors. Both men were injured, witnesses said.
"We will not stand down and we will not cave in even if (the
Israelis) should eradicate the Gaza Strip or kill thousands of us,"
Ismail Haniya, who heads the Hamas government, said in a defiant
radio address.
Meshaal called for a "military intifada against the enemy" and said
"resistance will continue through suicide missions."
Hamas has not carried out a suicide attack in Israel since January
2005.
He said that for there to be any talks with the people of Gaza, "the
blockade must be lifted and the crossings (from Israel) opened...
notably that in Rafah," which leads to Egypt.
Israel imposed a blockade after Hamas seized power in Gaza last
year, but let in dozens of truckloads of humanitarian aid on Friday.
The White House said only Hamas could end the cycle of violence by
putting a stop to the rocket fire on Israel.
"These people are nothing but thugs, and so Israel is going to
defend its people against terrorists like Hamas," spokesman Gordon
Johndroe said at George W. Bush's Texas ranch, where the president
is preparing to spend the new year.
"If Hamas stops firing rockets into Israel, then Israel would not
have a need for strikes in Gaza," Johndroe said. "What we've got to
see is Hamas stop firing rockets into Israel.
"The United States holds Hamas responsible for breaking the
ceasefire; we want the ceasefire restored. We're concerned about the
humanitarian situation and want all parties concerned to work to
make sure the people of Gaza get the humanitarian assistance they
need," said Johndroe.
He was referring to a six-month truce mediated by Egypt, which ended
on December 19, with Hamas refusing to renew it.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert pledged Israel will do its utmost to
avert a humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
"The people in Gaza do not deserve to suffer because of the killers
and murderers of the terrorist organisation," he said, referring to
Hamas.
He insisted that Israel had only hit Hamas targets, including
command structures and rocket-manufacturing installations.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon called for an immediate halt to the violence ,
as did the European Union, Russia, Britain and France, while several
Middle Eastern states and the Arab League slammed Israel.
Members of the UN Security Council were set to hold consultations
late Saturday, a UN spokesperson said, adding it was unclear if
there would also be a formal meeting.
The Arab League will hold an extraordinary summit in Doha on January
2 to discuss the crisis, diplomats in Cairo said.
In Gaza, thick clouds of smoke billowed into the sky. Mangled,
bloodied and often charred corpses littered the pavement around
Hamas security compounds, and frantic relatives flooded hospitals.
Medics said civilians had been hit, but the majority of the victims
appeared to be members of Hamas, branded a terror group by Israel
and the West.
Hamas said the strikes destroyed its security structures across Gaza
and killed three senior officials -- the Gaza police chief, the
police commander for central Gaza and the head of the group's
bodyguard unit.
Dr Moawiya Hassanein, the head of Gaza emergency services, put the
toll at 225 dead and 700 injured, 140 of them seriously.
Later, a medical source added three more to the toll with witnesses
saying that two of them died in the east of Gaza City while they
were preparing to fire rockets towards Israel.
The bombing came after days of spiralling violence, with militants
firing rockets and Israel vowing a fiery response.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak , who brokered the six-month truce,
slammed the "Israeli military aggression on the Gaza Strip" and
blamed "Israel, as an occupying force, for the victims and the
wounded."
The bombardment set off angry demonstrations in Israel's Arab towns
and in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, as well as protests in
countries around the region.
It came less than two months ahead of Israeli elections on February
10.
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, the head of the governing Kadima party
and one of the front-runners for the premier's chair, said that
"today there is no other option than a military operation."
Violence in and around Gaza has flared since the truce ended, and it
escalated dramatically on Wednesday.
Source:AFP
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