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Israel now under fire from Lebanon
Source: Agencies |
January 9, 2009, Friday
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MILITANTS in Lebanon fired at least three rockets into northern Israel yesterday, ripping through a crowded nursing home and threatening to open a new front for the Jewish state as it pushed forward with an offensive in the Gaza Strip that has killed about 700 people.
There were no serious injuries, but the rockets on Israel's north raised the specter of renewed hostilities with Hezbollah, just over two years after Israel battled the group to a 34-day stalemate.
War broke out between Hezbollah and Israel in 2006 as Israel battled Palestinian militants in Gaza.
Lebanon's government, wary of conflict, quickly condemned the rocket fire and said it was trying to determine who was behind the attack. Israel fired mortar shells into southern Lebanon in response.
In new Gaza violence, Israel killed at least 11 people, including three who were fleeing their homes, raising the death toll from its 13-day offensive to 699 people, according to Palestinian medical officials.
The United Nations, meanwhile, said it was halting aid deliveries to the besieged Gaza Strip, citing Israeli attacks on its staff and installations.
The announcement came shortly after the driver of a UN truck was shot and killed by tank fire as he was headed to an Israeli border crossing to pick up an aid shipment, according to the UN.
"The UN is suspending its aid operations in Gaza until we can get safety and security guarantees for our staff," spokesman Chris Gunness said. "We've been coordinating with them (Israeli forces) and yet our staff continue to be hit and killed."
Earlier this week, an Israeli attack near a UN school killed up to 40 people. At the time, Israel said it opened fire after militants hiding in the crowd fired mortar shells at Israeli troops.
In Geneva, the international Red Cross said it found four small children alive next to their mothers' bodies in the rubble of a Gaza home hit by Israeli shelling.
The aid group said a total of 15 dead were recovered from two houses in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City on Wednesday.
A Red Cross spokesman said rescuers had been refused permission by Israeli forces to reach the site for four days, a delay that the group described as "unacceptable."
Israel's offensive is meant to halt years of Palestinian rocket attacks on southern Israel. With roughly half the dead believed to be civilians, international efforts to broker a cease-fire have been gaining steam.
For a second straight day, Israel suspended the operation for three hours to allow humanitarian supplies into Gaza.
Israeli envoys held Egyptian-brokered talks on a proposed cease-fire deal yesterday in Cairo and left the same day, but Hamas militants have yet to commit for talks and reiterated that they have major reservations about the plan.
"It is early to talk about a delegation going to Cairo," Moussa Abu Marzouk, Hamas' deputy political bureau head, told The Associated Press in Syria. He added that Hamas was still discussing the Egyptian initiative and "soon we will have a position."
There were no serious injuries, but the rockets on Israel's north raised the specter of renewed hostilities with Hezbollah, just over two years after Israel battled the group to a 34-day stalemate.
War broke out between Hezbollah and Israel in 2006 as Israel battled Palestinian militants in Gaza.
Lebanon's government, wary of conflict, quickly condemned the rocket fire and said it was trying to determine who was behind the attack. Israel fired mortar shells into southern Lebanon in response.
In new Gaza violence, Israel killed at least 11 people, including three who were fleeing their homes, raising the death toll from its 13-day offensive to 699 people, according to Palestinian medical officials.
The United Nations, meanwhile, said it was halting aid deliveries to the besieged Gaza Strip, citing Israeli attacks on its staff and installations.
The announcement came shortly after the driver of a UN truck was shot and killed by tank fire as he was headed to an Israeli border crossing to pick up an aid shipment, according to the UN.
"The UN is suspending its aid operations in Gaza until we can get safety and security guarantees for our staff," spokesman Chris Gunness said. "We've been coordinating with them (Israeli forces) and yet our staff continue to be hit and killed."
Earlier this week, an Israeli attack near a UN school killed up to 40 people. At the time, Israel said it opened fire after militants hiding in the crowd fired mortar shells at Israeli troops.
In Geneva, the international Red Cross said it found four small children alive next to their mothers' bodies in the rubble of a Gaza home hit by Israeli shelling.
The aid group said a total of 15 dead were recovered from two houses in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City on Wednesday.
A Red Cross spokesman said rescuers had been refused permission by Israeli forces to reach the site for four days, a delay that the group described as "unacceptable."
Israel's offensive is meant to halt years of Palestinian rocket attacks on southern Israel. With roughly half the dead believed to be civilians, international efforts to broker a cease-fire have been gaining steam.
For a second straight day, Israel suspended the operation for three hours to allow humanitarian supplies into Gaza.
Israeli envoys held Egyptian-brokered talks on a proposed cease-fire deal yesterday in Cairo and left the same day, but Hamas militants have yet to commit for talks and reiterated that they have major reservations about the plan.
"It is early to talk about a delegation going to Cairo," Moussa Abu Marzouk, Hamas' deputy political bureau head, told The Associated Press in Syria. He added that Hamas was still discussing the Egyptian initiative and "soon we will have a position."
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