Talks attempt to end Gaza violence
Source: Agencies |
August 22, 2011, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
MILITANTS in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip bombarded southern Israel with rockets and mortars yesterday and Israel hit back with an airstrike as diplomats scrambled to keep violence from escalating.
Senior Israeli officials met late into the night to discuss how to proceed with retaliatory operations against Gaza militants, who they say triggered the latest round of hostilities on Thursday with a roadside ambush along the Israeli-Egypt border in which eight Israelis were killed.
Military spokesman Brigadier General Yoav Mordechai said Israel's current response to the surge in violence - airstrikes that have killed 15 Palestinians, most of them militants - was not its final word.
Israel "will not hesitate" to widen its military operation if necessary, he told Israel Radio. "We will see how things develop on the ground," he said.
At midday, Israeli aircraft struck Gaza once again, the military said. It did not immediate disclose the target. Palestinian hospital officials reported one person was wounded.
Israeli troops also rounded up 50 Hamas activists in the West Bank in a sweeping overnight raid, Palestinian security officials said.
Diplomats scrambled to try to prevent the violence - the deadliest since Israel went to war against Gaza militants two and a half years ago - from spiraling out of control.
Yaser Otham, the Egyptian representative to the Palestinian Authority, told Voice of Palestine radio that Cairo was "in contact with all parties to restore the truce in Gaza."
Militant factions in Gaza confirmed the efforts. Talal Abu Tharefeh, a spokesman for the small Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, said: "All the Palestinian factions are interested in restoring the truce in order to protect our people."
Gaza militants have dramatically cut their attacks on Israel since the war, though rocket and mortar fire did not cease completely.
Large-scale Israeli military operations against Gaza gunmen would almost certainly create new friction with the Muslim world at a time when Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is preparing to ask the United Nations to recognize an independent Palestinian state.
And pictures of a major Israeli offensive in Gaza could hurt the Jewish state's efforts to minimize world support for the Palestinian statehood bid.
The war Israel launched in the seaside strip in late 2008 tarnished its international image because of the high civilian death toll.
Husam Zomlot, a spokesman for Abbas's Palestinian Authority, said the body planned to use the renewed violence to bolster its case for statehood at the UN next month.
He added: "An independent Palestinian state is the remedy for violence. It would control its borders and prevent such deterioration from happening."
Senior Israeli officials met late into the night to discuss how to proceed with retaliatory operations against Gaza militants, who they say triggered the latest round of hostilities on Thursday with a roadside ambush along the Israeli-Egypt border in which eight Israelis were killed.
Military spokesman Brigadier General Yoav Mordechai said Israel's current response to the surge in violence - airstrikes that have killed 15 Palestinians, most of them militants - was not its final word.
Israel "will not hesitate" to widen its military operation if necessary, he told Israel Radio. "We will see how things develop on the ground," he said.
At midday, Israeli aircraft struck Gaza once again, the military said. It did not immediate disclose the target. Palestinian hospital officials reported one person was wounded.
Israeli troops also rounded up 50 Hamas activists in the West Bank in a sweeping overnight raid, Palestinian security officials said.
Diplomats scrambled to try to prevent the violence - the deadliest since Israel went to war against Gaza militants two and a half years ago - from spiraling out of control.
Yaser Otham, the Egyptian representative to the Palestinian Authority, told Voice of Palestine radio that Cairo was "in contact with all parties to restore the truce in Gaza."
Militant factions in Gaza confirmed the efforts. Talal Abu Tharefeh, a spokesman for the small Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, said: "All the Palestinian factions are interested in restoring the truce in order to protect our people."
Gaza militants have dramatically cut their attacks on Israel since the war, though rocket and mortar fire did not cease completely.
Large-scale Israeli military operations against Gaza gunmen would almost certainly create new friction with the Muslim world at a time when Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is preparing to ask the United Nations to recognize an independent Palestinian state.
And pictures of a major Israeli offensive in Gaza could hurt the Jewish state's efforts to minimize world support for the Palestinian statehood bid.
The war Israel launched in the seaside strip in late 2008 tarnished its international image because of the high civilian death toll.
Husam Zomlot, a spokesman for Abbas's Palestinian Authority, said the body planned to use the renewed violence to bolster its case for statehood at the UN next month.
He added: "An independent Palestinian state is the remedy for violence. It would control its borders and prevent such deterioration from happening."
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
