Israel Prepares For Next "Phase" In Gaza
Prime Minister Says Aerial Attack Was "First Of Several" Tactics As Offensive Reaches Turning Point
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On The Ground In Israel
"Only On The Web": CBS News' Mark Phillips reports from the Israeli-Gaza border where he explains rockets are still falling in a campaign Israel has yet to call a success.
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Israel Promises 'All-Out War'
Israel has promised an "all-out war" against Hamas forces, firing hundreds of rockets and bombs into Gaza. Now will they send ground troops, too? Mark Phillips reports.
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Palestinian Reaction to Gaza
Riyad Mansour, the permanent Palestinian observer to the United Nations, sat down with CBS News Correspondent Meg Oliver and offered his reaction to the conflict in Gaza.
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An Israeli soldier is seen at a staging area near Israel's border with the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel, Dec. 30, 2008. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
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In this photo released by Israel's Government Press Office, Israeli rescue workers evacuate a wounded Israeli from a construction site where a rocket fired by Palestinian militants in Gaza hit, in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon, Israel, Monday, Dec. 29, 2008. (AP Photo/Israel Government)
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A Palestinian man carries his wounded child to the treatment room of Kamal Edwan hospital following an Israeli missile strike in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza Strip, Dec. 29, 2008. (AP Photo/Ashraf Amra)
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A Palestinian family reacts as they rush past a burning building after an Israeli missile strike in the Rafah refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip, Dec. 28, 2008. (AP Photo/Hatem Omar)
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An Israeli border police officer takes a position during clashes with Palestinian stone throwers that erupted following a demonstration against the Israeli missiles strike on Gaza, at the Kalandia checkpoint between the West Bank city of Ramallah and Jerusalem, Dec. 29, 2008. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)
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Photo Essay
Israel Strikes Gaza
Hundreds killed as Israel pounds Hamas security installations.
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Mideast Conflict
Events, key players and a history of the world's most unstable region.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told President Shimon Peres on Tuesday that the current, aerial phase of the operation is "the first of several" that have been approved, an Olmert spokesman said.
That statement indicated a change in tactics near on the horizon.
CBS News correspondent Mark Phillips, reporting from the Gaza-Israel border, said the Israeli campaign in Gaza was approaching a turning point Tuesday: "Either keep up the bombing and augment it with ground operations, or declare that the massive retaliation for rocket fire into
But, said Phillips, the killing of three more Israelis by Hamas rockets on Monday and overnight may have firmed up Tel Aviv's plans.
Four Israelis have now been killed by Hamas rocket fire since the assault began, and the fact one of the deaths occurred in the port city of Ashdod is a worrying sign that the range of Hamas missiles is increasing.
The recent image of an Israeli cabinet minister taking shelter under a car in an Israeli city is not the outcome that was foreseen by those who planned this operation, reported Phillips.
Israel says it is prepared for "long weeks of action."
The ground option is on the table, it's relevant," said Israeli Army spokeswoman Major Avital Leibovich. "Currently we continue with the aircraft operation, however, we have troops on alert along the border and other places in the country ready if we need to call them."
Warplanes launched their bruising offensive on Saturday after the Islamic Hamas defied Israel's warnings that it would not stand for the rocket barrages on southern Israel that resumed nearly two months ago, toward the end of a recently expired truce.
More than 360 Palestinians have been killed, most of them members of Hamas security forces but at least 64 of them civilians, according to U.N. figures. The toll includes two sisters, aged 4 and 11, who perished in an airstrike on a rocket squad in northern Gaza on Tuesday.
As the death toll rises, so does pressure from the International community on Israel.
CBS News foreign affairs analyst Pamela Falk reported that U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Monday called the escalation of violence unacceptable and demanded an immediate ceasefire.


Israeli soldiers sit atop a tank at a staging area near Israel's border with the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel, Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2008. (AP)
“The Secretary General said he has condemned Hamas in the past and now he is condemning Israel for excessive use of force,” reported Falk. Ban's remarks came after the U.N. compound in Gaza was hit in a missile strike, killing eight teenage student trainers and a U.N. staff member.
While Israel has dropped tons of bombs on the Gaza Strip in an unprecedented show of force to make Hamas stop rocket attacks, it has not said it will try to topple the Islamic militants who have ruled the territory for 18 months.
CBS News correspondent Sheila MacVicar reported on the history of Gaza under Hamas rule - a history which made the present conflict seem inevitable. (Click here to watch the video.)
Such a limited definition of goals gives Israel considerable flexibility in deciding when to end the assault, especially if international pressure mounts, while still calling it a success, wrote Associated Press reporter Karin Laub, in an analysis of the current conflict.
But this guarded approach also offers Hamas good survival odds, even if the onslaught leaves it badly weakened.
Israel's unwillingness to reoccupy Gaza or openly try to install a new ruler there gives Hamas considerable leverage in future cease-fire negotiations.

Ending the blockade could help Hamas recover quickly and prolong its rule indefinitely. That, in turn, would all but destroy prospects of an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal.
Israel has been negotiating for the past year with Hamas' rival, moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who controls the West Bank. However, Israel says it cannot implement an agreement as long as the Iranian-backed Hamas, sworn to Israel's destruction, controls half of what would be a Palestinian state.
Domestic politics is also playing an underlying role in Israel's handling of the military operation. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's term is up in February, and his party will face former leader Benjamin Netanyahu in the polls.
Netanyahu, now the leader of the hardline political opposition, told CBS' The Early Show he has vowed to support the government's decisions in the current conflict, but he has taken a much harder stance on Hamas for years - a stance that could win him support if this fighting isn't resolved as a perceived win for Israel.
While Olmert's government has said toppling Hamas in Gaza is not an objective, Netanyahu told The Early Show: "Ultimately, we'll have to remove that regime. Not necessarily right away, but ultimately that will have to be done."
It all complicates the matter exponentially for President-elect Barack Obama, who vowed during his campaign to make Mideast peace a cornerstone of his foreign policy.
Obama's foreign policy advisers are lying low out of deference to President George W. Bush and are refusing to speak to the implications of Israel's three-day-old operation in the volatile Gaza Strip. But transition aides are being briefed by Bush administration officials and quietly pondering its effects.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has had "direct conversations" about the situation with both Obama and her designated successor, Hillary Rodham Clinton, the State Department said Monday. An Obama aide said the president-elect would be discussing the matter with Clinton and his choice to be national security adviser, retired Gen. James Jones.
©MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.



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See all 225 CommentsGET RID OF THE HAMAS AND THE LIBERALS
Good riddance to Hamas, and the Gazans who elected Hamas are just reaping what they sowed.
I leave the recreational mourning to others.
You''ll notice there are NO QUOTES here or throughout most of what would be perceived by a well-trained journalist as straight-forward propaganda.
That''s pretty much where we''re at with the "free press" in this stage of America''s rapid devolution.
It''s like the reason''s for leaving if you''re under the age of thirty are driven more by fear than fortune, and right now standing at the edge of an abyss, an event horizon, with a Republican parasite baby-boomer retirement driven hell at it''s epicenter, these *** have carved out an America that is there''s and there''s ALONE, greedily reaching on to hold you in, and not giving an inch.
It''s time to make your move. What will you do, stay or go? Now or later? The stampede is mounting, it gets worse for those who wait.
It''s your life, you have extreme upward mobility right out of college and there are countries around the world who respect liberty and freedom enough to not lie about it, and they want highly educated and motivated young taxpayers too. But they want you less the older you get.
So decide now. For God''s sake make the right decision, but make it soon.
These people are so self-absorbed and arrogant, they actually justify killing 300+ people because they lost 4 jews.
What a sickning and gross country they are. When will the American public stop being forcefeed this BS about Isreal having a "special relationship" with us.
When will people start realizing that the special relaionship is really "America on puppet strings, and the puppeteer is Isreal."
The single worst blunder the U.S. government ever made in our countries'' history is the creation of that state..
Every word the Palestinians have said about Israel, every action taken, every breath comes after the fact.
Most Jews who lived in Palestine before Israel was created in 1948 came to Palestine after the end of World War 2. It wasn''t until 1996 that Israel elected a Prime Minister who was actually born in Israel.
So if land can be taken by force then, heck, it''s more than OK to take it back by force!
The only way to stop the bloodshed over there is by implementing international law which will then lead to the implementation of the agreed UN resolutions.
I don''t understand why Israel and the US are against this since Israel is the only country in the world to have been created by the UN!
So if the UN laws are good enough for its creation it sure is good enough to keep the peace.
You''ll notice there are NO QUOTES here or throughout most of what would be perceived by a well-trained journalist as straight-forward propaganda.
Posted by samael2014 at 07:25 AM : Dec 30, 2008
Good point. After Abbas was elected president Israel had an entire year to come to an agreement with him. Abbas was elected after Arafat died and before Hamas gain some parliament seats a year after Abbas was elected president.
Isreal instead kept calling Abbas "irrelevant" and kept demanding the Palestinians come up with democratic institutions before they''re granted independence, a request made of no other country who ever gained their independence.
So they carried out parliamentary elections with Hamas winning some seats over there and then Israel began using Hamas as an excuse not to grant Palestinians their independence.
Every word the Palestinians have said about Israel, every action taken, every breath comes after the fact.
Most Jews who lived in Palestine before Israel was created in 1948 came to Palestine after the end of World War 2. It wasn''t until 1996 that Israel elected a Prime Minister who was actually born in Israel.
So if land can be taken by force then, heck, it''s more than OK to take it back by force!
The only way to stop the bloodshed over there is by implementing international law which will then lead to the implementation of the agreed UN resolutions.
I don''t understand why Israel and the US are against this since Israel is the only country in the world to have been created by the UN!
So if the UN laws are good enough for its creation it sure is good enough to keep the peace.
So, they let themselves get bombed.
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Posted by Country1st
Well said.
Posted by claytonantho at 07:57 AM : Dec 30, 2008
Hamas has had ceasfire agreements with Israel in the past and had kept those ceasefires meticulously. If anyone threw a rocket at Israel during those ceasefires it wasn''t Hamas.
If anyone broke the ceasefire agreements was Israel. During the last ceasefire agreement Israel had with Hamas, for example, Israel killed 49 Palestinians and Hams didn''t throw any rockets or killed any Israelis.
Israel also refused to live up to the terms of the agreement and end the siege of Gaza.
This is of course a damnable and deliberate lie. Papers in Israel -- in Israel, but not the United States -- are reporting the truth: the murderous assault on Gaza was planned not only before the six-month ceasefire ended -- it was planned before the cease-fire even took effect. Indeed, the cease-fire was part of the military plan to decimate the civilian areas of Gaza; it was a hoax, a scam, a deliberate feint to buy time for military preparations -- precisely the same strategy followed by the Bush Regime (and its bipartisan Establishment supporters) in "going to the UN" to seek a "peaceful solution" to the "Iraqi crisis" -- when the invasion was already in the works.
Haaretz reports on the Israel''s deceit in the latest outrage, in the aptly titled piece, "Disinformation, secrecy and lies: How the Gaza offensive came about":
Very sad.
If anyone broke the ceasefire agreements was Israel. During the last ceasefire agreement Israel had with Hamas, for example, Israel killed 49 Palestinians and Hams didn''''t throw any rockets or killed any Israelis.
Israel also refused to live up to the terms of the agreement and end the siege of Gaza.
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Posted by closethippy1
Like I said yesterday to some other gullible Hamas-backer, what newspaper did you read that from, the Terrorist Daily or the Taliban Journal???
Every word the Palestinians have said about Israel, every action taken, every breath comes after the fact.
Most Jews who lived in Palestine before Israel was created in 1948 came to Palestine after the end of World War 2. It wasn''t until 1996 that Israel elected a Prime Minister who was actually born in Israel.
So if land can be taken by force, heck, then it''s more than OK to take it back by force!
The only way to stop the bloodshed over there is by implementing international law which will then lead to the implementation of the agreed UN resolutions.
I don''t understand why Israel and the US are against this since Israel is the only country in the world to have been created by the UN!
So if the UN laws are good enough for its creation it sure is good enough to keep the peace.
Very sad.
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Posted by closethippy1
It is amazing you don''t know history and make inadequate historical comparisons. If I keep throwing ******* in your backyard and heed no warnings from you, you mean to tell me that you would not eventually get tired and not retaliate? Hamas is only getting what they deserve because of the ******* they keep throwing.
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Posted by VcofReason
Sounds like Hamas and the Palestinians to me.
Sources in the defense establishment said Defense Minister Ehud Barak instructed the Israel Defense Forces to prepare for the operation over six months ago, even as Israel was beginning to negotiate a ceasefire agreement with Hamas. According to the sources, Barak maintained that although the lull would allow Hamas to prepare for a showdown with Israel, the Israeli army needed time to prepare, as well..
To be honest, I don''t feel sorry for either of them. I only feel sorry for the USA because we armed one. Are we not complicit? Time for us to leave the middle east to the religious nuts that live there. Peace does not come from religion.
Posted by cpp1mdc at 08:08 AM : Dec 30, 2008
Canadians are not being occupied by the US. Isreal is not only occupying and besieging Palestinian lands but is also in violation of at least 19 articles of the Geneva Conventions.
Every word the Palestinians have said about Israel, every action taken, every breath comes after the fact.
Most Jews who lived in Palestine before Israel was created in 1948 came to Palestine after the end of World War 2. It wasn''t until 1996 that Israel elected a Prime Minister who was actually born in Israel.
So if land can be taken by force, heck, then it''s more than OK to take it back by force!
The only way to stop the bloodshed over there is by implementing international law which will then lead to the implementation of the agreed UN resolutions.
I don''t understand why Israel and the US are against this since Israel is the only country in the world to have been created by the UN!
So if the UN laws are good enough for its creation it sure is good enough to keep the peace.
But for the rest of the world, outside of the US and British governments, most urge both sides of the conflict to stop their attacks and return to the bargaining table. Israeli Foreign Minister Livni lashed out at the calls for peace, demanding that the international community %u201Csupport things that are not easy to support,%u201D in this case the evisceration of the Gaza Strip. She insist
When he Israeli government was bombing every police station in the densely populated strip, some of those attacks were coming by way of US-supplied GBU-39 smart bombs. It is unclear how many of the hundreds of people killed in the Gaza Strip in the past 48 hours died at the hands of American munitions, but to the extent that the carnage has gotten some television coverage in the United States, direct American involvement is likely to be unpopular with a war-weary nation.
How about this? INSTEAD of listening to YOUR CHEAP AND DISMAL propaganda campaign supporting something that the even the God of the Israelites would not, we do this.
The international community simply starts flying in VAST QUANTITIES of humanitarian aid AND U.N. Peacekeepers into the Gaza strip, and we in the international community REJECT any further attempts to not uphold the democratically elected government of Palestine, and respond to further confrontation from either side. WE in America would then eliminate further tax-payer support for Israel, and provide infrastructure and technology improvements to make Palestine a thriving nation. We REJECT further claims that Hamas is a terrorist organization UNLESS this is an issue of warrant as DETERMINED and INVESTIGATED by the U.N. presence there for any individuals involved who are then prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
Any objections to that? All you have to ask yourself is why the U.N. isn''t flying in IMMENSE QUANTITIES of international support and relief RIGHT NOW to realize that this is INDEED a war of propaganda in VIOLATION of U.N. charter.
I mean they''re calling this an "operation" now. This has Bush administration''s grubby hands all over it, and it''s continue defiance of international law.
Posted by Hackerpc at 08:21 AM : Dec 30, 2008
Mexico is not demanding the return of those lands. Mexico recognizes US borders.
In Gaza and the West Bank there''s an ongoing Israeli military occupation and that needs to come to an end. Israel also has never defined its borders so they feel free to take any land they want and, again, that has come to an end.
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Posted by Hackerpc
To put it bluntly, NOBODY!!!
"Next Phase", huh?
I guess this is their version of Hitler''s "Final Solution".
Later in the same day, the attack was described as the result of ''human error'' involving a failed test by an Israeli weapons manufacturer in the area.
Webmaster''s Commentary:
As Israel screams that they are being attacked by someone, remember that Israel has a habit of shooting missiles at itself to justify attacking their neighbors.
In Gaza and the West Bank there''''s an ongoing Israeli military occupation and that needs to come to an end. Israel also has never defined its borders so they feel free to take any land they want and, again, that has come to an end.
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Posted by closethippy1
What you continuously miss in your deep analysis is that groups like Hamas, the majority of Palestinians, and countries such as Iran and Syria have never given any evidence that they would recognize Israel''s right to exist. Israel could give all the so-called "stolen" land back, as you say. But the truth is that would not destroy the deep hatred that the people I mentioned above have for Israel. Giving back land would not mean nothing to them. They won''t be satisfied unless all of Israel and it''s people are wiped off the face of the earth.
Later in the same day, the attack was described as the result of ''''human error'''' involving a failed test by an Israeli weapons manufacturer in the area.
Webmaster''''s Commentary:
As Israel screams that they are being attacked by someone, remember that Israel has a habit of shooting missiles at itself to justify attacking their neighbors.
Posted by WarDogLRS at 08:34 AM : Dec 30, 2008
Israel has a long history of doing this sort of things. They bombed one of their refugee boats escaping the war in Europe, they bombed Jewish synagogues in Iraq to scare Iraqi Jews into emigrating to Israel, they were the ones who invented the car bomb and were the first ones to use it, they invented the letter bomb and the firs ones to use it, they were also the first ones to destroy a civilian airplane as it flew over Egypt, that happened back in 1973.
Posted by Hackerpc at 08:28 AM : Dec 30, 2008
As has been explained to several times already, Mexico ATTACKED America, to start the Mexican-American war. They started to lose, so they signed an agreement that gave America Texas, California, and Arizona.
When did ANY representative of the Palestinians EVER have the chance to negotiate a "treaty" on the Palestinians behalf?
The UN said, "Here''s resolution 181 - live with it."
Israel and Palestine is NOTHING like Mexico and America, *******!!!
I can''t believe how INTENTIONALLY IGNORANT you are about your own country''s history!!
Posted by claytonantho at 08:37 AM : Dec 30, 2008
NO KIDDING!
If Israel gives back all of the land that was stolen, that would obviously mean that Israel would no longer exist, since ALL of the land was stolen in the first place!
In Gaza and the West Bank there''''''''s an ongoing Israeli military occupation and that needs to come to an end. Israel also has never defined its borders so they feel free to take any land they want and, again, that has come to an end.
Posted by closethippy1
What you continuously miss in your deep analysis is that groups like Hamas, the majority of Palestinians, and countries such as Iran and Syria have never given any evidence that they would recognize Israel''''s right to exist. Israel could give all the so-called "stolen" land back, as you say. But the truth is that would not destroy the deep hatred that the people I mentioned above have for Israel. Giving back land would not mean nothing to them. They won''''t be satisfied unless all of Israel and it''''s people are wiped off the face of the earth.
Posted by claytonantho at 08:37 AM : Dec 30, 2008
What a weird, weird world. Sir, no one in the world has the right to take someone else''s land or occupy it for decades on end with the pretext that the people whose lands are being taken away will not recognize the people who took their land.
And please don''t forget that Palestine was destroyed by Israel back in 1948. It is after this fact that some Palestinians would like to do the same to Israel but that can be solved with the implementation of the agreed UN resolutions.
Posted by claytonantho at 08:37 AM : Dec 30, 2008
NO KIDDING!
If Israel gives back all of the land that was stolen, that would obviously mean that Israel would no longer exist, since ALL of the land was stolen in the first place!
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Posted by IamHungry68
You UNINTENTIONALLY made my point. Thank you.
Posted by Hackerpc at 08:41 AM : Dec 30, 2008
No you friggin'' idiot!!
Google "Mexican-American War"!!
Then Google "The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo"!!
History revisionist, ignorant, brainless, incompetent moron!!! I''ve explained this to you 5 times - at least!!!
And please don''''t forget that Palestine was destroyed by Israel back in 1948. It is after this fact that some Palestinians would like to do the same to Israel but that can be solved with the implementation of the agreed UN resolutions.
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Posted by closethippy1
Your wrong and history shows it in many ways. I don''t see an uprising by Native Americans to drive Europeans out of America nor do I see Black South Africans attempting to drive White South Africans out of South Africa.
Posted by claytonantho at 08:44 AM : Dec 30, 2008
Who made the Israeli''s "well armed"?
Now you know why we were attacked on 9/11.
Every word the Palestinians have said about Israel, every action taken, every breath comes after the fact.
Most Jews who lived in Palestine before Israel was created in 1948 came to Palestine after the end of World War 2. It wasn''t until 1996 that Israel elected a Prime Minister who was actually born in Israel.
So if land can be taken by force then, heck, it''''s more than OK to take it back by force!
The only way to stop the bloodshed over there is by implementing international law which will then lead to the implementation of the agreed UN resolutions.
I don''t understand why Israel and the US are against this since Israel is the only country in the world to have been created by the UN!
So if the UN laws are good enough for its creation it sure is good enough to keep the peace.
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