In Gaza, A Race Between War And Diplomacy

200 Civilians, 20 Children Reported Dead From Israeli Assault As Diplomats Push For Cease-Fire

(CBS/AP)  Israel's expanding ground and air offensive against Gaza's Hamas rulers took a heavy civilian toll Monday, including three young brothers reported killed by a crashing shell and wounded who filled hospital corridors.

Meanwhile, the diplomatic wheels have begun to creak into action, but they're not making much headway, reports CBS News correspondent Mark Phillips. Diplomats and European leaders raced around the region in search of a cease-fire, but with Palestinian rocket fire continuing, Israel said it won't stop its crippling 10-day assault until "peace and tranquility" are achieved in southern Israeli towns in the line of fire.

The operation's ground phase, which began Saturday with a withering round of artillery fire, was going according to plan, military spokesman Brig. Gen. Avi Benayahu told Israeli TV. Israeli forces were sweeping through Palestinian rocket launching locations near the border and the militants were suffering many casualties, he said.

In an interview at the Israel-Gaza border, Israeli military analyst Alon Ben-David told Phillips that the objectives of the operation include a sustainable cease-fire, thwarting smuggling from Egypt into Gaza, and "involvement of the Palestinian authorities in the Rafah crossing."

However, Ben-David cautioned that "we are not close" to the political goals.

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World Watch Blog: Israel "Not Close" To Achieving Objectives, Analyst Says

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No militant casualties were seen Monday by an Associated Press reporter at Shifa Hospital, the Gaza Strip's largest. Instead, the hospital was overwhelmed with civilians. Bodies were two to a morgue drawer, and the wounded were being treated in hallways because beds were full.

Gaza health officials reported more than 550 Palestinian dead and about 2,500 wounded since Israel began the campaign 10 days ago, including 200 civilians. U.N. humanitarian chief John Holmes told reporters in New York on Monday that U.N. officials believe at least 500 people have been killed in the fighting and that as many as 25 percent are civilians.

At least 20 Palestinian children were killed during the day, said Dr. Moaiya Hassanain, a health official. Most confirmed deaths have been civilians.

The three young brothers from the Samouni family died in an attack on a town outside Gaza City, a Gaza health official said.

The voices from within Gaza have become more desperate, reports Phillips.

"We don't have enough food, we don't have enough water," said freelance journalist Sameh Habeeb as bombs rained down near him.

Five Israelis have been killed during the offensive, including a soldier in the ground operation. Heavy Israeli casualties could undermine what has so far been overwhelming public support for the operation.

The three brothers, reportedly killed in an artillery strike Monday, were carried to a cemetery in an emotional funeral. One of them, Issa Samouni, 3, was wrapped in a white cloth, showing only his pale, yellow face. A man delicately placed him in a dark grave cut into the earth.

In one of the first major gunbattles of the ground campaign, Israeli troops and Hamas militants clashed at close quarters on the outskirts of the crowded Gaza City neighborhood of Shajaiyeh, Israeli defense officials said.

Troops seized control of three six-story buildings on the outskirts, climbing to rooftop gun and observation positions. Residents were locked in their rooms and soldiers took away their cell phones, a neighbor said, quoting a relative who called before his phone was seized.

"The army is there, firing in all directions," said Mohammed Salmai, a 29-year-old truck driver. "All we can do is take clothes to each other to keep ourselves warm and pray to God that if we die, someone will find our bodies under the rubble."

Fighter jets attacked houses, weapons storage sites, a pair of mosques and smuggling tunnels, as they have since the start of the offensive Dec. 27. Israel has attacked several mosques during the campaign, saying they were used to store weapons.

In another strategic move, Israeli forces seized a main highway in Gaza, slicing the territory in two.

Details also emerged of an attempt by Hamas fighters to capture Israeli soldiers hours after the ground operation began. As infantrymen advanced up a strategic hill before dawn Sunday, militants emerged from a tunnel and tried to drag two Israeli infantrymen inside, according to Israeli defense officials.

The Israelis fought off the attempt, but one soldier was killed in an ensuing firefight. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the incident had not been made public.

Hamas already holds one Israeli soldier, captured in June 2006, and another would be an important bargaining chip.

Israeli forces detained 80 Palestinians - some of them suspected Hamas members - and transferred several to Israel for questioning, said military officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to release the information.

The Gaza City area was rocked by shelling from both sides as gunboats in the sea and artillery and tanks closing in from the east unloaded thunderous fire.

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Norwegian doctor Mads Gilbert is working alongside Palestinian surgeons in Gaza's largest hospital, in Shifa. In a telephone interview yesterday, he recounted the harrowing conditions and said anyone trying to depict this as a "clean war," was simply "a liar". Click here to hear Gilbert's account.

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After dark, the shelling reached deeper into residential areas. Fireballs lit up the horizon to the east, setting off blazes on the ground and silhouetting Gaza's tall buildings. Tracer fire ripped across the skyline.

The State Department said the U.S. was pressing for a cease-fire that would include a halt to rocket attacks and an arrangement for reopening crossing points on the border with Israel, said spokesman Sean McCormack. A third element would address the tunnels into Gaza from Egypt through which Hamas has smuggled materials and arms.

President George W. Bush emphasized "Israel's desire to protect itself."

"The situation now taking place in Gaza was caused by Hamas," he said.

The deputy head of Hamas' politburo in Syria, Moussa Abu Marzouk, rejected the U.S. proposal, telling the AP the U.S. plan seeks to impose "a de facto situation" and encourages Israel to continue its attacks on Gaza.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who unsuccessfully proposed a two-day truce last week, met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who lost control of Gaza to Hamas in June 2007.

Europe "wants a cease-fire as quickly as possible," Sarkozy said after meeting Abbas, urging Israel to halt the offensive, while blaming Hamas for acting "irresponsibly and unpardonably."

A European Union delegation met with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.

"The EU insists on a cease-fire at the earliest possible moment," said Karel Schwarzenberg, the foreign minister of the Czech Republic, which took over the EU's presidency last week from France. Rocket attacks on Israel also must stop, Schwarzenberg told a news conference with Livni.

The EU brought no truce proposals of its own because the cease-fire "must be concluded by the involved parties," he added.

The new Arab proposal at the U.N., which is still being formulated, calls for a cease-fire, an immediate withdrawal of Israeli troops, the opening of crossing points, monitoring mechanisms and a U.N. international peacekeeping force to be created for Gaza to protect the civilian population - but no mention was made about rocket attacks against Israel, reports CBS News foreign affairs analyst Pamela Falk.

As the bruising campaign ended its 10th day, Hamas pummeled southern Israel with more than 30 rockets and promised to wait for Israeli soldiers "in every street and every alleyway."

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said the offensive would go on until Israel achieved "peace and tranquility" for residents of southern Israel.

One of the rockets struck a large outdoor market that was closed at the time in the town of Sderot, just across Gaza's northeastern border. Another hit a kindergarten in the coastal city of Ashdod, north of the strip. The kindergarten, like schools across southern Israel, was closed and empty because of the rocket threat.

Israel has three main demands: an end to Palestinian attacks, international supervision of any truce, and a halt to Hamas rearming. Hamas demands an end to Israeli attacks and the opening of border crossings to vital cargo.

Livni said the operation was designed to change the rules of Israel's struggle against Hamas after years of firing rockets at Israel. From now on, she said, "when Israel is targeted, Israel is going to retaliate."

Israeli military spokeswoman Maj. Avital Leibovich said Hamas was to blame for civilian casualties because it operates in densely populated areas.

"If Hamas chose cynically to use those civilians as human shields, then Hamas should be accountable," she said.

Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar exhorted Palestinians to fight the Israeli forces and target Israeli civilians and Jews abroad.

"The Zionists have legitimized the killing of their children by killing our children. They have legitimized the killing of their people all over the world by killing our people," Zahar said in a grainy video broadcast on Hamas TV.

Israel's operation has sparked anger across the Arab world and has drawn criticism from countries such as Turkey, Egypt and Jordan, which have ties with Israel and have been intimately involved in Mideast peacemaking.

In Beirut, Lebanon, protesters tried to pull away barbed wire blocking their path to the U.S. Embassy. They were driven back with heavy blasts of water.

[vcofreason]

They always show the pictures of the little kids blown apart. You would THINK that would get through to the a.s.s.onine fools (men) who start these conflicts. So now there are 524 more dead. How many does that make altogether in this stupid, repetitive, never-ending ridiculousness? I don''t care whose side you are on; war is DUMB and so are the people who start it, perpetuate it, fund it, participate in it, ANYONE who goes forth in favor of it. It proves NOTHING.

[airboatboy1]

This war will be over and then the next conflict will start. What do ya expect, it''s the Middle East. Start using the nukes. Sooner that starts it will ALL be over with.

[endurorob]

Of about 80 Palestinians killed during the ground operation, at least 70 were civilians

Are the Israeli soldiers shooting people at random?

[whatchange09]

Stop the rockets and save your children, Hamas.

[trapbreaker]

Not the Israeli graveyard Hamas predicted


Gaza health officials reported 524 dead and nearly 2,000 wounded since Israel embarked upon its military campaign against Gaza''s Islamic Hamas rulers on Dec. 27.

[billdaviau]

Israel has all of the most modern weaponry, planes, guided missiles, tanks, satellite imagry, all compliments of the U.S. Taxpayer.
Gaza has no standing army, no electricity, no running water, primitive weaponry and no right to international trade or even relief as Israel has for 45 years controlled all border crossings into Gaza.
Now we are told that Israel has "invaded" Gaza. Isn''t it more accurate to say that Israel has elected to blitkrieg and slaughter their poorly equipped servant state? "Invasion" implies that the ones being invaded are not totally controlled by the invador...this is a slaughter, pure and simple.

America supports the slaughter of the people of Gaza. I am saddened by the fact that it is true.

[milkchug2000]

Yes, civilians die in a war. Especially one where one side uses them as human shields. Hamas couldn''t wait until the the first innocent casualty so they can broadcast to the world how barbaric the Israeli Army is. If Israel was so barbaric, they would just bomb everything they can instead of risking their own soldiers lives. Hamas are cowards. They hide in hospitals and mosques. The death toll could be much worse but Israel goes very far out of its way to minimize civilian casualties. Hamas needs to be wiped out. I just hope the next leadership in Gaza sets up trade and industry instead of grads and katyushas.

[thatiswhy]

"Stop the rockets and save your children, Hamas."
Posted by WhatChange09

Do you mean that Israel kills children deliberately to make Hamas stop firing rockets????!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[trapbreaker]

America supports the slaughter of the people of Gaza. I am saddened by the fact that it is true. - Posted by billdaviau

Stop the rockets and you stop the killing. Hamas is a terrorist organization hiding behind civilians firing rockets and mortars at Israel. They have fired thousands, thousands.

Jordan, and Egypt won''t allow Hamas in. The Arab League is opposed to Hamas. As a metter of fact, only radical Iran, terrorist themselves, supports Hamas.

[skyhawk761]

"European diplomats and the French President were due to talk to the Israelis and Egypt was going to try and convince Hamas to ease the rocket fire."

They want Hamas to "ease" the rocket fire, but want Israel to "stop" any and all aggressions. Israel needs to make this the last time they have to deal with Hamas. They hide among women and children all the while firing rockets into Israel and then they want to b itch when Israel retaliates.

[whatchange09]

I am saddened by the fact that it is true.

Posted by billdaviau at 07:01 AM : Jan 05, 2009 ****************** Are you not saddened by the slaughter of the Israeli children by rocket attacks? Odd, that sort of value you have there.

[thatiswhy]

"If you have never participated in cordon search and encountered armed insurgents fleeing or attacking "you with weapons, then you can''''t accuse IDF Soldiers of shooting people at random. You have to remember Hamas arms children to do thier fighting while they hide amongst the population. So if you have never expierienced it don''''t comment on it

Posted by wvu7462 at 07:04 AM : Jan 05, 2009"

Do you really mean that Hamas has armed the dead child in the photo??????

[trapbreaker]

DIVISIONS DEEP AT ARAB LEAGUE MEETING

CAIRO %u2014 Arab countries appeared deeply divided on Wednesday over how to respond to the latest escalation in fighting between Israel and Hamas, with sharply differing comments from foreign ministers at the opening of an emergency Arab League meeting here.

Moderate Arab states generally allied to the United States blamed Hamas and Palestinian disunity for the crisis and more radical states, some of whom did not attend, urged collective action to defend the Palestinians against Israel.

In the most striking comments, Saudi Arabia%u2019s foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, took shots at Hamas and criticized the Palestinians for their inability to remain united behind President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah %u2014 an implicit condemnation of Hamas, which took over Gaza entirely in 2007 in a brief but violent civil war with Fatah. Normally, during periods of Israeli-Palestinian fighting, Arab leaders only condemn Israel.

%u201CThis terrible massacre would not have happened if the Palestinian people were united behind one leadership, speaking in one voice,%u201D Prince Saud said at the league meeting%u2019s opening.

[whatchange09]

Posted by thatiswhy at 07:05 AM : Jan 05, 2009 ********** If your neighbor kills your child with his rocket, do you not go to defend and stop the further attempts of killing other children?

[chris32324]

until there is no israel,there will be no peace in the middle east,this is no secret,just the world powers dont want to say it out loud.

[Ronald Austin]

And who sells/gives Israel Apache helicopters and F16''s to bomb the hell out of Gaza? The US, of course. And when Arab "terrorists" fly 747''s into the World Trade Center, the folks here in the US wonder what issue the Arabs have with us. Gee, do you think they just hate our lifestyle? Or they hope to get 12 virgins in heaven? Or, maybe, just maybe they might be a little angry that we supply the tanks, missles, planes, guns and bombs to kill their people. How can anyone in the US blame Israel? We''d have to blame ourselves for providing the weapons. And we can''t take any blame ourselves, can we?

[endurorob]

If you have never participated in cordon search and encountered armed insurgents fleeing or attacking you with weapons, then you can''''t accuse IDF Soldiers of shooting people at random. You have to remember Hamas arms children to do thier fighting while they hide amongst the population. So if you have never expierienced it don''''t comment on it.


Posted by wvu7462

If almost 90% of the casualties since ground operations began are civilians then there is a big problem with their targeting and I will comment on it.

[trapbreaker]

until there is no israel,there will be no peace in the middle east,this is no secret,just the world powers dont want to say it out loud. - - Posted by chris32324

When the Pals throw off terrorist organizations like Hamas and Hezbollah there will be peace. There are no longer any united Arab armies attacking Israel. Jordan and Egypt have exchanged diplomatic relations with Israel and now have trade agreements. Both countries won''t allow Hamas in. Even the once united Arab League are calling on the Palestinians to unite under Fatah.

Fatah hasn''t fired a single rocket, and Abbas is showing himself to be the moderate and true leader of the Palestinians in this time of crisis. Hamas will loose eventually, and there will be peace in the area.

[milkchug2000]

thatiswhy writes "Do you really mean that Hamas has armed the dead child in the photo??????"
The answer is no. That is just one they hid behind to save themselves.

[thatiswhy]

"I am saddened by the fact that it is true.

Posted by billdaviau at 07:01 AM : Jan 05, 2009 ****************** Are you not saddened by the slaughter of the Israeli children by rocket attacks? Odd, that sort of value you have there."

That is the problem with fanatics. They are saddened by the death of the side they are supporting and never care about the death of the opposite side let it be an infant and they usually find excuses and explanations for why they killed them. But the correct thing is; you should be sad for death of innocent children of whoever side.

[thatiswhy]

"thatiswhy writes "Do you really mean that Hamas has armed the dead child in the photo??????"
The answer is no. That is just one they hid behind to save themselves."

Probably that is what you see in Hollywood movies. Your excuse of killing innocent children is very weak. This won''t convince anybody. It is just an immature psychological defense mechanism to escape from the nightmare of death of such a innocent child.

[trapbreaker]

hat is the problem with fanatics. They are saddened by the death of the side they are supporting and never care about the death of the opposite side let it be an infant and they usually find excuses and explanations for why they killed them. But the correct thing is; you should be sad for death of innocent children of whoever side. - Posted by thatiswh

Yes, this by Associated Press this morning:

Militants, defying the attacks, fired two dozen rockets at Israel by midday and Gaza''s Hamas strongman urged Palestinians to "crush" the invading Israeli forces and target Israeli civilians.

[Ronald Austin]

Why don''t we give the best weaponry to the Palestinians, like we do Israel? Make it a fair fight? Then there will be a balance of power in the region and no one will attack anyone else. Isn''t that how the theory goes?

[Ronald Austin]

So the head of Hamas is a "strongman" and the leader of the IDF gets a much more generous title from the Associated Press. Why is that?

[n8yvn29]

As the Israeli invasion kills women and children, may God protect the poorly equipped Palestinians as they fight for the land that is rightfully theirs - against one of the strongest, most technically advanced, and most brutal armies of the world. May David slay Goliath once again - and may the world express righteous outrage at an invasion, that in many respects, resembles Hitler%u2019s invasion of the countries bordering Germany during WWII.

[jwninil]

now that Isreal is finally kicking a$$ and taking the whole world is in a uproar about it but when Hamas was doing the rocket firing into Isreal nobody was hollering about it, just a few squeaks of protest. What''s wrong with this picture?

[abrame]

Israel is correct in it''s actions.

They are doing the best any army could do against such a cowardly enemy that purposely sacrifices it''s own women and children for propaganda purposes.

The terrorists must be eliminated if there is to be peace for the Palestinians.

Their leaders are more sociopathic and deadly than any bomb.

I hope Israel can rescue as many innocents as possible from the rabid Hamas.

[Ronald Austin]

The hell with Israel. They are no longer of any strategic importance to the US. They spy on us (Jonathan Pollard) as thanks for the military aid we give them, without which they would not exist. It is a country of scumbags. Does that make the Palistinians saints? No. But why shuld the US even stay involved in this whole conflict. Look at what it has cost us since September 11th.

[mark_st]

israel is committing horrible crimes babies, children, woman have been killed they target schools, hospitals, mosques, ambulances !!!
this is wildest genocide ever and thats happening in GAZA !

[trapbreaker]

May David slay Goliath once again - Posted by n8yvn29

David was a Hebrew.

[abrame]

Why don''''t we give the best weaponry to the Palestinians, like we do Israel? Make it a fair fight? Then there will be a balance of power in the region and no one will attack anyone else. Isn''''t that how the theory goes?

Posted by ronaustin5

You sound like you''re 7 years old with your fair fight garbage.

Israel is engaged in a police action against armed and dangerous terrorist criminals.

What you said is like saying you want bank robbers or school shooters to have equal armament with the police.

[milkchug2000]

to thatiswhy
Your response proves how little you know of the current conflict and of the history of the region. It is common knowledge that Hamas uses innocent people as cover. They know that Israel is a moral country and won''t fire near innocent people. You think I got that from a Hollywood movie?? Israel has absorbed hamas rockets for YEARS that have specifically targeted innocent men, women and children. Israel had no choice but to respond. I don''t condone the death of any child, but when the enemy puts them in the crosshairs, they have only themselves to blame.

[Ronald Austin]

The Jews in the US care more about Israel than they do our own country. They will back Israeli interests over US interests any day, all day long. And always they fall back on this 1400 years of persecution by Muslims false claim.

[endurorob]

Islamic fundamentalism is pure evil, and anyone who says otherwise isn''''t doing their honest history homework.

Posted by Truthin2009 at 07:26 AM : Jan 05, 2009

Any religuos fundamentalism is pure evil.

[wardoglrs]

GOOGLE:
BENJAMIN FREEDMAN SPEAKS: A JEWISH DEFECTOR WARNS AMERICA

Proof that Israel is a lie

[abrame]

The Jews in the US care more about Israel than they do our own country. They will back Israeli interests over US interests any day, all day long. And always they fall back on this 1400 years of persecution by Muslims false claim.

Posted by ronaustin5

Another conspiracy nut case.

[abrame]

GOOGLE:
BENJAMIN FREEDMAN SPEAKS: A JEWISH DEFECTOR WARNS AMERICA
Proof that Israel is a lie
Posted by WarDogLRS

Proof you are a conspiracy theorist

[Ronald Austin]

"FREEDOM and DEMOCRACY come with a price. FREEDOM ISN''''T FREE, never has been, and never will be.

In order to have freedom, evil must be defeated, as has been the case THROUGHOUT history."

Please... let me put on my American flag pin and sing God Bless America. "Know the truth"? What''s that? What it says in your KIng James Bible?

[trapbreaker]

David was a Myth. - Posted by FloydZeppd

His son built the Tempe and the wall is still standing. Myths don''t do that.

[Ronald Austin]

Abrame, you are a jew who supports Israel? How did I figure that out so fast? Hmm. And where is the "conspiracy theory" in pointing out the obvious?

[endurorob]

Posted by Truthin2009 at 07:30 AM : Jan 05, 2009

Just because it is your beleif does not make it the truth.

[abrame]

Google "Palestinian Media Watch" folks and see what these Muslim fundamentalists teach their young in the Middle East.
Know the truth. Click on the first link that comes up.
Posted by Truthin2009 at 07:26 AM : Jan 05, 2009
----------

I did. Jesus Camp came up....
Posted by FloydZeppd


LOL!!

[endurorob]

The Israelis can''''t find anyone man enough to fight.


Posted by Hackerpc

So they kill civilians?

[Ronald Austin]

"What part of FREEDOM isn''''t FREE do you fail to grasp?" Well, it''s a nice little cliche. How about "These colors don''t run" and all of that nice bumper sticker lingo to support whatever war crimes the US supports? But you are right, freedom is not free to the Palestinians. It costs the US taxpayer thousands of dollars per year each to supply those weapons to Israel.

[wardoglrs]

The land is rightfully the Palestinians and they will destroy Israel. The Israeli are the trespassers and are a fake breed fooling the world about who they really are

These Khazars, these pagans, these Asiatics, these Turko-Finns, were a Mongoloid race who were forced out of Asia into eastern Europe. Because their king took the Talmudic faith, they had no choice in the matter. Just the same as in Spain: If the king was Catholic, everybody had to be a Catholic. If not, you had to get out of Spain. So the Khazars became what we call today "Jews".

[endurorob]

God doesn''''t want His creation to be left in the dark and not know the Truth. That''''s why He gave us His Word, the precious books of the Holy Bible.


Posted by Truthin2009 at 07:35 AM : Jan 05, 2009

His word as written by outcasts several thousand years ago. If your god wanted his creation to know the truth why doesn''t he tell them himself instead of leaving it to others to put in a book.

[endurorob]

Posted by Truthin2009 at 07:38 AM : Jan 05, 2009


I''ll bet you are one of those evangelicals waiting for the temple to be rebuilt so jesus can come back.

[trapbreaker]

Posted by FloydZeppd

Freeman has been dead for 25 years/ Hardly up to the current times. He ws a Jew who converted to Catholicism.

[Ronald Austin]

Truthin2009, no one ever made the claim that "freedom comes for free" or whatever non-sense little phrase you want to simplify this scenario with. As I have pointed out repeatedly, clearly freedom is not free for the Palistinians. But they are fighting for it. In your warped view, it is Israel that is trying to gain "freedom" here? Is Israel blocaded on all sides like Gaza? Do the Palinistinians control the airspace and cut off water and electricity to Israel?

[endurorob]

Yes, ricky is....he thinks the "End Times" are here. He has his "Left Behind" books to prove it.

HAHAHAHAHA!!!

Posted by FloydZeppd at 07:41 AM : Jan 05, 2009

It''s funny how Christians of every century for the past 2000 years believed they were living in the end times.