Hamas Rejects Egypt's Cease-Fire Plan

Truce Deemed "Risky For The Palestinian Resistance;" Aid Worker For U.N. Killed

(CBS)  This story was written by CBS News' George Baghdadi, reporting from Damascus

---

The Hamas leadership rejected on Thursday an Egyptian truce plan for the Gaza Strip saying it lacked the "valid basis" that would secure Israel's pull out of the Gaza, reopening all border crossings and lifting the blockade against the Palestinians.

A statement by the Damascus-based ten Palestinian factions, including Hamas, said they "didn't see in the Egyptian initiative any valid basis for any acceptable solution as it includes articles deemed risky for the Palestinian resistance and its future."

It added that the aim of the Egyptian move was "to impose restrict on the resistance movement, blockading it while giving the enemy the free hand. The initiative could only help the enemy achieve the results they are unable to attain so far."

The Palestinian factions said it questioned the participation of Arab parties in the plan, but didn't name these countries.

A two-man delegation of Emad al-Alami and Mohammed Nasr flew back to Damascus on Wednesday night after having lengthy talks in Cairo with Egyptian officials, including intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, to discuss the initiative with Hamas's Syrian-based leadership.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak put forward a truce plan for the ravaged territory late Tuesday aimed at ending Israel's assault which has killed more than 700 Palestinians and ending militant rocket fire.

The plan hopes to install a temporary cease-fire followed by an official truce, the securing of Gaza's border and the opening of crossing points to and from the isolated territory.

The factions reiterated in the statement their demands of "stopping the aggression, immediate withdrawal, lifting the siege and opening the crossing points, particularly Rafah." They also rejected the idea of deploying international observers in Gaza.

Israel, responding to a worldwide outcry over the punishing toll on Gaza's 1.5 million people, suspended its offensive Wednesday to allow humanitarian agencies to distribute relief supplies. Israeli officials said such brief lulls would be declared daily.

It was the first letup in an Israeli assault that has killed more than 700 Palestinians, of whom the United Nations says more than 400 are civilians. Ten Israelis have been killed since the fighting began, three of them civilians struck by continuing Palestinian rocket fire into Israel.

In related news:

Lebanese militants fired at least three rockets into northern Israel early Thursday, threatening to open a second front for the Jewish state as it pushed forward with its offensive in the Gaza Strip. Gaza militants fired a rocket barrage into southern Israel almost simultaneously.

There were no serious injuries in either attack. But the rockets on Israel's north raised the specter of renewed hostilities with Hezbollah, just 2 1/2 years after Israel battled the guerrilla group to a 34-day stalemate. Hezbollah started the 2006 war as Israel was battling Palestinian militants in Gaza.

Lebanon's government said Thursday it was trying to determine who fired the rockets from southern Lebanon into Israel and stressed that it remains committed to peace.

CBS News correspondent Robert Berger reports that a Palestinian splinter group is suspected of being behind the rocket fire. The group is not directly linked to Hezbollah and was believed to have been acting independently. The rockets used in the attack were older and not typical of Hezbollah's arsenal, added Berger. (CBS/AP)

The United Nations says it is halting all aid deliveries to the besieged Gaza Strip. It is citing a series of Israeli attacks on U.N. staff and installations.

The announcement came shortly after the driver of a U.N. truck was killed by tank fire as he was headed to an Israeli border crossing to pick up an aid shipment.

The U.N. said the delivery had been coordinated with Israel. The Israeli army has not commented.

Spokesman Chris Gunness says aid shipments are being suspended until the safety of U.N. staff can be guaranteed.

Earlier this week, nearly 40 people were killed by Israeli mortar fire outside a U.N. school. Israel said its troops had come under fire by militants using the building for cover. (AP)

Israeli air strikes killed 29 Palestinians on Wednesday after leaflets were dropped warning residents to leave the area "because Hamas uses your houses to hide and smuggle military weapons."

Ten Israelis have been killed, including three civilians, since the offensive began.

Thousands of Palestinians have fled their homes, seeking refugee at U.N. schools turned into temporary shelters. (AP)

The Israeli military, which has refused to allow journalists into Gaza, permitted two TV teams to accompany soldiers on patrol for the first time. The footage showed soldiers walking through a deserted street in an unidentified location in Gaza.

The Israeli military correspondent who accompanied the soldiers said they were concerned about Hamas booby-traps. He said they were shooting through walls, throwing grenades around corners, going from house to house looking for Hamas gunmen and using bomb sniffer dogs. Buildings showed bullet and shrapnel marks. "We used a lot of fire," said an officer in the group, Lt. Col. Ofer. (AP)

© MMIX, 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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by refbatch January 9, 2009 7:57 PM EST

Israel does not need to fight in Gaza - it is enough just to remove west VIPs working for terrorists.
Moslems must understand - jew nation has the same right to live on this earth - no other way for all.

Reply to this comment

by mitch5511 January 9, 2009 3:52 PM EST

As long as "religion" rules that region, it will never end. They can either "fix it" themselves or kill each other off. It''s their call.

The US can stay the F*** out of it and take care of own for a change.

Reply to this comment

by abrame January 9, 2009 10:21 AM EST

1) They are poor and poverty will hold down any culture.
2) Their poverty is held in place largely by restrictions Israel places on them.
3) Israel cannot and must not remove those restrictions as long Hamas (or anything like it) continues to exist.

Were the Palestinians to pull their collective head out and do away with the extremism, then Israel could back off and try to give them some room to work with. Then and only then can briannorwood''s theory be tested. And under such circumstances, I believe we would see the Palestinians begin to build a viable economy.
Posted by VoidMaster

Agreed.
Posted by rhs648

Palestinians had access to Israel and good paying jobs but continued terrorism caused the clamp down.

Don''t blame Israel for trying to protect itself.

Reply to this comment

by trapbreaker January 8, 2009 10:06 PM EST

Well, can you see Hamas agreeing to international force to prevent smuggling of arms into Gaza?

In Washington, the Senate unanimously adopted a resolution stating an "unwavering commitment" to Israel and its right to defend itself, while also calling for "a viable and independent Palestinian state living in peace alongside a secure state of Israel." The House was expected to pass a similar measure Friday.

Reply to this comment

by factsearcher January 8, 2009 9:42 PM EST

Take few seconds to watch this.

http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=e

TGbP55HGi8

Reply to this comment

by debinok1 January 8, 2009 9:34 PM EST

Posted by yourself5

You are one sick individual.

Reply to this comment

by debinok1 January 8, 2009 9:26 PM EST

Take few seconds to watch this.

http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=e
TGbP55HGi8

Posted by factsearcher
***********************
Sick, Sick, Sick people. Some of those children are still toddlers. Every Hamas militant should be shot on sight and anyone defending Hamas should be arrested. Those poor children have NO CHANCE of a normal life after that kind of training and brainwashing.

Reply to this comment

by jediservant January 8, 2009 9:21 PM EST

Part 3

It is stunning to realize that more than three years since we pulled out of the Gaza Strip, evacuated our soldiers, and erased any sign of the small Jewish settlements there, we are still regarded as the aggressive occupiers! For three years the people of Gaza have been left to rule themselves, rebuild their city, and create better lives with no interference. In this time, the world community has poured millions of dollars and Euros into Gaza to establish services like education, health, welfare, commerce, and industry. This great three year opportunity has been wasted, for nothing has been accomplished except producing weapons, smuggling arms, training militants, and, most of all, shooting thousands of missiles at us. Did the international community ever demand that these terrorists stop? Did it ever demand a report of what has been done with the millions contributed to Gaza? No! When hypocrisy is the name of the game, this is what results.
I can understand the average person being unaware of the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza three years ago and of the fact that there is no justification to fire missiles at us. But for state leaders worldwide to fail to understand that it is time to stand strong against terror is nothing but stupidity and a clear expression of their weakness. They are inviting terrorism to their own countries, because if there is one thing that terrorism is capable of identifying, it is weakness in the leadership of its victims.

Reply to this comment

by country1st January 8, 2009 9:19 PM EST

What a world of hypocrites and bigots! Where are the protests against Hamas whose fundamentalist Islamic ideology is the sole cause and continuation of this tragedy? If Hamas was to stop firing rockets into Israel innocent Palestinians, women and children would not be dying. Now Hezbollah has started to fire rockets from Lebanon. Is Israel going to be blamed for this also if they defend themselves?

Reply to this comment

by factsearcher January 8, 2009 9:17 PM EST

Take few seconds to watch this.

http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=eTGbP55HGi8

Reply to this comment

by factsearcher January 8, 2009 9:14 PM EST

Gola Meir said...
Peace will come when the Arabs love their children more than they hatethe Jews.

Oh dear was she wise!

Reply to this comment

by voidmaster-2009 January 8, 2009 8:42 PM EST

Well good people, I have to run. I will check back later if I get a chance.

Take care and have fun.

Reply to this comment

by factsearcher January 8, 2009 8:38 PM EST

What I was referring to is a shared Jordanian-Egyptian rule, Amman rules the West Bank and Cairo runs Gaza.

Posted by factsearcher
***
Now *that* idea I kind o'''' like. The hard part might be getting Israel to go along. But if Egypt and Jordan guaranteed security so that those places could not be used as staging grounds for action against Israel, I cannot see why Israel would object. It would all come down to, would the Palestinians agree.

Posted by VoidMaster


I read in the washington post few palestinian leaders do really would like the intervention since they have been fighting for 60 years and now they realize they had been "fooled" by their own people

Reply to this comment

by factsearcher January 8, 2009 8:35 PM EST

Woulnt you both agree that since there has been no progress for years and neither Israel nor US, UN or anybody else has been able to succeed...
that is time for Egypt and Jordan to be the ones taking control of the situation?

Posted by factsearcher
***
I am not so sure that I do agree. It would largely depend on *what* Egypt and Jordan sought to do.

My first suspicion is that anytime Egypt and especially Jordan try to step in and "take control," we will see a REAL mid-east war and suddenly everybody will be involved.


----------------------------------
----------------------------------------
------

Posted by VoidMaster at 05:22 PM : Jan 08, 2009



I saw an interview today on Al Jazeera TV with the Foreign Minister from Jordan. This very subject was posed to the Foreign Minister. His response was more less---- yes, every time it comes about that there is a difficult point in the peace process, people start talking about the fact that the Palestinians are our brothers, and maybe we should take some resposiblity, but is not an option. The only option is a separate state for Palestine.

Posted by roscoe2400




There should be a push from US and United Nations

Reply to this comment

by voidmaster-2009 January 8, 2009 8:35 PM EST

Void,
What I was referring to is a shared Jordanian-Egyptian rule, Amman rules the West Bank and Cairo runs Gaza.

Posted by factsearcher
***
Now *that* idea I kind o'' like. The hard part might be getting Israel to go along. But if Egypt and Jordan guaranteed security so that those places could not be used as staging grounds for action against Israel, I cannot see why Israel would object. It would all come down to, would the Palestinians agree.

Reply to this comment

by factsearcher January 8, 2009 8:33 PM EST

Woulnt you both agree that since there has been no progress for years and neither Israel nor US, UN or anybody else has been able to succeed...
that is time for Egypt and Jordan to be the ones taking control of the situation?


----------------------------------
----------------------------------------
------

Posted by factsearcher

factsearcher - In all likelihood, Egypt and Jordon would be wasting their time. The only real hope appears to be military action by Israel. At some point, they should be able to break the backs of Hamas and the Palestinians. Another unlikely prospect is for the Palestinians to reject Hamas and other extremists. They have not done so to date.


Posted by rhs648


My point exactly. Palestinians have no intention to get rid of hamas...they are not going anywhere but rearming...
It is time for Egypt and Jordan to take back the responsibility.... even though we know they dont want them

Reply to this comment

by rhs648 January 8, 2009 8:32 PM EST

There is nothing narrow minded about briannorwood. He raises an excellent question and the answer is obvious. Just because someone dares to speak the truth does not make them narrow minded. Just because we might not like the answer does not make him narrow minded.

Posted by rhs648
***
I also do not think he is narrow-minded. But I do think he is overlooking the obvious, which I pointed out clearly earlier.

The reason for the Palestinians'''' marginal material state is three fold and begins with poverty.

1) They are poor and poverty will hold down any culture.
2) Their poverty is held in place largely by restrictions Israel places on them.
3) Israel cannot and must not remove those restrictions as long Hamas (or anything like it) continues to exist.

Were the Palestinians to pull their collective head out and do away with the extremism, then Israel could back off and try to give them some room to work with. Then and only then can briannorwood''''s theory be tested. And under such circumstances, I believe we would see the Palestinians begin to build a viable economy.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by VoidMaster

Agreed.

Reply to this comment

by voidmaster-2009 January 8, 2009 8:31 PM EST

They can only ban your IP address if you have a static IP address, which most people ISP''''s do NOT assign.

Posted by hungry681
***
They can ban a block of IP addresses which effectively blocks everyone from that ISP. I have seen chat rooms do this so no reason why CBS could not.

Reply to this comment

by roscoe2400-2009 January 8, 2009 8:30 PM EST

Woulnt you both agree that since there has been no progress for years and neither Israel nor US, UN or anybody else has been able to succeed...
that is time for Egypt and Jordan to be the ones taking control of the situation?

Posted by factsearcher
***
I am not so sure that I do agree. It would largely depend on *what* Egypt and Jordan sought to do.

My first suspicion is that anytime Egypt and especially Jordan try to step in and "take control," we will see a REAL mid-east war and suddenly everybody will be involved.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by VoidMaster at 05:22 PM : Jan 08, 2009



I saw an interview today on Al Jazeera TV with the Foreign Minister from Jordan. This very subject was posed to the Foreign Minister. His response was more less---- yes, every time it comes about that there is a difficult point in the peace process, people start talking about the fact that the Palestinians are our brothers, and maybe we should take some resposiblity, but is not an option. The only option is a separate state for Palestine.

Reply to this comment

by factsearcher January 8, 2009 8:30 PM EST

Woulnt you both agree that since there has been no progress for years and neither Israel nor US, UN or anybody else has been able to succeed...
that is time for Egypt and Jordan to be the ones taking control of the situation?

Posted by factsearcher
***
I am not so sure that I do agree. It would largely depend on *what* Egypt and Jordan sought to do.

My first suspicion is that anytime Egypt and especially Jordan try to step in and "take control," we will see a REAL mid-east war and suddenly everybody will be involved.

Posted by VoidMaster


Void,
What I was referring to is a shared Jordanian-Egyptian rule, Amman rules the West Bank and Cairo runs Gaza.

Reply to this comment

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[refbatch]

Israel does not need to fight in Gaza - it is enough just to remove west VIPs working for terrorists.
Moslems must understand - jew nation has the same right to live on this earth - no other way for all.

[mitch5511]

As long as "religion" rules that region, it will never end. They can either "fix it" themselves or kill each other off. It''s their call.

The US can stay the F*** out of it and take care of own for a change.

[abrame]

1) They are poor and poverty will hold down any culture.
2) Their poverty is held in place largely by restrictions Israel places on them.
3) Israel cannot and must not remove those restrictions as long Hamas (or anything like it) continues to exist.

Were the Palestinians to pull their collective head out and do away with the extremism, then Israel could back off and try to give them some room to work with. Then and only then can briannorwood''s theory be tested. And under such circumstances, I believe we would see the Palestinians begin to build a viable economy.
Posted by VoidMaster

Agreed.
Posted by rhs648

Palestinians had access to Israel and good paying jobs but continued terrorism caused the clamp down.

Don''t blame Israel for trying to protect itself.

[trapbreaker]

Well, can you see Hamas agreeing to international force to prevent smuggling of arms into Gaza?

In Washington, the Senate unanimously adopted a resolution stating an "unwavering commitment" to Israel and its right to defend itself, while also calling for "a viable and independent Palestinian state living in peace alongside a secure state of Israel." The House was expected to pass a similar measure Friday.

[factsearcher]

Take few seconds to watch this.

http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=e

TGbP55HGi8

[debinok1]

Posted by yourself5

You are one sick individual.

[debinok1]

Take few seconds to watch this.

http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=e
TGbP55HGi8

Posted by factsearcher
***********************
Sick, Sick, Sick people. Some of those children are still toddlers. Every Hamas militant should be shot on sight and anyone defending Hamas should be arrested. Those poor children have NO CHANCE of a normal life after that kind of training and brainwashing.

[jediservant]

Part 3

It is stunning to realize that more than three years since we pulled out of the Gaza Strip, evacuated our soldiers, and erased any sign of the small Jewish settlements there, we are still regarded as the aggressive occupiers! For three years the people of Gaza have been left to rule themselves, rebuild their city, and create better lives with no interference. In this time, the world community has poured millions of dollars and Euros into Gaza to establish services like education, health, welfare, commerce, and industry. This great three year opportunity has been wasted, for nothing has been accomplished except producing weapons, smuggling arms, training militants, and, most of all, shooting thousands of missiles at us. Did the international community ever demand that these terrorists stop? Did it ever demand a report of what has been done with the millions contributed to Gaza? No! When hypocrisy is the name of the game, this is what results.
I can understand the average person being unaware of the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza three years ago and of the fact that there is no justification to fire missiles at us. But for state leaders worldwide to fail to understand that it is time to stand strong against terror is nothing but stupidity and a clear expression of their weakness. They are inviting terrorism to their own countries, because if there is one thing that terrorism is capable of identifying, it is weakness in the leadership of its victims.

[country1st]

What a world of hypocrites and bigots! Where are the protests against Hamas whose fundamentalist Islamic ideology is the sole cause and continuation of this tragedy? If Hamas was to stop firing rockets into Israel innocent Palestinians, women and children would not be dying. Now Hezbollah has started to fire rockets from Lebanon. Is Israel going to be blamed for this also if they defend themselves?

[factsearcher]

Take few seconds to watch this.

http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=eTGbP55HGi8

[factsearcher]

Gola Meir said...
Peace will come when the Arabs love their children more than they hatethe Jews.

Oh dear was she wise!

[voidmaster-2009]

Well good people, I have to run. I will check back later if I get a chance.

Take care and have fun.

[factsearcher]

What I was referring to is a shared Jordanian-Egyptian rule, Amman rules the West Bank and Cairo runs Gaza.

Posted by factsearcher
***
Now *that* idea I kind o'''' like. The hard part might be getting Israel to go along. But if Egypt and Jordan guaranteed security so that those places could not be used as staging grounds for action against Israel, I cannot see why Israel would object. It would all come down to, would the Palestinians agree.

Posted by VoidMaster


I read in the washington post few palestinian leaders do really would like the intervention since they have been fighting for 60 years and now they realize they had been "fooled" by their own people

[factsearcher]

Woulnt you both agree that since there has been no progress for years and neither Israel nor US, UN or anybody else has been able to succeed...
that is time for Egypt and Jordan to be the ones taking control of the situation?

Posted by factsearcher
***
I am not so sure that I do agree. It would largely depend on *what* Egypt and Jordan sought to do.

My first suspicion is that anytime Egypt and especially Jordan try to step in and "take control," we will see a REAL mid-east war and suddenly everybody will be involved.


----------------------------------
----------------------------------------
------

Posted by VoidMaster at 05:22 PM : Jan 08, 2009



I saw an interview today on Al Jazeera TV with the Foreign Minister from Jordan. This very subject was posed to the Foreign Minister. His response was more less---- yes, every time it comes about that there is a difficult point in the peace process, people start talking about the fact that the Palestinians are our brothers, and maybe we should take some resposiblity, but is not an option. The only option is a separate state for Palestine.

Posted by roscoe2400




There should be a push from US and United Nations

[voidmaster-2009]

Void,
What I was referring to is a shared Jordanian-Egyptian rule, Amman rules the West Bank and Cairo runs Gaza.

Posted by factsearcher
***
Now *that* idea I kind o'' like. The hard part might be getting Israel to go along. But if Egypt and Jordan guaranteed security so that those places could not be used as staging grounds for action against Israel, I cannot see why Israel would object. It would all come down to, would the Palestinians agree.

[factsearcher]

Woulnt you both agree that since there has been no progress for years and neither Israel nor US, UN or anybody else has been able to succeed...
that is time for Egypt and Jordan to be the ones taking control of the situation?


----------------------------------
----------------------------------------
------

Posted by factsearcher

factsearcher - In all likelihood, Egypt and Jordon would be wasting their time. The only real hope appears to be military action by Israel. At some point, they should be able to break the backs of Hamas and the Palestinians. Another unlikely prospect is for the Palestinians to reject Hamas and other extremists. They have not done so to date.


Posted by rhs648


My point exactly. Palestinians have no intention to get rid of hamas...they are not going anywhere but rearming...
It is time for Egypt and Jordan to take back the responsibility.... even though we know they dont want them

[rhs648]

There is nothing narrow minded about briannorwood. He raises an excellent question and the answer is obvious. Just because someone dares to speak the truth does not make them narrow minded. Just because we might not like the answer does not make him narrow minded.

Posted by rhs648
***
I also do not think he is narrow-minded. But I do think he is overlooking the obvious, which I pointed out clearly earlier.

The reason for the Palestinians'''' marginal material state is three fold and begins with poverty.

1) They are poor and poverty will hold down any culture.
2) Their poverty is held in place largely by restrictions Israel places on them.
3) Israel cannot and must not remove those restrictions as long Hamas (or anything like it) continues to exist.

Were the Palestinians to pull their collective head out and do away with the extremism, then Israel could back off and try to give them some room to work with. Then and only then can briannorwood''''s theory be tested. And under such circumstances, I believe we would see the Palestinians begin to build a viable economy.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by VoidMaster

Agreed.

[voidmaster-2009]

They can only ban your IP address if you have a static IP address, which most people ISP''''s do NOT assign.

Posted by hungry681
***
They can ban a block of IP addresses which effectively blocks everyone from that ISP. I have seen chat rooms do this so no reason why CBS could not.

[roscoe2400-2009]

Woulnt you both agree that since there has been no progress for years and neither Israel nor US, UN or anybody else has been able to succeed...
that is time for Egypt and Jordan to be the ones taking control of the situation?

Posted by factsearcher
***
I am not so sure that I do agree. It would largely depend on *what* Egypt and Jordan sought to do.

My first suspicion is that anytime Egypt and especially Jordan try to step in and "take control," we will see a REAL mid-east war and suddenly everybody will be involved.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by VoidMaster at 05:22 PM : Jan 08, 2009



I saw an interview today on Al Jazeera TV with the Foreign Minister from Jordan. This very subject was posed to the Foreign Minister. His response was more less---- yes, every time it comes about that there is a difficult point in the peace process, people start talking about the fact that the Palestinians are our brothers, and maybe we should take some resposiblity, but is not an option. The only option is a separate state for Palestine.

[factsearcher]

Woulnt you both agree that since there has been no progress for years and neither Israel nor US, UN or anybody else has been able to succeed...
that is time for Egypt and Jordan to be the ones taking control of the situation?

Posted by factsearcher
***
I am not so sure that I do agree. It would largely depend on *what* Egypt and Jordan sought to do.

My first suspicion is that anytime Egypt and especially Jordan try to step in and "take control," we will see a REAL mid-east war and suddenly everybody will be involved.

Posted by VoidMaster


Void,
What I was referring to is a shared Jordanian-Egyptian rule, Amman rules the West Bank and Cairo runs Gaza.