"Decisive" Talks Planned Amid Gaza Turmoil
Israeli Truce Negotiator To Head To Egypt As Israeli Forces Push Into Gaza City
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A shell fired from an Israeli Army tank explodes over a building in the outskirts of Gaza City, as seen from the Israeli-Gaza border, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2009. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)
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An Israeli tank prepares to cross into the Gaza Strip on a combat mission, from Israel, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2009. Israeli troops advanced into Gaza suburbs for the first time early Tuesday, residents said, hours after Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert warned Islamic militants that they face an "iron fist" unless they agree to Israeli terms for an end to war in the Gaza Strip. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)
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Palestinian medics carry a wounded boy who according to Palestinian medical sources was injured in an Israeli strike, into Shifa hospital in Gaza City, Monday, Jan. 12, 2009. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
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An Israeli Army soldier prepares for morning prayers next to his armoured vehicle on the Israeli side of Israel-Gaza border Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2009. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)
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A Palestinian boy carries his family belongings from the rubble of a building in an area targeted by Israeli airstrikes in Rafah southern Gaza Strip, Jan. 12, 2009. (AP Photo/Khaled Omar)
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Israel Deploys Reserve Troops
President Bush held his final news conference with a spirited defense of his policies and a look back at his mistakes. Jim Axelrod reports with commentary from political consultant Dan Bartlett.
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Little Progress In Gaza
Israeli forces advanced deeper into Palestinian territory and as Mark Phillips reports, the international call for cease-fire has done little to quell the violence in Gaza.
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Journalists Amid Gaza Conflict
Over 800 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip over the last two weeks as fighting between Israeli and Gaza intensifies. Richard Roth reports on the media coverage of this conflict.
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Israel Hammers Gaza
Palestinian militants launch rocket attacks, Israel hits back hard.
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On the diplomatic front, Egyptian mediators pushed Hamas to accept a truce proposal and, in a hopeful sign, Israel sent its lead negotiator to Cairo for talks on a cease-fire. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also headed for the region to join diplomatic efforts.
Israeli military officials say that depending on what happens with what they described as the "decisive" talks in Cairo, Israel will move closer to a cease-fire or widen its offensive. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were discussing sensitive policy matters.
Asked if Israel's war aims had been achieved, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said: "Most of them; Probably not all of them."
Israeli troops now have the coastal city of 400,000 virtually surrounded as part of an offensive launched Dec. 27 to en
Israel says intense bombing tody has hit more tunnels used to smuggle arms and squads of Hamas gunmen. With the ring of troops and armor around Gaza's biggest city getting tighter, an officer in the field even says he thinks Hamas has "folded" - at the same time Israel's military chief says there's "still work to do," reports CBS News correspondent Richard Roth.
The Israeli threat is an all-out attack on Gaza's packed cities. From his bunker, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was still defiant, but added he'd cooperate with an initiative toward a cease-fire.
And with food, electricity and shelter all in desperately short supply, that may be a sign Hamas is feeling the pressure of Palestinian suffering, Roth reports.
There was some disagreement in the Israeli war cabinet on whether to push further into Gaza's urban areas and cause more civilian casualties, or declare victory and stop, reports CBS News correspondent Mark Phillips.
On Monday, Israel's Foreign Minister told CBS News that Israeli troops may be forced to stay in Gaza for some time.
"We hope to find a way to live in peace and protect our citizens without re-occupying Gaza, but at the end of the day, in the Middle East the choice is between bad options," Tzipi Livni told Phillips.
Palestinian medical officials reported at least 42 deaths from the conflict on Tuesday throughout Gaza.
The army said three soldiers were wounded, including an officer who was searching a northern Gaza house when a bomb exploded.
Palestinian hospital officials say more than 940 Palestinians, half of them civilians, have been killed in the fighting. A total of 13 Israelis, 10 of them soldiers, have died.
Palestinian rocket fire has dropped significantly since the offensive was launched. Some 15 rockets and mortar shells were fired toward Israel Tuesday, causing no injuries, the army said.
Fireballs and smoke plumes from Israeli bombing have become a common sight in the territory of 1.4 million people, who are effectively trapped because of blockaded border crossings. Recent fighting has focused on Gaza City, where Israeli soldiers could be increasingly exposed to the treacherous conditions of urban warfare.
The operation in Tel Hawwa neighborhood, one mile southeast of downtown, matched fast-paced forays into other areas designed to avoid Israeli casualties. Residents said troops entered overnight, reconnoitered the area, and then pulled back to more secure positions.
One Israeli military officer told The Associated Press that Hamas fighters often operate in small groups of up to four and have largely refrained from confronting Israeli troops at close range.
"Their strategy has mainly been to use lots of booby-traps, shooting guns and missiles from afar," the Israeli officer said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
"Soldiers are taking lots of precautions, they are being more careful than the army has ever been before in any war," he said. "Soldiers shoot at anything suspicious, use lots of firepower, and blast holes through walls to move around."
Gabi Ashkenazi, chief of staff of the Israeli military, said Hamas militants also have put on Israeli military uniforms to try to approach troops and carry out suicide bombings.
Hamas, which is backed by Iran, cannot hope to score a battlefield victory over the powerful Israeli military, but mere survival could earn it political capital in the Arab world as a symbol of resistance to the Jewish state. Lebanon's Hezbollah, another Iran-backed group, largely achieved that goal in its 2006 war with Israel.
On Tuesday, a Gaza resident said he saw Hamas militants in civilian clothing firing rockets from the southeastern corner of the territory. He spoke by telephone and requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information.
Israel says it will push forward with the offensive until Hamas ends all rocket fire on southern Israel, and there are guarantees the militant group will stop smuggling weapons into Gaza through the porous Egyptian border.
Israel has Gaza surrounded on three sides, and Egypt - which received $23 million in U.S. aid last year - is making an effort to seal its border, Roth reports.
Yet weapons continue to flow in through an elaborate system of supply tunnels - hundreds of them - clustered near the Gaza border crossing, Roth reports.
Gazans are getting over the border by going under it, through a network of tunnels that runs from buildings on their side, deep under the ground (and the border fence) to hideaways in Egypt.
"These tunnels are not just foxholes, they are very complicated structures, they're long, they have electricity, they have trails and tracks going through them," Israeli army spokesman Ron Edelheit tells Roth. "Food? Who cares? But when we talk about bombs and rockets and TNT and C-4 and you name it that terrorizes the Israeli population that surrounds it, this is not something the state of Israel can live by and we need to operate. We cannot just sit quietly."
To win the war, Israel says it needs to stop the smuggling of arms and explosives. Military sources believe aerial bombardment so far has destroyed about a 150 tunnels. But about a 150 more may still be in use, Roth reports.
Hamas has said it will only observe a cease-fire if Israel withdraws from Gaza.
"We will not allow our enemy to gain any political achievement from this war on Gaza," said Salah Bardawil, a Hamas envoy in Egypt.
Much of the ongoing diplomacy focuses on an area of southern Gaza just across the Egyptian border that serves as a weapons smuggling route, making Egypt critical to both sides in any deal.
Israel wants smuggling tunnels along the border sealed and monitored as part of any deal, and has bombed suspected tunnel sites throughout its campaign.
One resident, Khader Mussa, said he fled his house while waving a white flag as Israeli forces advanced. He spent the night huddling in the basement of a relative with 25 other people, including his pregnant wife and his parents.
"Thank God we survived this time and got out alive from here. But we don't know how long we'll be safe in my brother's home," Mussa, 35, said by telephone.
The Israeli military said it carried out dozens of airstrikes on squads of gunmen, rocket launching sites and smuggling tunnels along the Egyptian border.
Dr. Moaiya Hassanain, a Palestinian Health Ministry official, said dozens of calls for ambulances had been received, but they could not be dispatched because of the fighting.
The Gaza fighting has raised tensions around the region and galvanized anger toward Israel throughout the Arab world. On Tuesday, at least one gunman opened fire at an Israeli army patrol along the desert border between Israel and Jordan, the military said. There were no casualties, and Jordan said the claim was "baseless."
In the southern West Bank city of Hebron, the Israeli military said, a Palestinian was shot and injured after he tried to grab a gun from an Israeli soldier whose patrol stopped him for questioning. The man later died, according to an Associated Press reporter who saw his body.
Humanitarian concerns have increased amid the onslaught although some aid is getting through to Gaza during daily three-hour lulls declared by Israel to allow delivery of supplies.
In Brussels, the European Union's aid chief said Israel has not respected international humanitarian aid during the war. In Oslo, Norway, the head of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, Karen Abu Zayd, urged the Israeli army to do more to allow supplies into the besieged area.
"We are getting a lot of help from the Israeli Defense Forces on the one crossing that's open to get more and more trucks in, but it's just not enough," she said.
© 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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See all 401 CommentsI don''t care !
I don''t care !
I don''t care !
Let them blow each other up !
Posted by claytonantho at 08:24 AM : Jan 13, 2009
Posted by claytonantho at 08:24 AM : Jan 13, 2009
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Posted by endurorob
Stupid or not you may consider Israel. But it is the Palestinians who are still living in the Stone Age. They really look pretty stupid and backwards throwing rocks and stones at tanks. Are you one of them???
Posted by claytonantho at 08:24 AM : Jan 13, 2009
It is ironic that what the Israelis have they gained by means of terroism and now their lives are consumed with fighting the terrorism of those trying to regain what the Israelis took by maens of terrorism. It is a viscious circle.
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Posted by FloydZeppd
FloydZeppd, if you keep reading that revisionist history of who really are the occupants of that land you will fall for the same thing like all the others. The ancient Hebrews (Jews) had that land as far back as the time of Moses. Oh, I forgot, you don''t believe in that. Sorry to waste my typing on you.
Posted by george2221 at 08:34 AM : Jan 13, 2009
Are you condoning or condeming?
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Posted by endurorob
No it is not. Like Charles Darwin declared "It is the survival of the fittest". When the Palestinians come out of the caves and stop constantly declaring war against Israel, then maybe they will see the day where they can really educate themselves and their children. They must get out of the Dark Ages of war and confrontation first. In the meantime they are going to keep throwing stones at a steel giant.
Posted by claytonantho at 08:37 AM : Jan 13, 2009
Jerusalem itself wasn''''t even founded by the Jews. It was a city created and built by the Canaanites at least 800 years before any Jews set foot on it.
The actual history of Palestine is much more interesting and educational than the romanticized version of it pushed by the Zionists.
Posted by goodsamarata at 08:43 AM : Jan 13, 2009
I was about to say the same thing. Additionally, the Palistinians are the sons of Lot, directly related to Abraham; so the Israelis are killing their brothers. That is according to the rubbish history in the Bible.
'''' .. the trillions dollars raped baked starved slaved tortured vangled lazy naked lusty dopey lil kids & ol folk with no market share lunch money armors weapons alcohols or parades want to rally & party round all the sick beds at all the spore bloom weed dragon trail fickle first aid lunch farm cottage studio trail crossing yseedsberry trail groups & sponge bus street cornets from here to forever & bloom baskets of bouquets of free foods & meds & drifting weed dragon rides & impromptu beds / baths for each & all forever & ever more; but, recent reports & satelite photos from congress & the stealths indicate they are not only willing, but are begging to take ''''up yours'''' for an answer .. ''''
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Posted by morphndol8
Ahhh, I think you are on the wrong website. Type in "mental issues" in the search engine next time.
Posted by claytonantho at 08:41 AM : Jan 13, 2009
If you have another nation propping you up, does that really constitute "survival of the fittest"?
Posted by claytonantho at 08:41 AM : Jan 13, 2009
What are you disagreeing with, the irony or the viscious circle?
In 1947 the Palestinians were sitting at home, by 1949 they were in refugee camps never to see their homes again.
Why anyone would give the benefit of the doubt to the narrative by the people who took someone else''''s homes instead of listening to the people who lost their homes is beyond me.
Posted by goodsamarata at 08:47 AM : Jan 13, 2009
Basically it is a densely populated shanty town. The same sort of radicalization can happen here in the United States without economic reform. All these people have is their Faith and Sand. Good luck building a society that can get you off your knuckles in such a dead "holy land".
Posted by DaVicar3 at 08:50 AM : Jan 13, 2009
So you agree, the Palestinians should be allowed to defend themselves against the Israelis taking their land.
...or, perhaps, just the ability to choose the correct God.
Posted by DaVicar3 at 08:52 AM : Jan 13, 2009
Muslim, Jews and Christians worship the same Mesopotamian God. Which God is correct? God was created in mans image. No one is obligated to believe that anyone has had God revealed to them exclusively and claims to be the voice of God. Only sheep would so easily be deceived.
Posted by DaVicar3 at 08:52 AM : Jan 13, 2009
And which mythological being is the correct one?
Posted by mrs_zambesi at 08:56 AM : Jan 13, 2009
Obviously, and that would the God of the Trolls?
Your enemies will cower before you, and you will trample down their high places.
God bless the USA, God bless Israel, God''s chosen Holy Land, and His chosen Holy City of Jerusalem.
Posted by mrs_zambesi at 08:56 AM : Jan 13, 2009
Just because it is the one you believe in doesn''t make it correct or real.
Your enemies will cower before you, and you will trample down their high places.
God bless the USA, God bless Israel, God''''s chosen Holy Land, and His chosen Holy City of Jerusalem.
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Posted by Truthin2009 at 08:58 AM : Jan 13, 2009
Rofl.
Generally, I agree with you. There are real issues here which are local and should be handled locally.
(I often remind Americans that they should forfeit their property to local Native Americans and go back to whatever European country their ancestors came from. Somehow, most of them don''t feel the same rules that they suggest for the Mideast apply to them.)
To your point, there needs to be a local, responsible government. The folks had a local election. In doing so, the majority literally asked for this war. Woe to the minority who voted otherwise, although it''s clear from their own investigations that the alternative Fatah government was corrupt.
The question to me is how to get to what everyone wants: a responsible government for the State of Palestine that can see to the needs of its people and police itself well enough that Israel can open up trade. Through mutual responsibility, mutual security, and mutual economic development - all LOCAL - there will be improvement. Sitting here, thousands of miles away, it would be extremely naive and patronizing for me to suggest how to do this. But I do hope, for the sake of all of the human beings - regardless of belief - in the region.
posted by Fahren451
Wrong sir. We Christians worship the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the One and True living and resurrected Lord of all.
Muslims deny the deity of Christ, and they deny that He is indeed the Son of God.
They also deny His crucifixion and resurrection.
Christ is Lord. He is God. He has always been, He is the alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, and He is the King of the Jews, and the Lord God of Israel.
John 1:1, John 1:14
Posted by goodsamarata
What was the name of the country that they lived in in 1947???
What was the language they spoke in 1947??
Who was President, PM, Leader of this 1947 country???
The fact this there was no Palestinian nation, country, land, hotels, motels, governement building etc... in 1947.
If you don`t know the difference between a mythological being and a God, the answer wouldn`t help you.
Posted by DaVicar3 at 08:57 AM : Jan 13, 2009
The genius speaks again.
I ask why is it that I and everyone else is obligated to believe that God has been revealed exclusively to "wise men" who benefited enormously from that revelation? This is a simple critical thinking exercise that you have not attempted in you entire life. It is understandable that you would not, if you benefit from your Christian Clique, Go Team Jesus!
Posted by DaVicar3 at 08:57 AM : Jan 13, 2009
I do know the difference. There isn''t one.
The Word became flesh (John 1:14)
The Word is God (John 1:1)
God bless all!
Wrong sir. We Christians worship the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the One and True living and resurrected Lord of all.
Muslims deny the deity of Christ, and they deny that He is indeed the Son of God.
They also deny His crucifixion and resurrection.
Christ is Lord. He is God. He has always been, He is the alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, and He is the King of the Jews, and the Lord God of Israel.
John 1:1, John 1:14
Posted by Truthin2009 at 09:00 AM : Jan 13, 2009
The Greek gods are just as valid as your monotheist ramblings.
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Posted by endurorob
That''s right, there is only One, and that is the living, true, and resurrected Lord and Savior of all, the One who has always been, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Muhammed is dead, Jesus Christ is alive, and He shall reign forever and ever, AMEN
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Posted by Fahren451
Excuse me pal but my response was to your erroneous claim that Muslims, Christians, and Jews all worship the same God.
This is a false claim, and anyone who knows anything about history and does honest research knows this.
I can tell you, as a Christian, that we Christians DO NOT worship the god of islam, "allah".
We worship the One and only Lord and Savior of all, the Lord Jesus Christ, the living, true, and resurrected God of salvation, and the Truth
John 14:6
Nor will you find one muslim who worships the Lord Jesus Christ. Not a single one.
Christians KNOW God. Muslims do not.
Christians have a personal relationship with the Lord via the Holy Spirit. Muslims do not.
Christians know their purpose and we know where our eternal destination is, in heaven with the Lord.
Muslims do not.
Muslims aren''t assured of their salvation. They are just living in fear and have no blessed hope.
They have no assurance, no promise, nothing.
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Posted by george2221
Not all Jews rejected Christ.
Every single one of Christ'' first Disciples were Jews, and the entire New Testament Scripture was penned down on scrolls by Jewish people.
You confuse the Jewish people with Judaism, the religion.
There are thousands of Christian Jews in this world. They are often referred to as "Messianic Jews" because they do indeed believe in Christ as the Messiah and Lord and Savior of all.
Muhammed is dead, Jesus Christ is alive, and He shall reign forever and ever, AMEN
Posted by Truthin2009 at 09:03 AM : Jan 13, 2009
You are on a roll today aren''t you preacher.
ALL of them. They ALL discount Him as the Son of God, God incarnate, who He is , and who He proved to be while on earth 2,000 years ago.
The Islamic religion is ENTIRELY against Christianity AND the Jews.
This is all in their Quran.
Posted by endurorob
No one told you that you had to listen.....carry on now...
Freedom of speech baby. Love it or hate it.
Glad you''re paying attention though. It''s good for ya
:)
Christianity, according to the Bible, teaches free will. You can choose any God you want to.
Posted by DaVicar3 at 09:07 AM : Jan 13, 2009
But if you don''t believe then you will go to hell. Sounds like free will with negative consequences.
Freedom of speech baby. Love it or hate it.
Glad you''''re paying attention though. It''''s good for ya
:)
Posted by Truthin2009 at 09:10 AM : Jan 13, 2009
I love freedom of speech and also enjoy listening to tales of fantasy.
Posted by DaVicar3 at 09:07 AM : Jan 13, 2009
Indeed, but that doesn''t make "any god" the right one.
Only Jesus Christ is the Truth (John 14:6), and He lived it, and proved it, and He now lives and shall reign forever and ever.
Posted by ewe_fools at 09:10 AM : Jan 13, 2009
Read the 10 commandments. Specifically the first one.
Your problem is you don''t take the Bible as history. If you did, you would see that God, the God of the Bible, is the first and the last, the Only True and Living God.
If you took the Bible at face value and for it''s historical significance, the answers to these false gods and idols would be clear as day to you.
But again, you don''t take the Bible as history. You most likely believe in Darwin''s version of "history" which is why you have the worldview you have.
Hamas is a heroic political organization that was elected by the people of Palestine and it is fighting to liberate the Arab people land from the illegal Israel state.
I honor Hamas for it heroic stand and i *** the illegal state of Israel for mass murdering women and babies.
Blood thirst Israel should be bombed to dust, only that way will be evil state will not commit genocides like Israel is doing in the future.
Hamas stand strong the overwhelming majority of people in the world loves and supports you.
The USA is a deeply terrorist country that it is still terrorizing African Americans and terrorizing the Middle East and other part of the world.
Obama you are a disgrace for supporting the mass killing of babies and women in Palestine.
You will get bush treatment in your next press conference outside that blood thirst country you call the USA.
Posted by DaVicar3 at 09:10 AM : Jan 13, 2009
And those that pushed the flat earth belief the longest were? Relligious leaders. The same ones that would imprison people for daring to deny the earth was not the center of the universe.
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Posted by Truthin2009 at 09:13 AM : Jan 13, 2009
Yep, science and all of its myths. Religion is the only source of truth.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v
=YlxCftzAHBU
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Posted by george2221
Wrong. I personally know of Christian Jews who believe in the birth, life and resurrection of Jesus as the Messiah. I was surprised to find out that there are many Jews in America who believe the same thing.
Do you have any proof, other than the writings of a few madmen on shrooms, that jesus was the son of god.
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Posted by mccarthy51
Science is factual in most cases. But when it comes to evolution, it is and always be what it is, A THEORY THAT HAS NEVER BEEN PROVEN.
Then what do you follow?
Posted by DaVicar3 at 09:17 AM : Jan 13, 2009
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