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GAZA: Latest news and developments (NEWS ONLY)

Troops, Tanks, Bulldozers Re-enter Southern Gaza Troops, Tanks, Bulldozers Re-enter S

Israeli tanks and troops moved back into southern Gaza, closing off the entrance to a main town, residents and the military said, and two militants were killed in air strikes, the latest stage of Israel's month-long offensive.

Residents and Palestinian security officials said about 50 tanks, accompanied by bulldozers, crossed kilometers into Gaza early today, taking up positions in a village outside the town of Rafah and at the Gaza airport, which has been out of commission for several years.

... Israeli forces advanced about 8km, taking control of the main highway and blocking the eastern entrance of Rafah, a town on the Gaza-Egypt border, residents said. It was the farthest the Israelis have advanced in the area since the start of their offensive.

As the tanks took up positions, Israeli aircraft fired missiles at three groups of militants, killing two and wounding seven, security and hospital officials said. Two more people were slightly wounded when a tank shell hit their house.

The Israeli military said its forces were carrying out an operation in southern Gaza and an aircraft fired at militants who were about to launch anti-tank rockets at Israeli forces.


http://www.israel-hiking.co.il
 
14th February 2008 22:47:39 GMT West Bank woman denied ambulance dies-Palestinians
Source: Reuters
By Muin Shadid
TULKARM, West Bank, Feb 14 (Reuters) - A Palestinian woman who was refused access to a waiting ambulance at an Israeli military checkpoint died in her village in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, a Palestinian doctor and relatives said.
Local witnesses said the husband of Fawziya Qabb pleaded with soldiers at the Jarushiya checkpoint near the town of Tulkarm to let his wife get to an ambulance waiting to take her to a Palestinian hospital but they ignored him.
An Israeli army spokesman said he was unaware of the incident but the military was continuing to check the report.
Radio reports said the army had sealed off the area on Thursday, fearing an attack.
Qabb's relatives from the village of Deir al-Ghosoon close to Tulkarm said they called the ambulance, but they said soldiers did not allow it through the checkpoint to pick up the 67-year-old.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L14519151.htm
 
Monday February 25 2008

Gazans form human chain along Israeli border in protest at blockade

Palestinian children take part in a human chain protest, near the Erez crossing, against the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip. Photograph: Suhaib Salem/Reuters

Palestinians today formed a human chain in protest at Israel's blockade of Gaza as Israel deployed thousands of troops and police officers along the border.

About 5,000 people, many of them women, schoolchildren and university students, joined the chain outside the town of Beit Hanoun, about four miles from the border.

The crowd hoisted banners in English and Arabic, saying "End the siege of Gaza now", and "Your siege will not break our will".

One of the organisers, an independent MP, Jamal al-Khoudary, said the protesters did not plan violent action. "This is a peaceful event aimed to send a message to the world that the people of Gaza want to live in freedom," he said.

Organisers had hoped to form a chain running the length of the 25-mile Gaza strip, but turnout was well below expectations.

After the protest some 2,000 Hamas loyalists marched to a checkpoint several kilometres away from Erez. However, Hamas police blocked the main road leading to the Erez checkpoint and called on loyalists to obey the law.

Hamas organised the event to protest at chronic shortages of vital supplies in Gaza because of Israeli restrictions. The group said the event would be peaceful and marchers would not reach the border.

Israel took no chances and deployed troops and police to prevent any repeat of scenes that occurred recently at the Gaza-Egypt border.

"I hope that, ultimately, they understand that we are deployed and ready, that this will not be a repeat of what happened in the Philadelphi Corridor (Egypt border) a few weeks back," the deputy defence minister, Matan Vilnai, told Israel Radio.

Hamas blew open Gaza's border wall with Egypt last month, allowing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to cross into Egypt and stock up with food, petrol and other basic necessities. But Israel voiced fears the flood of people included Islamist militants intent on carrying out attacks, and Egyptian security forces rounded up hundreds of suspects.

"We don't plan to fool around in this regard," Vilnai said. "We will use measures in the way we deem necessary to prevent people breaking into the state of Israel's territory."

Israeli radio and TV stations devoted their morning news coverage to the event, warning of a mass exodus of Gazans.

"It's absolutely clear that among them will be people with explosive charges, there will be those among them who will be ready at any moment to blow up the border fence," an ultra-nationalist MP, Effie Eitam, told Israel Radio, reflecting a widespread sense of alarm.

"Suddenly there will be a big hole in the fence somewhere, there will be explosions, injured soldiers and the mob will stream into our territory. If that happens it will be the end of the state of Israel."

Last month, Israel tightened the blockade on Gaza, home to 1.5 million Palestinians, limiting supplies of fuel and other goods in response to cross-border rocket fire by militants.

Militants say the attacks are in response to Israeli raids and would stop if Israel lifted Gaza's blockade. Hamas is treated as a political pariah by Israel and the west for not recognising Israel. It has, however, offered Israel a conditional, long-term ceasefire.

Some Palestinians have advocated a strategy of non-violent resistance to Israel similar to the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa, and the worldwide impact of Gazans rushing into Egypt appears to have prompted Hamas to try and replicate such tactics on Gaza's border with Israel.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/feb/25/israelandthepalestinians
 
3rd March 2008
Over 112 Palestinians Killed in Five-Day Israeli Attack, Mohammed Omer Reports from Gaza
As Israel pulls ground troops from Gaza, Israeli aircraft continues to carry out bombing raids. On Sunday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas formally suspended contacts with Israel to protest what he called a criminal war on the Palestinian people. We speak with Palestinian journalist Mohammed Omer and Israeli journalist Amira Hass.
http://www.democracynow.org/2008/3/3/report_from_gaza
Click to expand...
News report with stream from Gaza including Israeli journalist Amira Hass and Palestinian journalist Mohammed Omer:real video stream

MOHAMMED OMER: While that’s true, still, you know, in the same time, while the Israeli occupation forces are attacking in the northern part of the Gaza Strip and other parts of the Gaza Strip, launching rockets has continued by the Palestinian resistance. They are launching rockets towards Israel up ’til the moment, as Israel is attacking. They are—there is news that Israel has left the Gaza Strip, and to do that some bulldozers back out from some areas, but still the F-16 is occupying the skies of Gaza. And I can tell you that the launching of rockets is continuing. And when you talk to those resistance guys, they inform you and they tell you that this is simply because of them being attacked by the Israelis, and it’s Israel who should stop in the first place, according to Hamas and other factions.

But Israel has been attacking civilians. The latest one was a seven-months child, baby child, who was killed, beside there is also a one-week child who was killed last night, beside many other ones who were killed. And if we want to make a comparison, three Israelis were killed in the last few days, and this was since eight months that Israeli citizens are killed by home—rockets from Gaza, while if we look at this last period, there is more than 130, so from three to 130. And look at what Israel—the weapons that Israel is using. It is heavy weapons, and they are targeting also these civilian houses, so I’m not sure if we can compare the primitive weapons that the Palestinian resistance is using with the well-equipped army, one of the most powerful armies in the world, Israel. And they are using missiles that burns the bodies. And I can tell you and I can tell all the American people listening to this interview, that they’re using the missiles that they’re burning the bodies.

And it can make a smell—it smells really bad here. It smells like if you are—if you are—like an American barbecue, actually, in a house. It is actually—but this is not an—this is not a cow, this is not beef; this is a human being’s flesh. It is scattered in the streets, so they can smell this smell awfully. And this also beside the sewage system, which smells bad, as well.

I’m receiving news here from one of my colleagues here, and he says that the Israeli warships also in the eastern—in the western part of the Rafah refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip, are firing rockets towards the fishermen and towards the houses of civilians. We’re not sure if there are casualties, but they are confirming that the tanks in the north are launching rockets, and the Israeli warships in the south are also launching missiles towards the fishermen and the civilians’ houses.
Click to expand...
 
Not strictly news, but it is really and this seemed like the most relevant thread to put it on. Hope it's OK.

http://www.freegaza.org/pages/joinIn.html
BREAKING THE SIEGE

Donate to Free Gaza

The Free Gaza Movement has received funding from the following groups and foundations: Citizens for Justice in the Middle East (US), The Middle East Study Group (US), Americans United for Palestinian Human Rights (US), Network for Social Change (UK), Andrew Wainwright Reform Trust (UK).

The Free Gaza Movement urgently needs your financial support to pay for the ships, equipment and supplies. Most participants will be paying their own way, but to make this project happen, we need to buy the boats, then insure and register them. Therefore, we need to raise enough money to purchase and register three boats.

Come aboard
It may be possible for you to have one of the remaining places onboard the Break the Siege ship. However, if you have the option of entering Palestine through the Israeli controlled land or air borders, to do voluntary work there instead, we would ask you to consider this first. Israel's policy of blacklisting known human rights workers and similar international volunteers means there is a severe shortage of such people on the ground, and participating in the Break the Siege project may result in you being placed on this blacklist without you ever entering Palestine. Please see 'Volunteer in Palestine' at the bottom of this list for groups you can contact to work with.

If you are already refused entry, you think you might have skills we need on board, or you feel the above statement otherwise does not apply to you, please get in touch to enquire about places. Relevant experience and references will be vital. There may also be options for joining a future ship - let us know if you're interested.

Media & PR Assistance

This may be the most vital work for the whole Break the Siege project, and if you would like to be involved in it, please do get in touch– wherever in the world you may be based! Even one person can get a great amount of info out on the web, or someone without a computer is in a position to write to his/her local papers, and ring talk-back radio. You may also like to include a link to this website in your email signature. Or perhaps you'd like to print and distribute one of our flyers in your locale. This would be another cucially helpful part you could play in aiding our impending voyage.
Click to expand...
 
Blockade Busting Europeans Get Peace Commitment From Hamas

Published: November 11, 2008

GAZA CITY, Gaza -- Following intensive negotiations with Hamas, the de facto leadership of Gaza, a group of European parliamentarians has been told by the organization that it will accept a Palestinian state within the internationally recognized 1967 borders as well as offer Israel a long-term ceasefire.


The delegation of 11 from Britain, Ireland, Switzerland and Italy, managed to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza on Saturday morning after their boat, the Dignity, sailed from Cyprus to Gaza, shadowed part of the way by an Israeli naval vessel......

source
 
7 days ago - on TUESDAY 23 DECEMBER 2008

Hamas says it may consider new truce with Israel

Senior Hamas leader Mahmud Zahar said that Hamas would consider renewing a six-month truce if Israel respects ceasefire conditions which include lifting the blockade of the Palestinian enclave and stopping military raids on the besieged territory.

AFP - A tense calm reigned over the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip on Tuesday as the Palestinian Islamist group said it might be willing to agree to a new truce with Israel.

Gaza militants were holding their fire and Israeli forces were not carrying out raids on the territory after Hamas announced on Monday that it would not launch rockets or fire mortars for 24 hours.

Senior Hamas leader Mahmud Zahar told AFP that the movement could consider extending the temporary lull and agreeing to a new long-term truce, following the expiry on Friday of a six-month ceasefire.

Hamas is ready to renew the truce "if Israel respects the conditions of a ceasefire," he said.

These include lifting the blockade of the Palestinian enclave and stopping military raids on the besieged territory, the stronghold of the Islamist movement considered a terror group by Israel and the West.

"We demand that Israel respect truce conditions... in particular that it stop all form of aggression and open the border crossings," said Zahar, one of Hamas's most hardline leaders.

His comments came two days before Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni was due to travel to Cairo for talks on the situation in Gaza with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

Egypt mediated the six-month ceasefire that has just ended. Largely violated by both sides for more than a month, its expiry on Friday ushered in two days of escalating violence and bellicose rhetoric.

As the military carried out air strikes and Palestinian militants fired rockets, Israel threatened to launch a major offensive on Gaza and Hamas warned that it would respond by resuming suicide attacks inside the Jewish state.

The overcrowded and aid-dependent land of some 1.5 million people has been subject to Israeli blockade and repeated raids since 2006, when Hamas won parliamentary elections and later participated in a deadly cross-border raid in which militants seized an Israeli soldier, who is still being held.

Israel cut off much movement of goods and people in and out of the territory in June 2007 after Hamas, which is sworn to Israel's destruction, seized Gaza by ousting forces loyal to secular Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.

Aid groups have repeatedly appealed to Israel to lift its restrictions -- which at times have seen Gaza sealed off completely -- to avoid a humanitarian crisis in the overcrowded territory where most of the population depends on foreign aid.

Coming less than two months before snap elections set for February, the latest developments around Gaza pose a dilemma for the Israeli leadership.

In public comments, officials have called for major military action in response to continuing rocket fire and have vowed to topple Hamas.

But in private there is little enthusiasm for a major offensive, for fear that voters will punish politicians at the ballot box if a military operation fails to score a decisive victory against Hamas, observers say.
[/quote]
http://www.france24.com/en/20081223...&mmtgglcnt=0&gclid=CL_yrMLO5pcCFR8cEAod8mfDDQ
 
Democracy Now! reports on the Israeli bombardment and reoccupation/invasion of Gaza
December 29 said:
Israeli Attacks Kill Over 310 in Gaza in One of Israel’s Bloodiest Attacks on Palestinians Since 1948

Amidst worldwide protests, Israel is continuing its bombing campaign against Gaza for the third consecutive day and preparing to launch a possible ground invasion. Following months of a crippling blockade, this has been described as one of Israel’s bloodiest attacks on Palestinians since 1948. Latest reports indicate that 310 people have been killed and 1,400 injured in the aerial strikes across the Gaza Strip since Saturday morning. The latest targets of the air strikes include the Hamas Interior Ministry building and the Islamic University. Israel’s Defense Minister Ehud Barak announced today that Israel is in an “all-out war with Hamas and its proxies” in Gaza. Fears of a ground invasion are growing after Israel declared a military buffer zone around Gaza, closing off the strip and its 1.5 million residents to journalists and civilians.

We speak to Dr. Moussa El-Haddad and Fida Qishta in Gaza, Dr. Mustafa Barghouti in Ramallah, Gideon Levy in Tel Aviv and Ali Abunimah in the US. [includes rush transcript]
Click to expand...
http://www.democracynow.org/2008/12/29/israeli_attacks_kill_over_310_in

Latest programme watch online http://www.democracynow.org/
 
US have blocked UN security council action on Gaza that calls for an immediate ceasefire.

The United States has blocked approval of a U.N. Security Council statement calling for an immediate cease-fire in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel. Meanwhile thousands of Israeli troops are engaged in a major ground offensive in Gaza.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=_Z0SAYeoEEg
 
Lots of reports available from this site

Monday, January 5, 2009
URGENT! Report from Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza - Bomb Blows Hole in Hospital Wall; No Electricity, No Water, Streets Covered in Blood
I was able to speak to Suhalia Tarazi, Director of the Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza this morning. I took notes and I am sharing with you as best I can her situation in Gaza:

"The situation is terrible. The injured are in their homes and unable to get to the hospital and the International Red Cross can't reach them. Gaza is now divided into three areas. 20% of the staff including 2 doctors are now unable to get to the hospital. Unfortunately a bomb went off in Jerusalem Square, right outside the hospital, only 30 meters away and it blew a hole in the hospital wall.

One of the aide's husbands was unable to reach his children. Later he discovered that 1 child died and other members are all injured because a bomb destroyed a neighboring building.

The 19-year-old son of one of the surgeons volunteered to work in the government ambulance. He was killed when his ambulance was hit by a missile. Three ambulances have been hit by Israeli missiles, five have died.

There is no electricity and no water. Fortunately the International Red Cross has provided Ahli Hospital with some food. It is terrible and not safe to walk on the street.

After the invasion, Ahli Hospital on Sunday received 17 cases. Twelve were admitted to the hospital and 2 to government hospitals.

Today Monday morning 5 cases were received with 4 admitted for surgery. One doctor has slept in the hospital for the last 4 nights. Our staff is now working two 12-hour shifts, two shifts, no days off.

Streets are covered with blood. - bloody time.

Staff members have taken people in their homes, with 20-30 people for refuge. The ambulance driver has 80 living in his home.

We all have received leaflets and telephone calls 'You have to leave your home, we will attack it.' Where should the 700,000 people in Gaza City go???"

I feel very fortunate and blessed to be able to speak to Suhalia and I have promised her that I will tell her story and the story of the innocents... I will continue to keep you up to date on this catastrophe happening in Gaza.

http://gazasiege.org/
 
7th January 2009
Gaza medics describe horror of strike which killed 70
Growing evidence emerged today of the bloodiest single incident of the Gaza conflict when around 70 corpses were found by a Palestinian paramedic near a bombed-out house.

Mohammed Shaheen, a volunteer with Palestinian Red Crescent, was in the first convoy of ambulances to reach the site of the blast in Zeitoun since it was first occupied then shelled by the Israeli army.
His testimony confirmed accounts, first reported in The Telegraph, from survivors of the extended al Samouni clan who said they feared between 60 and 70 family members had been killed.

"Inside the Samouni house I saw about ten bodies and outside another sixty,'' Mr Shaheen said.

"I was not able to count them accurately because there was not much time and we were looking for wounded people.

"We found fifteen people still alive but injured so we took them in the ambulances.
"I could see an Israeli army bulldozer knocking down houses nearby but we ran out of time and the Israeli soldiers started shooting at us.

"We had to leave about eight injured people behind because we could not get to them and it was no longer safe for us to stay.'' Mr Shaheen was in a convoy led by a jeep from the International Committee of the Red Cross that made its way down war-damaged tracks past demolished houses to the town of Zeitoun.

Concerns had been growing that Zeitoun had witnessed massive civilian casualties after surviving members of the Samouni clan reached Gaza City three days ago.

They said that after the Israeli army first took the town on Saturday night soldiers had ordered about 100 members of the clan to gather in a single house owned by Wael Samouni around dawn on Sunday.

At 6.35am on Monday the house was repeatedly shelled with appalling loss of civilian life.

A handful of survivors, some wounded, others carrying dead or dying infants, made it on foot to Gaza's main north-south road before they were given lifts to hospital. Three small children were buried in Gaza City that afternoon.

According to the survivors between 60 and 70 family members had been killed by shrapnel and falling masonry.

Convoys of ambulances twice headed to the area to look for wounded but they were driven back by Israeli shooting.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...escribe-horror-of-strike-which-killed-70.html
 
There is a 3 hour cease fire at the moment to allow Gazans to clear the combat area and get medical help.
No one seems to know where the bloody hell they will go to but there you go.:(

Medics are reporting being fired on by Israeli forces.

700+ dead so far.

Call that a war? I'll go with massacre.
 
Catch up on today's news from Gaza from Democracy Now!


The Israeli assault on Gaza is entering its thirteenth day. Some 700 Palestinians have been killed, with many thousands more wounded, and a humanitarian crisis is mounting. Ten Israelis have died, four by “friendly fire.” A ceasefire has not been reached, and the offensive continues. We host a debate between Martin Indyk, the former US ambassador to Israel and Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs during the Clinton administration, director of the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution and author of, Innocent Abroad: An Intimate Account of American Peace Diplomacy in the Middle East, and Norman Finkelstein, author of several books, including The Holocaust Industry, Image and Reality of the Israel-Palestine Conflict and Beyond Chutzpah

http://www.democracynow.org/
 
Israel 'shelled civilian shelter'

Israeli forces shelled a house in the Gaza Strip which they had moved around 110 Palestinians into 24 hours earlier, the UN quotes witnesses as saying.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) called it "one of the gravest incidents" since the beginning of the offensive.

The shelling at Zeitoun, a south-east suburb of Gaza City, on 5 January killed some 30 people, the report said.

Israel said the allegations were being investigated.

"According to several testimonies, on 4 January Israeli foot soldiers evacuated approximately 110 Palestinians into a single-residence house in Zeitoun (half of whom were children) warning them to stay indoors," the OCHA report said.

"Twenty-four hours later, Israeli forces shelled the home repeatedly, killing approximately 30."

The UN said those who survived and were able walked 2km to the main north-south road to be transported to hospital in civilian vehicles.

"Three children, the youngest of whom was five months old, died upon arrival at the hospital," the report said.

'No safe haven'

Allegra Pacheco, of OCHA in Jerusalem, said they were not accusing the Israelis of a deliberate act, but said the incident needed to be investigated.

She also said they were concerned at claims by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) that ambulances were only allowed access to the neighbourhood on Thursday - four days after the alleged incident.

The ICRC on Thursday accused Israel of failing to fulfil its duty to help wounded civilians in Gaza.

"In Gaza, there is a severe protection of civilians crisis. There is no safe haven, no safe space, for all the civilians, particularly children," Ms Pacheco told the BBC.

"Since the ground operation, the number of children killed has risen by 250%."

An estimated 770 Palestinians and 14 Israelis have died in nearly two weeks of Israel's air and ground offensive against the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

The UN Security Council has called for an immediate ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.
Click to expand...
 
Belgium preparing to evacuate and treat wounded Palestinian children in Belgian hosptals and trying to get other EU countries to open their hospitals too.

B-Fast (Belgian First Air Support Team) medical team flies today to Egypt with a DC-10 of the Belgian army, for setting up an air corridor for the wounded children and transporting medical and other emergency supplies.

http://www.lesoir.be/actualite/monde/gaza-des-belges-partent-2009-01-09-680171.shtml
http://www.standaard.be/Artikel/Detail.aspx?artikelId=DMF09012009_110&ref=front

At least "something" done by the silent West.
There are also debates in Belgian Parliament about getting to a stance condemning Israel and Belgian EU politicians are out on getting this done on EU level.

salaam.
 
Forgot to mention this which I read earlier

FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MANY YEARS, US DECLINES TO VETO AN UN SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION THAT ISRAEL OPPOSES
The UN on Thursday night called for an “immediate, durable and fully respected ceasefire leading to the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza”.

What made the UN vote particularly troubling for Israel was that, for the first time in many years, the US declined to veto a Security Council resolution opposed by Israel. The US abstention raised concern that US diplomatic support for the country may be weakening, as Barack Obama prepares to be sworn in as US president.

Dan Gillerman, a former Israeli ambassador to the UN, said on Friday: “This is a disappointing resolution. The most disappointing aspect is the American abstention, something we haven’t seen in a long time and I hope doesn’t indicate anything about the future.”
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f7b7eb9e-de80-11dd-9464-000077b07658.html?nclick_check=1
 
tangentlama said:
Forgot to mention this which I read earlier

FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MANY YEARS, US DECLINES TO VETO AN UN SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION THAT ISRAEL OPPOSES
The UN on Thursday night called for an “immediate, durable and fully respected ceasefire leading to the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza”.

What made the UN vote particularly troubling for Israel was that, for the first time in many years, the US declined to veto a Security Council resolution opposed by Israel. The US abstention raised concern that US diplomatic support for the country may be weakening, as Barack Obama prepares to be sworn in as US president.

Dan Gillerman, a former Israeli ambassador to the UN, said on Friday: “This is a disappointing resolution. The most disappointing aspect is the American abstention, something we haven’t seen in a long time and I hope doesn’t indicate anything about the future.”
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f7b7eb9e-de80-11dd-9464-000077b07658.html?nclick_check=1
Click to expand...

The really shocking thing is that, according to the Grauniad, that it took all possible Israeli lobbying to get the abstention - they were going to vote yes.
 
IDF reservist refuses to fight in Gaza over civilian deaths

An Israel Defense Forces reserves soldier, taking part in Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip which entered its 17th day on Monday, has refused to enter the Hamas-ruled territory along with his unit in protest of the killing of Palestinian civilians.

On Monday it emerged that the soldier has been jailed for 14 days in a military facility. He was the first soldier to be tried for refusing orders since the beginning of the operation.

Attorney Michael Sfard, the legal adviser of Omets ? a non profit organization for judicial and social justice ? said that since the beginning of the Israeli offensive on December 27, eight reservists have sought his advice upon being drafted in the emergency reserves call-up.

Of the eight reservists, three have refused to enter the Strip so far. Two of them arrived at agreements with their commanders exempting them from fighting with their units.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1054861.html
 
U.S. arms shipment to Israel from Greece cancelled ...

A U.S. military plan to ship munitions from a Greek port to a U.S. stockpile in Israel has been canceled due to the conflict in the Gaza Strip, the Pentagon said on Monday.

The United States Navy's Military Sealift Command issued a tender on December 31st for a ship to deliver 325 standard 20-foot containers of ammunition on two separate journeys from the Greek port of Astakos to the Israeli port of Ashdod in mid-to-late January.

Air Force Lt. Col. Patrick Ryder, a Pentagon spokesman, said the Greek port had been considered as a possible location from which to transfer ammunition from a larger ship coming from the U.S.

But the request to shippers had now been canceled due to safety concerns at the final destination related to the conflict in Gaza, Ryder said. Israel's military offensive in the Gaza Strip seeks to halt rocket fire by Hamas militants aimed at southern Israel.

"The trans-shipment ... via the Greek port of Astakos will not take place," Ryder said.

"I can confirm that the U.S. munition shipment has been delayed and that EUCOM (U.S. European Command) is developing an appropriate course of action to deliver the items to the U.S. stockpile in Israel," he said.

"I have no information to provide on timelines or possible routes for obvious reasons of operations security."

The Pentagon said on Friday the shipment was intended only for the U.S. stockpile and not to provide ammunition to Israel, a close U.S. ally and major buyer of U.S. military equipment, for the conflict in Gaza.

The U.S. military hired a commercial ship to carry a much larger consignment of ordnance in December from the United States to Israel. Ryder said that shipment was also for the U.S. stockpile in Israel.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1055098.html
 
Gaza smugglers get back to work.

BBC News said:
Hundreds of Palestinians are starting to repair tunnels in Gaza that are used for smuggling in goods from Egypt.

Israel, which ended its 22-day offensive last Sunday, has warned of renewed military strikes on the strip if the tunnels are reopened.

Residents along the border say food, fuel and other goods are moving through the several dozen tunnels that are still operational.

Meanwhile, attempts continued in Egypt to find a lasting truce.

The talks, with an Israeli envoy Amos Gilad, were expected to focus on stemming arms smuggling across the border.
Click to expand...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7844497.stm
 
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