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Last update - 09:28 31/12/2008
Cabinet debating 48-hour Gaza truce as int'l pressure grows
By Barak Ravid, Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: Hamas, Gaza, Israel 

The cabinet is reconvening to discuss a French proposal for a 48-hour "humanitarian" cease-fire, after failing late Tuesday night to reach a decision. The cabinet is also reportedly discussing whether to expand the Israel Defense Forces operation in the Gaza Strip.

Tuesday's meeting followed a day in which a Hamas rocket struck Be'er Sheva for the first time and the Israel Defense Forces completed preparations for a possible ground operation in the Gaza Strip. The Education Ministry announced that schools in Be'er Sheva would not open Wednesday.

In discussions with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on Tuesday, Defense Minister Ehud Barak recommended seeking an exit from the fighting within the next few days, using one of the various international initiatives currently being worked on.

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Barak also favors the French proposal for a 48-hour truce that would be used to examine Hamas' willingness to agree to a long-term cease-fire, in addition to its stated purpose of providing humanitarian assistance to Gaza's population.

Olmert and Livni are said to be less enthusiastic about the French proposal.

"There's no such thing as a 'humanitarian cease-fire'," an Olmert aide said Tuesday. "Gaza is not undergoing a humanitarian crisis. We're constantly supplying it with food and medications, and there's no need for a humanitarian cease-fire."

When Olmert visited IDF Southern Command headquarters in Be'er Sheva Tuesday, most of the senior officers with whom he met urged him to authorize a ground operation. People at the meeting said their impression was that Olmert agreed.

Moreover, even a temporary cease-fire is liable to take some time to arrange, and during this time, ongoing fire and further casualties could spark renewed escalation.

IDF troops have been massed along the Gaza border awaiting a ground operation for two days already, exposing them to rocket and mortar fire. And on Monday, a mortar shell killed a soldier at the Nahal Oz base. In addition, the bad weather provides cover for Hamas rocket-launching crews, because it is hard for Israeli aircraft to spot them through the clouds.

Palestinians had fired more than 50 rockets at Israel as of Tuesday evening, lightly wounding two Israelis. For the first time, a Katyusha rocket hit Be'er Sheva, 37 kilometers from Gaza. Ofakim and Rahat, both 25 kilometers from Gaza, also suffered their first Katyusha strikes Tuesday.

The air force and navy bombed dozens of targets in Gaza, including smuggling tunnels along the Gaza-Egypt border, and 40 Palestinians were killed, including at least five civilians. In addition, Barak sought cabinet approval for calling up another 2,510 reservists, on top of the 6,700 called up on Sunday.

The Prime Minister's Office and defense officials also worked on finalizing Israel's terms for a permanent cease-fire. These include a complete cessation of all rocket and mortar fire from Gaza by all Palestinian organizations; a ban on armed men approaching the border fence with Israel, since there were several incidents near the fence during the six-month truce that collapsed this month; complete Israeli control over the Gaza border crossings; Egyptian efforts to stop the weapons smuggling into Gaza from the Sinai Peninsula; and some kind of supervisory mechanism to ensure that Hamas is meeting its commitments.

A cease-fire will not be conditioned on the return of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit, but Israel hopes a truce deal would increase the chances of concluding a prisoner exchange with Hamas.

International efforts to broker a cease-fire gathered steam Tuesday as well. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice telephoned her counterparts around the world, including a conference call with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana.

In addition, Turkey, France and the UN all urged Syrian President Bashar Assad to use his influence to get Khaled Meshal, the Damascus-based head of Hamas' political bureau, to agree to a truce. So far, Assad has refused, saying Israel must first halt its operation in Gaza.

But Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan plans to visit Damascus Wednesday to continue this effort, along with Qatari Prime Minister Hamad al-Thani, with whom Erdogan met in Ankara Tuesday. Erdogan will then proceed to Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

Later Wednesday, Arab League foreign ministers will meet in Cairo to discuss the situation in Gaza.



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      1.   olmert indecision 03:22  |  abraham 31/12/08
      2.   Maybe the time to reach a strategy... 03:43  |  Paul Freedman 31/12/08
      3.   Apparently Barak feels he won ...elections and therefore does not 03:49  |  17 31/12/08
      4.   WHAT ISRAEL DOES NOT UNDERSTAND 04:44  |  Itamar Shabtai 31/12/08
      5.   Invade 04:49  |  An American 31/12/08
      6.   Another costly Israeli action without a plan. 04:50  |  Terry 31/12/08
      7.   WHAT TRUCE ?!! FINISH THE JOB !! 04:51  |  Fed Up 31/12/08
      8.   Barak favors giving up - nothing new 04:52  |  Avi 31/12/08
      9.   When Tel Aviv gets hit - then what? send supplies to Gaza? 04:54  |  Avi 31/12/08
      10.   48hr truce won`t last 48min 04:54  |  Marco 31/12/08
      11.   This option was thrown away three days ago 05:06  |  Mark Lincoln 31/12/08
      12.   only DAY 4 and Olmert and Barak are not on the same page 05:11  |  Avi 31/12/08
      13.   Finish the job 05:11  |  Shimon 31/12/08
      14.   "And those in Hamas who wanted peace" says Mark Lincoln 05:32  |  Avi 31/12/08
      15.   3 million a day for the troops to sit there lets use them 06:32  |  Shepherd 31/12/08
      16.   #8 mark lincoln SWALLOWS hook, line and SINKER 06:34  |  CK Tan 31/12/08
      17.   Are they gone nuts again? 06:35  |  Martin 31/12/08
      18.   Jesus Friggin` Christ. 06:37  |  Mark 31/12/08
      19.   ISRAEL VS UN 06:41  |  Bob Ipoh 31/12/08
      20.   olmert stupid leader 06:45  |  ofer 31/12/08
      21.   to # 2, FINISH= FINISH THE OCUPPATION 06:47  |  najeeb 31/12/08
      22.   If the Quartet, EU, ME countries insist on cease-fire... 06:48  |  Smadar 31/12/08
      23.   What About Gilad Shalit???? 06:49  |  Mark 31/12/08
      24.   Back to Square One 06:55  |  JJ 31/12/08
      25.   Reply to 11 (Avi) - He and Those Like Him Are Not Delusional 07:33  |  Tod Zuckerman 31/12/08
      26.   Mark Lincon`s A Card 08:13  |  Brad 31/12/08
      27.   Armchair generals 08:34  |  Zev 31/12/08
      28.   Barak favors a French proposal? 08:35  |  MarkC 31/12/08
      29.   Smadar # 19 Why Is That? 08:46  |  Jeff Northridge 31/12/08
      30.   The French Proposal is Military Convenient to Hamas 08:53  |  Joseph.E 31/12/08
      31.   Ground Operation 09:12  |  Harold 31/12/08
      32.   No cease fire !. 09:12  |  Orao Stranka. 31/12/08
      33.   French proposal doomed to fail 09:23  |  Joseph.E 31/12/08
      34.   israel already lost the war 09:24  |  joe 31/12/08
      35.   #24 Armchair Generals 09:53  |  Brian 31/12/08
      36.   Harold - the pattern of leaks 09:57  |  Mark Lincoln 31/12/08
      37.   Israel, what did the security council tell you 3 days ago...??? 09:59  |  Swiss (Dino) 31/12/08
      38.   bomb them flat 10:39  |  lily 31/12/08
      39.   TIME HAS COME 11:21  |  JEWISH PRINCESS 31/12/08
      40.   Here we go again 11:44  |  Jimbo Jones 31/12/08
      41.   Ehud&Ehud 12:13  |  sh 31/12/08
      42.   Livni is to blame! 12:19  |  Nadia 31/12/08
      43.   to Swiss Dino/stop 12:26  |  Tina 31/12/08
      44.   I imagine I were an Israeli mother 12:48  |  christoph 31/12/08
      45.   As I have saiid before Israel does not want peace 12:59  |  Labhras 31/12/08
      46.   Zev - if Israel deceived friends as well as enemies 13:39  |  Mark Lincoln 31/12/08
      47.   The time has come for ground operations!!!Kill Hamas!!! 13:41  |  arthur 31/12/08
      48.   To Jewish Princess #39 14:15  |  Uscitizen 31/12/08
      49.   The general Ehud Barak is told how to do generaling? 14:25  |  S 31/12/08
      50.   The only guys who will be happy about Israels ignoring.... 15:20  |  Swiss (Dino) 31/12/08
      51.   Tell me, what are Israel`s objectives again? 15:22  |  Clickfool 31/12/08
      52.   the buffoons are at it again , with how not to run a campaign 15:24  |  v,hardman 31/12/08
      53.   A Solution. Let the French Adopt Gaza 15:32  |  Rob 31/12/08
      54.   My prediction 16:44  |  Clickfool 31/12/08
      55.   HOW DID IT ALL START #2 18:38  |  M 31/12/08
      56.   HOW DID IT ALL START #3 - Quoted from HAARETZ 18:40  |  M 31/12/08
      57.   Yes, no... perhaps... and Barak`s mastery of smokescreening. 18:46  |  Fortuna Benmayor 31/12/08
      58.   I bet against you, Clickfool. 18:54  |  Fortuna Benmayor 31/12/08
      59.   Israel loses whether it sends in ground troops or not. 18:55  |  Michael 31/12/08
      60.   HOW DID IT ALL START #1 18:57  |  M 31/12/08
      61.   Lone - wolf war game strategies 19:31  |  allang 31/12/08
      62.   Hamas`ed to death 20:04  |  Dan 31/12/08
      63.   #45 Sorry Labrat, not true 20:32  |  DesMnsDave 31/12/08
      64.   anything less than the complete destruction of hamas 20:40  |  chaim 31/12/08
      65.   To Chaim #64... 23:13  |  An outsider 31/12/08
      66.   The reality of Israel`s army 23:17  |  A North American 31/12/08
      67.   Israel`s game of deception. 23:18  |  Ben Alofs 31/12/08
      68.   When boxing, finish off your opponent when 00:06  |  Herman 01/01/09
      69.   What next? More Palestinian Rockets 00:10  |  Atef 01/01/09
      70.   Trust Israel as much as Bernie Maddoff 01:25  |  Ibrahim 01/01/09
      71.   Calling Israel`s Rational Minds..... 01:27  |  Gray 01/01/09
      72.   Ben Alof`s game of being obtuse 02:55  |  SDHD 01/01/09
      73.   Here`s a thought, guys `n` girls 04:16  |  Johnboy 01/01/09
      74.   #67 Ben Alofs What would Israel get for lifting seige? 05:47  |  Smadar 01/01/09
      75.   Itimar in Philidelphia 06:03  |  Marilyn 01/01/09
      76.   Like Iraq do you mean Mark in NY 06:06  |  Marilyn 01/01/09
      77.   I cannot forget the dancing in the street 06:34  |  Ron 01/01/09
      78.   Paul Freedman - Too Far 08:32  |  Mark of Lewiston 01/01/09
      79.   #63 That`s a sorry excuse for rationalizing Israel`s behaviour. 14:13  |  Johnboy 01/01/09
      80.   #68 Herman When boxing, finish off your opponent when. 17:02  |  Ross 01/01/09
      81.   #66 A North American 18:25  |  *BEN JABO 01/01/09
      82.   #37 Swiss (Dino) 05:48  |  *BEN JABO 02/01/09
     Read & React
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    Responses: 110
    Ari Shavit: Israelis who blame Israel are not helping Palestinians
    Responses: 108
    Roi Ben-Yehuda: Pro-Israel camp would be wise to heed Muslim cries for peace
    Responses: 43
    Israel Harel: Like it did in Lebanon, Israel blinked first in Gaza
    Responses: 50
    Poll: Majority of Israelis support continuing military operations in Gaza
    Responses: 42
    Haniyeh: Palestinian victory in Gaza is near
    Responses: 79


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