Infinite Unknown

A father carries his wounded daughter into the al-Shifa hospital after Israeli air strikes in Gaza City, Jan. 6, 2009. Photographer: Saleh Jadallah/Bloomberg News

Jan. 7 (Bloomberg) — The Israeli government will weigh the future of its military operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, as mounting casualties among Palestinian civilians increased pressure for a truce.

At least 40 Palestinians were killed when Israeli forces struck a school run by the United Nations in Gaza, a UN official said. Israel, which struck at least 40 more Hamas targets overnight, said it responded after its soldiers were fired at from the building.

Related articles:
- Optimism over Gaza ceasefire plan (BBC)
- UN rights body calls special session on Gaza (Reuters)
- Homeless and terrified, 15,000 seek refuge in UN schools (Guardian)
- Shell-shocked children who are drawn into the cult of the martyr (Guardian)
- Obama fiddles while Gaza burns (Guardian)
- Gaza killing sparks attacks on Jews across Europe (Telegraph)

The school deaths yesterday added urgency to diplomatic efforts aimed at reaching a cease-fire as the conflict entered its 12th day. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak proposed a new initiative last night and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who has been lobbying throughout the region for a truce, said the casualties at the school demonstrate the urgent need to stop the fighting. “Time works against us,” he said.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, UN Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice backed the proposal and Mubarak’s call for peace talks in Cairo, which may begin as early as today.

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Tags: Ban Ki-moon, Civilians, Condoleezza Rice, Gaza, Government, Hamas, Israel, Military, Palestinians, Politics, U.N.

GAZA CITY, Gaza - Israeli forces edged closer to Gaza’s major population centers on Tuesday and attacked new sites, including a U.N. school, claiming more civilian lives after ignoring mounting international calls for an immediate cease-fire. A Palestinian rocket attack wounded an Israeli infant.

Related articles:
- Gaza clashes spark ‘major crisis’ (BBC)
- Israel ‘expands Gaza offensive’ (BBC)
- Israel Pushes into Southern Gaza (The Washington Post)
- Death toll rises as Israel encircles Gaza City (CNN)

The United Nations said three civilians were killed in the airstrike late Monday on the courtyard of its school, where hundreds of people from a Gaza City refugee camp had sought shelter from Israel’s blistering 11-day offensive against the Hamas militant group.

“There’s nowhere safe in Gaza. Everyone here is terrorized and traumatized,” said John Ging, the top U.N. official in Gaza.

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Tags: Gaza, Israel, Military, Palestinians, Politics, U.N.

DUBAI, Jan 4 (Reuters) - U.S. ally Qatar said on Sunday Israel’s attack on Gaza amounted to a war crime and renewed calls for an emergency summit of Arab countries.

“Our (Arab) people in Gaza are subject these days to an unjust aggression which does not differentiate between children, women and old people, and between civilians and fighters,” Qatar’s ruler Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani said.

“A war launched with such tools (modern weapons) at such targets (refugee camps) cannot be anything other than a war crime,” he said in comments aired on Al Jazeera television.

Related articles:
- EU and Britain call for Gaza cease-fire (CNN)
- In Gaza, at least 35 Palestinians killed in Israeli ground attack (Los Angeles Times)
- Israeli Forces Push Farther Into the Gaza Strip (Washington Post)
- Muslim anger grows over Israeli strikes on Gaza (AFP)

Israel’s military offensive against Gaza’s Hamas rulers has killed 500 Palestinians, including a growing number of civilians. Israel has accused Hamas of using civilians in the Gaza Strip as “human shields”, saying the Islamist group has fired rockets at Israeli towns from densely populated areas.

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Tags: Gaza, Hamas, Israel, Military, Palestinians, Politics, U.S.

Dr. Paul discusses the invasion of Gaza on January 3, 2009 and its implications for America.

Source: YouTube

Tags: Afghanistan, Bailout, Bush administration, Concentration Camp, Constitution, Debt, Deflation, Dollar, Economy, Fed, Federal Reserve, Gaza, Government, Hamas, Hyperinflation, Inflation, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Middle East, Military, Obama administration, Palestinians, Politics, Recession, Ron Paul, Treasury, U.S., War

“I am greatly surprised by, and I reject, the words of the Israeli foreign minister, who asks: ‘Is there a humanitarian crisis? There is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza,’” he said. “This is an astonishing thing, that after more than 450 victims and more than 2,000 injured… then it is said there is no humanitarian crisis.

Related articles:
- Gaza humanitarian plight ‘disastrous,’ U.N. official says
- Israeli blockade ‘forces Palestinians to search rubbish dumps for food’
- Hungry Gazans Resort to Animal Feed as U.N. Blasts Israel
- BBC: Gazans despair over blockade
- U.N. calls for an immediate halt to all violence in Gaza

Israeli troops enter Gaza. Screengrab courtesy of Sky News

Israeli tanks and troops have launched a ground invasion to reoccupy parts of the northern Gaza strip as the military escalated its assault on the Palestinian enclave in an attempt to curb Hamas rocket attacks on Israel.

With Israel’s chief military spokesman warning that the attack would take “many long days”, the Israeli Cabinet also authorised the call of thousands more reservists. As Israeli tanks and infantry crossed into northern Gaza reports began to emerge of fighting between Hamas and Israeli troops. The invasion comes after Hamas warned Israeli forces entering Gaza faced a “black destiny” and vowed that they would be defeated.

Palestinian witnesses said a small column of military vehicles moved across the border firing tracer bullets after dark. The Israeli army said the assault is intended to take control of territory in the north of the Gaza strip from where Hamas fires its rockets.

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Tags: Gaza, Government, Hamas, Israel, Military, Palestinians, Politics, Tzipi Livni

The streets in Jakarta were filled with protesters today (Adek Berry/AFP/Getty)

From Jakarta to London, a wave of protest erupted across the world today against Israel’s assault on Gaza.

More than 10,000 marched through the Indonesian capital and Israeli flags were burnt and trampled upon in Asia as the Palestinian death toll in the offensive rose above 430, including three young brothers killed this morning.

Thirty new Israeli raids struck the Gaza Strip today as thousands of Hamas supporters attended the funeral of Nizar Rayan, the most senior Hamas victim of the offensive. He was killed with his four wives and 11 of his children in another Israeli raid yesterday.

Hamas leaders responded by calling for a “Day of Wrath” to avenge the deaths as the party warned that it may resume suicide attacks against Israel for the first time since January 2005.

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Tags: Gaza, Hamas, Israel, Palestinians, Politics, Protesters

Final preparations by Israeli troops

DEBKAfile’s Washington source report that in a telephone conversation with prime minister Ehud Olmert, US president George W. Bush okayed Israeli air, sea and ground operations against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. He promised the US would veto a resolution condemning Israel at the UN Security Council meeting next Monday. Early Saturday morning, Jan. 3, Day 8 of Israel’s Gaza operation, US and British media described the Israeli invasion as hours away.

In his weekly radio address - brought forward by a day, the US president spoke with exceptional firmness: “Another one-way ceasefire that leads to rocket attacks on Israel is not acceptable,” he said. “This recent outburst of violence was instigated by Hamas - a Palestinian terrorist group supported by Iran and Syria that calls for Israel’s destruction.”

He noted that “Hamas took over the Gaza Strip in a coup and routinely violated an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire…” and went on to define the exit point for Israel’s military operation:

“Promises from Hamas will not suffice,” he said. There must be “monitoring mechanisms in place to help ensure that smuggling of weapons to terrorist groups in Gaza comes to an end.”

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Tags: Ehud Olmert, Gaza, George Bush, Hamas, Israel, Military, Palestinians, Politics, U.S.

New front … thousands of Israeli troops have massed in preparation for a ground assault on Gaza.

ISRAEL has thousands of troops massed for a ground offensive on Gaza that would aim to deal a hammer blow to Hamas and re-establish Israel’s military credentials with its other foes, experts say.

The number of troops and tanks along the 60km border is a military secret but Israeli leaders say the force is ready and local media say the assault is imminent.

Israel launched air strikes and a naval bombardment one week ago in response to weeks of militant rocket fire from Hamas-run Gaza.

Israeli warplanes today hit Gaza targets including a mosque and a house where three young brothers were killed.

A missile from one of 30 new Israeli raids hit a house and killed the boys, aged from seven to 10, emergency services said.

At least 430 Palestinians have been killed - including top Hamas leader Nizar Rayan - and 2250 people wounded in the raids, according to Gaza officials. About 300 militant rockets have killed four people and wounded dozens in Israel.

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Tags: Civilians, Gaza, Government, Hamas, Israel, Military, Palestinians, Politics

If Hamas is destroyed, a more radical group will replace it. Israel’s security depends on wiser action

I have just three wishes for the coming year. The first is for the Israeli government to realise once and for all that the Middle East conflict cannot be solved by military means. The second is for Hamas to realise that its interests are not served by violence, and Israel is here to stay. And the third is for the world to acknowledge that this conflict is unlike any other in history. It is uniquely intricate and sensitive - a conflict between two peoples who are both deeply convinced of their right to live on the same very small piece of land. This is why neither diplomacy nor military action can resolve this conflict.

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Tags: Gaza, Government, Hamas, Israel, Middle East, Palestinians, Politics

The Times first published the article with the following picture:
A wounded child awaits medical attention at the Shifa hospital

A few minutes later the Times exchanged it for this one:
The Israeli missile attacks left hundreds of Palestinians killed or wounded in the Bureij refugee camp and elsewhere in the Gaza Strip. The strikes, which involved 60 planes, came days after a six-month ceasefire with Hamas expired. The militant group vowed to carry out revenge attacks (Yasser Saymeh/AFP/Getty Images)

Israel yesterday launched its largest raid on Gaza with two waves of air attacks that killed at least 205 people and injured more than 700, according to Palestinian doctors.

Children on their way home from school and policemen parading for a graduation ceremony were the principal victims of a bloody few hours that left the territory in flames.

Related articles and video:
- Israel vows to keep up Gaza attacks through the night (CNN)
- Witness describes Gaza attacks (BBC)
- EU Calls for Ceasefire as Casualty Numbers Rise in Gaza (Deutsche Welle)
- Hamas source: IDF strike unexpected (ynet news)

The short but brutal aerial blitz was aimed at targets held by the Islamic fundamentalists of Hamas, which seized control of the Gaza Strip 18 months ago.

After weeks of rising tension and repeated Hamas rocket attacks on Israeli territory, the air force struck with warplanes and unmanned drones loaded with guided missiles.

They hit at least 100 security compounds and rocket-launching bases across the heavily populated Strip.

The strikes caused panic and confusion as black clouds of smoke rose above the territory. Most of those killed were security men - including Gaza’s police chief - but an unknown number of civilians were also among the dead.

One perfectly aimed missile demolished the Hamas-control-led Rafah police station. But the building next door was a school and several pupils were on the street outside when a huge explosion sent shards of shrapnel and concrete hurtling in all directions. Parents rushed into the streets frantically looking for their children.

The strikes on Gaza yesterday were unparalleled. Israeli warplanes screamed in from the sea across Gaza in wave after wave, pounding at least 30 security compounds in the strip controlled by the Hamas government.

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Tags: Air Force, Children, Gaza, Hamas, Israel, Military, Palestinians, Politics