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Sunday, November 18, 2012

Israel says Gaza operation could expand; France says 'war can be avoided'

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Gaza ground war could be imminent

Near the Israel-Gaza border (CNN) -- Israel is prepared to significantly escalate its military operation against Palestinian militants in Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday.
The comments come on the heels of reports that the Israel Defense Forces have widened the scope of their effort to stop rocket attacks from Gaza, targeting Palestinian media organizations, government buildings and the homes of Hamas officials in Gaza.
"We are exacting a heavy price from Hamas and the (other) terrorist organizations, and IDF is prepared for a significant expansion of its operations," Netanyahu told reporters shortly before the start of a weekly Cabinet meeting in Jerusalem.
Saeb Erakat, a member of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, told CNN that Netanyahu should learn "a lesson" that "there will be never be a security without peace."
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Netanyahu is "waging a campaign of attacks and bombardment and military attacks against Gaza," and may launch a land invasion, Erakat said. "He wants to kill 1000, 1500, 2000 Palestinians. Where would this put us?"
Erakat part of the Fatah faction in the West Bank added. "We have one aim now: to ensure we stop the attacks against Gaza, to ensure to sustain the calm, mutual comprehensive calm. That's all what we want."
The United States and several European countries have put the brunt of the blame for the current crisis on Hamas, saying Israel has a right to protect itself. Arab and Muslim nations, meanwhile, have accused Israel of being the aggressor.
Rocket attacks into Israel were the "precipitating event" for the fighting under way now, U.S. President Barack Obama said during a stop in Thailand Sunday. "We are actively working with all the parties in the region to see if we can end those missiles being fired without further escalation of violence in the region."
Over the last four days, militants in Gaza have fired 846 rockets at Israel -- 302 of which were intercepted by Israe's Iron Dome defense system, according to the IDF. Nearly 100 rockets fired from Gaza over the same time frame crashed back into the strip.
"Hamas fires from civilian areas and hits its own people," the IDF said in a Twitter post Sunday.
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Over the weekend, Netanyahu said he spoke with a number of leaders, including Obama.
"In my talks with leaders, I emphasize the effort Israel is making to avoid hitting civilians, and this at a time when Hamas and other terrorist organizations are making every effort to hit civilian targets in Israel," the prime minister said.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, in Jerusalem Sunday meeting with Netanyahu, tweeted a simple message: "War can be avoided. War must be avoided." The ministry said he was hoping to "work out a cease-fire with all parties involved."
An Arab League delegation plans to visit Gaza on Tuesday, a spokesman said.
Since Israel launched its offensive on Wednesday against what it says are "terrorist sites" in response to persistent rocket attacks that have plagued portion of southern Israel for months, 57 Palestinians have been killed, according to a spokesman for the ministry of health in Gaza. They include 15 children, seven women, and five elderly people, the spokesman said. More than 560 people were injured, he said.
The spokesman did not say how many militants have been killed.
A Palestinian girl and a man were killed Sunday in an airstrike that targeted the town of al-Shati in western Gaza, Hamas-run al-Aqsa TV reported.
Six Palestinian journalists were injured Sunday when Israeli warplanes targeted two buildings that housed Palestinian and Hamas news organizations as well as a handful of international news outlets, according to Palestinian government and media reports. The IDF released a video along with a message saying it showed the "surgical" targeting of Hamas communication operations on the roof of a media building in Gaza, and that only the antenna atop the building was struck.
"If Hamas commanders in Gaza can communicate with each other, then they can attack us," the IDF said in one of its several Twitter posts on the issue. "This is the capability that we targeted ... We did not target any other floors." The IDF also urged reporters to "stay away from Hamas positions and operatives."
Nour Odeh, a Palestinian government spokeswoman in the West Bank, said the attack on the two buildings "is an assault on the freedom of the press and an attempt to prohibit journalists from conveying to the outside world what is exactly happening in the Gaza strip and the extent to which Israel is violating international law and international humanitarian law in this besieged part of the occupied Palestinian territory."
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In Israel, rocket attacks from Gaza in recent days have killed at least three people and wounded 68, including a number of soldiers along the Israel-Gaza border, the Israel Defense Forces said.
"A short while ago, a rocket fired from Gaza hit the Israeli town of Ofakim, directly hitting a car," the IDF said Sunday on Twitter, adding that there were reports of injuries.
One woman in the Israeli city of Ashkelon was in her home when a rocket hit her carport.
As clean-up crews worked to remove debris from around the house, another air siren sounded.
While many Israelis who have lived under rocket attacks from Gaza for years developed a routine for running to take cover, the latest violence is paralyzing.
A marina in Ashkelon, which is usually busy with people enjoying the outdoors, has largely emptied out as families keep their children indoors.
Leaders across the world have called on Israeli and Palestinian governing bodies to show restraint, fearing at a minimum a possible repeat of Israel's 2008 invasion that left at least 1,400 people dead.
Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy, said discussions were underway about how to bring about a cease-fire.
"But there are no guarantees at the moment," Morsy said Saturday in Cairo, where he met with Hamas officials and other Arab diplomats.
Morsy did not go into details of the effort, though an Egyptian military official told CNN the nation's intelligence chief, Mohammed Shehata, was spearheading talks with Hamas and Israel.
Shehata contacted Israel and requested it "calm down" the situation, said the military official, a general, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject matter.
It is not known what, if anything, Israel said in response to the request.
Hamas, however, put conditions on cease-fire talks. Israel must cease its attacks and lift its blockade of Gaza in exchange "for stopping the rockets" targeting Israeli cities, according to a report by the Palestinian Information Center, a Hamas-run media outlet.
Israel is unlikely to consider such a request as it sees the blockade as vital to its national security.
Palestinian lawmaker Mustafa Barghouti told CNN Sunday that, "We are very worried about three things: the Israeli preparation for a big ground operation, second that Israel is bombarding journalists and trying to silence the media from reporting what is happening in Gaza, and third the Israeli attacks on the West Bank against non-violent protesters."
The Israeli government has called up 75,000 reservists, while it simultaneously deployed 30,000 troops to the Gaza border, the IDF said.

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