Israel sets terms for Gaza peace deal
01/01/2009 - 13:44:48Israel demanded an international monitoring force as part of any Gaza ceasefire deal today, as its planes and ships continued to bombard the territory for a sixth day.
Meanwhile thousands of Israeli ground troops massed along the border ready for a possible invasion.
So far the campaign to crush rocket fire on southern Israel from Hamas militants has been conducted largely from the air.
But today a military spokeswoman said preparations for a ground operation were complete.
“The infantry, the artillery and other forces are ready. They’re around the Gaza Strip, waiting for any calls to go inside,” she said.
More than 400 Gazans have been killed and 1,700 wounded since Israel began its bombing campaign on Saturday. The toll includes more than 60 civilians, 34 of them children, according to the UN.
Three Israeli civilians and one soldier have also died in rocket attacks that have reached deeper into Israel than ever before, bringing one-eighth of Israel’s population within rocket range.
Huge explosions shook Gaza City on today as planes targeted three government buildings, including the parliament.
Aircraft also bombed smuggling tunnels along the Gaza-Egypt border, part of the continuing attempt to cut off Hamas’ last lifeline to the world outside the Palestinian territory.
Aircraft also went after Hamas police and their vehicles. Two people were killed when a car was blown up.
One pre-dawn strike targeting the house of a Hamas operative in northern Gaza killed a 35-year-old woman and wounded eight people, a Gaza Health Ministry official said.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who rebuffed a French proposal for a two-day ceasefire, has insisted on international monitors taking responsibility for any truce, government officials said.
He made this point in talks with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other world leaders who are pressing for an end to the violence.
International intervention helped Israel to accept a truce that ended its 2006 war with Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas, when the UN agreed to station peacekeepers to enforce the terms. This time, Israel is not seeking a peacekeeping force, but a monitoring body that would judge compliance on both sides.
Gaza has been under Hamas rule since the militant group overran it in June 2007; the West Bank has remained under the control of moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who has been negotiating peace with Israel for more than a year but has no influence over Hamas. Bringing in monitors would require co-operation between the fierce rivals.
Israeli Cabinet ministers have been unmoved by a flurry of diplomatic activity meant to end the violence, which is to include a whirlwind trip around the region next week by French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Instead, they authorised the military to push ahead with its campaign against militants.
A separate peace proposal by Turkey and Egypt, two of Israel’s few allies in the Muslim world, also seemed to be attracting little serious study in Israel or Gaza. UN chief Ban Ki-Moon yesterday urged an immediate ceasefire on both sides, saying, “The parties must step back from the brink.”
The UN Security Council, meeting for emergency consultations last night, rejected an Arab request for a legally binding resolution that would condemn Israel and halt its attacks.
The US called a draft resolution “unbalanced” because it made no mention of halting Hamas rocket fire at Israeli towns – the immediate cause behind the massive Israeli air offensive.
Israel and Egypt blockaded Gaza after Hamas violently seized control of the territory in June 2007, and have cracked open their borders only to let in limited amounts of humanitarian aid.
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