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GAZA CITY: Israeli troops and Hamas fighters battled in Gaza on
Monday amid tank, artillery and air strikes, as Israel pressed on
with its assault on Hamas and world leaders stepped up efforts to
end the conflict.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy was scheduled
to arrive in Israel for talks on how to end one of its deadliest
offensives in Gaza in decades, which has killed more than 515
Palestinians, dozens of them children.
Israeli infantry units backed by tanks and
helicopters took up positions around Gaza City after effectively
cutting the coastal strip into two by taking control of the main
roads leading into the capital, witnesses said.
The troops exchanged fire with Hamas militants,
fighting against the deepest Israeli thrust into Gaza since it
unilaterally withdrew from the coastal territory more than three
years ago.
The most intensive exchanges of fire were
reported to be taking place in the north around Jabaliya and Beit
Lahiya.
Palestinian medics said five children were
killed in two separate Israeli strikes around Gaza City early on
Monday.
At least 75 Palestinians have been killed since
Saturday, when Israel upped a weeklong bombardment of Hamas targets
in Gaza by pouring in ground troops into the densely populated
territory.
Israel said one soldier was killed by a mortar
shell on Sunday and another 55 were wounded since the start of the
ground offensive.
Three civilians and one soldier have been killed
by rockets fired from Gaza since Israel unleashed its “Operation
Cast Lead” against Hamas on December 27.
In the same period, at least 517 Palestinians,
including 87 children, have been killed and more than 2,500 wounded,
according to Gaza medics.
Humanitarian crisis
Aid groups said the offensive had aggravated a
humanitarian crisis for the 1.5 million residents of Gaza, most of
whom depend on foreign aid in a territory that Israel has virtually
sealed off since Hamas took control in June 2007.
Gaza residents currently have little
electricity, no water and now face dire food shortages, aid groups
say. Hospitals were only running on backup generators.
International pressure
The Israeli government has fought off
international pressure over its biggest military operation since its
2006 war in Lebanon.
Along with Sarkozy, European Union and Russian
delegations were expected in the region on Monday.
International efforts to halt the conflict
sought new impetus after the UN Security Council failed to agree a
statement on the conflict, with the United States giving strong
backing to Israel.
France’s Sarkozy was scheduled to meet Israeli
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in Jerusalem and Palestinian President
Mahmud Abbas in Ramallah on Monday, after first meeting his
Egyptian counterpart, Hosni Mubarak, in Cairo.
France hopes Egypt can rekindle its role as a
mediator between Israel and Hamas.
Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg,
whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, is heading a
delegation to the Middle East, while Medvedev’s Middle East envoy,
Alexander Saltanov, was also on the way.
The European Union and Russia are both part of
the Middle East diplomatic Quartet, along with the United Nations
and the United States.
Israeli offensive
Israel unleashed “Operation Cast Lead” on
December 27 in response to consistent rocket fire from Gaza into
Israel.
Israel believes Hamas may be seeking “a
respectable” way out of the conflict having underestimated the
scope of the military offensive, Social Affairs Minister Isaac
Herzog said.
He told CNN television Hamas was under “huge
pressure” from the military operation.
“The intelligence reports that we’ve
received today in the Israeli cabinet are that the Hamas is looking
for a respectable way of finding a way to get out of this
situation,” he said.
The Israeli offensive has sparked spiraling
anger in the Muslim world and protests across the globe.
Security Council
The UN Security Council failed to agree on a
statement calling for a ceasefire in closed-door consultations late
on Saturday.
That drew expressions of regret from UN chief
Ban Ki-moon on Sunday, who said he would be working with key players
to facilitate a consensus to bring about an end to the violence.
Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhum condemned the
Security Council action as “a farce” dominated by the United
States, which has strongly supported Israel.
-- AFP
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