A.Rahman
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Israel Bombs Gaza - Hundreds Dead
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Pk_Thunder
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Israel starts pullout, Hamas announces one-week truce
Sunday, 18 Jan, 2009 | 10:37 PM PST |
GAZA CITY: Hamas announced a one-week ceasefire Sunday after Israel called a unilateral halt to its massive offensive on Gaza, as medics pulled dozens of bodies from the rubble of bombed-out homes.
Separately, the Israeli army said it had begun withdrawing its troops from Gaza after ending a three-week offensive in the territory.
The Israeli military would not say how many troops it is pulling out. But Israel's Channel 10 TV showed tanks rolling out and smiling infantry soldiers walking toward the border.
Witnesses also said Israeli troops were withdrawing from key positions in and around Gaza City.
Ground troops withdrew toward the Israeli border fence in eastern and northern Gaza, they said.
After exchanges of gunfire and an air strike punctured what Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert acknowledged was a 'fragile' ceasefire, Hamas and other armed groups said they would silence their guns for the next seven days to give Israeli troops a chance to withdraw from the territory.
'We in the Palestinian resistance movements announce a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and demand that enemy forces withdraw in a week and open all the border crossings to permit the entry of humanitarian aid and basic goods,' Mussa Abu Marzuk, the deputy leader of Hamas's politburo, said in Damascus.
Dawud Shihab, a Gaza-based spokesman for Islamic Jihad, a smaller armed faction, said the truce would give an opportunity for Arab governments to put pressure on Israel to withdraw all its troops.
'During this period, the resistance is ready to respond to all efforts by the Egyptians, Turks, Syrians and Arabs that will allow for a total withdrawal of Israeli soldiers and the total opening of border crossings,' he told AFP.
Meanwhile an international summit of European and Arab leaders aimed at shoring up the truce began in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh while officials in Cairo held talks with Hamas in a bid to consolidate the ceasefire.
Olmert announced late Saturday that he had ordered an end to offensive operations in Gaza after 22 days of combat but added that troops would remain in the territory and would fire back if they came under fresh attack.
After the ceasefire came into effect at 2:00 a.m., Gaza enjoyed its first bomb-free night in over three weeks but there was soon signs that it was unravelling.
As militants fired rockets and Israel launched 'retaliatory' air strikes, troops shot dead an eight-year-old girl in the northern town of Beit Hanun and a 20-year-old man near southern Khan Yunis, medics said.
'The government's decision allows Israel to respond and renew the fire if our enemy in the Gaza Strip continues its strikes,' Olmert said at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem.
'This morning they again proved that the ceasefire is fragile and it has to be reassessed on a minute by minute basis,' he said. 'We hope that the fire ends. If it continues, the IDF (Israeli Defence Forces) will respond.'
Palestinian medics took advantage of the halt in Israel's deadliest offensive on Gaza to rush to areas which had been inaccessible due to furious fighting, pulling at least 95 bodies from the rubble, including those of several children.
The discoveries brought the overall death toll since Israel launched its Operation Cast Lead on December 27 to at least 1,300, the medics said.
On the ground, as Hamas congratulated the Palestinians on 'victory' from mosque loudspeakers, Gaza residents cautiously ventured out into the streets to survey the rubble that was once their homes.
'We congratulate all the Palestinian people after the victory in the fight with the enemy,' bellowed a voice from a Hamas mosque in central Gaza City.
Meanwhile Yahia Karin, 54, surveyed the damage in Zeitun, his neighbourhood in southern Gaza that was the scene of some of the most furious battles between Israeli ground troops and Hamas militants.
'Everything has been completely destroyed,' he said looking at the charred pile of rubble on the spot where he once lived.
On the diplomatic front, Egypt was hosting an international summit on Sunday attended by several European leaders and UN chief Ban Ki-moon.
Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president, said on Saturday his country 'will continue its efforts as soon as there is a ceasefire to restore the truce and lift the blockade' imposed by Israel on crossing points into Gaza after Hamas seized power in the territory in June 2007.
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas repeated his call for a complete withdrawal of all Israeli forces from Gaza and the re-opening of the enclave's border crossings, saying Israel's truce was 'important and necessary but insufficient.'
Reacting to the announcement from Damascus, government spokesman Mark Regev stressed that Israel was not a partner to any agreement with Hamas.
'If Hamas does not attack Israel and does not provoke Israel, we will honour the ceasefire,' he said.
haroon28
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Media Release
In the Name of Allah, The Gracious, The Merciful
Muslims call Muslim armies to Jihad, as Israel resorts to diplomatic aggression
Sydney, Australia, 18th January 2009 - A strong delegation of Muslims from Sydney travelled to Canberra yesterday for a protest outside the Egyptian Embassy organised by Hizb ut-Tahrir Australia. Joined by Muslims from Canberra the 350-strong contingent joined hundreds of thousands of Muslims around the world in calling the Muslim armies to move in defence of Gaza and in resistance of the Israeli invasion.
In Palestine itself, after killing over 1200 people and injuring thousands more, the illegal state of Israel has unilaterally announced a ceasefire claiming to have achieved its objectives in the war. Despite such claims, the only thing Israel has achieved in Gaza is the killing of innocent civilians. Now they seek to achieve through diplomatic means - facilitated by the US, the UN, and the Arab rulers - what they failed to achieve by military aggression.
Uthman Badar, media representative of Hizb ut-Tahrir Australia, says,
"A unilateral ceasefire has no meaning. It has rightly been rejected by the resistance in Palestine. Israel seeks to force the Muslims of Palestine to recognise Israel, to accept humiliating concessions, to live under effective Israeli sovereignty, and to relinquish their claim to Palestine. They seek to break the back of the resistance."
"We urge the resistance movements in Palestine to beware of the diplomatic drama, to abandon the political process, which is being used to weaken them, and to return to the battlefield."
"The Muslims around the world too must play their part by continuing to push the Muslim armies toward the battlefield, understanding full well that the major obstacle in our path is not the feeble Israeli state nor the coward Israeli army, but it is the Muslim rulers who, in agency of the Western powers, collude in facilitating the perpetuation of the illegal state of Israel."
"Israel can do what it likes. The Muslims will never recognise its legitimacy, nor will we accept anything less than all of Palestine, under Islamic rule."
Ends.
For further information, questions or comments, please contact Uthman Badar, Media Representative of Hizb ut-Tahrir Australia, on media@hizb-australia.org or 0438 000 465. Alternatively, further information is available on our website: Hizb ut-Tahrir Australia - Home.
Hizb ut-Tahrir Australia
18th January 2008
In the Name of Allah, The Gracious, The Merciful
Muslims call Muslim armies to Jihad, as Israel resorts to diplomatic aggression
Sydney, Australia, 18th January 2009 - A strong delegation of Muslims from Sydney travelled to Canberra yesterday for a protest outside the Egyptian Embassy organised by Hizb ut-Tahrir Australia. Joined by Muslims from Canberra the 350-strong contingent joined hundreds of thousands of Muslims around the world in calling the Muslim armies to move in defence of Gaza and in resistance of the Israeli invasion.
In Palestine itself, after killing over 1200 people and injuring thousands more, the illegal state of Israel has unilaterally announced a ceasefire claiming to have achieved its objectives in the war. Despite such claims, the only thing Israel has achieved in Gaza is the killing of innocent civilians. Now they seek to achieve through diplomatic means - facilitated by the US, the UN, and the Arab rulers - what they failed to achieve by military aggression.
Uthman Badar, media representative of Hizb ut-Tahrir Australia, says,
"A unilateral ceasefire has no meaning. It has rightly been rejected by the resistance in Palestine. Israel seeks to force the Muslims of Palestine to recognise Israel, to accept humiliating concessions, to live under effective Israeli sovereignty, and to relinquish their claim to Palestine. They seek to break the back of the resistance."
"We urge the resistance movements in Palestine to beware of the diplomatic drama, to abandon the political process, which is being used to weaken them, and to return to the battlefield."
"The Muslims around the world too must play their part by continuing to push the Muslim armies toward the battlefield, understanding full well that the major obstacle in our path is not the feeble Israeli state nor the coward Israeli army, but it is the Muslim rulers who, in agency of the Western powers, collude in facilitating the perpetuation of the illegal state of Israel."
"Israel can do what it likes. The Muslims will never recognise its legitimacy, nor will we accept anything less than all of Palestine, under Islamic rule."
Ends.
For further information, questions or comments, please contact Uthman Badar, Media Representative of Hizb ut-Tahrir Australia, on media@hizb-australia.org or 0438 000 465. Alternatively, further information is available on our website: Hizb ut-Tahrir Australia - Home.
Hizb ut-Tahrir Australia
18th January 2008
pkpatriotic
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Scale of Gaza destruction emerges
Monday, 19 January 2009
BBC VIDEO| Gazan neighbourhoods assess damage
The full scale of devastation in Gaza following Israel's three-week offensive is becoming clear, after both Israel and Hamas declared ceasefires.
UN official John Ging said half a million people had been without water since the conflict began, and huge numbers of people were without power.
Four thousand homes are ruined and tens of thousands of people are homeless.
Israeli spokesman Mark Regev said he expected border crossings to open for aid later on Monday.
"We are going to see a massive volume of aid entering the Gaza Strip," he told the BBC.
"Medicines, foodstuffs, energy, all will be reaching the Gaza Strip in the volume that is required and in an expeditious manner."
Speaking at an Arab League summit in Kuwait, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas called for the formation of a national unity government in the Palestinian territories, along with simultaneous parliamentary and presidential elections.
Correspondents say Mr Abbas is facing challenges to his legitimacy, with Hamas claiming his term is over and many of his supporters angered by criticisms he made of the militant group while it was under fire from Israel.
Previous talks on a unity government have broken down, and the two sides remain divided over the timing of possible elections.
The league is expected to discuss a proposal for a $2bn (£1.3bn) fund for reconstruction in Gaza. Saudi King Abdullah said his country would donate $1bn.
Correspondents say the summit was supposed to focus on economic reform, but has been overshadowed by the Gaza crisis and the divided political response of Arab leaders.
Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak
accused Hamas of inviting the Israeli offensive by not extending a six-month ceasefire - brokered by Egypt - when it expired last month.
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he wanted troops to leave as quickly as possible, and some have already left.
The BBC's Christian Fraser, on the road from Rafah in the south to Gaza City in the north, says the troops are pulling out fast.
Traffic jams are building up, as people try to get to Gaza City to reunite with friends and relatives, he says, while Hamas fighters stride confidently down the road with rifles slung across their shoulders.
Big questions
Israel called a ceasefire on Saturday, saying it had met its war aims.
Hamas later declared its own truce with one of its leaders claiming a "great victory" over Israel and saying its ability to fire rockets had not been affected by the Israeli strikes.
The BBC's Bethany Bell in Jerusalem says many people face shortages of food, medicine and fuel.
Mr Ging, director of operations for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa), said most important was how to get basic supplies into Gaza.
"We have a big recovery operation ahead of us, reconstruction - none of it will be possible of course, on any scale, until we get crossing points open," he told the BBC.
Unrwa was keen to reopen its schools, Mr Ging said, where 50,000 people were sheltering. Tens of thousands have been made homeless by the bombardment.
Big questions remain, our correspondent says, such as who will police Gaza's southern border with Egypt and how much power Hamas still has.
At least 1,300 Palestinians, according to Palestinian sources, and 13 Israelis have been killed since Israel launched its offensive on 27 December. Palestinian medical sources say at least 95 bodies have been pulled from the rubble since Israel halted its assault.
Correspondents say the ceasefire in Gaza remains fragile, although no air strikes, rocket attacks or major clashes were reported overnight.
Palestinian militants fired about 20 rockets over the border after the Israeli ceasefire announcement, and Israel responded with an air attack.
'Israeli failure'
Surrounded by an array of European political leaders, some of whom were highly critical of Israel's tactics in the conflict with Hamas, the Israeli prime minister said his country was not interested in staying in the Gaza Strip.
"We didn't set out to control Gaza, we don't want to remain in Gaza and we intend on leaving Gaza as quickly as possible," he said.
Anonymous Israeli officials, quoted by AP news agency, said the withdrawal would be completed before US President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration on Tuesday.
Correspondents say Israeli leaders want to get off to a smooth start with the new administration in Washington.
The European leaders had travelled to Israel to lend their support to the ceasefires.
The top Hamas leader in Gaza, Ismail Haniya, said Israel had "failed to achieve its goals".
In a speech broadcast on Hamas TV, he said: "God has granted us a great victory, not for one faction, or party, or area, but for our entire people."
Hamas said it would hold fire for a week to give Israel time to withdraw its forces from the Gaza Strip.
A spokesman for Hamas' military wing, Abu Ubaida, said its rocket capabilities had not been affected by the conflict.
"We hereby stress that our rockets are being developed and are piling up, and that the enemy will receive more rockets and God willing, our rockets will hit more targets," he said in a news conference broadcast live on Hamas' al-Aqsa TV.
Monday, 19 January 2009
BBC VIDEO| Gazan neighbourhoods assess damage
The full scale of devastation in Gaza following Israel's three-week offensive is becoming clear, after both Israel and Hamas declared ceasefires.
UN official John Ging said half a million people had been without water since the conflict began, and huge numbers of people were without power.
Four thousand homes are ruined and tens of thousands of people are homeless.
Israeli spokesman Mark Regev said he expected border crossings to open for aid later on Monday.
"We are going to see a massive volume of aid entering the Gaza Strip," he told the BBC.
"Medicines, foodstuffs, energy, all will be reaching the Gaza Strip in the volume that is required and in an expeditious manner."
Speaking at an Arab League summit in Kuwait, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas called for the formation of a national unity government in the Palestinian territories, along with simultaneous parliamentary and presidential elections.
Correspondents say Mr Abbas is facing challenges to his legitimacy, with Hamas claiming his term is over and many of his supporters angered by criticisms he made of the militant group while it was under fire from Israel.
Previous talks on a unity government have broken down, and the two sides remain divided over the timing of possible elections.
The league is expected to discuss a proposal for a $2bn (£1.3bn) fund for reconstruction in Gaza. Saudi King Abdullah said his country would donate $1bn.
Correspondents say the summit was supposed to focus on economic reform, but has been overshadowed by the Gaza crisis and the divided political response of Arab leaders.
Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak
accused Hamas of inviting the Israeli offensive by not extending a six-month ceasefire - brokered by Egypt - when it expired last month. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he wanted troops to leave as quickly as possible, and some have already left.
The BBC's Christian Fraser, on the road from Rafah in the south to Gaza City in the north, says the troops are pulling out fast.
Traffic jams are building up, as people try to get to Gaza City to reunite with friends and relatives, he says, while Hamas fighters stride confidently down the road with rifles slung across their shoulders.
Big questions
Israel called a ceasefire on Saturday, saying it had met its war aims.
Hamas later declared its own truce with one of its leaders claiming a "great victory" over Israel and saying its ability to fire rockets had not been affected by the Israeli strikes.
The BBC's Bethany Bell in Jerusalem says many people face shortages of food, medicine and fuel.
Mr Ging, director of operations for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa), said most important was how to get basic supplies into Gaza.
"We have a big recovery operation ahead of us, reconstruction - none of it will be possible of course, on any scale, until we get crossing points open," he told the BBC.
Unrwa was keen to reopen its schools, Mr Ging said, where 50,000 people were sheltering. Tens of thousands have been made homeless by the bombardment.
Big questions remain, our correspondent says, such as who will police Gaza's southern border with Egypt and how much power Hamas still has.
At least 1,300 Palestinians, according to Palestinian sources, and 13 Israelis have been killed since Israel launched its offensive on 27 December. Palestinian medical sources say at least 95 bodies have been pulled from the rubble since Israel halted its assault.
Correspondents say the ceasefire in Gaza remains fragile, although no air strikes, rocket attacks or major clashes were reported overnight.
Palestinian militants fired about 20 rockets over the border after the Israeli ceasefire announcement, and Israel responded with an air attack.
'Israeli failure'
Surrounded by an array of European political leaders, some of whom were highly critical of Israel's tactics in the conflict with Hamas, the Israeli prime minister said his country was not interested in staying in the Gaza Strip.
"We didn't set out to control Gaza, we don't want to remain in Gaza and we intend on leaving Gaza as quickly as possible," he said.
Anonymous Israeli officials, quoted by AP news agency, said the withdrawal would be completed before US President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration on Tuesday.
Correspondents say Israeli leaders want to get off to a smooth start with the new administration in Washington.
The European leaders had travelled to Israel to lend their support to the ceasefires.
The top Hamas leader in Gaza, Ismail Haniya, said Israel had "failed to achieve its goals".
In a speech broadcast on Hamas TV, he said: "God has granted us a great victory, not for one faction, or party, or area, but for our entire people."
Hamas said it would hold fire for a week to give Israel time to withdraw its forces from the Gaza Strip.
A spokesman for Hamas' military wing, Abu Ubaida, said its rocket capabilities had not been affected by the conflict.
"We hereby stress that our rockets are being developed and are piling up, and that the enemy will receive more rockets and God willing, our rockets will hit more targets," he said in a news conference broadcast live on Hamas' al-Aqsa TV.
pkpatriotic
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- Apr 2, 2008
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'Tungsten bombs' leave Israel's victims with mystery wounds
As it declares a unilateral ceasefire, Jerusalem faces a UN call for a war crimes investigation
By Raymond Whitaker
Sunday, 18 January 2009
Israel was facing demands for war crimes investigations as it declared a unilateral ceasefire in Gaza last night after a 22-day assault in which more than 1,200 Palestinians, a third of them children, were killed and 13 Israelis died.
Two children were killed yesterday when Israeli tanks shelled a UN school in which families were sheltering, leading a UN spokesman, Chris Gunness, to say: "There has to be an investigation to determine whether a war crime has been committed." The call was dismissed by an Israeli foreign ministry spokesman, Yigal Palmor, who said: "These claims of war crimes are not supported by the slightest piece of evidence." But among numerous allegations of disproportionate use of force, questions are also multiplying about the use of unconventional weapons by Israel, including a new type of bomb that causes injuries that doctors have not seen before, and which they find impossible to treat.
The Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, claimed in a televised address last night that the military operation had "fully attained" its goals, "and beyond". Israel had declared the ceasefire in response to an appeal from the Egyptian President, Hosni Mubarak, but troops would remain for now in Gaza, and Hamas would be "surprised again" if it attacked.
But even though Mr Olmert said Hamas had been "beaten badly", rockets landed in Israel a few minutes before he spoke. Despite the desperate state of Gaza's population, Hamas leaders said they would continue to fight for an end to Israel's closure of crossing points into the territory and a withdrawal of the Israeli forces.
Mr Mubarak invited the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, and the French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, to discuss Gaza in Sharm el-Sheikh today. The UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, said he might attend, and Gordon Brown is among other leaders due to take part.
Although Mr Olmert's announcement was only a first step towards halting the conflict in Gaza, the UN is not the only international body insisting that inquiries must be held as soon as possible into the tactics and weapons used by Israel. Erik Fosse, a Norwegian doctor who worked in Gaza's hospitals during the conflict, said that Israel was using so-called Dime (dense inert metal explosive) bombs designed to produce an intense explosion in a small space. The bombs are packed with tungsten powder, which has the effect of shrapnel but often dissolves in human tissue, making it difficult to discover the cause of injuries.
Dr Fosse said he had seen a number of patients with extensive injuries to their lower bodies. "It was as if they had stepped on a mine, but there was no shrapnel in the wounds," he said. "Some had lost their legs. It looked as though they had been sliced off. I have been to war zones for 30 years, but I have never seen such injuries before." However, the injuries matched photographs and descriptions in medical literature of the effects of Dime bombs.
"All the patients I saw had been hit by bombs fired from unmanned drones," said Dr Fosse, head of the Norwegian Aid Committee. "The bomb hit the ground near them and exploded." His colleague, Mads Gilbert, accused Israel of using the territory as a testing ground for a new, "extremely nasty" type of explosive. "This is a new generation of small explosive that detonates with extreme power and dissipates its power within a range of five to 10 metres," he said.
According to military databases, Dime bombs are intended for use where conventional weapons might kill or injure bystanders to kill combatants in a house, for example, without harming people next door. Instead of being made from metal, which sprays shrapnel across a wide area, the casing is carbon fibre. Part of the motive for developing the bombs was to replace the use of depleted uranium, but Dr Fosse said the cancer risk from tungsten powder was well known. "These patients should be followed up to see if there are any carcinogenic effects," he said.
While the loudest controversy has been over accusations that white phosphorus was illegally used, other foreign doctors working in Gaza have reported injuries they cannot explain. Professor Mohammed Sayed Khalifa, a cardiac consultant from Sudan, said that two of his patients had had uncontrollable bleeding. "One had a chest operation, and continued bleeding even after having been given large quantities of plasma," he said. "The other had what seemed to be a minor leg injury, but collapsed with profuse bleeding. Something was interfering with the clotting process. I have never seen such a thing before."
Dr Ahmed Almi, an Egyptian cardio-thoracic consultant at al-Nasser hospital in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, said he had seen a number of patients with inexplicable injuries. A boy of 14 had a small puncture wound in his head, but extensive damage to his brain, making it impossible to save his life. "I don't know the nature or type of these weapons that make a very small [entry wound] and go on and make massive destruction in the tissues," he said.
Israeli military representatives have refused to confirm or deny using specific weapons, but insist that all Israel's weapons comply with international law. Neither white phosphorus nor Dime bombs are illegal, but campaigners say the way they have been used, especially in Gaza's densely packed urban areas, could constitute a war crime.
As it declares a unilateral ceasefire, Jerusalem faces a UN call for a war crimes investigation
By Raymond Whitaker
Sunday, 18 January 2009
Israel was facing demands for war crimes investigations as it declared a unilateral ceasefire in Gaza last night after a 22-day assault in which more than 1,200 Palestinians, a third of them children, were killed and 13 Israelis died.
Two children were killed yesterday when Israeli tanks shelled a UN school in which families were sheltering, leading a UN spokesman, Chris Gunness, to say: "There has to be an investigation to determine whether a war crime has been committed." The call was dismissed by an Israeli foreign ministry spokesman, Yigal Palmor, who said: "These claims of war crimes are not supported by the slightest piece of evidence." But among numerous allegations of disproportionate use of force, questions are also multiplying about the use of unconventional weapons by Israel, including a new type of bomb that causes injuries that doctors have not seen before, and which they find impossible to treat.
The Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, claimed in a televised address last night that the military operation had "fully attained" its goals, "and beyond". Israel had declared the ceasefire in response to an appeal from the Egyptian President, Hosni Mubarak, but troops would remain for now in Gaza, and Hamas would be "surprised again" if it attacked.
But even though Mr Olmert said Hamas had been "beaten badly", rockets landed in Israel a few minutes before he spoke. Despite the desperate state of Gaza's population, Hamas leaders said they would continue to fight for an end to Israel's closure of crossing points into the territory and a withdrawal of the Israeli forces.
Mr Mubarak invited the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, and the French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, to discuss Gaza in Sharm el-Sheikh today. The UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, said he might attend, and Gordon Brown is among other leaders due to take part.
Although Mr Olmert's announcement was only a first step towards halting the conflict in Gaza, the UN is not the only international body insisting that inquiries must be held as soon as possible into the tactics and weapons used by Israel. Erik Fosse, a Norwegian doctor who worked in Gaza's hospitals during the conflict, said that Israel was using so-called Dime (dense inert metal explosive) bombs designed to produce an intense explosion in a small space. The bombs are packed with tungsten powder, which has the effect of shrapnel but often dissolves in human tissue, making it difficult to discover the cause of injuries.
Dr Fosse said he had seen a number of patients with extensive injuries to their lower bodies. "It was as if they had stepped on a mine, but there was no shrapnel in the wounds," he said. "Some had lost their legs. It looked as though they had been sliced off. I have been to war zones for 30 years, but I have never seen such injuries before." However, the injuries matched photographs and descriptions in medical literature of the effects of Dime bombs.
"All the patients I saw had been hit by bombs fired from unmanned drones," said Dr Fosse, head of the Norwegian Aid Committee. "The bomb hit the ground near them and exploded." His colleague, Mads Gilbert, accused Israel of using the territory as a testing ground for a new, "extremely nasty" type of explosive. "This is a new generation of small explosive that detonates with extreme power and dissipates its power within a range of five to 10 metres," he said.
According to military databases, Dime bombs are intended for use where conventional weapons might kill or injure bystanders to kill combatants in a house, for example, without harming people next door. Instead of being made from metal, which sprays shrapnel across a wide area, the casing is carbon fibre. Part of the motive for developing the bombs was to replace the use of depleted uranium, but Dr Fosse said the cancer risk from tungsten powder was well known. "These patients should be followed up to see if there are any carcinogenic effects," he said.
While the loudest controversy has been over accusations that white phosphorus was illegally used, other foreign doctors working in Gaza have reported injuries they cannot explain. Professor Mohammed Sayed Khalifa, a cardiac consultant from Sudan, said that two of his patients had had uncontrollable bleeding. "One had a chest operation, and continued bleeding even after having been given large quantities of plasma," he said. "The other had what seemed to be a minor leg injury, but collapsed with profuse bleeding. Something was interfering with the clotting process. I have never seen such a thing before."
Dr Ahmed Almi, an Egyptian cardio-thoracic consultant at al-Nasser hospital in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, said he had seen a number of patients with inexplicable injuries. A boy of 14 had a small puncture wound in his head, but extensive damage to his brain, making it impossible to save his life. "I don't know the nature or type of these weapons that make a very small [entry wound] and go on and make massive destruction in the tissues," he said.
Israeli military representatives have refused to confirm or deny using specific weapons, but insist that all Israel's weapons comply with international law. Neither white phosphorus nor Dime bombs are illegal, but campaigners say the way they have been used, especially in Gaza's densely packed urban areas, could constitute a war crime.
pkpatriotic
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Israel fears wave of war crimes lawsuits over Gaza offensive - Israel News
By Aluf Benn
Jan 19, 2009
Israel is preparing for a wave of lawsuits by pro-Palestinian organizations overseas against Israelis involved in the Gaza fighting, claiming they were responsible for war crimes due to the harsh results stemming from the IDF's actions against Palestinian civilians and their property.
Senior Israeli ministers have expressed serious fears during the past few days about the possibility that Israel will be pressed to agree to an international investigation of the losses among non-combatants during Operation Cast Lead; or alternately, that Israelis will be faced with personal suits, such as happened to Israeli officers who were accused of war crimes in Britain for their actions during the second intifada.
"When the scale of the damage in Gaza becomes clear, I will no longer take a vacation in Amsterdam, only at the international court in The Hague," said one minister. It was not clear whether he was trying to make a joke or not.
Another minister said that in contrast to the situation that existed following Operation Defensive Shield in the West Bank seven years ago, this time attacked by Israel is under total Palestinian control. Hence, foreign journalists who enter the Gaza Strip to report on the aftermath of Operation Cast Lead will not be accompanied by Israeli officials or spokesmen, as they were in the West Bank in 2002.
The defense establishment has started to collect material in advance of the expected legal claims, and has prepared its defense regarding the private houses the Israel Defense Forces attacked in Gaza. The evidence includes material about where weapons were stockpiled, and sites from which Hamas was firing rockets. Social Affairs Minister Isaac Herzog (Labor), who is coordinating the humanitarian aid to Gaza, will also coordinate Israel's public relations efforts against the accusations of war crimes.
The main danger is expected to come from lawsuits brought by individuals and organizations, rather than governmental attempts to undertake official investigations. Senior officials expect that the visits of European leaders in Jerusalem this week, and statements by them that presented Israel's offensive as part of a justified war on terror, will aid Israel in future legal battles.
Israel will emphasize that it acted in self-defense in Gaza and expended great efforts in warning residents that their homes were about to be targeted and ordering them to vacate them. Israel used text messages, dropped flyers from the air and made a quarter of a million telephone calls to warn Gaza residents, as well as taking over and broadcasting warnings on Palestinian radio stations. Its defense will also provide evidence of how Hamas turned houses, schools, mosques and welfare institutions into weapons warehouses and booby-trapped them, explaining that they were attacked because they were legitimate military targets.
By Aluf Benn
Jan 19, 2009
Israel is preparing for a wave of lawsuits by pro-Palestinian organizations overseas against Israelis involved in the Gaza fighting, claiming they were responsible for war crimes due to the harsh results stemming from the IDF's actions against Palestinian civilians and their property.
Senior Israeli ministers have expressed serious fears during the past few days about the possibility that Israel will be pressed to agree to an international investigation of the losses among non-combatants during Operation Cast Lead; or alternately, that Israelis will be faced with personal suits, such as happened to Israeli officers who were accused of war crimes in Britain for their actions during the second intifada.
"When the scale of the damage in Gaza becomes clear, I will no longer take a vacation in Amsterdam, only at the international court in The Hague," said one minister. It was not clear whether he was trying to make a joke or not.
Another minister said that in contrast to the situation that existed following Operation Defensive Shield in the West Bank seven years ago, this time attacked by Israel is under total Palestinian control. Hence, foreign journalists who enter the Gaza Strip to report on the aftermath of Operation Cast Lead will not be accompanied by Israeli officials or spokesmen, as they were in the West Bank in 2002.
The defense establishment has started to collect material in advance of the expected legal claims, and has prepared its defense regarding the private houses the Israel Defense Forces attacked in Gaza. The evidence includes material about where weapons were stockpiled, and sites from which Hamas was firing rockets. Social Affairs Minister Isaac Herzog (Labor), who is coordinating the humanitarian aid to Gaza, will also coordinate Israel's public relations efforts against the accusations of war crimes.
The main danger is expected to come from lawsuits brought by individuals and organizations, rather than governmental attempts to undertake official investigations. Senior officials expect that the visits of European leaders in Jerusalem this week, and statements by them that presented Israel's offensive as part of a justified war on terror, will aid Israel in future legal battles.
Israel will emphasize that it acted in self-defense in Gaza and expended great efforts in warning residents that their homes were about to be targeted and ordering them to vacate them. Israel used text messages, dropped flyers from the air and made a quarter of a million telephone calls to warn Gaza residents, as well as taking over and broadcasting warnings on Palestinian radio stations. Its defense will also provide evidence of how Hamas turned houses, schools, mosques and welfare institutions into weapons warehouses and booby-trapped them, explaining that they were attacked because they were legitimate military targets.
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salams,
Sisters (including Umm Taqi from Gaza) discuss the Muslim response to Gaza on TV
YouTube - Gaza: the Muslim response. Sutana Parvin (HT Britain), Umm Taqi (From gaza) and Arzu Merali. (FULL)
Sisters (including Umm Taqi from Gaza) discuss the Muslim response to Gaza on TV
YouTube - Gaza: the Muslim response. Sutana Parvin (HT Britain), Umm Taqi (From gaza) and Arzu Merali. (FULL)
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Name and Shame British Friends of Israel
By Redress Information & Analysis January 19, 2009
Redress Information & Analysis names and shames members of Israels network of stooges in the British Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democratic parties; it calls on its readers to challenge these stooges and to help it expose apologists for Israeli murder by supplying it with verified information about other Friends of Israel.
In the 23 days of the Israeli war on Gaza that began on 27 December 2008, 1300 Palestinians have been killed by the Zionist war machine, including 417 children and 108 women, and a further 5320 have been injured. In the same period, 13 Israelis were killed. That is a ratio of 100:1, excluding the injured.
In the meantime, Israels network of stooges in the British Parliament have been fighting a rear-guard action to justify the slaughter of Palestinians. You will find them justifying Israeli crimes at every opportunity and prevaricating to avoid action against Israel, such as sanctions in the wake of Israels targeting of United Nations compounds in Gaza, for example. They are apologists for murder.
Israels stooges in Britain are spread far and wide and can be found at every tier of the British establishment. They include Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Foreign Secretary David Miliband, former Prime Minister Tony Blair and many other serving and former holders of political office.
At the core of Israels network of stooges are the Friends of Israel groups in the three main political parties:
Labour Friends of Israel
Conservative Friends of Israel and
Liberal Democrat Friends of Israel.
Below is a list of officials of the Friends of Israel groups in the Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democratic parties. It is by no means exhaustive. Conservative Friends of Israel, for example, say that about 80 per cent of the partys MPs and MEPs belong to the group.
Labour Friends of Israel
Chair
Andrew Gwynne MP
Vice Chairs
Andrew Dismore MP
Louise Ellman MP
Gary Titley MEP
Policy Council
Stephen Byers MP (Chair)
David Blunkett MP
Lord Foster of Bishop Auckland
Lord Foulkes of Cumnock
Adam Ingram MP
Denis MacShane MP
Alun Michael MP
Don Touhig MP
Convenor
Anne Snelgrove MP
Parliamentary Executive
Fabian Hamilton MP
Sharon Hodgson MP
Joan Humble MP
Eric Joyce MP
Ashok Kumar MP
Stephen Ladyman MP
Andrew Miller MP
Dan Norris MP
Nick Palmer MP
Terry Rooney MP
Dari Taylor MP
Chair (House of Lords)
Baroness Ramsay of Cartvale
Peers
Lord Archer of Sandwell
Lord Clarke of Hampstead
Lord Clinton-Davis
Lord Davies of Coity
Lord Glenamara
Lord Haskel
Lord Janner of Braunstone
Lord Macdonald of Tradeston
Lord Mitchell
Lord Turnberg
Professor Lord Winston
Lord Wedderburn of Charlton QC
Conservative Friends of Israel
Director
Stuart Polak
Political Director
Robert Halfon
Projects Director
Stephanie Leven,
Research Manager
Nathalie Tamam,
Secretary
Julie Tamir,
Membership Secretary
Charlotte Polak,
Parliamentary Group
Chairman
James Arbuthnot MP
Vice Chairmen
Sir John Butterfill
James Clappison MP
Secretary
David Amess MP
Officers
Alistair Burt MP
Lee Scott MP
Theresa Villiers MP
Chairman of Conservative Friends of Israel Europe
Timothy Kirkhope MEP
Honorary Officers
President
Baroness Shephard of Northwold
Vice Chairmen
Jeremy Galbraith
Betty Geller
Lord Taylor of Holbeach
Stanley Cohen
Michael Heller
Vice Presidents
Sir Timothy Sainsbury
Lord Lane of Horsell
Sir Michael Latham
Lord Sanderson of Bowden
Lord Steinberg
Lord Thomas of Gwydir
Executive Board
Richard Harrington (Chairman)
Lance Anisfeld
Lorraine da Costa
Jonathan Gough
Andrew Heller (Hon. Treasurer)
Steven Kaye
Edward Lee
Howard Leigh
Stephen Massey
David Meller
Jonathan Metliss
Gary Mond
Stephan Shakespeare
Barry Welck
Hilda Worth
Liberal Democrat Friends of Israel
President
Sir Alan Beith MP
Chair
Cllr Monroe Palmer
Vice-Chair
Gavin Stollar
Secretary
Matthew Harris
Treasurer
Alexander Gilbert
We call on our readers to do the following:
Contact the above-mentioned Friends of Israel and ask them to justify their support for Israels murder of Palestinian civilians, its occupation of Palestinian territory, its blockade of Gaza in order to bring down the democratically elected representative of the Palestinians, Hamas, and its continuous colonization of occupied territories with American, European, Russian and other Jewish settlers. You can find out the contact details of MPs by clicking here or here
Be prepared with facts, figures and arguments read our website to remind yourself; be succinct and try not to be emotional, aggressive or rude.
Name and shame the above-mentioned Friends of Israel, and other Friends of Israel not listed here, by exposing them to your local media, your friends, colleagues and other contacts and urge them to expose these apologists for murder to their friends, colleagues and other contacts, and to ask why these agents of a foreign power hold positions of political influence in Britain.
Help us to name and shame other Friends of Israel not listed here by letting us know who they and how you found out that they are Friends of Israel.
How long will people allow Israel and its elaborate network of stooges in the Friends of Israel lobby groups to morally blackmail them into silence over Israels crimes by abusing the memory of the Holocaust?
As the Irish philosopher and political scientist Edmund Burke said, All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.
Do not let evil triumph.
Name and shame British Friends of Israel > Global > Redress Information & Analysis
By Redress Information & Analysis January 19, 2009
Redress Information & Analysis names and shames members of Israels network of stooges in the British Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democratic parties; it calls on its readers to challenge these stooges and to help it expose apologists for Israeli murder by supplying it with verified information about other Friends of Israel.
In the 23 days of the Israeli war on Gaza that began on 27 December 2008, 1300 Palestinians have been killed by the Zionist war machine, including 417 children and 108 women, and a further 5320 have been injured. In the same period, 13 Israelis were killed. That is a ratio of 100:1, excluding the injured.
In the meantime, Israels network of stooges in the British Parliament have been fighting a rear-guard action to justify the slaughter of Palestinians. You will find them justifying Israeli crimes at every opportunity and prevaricating to avoid action against Israel, such as sanctions in the wake of Israels targeting of United Nations compounds in Gaza, for example. They are apologists for murder.
Israels stooges in Britain are spread far and wide and can be found at every tier of the British establishment. They include Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Foreign Secretary David Miliband, former Prime Minister Tony Blair and many other serving and former holders of political office.
At the core of Israels network of stooges are the Friends of Israel groups in the three main political parties:
Labour Friends of Israel
Conservative Friends of Israel and
Liberal Democrat Friends of Israel.
Below is a list of officials of the Friends of Israel groups in the Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democratic parties. It is by no means exhaustive. Conservative Friends of Israel, for example, say that about 80 per cent of the partys MPs and MEPs belong to the group.
Labour Friends of Israel
Chair
Andrew Gwynne MP
Vice Chairs
Andrew Dismore MP
Louise Ellman MP
Gary Titley MEP
Policy Council
Stephen Byers MP (Chair)
David Blunkett MP
Lord Foster of Bishop Auckland
Lord Foulkes of Cumnock
Adam Ingram MP
Denis MacShane MP
Alun Michael MP
Don Touhig MP
Convenor
Anne Snelgrove MP
Parliamentary Executive
Fabian Hamilton MP
Sharon Hodgson MP
Joan Humble MP
Eric Joyce MP
Ashok Kumar MP
Stephen Ladyman MP
Andrew Miller MP
Dan Norris MP
Nick Palmer MP
Terry Rooney MP
Dari Taylor MP
Chair (House of Lords)
Baroness Ramsay of Cartvale
Peers
Lord Archer of Sandwell
Lord Clarke of Hampstead
Lord Clinton-Davis
Lord Davies of Coity
Lord Glenamara
Lord Haskel
Lord Janner of Braunstone
Lord Macdonald of Tradeston
Lord Mitchell
Lord Turnberg
Professor Lord Winston
Lord Wedderburn of Charlton QC
Conservative Friends of Israel
Director
Stuart Polak
Political Director
Robert Halfon
Projects Director
Stephanie Leven,
Research Manager
Nathalie Tamam,
Secretary
Julie Tamir,
Membership Secretary
Charlotte Polak,
Parliamentary Group
Chairman
James Arbuthnot MP
Vice Chairmen
Sir John Butterfill
James Clappison MP
Secretary
David Amess MP
Officers
Alistair Burt MP
Lee Scott MP
Theresa Villiers MP
Chairman of Conservative Friends of Israel Europe
Timothy Kirkhope MEP
Honorary Officers
President
Baroness Shephard of Northwold
Vice Chairmen
Jeremy Galbraith
Betty Geller
Lord Taylor of Holbeach
Stanley Cohen
Michael Heller
Vice Presidents
Sir Timothy Sainsbury
Lord Lane of Horsell
Sir Michael Latham
Lord Sanderson of Bowden
Lord Steinberg
Lord Thomas of Gwydir
Executive Board
Richard Harrington (Chairman)
Lance Anisfeld
Lorraine da Costa
Jonathan Gough
Andrew Heller (Hon. Treasurer)
Steven Kaye
Edward Lee
Howard Leigh
Stephen Massey
David Meller
Jonathan Metliss
Gary Mond
Stephan Shakespeare
Barry Welck
Hilda Worth
Liberal Democrat Friends of Israel
President
Sir Alan Beith MP
Chair
Cllr Monroe Palmer
Vice-Chair
Gavin Stollar
Secretary
Matthew Harris
Treasurer
Alexander Gilbert
We call on our readers to do the following:
Contact the above-mentioned Friends of Israel and ask them to justify their support for Israels murder of Palestinian civilians, its occupation of Palestinian territory, its blockade of Gaza in order to bring down the democratically elected representative of the Palestinians, Hamas, and its continuous colonization of occupied territories with American, European, Russian and other Jewish settlers. You can find out the contact details of MPs by clicking here or here
Be prepared with facts, figures and arguments read our website to remind yourself; be succinct and try not to be emotional, aggressive or rude.
Name and shame the above-mentioned Friends of Israel, and other Friends of Israel not listed here, by exposing them to your local media, your friends, colleagues and other contacts and urge them to expose these apologists for murder to their friends, colleagues and other contacts, and to ask why these agents of a foreign power hold positions of political influence in Britain.
Help us to name and shame other Friends of Israel not listed here by letting us know who they and how you found out that they are Friends of Israel.
How long will people allow Israel and its elaborate network of stooges in the Friends of Israel lobby groups to morally blackmail them into silence over Israels crimes by abusing the memory of the Holocaust?
As the Irish philosopher and political scientist Edmund Burke said, All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.
Do not let evil triumph.
Name and shame British Friends of Israel > Global > Redress Information & Analysis
Solomon2
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Solomon2
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Taking the heads of slain enemies and impaling them upon pikes appears to have been a favorite pastime among crusaders
Chronicles record a story of a crusader-bishop who referred to the impaled heads of slain Muslims as a joyful spectacle for the people of God.
*******************
(Above lines were from A. Rahman, not me.)
"propaganda against Islam"? A. Rahman, Hamas is playing rope-a-dope and you're the victim: they have succeeded in portraying any of their faults and crimes as "propaganda against Islam" - something to be suppressed, according to you - rather than a group who uses Islam as a cover for dirty deeds. If you treasure such deeds as "Islamic" then do you claim to be pursuing the will of Allah? What kind of impression are you creating among non-Muslims about Islam? Who, then, is the one guilty of "posting propaganda against Islam"?
Last edited:
Both Fatahs Mahmoud Abbas and Kabuls king Karzai has many common traits. The most hilarious one is that both like to play bullies to scare their enemies by making idiotic threats which they dont have the teeth to carry out without the blessing and help from their masters in Washington and Tel Aviv.
Fatah chief Abbass term as President of Palestinian Authority (PA) - a title bestowed on him by USrael - being the only negotiating partner - expired on January 8, 2009. By PA Constitution, he is obliged to call for a new election for that post. However, the Israeli National Security Council advised Zionist regime to make everything in its power to hinder the elections in the PA at all cost because it may lead to another Hamas victory. Zionist regime, therefore, as usual, had no problem in inventing an excuse for its so-called Operation Cast Lead aka another Jewish humiliation to carry out slaughter of 1.5 million unarmed Gazans.
While Abbas is mad on Zionist regime for failing to topple Hamas government - he has also threaten Tehran to shut-down the West Bank office of Tehran-based Arabic language TV news Channel Al-Alam, because its reporters refuse to address Abbas by his expired title.
Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) is a secularist politician but his real family backgroud is shrouded in mystery. On January 12, 2001 - Egyptian newspaper, Al-Usbu, quoted Palestinian writer Abd al-Qadir Yasin that Mahmoud Abbas Bahai family migrated from Iran to Palestine under British mandate and their family name was Mirza. Abbas was 13-year-old when his family was forced to leave their home in Safad, which was destroyed by Jewish terrorists belonging to Palmach brigade.
In May 28, 2003 - Israeli daily Haaretz reported former Mossad Chief, Shabtai Shavit, claiming that Abbas belongs to Bahai sect.
SOURCE
Fatah chief Abbass term as President of Palestinian Authority (PA) - a title bestowed on him by USrael - being the only negotiating partner - expired on January 8, 2009. By PA Constitution, he is obliged to call for a new election for that post. However, the Israeli National Security Council advised Zionist regime to make everything in its power to hinder the elections in the PA at all cost because it may lead to another Hamas victory. Zionist regime, therefore, as usual, had no problem in inventing an excuse for its so-called Operation Cast Lead aka another Jewish humiliation to carry out slaughter of 1.5 million unarmed Gazans.
While Abbas is mad on Zionist regime for failing to topple Hamas government - he has also threaten Tehran to shut-down the West Bank office of Tehran-based Arabic language TV news Channel Al-Alam, because its reporters refuse to address Abbas by his expired title.
Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) is a secularist politician but his real family backgroud is shrouded in mystery. On January 12, 2001 - Egyptian newspaper, Al-Usbu, quoted Palestinian writer Abd al-Qadir Yasin that Mahmoud Abbas Bahai family migrated from Iran to Palestine under British mandate and their family name was Mirza. Abbas was 13-year-old when his family was forced to leave their home in Safad, which was destroyed by Jewish terrorists belonging to Palmach brigade.
In May 28, 2003 - Israeli daily Haaretz reported former Mossad Chief, Shabtai Shavit, claiming that Abbas belongs to Bahai sect.
SOURCE
Beskar
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Israel launches attacks in Gaza
BBC NEWS | Middle East | Israel launches attacks in Gaza
Gazans are struggling to recover from the three-week conflict.
Israel has carried out an air attack in the Gaza Strip and launched an incursion with tanks and bulldozers across the border.
There is heavy fighting near Khan Younis in southern Gaza, with many people fleeing their homes.
The incursion follows a bomb attack which killed one Israeli soldier and wounded three near the Gaza border.
It is the worst violence since Israel's offensive against Hamas in Gaza ended with both sides declaring ceasefires.
An Israeli soldier was killed by an explosive device planted on its side of the border near the Kissufim crossing, prompting troops to opened fire into Gaza.
A farmer was killed, Palestinian officials said.
There is now heavy fighting going on in Khan Younis, south of the Kissufim crossing.
Palestinian sources say 20 Israeli tanks and seven army bulldozers have made an incursion.
Two people were also wounded in an Israeli air strike in Khan Younis.
Hospital sources say one was a member of Hamas' Popular Resistance Committee who was on a motorbike at the time, and the other was a passer-by.
Israel has closed border crossings into Gaza because of the attack on the patrol, Israeli officials said, stopping the flow of aid supplies to Gaza's 1.5 million residents.
Aid agencies have been struggling to meet the urgent needs of tens of thousands of displaced, homeless and injured people in Gaza.
US visit
The fresh violence comes as US President Barack Obama's Middle East envoy, George Mitchell, arrives in the region to seek a more permanent truce.
He will hold talks with Egyptian officials, who have been mediating between Israel and Hamas, before travelling on to Jerusalem and Ramallah.
In Washington, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the US supported "Israel's right to self-defense".
"The rocket barrages which are getting closer and closer to populated areas (in Israel) cannot go unanswered," she said in her first news conference at the State Department.
Israel and Hamas declared separate ceasefires on 17 and 18 January, ending an Israeli offensive in which nearly 1,300 Palestinians and 10 Israeli soldiers were killed. Three Israeli civilians were killed by rocket fire from Gaza in the same period.
Israel said its objective to stop militant rocket fire into Israel had been fulfilled.
When Hamas called its ceasefire, it said Israel had one week to fully open all the crossings into Gaza, in order to end an 18-month blockade of the territory that has crippled its economy.
Israel wants guarantees that Hamas militants will not re-arm via smuggling tunnels under the border with Egypt.
BBC NEWS | Middle East | Israel launches attacks in Gaza
Gazans are struggling to recover from the three-week conflict.
Israel has carried out an air attack in the Gaza Strip and launched an incursion with tanks and bulldozers across the border.
There is heavy fighting near Khan Younis in southern Gaza, with many people fleeing their homes.
The incursion follows a bomb attack which killed one Israeli soldier and wounded three near the Gaza border.
It is the worst violence since Israel's offensive against Hamas in Gaza ended with both sides declaring ceasefires.
An Israeli soldier was killed by an explosive device planted on its side of the border near the Kissufim crossing, prompting troops to opened fire into Gaza.
A farmer was killed, Palestinian officials said.
There is now heavy fighting going on in Khan Younis, south of the Kissufim crossing.
Palestinian sources say 20 Israeli tanks and seven army bulldozers have made an incursion.
Two people were also wounded in an Israeli air strike in Khan Younis.
Hospital sources say one was a member of Hamas' Popular Resistance Committee who was on a motorbike at the time, and the other was a passer-by.
Israel has closed border crossings into Gaza because of the attack on the patrol, Israeli officials said, stopping the flow of aid supplies to Gaza's 1.5 million residents.
Aid agencies have been struggling to meet the urgent needs of tens of thousands of displaced, homeless and injured people in Gaza.
US visit
The fresh violence comes as US President Barack Obama's Middle East envoy, George Mitchell, arrives in the region to seek a more permanent truce.
He will hold talks with Egyptian officials, who have been mediating between Israel and Hamas, before travelling on to Jerusalem and Ramallah.
In Washington, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the US supported "Israel's right to self-defense".
"The rocket barrages which are getting closer and closer to populated areas (in Israel) cannot go unanswered," she said in her first news conference at the State Department.
Israel and Hamas declared separate ceasefires on 17 and 18 January, ending an Israeli offensive in which nearly 1,300 Palestinians and 10 Israeli soldiers were killed. Three Israeli civilians were killed by rocket fire from Gaza in the same period.
Israel said its objective to stop militant rocket fire into Israel had been fulfilled.
When Hamas called its ceasefire, it said Israel had one week to fully open all the crossings into Gaza, in order to end an 18-month blockade of the territory that has crippled its economy.
Israel wants guarantees that Hamas militants will not re-arm via smuggling tunnels under the border with Egypt.
orion
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Evil Flare
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they Destroyed 40 Masajids by their Tankers ...
Shame on Muslim World which Cant do any thing ..
Shame on Muslim World which Cant do any thing ..
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