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Israel rebuffs truce, mobilises troops

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-01-01 11:40

Huda, a Palestinian mother, said: "When this all is over, we will all need to see a psychiatrist because of the horrors we have witnessed."

Despite calls by European and Arab powers for an end to the violence, public anger in Israel over the widening of the rocket attacks to include Beersheba, 40 km (24 miles) from Gaza, could prompt the government to hit Hamas even harder.

Israeli officials said they could consider amendments to the French proposal and alternatives suggested by other parties.

Cabinet ministers, however, approved the mobilisation of 2,500 army reservists, expanding on an earlier call-up of 6,500 soldiers for the force on the Gaza border, and officials said a ground offensive was an option.

HUMANITARIAN AID

Israel said it was doing its part to let humanitarian supplies into Gaza despite the rocket fire. Ninety-three truckloads of food, medicine and blood for hospitals entered on Wednesday, Israeli official Peter Lerner said. Gaza officials said another 97 trucks would be let in on Thursday.

A Palestinian boy holds a candle during a protest in the West Bank city of Nablus against Israel's offensive in Gaza December 31, 2008. [Agencies]

Arab foreign ministers met in Cairo to seek a common position in response to the Israeli attacks but the Arab world is deeply divided in its attitude towards Hamas, which took over the Gaza Strip last year after fighting a brief war with the secular Fatah faction loyal to Western-backed Abbas.

Following a request by Arab countries, the Security Council scheduled a meeting on the violence for 6 p.m. EST (2300 GMT).

At least eight long-range Grad rockets hit the desert city of Beersheba. One struck a school that was empty after authorities cancelled classes.

Mayor Rubie Danilovitch told Beersheba residents to cancel New Year's parties and stay at home.

Other long-range rockets hit the southern coastal city of Ashkelon and dozens of short-range rockets pelted border towns.

Israel's air strikes on Wednesday targeted smuggling tunnels on the Gaza-Egypt frontier and Hamas government offices in Gaza City. Palestinian medics said five people -- two militants, a doctor, a paramedic and a woman -- were killed.

Food supplies in Gaza were running low and power cuts were affecting much of the territory. Hospitals were struggling to cope with the high number of casualties from the offensive.

Medical officials revised the number of wounded to 1,712 after figures arrived from medical centres. Three Israeli civilians and a soldier have been killed by rockets.

Olmert's centrist government launched the operation six weeks before a February 10 election that opinion polls predict the opposition right-wing Likud party will win, with the goal of halting rocket attacks by militants in Gaza.

The current violence erupted after a six-month ceasefire brokered by Egypt expired on December 19 and Hamas intensified rocket attacks from the blockaded Gaza Strip.

France said it would host Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on Thursday and an Israeli official said French President Nicolas Sarkozy planned to visit Jerusalem next Monday.

 

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