Israel 'set for ceasefire vote'
Israeli ministers are set to vote on a unilateral ceasefire proposal at
the weekend, Israeli officials say, amid signs of diplomatic movement
on Gaza.
If security ministers approve the move, Israel would not have to agree terms
with Palestinian militant group Hamas.
The news comes after Israel and the US signed a deal to halt the smuggling of
arms into Gaza - a key Israeli demand.
High-level talks were held in Cairo and Washington as Israel's war with Hamas
in Gaza continued for a 19th day.
The BBC's Christian Fraser, who finally got into the Gaza Strip from
Egypt for the first time on Friday, says the situation for Palestinian
families in Rafah is tough.
Our correspondent says that while there have been
targeted Israeli strikes in the town, there is much collateral damage
as well, with a housing block and a playground among the sites
affected.
Israel has been bombing heavily along the border area,
with the aim of destroying tunnels running beneath the border between
Gaza and Egypt.
Conditions for Palestinian families seeking refuge in a
UN-run school in Rafah are very difficult, our correspondent says. Food
and electricity supplies are limited and there is no running water.
'Vital component'
Israeli military officials said 40 overnight air strikes on Gaza
targeted smuggling tunnels, rocket launching points, weapons stores and
a militants' training camp.
The bodies of 23 people were later recovered in the Tel al-Hawa district of
Gaza City, medics said.
Militants also continue to fire rockets from Gaza into Israel. About 10
were launched on Friday but caused no injuries, the Israeli army said.
Asked on Israel's Channel 10 TV station if the country
would act unilaterally to end the conflict, Foreign Minister Tzipi
Livni said it was down to the security cabinet to make that decision.
"I have said the end doesn't have to be in agreement with Hamas but rather in
arrangements against Hamas," Ms Livni said.
The cabinet is expected to meet on Saturday, according to reports.
Speaking at the signing of the deal on arms smuggling with Israel, US
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she hoped it would ensure Gaza
could "never again be used as a launch pad" for attacks on Israel.
The supply of arms to Hamas and other groups in Gaza was a "direct cause of the
current hostilities", Ms Rice said.
"It is therefore incumbent upon us in the international community to
prevent the rearmament of Hamas so that a ceasefire will be durable and
fully respected," she said, adding that she was also concerned to end
the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza.
Ms Livni, in Washington, described the memorandum of understanding as "a vital
component for the cessation of hostilities".
'Final act'
Meanwhile, talks have continued in Cairo between Israeli and Egyptian officials
on reaching a ceasefire agreement.
Hamas was also invited back to Cairo on Friday for more talks, an official told
the al-Jazeera network.
After meeting Palestinian Authority leaders in the West Bank, UN
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called on Israel to end the fighting.
"I would like to see an immediate ceasefire," he said,
adding that a deal between Israel and Hamas to stop the conflict might
be possible within the next few days.
Israel has said any ceasefire must be "durable and sustainable".
Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal said they would not accept Israeli conditions for a
ceasefire.
Earlier, Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev told the BBC that Israel
wanted a prompt end to the violence.
"The diplomacy now is in high gear. Hopefully we're entering the final
act. We want this to be over as soon as possible," he said.
Meanwhile, a teenager reportedly died during anti-Israeli protests in the West
Bank on Friday.
He was killed as violence broke out between demonstrators and Israeli
soldiers in the West Bank town of Hebron, reports said. Clashes were
also reported at the Qalandya checkpoint.
The Israeli army had earlier closed all access to the
West Bank for the next two days following a call by Hamas for all
Palestinians to observe what it called a day of wrath after Friday
prayers.
The Palestinian Authority issued a similar call to action to followers of
Fatah, a rival Palestinian faction to Hamas.
In Gaza City, tens of thousands of mourners took to the streets for the
funeral of a top Hamas leader, Said Siyam, who died when his brother's
house was bombed on Thursday.
The senior UN official in Gaza, John Ging, meanwhile
described as "total nonsense" claims by Israel that militants had fired
from a UN compound shelled by Israel on Thursday.
Health officials in Hamas-controlled Gaza say at least
1,105 Palestinians have been killed and 5,100 wounded since Israel
launched an operation on 27 December to end rocket attacks against its
people.
Thirteen Israelis - three of them civilians - have died, while 233 soldiers
have been wounded, the Israeli army says.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/7834255.stm
Published: 2009/01/16 19:35:10 GMT
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