GAZA CITY: Israel today declared a unilateral cease-fire effective from 2 a.m. in the Gaza Strip. In a televised news conference, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the truce was made possible by the success of the military operation against Hamas. He said the 22-day offensive had achieved all its objectives
Earlier yesterday, Israeli forces shelled a United Nations-run school which was used as a shelter for Palestinian refugees in the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya, killing a mother and her young son. The school had some 1,600 refugees when it was hit by tank fire.
The bombing of the school brought angry denunciation from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who described it as “outrageous”. “I condemn in the strongest terms this outrageous attack which is the third time that this has happened,” he said. “Top Israeli leaders had given me their assurances two days ago when I was visiting Israel that UN premises would be fully respected. I strongly demand a thorough investigation, “ Ban told reporters in Beirut.
Hours before the Israeli cease-fire, over a dozen people were killed in 50 air raids elsewhere in the coastal strip, taking the Palestinian death toll in the war on Gaza to 1,205. At least 410 children and 108 women were among the dead. The number of wounded have swelled to 5,300 including 1,630 children, Palestinian medics said.
Hamas, which rules Gaza, said it would not halt its attacks unless Israel withdrew its troops from the strip and ended the siege of the territory.
A senior Hamas official in Damascus, Mohammed Nazzal, criticized Israel’s strategy, telling The Associated Press that ending conflict between the two sides was “impossible without an Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.”
A second Hamas official based in Beirut, Osama Hamdan, said Israel must also end its siege of Gaza and agree to open the territory’s border crossings. “If any vision does not achieve these things, then we will continue the battle on the ground,” he said.
UN chief Ban also said an Israeli cease-fire should be accompanied by a timetable for the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the territory.
Israeli officials said they expected Israel and Egypt to reach an agreement on increased security along the Gaza-Egyptian border. Under its terms, they said, the Rafah border crossing would only reopen in line with a 2005 agreement with the Palestinian Authority, which calls for forces of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to be in control and for Europeans to monitor traffic. Israel and the United States signed a pact on Friday aimed at stopping the smuggling of weapons into Gaza. Britain, France and Germany have offered to send warships to help in the effort.
Hamas drove Abbas’ forces from Gaza in June 2007, 18 months after defeating his Fatah faction in a Palestinian election. It no longer recognizes him as president.
Several world leaders are expected to attend a summit on Gaza in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh today. They will include Abbas, UN chief Ban and French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
The UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly late Friday to demand an immediate and durable cease-fire in the strife-torn territory leading to the full withdrawal of Israeli forces.
In a nonbinding amended resolution, the 192-member body demanded “full respect” of a Security Council resolution adopted last week calling for “an immediate, durable and fully respected cease-fire leading to the full withdrawal of Israeli forces” from Gaza.
Council Resolution 1860 also called for the “unimpeded provision and distribution throughout the Gaza Strip of humanitarian assistance, including of food, fuel and medical treatment.”
The assembly vote, which came after hours of procedural wrangling, was 142 in favor with three against and nine abstentions, according to a revised vote count. Israel, the United States and Nauru cast no votes.
— With input from agencies
