UN Chief to Hold Gaza Talks as Israeli Offensive Continues
By VOA News
05 January 2009
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon plans to meet Monday with Security Council members as well as Arab leaders to reach a consensus on the situation in Gaza.
Mr. Ban has called for an immediate end to Israel's ground operation and has expressed frustration that the Security Council has not been able to agree on what steps to take. The United States has objected to previous calls for a unilateral Israeli cease-fire.
Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki today criticized U.S. President-elect Barack Obama's refusal to make a statement regarding the Israeli offensive. Malki spoke after a closed-door meeting with other Arab foreign ministers at the United Nations.
Officials from the Obama transition team have said little about the Gaza crisis, deferring to the outgoing Bush administration.
European Union envoys also are pressing for an end to combat operations, traveling throughout the region for talks. The delegation, including EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, met today with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and asked for a cease-fire. Livni dismissed calls for negotiations to end Israel's campaign against Hamas, saying her country could not reach an agreement with "terror."
Earlier, the EU delegation met in Egypt with President Hosni Mubarak. Solana said Cairo's role is fundamental to obtaining a cease-fire.
Protests demanding an end to Israel's campaign have been held around the world, including today in Lebanon and Turkey.
Governments and aid agencies also are appealing for immediate assistance for civilians in Gaza. Their situation was already dire prior to the campaign, with shortages of most basic supplies because Israel tightened its blockade of the Palestinian territory late last year in response to militant rocket fire from the Hamas-controlled region.
Palestinian Foreign Minister Malki said today he is working to lift the blockade and get supplies and medicine into Gaza.
Iranian media report that Tehran is offering to set up a make-shift hospital in Egypt close to its border with Gaza to help treat wounded Palestinians. Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki made the offer in a letter to his Egyptian counterpart.
Egypt has kept its border with the Palestinian territory closed, in part out of fears of embroiling itself further with Islamist militants of Hamas.
Israeli ground forces are battling Hamas militants throughout the Gaza Strip, while Israeli air strikes target suspected militant positions for the 10th straight day.
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak Monday said the campaign will go on until communities in southern Israel are safe from Hamas rocket attacks.
Despite the offensive, Hamas has continued to fire rockets into Israel, killing four Israelis, three of them civilians.
Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar today urged his followers to "crush" Israeli forces and target Israeli civilians. But a Hamas official says the Islamist group plans to send a delegation to Egypt today to discuss the latest violence.
Medical officials in Gaza say nearly 530 people have died in the last 10 days, including at least 11 civilians today, at least five of them children. Israel reports one soldier has been killed in the ground offensive and 30 others wounded.
Israel also has continued to limit media access to Gaza.
Israel has prevented foreign journalists from entering Gaza to cover the military campaign.
Israeli President Shimon Peres said Sunday the Jewish state does not want to reoccupy the Gaza Strip, but only to stop Hamas's rocket fire into Israel.
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said the humanitarian conditions in Gaza are too dire and that Israeli attacks must stop.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
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