Operation Cast Lead
Day 12 - Wednesday 07 January 2009
The Israeli military announced on Wednesday that there would be a three-hour break each day in its operations in the Palestinian enclave to allow residents to receive humanitarian aid and to leave dangerous areas. The Israelis stopped their attacks for three hours Wednesday to allow a "humanitarian corridor" into beleaguered Gaza, and to allow residents to stock up on vital goods. Israel says the humanitarian recess will enable about 80 trucks carrying medicine, medical supplies, basic food and fuel to pass into Gaza via the Kerem Shalom crossing. Hamas also stopped firing rockets at Israel during the pause. Israeli officials said they will consider further temporary cease-fires in the coming days.
The U.N. World Food Program says Israel's decision to hold its fire for three hours a day in Gaza City will help ease the plight of the conflict-stricken population. The World Food Program says the three-hour daily pause in military air strikes will provide a bit of relief to the beleaguered population of Gaza, but, it is not enough. The WFP has a regular caseload of 265,000 non-refugee Palestinians in Gaza. Since Israel began its military offensive on December 27, the number of beneficiaries has increased by 50,000. The WFP has enough food stocks in Gaza City to last several weeks. But a lot of the food is kept in government warehouses and, for security reasons, it is difficult to access it.
Israeli aircraft dropped leaflets over Rafah in southern Gaza, warning people to leave before Israeli forces launch air strikes on the border city. Rafah has the only crossing between the Palestinian territory and Egypt, but it is largely closed. It also has an extensive network of illegal tunnels into Egypt, used by Hamas militants as well as civilians to smuggle supplies. The Israeli military had targeted those tunnels in its air strikes in previous days.
On Wednesday (Jan. 7), the IAF, IN and Artillery Corps again provided support to the Ground Forces, Armored Corps and Engineering Corps during their operations. The forces struck squads of armed terror operatives, as they were approaching ground forces, and struck rocket launching sites used to firing at the ground forces. In the northern Gaza Strip, in a number of instances, ground forces came under fire from armed Hamas operatives and the forces responded with direct fire. Ten soldiers were lightly injured during the gun battles. Throughout the day, the IAF struck more than 40 additional targets. The targets include, weapons smuggling tunnels in the southern Gaza Strip, ten rocket launching sites and pads, four armed terrorist squads, a Hamas outpost, nine weapons smuggling tunnels dug from under houses, a weapons storage facility, and four burrows from which rockets are launched.
Tuesday night (Jan. 6), IDF forces continued implementing ground maneuvers in the northern Gaza Strip, during which the soldiers clashed with several groups of terror operatives and neutralized booby-trapped structures. Soldiers also uncovered many stockpiled weapons, large stores of explosives, additional booby-traps, and smuggling tunnels. The Air Force, Navy, and Artillery Corps continued to operate in support of the ground troops. The Armored Corps and the Combat Engineering Corps struck Hamas targets, groups of armed operatives approaching IDF forces, and rocket launching pads that operatives intended to use in order to attack forces. In addition, the IAF struck over 40 targets throughout the Gaza Strip. The targets include rocket launching sites, bunkers used by terrorists to launch rockets at IDF forces, squads of armed Hamas operatives, various structures used by Hamas terror operatives, more than ten weapons smuggling tunnels (some located under the homes of Hamas operatives).
Israel says it will hold its fire for three hours a day, following mounting international pressure. The move is intended to allow Palestinians to escape dangerous areas and get basic humanitarian aid. Under the terms of the UN-sponsored corridors, Israeli forces will temporarily cease operations in selected areas to allow relief workers to deliver medical supplies and food and to enable refugees and injured Palestinians to leave the conflict zone. However, the Jewish State insists there'll be no let-up in the military campaign against Hamas. Israel is said to be considering the third phase of its operation, which will see its troops moving into more populated areas to target Hamas militants.
According to Palestinian sources, 688 have been killed and more than 3,000 wounded in Gaza since Israel began its offensive 11 days ago. According to Palestinian sources, at least 195 children had been killed. The Palestine Red Crescent Society said 100 children had been killed as of Tuesday. The Israeli military say it has killed around 130 Palestinian militants since their ground invasion began three days ago, but local doctors say many of the casualties are civilians. Israel has confirmed the loss of 8 soldiers so far, with four allegedly killed accidentally by their own side.
The UN Security Council says an immediate ceasefire is a vital priority. President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt has presented a three-point peace plan, backed by the US and France, to which Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has also given his support. The UN Security Council is undertaking two days of urgent diplomacy over the Middle East. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and has urged world leaders to work together to bring an end to the violence. So far Israel has rejected a US-backed ceasefire proposal, but said it would take the idea "very seriously".
An Egyptian-French plan calls for a limited cease-fire to take effect immediately to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza. The truce is aimed at giving Egypt time to broker a permanent end to hostilities between Israel and Hamas. A White House spokeswoman said today the U.S. is interested in learning more about the Egyptian-French plan. An Israeli spokesman says Israel only will accept a cease-fire that stops Hamas rocket fire from Gaza into the Jewish state, and prevents Palestinian militants from re-arming. Hamas, which controls Gaza in defiance of the Palestinian Authority, says it is studying the initiative. Hamas representatives have also demanded that the blockade of Gaza end.
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