Israel Continues Attack, 1040 Dead in Gaza

Israel is attacking from the sea, land and air. UN and German diplomats have arrived in the region to calm down the situation.

The Israelis are continuing with attacks on the Gaza strip from land, sea and air, whist their representative is preparing to travel to Cairo where they will participate at talks on the Egyptian peace initiative.

The UN and German diplomats that travelled to the region are also working on achieving a cease fire. The chief secretary of the UN, Ban Ki-moon, and the German Minister of Foreign Affairs Frank-Walter Steinmeier, are scheduled to talk with Israeli leaders in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv on Thursday.

They should meet president Shimon Peres, premier Ehud Olmert, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs Tzipi Livni.

Ban spent Wednesday in Cairo, and Steinmeier, who called for the humanitarian ceasefire to become permanent on Thursday morning upon arriving at Tel Aviv, could return to Egypt’s capital tonight.

At least seven dead last night

Witnesses and agencies report that fierce battles are continuing near the city Tel al-Hawe in the south of the Gaza strip. The Palestinians reported that last night’s bombing killed at least seven people.

According to the latest Palestinian data, 1040 people have died since the start of the conflict 20 days ago, and around 5,000 have been injured.

The spokesperson of the Israeli air force reported that last night’s battles killed or wounded 35 Palestinian militants, mainly in air attacks that were aimed by soldiers on the field, with smaller participation by the navy.

The Israeli army, reports the spokesperson, targeted 70 targets during the night, amongst which was the mosque in Rafah, which the Israelis believe to be a rocket warehouse and place were militants gather.

Olmert, Livni and Barak get over differences

The Israelis aimed at a few houses of Hamas activists, in which, according to their knowledge, are weapons warehouses and 14 Palestinian strongholds from where militants rocketed the south of Israel.

In the south of Israel it was relatively quiet during the night, after 14 rockets were fired from the Gaza strip.

A high official from the Israeli Ministry of Defence, Amos Gilad, should voice Israel’s stance at the Egyptian peace initiative. In Cairo, he will voice the opinion of the Israeli trio – Olmert, Livni and Barak, who, according to the Israeli media, got over earlier differences in opinion and agreed that the “Egyptian initiative should be given a serious chance”.