Israel laughs at the World

Israel has defied a formidable international consensus in favour of a ceasefire in Gaza by opting to continue its unprecedentedly fierce air attacks on Hamas targets and stepping up preparations for a possible ground offensive.

As the security cabinet rejected an EU-backed French proposal for a 48-hour humanitarian halt to the bombing, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said: “We did not begin the Gaza operation in order to finish it with rocket fire continuing like it did before. Israel has restrained [itself] for years and given plenty of chances for a calm.”

With Palestinian sources putting the total death toll in Gaza at 390, since the bombing beganon Saturday, with 1,600 wounded, Associated Press reported that a long column of tanks and armoured vehicles was visible along an access road to Gaza from Israel, while dozens of other tanks were parked in a field close to the border.

The Israeli military reported that more than 50 rockets had been fired by Gaza militants yesterday, including further longer-range, reportedly Chinese-made, rockets at the large southern city of Beersheeva which is more than 22 miles from the border. There were no serious casualties as a result by early evening. Four Israelis have been killed since the bombardment began last Saturday.

The Defence Minister, Ehud Barak, had let it be known on Tuesday that he intended to submit the proposal for a halt to the offensive – whose backers include the US – to yesterday’s security cabinet. But, after considerable confusion, he appears to have been persuaded at a meeting which included Mr Olmert and the Foreign Minister, Tzipi Livni, not to do so. More