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
for years and given plenty of chances for a calm."
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Yuval Diskin, the chief of Israel's domestic intelligence agency and reportedly a strong opponent of the ceasefire idea, was quoted as telling cabinet ministers that Hamas's "ability to rule" had already been badly impaired by the continuous wave of aerial attacks. A participant in yesterday's meeting said Mr Diskin had told it that that weapons-development facilities had been "completely wiped out" and that the network of smuggling tunnels under Gaza's border with Egypt – which Israel again bombed yesterday – had been badly damaged.
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The package contains similar elements to those spelled out on Tuesday by EU ministers and the Middle East Quartet. The proposals call for an immediate and sustainable ceasefire, with international monitors guaranteeing the truce and the reopening of border crossings into Gaza. European governments hope that, if the Arab states agree a united position, it would increase the pressure on Hamas to compromise.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/israel-defies-peacemakers-and-prepares-for-invasion-1220046.html
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