Posted on 01/06/2009 10:43:04 PM PST by bruinbirdman
Israeli ground forces, which invaded Gaza on Saturday to counter rocket fire by armed Palestinian factions, have bisected the territory and encircled major populated areas.
Mr Olmert's office said in a statement that the corridor had been recommended by Israel's military chiefs and would entail granting periodic access to various areas of the strip to allow Palestinians to stock up on vital goods.
An Olmert spokesman, Mark Regev, described the measure as a "special status to allow the transfer of people, foodstuffs and medicines" and said it could be implemented on Wednesday.
It comes as the first signs of a ceasefire in Gaza have emerged as an Egyptian-brokered settlement appeared to be gaining broad support.
Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State, said Washington backed a proposal by Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak to end the fighting in Gaza.
"We need urgently to conclude a ceasefire that can endure and that can bring real security," Miss Rice told the special session of the UN Security Council in New York on Tuesday.
Earlier, Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, indicated that he was open to international efforts to end hostilities against Hamas.
He said the fighting could stop if Israel was sure that supplies of weapons to Hamas would be severed by international monitoring of Gaza's border with Egypt.
Militant fighters have launched thousands of rockets at southern Israel and the prime goal of the offensive is to halt this barrage.
Egypt, which has a peace treaty with Israel and is in regular contact with Hamas, is ideally placed to mediate a ceasefire. Talks were held in Cairo on Tuesday between the exiled leaders of Hamas, based in Syria, and Gen Omar Suleiman, Egypt's intelligence chief.
Gen Suleiman may tell Hamas that a ceasefire, which would halt rocket attacks on Israel, may
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
I’m sure it will be just as effective as the Oil for Food program
I wonder if Israel is taking care of the back yard ( Hamas in Gaza ) before taking care of Iran ?
Israel is thought to be open to an armistice brokered by Egypt because the secular regime shares its loathing of Hamas, an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood.
It believes any deal involving Egypt would prevent Hamas claiming victory as a result of surviving the onslaught, which has now gone on for 12 days.
Ben-Meir, an Israeli military expert, said: 'Egypt can force Hamas to accept a ceasefire even though it is offering Hamas nothing but its own survival. But in this situation that's a lot.' "
yitbos
Unnecessary, there is NO humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
And, not suprisingly, Egypt is not interested in Hamas' survival.
yitbos
Israel to open humanitarian corridor in Gaza Strip ...
and the anti-semites of the world will still despise them.
“Hamas is increasingly desperate for a ceasefire.
Its top leaders are being killed. Scores of its best trained fighters are being killed. Its arms depots and government buildings are being bombed to smithereens. So are its vital smuggling tunnels along the Egyptian border. Reports the Jerusalem Post: “Palestinian journalists in the Gaza Strip said on Monday that the general feeling was that Hamas does not exist any longer as a governing body. ‘All their government institutions have been destroyed,’ said a Gaza City reporter.
‘The Hamas leaders are now behaving like al-Qaida’s Osama bin Laden and [his deputy] Ayman Zawahiri. Their only public appearances are through recorded messages aired on Arab TV stations.’”
Preciously for this reason, now is no time to let up on Hamas. Israel should absolutely refuse to agree to the Mubarak-Sarkozy plan.”
This will only give Hamas a chance to rearm itself and commit more attacks.
Remember when Israel would open such "corridors" to the West Bank? Each time it it did, there would be suicide bomb attacks against Israel.
Will this "enduring" ceasefire look anything like the one between Israel and Hezb'Allah that Condoleezza Rice thrust upon Israel.
This enabled Hezb'Allah to rearm and expand ordnance stockpiles four fold behind the protection of UN Blue Helmets.
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