Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said Israel was ready to “significantly expand” its operation against militants in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, as the conflict entered its fifth day.
“The army is prepared to significantly expand the operation,” Netanyahu said at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting. “The soldiers are ready for any activity that could take place.” His remarks came as Israeli raids on Gaza left another 23 people dead on Sunday, including five children.
One strike hit a building being used by local and some international media organisations. At least eight journalists are reported to have been injured. The World Health Organisation said hospitals in Gaza were overcrowded with casualties and were running short of medical supplies. Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, which began on Wednesday, has so far killed 95 Palestinians and injured more than 450. On the other hand, armed groups have fired hundreds of rockets at Israel, killing three people and injuring 18. In worrying development, thousands of Israeli troops and hardware gathered along the border, fuelling concerns that the Jewish state was poised to expand its relentless aerial bombing campaign into a ground operation.
The Israeli army sealed off the main roads around Gaza late on Friday and shortly afterwards, the cabinet authorised the recruitment of up to 75,000 reservists, prompting a flurry of diplomatic efforts to broker a truce to head off any escalation.
Truce: Meanwhile, a senior Palestinian official said talks on the possibility of a truce to end five days of violence in and around Gaza were under way, and a deal could be reached “today or tomorrow”.
“There are serious talks to reach a truce, and it is possible that understandings will be reached today or tomorrow,” the senior official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The official’s comments were confirmed by an Egyptian security source, who said: “Egypt has continued meetings and intensive communication with all parties to reach a truce as quickly as possible. “We have reached important understandings but we still have a little way to go in order to complete the truce agreement in order to achieve security and stability and… ensure it doesn’t happen again.” A source close to the negotiations said a series of meetings were being held in Cairo between the Palestinian factions, involving both Hamas politburo chief Khaled Meshaal and Islamic Jihad leader Ramadan Shallah. “The organisations want to completely end the siege on Gaza and stop all the Israeli aggression and in return, all attacks on Israel will stop,” the source said.
Overnight, talk of a truce agreement intensified after Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi said his government was in talks with Israel and the Palestinians and that there were indications they could reach a truce “soon”.
“There are some indications that there could be a ceasefire soon,” Morsi said at a joint news conference with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday evening, adding that there were still “no guarantees”.
Obama: US President Barack Obama said it was “preferable” for the Gaza crisis to be ended without a “ramping up” of Israeli military activity, but squarely blamed militants for causing the showdown. “Israel has every right to expect that it does not have missiles fired into its territory,” Obama said, adding, “if that can be accomplished without a ramping up of military activity in Gaza, that is preferable”.
Israel ‘ready’ to expand strikes after killing another 23
