Israel advances in Gaza, Turkish delegation in Damascus hopeful

Infantry units, bolstered by thousands of newly-deployed reservists, battled with Hamas gunmen across the region as Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Israel was achieving the objectives of Operation Cast Lead, now in its 17th day.

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But Hamas, the Islamist movement which runs the tiny Palestinian enclave, continued to fire rockets into Israel, with the army saying at least 14 had been launched in the course of the day.

 

Residents told AFP tank units had advanced several hundred meters (yards) in the neighborhoods of Eijline, Tuffah and Zeitun on the southern edge of Gaza City where the sound of gunfire echoed throughout the morning.

 

Troops also staged an incursion into the southern town of Khan Yunis where witnesses said some 35 houses were destroyed.

 

Medics said 20 Palestinians were killed in the latest fighting, bringing the overall toll to 909 since the start of Operation Cast Lead on Dec. 27, including 277 children and 95 women. A further 3,950 have been wounded.

 

Busloads of Israeli reservists headed south towards Gaza on Sunday as fighting raged on in the Hamas-ruled territory in defiance of a U.N. Security Council demand for a ceasefire.

The reservists had been held back while Israeli leaders ponder an all-out ground offensive on Gaza's towns and cities to try to destroy Hamas's ability to fire rockets into Israel.

Such a move would risk higher Israeli military casualties as well as even heavier losses among the 1.5 million Palestinians packed into the tiny coastal enclave with no escape route.

TURKISH DELEGATION IN SYRIA

A Turkish delegation led by Ahmet Davutoglu, chief advisor to Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, met Syrian and Hamas authorities in the capital city of Damascus in search of a ceasefire in Gaza on Monday.

 

Formed by Prime Ministry Office and Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials, the delegation held talks with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem and Hamas officials.

 

The Turkish delegation is optimistic for a ceasefire, the Anatolian Agency reported.

 

The delegation will return to Cairo to once again meet with Egyptian and Palestinian officials.

 

Davutoglu and the accompanying delegation last week met with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Ali Aboul Gheit and Hamas officials in Cairo.

 

At a Washington news conference on Monday, U.S. President George Bush said in reply to a question that he hoped the violence would end before he handed over to Barack Obama on Jan. 20.

 

"I'm for a sustainable ceasefire, and a definition of sustainable ceasefire is Hamas stops firing rockets into Israel," Bush said. "I happen to believe the choice is Hamas's to make."

 

He said Israel had a right to defend itself but should be mindful of "innocent folks" in the Gaza Strip.

 

TRUCE TALKS
In Egypt, which has been spearheading Western-backed efforts to end the war, talks were due to resume between Egyptian officials and Hamas.

 

But Israel’s pointman for Gaza truce talks, Amos Gilad, delayed a planned visit in what Israeli radio speculated was meant as a pressure tactic on Hamas.

 

Speaking on a trip to Holon, a suburb of Tel Aviv, Olmert said Israel was achieving its objectives in the conflict.

 

"We hope that the violence will end swiftly but in order for that to come about, two things must happen: rocket fire must stop and the terror organizations must stop rearming," he said.

 

"These things are not impossible and we are closer to them today than a few days ago… I hope that the efforts of recent days by the Egyptians will allow us to end the war," added Olmert who is to stand down after elections on Feb. 10.

Cairo upped the pressure on Israel on Sunday by summoning its ambassador to demand that the Jewish state comply with last week’s U.N. Security Council resolution and open humanitarian corridors to relieve the besieged territory.

Both Israel and Hamas have waved off the resolution that called for an immediate end to the fighting.

The negotiations in Cairo are centering on a three-point plan that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak unveiled during the week.

The plan calls for an immediate ceasefire to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza, talks on opening Gaza’s border crossings and taking steps to prevent arms smuggling, and relaunching Palestinian reconciliation efforts.