BICOM

• Major efforts are underway to promote the Egyptian initiative for a ceasefire. Amos Gilad is expected to visit Cairo tomorrow to hear from Egypt about Hamas’s positions, particularly on ending the smuggling. Israel is also awaiting answers from Egypt on access of US engineers to the Philadelphi Corridor.
• Social Welfare and Social Services Minister Isaac Herzog has been appointed to increase humanitarian efforts in Gaza by coordinating the various government bodies dealing with humanitarian assistance.
• A number of Grad-Katyusha rockets were launched into northern Israel this morning. The IDF Northern Command is holding ongoing security assessments in light of the situation.
• To read Tuesday’s Gaza situation update, please click here: BICOM Briefing: Gaza situation update – 13 January 2009.

Key statements

Excerpts from Tuesday’s FCO questions:

Bill Rammell, Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs: “I visited Ashkelon, near the border, just before Christmas and the air raid sirens were going off while I was there. If that is happening on a sustained daily basis-as it has been-it is a real cause for concern. That is why we have argued as strongly as we have both for the rocket attacks to stop and also for an effective ceasefire.”

Bill Rammell: “I strongly agree with the hon. Gentleman. While Hamas remains committed to the obliteration of the state of Israel and to acts of terror, launching rocket attacks on a regular basis, we will not make progress. We need to move forward and agree a ceasefire, which must address the critical issue of arms smuggling across the border. That is one reason why the talks in Egypt are incredibly important.

Bill Rammell: “There are genuine and long-stated concerns about the regional role played by Iran. We constantly urge all parties and states in the region to work with us to try to secure a ceasefire as the first step that is desperately needed for the Palestinians in Gaza and for the Israelis.”

Bill Rammell: “I agree with the underlying thrust of my hon. Friend’s question; Hamas is not a benign organisation. It is committed to the obliteration of the state of Israel and to acts of terror. The statement that was made last week saying that it was now legitimate to attack Jewish children anywhere in the world was utterly chilling and utterly wrong.”

Andrew Gwynne (Denton and Reddish) (Lab): “The Foreign Secretary was right to emphasise the need to facilitate Palestinian unity in his statement on Monday, which is difficult, given the violent methods that Hamas employed to seize control of the Gaza strip, executing Fatah supporters and expelling Palestinian trade unionists. Is my hon. Friend concerned about reports coming out of the Gaza strip that the execution of Fatah supporters has resumed? If so, what are the British Government doing to make their views known?”

Mrs. Louise Ellman (Liverpool, Riverside) (Lab/Co-op): “Last week, Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar broadcast that Hamas was entitled to kill Jewish children anywhere they could be found, anywhere in the world, echoing the messages of hate in Hamas’s charter. Does the Minister believe that those people who challenge Israel’s right to defend itself from Hamas’s rockets understand the true nature of Hamas as set down in its charter and as shown by its actions?”

David Cairns (Inverclyde) (Lab): “According to reports from Egypt, the Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, Ali Larijani, and Saeed Jalili from the Iranian security services are actively encouraging Hamas not to enter into a ceasefire and, indeed, to step up the rocket attacks. Does my hon. Friend agree that those reports not only underline Iran’s wholly malign influence in this region but underscore genuine fears among the Israeli public that behind Hamas is a country led by a lunatic and committed to the destruction of the state of Israel?”

Mr. James Clappison (Hertsmere) (Con): “… is there not an interest in having some balance and remembering that this undoubtedly began through unprovoked aggression by Hamas firing a huge number of rockets into Israel, aimed at civilian targets? Would the proper step not be for Hamas to stop firing those rockets? As long as they are being fired, they are derailing the peace process in the Middle East, which may be the intention.”

Sir John Butterfill (Bournemouth, West) (Con): “Does the hon. Gentleman not think it ironic that the present Israeli Government were elected on a programme of withdrawing settlements and negotiating a twin-state arrangement independently, and have shown evidence of that purpose by withdrawing from Gaza and removing their own settlements from the area? Are not the present circumstances therefore primarily the responsibility of Hamas, which failed to take up the offers made by the Israeli Government, but continued its programme of rocketing civilians?”

Alistair Burt (North-East Bedfordshire) (Con): “But is not one of the fears of the world that the tragic loss of life in Gaza today will be compounded, and be seen to have been in vain, unless on this occasion, when hostilities stop, they do so on the basis of the chance of a secure, long-lasting peace? That will not be the case until Hamas and its allies move tangibly towards an acceptance of, and stop terrorising, the state of Israel.”

Situation on the ground

A number of Grad-Katyusha rockets were launched into northern Israel this morning. There were no casualties or damage as a result of the attack, but residents of northern Israel were ordered into bomb shelters. Three more rockets, which were set to be fired, were later discovered and dismantled by Lebanese troops, according to Lebanese security officials. The IDF Northern Command is holding ongoing security assessments in light of the situation.

Israel’s Ministerial Committee on National Security Affairs and PM Olmert have appointed Social Welfare and Social Services Minister Isaac Herzog to increase humanitarian efforts in Gaza by coordinating the various government bodies dealing with humanitarian assistance. Among other responsibilities, Minister Herzog will coordinate aid operations with the relevant international organisations.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi yesterday accused Hamas operatives of “forcibly preventing Palestinian civilians from leaving the combat areas and using them as a human shield against the IDF combatants.” He also said that IDF soldiers had discovered several schools that were booby-trapped by Hamas with dozens of kilograms of explosives, despite the fact that the classrooms were filled with pupils. He added that to prevent harm to civilians, the IDF has dropped hundreds of thousands of leaflets and made tens of thousands of phone calls to residents of homes that served as arms depots and workshops for manufacturing weapons.

Overnight, the IAF hit approximately 60 targets in Gaza, including Hamas police headquarters in Gaza City, an area rigged with explosive devices intended for detonation against IDF forces, five rocket launching sites including a group of mortar launchers, eight cells of gunmen, nine weapons production and weapons storage facilities (including one in the home of a Hamas operative in Gaza City), and approximately 35 weapons smuggling tunnels in southern Gaza.

Diplomatic developments

Major efforts are underway to promote the Egyptian initiative for a ceasefire. Officials in Jerusalem are reported to have said that the stages of ending Operation Cast Lead are likely to be a temporary ceasefire in which IDF troops will stop advancing, along with finalising the understandings with Egypt about preventing arms smuggling into Gaza – including the integration of US engineer troops. Once there is quiet, it will be possible to undertake a full ceasefire and IDF troop withdrawal from Gaza. Only at that point would talks about opening the border crossings be held.

Maj. Gen. (res.) Amos Gilad, director of the Political-Security Staff in the Defence Ministry, is expected to visit Cairo tomorrow to hear from Egypt about Hamas’s positions, particularly on ending the smuggling. Israel is also awaiting answers from Egypt on access of US engineers to the Philadelphi Corridor.

UN Secretary-General Ban will start his visit to the region today in a meeting with Egyptian President Mubarak. He will also visit Israel, the PA, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Kuwait and Turkey. The Security Council president, the French ambassador, voiced the hope that the UN secretary-general would succeed in implementing the Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire and a withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. He said that an important step would be the consent of all parties to the Egyptian proposal. 

Tally of missiles, rockets and mortar shells fired from Gaza

• Since 2001, total number of identified rocket and mortar shell hits: 8,813
• Since Israel’s unilateral disengagement from Gaza in August 2005:6,121
• Since 4 November 2008: 1,019
• Since the ceasefire ended on 19 December 2008: 948
• Since Operation Cast Lead began on 27 December 2008: 799

For a daily tally of rockets and mortars fired into Israel, see BICOM Statistics: Total number of identified rocket and mortar shell hits since 2001; daily tally for 2008 and 2009. Please note the new web link.

Humanitarian aid to Gaza

Israel is conducting the latest operation while making sure that food, basic supplies and medical needs are constantly transferred into the Gaza Strip. Israel maintains ongoing contact with humanitarian agencies and enables the constant flow of goods and supplies into the strip.

Since the beginning of the operation in Gaza, 1,028 truckloads with 24,356 tons of humanitarian aid have been delivered to Gaza, transferred at the request of international organisations, the Palestinian Authority and various governments. Israel does not wish to see the humanitarian situation in the strip deteriorate. Preparations are underway to facilitate further shipments expected to arrive in the coming days.

Since the beginning of Operation Cast Lead: 

• 1,028 truckloads (24,356 tons) of humanitarian aid have been delivered to Gaza.
• 449 dual nationals were evacuated from Gaza.
• 3,000 units of blood were donated by Jordan.
• 5 ambulances donated by Turkey and 5 from the West Bank on behalf of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society.
• 34 people evacuated to Israel for medical needs, including two injured children.

13 January 2009

Four fuel containers and 102 trucks transporting humanitarian aid to Gaza passed through the Kerem Shalom crossing.

However, the transfer of additional aid through the crossings is being delayed by the high risk of terrorist attacks on the crossings themselves. There is a long history of such attacks, including: 

• 22 May 2008: a Palestinian bomber blew up an explosives-laden truck on the Palestinian side of the Erez crossing, causing substantial damage.
• 20 April 2008: Hamas gunmen wounded 13 Israeli soldiers in an assault with mortar shells, explosives-laden vehicles and gunfire against the Kerem Shalom crossing.
• 9 April 2008: Two Israeli civilian fuel truck drivers working at the Nahal Oz fuel depot – which supplies fuel to Gaza – were killed in an attack by Gaza militants.

Further Information 

• To visit our new Operation Cast Lead section on our website, click here. It contains daily situation updates, analyses, useful facts and figures, and videos. You can also find the section by going to our homepage and clicking on the Operation Cast Lead button on the right-hand side.
• For a full news review for 14 January, click here.