BICOM

• US pushing for Gaza ceasefire; UN willing to set up international monitoring mechanism to observe the truce.
• Hamas fires 30 rockets at major southern cities and threatens more kidnappings of Israeli soldiers.
• Senior Hamas official dies in Israeli strike.

 

Key statements:

US President George W. Bush on possible truce in Gaza (3/1): “Another one-way ceasefire that leads to rocket attacks on Israel is not acceptable. Promises from Hamas will not suffice – there must be monitoring mechanisms in place to help ensure that smuggling of weapons to terrorist groups in Gaza comes to an end.”

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on the future of the Gaza Strip (2/1): “We are working toward a ceasefire that would not allow a re-establishment of the status quo ante where Hamas can continue to launch rockets out of Gaza.”

Robert Serry, the UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process on possible Gaza truce: “A solution requires commitments from the parties that they will respect a cease-fire in full, the monitoring of a truce, the permanent opening of all border crossings into Gaza, the return of Hamas-ruled Gaza to the fold of the Palestinian Authority, renewed efforts to reunite Gaza and the West Bank – and ultimately the achievement of Israeli-Palestinian peace.”

Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal threatens with abductions of Israeli soldiers: “If you commit a foolish act by raiding Gaza, who knows, we may have a second or a third or a fourth Shalit.”

 

Situation on the ground

• The United States is working to reach a meaningful ceasefire in the Gaza Strip that includes monitoring mechanisms to halt weapons smuggling into the territory. The United States has demanded Hamas, which it considers a terrorist organisation, take the first step by halting rocket attacks on Israel.
• Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is urging key world leaders to intensify efforts to achieve an immediate Israel-Hamas cease-fire that includes international monitors to enforce a truce. Several Arab foreign ministers are flying to New York over the weekend to urge the UN Security Council to adopt an Arab draft resolution that would condemn Israel and demand a halt to its bombing campaign in Gaza. The US said the draft is unacceptable and unbalanced because it makes no mention of halting the Hamas rocketing of southern Israel which led to the Israeli offensive.
• Israel early Saturday morning killed the third top Hamas leader in Gaza since the start of its military operation in the strip a week ago. Abu Zakaria al-Jamal, a commander of the Hamas armed wing, died of wounds sustained in an air strike overnight. The Israeli air force struck at 25 Hamas targets overnight and this morning.
• 30 rockets were fired throughout Friday and at least nine more struck the Western Negev on Saturday morning, with one making a direct hit on a house in Ashkelon. A man was lightly injured this morning when a rocket hit a house in Ashdod. On Friday, two salvoes of Grad rockets struck Ashkelon, with a home in the southern city sustaining a direct hit. A person in an adjacent house suffered shrapnel wounds as a result of the strike.

 

Daily tally of rockets and mortars fired from Gaza since Hamas unilaterally renounced ceasefire.

• January 3 – 10 rockets (by 12:00 pm GMT)
• January 2 – approximately 30 rockets
• January 1 – over 50 rockets, mortars and longer range Grads
• December 31 -over 100 (precise figure not yet available)
• December 30- 70 rockets
• December 29 – 80 rockets (approximate figure)
• December 28 – 40 rockets and mortar rounds, including two long-range Grad missiles.
• December 27 – 110 rockets and mortar rounds, including one Grad-Katyusha missile.
• December 26 – 25 mortar rounds
• December 25 -7 Qassam rockets, one Grad missile and 9 mortar rounds.
• December 23 & 24 – 33 rockets (Grad-Katyushas and Qassams), 37 mortar shells
• December 22 – 2 Qassams, 1 mortar
• December 21 – 19 Qassams, 3 mortars
• December 19 & December 20 – 10 Qassams, 24 mortars

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 and daily tally for 2008.

Humanitarian aid to Gaza

Israel conducts 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:

• Israel agreed to transfer 22 injured Palestinians out ofGaza to receive medical treatment in Israel.
• Approximately 1000 units of blood were transferred to hospitals in Gaza.
• On Tuesday, 30 December, Israel transferred around a 100 trucks of aid into the Gaza Strip through the Kerem Shalom crossing.
• On Monday, 29 December,63 trucks carrying food and medical supplies as well as 10 ambulances were transferred to Gaza
• Coordinator of Government Operations in the Territories reports that crossings are expected to continue operating in similar frameworks this week, only the number of trucks is likely to vary.
• The transfer of 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

• For links to the latest BICOM’s Analysis on the purposes of the Gaza operation, click here.
• For a full news review for 2 January click here.
• For a fuller background briefing on issues of humanitarian access and terrorism in Gaza, click here.