French President Nicolas Sarkozy will visit Israel today and meet Prime Minister Ehud Olmert this evening. In a telephone call with Sarkozy, Olmert said that Israel was allowing the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza, even as military operations continue.
Olmert told Sarkozy, "Israel cannot stop its military operation until it achieves the military goals set."
Sarkozy said yesterday, "Hamas is responsible for the suffering of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip." He nevertheless urged a cease-fire when Israel launched its ground offensive.
Last night, Olmert spoke by telephone with a number of international figures, including Sarkozy and Russian President Dmitri Medvedev, in an effort to promote a cease-fire that serves Israel's interests. Olmert told Medvedev that conquest of the Gaza Strip was not a military objective that had been approved so far.
Israel is not under massive international pressure at this time, and its diplomatic message has two targets: one is international, and the other is Hamas. Israel is telling the world, "Please note, we've called up reservists, we've launched the ground offensive, and we haven’t finished it. If you're not with us, we'll continue the operation."
As for Hamas, Israel is seeking a cease-fire agreement to which Hamas itself will not be a party.
In talks with their US counterparts, Israeli officials raised three elements for such an agreement: a Ministry of Foreign Affairs proposal for a joint US-Egyptian force on the Philadelphi route along the Gaza Strip-Sinai border; a UN Security Council call for an end to rocket fire and defining counter-action as self-defense; and regional consent that the crossing points to Gaza will be opened on the basis of the 2005 agreement and under European supervision.
Channel 2 News correspondent Ehud Yaari reports that Hamas is now seeking a cease-fire. Hamas prepared for an Israeli ground offensive, but did believe that it would come. Evidence of this is seen in comments by Hizbullah chairman Hassan Nasrallah that there would be no ground offensive, dithering by Hamas officials in Damascus, and an urgent visit by the secretary of Iran's national security council to Damascus to instruct them. Hamas is afraid of international intervention, which could undermine its exclusive hold on Gaza.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 5, 2009
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2009