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Israel favors truce extension in Gaza
Israel said on Thursday it favored an extension of a truce in and around Gaza, despite an outbreak of violence that left seven Palestinians dead in Israeli airstrikes and retaliatory rocket attacks by Hamas into southern Israel. "We hope the truce can again be applied, we believe in this truce and it looks like things are calming down," Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai told Israeli army radio. Vilnai said Israeli troops were deployed in Gaza on Tuesday night to blow up a tunnel that was to be used "in a major attack against Israel that would have torpedoed the truce." The incidents on Tuesday and Wednesday were the most serious since the Egyptian-mediated truce went into effect on June 19. Vilnai's comments came just hours before U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was scheduled to arrive on a visit aimed at pushing for an agreement that would define the outlines of a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians. Rice headed to the Middle East on Wednesday to set the stage for future Israeli-Palestinian peace talks that both sides acknowledge will not produce an agreement this year. U.S. officials said Rice, on a four-day trip to Israel, the Palestinian territories, Jordan and Egypt, has no intention of floating her own proposals to advance a last-minute deal. Rather, she will try to prepare for a fresh start by the new Israeli government that will take office after the Feb. 10 Israeli parliamentary election, and the incoming Obama administration, which takes office on Jan. 20. Despite extensive Israeli-Palestinian talks, there have been no signs of tangible progress on the thorniest issues, the status of Jerusalem and the fate of Palestinian refugees. According to U.S. officials this is not likely to be the last trip for Rice in the region before she steps down in January. Posted by: Fred 2008-11-07 |
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