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Israelis Push to Edge of Gaza City
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Top Israeli defense officials told Israel's cabinet Sunday that Hamas's capabilities had been badly damaged by the offensive in Gaza but that the Islamist movement would not end its attacks. Hamas "is not expected to raise a white flag," military intelligence chief Amos Yadlin told the Israeli cabinet, according to the cabinet's secretary.
On Saturday, Hamas leader Khaled Meshal was defiant in a videotaped speech from Damascus, saying that Palestinians in Gaza would keep fighting and that Hamas would not consider a cease-fire until Israel ended its offensive and opened the border crossings. Even as he spoke, however, a Hamas delegation was holding talks in Cairo, which continued Sunday. Israel was planning to send a senior Defense Ministry official, Amos Gilad, on Monday.
Israel says it wants Hamas to halt its rocket fire and Egypt to guarantee -- possibly through an international monitoring force -- that the Gaza-Egypt border will not be used for smuggling weapons. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has so far balked at the idea of monitors.
"At the end of the day, the key is in the hands of the Egyptians," Amidror said.
The Israeli air force has launched dozens of attacks on an extensive network of smugglers' tunnels between Gaza and Egypt, and military analysts say that sending ground troops to take the area could be a focus of the Israeli campaign's third phase.
For Gazans, the idea of another escalation is almost too much to bear. In addition to the dead, more than 3,600 Palestinians have been injured, and water, electricity, food and cooking gas have all been in short supply. International aid organizations have said that Gaza is in the midst of a humanitarian crisis.
Hashim Hassan, a 39-year-old pharmacist, said that Israel's offensive is only breeding extremism. "They're creating a new generation with even more hatred toward Israel," he said.
Israeli warplanes had dropped leaflets on Saturday warning that an escalation was likely and urging residents to flee. In Gaza, however, there is nowhere to go to escape the fighting. Nearly all areas of the coastal enclave have been touched by violence, and the borders are sealed shut.
On Sunday, doctors in Gaza hospitals reported that they had treated patients with severe burns consistent with possible exposure to white phosphorus, a chemical agent that can be used for illumination or to create smoke screens but that under the international laws of war is prohibited from use in densely packed urban areas. The doctors could not say definitively that white phosphorus was responsible for the injuries.
Human Rights Watch had charged on Saturday that Israel was using the substance, and its researchers described seeing Israeli artillery batteries firing it into the air above Gaza. The group demanded an end to the practice. White phosphorus, the group said, "can severely burn people and set structures, fields, and other civilian objects in the vicinity on fire."
The Israeli military would not directly address whether it has used white phosphorus in Gaza but said that it "uses weapons in compliance with international law."
The claims on both sides were difficult to verify. Foreign and Israeli journalists have not been permitted to enter Gaza since the war began, except in rare cases in the company of Israeli troops.
Special correspondent Islam Abdel Kareem in Gaza City contributed to this report.
