Saturday - January 17, 2009

Britain to send warships to Gaza as Israel prepares for ceasefire.(oh damn. and leave hamas alive?)

OK, if there’s a ceasefire and things are quiet for a short time, and then terrorists from Gaza (Hamas) either carry out suicide attacks or else fire rockets into Israel, then maybe just maybe Israel will finally and at long last be able to go in and clean out that rats nest without the rest of the hand wringing world getting in their way.
Stay Tuned on this one.

Britain will send warships to the eastern Mediterranean to prevent arms being smuggled into the Gaza Strip after an Israeli ceasefire.

By Sean Rayment, Defence Correspondent, and Damien McElroy in Jerusalem
Last Updated: 6:57PM GMT 17 Jan 2009

The Prime Minister, Gordon Brown also appeared to suggest that Britain might put people on the ground to help secure the crossings into Gaza.

“Germany, France and Great Britain have just sent a letter to Israel and Egypt to say they will do everything we can to prevent arms trafficking which is at the root of some of the problems,” Mr Brown said. “I believe that will help get a solution to this crisis.”

His declaration came as the Israeli government appeared poised to end its three-week assault on the Palestinian territory by adopting a unilateral ceasefire plan.

Intense fighting marked the closing hours of Operation Cast Lead as Israel sought to entrench its military superiority over the radical Islamic movement Hamas.

The Prime Minister said that he had been in talks with Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and with European leaders over the last few days.

“I believe there is general understanding that the appalling violence and the tragedies that have happened should come to an end as quickly as possible,” he said.

Israel’s defence minister, Ehud Barak, declared the country had achieved its goals for the 22-day conflict as he toured military units involved in the offensive.

“After three weeks of Operation Cast Lead, we are very close to reaching the goals and securing them through diplomatic agreements,” he said. “The defence forces must continue their operation and be ready for any development.”

Israel appeared to have come to its decision after reaching a bilateral agreement with America to establish a tough monitoring regime to stop weapons being smuggled to Hamas through tunnels under Gaza’s border with Egypt.

The Egyptian government has said the tunnels are mainly used for food while most arms are being smuggled into Gaza by sea.

Mr Brown said that if the ceasefire held, Britain would send in extra humanitarian aid. “We’re prepared to help move children, to take them out of the area so they can be treated elsewhere.”

Thousands of people gathered in Britain yesterday to demonstrate against the continuing Israeli attacks on Gaza.

While Israel has conceded that Hamas has not been wiped out by Operation Cast Lead, it is determined to deprive the Islamic group of any attempt to claim a victory.

Israeli officials said their decision to declare a ceasefire unilaterally would make Hamas responsible for any fresh clashes.

“It doesn’t matter what Hamas says now, its what they do,” said Mark Regev, an Israel government spokesman. “The world will see that after this Hamas will be responsible for what happens.”

The ceasefire announcement was expected to be made after a meeting of the security cabinet at the end of the Jewish Sabbath holiday.

The government’s key figures - Mr Barak, the prime minister Mr Olmert and foreign minister Tzipi Lipni - presented a united front to push for a cessation of the campaign.

However a top Hamas official vowed the group would continue its attacks on Israeli forces. Osama Hamdan, who is based in Lebanon, said: “If any vision does not achieve these things, then we will continue in the battle on the ground.”

CEASEFIRE

Posted by peiper     on 01/17/2009 at 03:57 PM   
Filed Under: • Israel • Middle-East • Terrorists •  
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