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Israel Pushes Into Gaza City as UN Chief Heads to Region |
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Tuesday, 13 January 2009Israeli troops and tanks pushed deeper into Gaza City Tuesday as U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon travels to the Middle East to press for a truce between Israel and Palestinian militants.
The Israeli military says its warplanes attacked more than 60 targets, including rocket launching sites, weapons storage facilities, Hamas command posts and tunnels used to smuggle weapons across the Egyptian border.
Palestinian medical workers say the airstrikes killed at least 12 people. In all, more than 900 Palestinians and at least 13 Israelis have died in the nearly three-week old offensive.
Mr. Ban will discuss the crisis with leaders in Israel, the West Bank, Jordan, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, and Kuwait. He said he will press both sides to accept a Security Council resolution passed last week demanding an immediate cease-fire.
Both Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas have ignored the call for an end to the violence.
A Hamas delegation will resume talks in Cairo today with Egyptian intelligence officials on a possible cease-fire agreement. The radical group is demanding a withdrawal of all Israeli forces from Gaza and an end to its blockade of the territory under any truce agreement.
Lieutenant-General Gabi Ashkenazi, the chief of staff of Israel's armed forces, told lawmakers today the military has dealt a severe blow to Hamas forces and the militant group's infrastructure. But he says the job is still not finished.
Aid agencies resumed deliveries of food and other essentials Monday, after stopping last week because of the danger posed by the Israeli offensive. In Gaza, inhabitants suffer severe shortages of water, power and food.
By VOA News
13 January 2009
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Tuesday, 13 January 2009
VOANews
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