08-04-2014, 12:57 PM
ISRAEL BOYCOTTS CAIRO PEACE TALKS -- PLANS TO RETRACT GROUND FORCES AT THE STRIP UPON DEMOLISHING THE LAST HAMAS TUNNELS?
![[Image: datelineisraelgaza.gif]](http://makesplash.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/datelineisraelgaza.gif)
In the West Bank:
Jerusalem has been largely quiet since last month’s killing of an Arab teenager sparked days of unrest. The teen was allegedly slain by Jewish extremists in revenge for the killing of three Israeli students in the West Bank. Monday’s incident could set the Israeli capital on edge as the battle in Gaza continues.
Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said an Arab man from East Jerusalem used a backhoe to kill an Israeli pedestrian Monday afternoon, then rammed into a bus and overturned it, injuring three other people. The driver of the backhoe was shot and killed by police, Rosenfeld said.
“We’re looking at this incident as a terrorist attack,” he said.
As the body of the attacker was loaded into an ambulance, Israeli residents of the area cheered and chanted “Death to Arabs” in Hebrew.
Over at the Gaza War Zone:
Buchman, the Israel Defense Forces spokesman, said Sunday that Israel believed it was no more than 24 hours away from destroying the last known Hamas tunnel, but he would not confirm whether Israel intended to pull all its forces out of Gaza once that happened.
“The ground forces finished the job. They destroyed the tunnels. So there’s no point in keeping them there,” said Yosef Kuperwasser, former director general of Israel’s Ministry of Strategic Affairs. “But it’s not that we’re easing the pressure on Hamas. The pressure on Hamas is still there.”
Israel has shown no indication it will pause its campaign of fire from the air and the sea, as evidenced by Sunday’s attack near the U.N. school. Hamas, too, has given little indication it will yield, firing at least 55 rockets toward Israel on Sunday.
Meantime, by boycotting truce talks in Cairo on Sunday, Israel has demonstrated that it has no interest in pursuing a diplomatic solution following a string of broken cease-fires that Israeli officials blame on Hamas.
With no diplomatic solution in sight, a battle that has already lasted far longer than two previous conflicts between Hamas and Israel could continue indefinitely.
Griff Witte reported from Jerusalem and Daniela Deane from Rome. Ruth Eglash in Jerusalem and Islam Abdel Karim in Gaza City contributed to this report.
Full story: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/isra...ml?hpid=z1
In the West Bank:
Jerusalem has been largely quiet since last month’s killing of an Arab teenager sparked days of unrest. The teen was allegedly slain by Jewish extremists in revenge for the killing of three Israeli students in the West Bank. Monday’s incident could set the Israeli capital on edge as the battle in Gaza continues.
Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said an Arab man from East Jerusalem used a backhoe to kill an Israeli pedestrian Monday afternoon, then rammed into a bus and overturned it, injuring three other people. The driver of the backhoe was shot and killed by police, Rosenfeld said.
“We’re looking at this incident as a terrorist attack,” he said.
As the body of the attacker was loaded into an ambulance, Israeli residents of the area cheered and chanted “Death to Arabs” in Hebrew.
Over at the Gaza War Zone:
Buchman, the Israel Defense Forces spokesman, said Sunday that Israel believed it was no more than 24 hours away from destroying the last known Hamas tunnel, but he would not confirm whether Israel intended to pull all its forces out of Gaza once that happened.
“The ground forces finished the job. They destroyed the tunnels. So there’s no point in keeping them there,” said Yosef Kuperwasser, former director general of Israel’s Ministry of Strategic Affairs. “But it’s not that we’re easing the pressure on Hamas. The pressure on Hamas is still there.”
Israel has shown no indication it will pause its campaign of fire from the air and the sea, as evidenced by Sunday’s attack near the U.N. school. Hamas, too, has given little indication it will yield, firing at least 55 rockets toward Israel on Sunday.
Meantime, by boycotting truce talks in Cairo on Sunday, Israel has demonstrated that it has no interest in pursuing a diplomatic solution following a string of broken cease-fires that Israeli officials blame on Hamas.
With no diplomatic solution in sight, a battle that has already lasted far longer than two previous conflicts between Hamas and Israel could continue indefinitely.
Griff Witte reported from Jerusalem and Daniela Deane from Rome. Ruth Eglash in Jerusalem and Islam Abdel Karim in Gaza City contributed to this report.
Full story: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/isra...ml?hpid=z1