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Senior Israeli officials said for the first time in the war that they believed that the Hamas military wing was beginning to crack and that Hamas leaders inside Gaza were looking for a cease-fire. In Jerusalem, Israels prime minister, Ehud Olmert, told the nation that Israel was getting close to achieving the goals it set for itself, but that more patience, determination and effort are still demanded. Mr. Olmert was speaking in the public part of the regular Sunday cabinet meeting, and his words were broadcast to an Israeli populace that supports the war against Hamas in Gaza but is nervous about how and when it will end. Mr. Olmert gave no time frame, but said Israel must not miss out, at the last moment, on what has been achieved through an unprecedented national effort. The Israeli military said on Monday that warplanes attacked five Hamas operatives along with weapons caches, tunnels and other targets, while Israeli gunboats fired from the sea. Some of the air strikes were called in by ground forces fighting Hamas gunmen, the military said in a statement. Israeli officials also said Sunday that the military had been sending reserve units into Gaza since Thursday. They did not specify the number of reservists. The announcement appeared aimed at adding pressure on Hamas but it also raised the possibility of an expansion in the conflict, which began Dec. 27. On Monday Egypt plans to convene negotiations aimed at a cease-fire in Gaza, where the Israeli military assault to silence rocket fire and tunneling by Hamas and other militants opposed to Israels existence has wrought extensive death and destruction. Nearly 900 people have been killed, according to Palestinian Health Ministry officials. Thirteen Israelis have been killed, Israel has said. European diplomats involved in the Egypt negotiations said Sunday that the next 48 hours would be crucial for Israel to decide if a durable cease-fire can be achieved. The Israeli cabinet secretary, Oved Yehezkel, told reporters that in the cabinet meeting the heads of army intelligence, Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin, and of the Shin Bet security service, Yuval Diskin, said, It is the inclination within Hamas to agree to a cease-fire, given the harsh blow it received and given the absence of accomplishment on the ground. The Israelis said this view inside Gaza was a contrast to the unyielding stands of the exiled Hamas leadership in Damascus, Syria, in particular Khaled Meshal, the political director. But Hamas is not expected to wave a white flag and is reserving rockets and weaponry to fire at the end of the conflict, the intelligence chiefs said. Another senior Israeli security official said that Israeli soldiers had confirmed through their sights the killing of 300 Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters on the ground in Gaza, and that Hamas units were making mistakes and fighting without clear direction. I can say with a high level of confidence that for two days, what we have been hearing repeatedly is that Hamas inside Gaza is eager — eager — to achieve a cease-fire, said the senior official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the issues delicate nature. This is as opposed to the leadership in Damascus that is willing to fight to the last Palestinian. KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — Security forces used tear gas and batons to repel anti-Israel protesters who tried to attack a U.S. consulate in Pakistan Sunday, as tens of thousands in Europe, the Middle East and Asia demonstrated against Israel's offensive in Gaza. A protest in the Belgian capital that drew 30,000 turned violent as well, with demonstrators overturning cars and smashing shop windows. And in Manila, Philippines, policemen used shields to disperse students protesting outside the U.S. Embassy. Israel launched its campaign in Gaza on Dec. 27 to stop rocket fire from the militant Palestinian group Hamas. Gaza health officials say nearly 870 Palestinians have been killed, roughly half of them civilians. Thirteen Israelis have also died. Some 2,000 protesters in the Pakistani port city of Karachi burned U.S. flags and chanted anti-Israel slogans, and several hundred of them marched on the U.S. Consulate, senior police official Ameer Sheikh said. "They were in a mood to attack," Sheikh said. "They were carrying bricks, stones and clubs." A U.S. Embassy spokesman in Islamabad, Lou Fintor, said the protesters did not get close to the consulate, which was closed Sunday.

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YouTube | January 12, 2009

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