UNITED NATIONS: U.N. says Israel's aims in Gaza fall short despite siege; Israel accuses Iran of sabotaging kidnapped soldier's release

The "virtual siege" of Gaza does not appear to be helping Israel achieve its goals in the volatile area even as it fuels Palestinian despair, a senior U.N. official told the Security Council on Thursday (October 19). Israeli operations in the Gaza Strip, since Palestinian militants crossed over into Israel on June 25 to kidnap an Israeli soldier, have killed 295 Palestinians including 66 children and have wounded 1,113 others, said Alvaro de Soto, the U.N. coordinator for the Middle East peace process. "However, neither these intensive operations nor continuing diplomatic efforts have led either to the release of the captured soldier or to the cessation of indiscriminate rocket attacks, which have injured 20 Israelis since 25 June," de Soto told the council's regular monthly meeting on the Middle East. A number of Israeli military and intelligence sources say militants have been smuggling even more arms into Gaza in recent months, he said. Forming a Palestinian government of national unity remains the best way out of the crisis, de Soto said. "Only a political way out can defuse it." Palestinian efforts toward a unity government have failed so far over the elected Hamas government's refusal to recognize Israel's right to exist and to swear off violence. De Soto said Israel's withholding of Palestinian tax and customs receipts and its near-blanket closure of the Gaza crossings, while driven by valid security concerns, continue to cripple the Palestinian economy and its civil service. The combination of a nonfunctioning public sector including security forces, continued Israeli military strikes and a lack of political progress has created "a truly explosive" situation, "as potentially dangerous for Israel as it is currently dangerous for Palestinians," he said. Israel withdrew its troops and settlers from the Gaza Strip last year and has said it has no intention of reoccupying it, but argues its operations since June are necessary to protect the people of Israel. Israeli U.N. Ambassador Dan Gillerman told reporters that he told the U.N. Security Council that Israel "heard news" earlier in the day that Iran is trying to block the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. "We have every reason to believe that the Iranian regime has bribed Haled Mashal, the head of Hamas who is very graciously hosted in the capital of terror, Damascus, by the Syrian regime, which is as you know very famously hospitable to terrorists. And the Iranians paid him $50 million in order to avert and sabotage an imminent release of the Israeli soldier corporal Gilad Shalit." Gillerman said he cannot divulge the sources or give any further details. Shalit was seized on June 25 by Palestinian militants who crossed over into Israel from Gaza to grab him. Egypt has been mediating between Israelis and Palestinians for the past three months in an effort to arrange a prisoner swap that would result in Shalit's release. Gillerman said the alleged bribe raised questions about what Iran was willing to do to derail a diplomatic initiative in the Security Council aimed at pressuring Iran to suspend its nuclear enrichment activities. Western Powers suspect Iran is enriching uranium to make nuclear weapons. Tehran insists it is pursuing the technology only to produce electric power for civilian use. Israel is believed to have up to 200 nuclear bombs.

ITN Source | October 20, 2006

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