Saturday, February 7, 2009

ISRAEL GAZA

Study says Israel didn't violate war laws

UPI -- Israel didn't violate the laws of war and made impressive improvements in its fighting capability in the recent Hamas clash in Gaza, a U.S. study says. The analysis of the 22-day conflict in Gaza by Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies finds "marked improvements in the readiness and capability" of the Israeli military since the war against Hezbollah in Lebanon in 2006. It said further, that Israel didn't violate the laws of war despite the large number of civilian casualties among the Palestinians, the Jerusalem Post reported. "(Israel) did deliberately use decisive force to enhance regional deterrence and demonstrate that it had restored its military edge," the report states. "These, however, are legitimate military objectives in spite of their very real humanitarian costs." Nearly 1,300 Palestinians were reported killed in the operation, including hundreds of civilians, according to Palestinian officials in Gaza.
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Israeli warplanes strike on southern Gaza tunnels' area

XINHUA -- Israeli F16 warplanes struck at midnight by missiles the borderline area between the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah and Egypt, aiming at destroyed underground tunnels used for smuggling, witnesses said Saturday. They said that five successive airstrikes were carried out by Israeli war fighters, causing huge explosions in the town, adding that some underground tunnels were destroyed and some were damaged. The town of some 80,000 residents and its refugee camp were in a big fear, mainly those are living closed to the borderline area between the town and Egypt. No injuries were reported. Part of the 22-day Israeli military assault on the Gaza Strip, which ended on Jan. 18, was to destroy hundreds of tunnels dug under the borderline to smuggle good. Smugglers in Rafah said they dug tunnels to bring goods from Egypt and to defy an Israeli blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip for two years. Israel says these tunnels are used by Islamic Hamas movement to smuggle weapons.
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Israeli air raids hit Gaza

ALJAZEERA -- Israel has launched several air raids against targets in southern Gaza near the border with Egypt, causing damage but no injuries, Palestinian security sources say. The attacks targeted "open areas" near the town of Rafah and tunnels along the border with Egypt, residents said. An Israeli military spokesman confirmed that the "Israeli air force intervened in the Gaza Strip" late on Friday. "Our planes attacked four tunnels that were dug under the border with Egypt and used for weapons smuggling," the spokesman told the AFP news agency. "An arms depot was also targeted and the explosives that were stocked there exploded," he said. The raids came hours after Palestinian fighters fired two rockets at southern Israel without causing damage or deaths, according to a military spokesman.
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