As Israeli ground forces pushed deeper toward heavily-populated Gaza City, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert convened the Cabinet in Jerusalem. He said it is too early for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Mr. Olmert said "Israel is getting close to achieving its goals," but he said more time is needed to deal further damage to Hamas's military capabilities.
He called for patience and determination to bring an end to Hamas rocket attacks and change the security situation in southern Israel.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak left the door open for diplomacy.
"The army will continue to operate by land, sea and air, and at the same time," Barak said, "we will consider diplomatic efforts" for a ceasefire.
A West Bank Palestinian legislator, Hanan Ashrawi, said a truce is long overdue.
"I certainly would like to see an immediate ceasefire, I would like to see an immediate cessation of the violence, and the incursions and the invasion and this horrific assault against the captive Palestinian population," said Ashrawi.
In Damascus, exiled Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal said his side would not consider a ceasefire until Israel halts the offensive and agrees to lift its crippling blockade on Gaza.
Likewise, Israeli security chiefs told the Cabinet that Hamas will not raise the white flag. But they also said that Hamas is in disarray. It is running low on ammunition, its tunnel supply lines on the Egyptian border have been destroyed, and therefore, army intelligence believes Hamas is interested in a ceasefire.
But with rockets still terrorizing southern Israel, the security chiefs recommended keeping up the military pressure on Hamas. Speaking on ABCs This Week, Mr. Obama reiterated his intention to work directly with Iran — a country whose president has called for Israels destruction — to improve relations and halt a nuclear program that Tehran describes as peaceful but which the West believes is not.
But he added that Iran would be one of our biggest challenges, and one that required fresh thinking.
We are going to have to take a new approach, he said to the program host, George Stephanopoulos. My belief is that engagement is the place to start.
Mr. Obama said he wanted to adopt a new emphasis on respect and a new willingness on being willing to talk to the Iranians, while making it clear that we also have certain expectations.
The talk of a message of respect suggested a clear departure from the often pointed and deprecatory rhetoric that has prevailed between President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and President Bush, even though he has consistently differentiated between his feelings about Irans leader and that countrys people. Last year, President Bush deflected a secret request by Israel for specialized bunker-busting bombs it wanted for an attack on Irans main nuclear complex, The New York Times reported in its Sundays editions. Quoting senior American and foreign officials, the report said that the president told the Israelis that he had authorized new covert action intended to sabotage Irans suspected effort to develop nuclear weapons, according to senior American and foreign officials.
Western officials say that Iran has pursued a uranium enrichment program, presumed to be aimed at building a nuclear weapon, in continued defiance of United Nations sanctions. Some nuclear experts believe that Iran already has sufficient enriched material for a nuclear weapon; other say it might reach that goal this year.
During his campaign, Mr. Obama vowed, more broadly, to make the goal of eliminating all nuclear weapons a central element in our nuclear policy. In his taped interview for ABC, Mr. Obama promised a new emphasis on responsibility, a new emphasis on being willing to talk, but also a clarity about what our bottom lines are. Since his election, Obama has consistently fended off questions about foreign policy, saying it was important not to confuse foreign leaders about United States policy. But as his inauguration Jan. 20 approaches, his replies have grown more expansive.
Speaking about the Israeli attacks in Gaza, Mr. Obama said he remained convinced that Israel had a clear right of self-defense. Theyve got to protect their citizens, he said.
But more broadly, he promised that his foreign policy team would be ready starting on Day 1, to become immediately engaged in the Middle East peace process.
Asked whether he would build on or break from the Bush policies, Mr. Obama said that peace negotiations required a third party that everybody has confidence, wants to see a fair and just outcome. And I think that an Obama administration, if we do it right, can provide that. Obviously, were going to be looking at past practices, he said. But he added, I also have a belief that we need to look forward as opposed to looking backward. He said that C.I.A. employees who have been trying to do their work properly should not have to look over their shoulders
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I was hoping this was going to get better as it went along.IT DIDN'T!
USAdude30 11 months ago
such cowards !!!
deenazdeenaz 1 year ago
WOW, this was a huge waste of my time, anyone who can`t see that that`s fake is a idiot and retard
cycmpdf 1 year ago
lol you are dump
LeafOfLive 1 year ago
FACT
your a turd
Kalahridudex 2 years ago
Ballsauce666: No. I think you are confused so let me clarify who you are - an Arab Nazi, Jewhating, ignorant person who ignores the fact that more Palestinians are being killed by in-fighting between Hamas and Fatah than by the Israeli army. Also Hamas used children as human shields. Israel will always defend itself. ALWAYS! Until the Palestinian terrorists stop killing innocent Israeli children and citizens, Israel will fight back.
shelleyprcomm 2 years ago
@shelleyprcomm
shut up and go burn little children in Gaza alive like you did last winter.
Stupid Zionist Nazi
.
ballsauce666 2 years ago
As opposed to Hezbollah and Iran who are breaking international treaties on a regular basis. The Israeli army has the best track record of fair treatment, and they will continue to do so to protect their innocent residents. Shooting kassam rockets into kindergardens, schools and hospitals? Perhaps Israel should not defend themselves against Terrorists? What is the option sit down and take it? NOT ISRAEL!
shelleyprcomm 2 years ago
Watch The Killing Zone and say that to me again.
1Nyro 2 years ago 2
Prove it - show me the evidence! Most of it is fabricated. The vast majority of people killed were Hizbullah fighters with guns and rockets in their hands pointed in Israel. If there were women and children inadvertently killed, they were used as human shields by Hizbollah. It's a shame that Hizbollah used such barbaric tactics to get innocent people killed during war. Israel has the BEST rack record of human rights than any army.
shelleyprcomm 2 years ago