International Pressure mounting on Israel for Gaza ceasefire

by Sanjay Jha | December 30, 2008 at 08:38 pm

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Emerging after an emergency meeting in Paris the EU foreign ministers asked for an immediate halt to the bloodiest fighting in Gaza Strip in living memory and a return to peace negotiations as the international diplomatic machine strained to open a window of hope for the 1.5 million residents trapped inside the battered territory.

Diplomatic pressure on Israel to end its relentless military assault on Gaza Strip gathered pace last night as its key ally Washington joined European Union foreign ministers in calling for an immediate ceasefire.

The diplomatic push for at least a temporary truce gained momentum amid an international outcry over the mounting deaths of Palestinian civilians from a four-day Israeli blitz that followed the collapse of a truce with the militant Hamas leadership in Gaza Strip.

Foreign powers stepped up calls for Israel and the militant group Hamas to end hostilities, after four days of violence in and around Gaza.

Both the Quartet of Middle East peace-brokers and EU foreign ministers have called for an immediate ceasefire.

Palestinians say more than 360 people have died in Israeli air strikes since Saturday. Four Israelis have been killed by rockets fired from Gaza.

Israel has warned that it is ready for weeks of action to end the rocket fire.

The calls came as Israel confirmed that a rocket fired from Gaza landed in the town of Beersheba. At 42 km (26 miles) inside Israel, it is the furthest a missile has ever reached.

In Gaza, Israeli missiles continued to pound buildings and installations linked to Hamas, the militant group that controls Gaza. The Israeli military said it hit more than 30 targets.

The UN says at least 62 civilians have died since Saturday; humanitarian agencies say they are struggling to contend with both the air strikes and a lack of supplies.

"We have nothing in our warehouses," a spokesman for UNWRA, the UN agency in Gaza, told the BBC.

"There is a serious shortage of medical supplies. Hospitals in the Gaza Strip are not equipped at all to handle this huge number of dead and injured people."