More than 1,000 Killed in Gaza as Israel Continues Offensive

by Rob Walker | January 14, 2009 at 01:13 pm

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More than 1,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to medical sources, with nearly a third of the dead reported as being children. Nearly 5,000 people have been injured in 19 days of attacks as Israel continues its push into Gaza.

Hamas officials were reportedly negotiating a ceasefire on Wednesday as Israeli forces continued to move slowly into densely populated Gaza city.

Palestinian deaths in the Gaza Strip have passed 1,000, medical sources in Gaza say, as Egypt continues efforts to broker a ceasefire.
Nearly a third of the dead are reported to be children and nearly 5,000 people have been injured.

Intensive talks took place in Cairo on an Egyptian truce proposal, but sticking points remained. A senior Beirut-based Hamas official, Osama Hamdan, told Al Jazeera television: "There are still points of difference on the initiative."

Meanwhile, fears of a second front for Israel intensified after guerillas in Lebanon fired rockets into northern Israel for the second time in a week.

Guerrillas in Lebanon rocketed northern Israel on Wednesday for the second time in a week, drawing Israeli artillery fire and threatening to drag the Jewish state into a second front as diplomatic efforts to broker a truce in Gaza intensified.

Osama Bin Laden issued a video recording calling on Muslims to wage war against Israel over the offensive in Gaza. Though experts have not been able to identify the voice on the tape, websites have been repeating the message as being from Bin Laden.

The recording, which was dated to the current month in the Islamic calendar and called "A Call for Jihad to Stop the Aggression against Gaza", was posted on websites on Wednesday.

An Iranian ship carrying aid supplies to Gaza was denied entry by the Israeli naval blockade on Wednesday, a missile boat contacted them and warned them off.

The Israeli navy on Wednesday denied an Iranian ship carrying aid supplies access to the coast of Gaza Strip, local news service Ynet reported.
The vessel, loaded with medicine, food and clothing, approached Gazan waters for the first time in the early hours of Wednesday after a stop at an Egyptian port, and was informed that it would not be allowed to reach the Gazan shore due to the blockade imposed by Israel, said the report.