State orders IDF to curb strikes against Hamas - Israel/Human Rights/UN/Partnership?
Barak Ravid and Amos Hare; 10/3/08
The government recently ordered the Israel Defense Forces to exercise restraint in operations in the Gaza Strip, pursuant to what a senior government official termed new rules of the game forged in the aftermath of last week’s military operation in Gaza. The official credited these rules, under which Israel will not attack Gaza as long as Hamas does not fire at Israel, with the recent lull in violence. Yet at the same time, he charged, they completely contradict last week’s cabinet decision, which stated that Israel should keep up the military pressure on Hamas. The volume of rocket fire from Gaza has declined sharply in recent days: Since last Friday, Palestinians have fired only three Qassam rockets at Israel, compared to some 50 a day during the previous week. The IDF, for its part, has withdrawn all ground troops from the Strip and also halted aerial assaults.
See: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/962403.html
UN Human Rights Council condemns IDF actions in Gaza
10/3/08
The United Nations Human Rights Council condemned Israel’s military action in Gaza at the behest of Pakistan and other Muslim states on Thursday. The UN’s top human rights body agreed on a resolution proclaiming that the Israel Defense Forces incursions into the Palestinian territory inflicted collective punishment on the civilian population. The resolution also calls for Palestinian rocket fire from Gaza into Israel to be stopped. More than 120 Palestinians and four Israelis have been killed over the past two weeks in military actions and rocket strikes. The 47-member rights body approved the resolution by 33 votes to one after a debate on the situation in Gaza. Thirteen countries abstained.
See: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/961683.html
A partnership of equals
Zvi Bar’el;10/3/08
“This shows that the Palestinian Authority is not adequately fighting terrorism,” said the prime minister in reaction to the Mercaz Harav yeshiva attack. He could just as well have said that “the Shin Bet isn’t adequately combating terrorism - indeed, it is failing to do so.” Mahmoud Abbas and the PA are not responsible for Israel’s security; Israel’s own intelligence service is. But this approach, like Olmert’s accusation, does not help in any way, either in the war on terror or in reducing the fear of a new intifada arising. If anything, the prime minister’s cliche shows that without the Palestinian Authority as an effective partner, there can be no effective fight against terrorism, and that a Palestinian partnership cannot be based only on air or pats on the back.
See: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/962038.html