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| UN set for Gaza crisis discussion | UN set for Gaza crisis discussion |
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| The UN Security Council is set to meet to discuss the crisis in the Gaza Strip as international calls grow for a halt to the Israeli-Palestinian violence. | The UN Security Council is set to meet to discuss the crisis in the Gaza Strip as international calls grow for a halt to the Israeli-Palestinian violence. |
| France's President Sarkozy also said he would visit the region in a bid to end the crisis, which has seen five days of Israeli raids and Hamas rocket fire. | France's President Sarkozy also said he would visit the region in a bid to end the crisis, which has seen five days of Israeli raids and Hamas rocket fire. |
| Earlier, Israeli PM Ehud Olmert rejected calls for a 48-hour truce to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza. | Earlier, Israeli PM Ehud Olmert rejected calls for a 48-hour truce to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza. |
| Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has threatened to pull out of peace talks. | Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has threatened to pull out of peace talks. |
| He called the Israeli bombardment of Gaza "barbaric and criminal aggression" and said he "would not hesitate to stop" peace talks with the Israelis "if they go against our interests and offer a support to aggression". | He called the Israeli bombardment of Gaza "barbaric and criminal aggression" and said he "would not hesitate to stop" peace talks with the Israelis "if they go against our interests and offer a support to aggression". |
| Map: Gaza and Israel violenceIn pictures: Day five of strikesGaza rockets hit deep into IsraelTaking cover on Sderot front line | Map: Gaza and Israel violenceIn pictures: Day five of strikesGaza rockets hit deep into IsraelTaking cover on Sderot front line |
| After meeting his cabinet, Prime Minister Olmert said conditions were not right for a ceasefire, but he did not rule one out in the future. | After meeting his cabinet, Prime Minister Olmert said conditions were not right for a ceasefire, but he did not rule one out in the future. |
| "If conditions will ripen, and we think there can be a diplomatic solution that will ensure a better security reality in the south, we will consider it. But at the moment, it's not there," he was quoted by aides as telling the cabinet. | "If conditions will ripen, and we think there can be a diplomatic solution that will ensure a better security reality in the south, we will consider it. But at the moment, it's not there," he was quoted by aides as telling the cabinet. |
| "We did not launch the Gaza operation only to end it with the same rocket firing that we had at its start," Mr Olmert said. | |
| In the last five days, Israeli jets and attack helicopters have hit Hamas targets, including security compounds, government buildings, smuggling tunnels under the border with Egypt and homes belonging to militant leaders. | In the last five days, Israeli jets and attack helicopters have hit Hamas targets, including security compounds, government buildings, smuggling tunnels under the border with Egypt and homes belonging to militant leaders. |
| Palestinian officials say 391 Palestinians have died in the Israeli air strikes; four Israelis have been killed by rockets fired from Gaza, which is under Hamas control. | Palestinian officials say 391 Palestinians have died in the Israeli air strikes; four Israelis have been killed by rockets fired from Gaza, which is under Hamas control. |
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| Gaza wakes up to another day of air strikes | Gaza wakes up to another day of air strikes |
| The southern Israeli town of Beersheba was hit, the deepest penetration by rockets so far. | The southern Israeli town of Beersheba was hit, the deepest penetration by rockets so far. |
| International calls have been mounting for both sides to call off the attacks as hospitals in Gaza struggle to cope with the scale of the casualties and supplies of food and fuel run low. | International calls have been mounting for both sides to call off the attacks as hospitals in Gaza struggle to cope with the scale of the casualties and supplies of food and fuel run low. |
| The UN Security Council was to meet on Wednesday evening at the request of the Arab League to discuss the crisis. | |
| Arab League foreign ministers meeting in Cairo want a binding UN resolution to ensure an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and a lifting of the Israeli blockade of the territory. | |
| France's President Sarkozy said he would travel to the Middle East on Monday "to look everywhere for the roadmap towards peace". | |
| Earlier on Wednesday, Israel had rejected a French proposal for a 48-hour ceasefire to allow more shipments of humanitarian aid into Gaza. | |
| Hamas conditions | |
| Israel has massed forces along the boundary with Gaza and has declared the area around it a "closed military zone" leading to speculation a ground offensive into the tiny coastal strip could be imminent. | Israel has massed forces along the boundary with Gaza and has declared the area around it a "closed military zone" leading to speculation a ground offensive into the tiny coastal strip could be imminent. |
| "Our people will defeat those tanks," said the Hamas leader in Gaza, Ismail Haniya, adding that Hamas would only discuss a ceasefire if Israel first stopped its bombing. | |
| "If the aggression is halted unconditionally and the blockade is lifted and the [border] passages are opened, we then can discuss all issues in a positive manner," he said in a televised address. | |
| US President George W Bush repeated his earlier statement that the onus was on Hamas to take the first step to ending hostilities by halting rocket fire into Israel. |