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Israeli forces withdrew early on Tuesday morning, but this was expected to be temporary. The US Secretary of State, Dr Condoleezza Rice, held talks in Israel and the West Bank on Tuesday and Wednesday. It was assumed that a halt in the Gaza offensive was timed for her visit.
The Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, said that the offensive, designed to prevent future attacks, was part of a campaign to weaken the power structure of Hamas. “Air strikes, ground strikes, and special operations are all being discussed.”
While the Palestinian authorities in Gaza acknowledge that some senior Hamas figures have been killed, the fighting has added to civilian misery. The Palestinian Medical Relief Society’s building was one of many destroyed.
“It’s been a bloody week for Gazans,” said Suhaila Tarazi, Director of Al-Ahli Anglican Hospital. “Israeli helicopters are flying over all the time, and we don’t know where they are going to bomb next.”
In Ms Tarazi’s opinion, 70 per cent of the casualties had been civilian. “One of my theatre nurses went home to find that her house had been destroyed by a tank shell. Her 19-year-old daughter was killed. This is the sort of thing that is happening.”
The prospects for peace talks are not promising. Not only is the Palestinian community split in two, but the Prime Minister, Mahmoud Abbas, at the height of the fighting, formally broke off contact with the Israeli government.
Mr Abbas and his supporters have witnessed pro-Gaza and pro-Hamas demonstrations in West Bank towns. During talks with Dr Rice, Mr Abbas said there would have to be a truce in Gaza before peace talks could start.
The international community can do little more than call for restraint on both sides. The general secretary of the World Council of Churches, Dr Samuel Kobia, said: “We absolutely condemn these deadly attacks on civilians by the Israeli military in
Gaza and by militants firing rockets from Gaza.”
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