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Breaking: Israel 'to announce ceasefire'

Laila

Laila

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The Israeli cabinet is set to back an end to military activities in the Gaza Strip, three weeks after operations there began, the BBC understands.

Top officials are expected to approve a ceasefire at a meeting later on Saturday, after which PM Ehud Olmert will address the nation, sources said.

The sources said the ceasefire deal did not involve Hamas.

It is not clear how Hamas will respond; its officials say the group will ignore any truce unless its demands are met.

Ahead of the move violence continued in Gaza, with 50 Israeli air strikes overnight. Rocket fire from Hamas militants also continued.

About 1,200 Palestinians have been killed since the violence began on 27 December. Thirteen Israelis - three civilians and 10 soldiers - have been killed during the campaign.
BBC NEWS | World | Middle East | Israel 'to announce ceasefire'
 
This sounds kind of stupid. How do you declare a cease fire and not include the people you are fighting?

Did they reach an agreement with Canada or something?
 
What are the demands from Hamas?
 
From what i have gleaned Blackdog.
Hamas has not responded yet to this news as it had no talks.
It did however say previously that no ceasefire would hold without the demands 'met' and Israel has said it will retain the right to fire back if attacked by Hamas after the ceasefire.
 
I'm just really puzzled at how Hamas could demand anything from Israel given the current situation. They are getting relentlessly hunted by superior forces with nowhere to run. All that Hamas is doing is giving the IDF license to continue operations.

The non-combatant Palestinian people are suffering immeasurably. lives are being lost on both sides, people are being wounded and maimed on both sides, and neither side really seems to give a ****.
 
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what are the Israeli's going to snatch defeat from the jaws of Victory????
 
independent_thinker2002 said:
This sounds kind of stupid. How do you declare a cease fire and not include the people you are fighting?

Did they reach an agreement with Canada or something?
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..."Under the implicit rules of the "Cease Fire" ,Canada has agreed to not shell Israel. Hamas is expected to reinventory and resume terrorist attcks ASAP".
 
BBC NEWS | World | Middle East | Israel declares ceasefire in Gaza

Israel is to halt its three-week military offensive against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said.

He said Israel had achieved its aims and the unilateral ceasefire would start at 0200 (2400 GMT). But he said troops would remain in Gaza for now.

A Hamas spokesman said it would not accept one Israeli soldier in Gaza.

Nearly 1,200 Palestinians have been killed since the violence began on 27 December. Thirteen Israelis have died.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon expressed relief at the ceasefire.

"This should be the first step leading to the full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza," he said. This should happen "as soon as possible", he added.

The US said it expected all parties to cease hostilities immediately.
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Now lets see if both sides follow it
 
ludahai said:
If even ONE rocket is fired or ONE Hamas militant fires at an Israeli soldier, Israel should take off the gloves and exterminate Hamas once and for all.
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Ludahai,I had you mistaken for someone else,because that is the last thing I expected to hear from you.Its my first thought too...I wanted Israel to crush them this round. The up comeing nuclear attack on Israel by the Iraneans is a ,[full plate]. Hamas has shown they will not stop,and must be beaten into submision.
 
I think that's an interesting statement. "Exterminate Hamas once and for all."

How would you propose they do that exactly? Exterminate Hamas? Currently I find that Hamas has no redeeming qualities so I'm not opposed to Hamas going away. But how exactly would Israel go about exterminating them?

And yes, I'm going somewhere with this.
 
Laila said:
BBC NEWS | World | Middle East | Israel declares ceasefire in Gaza



Now lets see if both sides follow it
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No because the Hamas have already said it wouldn't stop.

Hamas defiant

Hamas, however, said it would continue fighting in Gaza as long as Israeli troops remained in the Hamas-ruled Strip.

"If the Israeli military continues its existence in the Gaza Strip, that is a wide door for the resistance against the occupation forces," Osama Hamdan, a Hamas official in Lebanon told Al Jazeera.

Fawzi Barhum, a Hamas spokesman, said: "The Zionist enemy must stop all its aggression, completely withdraw from the Gaza Strip, lift the blockade, and open the crossings. We will not accept the presence of a single soldier in Gaza.
Al Jazeera English - Middle East - Olmert announces Gaza ceasefire
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Even if the hamas do stop and agree to the terms Like in the past the hamas will use any ceasefire to resupply with rockets to be fired into Israel.


Its the same bullchit...different day.
 
Lerxst said:
I think that's an interesting statement. "Exterminate Hamas once and for all."

How would you propose they do that exactly? Exterminate Hamas? Currently I find that Hamas has no redeeming qualities so I'm not opposed to Hamas going away. But how exactly would Israel go about exterminating them?

And yes, I'm going somewhere with this.
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Get rid of all of them? . It could be done.
But it depends on your willingness to take it to the extremes needed.
 
cherokee said:
But it depends on your willingness to take it to the extremes needed.
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It depends on if you accept high civilian casulties as a consequence
 
If Israel leaves, then Hamas will be yelling in the streets that they won again,and continue rocket attacks.
 
At this point, I do not believe declaration of a unilateral ceasefire is a good idea. I believe the ceasefire will take pressure off Hamas at a time when Hamas was visibly starting to weaken. It remains unclear that Hamas will cease its rocket attacks and a low-level of rocket attacks is not consistent with Israel's objective of ending the rocket attacks. In fact, I expect that Hamas will more than likely continue to fire occasional rockets into Israel despite the unilateral Israeli ceasefire.

With respect to Israel's forces, I agree with the decision to retain a presence in the Gaza Strip until Hamas ceases its rocket attacks and a viable mechanism is in place for stopping the smuggling of weapons to Hamas. Nonetheless, just as I believe the ceasefire is somewhat premature, I am worried that Israel will prematurely withdraw its forces from the Gaza Strip before all rocket fire has ended and before a credible mechanism for stopping the flow of arms into the Gaza Strip is function and is demonstrated to be effective.

Finally, I am disappointed that Israel did not tie the ceasefire and/or troop withdrawal to Hamas' release of Cpl. Shalit. Israel had an opportunity to use its on-the-ground successes to gain greater leverage in bringing an end to the hostage situation. It passed on that opportunity, even as added leverage could only be helpful.
 
rudedog said:
If Israel leaves, then Hamas will be yelling in the streets that they won again,and continue rocket attacks.
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I agree, this actually goes without saying I'd imagine.
 
Lerxst said:
Why would you say this? It would make you no better than Hamas.
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Because he knows he will be safe on the other side of the world.
Bargaining other peoples lives is much more easier when you know there is no chance of you being amongst the dead
 
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