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ISRAEL VOWED NO let-up in its aerial bombardment of Gaza, which has claimed more than 100 Palestinian lives, as a defiant Hamas rained more rockets on the Jewish state.
Diplomatic efforts to end the hostilities have gathered pace, with US President Barack Obama phoning Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Washington offering to use its relationships in the Middle East to help end the hostilities.
No pressure will stop us
Speaking at a news conference yesterday in Tel Aviv, Netanyahu said he would not end the military campaign until he achieved his goal of stopping the Hamas fire.
No international pressure will prevent us from striking, with all force, against the terrorist organisation which calls for our destruction.
No terrorist target in Gaza is immune.
Despite international concerns, truce efforts have been unsuccessful, according to Cairo, which has been key in mediating previous Hamas-Israel ceasefires.
“Egypt has communicated with all sides to halt violence against civilians and called on them to continue with the truce agreement signed in November 2012,” the foreign ministry said.
“Unfortunately, these efforts… have met with stubbornness.”
After weeks of rocket fire into its southern flank, Israel appeared bent on dealing a fatal blow to the Gaza-based Islamist Hamas.
Ismail Haniya, Gaza’s former premier and the most senior Hamas official in the coastal enclave, also ruled out any end to hostilities.
“(Israel) is the one that started this aggression and it must stop, because we are (simply) defending ourselves,” he said.
Ground attack decision soon
Israel says preparations are under way for a possible ground attack, with tanks and artillery massed along the border and some 33,000 reservists mobilised out of 40,000 approved by the cabinet.
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said yesterday he expected a political decision on a possible ground operation within 48 hours.
“At the moment we are dealing with the first phase… air attacks,” he told Channel One television.
I imagine we shall decide tomorrow (Saturday) or the day after on the next stage.
Hamas’s armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, kept up a steady stream of rocket fire on Israel throughout Friday.
Five rockets were shot down over Tel Aviv by the Iron Dome anti-missile system, the army said.
The Brigades said their militants had targeted Israel’s main international airport near the city.
Early Saturday 16 Palestinians died in a wave of Israeli air strikes as Operation Protective Edge entered its fifth day, hiking the overall death toll to 121, medics said.
The Israeli military said in a statement that it had struck “several terrorists conspiring to launch rockets at Israel,” but did not elaborate.
No deaths in Israel so far
So far, no one in Israel has been killed. Two have been seriously wounded, including a man at a petrol station hit by a rocket.
In northern Israel, at least one rocket fired from Lebanon struck an open area near the town of Metula, prompting troops to hit back with artillery fire, the army said.
The military believed a Palestinian group had fired in solidarity with Hamas, public radio reported.
‘Military actions must stop’
The escalating violence brought more offers of truce negotiations from the White House Friday.
“There are a number of relationships the United States has that we are willing to leverage in the region to try to bring about an end to the rocket fire that’s originating in Gaza and, as we saw this morning, in Lebanon,” said White House spokesman Josh Earnest.
He referred to taking steps as the US and Egypt did in November 2012 to broker a truce between Israel and Hamas.
Kuwait called for an urgent Arab foreign ministers meeting to discuss “the deteriorating situation” in the Gaza Strip, its Arab League representative said, which could take place on Monday.
Israeli strikes on residential buildings in Gaza brought a rebuke from the UN’s human rights office over the number of civilian casualties from strikes on homes.
“Even when a home is identified as being used for military purposes, any attack must be proportionate… and precautions must be taken to protect civilians,” said spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani.
A group of 34 charities and NGOs also called for an end to the fighting.
“Military actions by all parties must stop,” said a statement signed by groups including ActionAid, CARE, Oxfam and Save the Children.
Amnesty International called for the United Nations “to immediately impose a comprehensive arms embargo on Israel, Hamas and Palestinian armed groups” and launch an enquiry into “violations committed on all sides”.
Since the start of Israel’s operation on Tuesday, about 525 rockets have struck the Jewish state, and Iron Dome has shot down around 138, an army spokeswoman told AFP on Saturday.
The army Twitter account said that overnight strikes “hit over 60 terror targets, making a total of 1,160 since the beginning of Operation Protective Edge.”
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If These parasitic agencies had their contribution to the global financial crisis rated it would be a triple A +.it is extraordinary that these dregs of morality ,along with the likes of Goldman Sachs can still hold sway in the the financial system and I say this as a firm believer in capitalism ! Great article Btw
Set up a Eurozone based Rating Agency.
Well Fitch are run by a french company
Joint headquartered in New York and London.
S&p had Lehmans at AAA up into the week that they actually went bust and left millions of creditors high and dry!!!!!
True. And why are we still hearing about their pronouncements on the news? Laziness from journalists, governments and bankers? If they were any good they’d be called “Excellent & Loaded” anyway
Only because the credit agencies base their ratings on factual information rather than government propaganda and governments can’t stand anyone who isn’t playing ball.
I assume you are looking for a reaction with that moronic comment , well you suceeded, troll!
No, the US was downgraded by S&P based on sound monetary data, whereas your comments are based on your ignorance.
Yes, they “eventually” started doing their Job, after playing their part in wrecking the world’s economy. Where was their “Data” when they gave triple A ratings to Billions of Dollars of subprime mortgages wrapped other good loans in the US. Of course this was insured by AIG in the form CDS’ that brought the biggest insurer on the planet to its knees, 85 billion to bail out Bear sterns ,200 Billion to bail out Fannie Mae /Freddie Mac , all because of subprime. Yes the banks were reckless but I wonder what their rating had been??? mmm. I suppose you heard there excuse in the congressional hearings, well of course you didn’t, anyway, it was that “we only give advice/guidance, it’s really up the institution what they do with it.
This is a country where there is now nearly a million people living in tents. And the behaviour off the Rating agencies, Financial was morally repugnant. Then we have monkey talk from the likes of you !
No McManus, you are displaying +your+ ignorance.
In contrast to member countries of the Eurozone, the US remains the sovereign issuer of its own (free floating) currency and because of this fact can never go bankrupt or default on debt denominated in US$.
When S&P downgraded US gov debt, thru’ some combination of political ideology & stupidity, the market interest rate did precisely nothing – +nada+. Indeed, given the even low rate of inflation the US gov can sell every $ of its debt, still, at an even lower rate of interest. Yes, buyers of US gov debt are actually +paying+ to hold it when inflation is taken into account.
Whilst the variously fraudulent, corrupt & ideologically motivated behaviour of the ratings agencies is a key (& unaddressed) part of the cause of the financial meltdown, it is only the tip of the iceberg.
Besides the control fraud (cf former US regulator William K Black) of the financial institutions, both in the US and Europe, we should also be demanding examination of the endemically flawed macro economics thinking that still ignores the effect of debt – indeed the function of banking itself – in its modelling of national economies. Ever wondered why the mainstream of economics had no clue the crisis was coming mere weeks before the crash? Or why the Eurozone is getting worse not better 5 years later?
Irish economists & commentators (with the exception of Dublin based writer Philip Pilkington) continue to be absolutely lamentable on these vital issues. Of course, with secure 6 figure salaries & guaranteed fat pensions, +they+ are not suffering are they?
If you want to find the facts of the intellectual bankruptcy endemic in mainstream macro economics (macro, because national economics is profoundly not like your household or business, despite all the BS from media etc. implying it is) you need to look outside Ireland. Readily available practical solutions are also discussed. (Yes, there are solutions that do not involve massive unemployment for decades & beyond.)
See Prof Bill Mitchell here:
http://bilbo.economicoutlook.net/blog/
Good articles here:
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/
And Prof Steve Keen here;
http://www.debtdeflation.com/blogs/
It takes a little time and study to discover the truth in macro economics. But surely we owe it to our children to find out, if not for ourselves. We will not be gifted the solutions that are readily available. The present system is a lie from start to finish, that serves to enrich the top few percent, at the expense of the rest of us, thru’ the creation of both booms & busts.
A good article by Hugh O’Connell here, but there is so much more needs fundamental examination & reform including the Euro structure itself.
S&P are number crunchers that’s all, they do what they do for their clients. Governments oversee financial regulation and dictate financial policy, so stop shooting the messenger! It’s beginning to sound like late Weimar Germany around here with the level of wingnut economic theory being flung about. Corruption and cronyism in politics, get-rich-quick economic policy, war mongering abroad, all must be paid for at the end and the chickens have come home to roost for America.
I know something about the “Pillars of Society’ that you don’t. Further details by searching in Google for ‘ Devrajan Hanna Butler Foley’
Cheers
The Common Informer
People need to understand that Ratings Agencies use historical data (good or bad) so they are after-the-fact telling us what is wrong. They cannot predict. The reason they are still viewed as important is that the prospectuses of funds tends to state that the funds cannot invest in shares/stocks etc less than X or Y rating which is purely a marketing exercise. They serve no real purpose other than marketing/political purposes and anyone who uses them as a benchmark is crazy/delusional.
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