Thehead of the UN agency in Gaza running the school that was attacked byIsrael forces has rejected claims that Hamas fighters were inside theconverted shelter.
The Israeli military accused Hamas of using civilians shelteringinside the building as "human shields" and said its troops had returnedfire after fighters fired mortars at their positions from withinal-Fakhora school in the Jabaliya refugee camp.
ButJohn Ging, the director of operations in Gaza for the United NationsRelief and Works Agency (Unrwa), told reporters that he had visited theschool during a three-hour lull in the fighting on Wednesday and "wasreassured by the management of the school ... that there were nomilitants in the school".
'No militant activity'
| In video | ||
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"I am very confident now that there was no militant activity inside the school nor militants in the school," he said.
He also reiterated a call for an independent investigation into the incident.
| War crimes: Key facts |
The International Criminal Court says war crimes are defined as the violation of the laws and customs of war. |
The Israeli strike on Tuesday left 43 Palestinians dead and about 100 injured.
At least 700 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and nearly 3,085wounded since Israel's military offensive began on December 27.
Seven Israeli soldiers and three civilians have died in the same period.
The Israeli army said on Wednesday it stood by its statement issuedthe day before in which it claimed that mortars had been fired "fromwithin" the school, but then issued another statement later droppingthe word "within" to say "mortar fire from" the school.
'Important distinction'
Chris Gunness, a spokesmanfor Unrwa, said this was "an extremely important distinction because wehave been accused of very serious allegations that our premises werebeing used to fire rockets". Michel Abdel Massih QC, a London-based international human rights lawyer, also called for an independent investigation. "If [Israeli] claims are to be tested properly we need anindependent tribunal. The International Criminal Court was set up todeal with these issues, so there is a mechanism for the UN securitycouncil to refer the case for investigation," he told Al Jazeera. When asked if Israel would allow such an investigation, Mark Regev,a spokesman for the Israeli prime minister, said Israel had alreadyheld an "initial investigation" which found that troops had returnedfire from the UN building. Regev accused Hamas, the Palestinian faction that controls the GazaStrip, of committing a "war crime" by using those sheltering in the UNschool as "a human shield". The incident has provoked strong international condemnation withBan-Ki-moon, secretary-general of the United Nations, branding both theincident and Hamas rocket attacks as "unacceptable".
TheUnited Nations aid agency has suspended its operations in the GazaStrip in the wake of a series of Israeli attacks on its personnel andbuildings.
"UNRWA decided to suspend all its operations in the Gaza Stripbecause of the increasing hostile actions against its premises andpersonnel," Adnan Abu Hasna, a Gaza-based spokesman for the UnitedNations Relief and Works Agency, UNRWA, said on Thursday.
Themove came after Israeli tanks shelled a UN convoy earlier in the day,killing a Palestinian UN worker and injuring two others, as lorrieswere travelling to the Erez crossing to pick up humanitarian suppliesmeant to have been allowed in during a three-hour suspension of fire.
At least three UN-run schools have also been hit by Israeli fire,killing scores of civilians, during the 13 days of Israel's assault onthe Gaza Strip.
'Tragic deaths'
John Ging, the head of the UN relief agency in Gaza, said that thecasualties in the convoy attack were Palestinian civilian contractorshired to bring supplies from the crossing points.
A temporary halt in thenearly two-week Israeli offensive to allow humanitarian aid into thestrip lasted from 1pm (11:00 GMT) to 4pm (14:00 GMT).
Explosions were heard in northern Gaza shortly after the period elapsed.
Israeli bulldozers crossed into Gaza during the lull and destroyed anumber of houses, Al Jazeera's Alan Fisher, reporting from southernIsrael near the border, said.
Rafah bombing
Thousands of Palestinians fled their homes in the southern Gaza Strip as Israeli forces bombarded Rafah earlier on Thursday.
Homes, a mosque and tunnels were hit in the area along the Egyptian border, witnesses said.
The Israeli military had dropped leaflets beforehand warning itwould "bomb the area due to its use by terrorists to [dig] tunnels andto stock up [on weapons]".
Hundreds of tunnels are believed tocross under the Egyptian border around Rafah allowing Palestinians tosmuggle in basic supplies, in short supply due to the Israeli blockade,and weapons.
An Israeli army spokeswoman said the military had dropped the flyers "as in the past, to avoid civilian casualties".
Besieged Gazans
Al Jazeera's AymanMohyeldin, reporting from Gaza City, said the flyers wouldhave frightened the civilian population of southern Gaza.
| The Red Cross says Israel has failed to meet its humanitarian law obligations [Reuters] |
The International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) on Thursdayaccused the Israeli military of not helping wounded Palestinians in anincident in Gaza City that it described as "shocking".
ICRC andPalestinian Red Crescent workers said in a statement that severalwounded Palestinians and four weakened children were found alongside 12dead bodies in houses hit by shelling in Zaytun, less than 100 metresfrom Israeli positions.
"The ICRC believes that in this instancethe Israeli military failed to meet its obligation under internationalhumanitarian law to care for and evacuate the wounded," it said.
The Red Cross team, including four ambulances, had only gained safepassage from Israeli army to access the neighbourhood on January 7after trying for four days, the ICRC said.
Meanwhile, Israelisecurity forces in the occupied West Bank shot dead a Palestinian in aconfrontation at a Jewish settlement near Jerusalem, Israeli radioreported.
TheUnited Nations says it has received reports that about 30 Palestinianswere killed when Israeli forces shelled a house after they had movedabout 110 civilians inside it.
"According to several testimonies, on 4 January Israeli footsoldiers evacuated approximately 110 Palestinians into asingle-residence house in Zeitun, warning them to stay indoors," the UNreport said on Friday.
"Twenty-four hours later, Israeli forces shelled the home repeatedly, killing approximately 30."
The incident took place on Monday in the Zeitun neighbourhood of Gaza City on Monday, the report said.
The UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)called it "one of the gravest incidents since the beginning ofoperations" by Israeli forces in Gaza on December 27.
"Thosewho survived and were able walked two kilometres to Salah Ed Din roadbefore being transported to hospital in civilian vehicles," OCHA said.
"Three children, the youngest of whom was five months old, died upon arrival at the hospital."
The Israeli military said on Friday that it had no knowledge of the incident.
Wounded wait
The Israeli B'Tselem humanrights group quoted Meysa Fawzi al Samouni, a 19-year-old resident, assaying that soldiers forced her and dozens of others to move into thewarehouse-like home of another resident before the attack.
"As far as I know, the dead and wounded who were under the ruins are still there," B'Tselem quoted her as saying.
"There was no water, no bread, nothing to eat. Ibrahim Samouni, |
Ibrahim Samouni, a 13-year-old boy who was wounded in the leg andchest, told the Reuters news agency that he kept his threeyounger brothers alive and tried to help the injured adults lying amongthe dead after his mother was killed in the incident.
"There was no water, no bread, nothing to eat," he said.
"AbuSalah died, his wife died. Abu Tawfiq died, his son died, his wife alsodied. Mohammed Ibrahim died, and his mother died. Ishaq died and Nasardied. The wife of Nael Samouni died. Many people died."
Emergencyworkers from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) andthe Palestinian Red Crescent said they were not able to reach thewounded for four days because Israel would not allow them safe passage.
They said the children were starving when rescuers finally reached them after the "unacceptable" delay.
"Theywere too weak to stand up on their own. One man was also found alive,too weak to stand up. In all, there were at least 12 corpses lying onmattresses," the ICRC said.
Civilian casualties
PierreWettach, the ICRC chief for Israel and the occupied Palestinianterritories, said: "The Israeli military must have been aware of thesituation but did not assist the wounded.
"Neither did they make it possible for us or the Palestinian Red Crescent to assist the wounded."
Israel hasrepreatedly insisted it has tried to avert civilian casualties duringits two-week aerial and ground assault on the territory.
"Frominitial checking, we don't have knowledge of this incident. We startedan inquiry but we still don't know about it," Avital Leibovich, anIsraeli military spokeswoman, said about the reported shelling incident.
Morethan 780 people, including at least 257 children and 56 women, havebeen killed during Israel's aerial bombardment and groundoffensive, the UN has said.
The
US House of Representatives has voted to endorse a resolution backing
Israel in its offensive in Gaza, in which at least 780 Palestinians
have been killed.
The body passed Friday's resolution "recognising Israel's right to
defend itself against attacks from Gaza" by 390 votes to five.
Twenty-two members of the House voted "present", which means that they voted neither in favour or against the resolution.
The measure also noted that the humanitarian situation in Gaza "is becoming more acute" but did not rebuke Israel.
Dennis
Kucinich, a Democratic congressman for Ohio who voted against the bill
said before the vote: "I'm hopeful that we do not support the
inhumanity that has been repeatedly expressed by the Israeli army."
"We must take a new direction in the Middle East, and that new direction must be mindful of the inhumane conditions in Gaza".
Washington has been Israel's closest ally since 1948, when Harry
Truman, the former president, made the US the first country to
recognise Israel.
US-Israel ties
The US has been repeatedly criticised by Arabs for its unstinting
support of Israeli actions. The US frequently blocks United Nations
resolutions critical of Israel and on Thursday abstained from a
Security Council vote calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
The House has passed similar measures in recent years by massive majorities.
In 2006, the House voted to condemn Hamas and Hezbollah for
"unprovoked and reprehensible armed attacks against Israel" and
supported Israel's incursion into Lebanon.
In 2004, the body voted to support a statement by George Bush, the
US president, that it was "unrealistic" to expect Israel to return
completely to its pre-1967 borders.
The US senate had voted on Thursday to back its own resolution offering "unwavering commitment" to Israel.
That recognised "its right to act in self-defence to protect its
citizens against acts of terrorism" and urged a ceasefire that would
keep Palestinians from firing rockets at Israel.
Harry Reid, who leads the Democratic majority in the senate, said on
Thursday following that vote: "Our resolution reflects the will of the
state of Israel and the will of the American people."
Israelis pushing ahead with its offensive in the Gaza Strip after branding aUN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire"unworkable".
Dozens of Palestinians were killed on Friday andattacks continued early on Saturday morning, as Israeli warplanespounded areas across the Gaza Strip and tanks shelled Jabaliya and BeitLahiya, medical sources said.
Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, rejected the truce call following a security cabinet meeting.
Referringto continued rocket fire from Gaza into Israel, he said: "The firing ofrockets this morning only goes to show that the UN decision isunworkable and will not be adhered to by the murderous Palestinianorganisations."
In atelephone call to Olmert, Ban Ki-moon, the UNsecretary-general,"expressed disappointment that the violence iscontinuing on the ground in disregard" of the Security Councilresolution.
The Israeli army said that 30 rockets were fired into southernIsrael on Friday morning, injuring one person. Four rockets hitBeersheba, a town about 40km from the Israeli-Gaza border.
Fierce fighting
Morethan 50 air raids were reported to have hit across the Gaza Strip onFriday as the death passed 800 Palestinians over the 14 days of theIsraeli assault.
More than 250 Palestinian children and nearly 60 women are among the dead, according to the UN.
Among the buildings hit was an eight-storey building in Gaza City housing the offices of a number of news outlets.
Tanks also shelled targets in Jabaliya and Beit Lahiya in the northand in the Zeitun neighbourhood of Gaza City, witnesses said.
"Inthe outskirts of the eastern Jabaliya area there have been Israeliground forces operating and they have been clashing quite intenselywith Palestinian fighters," Al Jazeera's Sherine Tadros, reporting fromGaza City, said.
"Those calls for a ceasefire from the United Nations are obviously not manifesting themselves on the ground here."
RaafatMorra, a Hamas official in Beirut, said the Palestinian group alsorejected the UN resolution, as "it is not in the best interest of thePalestinian people".
A senior delegation from Hamas wastravelling to Cairo for talks expected on Saturday on an alternativeceasefire plan that calls for an immediate halt to violence andsubsequent talks on securing Gaza's border and reopening the bordercrossings.
Marwan Bishara, Al Jazeera's senior political analyst, said: "Thefailure of the UN security council resolution to institute a ceasefireon the ground is throwing the ball back in the Egyptian court.
"I think there will be intensifed efforts. Unfortunately the gapbetween Hamas and Israel is too big and Hamas would not accept anyserious efforts at calming the situation as long as Israeli tanks arein the populated areas of the Gaza Strip."
Ceasefire resolution
The UN resolution, which was backed by 14 nations on the 15-memberbody, with only the US abstaining, called for an "immediate, durableand fully respected" ceasefire.
It also said border crossings into Gaza should be re-opened andmeasures put in place to prevent the smuggling of weapons into the GazaStrip.
The resolution underlined there should be "unimpeded provision" anddistribution of aid into the territory, where Gazans have been starvedof fuel, food and medical supplies for months following Israel'scrippling blockade.
Mark Regev, an Israeli government spokesman,told Al Jazeera the military operation would continue to target "theHamas military apparatus".
"We want Hamas leaders to understand that when they shoot rocketsinto Israel trying to kill our civilians that is counterproductive totheir most basic interests," he said.
Regev said that Israel had not rejected the UN resolution and wanted to see "a sustained, durable ceasefire in the south".
"Does anyone really expect that when Hamas says 'this does notconcern us' and continues to shoot at Israel we will just hold ourhands behind our backs and say 'yes, please, target our citizens andtry to kill our people, we'll do nothing," he said.
Israel has said that 13 of its citizens have been killed by Palestinian rocket fire since the beginning of the offensive.
Aid to resume
Meanwhile, UN aid workers were set to resume humanitarianactivities, suspended after a UN convoy came under fire from Israeliforces.
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| Israeli artillery shells hit targets in Jabalia and Beit Lahiya [AFP] |
On Thursday, a contract worker was killed when a Unwra aid convoycame under Israeli fire during a three-hour armistice agreed by theIsraelis in order to deliver essential supplies to Gaza residents.
"The need on the ground is dire," Nancy Ronan, a spokeswoman for theUN's World Food Programme, told the AFP news agency at Egypt's Rafahborder crossing earlier.
"We got food into Gaza, but we now have a problem distributing it because of the security situation."
TheUN also said on Friday that 30 Palestinians were killed in Gaza onJanuary 4 after the Israeli army moved dozens of civilians to abuilding which troops later shelled.
A special report by the UN's Office for the Co-ordinator ofHumanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said 110 Gazans were transferred to thehouse and that the Israeli army were investigating the incident.
Ahmed Samouni, who was left for days amidst the dead bodies of his mother and four brothers, witnessed what many are calling a massacre. The horror that the 16-year-old has seen is hard for him to put into words, but the effects are written all over his face. "It was the third missile I remember. The other ones had killed my elder brother and injured people, they kept bleeding. But the third missile, that killed them all," he said in between sobs. "My brother was bleeding so much and right in front of my eyes he died. My other brother Ismail, he also bled to death. "My mum and my youngest brother, they are gone. Four brothers and my mother, dead. May God give them peace." On January 7, paramedics finally brought the dead and injured to hospital, after they had spent four days trapped in their home in the Zeitoun neighbourhood. 'Israeli shelling' According to the survivors' accounts, partly corroborated by the International Red Cross and the United Nations, Israeli soldiers raided their homes and then moved the extended family together into one house. The following day, shells and missiles fired by the Israeli military fell around the house. "We were put in an ambulance, but there were still people inside the house, dead and injured," Ahmed told Al Jazeera. "For days we all bled. We were so hungry; I remember giving my brother Isaac a tomato to eat before he died." Al Jazeera tracked down the ambulance driver who rescued Ahmed. The Red Cross personnel were denied access by the Israeli army to the area for four days after the house was shelled. "On the day we got permission, the army told us to leave the ambulances around two kilometres from the house," said Mohamed el-Halby, a paramedic. "We went inside and heard screams coming from one room. There were about 15 people inside, two were dead, the rest sitting around them. That was just one room." Six year-old Abdullah was trapped inside the same house as Ahmed, surrounded by his dead cousins and uncles. Terrified and distraught he struggled to speak. He said they only had tomatoes to eat, and when asked what happened to his family, he said they were there, in front of him, dead. All he could do was just look at them. Wael, Abdullah's father, escaped on the first day of the Israeli raid. For four days he thought his son was dead. "I didn't know what to do, I still don't ... look at him he is so ill, they are all terrified," Weal said. "He cries all the time. His shoulder is hurt and it has infection but he cant stand the smell, he cries when he looks and smells his wounds. And his leg, look. I want to take him out of Gaza for treatment and I want to be able to go back to the house and get the rest of my family so that I can bury them." Al Jazeera tried to reach the family's house in Zeitoun but it was not safe. The closest anyone can get is about 1km away, and journalists, paramedics and aid workers need Israeli army permission to get to the area.
The Red Cross says there are many more homes in other areas where people are probably dead or injured inside. Raed el-Heleky, another paramedic who took part in the rescue effort, said he could smell dead bodies and blood in the area. "We saw people lying dead on the streets," he told Al Jazeera. The United Nations has said that the Samouni family's story sounds as though it has many elements of a war crime. "I would urge a certain amount of caution, we know that the Hamas regime in Gaza is cvery careful what they want to get out and this is the sort of story that fits into their propaganda ambitions," he told Al Jazeera. "We have no information on this particular incident, we are not aware of it." Humanitarian organisations have asked for an investigation, but while these processes get under way, Israel is denying access to the areas worst effected by its ongoing war. Aid workers fear Abdullah and Ahmed's stories may well be just the beginning of what Israel has done, and continues to do to the people of Gaza. | ||||||
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Heavy fighting has been reported in the northern Gaza Strip and on the outskirts of Gaza City after Israel sent army reservists into the territory to support its ground forces.
The clashes on Monday raised fears that Israel was planning to move further into densely-populated urban centres as the offensive entered its 17th day.
Al Jazeera's Sherine Tadros, reporting from Gaza City, said: "We have had fighting to the north, east and south of Gaza City ... certainly we are hearing an intensification of ground operations.
"There are gun battles between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian fighters in the areas of east Jabaliya and Tuffah. We are also hearing eyewitness reports that several houses have been demolished in the north, in Beit Hanoun and in other areas."
More than 900 Palestinians have died, including 277 children and 95 woman, since the Israeli operation began on December 27 and there are fears that any push into urban areas could cause even greater casualties.
Aerial bombardment
The Israeli military said air raids were carried out on at least 25 targets across the Gaza Strip including groups of Palestinian fighters, rocket-launching sites and smuggling tunnels in the southern Rafah area.
The homes of Hamas leaders, which Israel said contained weapons stores, were also hit.
"The army achieved in 16 days what no other country in the world fighting terror has done in 16 years," Shimon Peres, the Israeli president, said on Monday.
"The IDF [Israeli Defence Force] is making great achievements in terms of caution and operations in Gaza. It must continue that way."
However, Palestinian fighters have continued to fire rockets across the border into southern Israel, despite the stated aim of the offensive being to end these attacks, and Hamas said it would continue to battle Israeli troops inside Gaza.
"The Palestinian resistance is standing steadfast on the battlefield as it is in the political arena," Khaled Meshaal, Hamas's exiled political leader, said.
"The resistance cannot be broken in the face of the Israeli aggression, nor can our resolve despite the deep wounds, the great pains, the massacres, the destruction, the punishments and mass killings."
Thirteen Israelis have been killed since the offensive began, including three civilians hit by rocket fire.
Ehud Olmert, Israel's prime minister, said that the military operation would end once Hamas's military wing halted its rocket attacks.
"We want to end the operation when the two conditions we have demanded are met: ending the rocket fire and stopping Hamas's rearmament. If these two conditions are met, we will end our operation in Gaza," he said in the southern town of Ashkelon.
"Anything else will meet the iron fist of the Israeli people, who are no longer ready to tolerate the Qassams."
Egyptian diplomacy
Amos Gilad, a senior Israeli official, was expected to attend talks on an Egyptian ceasefire plan on Monday, but delayed his visit in what Israeli radio speculated was meant as a pressure tactic on Hamas.
The three-point plan calls for an immediate truce to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza, talks on opening Gaza's crossings and taking steps to stops weapons smuggling, and relaunching Palestinian reconciliation efforts.
| Gaza's hospitals are struggling to cope with the nearly 4,000 Palestinians injured [AFP] |
"Not accepting the Egyptian initiative should not be an option," he said. "He who refuses, voices reservations or moves slowly on this initiative bears the responsibility of explaining themselves, especially to the people of Gaza."
Osama Hamdan, a Hamas leader in Lebanon, told Al Jazeera that the Palestinian group was still discussing the Egyptian plan.
"What is offered until now is less than what the Palestinian people wanted. There may be some other initiatives raised in the next few days," he said.
Meanwhile, Egyptian authorities allowed 61 Arab doctors to enter the Gaza Strip via the Rafah crossing on Monday morning to help treat some of the nearly 4,000 Palestinians who have been injured in the bombardment.
"I don't know if the world disaster would cover the situation in Gaza right now, from the medical point of view it is a critical situation," Dr Dragfinn Bjorklid, the co-ordinator for the Norwegian Aid Committee, told Al Jazeera.
"I am in the Shifa hospital where I have been for six days," he said. "It is overwhelming with all the patients coming in, we are receiving between 120 and 200 cases every day in the emergency surgical department.
"There are lacks of even basic disposables and medicines and equipment, and also possibly most important is the lack of maintenance of the equipment here."
Aid deliveries
More than 100 lorries carrying aid were allowed to enter the territory via the Kerem Shalom crossing on Monday and another 60 were expected to pass through the Kari point.
However, Princess Haya bint al Hussein, a UN Messenger of Peace and wife of the ruler of Dubai, told Al Jazeera that efforts to get aid into the Gaza Strip have been hampered.
"I heard yesterday that from the 10 trucks we had scheduled to go in, which started at 15, now we've been asked to drop the capacity of each truck by 10 per cent.
"Things like this when the food is ready to go in, sitting on the border really do cause major frustrations.
"I can't understand why we have red tape in humanitarian efforts".
A resolution condemning Israel's military offensive in Gaza has been adopted by the UN Human Rights Council.
The non-binding resolution said the assault, which has now entered its third week and killed more than 900 Palestinians, had "resulted in massive violations of human rights of the Palestinian people".
It also called for an international mission to be sent immediately to the besieged Gaza Strip to investigate Israel's actions.
The resolution called for an immediate end to the firing of rockets from the Palestinian factions into Israel.
Israel dismissed the resolution as one-sided.
Fewer states than expected supported Monday's resolution, which passed by 33 votes to one, with 13 abstentions.
The UN rights body, meeting in Geneva, accused Israel of systematically destroying the Palestinian infrastructure and of targeting civilians as well as medical facilities.
'Massive violations'
All European Union countries abstained and Canada voted against the resolution.Rupert Colville, a spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, told Al Jazeera: "In the end they [the UN] passed the resolution, it was not unanimous. I would not say it was that heated, at the end of the day there were still differences of opinion.
"Many states praised the Palestinian delegation for the flexibility they had shown in the negotiations, but they could not quite reach a consensus," he said.
The Israeli army has said that troops guarding its border with Jordan has been fired at from across the border.
No one was hurt in the attack on Tuesday, an Israeli army spokesperson said.
"Troops were fired upon from the Jordanian side of the border. It was unclear who the gunmen were," the spokesperson said
However, witnesses told Al Jazeera Arabic that the assailant had
crossed the Jordanian border at the Wadi Araba crossing and opened fire
at the Israeli patrol from outside the Jordanian territories.
Other sources said that four Israeli soldiers were injured, one seriously, in the shooting.
Denial
But the Jordanian Petra news agency quoted an unnamed military source as saying that no shots had been fired from Jordan.
The alleged attack comes 18 days into Israel's Gaza offensive and after sporadic attacks from within Israel's Arab neighbours.
Shots were fired at an Israeli army vehicle from Syria along the border on Sunday.
No one was hurt, but it was the second such attack on the
Israel-Syria border since the start of Israel's assault on the Gaza
Strip.
On January 8 four Katyusha rockets were fired from southern Lebanon into the northern Israeli city of Nahariya.
Israel and Jordan signed a peace agreement in 1994 and the border is usually quiet.
Egypt
has rejected a Qatari request to hold an emergency Arab League summit
in Doha on Friday to discuss the Israeli offensive in Gaza.
The Egyptian foreign ministry said on Tuesday that Cairo had told
the Arab League that the presence of Arab leaders in Kuwait on January
18 for an economic summit "may pose an appropriate occasion for
consultations among them about the situation in Gaza".
Abdel-Alim
al-Abyad, the Arab League spokesman, said Qatar made the request for a
summit on Monday and that two-thirds of the league's 22 members needed
to approve the request for the summit to take place.
Syria welcomed the idea and said it would attend. The Algerian state news agency APS said Algeria also planned to attend.
Lebanon and Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, also confirmed their participation.
The 18-day-old Israeli offensive has exposed deep divisions between Arab countries.
Egypt and Saudi Arabia fear a summit would produce little in the way
of results and would make Arab leaders appear ineffective, diplomats
said.
Amr Moussa, the Arab League secretary-general, said that Arab
foreign ministers would hold emergency talks in Kuwait on Friday to
discuss "the continuation of the Israeli aggression on Gaza" ahead of
their scheduled gathering.
Friday's meeting will "examine the developments relating to Israel's
refusal to abide by UN Security Council Resolution 1860" calling for an
immediate ceasefire in Gaza, he told reporters.
The Israeli military has made its deepest push into Gaza since the beginning of its assault on the Palestinian territory.
Explosions from heavy aerial bombardment continued on Tuesday and fierce gunfire could be heard as ground troops moved into densely-populated areas of the Strip.
Al Jazeera reported that the heaviest fighting between Israeli and Palestinian fighters was in Tal al-Hawa, in the south of Gaza City.
Clashes were also reported in Beit Lahiya, to the north of the city, and east of Khan Younis.
Al Jazeera's Sherine Tadros, reporting from Gaza City, said there was an intensification of Israeli ground operations, with reservists moving in to support regular ground forces.
Tank attack
The AFP news agency reported Israeli tanks, supported by warplanes, had moved into several southern neighbourhoods of Gaza City and that Palestinian fighters were responding with mortar fire.
A spokesman for the Palestinian health ministry said dozens of calls for ambulances had been received, but none could be dispatched because of the fighting.
Combat continued despite another day of pleas from both the United Nations and the European Union to stop the violence, which has so far killed 940 Palestinians and wounded 4,300 others.
Civilians make up around 40 per cent of casualties, with the majority of those being women and children.
Expressing frustration at the failure of both sides to adhere to a legally binding UN resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire, Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, said he planned to step up diplomatic efforts to end Israel's air and ground offensive in Gaza and Hamas rocket fire into southern Israel.
"To both sides, I say: just stop, now," the UN chief told a news conference on Monday. "Too many people have died. There has been too much civilian suffering. Too many people, Israelis and Palestinians, live in daily fear of their lives."
Israeli goal
But Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, said the offensive which includes the latest deployment of reservists into Palestinian neighbourhoods, must continue until Hamas is completely disarmed.
"We want to end the operation when the two conditions we have demanded are met: ending the rocket fire and stopping Hamas's rearmament. If these two conditions are met, we will end our operation in Gaza," he said in the southern Israeli town of Ashkelon.
Al Jazeera's Ayman Mohyeldin reporting on the devastation in Rafah late on Monday said the continuous shelling had reduced the city to rubble and the Israeli military had been dropping leaflets warning local residents to flee.
He said the human suffering was compounded by the 18-month Israeli blockade that had led to a food and fuel shortage.
Al Jazeera's Zeina Awad, reporting from the Israel-Gaza border, said there were no signs of the war ending despite the huge humanitarian toll on the residents.
Hamas resolve
| Israeli reservists were deployed to support regular forces in Gaza [EPA] |
But the Palestinian fighters fired nearly 30 rockets across the border into southern Israel on Monday, according the an Israeli army spokesman, and Hamas said it would continue to battle Israeli troops inside Gaza.
Ismail Haniya, the Hamas leader and ousted Palestinian prime minister, said from Gaza City that Israel would not emerge victorious.
"This holy blood that has been spilt will never be in vain, it will make the victory. The children's and women's blood and bodies will be a curse which will haunt this occupation," he said.
Khaled Meshaal, Hamas's political leader in exile, said: "The Palestinian resistance is standing steadfast on the battlefield as it is in the political arena.
"The resistance cannot be broken in the face of the Israeli aggression, nor can our resolve despite the deep wounds, the great pains, the massacres, the destruction, the punishments and mass killings."
Israelijets have carried out fresh raids on tunnels under the Gaza-Egyptborder, a day after an attack on an Israeli army patrol killed anofficer and wounded three other soldiers.
"Israeli Air Force aircraft hit a number of Hamas smuggling tunnels"in retaliation for the roadside bomb attack by Palestinians on thevehicle patrol the previous day, the Israeli army said in a statementon Wednesday.
Three air raids took place before dawn, but no casualties were reported, local residents and Hamas security officials said.
Todd Baer, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Rafah, said: "People saythis latest round of Israeli strikes started at around two o'clock thismorning.
"They heard three strikes in a row. It hit this area hard. Fear is as high as it can be here."
Tunnels 'a lifeline'
The tunnels are used by Gazans to smuggle food, fuel and consumergoods from Egypt and are considered a lifeline for thousands ofordinary Gazans. Israel says Hamas uses them to re-arm.
Shortly after the bomb attack on Tuesday, Israel aircraft killed one Palestinian on a motorcycle in an air attack.
Hamas confirmed that one of its members was injured in the attack in the town of Khan Younis.
The exchanges were the first major military developments since Hamasand Israel declared separate ceasefires earlier this month afterIsrael's offensive against the Gaza Strip.
Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, later said the killing wasonly an initial reaction and that Israel's full response was still tocome, Israeli media websites reported.
No Palestinian group has claimed responsibility for Tuesday's bomb attack.
Atleast nine people, seven of them school girls, have been injured by anIsraeli air attack in the southern Gaza Strip, sources tell Al Jazeera.
The raid on Thursday in Khan Younis also injured a Hamas policeman, the AFP news agency reported, quoting witnesses and medics.
Israel seemed to be targeting a Palestinian fighter on a motorcycle, witnesses told Al Jazeera.
The raidcame several hours after Israeli jets attacked what witnesses said wasa metal foundry in Rafah, a town near Gaza's border with Egypt.
"An aerial attack took place against a site used to manufactureweapons in an area of the city of Rafah following the firing of arocket into southern Israel in [Wednesday] evening," an Israeliarmy spokesman told AFP.
Themilitary later said that a second missile was fired into southernIsrael from Gaza early on Thursday, but that no damage or injuries werecaused.
Hoda Abdel-Hamid, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Gaza City, said:"These kinds of attacks cause a lot of tension amongst the people, andthere is apprehension that these tit-for-tat attacks could escalate anda full on war could resume."
Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, has called for a securitycabinet meeting to discuss expanding the military response to Gazarocket fire, sources tell Al Jazeera.
The violence came as George Mitchell, the US envoy to the MiddleEast, prepared to head for talks with Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinianpresident, as part of a wider regional tour.
Rockets fired
The al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the military arm of the Fatah factionled by Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, claimed responsibilityfor Wednesday night's rocket attack from Gaza - the first sincePalestinian factions declared their own ceasefire with Israel.
The rocket landed at the kibbutz or agricultural commune of Reim, inthe southern Israeli Eshkol region, an Israeli military spokesman saidon Thursday.
The attack came after Israeli jets carried out raids on tunnelsunder the Gaza-Egypt border earlier on Wednesday - the first tunnelbombing since it halted its 22-day offensive on January 18.
The Israeli army said in a statement on Wednesday that its air forcehad hit a number of "Hamas smuggling tunnels" in retaliation for aroadside bomb attack by Palestinians on a vehicle patrol the previousday.
Gaza fighters had killed an Israeli soldier and wounded three others in the attack along a border fence.
Shortly after the bomb attack on Tuesday, Israeli aircraft killed one Palestinian on a motorcycle in an air attack.
Hamas confirmed that one of its members was injured in the attack in the town of Khan Younis.
This cannot be undone and I am sure it will be greatly appreciated.
Please wait...
