With the fighting in Gaza ongoing, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke with Israeli Prime Minister?Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem early Wednesday. Meanwhile, emphasizing their support for the Palestinians, a group of Arab ministers visited Gaza.?
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (not seen) deliver joint statements in Jerusalem, Tuesday.
AP Photo/Baz Ratner, Pool
EnlargeIsraeli air strikes shook the?Gaza?Strip?and Palestinian rockets struck across the border as U.S. Secretary of State?Hillary Clinton?held talks in?Jerusalem?in the early hours of Wednesday, seeking a truce that can hold back?Israel's ground troops.
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Hamas, the?Islamist?movement controlling Gaza, and?Egypt, whose new,?Islamist government?is trying to broker a truce, had floated hopes for a ceasefire by late Tuesday; but by the time Clinton met Israeli Prime Minister?Benjamin Netanyahu?it was clear there would be more argument, and more violence, first.
Hamas?leaders in?Cairo?accused the Jewish state of failing to respond to proposals and said an announcement on holding fire would not come before daylight on Wednesday.?Israel Radio?quoted an Israeli official saying a truce was held up due to "a last-minute delay in the understandings between?Hamas?and?Israel".
An initial halt to attacks may, however, not see the sides stand their forces down from battle stations immediately; Clinton, who flies to?Cairo?to see Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi later on Wednesday, spoke of a deal "in the days ahead".
As she arrived in?Israel?after nightfall,?Israel?was stepping up its bombardment. Artillery shells and missiles fired from naval gunboats offshore slammed into the territory and air strikes came at a frequency of about one every 10 minutes.
After seven days of hostilities that have killed over 130 Palestinians and five Israelis, two of these on Tuesday, both sides are looking for more than a return to the sporadic calm that has prevailed across the blockaded enclave since?Israel?ended a much bloodier air and ground offensive four years ago.
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Netanyahu, who faces an election in two months that he is, for now, favoured to win, told Clinton he wanted a "long-term" solution. Failing that, Netanyahu made clear, he stood ready to step up the military campaign to silence?Hamas's rockets.
Hamas?for its part is exploring the opportunities that last year's Arab Spring has given it to enjoy favour from the new?Islamist?governments of states once ruled by U.S. proteges, and from Sunni Gulf powers keen to woo it away from Shi'ite Iran. It has used longer-range missiles, some sent by?Tehran, and hopes to eclipse Western-backed Palestinian President?Mahmoud Abbas.
Hamas?has spoken of an easing of?Israel's blockade on the 40-km (25-mile) slice of?Mediterranean coast?that is home to 1.7 million people. It may count on some sympathy from Mursi, though?Egypt's first freely elected leader, whose?Muslim Brotherhood?inspired?Hamas's founders, has been careful to stick by the 1979 peace deal with?Israel?struck by?Cairo's former military rulers.
Clinton, who broke off from an Asian tour with President?Barack Obama?and assured Netanyahu of "rock-solid" U.S. support for?Israel's security, spoke of seeking a "durable outcome" and of?Egypt's "responsibility" for promoting peace.
She repeated international calls for the kind of lasting, negotiated, comprehensive Israeli-Palestinian settlement that has eluded the two peoples for decades - something neither of the two warring parties seems seriously to be anticipating.
Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/3Bax2gL4e14/Gaza-Clinton-works-for-truce-in-the-days-ahead
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