"Israel" kills infant in Gaza as rice visits

Source: alalam.ir, 05-03-2008
Gaza Strip-A 20-day-old baby and a Palestinian civilian have been martyred and eleven others wounded in a new "Israeli" raid on al-Garara village, east of the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, medics said.
About 25 "Israeli" armored vehicles briefly entered southern Gaza and clashed with resistance fighters after nightfall Tuesday, just a day after the "Israeli" occupying army ended a destructive and bloody ground operation in northern Gaza.
The "Israeli" tanks fired shells and attack helicopters fired missiles at the Palestinian civilians.
The infant girl was killed by an "Israeli" trooper's bullet, Palestinian Health Ministry official Moaiya Hassanain said.
The new atrocity overshadowed a new so-called peace push by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Rice had earlier met Palestinian Authority chief Mahmud Abbas, who broke off all contacts with the "Israeli" regime on Sunday after a previous incursion martyred more than 125 people, including 23 children.
But as the top US diplomat met in Al-Quds with Zionist regime's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert over dinner, "Israeli" army backed by helicopters and several armored vehicles entered Gaza east of the city of Khan Yunis.
Rice had earlier called on Palestinians to renew peace talks that were dealt a major blow by the deadly "Israeli" onslaught of the past week.
"We look forward to the resumption of negotiations as soon as possible," Rice said after meeting Abbas.
She said President George W. Bush's goal of resolving the decades-old conflict and inking a historic peace deal by the end of his term in January 2009 was still possible.
"I still believe that that can be done," she told reporters.
Abbas did not say when he might return to the negotiating table, but insisted that "the negotiations are necessary and we are committed to them."
Abbas called for a truce between "Israel" and the Palestinians, both in his West Bank powerbase and in the Gaza Strip, which is ruled by Hamas movement.
But Hamas rejected his call for a reciprocal ceasefire, insisting the blame lay with the "Israeli" occupying regime.
"We consider the statements of the Palestinian president about the truce an unbalanced call because the problem lies in the occupation, not in the Palestinian people," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said.
Rice's visit coincided with the publication of a Vanity Fair article revealing that she and Bush covertly worked to oust Hamas after it won 2006 parliamentary elections.
Citing confidential documents, the magazine said the US sought to arm a force led by Fatah loyalists to oust Hamas from power, but that the plan backfired.
Iranian Jewish Committee issued a statement on Tuesday condemning the recent massacres in Gaza.
The statement said that the latest crimes committed by "Israel" against the defenseless citizens of Gaza "have distressed the faithful sentiments".
Several branches of the Iran Jewish Committee announced their solidarity with the Palestinians, particularly the victims of "Israel's" crimes, in the statement.
The signatories also called on all human rights organizations to end their silence about the Zionist regime's crimes and to defend the Palestinians.
The statement was signed by MP Morris Mo'tamed, who represents the Jewish community in the Iranian parliament, and the Tehran, Shiraz, Isfahan, and Kermanshah branches of the Iran Jewish Committee.