On Dec 19th the Islamist militant group Hamas ended a six-month cease-fire with Israel in the Gaza Strip. As the cease-fire expired Hamas issued a statement blaming Israel which had not "respected" the truce. Israel's foreign ministry spokesman said the militants, who control Gaza, "had chosen violence over truth". The Egyptian-brokered deal began on June 19th but had been tested regularly by Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel and Israeli operations in Gaza.
Hamas is one of the two main Palestinian political groups. Since June 2007 it has been in de facto control of the Gaza Strip, after seizing power from the Fatah party in a series of bloody clashes. Hamas recognizes the fact of Israel but refuses to recognize Israel’s right to exist, and has been responsible for many of the deadliest suicide attacks in Israel.
On Dec 27th Israel launches major air strikes on Hamas targets throughout the Gaza in retaliation for heavy rocket fire from the area. More than 200 Palestians are killed from the air strikes.
On Jan 3rd Israeli tanks and troops sweep across the border into Gaza, opening a ground war against Hamas after a week of intense air strikes. Palestinian medical officials say at least 110 people have died since the ground assault began on Saturday. Israel says it has killed 130 Hamas fighters and has denied claims that Hamas has killed 10 of its soldiers. More than 560 Palestinians have been killed since Israel moved to end rocket attacks from Gaza 11 days ago, Palestinian medical officials say. The UN says at least 25% of those are civilians. At least 20 Palestinians were killed on Tuesday, while three Israeli soldiers were killed by fire from one of their own tanks.
Intense diplomatic efforts are under way to resolve the crisis but Israel rejected calls for an immediate truce. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is due to attend a UN Security Council meeting on Tuesday, along with the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, France and Britain, in an attempt to put pressure on the Security Council to act decisively. French President Nicolas Sarkozy said he had asked his Syrian counterpart, Bashar Assad, to help convince Hamas to co-operate with efforts to end the Israeli offensive. Syria is regarded as a main backer of Hamas.
On Jan 7th Israel agreed "on the principles" of a cease-fire proposal, raising hopes of an end to its conflict with Palestinian militants in Gaza. "The challenge now is to get the details to match the principles," Israeli spokesman Mark Regev said.
The Palestinian militant group Hamas said there were "positive signs but no agreement yet". The development came as Israel halted military operations in Gaza for three hours to aid humanitarian efforts.
Israel and Hamas have been under pressure to accept a diplomatic solution to the conflict, which began on December 27th. Israel wants to stop rocket attacks on southern Israel and to stop Hamas smuggling weapons into Gaza via Egypt, while Hamas says any cease-fire deal must include an end to Israel's blockade of Gaza. Israel said it was not sure how long the diplomatic process would take and that a working arms embargo on Hamas was needed.
Little official detail has been given about the French-Egyptian proposal, which is backed by the United States and the UN, but diplomats say it centers on measures to halt weapons smuggling from Egypt into Gaza, coupled with moves to ease the blockade. In a statement released on Wednesday, France's President Nicolas Sarkozy welcomed "the acceptance by Israel and the Palestinian Authority" of the truce plan. The statement did not mention Hamas.
The world waits and listens to see if a solution to this ever lasting crisis.
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