Gaza crisis escalates as Israel enters Lebanon

To the chagrin of the international community, tensions continue to mount in the Middle East, with the Lebanon-based Hezbollah claiming to have captured two more Israeli soldiers on July 12. Israel launched an immediate incursion into southern Lebanon, compounding the ongoing political crisis in the region over an abducted Israeli soldier being held in Gaza. At least seven Israeli soldiers were killed in the attack on the Israeli-Lebanese border. Meanwhile, fighting continues to escalate in Gaza with civilian casualties mounting despite calls for restraint from the UN and European Union (EU). At least 20 Palestinians were killed in attacks on July 12. The EU and U N Secretary General Kofi Annan have both accused Israel of using "disproportionate force" in Gaza. The Bush administration blamed Syria and Iran for the kidnappings and violence in Lebanon, calling for the immediate and unconditional release of the two soldiers. Hezbollah said it would not release them until Israel agreed to set free all Arab prisoners. Its capture of the soldiers is a huge political embarrassment to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, coming only weeks after the seizure of Cpl. Gilad Shalit last month in Gaza. Olmert described the capture of the soldiers as an "act of war." Palestinian militants holding Shalit in Gaza have demanded that all Palestinian women and young people held in Israeli jails be freed in exchange for his release. Olmert is now concerned that Hamas and Hezbollah could start working together to demand the release of prisoners as a condition for freeing the missing soldiers. "These are difficult days for the state of Israel and its citizens," he said. "There are people... who are trying to test our resolve. They will fail, and they will pay a heavy price for their actions." The crisis facing Israel was compounded when its air force killed a family of nine, dropping a 550-pound bomb on a house in a residential area of Gaza City on July 12. Nabil Abu Salmiah, a lecturer at the Islamic University–who has been described by Israel as a Hamas activist–was killed, along with his wife and their five daughters and two sons. Five of the dead children were aged between four and 11, and the other two were in their teens. The deaths are a severe embarrassment to Israel. By news agency counts, at least 44 Palestinians, most them armed militants but several of them civilians including children, have been killed since Israel stepped up attacks in Gaza last week. It is estimated that some 1,600 people, mostly civilians, have been wounded in the attacks. One Israeli soldier has died so far, and he is believed to have been the victim of friendly fire. Israel said on July 9 that it would continue air and ground assaults in the Gaza Strip indefinitely, rebuffing a truce proposed by Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh the day before. "This is a war that cannot be on a timetable," a senior government official quoted Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as telling his cabinet regarding the Gaza situation. "There is no intention to reoccupy Gaza in order to stay there, but if certain operations are needed they will be carried out. We will operate, enter and pull out as needed," the official quoted Olmert as saying. Israeli forces launched their offensive into Gaza, code-named "Operation Summer Rains," after Palestinian gunmen abducted Shalit in a raid into Israel on June 25. It was the first such push into Gaza since troops and settlers withdrew from the territory last year. Israel escalated its incursion into Gaza last week after a 10-day stand off during which Palestinian militants demanded 1,500 women and young prisoners be released in return for Shalit, and then halted discussions when an ultimatum passed. In the last three weeks, Israel has initiated a series of assaults on the Gaza Strip, put Gaza's 1.4 million residents under pressure with the destruction of the only power station and other infrastructure, and arrested members of the Hamas-controlled Palestinian government. On July 6 more than 20 people died in heavy fighting. On July 9, Olmert also rejected calls by the three militant factions in Gaza that kidnapped the Israeli soldier, including the governing Hamas group's armed wing, to release Palestinian prisoners in exchange for information about him. Such a move, Olmert was quoted as saying, would only strengthen Hamas at the expense of "moderate elements" in the Palestinian Authority. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has demanded that Israel take urgent action to prevent a humanitarian disaster in the Gaza Strip. On July 7, the European Union condemned Israel's incursions into the Gaza Strip and warned that the military actions were provoking a humanitarian crisis. "The EU condemns the loss of lives caused by disproportionate use of force by the Israeli defense forces and the humanitarian crisis it has aggravated," Matti Vanhanen said in a statement. "The EU is extremely concerned about the situation between Israel and the Palestinians which has further deteriorated over the last days. "All parties must refrain from actions which create further difficulties for the speedy return to negotiations on the peace process," he said. Vanhanen's statement followed a statement from Switzerland last week saying that some of Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip constituted collective punishment, an activity forbidden under the 1949 Geneva conventions. On July 8, the EU voted against a resolution of the UN's human rights council on sending an investigative team to look at alleged rights violations by the Israeli military. The criticisms were the sharpest to be directed at Israel since the current crisis erupted three weeks ago. The prime minister of Finland, which currently holds the rotating EU presidency, demanded the unconditional release of the kidnapped soldier and the 64 Hamas parliamentarians arrested by Israeli troops. He also insisted that Palestinians end the shelling of Israeli territory from within the Gaza Strip. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has demanded that Israel take urgent action to prevent a humanitarian disaster in the Gaza Strip. Annan urged Israel to lift restrictions on the movement of basic goods such as foodstuffs into Gaza. He said UN agencies must be allowed to work in the region. Annan said the strike on the region's only power station had affected hospitals, water and sanitation plants, as well as food production.