By AMY TEIBEL – 5 hours ago
APJERUSALEM (AP) — Israel stood fast Wednesday by its decision to clamp shut cargo crossings at the Gaza Strip, brushing off pleas to ease the blockade from United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon.
Israel sealed the passages two weeks ago after a 5-month-old truce between Israel and Gaza militants started unraveling in an effort to halt rocket and mortar fire at Israeli border towns.
The crossings, a main source of imports to Gaza, have been cracked open occasionally to allow in fuel and vital supplies. But the closures have drastically reduced the amount of goods entering the already impoverished seaside territory of 1.4 million people, causing shortages of many basic goods.
On Tuesday, Ban called Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert "to express his deep concern over the consequences of the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza," the U.N. said in a statement.
"He strongly urged the prime minister to facilitate the freer movement of urgently needed humanitarian supplies and of concerned United Nations personnel into Gaza," the statement said.
Olmert said Israel was not to blame for the deterioration of conditions in Gaza, according to the prime minister's office. "Gazans have only Hamas' regime of terror to blame," he said.
Hamas, an Islamic militant group committed to Israel's destruction, has ruled Gaza since violently overrunning the territory in June 2007.
On Tuesday, the U.N.'s top human rights official, Navi Pillay, called for an immediate end to the blockade, saying Gazans "have been forcibly deprived of their most basic human rights for months."
Defense Minister Ehud Barak told Army Radio on Wednesday that "there has to be quiet for the crossings to open."
Israel and Hamas have been observing a truce since June. The cease-fire has largely held until Israeli troops entered Gaza early this month to destroy a tunnel they said militants had dug to attack Israel. At least 17 militants have been killed since, and militants have fired about 150 rockets and mortars at Israel, by the military's count.
The June 19 cease-fire is to expire in December. The fighting might be an attempt by both sides to dictate more favorable terms for renewing the truce.
There were tenuous indications, however, that the violence might be subsiding. No major clashes were reported on Tuesday or Wednesday.
Barak said "it's possible" there are signs militants were holding their fire.
"If the other side decides after all to go toward a truce, then there will be a truce," he said. But if militants escalate the violence, then Israel will launch a large-scale military operation, he said.
Israel has so far balked at such a campaign, concerned it would generate heavy casualties without effectively suppressing rocket fire. Israel also could be reluctant to invade Gaza ahead of Feb. 10 parliamentary elections.
Hamas leaders also have said they would like the calm to be restored.
Before the truce was reached, militants barraged Israel with near-daily rocket attacks, provoking sometimes harsh military retaliation that killed hundreds of Palestinians, including many civilians.
The installation of the new commander of Israel's Gaza division had been put off last week because of the tension along the border. But defense officials said Brig. Gen. Eyal Eisenberg would take over the Gaza command on Wednesday, replacing Brig. Gen. Moshe Tamir, who had commanded the division for two years.
Hamas seized power of Gaza by ousting security forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who now controls only the West Bank. The rift has complicated Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, which resumed last year after a seven-year breakdown. Israel says it won't implement any peace accord as long as Hamas controls the territory.
U.S. President-elect Barack Obama called Abbas on Tuesday to tell him he would spare no effort to facilitate a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said Wednesday.
In the West Bank, meanwhile, a court-ordered deadline expired for Jewish settlers to leave a four-story building in the volatile city of Hebron.
On Sunday, Israel's Supreme Court gave the settlers until noon Wednesday to leave the house. The settlers ignored the ruling, which also said they must be evicted within 30 days if they don't leave voluntarily. Barak said the government would comply with the court order, but added defense officials would first try to persuade the settlers to leave on their own.
About 500 of the most extreme Israeli settlers live in Hebron in heavily guarded enclaves among 170,000 Palestinians. If Israeli security forces evict them from the building, violent clashes are likely.
Settlers moved in early last year after claiming they bought the building from a Palestinian. The Palestinian denies the claim and Israeli authorities have not recognized the sale as legal. The court ruled that the settlers must turn the house over to the state until a lower court decides who the legal owner is.
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