DAY 14:AFTER BOTH Hamas and Israel yesterday rejected the UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and with rocket fire continuing yesterday throughout the south of the country, Israeli leaders were considering extending the military push to areas still under militant control.
Hamas official Ayman Taha said the organisation would simply ignore the UN decision. "Even though we are the main actors on the ground in Gaza, we were not consulted about this resolution and they have not taken into account our vision and the interests of our people."
Israel took an equally hardline stance. A statement from the prime minister's office said the ongoing rocket fire on Friday proved that the UN resolution is not practical.
"The state of Israel has a right to defend its citizens, and therefore the Israel defence forces will continue to operate in order to complete its mission, which is to bring about a change in the security situation in southern Israel in accordance with plans that had been approved prior to the launching of the offensive," it read.
The UN Security Council resolution, which was passed by 14 votes to 0, with the US abstaining, called for "an immediate, durable, and fully respected ceasefire, leading to the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza".
The resolution also called for the need to open the border crossings, and to stop the smuggling of weapons into Gaza.
Israel said there would be no military withdrawal until a mechanism was set up to ensure an end to arms smuggling into Gaza. Israeli military planners want to avoid becoming bogged down in Gaza, and are concerned that a static force would be an easy target for guerrilla attacks.
The rejection of the ceasefire is likely to increase pressure on Israel's leaders to give troops the green light to attack remaining areas of Gaza and occupy the entire strip, until a more acceptable truce is achieved. German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier left for the region in an effort to push for implementation of the council's resolution, and Spanish foreign minister Miguel Ángel Moratinos is due to travel to the Middle East on Monday.
Israel continued to pound targets across the strip yesterday. At least seven residents were killed in one air strike, when a five-storey building was levelled in the north of Gaza.
With the UN ceasefire resolution stillborn, the focus shifted back to the initiative drawn up earlier in the week by Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and French president Nicolas Sarkozy.
According to diplomatic sources, the Egyptians are reluctant to agree to international monitors on their side of the border with Gaza, arguing that their own forces, with additional money and technical assistance, will be able to prevent weapons smuggling via tunnels into the Gaza Strip. Israel insists on a robust force with international monitors on the ground.
In Geneva Navi Pillay, the UN's most senior human rights official, called for an independent investigation into Israel on the basis that it might have committed war crimes.