Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert rejected a UN resolution calling for an “immediate” and “durable” ceasefire in Gaza as “unworkable” and on Friday sent jets and tanks into the Palestinian enclave for another pounding. With the civilian death toll in the hundreds and rising amid outraged denunciations of Israel from the Red Cross, United Nations agencies and Arab and European governments, diplomats also sounded an alarm that Egyptian-brokered truce talks launched this week might also be foundering. Olmert said the army would go on with its mission, noting that Palestinians fired more rockets at Israel on Friday. Gaza's Hamas rulers sent mixed signals about the UN resolution passed early Friday. Hamas spokesman Ayman Taha said the group did not recognize the resolution as it had not been consulted. Another spokesman said Hamas was “studying” the resolution. The resolution also called for arrangements to prevent arms smuggling into Gaza and for its borders to be opened. It said there should be “unimpeded provision” and distribution of aid to the territory, home to 1.5 million people. Israel's key ally the United States abstained in the UN vote, easing the pressure on the Jewish state, while noting talks on a truce were still under way under Egyptian mediation. That Egyptian initiative, brokered by French President Nicolas Sarkozy earlier in the week, may be in trouble, however. European and Israeli diplomats told Reuters that Egypt was objecting to proposals that foreign troops and technicians be stationed on its 15-km (9-mile) border with the Gaza Strip as part of a deal to meet Israeli demands that Hamas be denied the opportunity to rearm after a truce through smuggling tunnels. Instead, diplomats said, Egypt was ready to accept technical assistance for its own forces on the border, which Israel argues have hitherto failed to prevent Hamas building up an arsenal of hundreds of smuggled, Soviet-designed Katyusha missiles as well as, possibly, sophisticated anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons. Olmert's security cabinet discussed Friday whether to launch a massive escalation of the offensive on Hamas by moving troops in a third phase deep into urban areas, a move that would mean calling in reservists. The onslaught in Gaza, where many civilians including children have been killed, has solid support among Israeli voters who go to the polls in a month. A poll on Friday showed over 90 percent support among Israel's Jewish majority. Itshowed that Defense Minister Ehud Barak's Labour party has held on to sharp gains it has made since war began, though it still trails Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni's Kadima, which is running close behind the right-wing Likud opposition. Benjamin Netanyahu, Likud's leader, has also thrown strong support behind the war.
