[USATODAY] The United States and United Nations
...an organization originally established to war on dictatorships which was promptly infiltrated by dictatorships and is now held in thrall to dictatorships...
announced Thursday that Israel and Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, agreed to a humanitarian cease-fire that is to start Friday morning for 72 hours.
In a joint statement, the U.S. and U.N. said they had gotten assurances that all parties to the conflict had agreed to an unconditional cease-fire during which there would be negotiations on a more durable truce.
The statement was released in New Delhi, where Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry
Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State...
was meeting with Indian officials.
Earlier Thursday, Israel had vowed to press ahead with its offensive in Gazoo, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country's military would demolish Hamas' network of tunnels "with or without a cease-fire."
Netanyahu said he won't accept any truce that will not allow Israel to achieve its goal of destroying the tunnel network it says is used to carry out attacks inside Israel. Hamas said it will only lay down arms once Israel and Egypt give guarantees that a seven-year Gazoo border blockade will be lifted.
The firm tone from Israel comes as its military called up 16,000 more reservists Thursday, in a move that may signal a widening of its military operation in Gazoo. It is not clear how many fighters bad boy groups in Gazoo have at their disposal.
Israel has activated 86,000 reserves since the conflict began on July 8 in a bid to end rockets fired by Hamas into Israel. The operation expanded July 17 to include dismantling the network of tunnels. Israel said it is no more than a few days away from destroying the remainder of the 32 cross-border tunnels it has uncovered. |