Mixed media: Days of penitence

HEAVY HANDED POLICY

CUBAN NEWSPAPER: Palestine Negotiations Minister Saeb Erekat condemned the international community's silence regarding the Israeli military operation Days of Penitence.

The lack of response from the nations of the world is equivalent to giving the green light to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to continue his heavy-handed policy against the Palestinian population. Zionist violence will only aggravate the situation in the region and hamper any efforts to implement a peace plan in the Middle East, the official added.

Granma, Havana

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UN WEBSITE: The ongoing violence in Gaza, on top of the sharply deteriorating humanitarian situation, is pushing the Palestinian population into a deep crisis, warned a dozen United Nations aid agencies working in the region.

"The UN organisations recognise Israel's legitimate security concerns, particularly the need to stop Palestinian rocket and mortar attacks into civilian areas; however, its actions should be in conformity with international humanitarian law and it should not use disproportionate force," they said in a statement released in Jerusalem.

UN

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ISLAMIC WEBSITE:Israel is spearheading a scorched earth policy in the Gaza Strip ahead of its potential pullout to leave it devastated and emerge victorious in the eyes of its people, Palestinian experts have said.

"The Israeli Army ran amok in the Gaza Strip to destroy its infrastructure and trigger social and economic crises to drift the attention of the Palestinians from the unabated resistance," Ashraf Al-Ajrami, a political analyst, told IslamOnline.net. He said the Israelis want to spread chaos in the strip before their planned unilateral withdrawal to prove that the Palestinians cannot establish their state all by themselves.

Islam Online

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CHINESE NEWS AGENCY:Former Palestinian minister of interior security Mohammed Dahlan said that the ongoing Israeli military offensive in northern Gaza Strip won't bring security to Israel. In an interview with Xinhua, Dahlan labelled the Israeli operation as "revenge". Dahlan also criticised the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) for disrespecting national interests, which led the Palestinians into such a situation.

"Hamas always prefers its personal interests rather than the national interests, and this is what has brought us to such a situation," Dahlan said.

Xinhua

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PAKISTANI NEWSPAPER:There is a clear transatlantic cleavage on the issue of dealing with the Israeli-Palestinian problem. Can anything be done?

Yes and no. Yes, if the US were to shed its blinkered approach to the problem and restrain Tel Aviv; no, because it won't. Even Mr Bush's rival candidate, Senator John Kerry, is trying to please the Jewish lobby and is not prepared to take any risk of offending the American Jews.

Daily Times, Lahore

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A SECURITY MEASURE

BRITISH WEBSITE:

If the Palestinians really wanted the madness to stop, they could easily make it happen. All they need to do is declare an end to the intifada they declared, drop the right of return and accept the viable Palestinian state Israel has offered, which is similar to the offer in Camp David. The reason they will not do this is because they are fighting for a cause which calls for the destruction of Israel, and the Palestinians are more than willing to sacrifice everything they have lost including their economy, their homes, and any hope of living normal lives in order to achieve that cause.

Sebastian, Oxford, commenting on BBC website

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ISRAELI NEWS AGENCY: The operation's mission is to create a security buffer zone to prevent Palestinian missiles from hitting Israeli cities and towns. "This operation will go for as long as it takes to stop the firing of the missiles," said Gideon Meir, an Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister. "The Israel Government is taking measures so that the Israel Defence Force's operation in Gaza is not victimised by Arab propaganda as witnessed with the so-called Jenin massacre during Operation Defensive Shield two years ago. The IDF is recording all activity with video cameras and providing real-time information to journalists."

Israel News Agency

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JERUSALEM NEWSPAPER: 'At least now the terrorists know that their window of opportunity for firing on Israel is limited, as they have to shoot and run before the IDF is able to catch them. But if the soldiers are located on the other side of the fence, so to speak, the terrorists will be able to do as they please, which will hardly enhance our security. Moreover, even as the IDF carves out a buffer zone of sorts in northern Gaza, it is clear that this will not provide a long-term solution to the problem of rocket attacks.

- Jerusalem Post