Israel, Hamas ignore U.N., death toll rises

Israeli leaders oppose that step because it would allow Hamas to strengthen its hold on Gaza.

In Lebanon, Hamas official Osama Hamdan told Al-Arabiya that the group "is not interested in it (the U.N. resolution) because it does not meet the demands of the movement."

Seven Hamas officials crossed into Egypt on Friday through the Gaza border crossing at Rafah, on their way to Cairo for negotiations with Egyptian officials on a truce with Israel. The talks were expected to begin sometime Saturday following the arrival of a Hamas delegation from Syria, including politburo members Mohammed Nasr and Imad al-Alami.

On reaching Cairo, Hamas delegate Ayman Taha told Al-Jazeera Television that his group wants an end to Israeli attacks and its withdrawal from Gaza. "We are not asking the impossible. This is our right to ask for it, and to protect our people and their blood."

The Islamic militant group, which was behind suicide bombings that killed hundreds of Israelis in past years, has been largely shunned by Western powers since coming to political power in 2006 Palestinian elections.

That isolation has only deepened since Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in June 2007 in five days of fighting with the Fatah movement of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Moderate Arab governments as well as the U.S. and its allies in Europe have supported Abbas' government, which controls only the West Bank.

The division has complicated efforts to advance peace efforts and reach a cease-fire in the latest fighting.

Germany, Spain to press resolution
Despite the cool reception to the Security Council vote, the foreign ministers of Germany and Spain planned to visit the region to promote the U.N. resolution.

Israeli military operations showed no signs of abating Friday, despite a three-hour lull in fighting that has been instituted for three days running to allow aid to reach Gaza's distressed people.

One Israeli airstrike killed two Hamas militants and another unidentified man, while another flattened a five-story building in northern Gaza, killing the seven members of the Salha family, including an infant, Hamas officials said.

Two Israeli missiles clipped the roof of a building housing the offices of Iran's English-language Press TV and a sister Arabic-language network, slightly injuring one person, the channel's correspondent, Ashraf Shannon, said. The military said it had no knowledge of any attacks in that area.

Heavy clashes were reported northeast of Gaza City as Israeli soldiers advanced under the cover of Apache helicopters firing machine guns.

Fares Alwan, 49, said he was eating with his family when their house came under fire.

"I took my kids and wife and started running away for cover," Alwan said. "We saw wounded people in the street while we were running."

Later Friday, some residents received recorded phone messages said to be from Israel's military warning of a planned escalation. A military spokesman said he had no knowledge of the calls.

Video   U.N. suspends food delivery Jan. 8: Aid groups accuse Israel of violating international law by not caring for and evacuating the wounded. NBC's Martin Fletcher reports. Nightly News

Hamas rockets hit in and around two of the largest southern cities in Israel, Beersheba and Ashkelon, but no casualties were reported.

In Gaza's rubble-strewn streets, there was concern of a worsening humanitarian situation on the second day of a U.N. suspension of aid deliveries and the Red Cross restricted its medical operations to Gaza City, where it has a team assisting surgeons at the main Shifa hospital.

The decisions by the two organizations came after they said Israeli fire killed two contractors delivering aid for the U.N. and injured the driver of a Red Cross truck in separate incidents Thursday.

With just over half the territory's population of 1.4 million relying on the U.N. for food, U.N. officials said Friday that they planned to resume aid operations "as soon as practical," based on Israeli assurances that aid workers would be better protected.

Gaza's people have become increasingly desperate for food, water, fuel and medical assistance. One million people are without electricity and 750,000 are without running water, according to the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency.

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