Call for Immediate Truce Fails to Halt Fighting in Gaza

Call for Immediate Truce Fails to Halt Fighting in Gaza
The top U.N. human rights official urges an independent investigation into possible war crimes by both Israel and Hamas. Transcript of radio broadcast:
10 January 2009

This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.
There were fierce battles in Gaza on Friday as Hamas and Israel both rejected a United Nations call for an immediate cease-fire. The densely populated area faces shortages of food, medicine, water and electric power.
Israel says its air and ground attacks are targeting only Hamas-related targets. It blames the Palestinian group for positioning fighters and rockets in civilian areas.
Hamas continued to fire rockets into southern Israel. A Hamas leader said in Damascus that the call for a truce would mean a surrender. But he also said Hamas was preparing to send a delegation to Cairo to further discuss an Egyptian peace plan.
The United States did not vote on the cease-fire resolution passed Thursday by the Security Council. American officials say they want to see the results of the Egyptian efforts.
Friday, the top U.N. human rights official called for an independent investigation into possible war crimes by both sides in the conflict. Navi Pillay, in Geneva, criticized Hamas leaders for the harm caused to Israeli civilians by rocket fire. And she warned against the use of people in Gaza as human shields.
At the same time, she deplored Israeli strikes against clearly marked U.N. buildings where civilians were taking shelter. The United Nations temporarily suspended aid operations in Gaza Thursday after Israeli fire killed the driver of an aid truck.
Gaza medical officials say more than eight hundred Palestinians have been killed. About half, they say, have been women and children. At least thirteen Israelis have been killed, including at least nine soldiers. Hamas rockets have hit farther inside Israel than before. Fighting continued Saturday.
A six-month cease-fire negotiated by Egypt ended on December nineteenth. Israel, facing rocket attacks, began its offensive two weeks ago.
Israel says it has no plans to permanently reoccupy Gaza. It ended a thirty-eight year occupation of the narrow strip along the Mediterranean coast in two thousand five. Hamas captured control of Gaza from the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority in two thousand seven.
Hamas is supported by Iran and Syria. It was formed in nineteen eighty-seven. Israel, the United States and the European Union consider it a terrorist group.
Hamas aims to destroy Israel and has killed hundreds of Israelis. Yet it developed partly as a result of Israeli support for the idea of a Muslim religious group as a balance against Fatah under Yasser Arafat.
The Bush administration has blamed Hamas for inciting the latest violence. President-elect Barack Obama says he is concerned about the violence in Gaza. But he says it would not be right for him to speak at length about the conflict until he takes office on January twentieth.
BARACK OBAMA: "We cannot have two administrations running foreign policy at the same time. We simply cannot do it. And so as a consequence, what I am doing is I am being briefed consistently, my national security team is fully up to speed on it. But the situation of domestic policy making and foreign policy making are two different things."
And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English, written by Brianna Blake. I'm Steve Ember.

----------------------------Google Translate
呼吁立即停火，停止战斗失败在加沙
前联合国人权官员敦促独立调查可能的战争罪行的以色列和巴勒斯坦。誊广播：
2009年1月10号

这是在新闻中美国之音特别英语。
有激烈的战斗星期五在加沙地带的哈马斯和以色列都拒绝了联合国呼吁立即停火。在人口稠密地区面临短缺的食品，药品，水和电力。
以色列说，它的空中和地面攻击的目标只有哈马斯有关的目标。它指责巴勒斯坦组定位战斗机和火箭队在平民地区。
哈马斯继续发射火箭弹向以色列南部。哈马斯领导人说，在大马士革说，呼吁停火将意味着投降。但他也说，哈马斯正准备派遣一个代表团前往开罗，进一步讨论埃及的和平计划。
美国没有投票的停火决议通过星期四安全理事会。美国官员说，他们希望看到的结果，埃及的努力。
周五，前联合国人权官员呼吁建立一个独立的调查可能的战争罪行的冲突双方。纳维皮莱，在日内瓦，批评了哈马斯领导人造成的伤害以色列平民的火箭弹袭击。和她警告说，使用人在加沙地带作为人体盾牌。
与此同时，她感到遗憾，以色列打击清楚标明联合国大厦平民被考虑的住房。联合国暂停援助行动今天在加沙地带以色列炮火打死的司机的一个辅助卡车。
医务官员说，加沙地带超过800名巴勒斯坦人被打死。大约有一半，他们说，是妇女和儿童。至少13名以色列人被打死，其中包括至少9名士兵。哈马斯的火箭袭击以色列境内更远比以前。战斗仍在继续星期六。
6个月的停火谈判的结束，埃及12月19 。以色列面临的火箭弹袭击，开始进攻两个星期前。
以色列说，它没有计划永久重新占领加沙地带。它结束了三十八年占领狭长沿地中海沿岸的2000个。哈马斯抓获控制的加沙，法塔赫领导的巴勒斯坦民族权力机构2000个。
哈马斯的支持，伊朗和叙利亚。它成立于1987年。以色列，美国和欧洲联盟认为这是一个恐怖组织。
哈马斯的目标是摧毁以色列，并已造成数百名以色列人。然而，它开发的部分原因是由于以色列支持的想法，一个穆斯林宗教团体作为平衡下对巴勒斯坦民族权力机构主席阿拉法特。
布什政府一直指责哈马斯煽动最新的暴力事件。当选总统奥巴马说，他关注的是，加沙地带的暴力罪行。但是他说，将不正确的发言，他详细的冲突，直到他上任一月二十。
奥巴马： “我们不能有两个行政部门执行的外交政策在同一时间。我们根本无法做到这一点。因此，作为一个后果，我做的是我正在向一贯，我国的国家安全团队完全加速的它。但是，国内的情况制定政策和外交政策的决策是两回事。 “
这是新闻中美国之音特别英语撰写的Brianna布雷克。我史蒂夫余烬。