Ghaza: 1,203 Martyrs, including 410 children and 108 women, and more than 5,300 injured

Below are the events of the last 24 hours, where the Zionist offensive against the Gaza Strip entered its fourth week:

• MILITARY ASPECTS
        FRIDAY 16
      - At dawn, Zionist tanks withdrew from devastated areas of Ghaza, redeploying on the outskirts.
      - Thirteen rockets fired into Israel.
      - The Zionist army continues its attacks, which made at least 55 dead. Ten people are killed in the bombing of a house where a family mourning a member.
      
       SATURDAY 17
      - The sporadic attacks continue making a total of a dozen dead.
  
      A girl is killed by Zionist shells in Beit Hanoun (north), and three Palestinians killed by tank shells at Karama in the same area.
  
      A school run by the UN in Beit Lahiya (north) was bombed, causing a fire: a woman and a child killed. Intense fighting around the school where Zionist tanks confronting Palestinians.
  
      - Six rockets were fired against Israel, including one against a synagogue under construction.
      
  DIPLOMATIC INITIATIVES
        FRIDAY 16
      - Hamas announced its offer, through Egypt, a truce, renewable for one year with Israel in exchange for a withdrawal of Israeli troops from Ghaza and lifting the blockade imposed on the enclave.
  
      - Negotiations in Cairo where Israel sends for the second time in 48 hours its chief negotiator, Amos Gilad, who briefed the Israeli refusal to Egypt of a truce for one year.
  
      - The exiled leader of Hamas, Khaled Meshal, rejects Israeli conditions for a ceasefire at a meeting of Arab and Islamic countries in Doha.
  
      - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad calls on Arab countries to « close the embassies of Israel and stop all direct or indirect contact » with that country. Qatar and Mauritania suspend their relations with Israel.
  
      - In Washington, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice signed with Zionist Tzipi Livni for a bilateral agreement to fight against the smuggling of weapons into Ghaza.
  
      - Israel decided to halt its offensive, after receiving Egyptian and U.S. assurances to halt the smuggling, but should keep its forces positioned (government official).
  
      - The UN General Assembly adopted by a large majority a resolution demanding a lasting cease-fire in Ghaza leading to total withdrawal of Israel.
      
       SATURDAY 17
      - The « confrontation » will continue if Israel declares a unilateral cease-fire (Hamas).
  
      - The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in Beirut continues his regional tour.
  
      - The Israeli security cabinet is scheduled to meet 17H30 GMT to vote for a unilateral cease-fire. A press conference by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak will follow.
  
      - Egypt is trying to pull the agreement of Hamas to a cease-fire agreed upon, before Israel decides on a unilateral cessation of its offensive.
      
  REVIEW OF HUMAN LOSS SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE AGRESSION ON 27 DECEMBER
  
      - 1203 Palestinian Martyrs, including 410 children and 108 women, and over 5,300 injured (Palestinian emergency services). According to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights in Ghaza, 65% of the dead are civilians.
  
      Israeli side, 10 soldiers and three civilians were killed.
      
  Ennaharonline/ M. O.