Gaza Update (9 p.m. Israel; 7 p.m. Britain): Israel Targets, Washington Holds the Line

Latest Update: Getting Fatah Back In

Israel now appears to be concentrating on targeted strikes against individuals in the Hamas leadership. On Friday, besides hitting the tunnels from Rafah and a mosque where weapons were allegedly stored, Israeli planes bombed the home of Imad Akel, who Tel Aviv claimed was a rocket-maker.



The Palestinian death toll is now 428 while six Israelis have died. The Israeli Defense Forces are reporting the launching of 20 rockets today, a smaller number than in recent days.

The Israeli strategy, given that Hamas leaders except the slain Nizar Riyan have not been in their homes, may indicate that Israel is running out of "high-priority" targets (a hypothesis put forward by an analyst on Al Jazeera this morning), having repeatedly hit Hamas ministries and other public buildings such as the Islamic University. If so, it is unclear how Israel can raise the pressure further short of a ground assault. Al Jazeera is raising that possibility, noting that Israel is clearing land mines on the border.

Meanwhile, in Washington, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met President Bush and then held to the official US line that only a "sustainable and durable cease-fire" would be acceptable. That position either puts to rest, or more likely covers up, the story on Enduring America earlier today of private US discussions with Israel on a face-saving way out of military operations.

Gaza Update (10 a.m. Israel/Palestine; 8 a.m. Britain): Israeli Manoeuvres in Paris?

Update to the Update: "Israel is discussing with Washington the possibility of establishing an international monitoring system that would keep Hamas from rearming during a cease-fire, and ensure an end to rocket attacks on Israel, said diplomats familiar with the discussions."

It seems almost callous to speak of a "routine" of Israeli airstrikes against Gaza, as more than 50 attacks were carried out on Thursday. In addition to the killing of Hamas leader Nizar Rayyan, Israeli raids hit the home of "senior Hamas military operative" Nabil Amrin, the Parliament building, the Ministries of Justice, Education, and Civil Defense, and a mosque in Jabaliya. The Israeli Defense Forces said more than 40 rockets were fired into Israel.

There may be a twist in the diplomatic tale, however. Israeli Tzipi Livni traveled to Paris to meet Prime Minister  Nicolas Sarkozy and Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, only 24 hours after a French proposal for a humanitarian truce was rejected by the Israeli Cabinet. Livni said that the Israeli attacks had "achieved changes" and said the aim was to "weaken Gaza".



One possibility is that the Israeli Government, which has just permitted the departure of foreigners from the Gaza Strip, could be preparing for a ground assault. The Foreign Minister's words, however, point to another possibility: could Livni be backing away from the objective, declared on the eve of the Israeli assault, of overthrowing Hamas? And does her statement of "achieved changes" indicate that Israel may be ready to pause?

Perhaps coincidentally, perhaps not, I noted this yesterday from Donald Macintyre in The Independent:

There was a moment, back at the end of July 2006, when the second Lebanon war might just have ended five or six days after it began. We now know that Tzipi Livni, Israel's Foreign Minister, expressed serious concern that Israel might be missing a chance to reach a peace agreement at least as good as the one which would come a full four weeks and many hundreds of casualties – on both sides – later.

Reportedly, it was Minister of Defense Ehud Barak rather than Livni who supported the 48-hour truce in Israeli Cabinet discussions. Yet, with Sarkozy pressing his own role as an international statesman and travelling to Israel on Monday, it appears negotiations are ongoing for some manoeuvre which will permit an easing of Israeli operations while allowing Tel Aviv to claim victory in its immediate aim of facing down Hamas.

As Livni said, somewhat cryptically, after Thursday's talks, "The question of whether it's enough or not [for a truce] will be the result of our assessment on a daily basis," she said.

Gaza Update (6 p.m. Israel/Palestine; 4 p.m. Britain): Targeted Assassinations and a Lot of Spin

Later Post: Hamas Strikes Back (Against the Palestinian Authority)

Just back to the UK to learn that an Israeli airstrike on the home of a Hamas leader, Nizar Rayyan, has killed him, his wife, and his three children. The death toll in Gaza is now more than 400 with more than 2000 wounded.

Israel has expanded its attack options, adding drones and naval bombardment to manned bombing. Targets on Thursday included the Parliament building and the Justice Ministry.

In the public relations battle, former Prime Minister and current Prime Ministerial candidate Benyamin Netanyahu has given an interview to Al Jazeera. His prime objective was to counter the image of mounting civilian casualties with the claim, which he has pressed repeatedly since Saturday, that Hamas put its fighters amongst the urban population while the Israeli military fights in the open.



On another diplomatic front, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Lvini is arguing that there is no humanitarian crisis since Israel is allowing some aid into Gaza. (A bit of perspective: Israel did allow 150 truckloads of aid into Gaza on Wednesday. This compares to an average daily supply of 600 truckloads during the truce period.)

For the  moment the Israelis --- thanks  more to Washington and London than to the merits of their PR campaign --- retain a free hand for their operations. The UN Security Council failed Wednesday to agree on the wording of a draft resolution, as the US and Britain insisted on emphasis on Hamas rocket attacks against Israel.