Defiant Israel rains bombs down on Gaza

Defiant Israel continued to ignore the United Nations' and world calls for an immediate ceasefire as it pressed on with its punishing assault of Gaza Saturday, the fifteenth day of an air, ground and sea assault that has killed at least 800 people.

Diplomatic efforts failed after Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert dismissed as "unworkable" a U.N. Security Council resolution demanding an "immediate and durable" ceasefire and the Islamist resistance group Hamas said they were not consulted on the decree.

No end in sight

With no end in sight to the increasingly precarious situation for the 1.5 million people in Gaza, Israel's Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni declined to establish a timeframe for the military operation in Gaza, saying Israel needed to achieve its goals there, a published report said.

"We are not looking to reoccupy the Gaza Strip. But we need to see that we achieved our goals," Livni said in an interview with The Washington Post.

Asked if the fighting will be over by the time of U.S. president-elect Barack Obama's inauguration on Jan. 20, the foreign minister said that the shortest period of fighting is better for Israel.

"But at the end of the day, it is an ongoing war against terror," she continued. "We don't ask the international community to fight with us. We ask the international community to give us some understanding and time."

Hamas reaction

Meanwhile in Damascus an exiled Hams leader said U.S. appeared to want to give Israel more time to persist in and that is why it abstained from voting at the U.N.

"By not voting for the resolution and by not vetoing it, the United States is sending a clear signal that it supports the resolution but after a while," deputy political leader Moussa Abu Marzouk told Hezbollah's Al Manar television from Damascus.

"Therefore they want... to give the enemy more time. But I assure you that they will not achieve any of their goals and they will withdraw in disappointment and they will be defeated."

"This resolution was discussed in the hallways of the United Nations. The movement (Hamas) was not consulted on this resolution, our vision and the interests of our people were not taken into consideration," Abu Marzouk said.

By not voting for the resolution and by not vetoing it, the United States is sending a clear signal that it supports the resolution but after a while

Hamas leader says about US abstaining

"Therefore this resolution does not concern us unless someone comes to enforce it on the ground. When it is enforced on the ground, whatever party which tries to enforce it will have to deal with...(Hamas)."

In defense of its close ally the U.S. reiterated its stance that Hamas is to blame and said: "This situation will not improve until Hamas stops lobbing rockets into Israel," White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said.

He said President George W. Bush had voiced his concern to Olmert about the humanitarian situation and the loss of civilian lives but understands its need for self defense.

This resolution was discussed in the hallways of the United Nations. The movement (Hamas) was not consulted on this resolution, our vision and the interests of our people were not taken into consideration...Therefore this resolution does not concern us unless someone comes to enforce it on the ground. When it is enforced on the ground, whatever party which tries to enforce it will have to deal with...(Hamas)

Abu Marzouk

Foreign involvement

As the issue became an international problem, Iran called on "reliable people," namely Brazil's president, to help "correct the flaws" of diplomacy in the Middle East, Italy said it would offer to be part of an international force to monitor the border between Egypt and Gaza to try and stop alleged arms being smuggled to the Palestinians.

Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said his country is ready to participate in "international action to control the border," and added, "weapons must no longer cross through the tunnels" from Egypt to Gaza.

His calls join those of fellow European nations Denmark and the Netherlands, who on Wednesday urged the European Union to send security forces to patrol the Egypt-Gaza border.

In Brazil, Iranian Cooperatives Minister Mohammad Abbasi handed to the Brazilian leader a message related to Israel's military campaign that condemned "the regime occupying Palestine, which attacks the defenseless people of Gaza ... and international efforts to end this crisis," Iran's embassy in Brasilia told AFP.

"The involvement of new, reliable figures" in diplomatic attempts, such as Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, and his Iranian counterpart, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, "could correct the faults committed by traditional intermediaries, including the United States," the message said.

Upon receiving Abbasi, Lula's foreign affairs advisor Marco Aurelio Garcia reiterated Brazil's position on the conflict, calling for an "immediate end to hostilities on both sides."

The Iranian president has sent emissaries to 22 countries to join its call for the immediate end to Israel's assault on the coastal strip and an end to the Israeli blockade on Gaza.