On Saturday Israel said it will declare a cease-fire starting Sunday, after a 22-day offensive against Hamas in Gaza.
However, Israel also stated it will not pull its troops from Gaza. This prompted a Hamas threat: they said they will keep fighting until the troops leave.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said all Israeli objectives for the war had been reached. He added that Israel was responding to a call by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak earlier in the day for an immediate cease-fire.
However, it's been theorized that Israel wanted to end hostilities before the inauguration of President-Elect Barack Obama, which occurs on Tuesday.
The cease-fire is scheduled to start at 2AM local time, but with the statement from Hamas, it's quite possible it won't last.
Earlier on Saturday, Israel faced further U.N. criticism when Israeli shells struck a U.N. school in the northern town of Beit Lahiya. One shell scored a direct hit on the top floor of the three-story building, killing two boys, U.N. officials said.
John Ging, the director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency asked:
“These two little boys are as innocent, indisputably, as they are dead. The question now being asked is: is this and the killing of all other innocent civilians in Gaza a war crime?”
A hard question to answer, and not one that will be addressed soon.
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