Gaza: The Israeli Invasion (11 a.m. Israel/Gaza; 9 a.m. Britain)

Latest Post: Rolling Updates on the Israeli Invasion (4 January)

As expected, the UN Security Council could not reach agreement on any action in its emergency session. The US blocked any approval of a resolution calling for an "immediate cease-fire in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel and expressing concern at the escalation of violence between Israel and Hamas".

Al Jazeera's Ayman Mohyeldin, the only broadcast correspondent inside Gaza, reports fighting in the east of Gaza, with Israeli troops searching house-to-house. The Israeli attack occurred on three fronts, with an Israeli column moving east to west and reaching the Mediterranean to split Gaza in two. Israeli troops have reached the northern towns of Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun and the Jabaliya refugee camp, and eyewitness report Israeli forces on the outskirts of Gaza City.



Israeli Defense Forces say that they wounded a number of Hamas fighters and acknowledge that 30 Israeli soldiers have been hurt. Al Aqsa, Hamas' television station, has just claimed that two Israeli soldiers have been captured. Palestinian medical sources say four Gazans have been killed in the ground assault.

IDF also claims that they hit 45 Hamas targets including the Intelligence Headquarters. Five Palestinians have died in an Israeli artillery strike on a shopping area. The overall Gazan death toll is now 477.

A main water line to Gaza has just been damaged, cutting off supply to 30,000 people at the Nuseirat camp. Aid workers say hospitals in Gaza are overrun and lack medicines, equipment, and staff to cope with the casualties. Most people in northern Gaza have been without electricity for days.

Urgent Update on Israeli Invasion of Gaza (4 January)

Latest Update: The Israeli Invasion

3:15 a.m. We're going to get some downtime. Back later this morning to update on military developments and Security Council discussions.

2:50 a.m. Spain issues balanced statement calling on Israel to end ground operations and Hamas to cease firing of rockets.

2:38 a.m. Quick question: how many Hamas spokesmen do you think have been interviewed by CNN, BBC, Fox, and even Al Jazeera this evening?

2:36 a.m. CNN's Jim Clancy, who is usually notable for his simplistic parroting of US Government "received wisdom", actually has a wise comment about the Security Council meeting: "People shouldn't expect too much."

CNN then goes back to normal service, putting Israeli Government spokesman Mark Regev on screen for several meetings, knocking softball questions from Christiane Amanpour out of the park.

2:27 a.m. I don't believe it. Al Jazeera has turned for analysis to Meyrav Wurmser. Along with husband David, who was a Bush Administration official in both the Vice President's office and the State Department, Wurmser has been one of the most vocal advocates of an expanded Israeli power, not only shattering Hamas and Hezbollah but also negotiating only with the Palestinian Authority from a clear position of strength. See, for example, the Wurmsers' role in the "Clean Break" blueprint submitted to Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu in 1996.

2:20 a.m. Israel/Gaza time: Six hours after the news first broke, coverage of the Israeli ground assault has slowed. Attention is now turning to the UN Security Council emergency session in New York. While the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has called for an immediate cease-fire, US support of Israel almost guarantees that there will be no resolution. At most, there will be a bland statement by the President of the Security Council expressing concern about both Israeli military action and Hamas' rocket attacks.

Holiday Story of the Day: Muslim Family Looks for Safe Seats, Gets Booted Off Flight

Follow-Up: Nine Muslim Passengers Booted from AirTran Flight
Follow-up: Flashback in the War on Terror --- The Muslims at Shoney's Big Boy Restaurant

From CNN:

A Muslim family removed from an airliner Thursday after passengers became concerned about their conversation say AirTran officials refused to rebook them, even after FBI investigators cleared them of wrongdoing.

Atif Irfan said federal authorities removed eight members of his extended family and a friend after passengers heard them discussing the safest place to sit and misconstrued the nature of the conversation.

Irfan, a U.S. citizen and tax attorney, said he was "impressed with the professionalism" of the FBI agents who questioned him, but said he felt mistreated when the airline refused to book the family for a later flight.