Israel’s Defense Minister Barak orders GENERAL CLOSURE of all Palestinian areas from midnight

Posted on January 1st, 2009 by Marian Houk

A new SMS alert has just arrived: Israel’s Defense Minister Ehud Barak has ordered a GENERAL CLOSURE of all Palestinian areas from midnight tonight (about 30 minutes from now), until Saturday night, after Shabbat — at least.

The email arrived less than 20 minutes before the start of the GENERAL CLOSURE.

Yet one more indication that the anticipated ground invasion of Gaza is probably about to begin…

The humanitarian situation by itself will not permit much more extended suffering.

YNet is reporting that “sources in Gaza said that Israel has decided to allow 400 foreign nationals residing in Gaza to leave the Strip on Friday. Israeli officials refused to confirm this report”.

And, YNet adds, “Palestinian sources in Gaza reported that hundreds of residents of the Nada neighborhood located close to the Erez crossing in northern Gaza have begun evacuating their houses fearing an extensive Israeli operation. The sources reported of similar evacuations throughout the border with Israel”. This report can be read in full here.

The Voice of America (VOA) is reporting that “Russia says it is evacuating about 300 people from Gaza Friday as Israel continues its offensive on the Hamas-ruled Palestinian territory. The official RIA-Novosti news agency reported that 160 of the evacuees are Russian, while the rest are from other former Soviet states. Russian officials say they are working with the Israeli military, Palestinian officials and the International Committee of the Red Cross carry out the evacuation”. The full story can be viewed
here.

UPDATE: In its top news story on Friday, the VOA reported that “Israel is preparing to allow a few hundred foreigners to leave the Gaza Strip, where a seven-day offensive against Hamas has killed more than 400 Palestinians and wounded nearly two thousand others. Aid agencies and Israeli military officials say the limited evacuation will begin Friday, raising speculation that the thousands of Israeli troops massed along the border may launch a ground offensive”. This report is posted here.

UPDATE: It was later announced, at the daily U.S. State Department briefing in Washington on Friday, that “27 American citizens received assistance” during the day “in departing Gaza and arriving at Amman, Jordan for further transportation”.

Israeli media reported on Thursday night both that “the IDF made final preparations for a ground operation expected in the coming days … ‘The ground offensive is ready’, a top IDF officer said Thursday. The assessment in the IDF is that Israel has a narrow window of opportunity to launch a ground operation before the Western holiday season comes to an end and a surge of diplomatic activity is expected in the region. Officials said Israel would not conquer the Gaza Strip in the ground operation” — and at the same time they reported that “Some security sources, however, said the likelihood of a massive IDF ground incursion into the Gaza Strip was receding”.

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