Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has ordered the army to continue in the "Cast Lead" operation which began last Saturday. The Egyptian authorities closed the Rafah crossing yesterday afternoon after reports on an imminent Israeli intense bombardment on the border and the Palestinian Rafah. The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said it has been making contacts to reach an immediate ceasefire.
The Israeli air force continued its "Holocaust" against Gaza, killing 13 Palestinians and injuring 42 in the attacks, which targeted ministerial buildings and security bodies affiliated to Hamas movement. These attacks took the death toll to 364 and 1750 injured.
Israel rejected any truce with Hamas before eliminating "the danger of rocket fire" from Gaza. The Israeli Army spokeswoman said ground troops are ready to intervene against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, while Israeli radio said that the ground troops are ready and wait for the green light to invade Gaza. On the other hand, students and professors staged demonstrations in universities to denounce the Israeli aggression. Security forces cordoned off Tanta and Mahala, which witnessed the most violent demonstrations since the beginning of the Israeli aggression on Gaza. More than 10,000 people staged a demonstration in Tanta to condemn the horrible Israeli practices against the Palestinian people. Some 65,000 people staged demonstrations nationwide.
