The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) rejected the latest declarations by Khaled Mishaal, the leader of Hamas' political bureau, who said he intended to find a new point of reference as an alternative to the PLO. The Organization said the people and their national strength would not accept any artificial alternatives. Palestinian news agency WAFA reported on the PLO spokesman saying that what Mishaal said would never come true, as the Palestinians were standing with their legitimate representatives. The spokesman also said that the alternative organization would be illusionary, non-national and non-Palestinian and would end up miserably like many previous attempts which he said happened under regional auspices (he did not specify whose auspices, though). He said Mishaal's declarations were the latest chapter of Hamas' coup against the Authority and the entire Palestinian legitimate political institutions. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Hamas' attempts to pull down the PLO would end up in failure and said that Mishaal's call was like playing in injury time. On the ground, the Israeli artillery fired grenades at eastern Gaza City with Israeli warplanes hovering time and again, thus violating the ceasefire once more. There are fears that this bombardment may indicate a new land incursion in response to the Kissufim operation. Meanwhile, the British newspaper The Guardian revealed that Israeli military leaders used Palestinian civilians as human shields to protect their forces while they were pushing into Gaza. US President Barack Obama's envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell warned of expected setbacks in the peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. He also reported on Obama's deep concern about the human losses and the suffering in Gaza. Israel's Defense Minister Ehud Barak told the press yesterday that he believed the ceasefire would hold as he thought the 22-day offensive had dealt a serious blow to Hamas. The Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has started having intensive contacts with donor countries to make sure they will contribute to the Gaza reconstruction conference due to be held in Egypt on March 2. Meanwhile, diplomatic sources revealed that the ministry is currently preparing a note documenting Israel's violations during its aggression on Gaza and is also studying ways to help prosecute the perpetrators.
