Emphasising its right to act independently to safeguard security interests, Israel has expressed hopes that it may not have to unilaterally carry out an attack against Iran to foil its nuclear ambitions due to an unprecedented concentration of United States forces in the Persian Gulf.
"I am well aware of the difficulties involved in thwarting Iran's attempts to acquire a nuclear weapon... however, it is clear to me without a doubt that dealing with the threat itself will be far more complicated, far more dangerous and far more costly in resources and human life," Barak was quoted as saying by the Haaretz online.
Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak has suggested that parts of Jerusalem could be handed over to Palestinians as the Jewish state was set to launch direct peace talks with the Palestinian leadership.
United States envoy to the Middle East on Tuesday pressed Israel on "prompt resumption" of the stalled peace talks with Palestine, amid sharp differences between Washington and Tel Aviv over settlement activities in disputed areas.
India has turned down an offer by Israel to send its crack commandos to Mumbai, where a Jewish centre has been taken over in the terrorist attack which have claimed so far over 160 lives, media reports said in Jerusalem.
Israeli fighter planes continued to pound Gaza for a second day on Sunday in the largest military operation in the area since 1967 leaving over 270 Palestinians dead. Defence Minister Ehud Barak said Israel will expand and deepen the attacks on the Hamas-ruled territory. 110 Kassam rockets and mortar shells hit Israel on Saturday, the farthest of which landed 27 kilometres from its launcher inside Gaza. The Israeli army warned that Hamas will fire 200 rockets a day.
Israel on Monday massed hundreds of tanks in expectation of a land strike on the Gaza Strip as fighter jets continued their blanket bombings of Hamas targets for the third day today, raising the toll of Palestinians killed to 315.Amidst no let up in the fury and intensity of attacks even in the face of growing international calls for halt to the violence, Defence Minister Ehud Barak warned that Israel was in an 'all-out war against Hamas'.
Hamas described the move as a declaration of war with an aim to starve Palestinians to force them to accept Tel Aviv's demands.
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