Israel rejects UN vote for ceasefire as 'unworkable'

ISRAEL and Hamas today rejected a United Nations call for an immediate ceasefire as the Gaza conflict continued with heavy fire from both sides.

The twin rebuff came only hours after a UN Security Council resolution, urging a halt to the two-week-old war which has claimed about 760 Palestinian and 14 Israeli lives.

The mounting diplomatic pressure raised hopes of an end to the violence, but after Israel was hit by new rocket attacks from Gaza earlier today, Israel's prime minister Ehud Olmert rejected the UN call as "unworkable".

He said the Israeli offensive would continue and insisted that it was necessary to protect the country's citizens. "The firing of rockets this morning only goes to show that the UN decision is unworkable and will not be adhered to by the murderous Palestinian organisations," Mr Olmert said in a statement issued by his office.

As Israel launched a barrage of new air strikes over Gaza, Hamas also snubbed the UN, saying that it too would continue with its attacks and warned that the Security Council resolution did not meet its minimum requirements. Ayman Taha, a spokesman for Hamas, added: "We were not consulted about this resolution and they have not taken into account our vision and the interests of our people."

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, called for an independent investigation of possible war crimes in Gaza and Israel. She said that while harm to civilians in Israel caused by Hamas rockets was unacceptable, Israel had to abide by international humanitarian law regardless of the militants' actions.

She said that both sides must care for the wounded and avoid targeting health workers, hospitals and ambulances and that violations of international humanitarian law could amount to war crimes for which those responsible should be held accountable.

Israeli officials said at least 11 rockets were fired, with seven landing near cities in the western Negev desert that were all previously considered to be out of range of Hamas fire. One person was slightly wounded.

The Israeli military launched a new wave of bombing raids over Gaza with at least 30 air strikes overnight. One attack was reported to have killed six Palestinians.

There is growing concern about the humanitarian situation in Gaza. The UN has suspended aid deliveries because of the risk to its staff posed by Israeli military activity. The Red Cross has also accused Israel of blocking medical assistance, after forces fired on aid workers, and denying access to traumatised children caught up in the conflict.

America was the only country not to vote for the UN resolution. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the US "fully supports" the resolution but had abstained to see any detailed proposals that might emerge from Egypt's negotiations with Hamas and Israel.