Amnesty, Syria call for end to Gaza blockade

        Amnesty International has demanded Israel end the renewed closure imposed on the Gaza Strip and allow supplies and goods into the Hamas-ruled coastal enclave. “Israel's latest tightening of its blockade has made an already dire humanitarian situation markedly worse,” said Philip Luther, deputy director of Amnesty's Middle East program. “This is nothing short of collective punishment on Gaza's civilian population and it must stop immediately," charged Luther. Amnesty added that the current situation was “nothing short of a disaster." The European Union has also urged Israel to let aid through, calling the decision to close the crossings a “disproportionate" response to the rocket attacks emanating from Gaza's territory. Dozens of Qassam rockets and mortar shells have been launched towards Israel's southern commuities over the course of the past week, wounding two Israelis. The IAF struck a Palestinian rocket cell in the Sajaiya neighborhood in Gaza City early Sunday morning after two Qassams landed near a Kibbutz in the Eshkol Regional Council. Palestinian sources reported that four gunmen were killed in the strike, apparently belonging to the Salah al-Din Brigades, the military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees. The army said the cell had been mounting rockets on a launcher. Meanwhile Syrian President Bashar Assad has called for Arab League action to help break the blockade imposed on Gaza. The Syrian News Agency said Assad expressed Syria's deep concern over the "deteriorating situation in Gaza" during a meeting in Damascus Sunday with Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa. SANA said Assad stressed the need for the 22-member Arab League to take decisions at an Arab ministerial meeting in Cairo later this month to put an end to the Israeli siege. At the end of the week, Hamas had significantly escalated the rocket fire at Israel. This escalation was manifested in various ways: The number of rockets fired, their range (four rockets were long-range,) and also the clear intention to cause casualties and damages. In the past week, the fire was inconsistent and was aimed at open areas, yet by Friday Hamas decided to take it to the next phase, and there is no doubt this was a calculated move. The comments made by Defense Minister Ehud Barak in his latest visit to the southern town of Sderot show that Israel is also interested in continuing the lull. If the defense minister needed proof of this, he got it during his visit, when Sderot residents and council heads in the region explicitly told him that the lull is useful and needed. However, Israel too has conditions for continuing the truce. First, an end to the activity undertaken by Gaza gunmen within hundreds of meters of the fence. Through this activity, Hamas creates an infrastructure for carrying out abductions and terror attacks in Israeli territory. This activity is also meant to make it more difficult for the IDF to enter Gaza if necessary. (22,46)