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Bush pledges support for Israel as army threatens Gaza invasion

Article published on the 2008-05-15 Latest update 2008-05-16 06:49 TU

Israeli rescue workers survey the scene after the rocket attack on Ashkelon(Photo : Reuters)

Israeli rescue workers survey the scene after the rocket attack on Ashkelon
(Photo : Reuters)

US President George Bush told Israel's parliament that "America stands with you in breaking up terrorist networks and denying extremists sanctuary", in a speech to mark 60 years of the Jewish state. As he spoke, Palestinians marked what they call the Naqba, or catastrophe, and Israeli ministers indicated that the military is ready to launch an attack on the Gaza Strip after yesterday's rocket attacks on southern Israel.

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"Israel's population may be just over seven million. But when you confront terror and evil, you are 307 million strong, because America stands with you," Bush told the Knesset.

At the back of the chamber Arab MPs brandished placards blaming him for the deaths of Iraqi and Palestinian children.

He described Israel as "the freest democracy in the Middle East" and said that frequent UN resolutions criticising its human rights record were "a source of shame".

After yesterday's rocket attack on the town of Ashkelon, officials indicated that the army may move back into the Gaza Strip when Bush's three-day trip is over.

Two small Palestinian groups have claimed responsibility for the attack, which wounded 14 people.

"The Israeli army has never been this ready to launch a large-scale operation in Gaza," Infrastructure Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer told public radio.

Hamas recently proposed a truce but has since rejected an Israeli condition that an Israeli soldier captured by Islamists two years ago be freed.

Israeli troops fired into the air to break up rallies of Palestinians on the Gaza-Israel border today, while in Ramallah and Nablus thousands demanded the right of refugees to return to homes they left after Israel was founded.