on the movement's television station said:

"As we are in the middle of this crisis, we tell our people we, God willing, are closer to victory. All the blood that is being shed will not be in vain."

All of Gaza is on the verge of collapse:" Most people have no electricity, no running water and inadequate food.

Israeli top leaders debated Monday how and when to bring their offensive in Gaza to an end, as battles continued to rage on the edge of Gaza City and as Israeli reservists flowed into the territory, ready for a possible deeper push into urban areas.

Olmert spokesman Mark Regev acknowledged that Barak, Livni and Olmert don't always see eye-to-eye, but said they have agreed on the war's aims. "It's probably a very good thing that we don't have group-think at the top levels of the Israeli government," he said.

In the Arab world , Arab leaders also don’t see eye-to-eye the importance of holding another summit. Qatar has requested an emergency Arab League summit to discuss the Israeli offensive in Gaza to be held in Doha this Friday . Lebanon, Syria and Algeria have agreed to attend but heavyweights like Saudi Arabia and Egypt have refused to participate. Egypt said it favored unofficial consultations among Arab leaders .

Egypt and Saudi Arabia fear a summit would produce little in the way of results and would make Arab leaders appear ineffective, diplomats said.

The 18-day-old Israeli offensive has exposed deep divisions between Arab countries like Egypt and Saudi Arabia, which both oppose the Islamist group Hamas, and Syria and Qatar which are sympathetic to the group that won Palestinian elections in 2006 and rules the Gaza Strip.

Arab League spokesman Abdel-Alim al-Abyad said Qatar made the request for a summit on Monday and that two thirds of the League's 22 members needed to approve the request for the summit to take place.

Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa said on Monday Arab foreign ministers would hold emergency talks in Kuwait on Friday to discuss "the continuation of the Israeli aggression on Gaza."

Meanwhile the negotiators in Cairo sought to reach a cease-fire agreement, hoping to put a halt to violence that medical officials in the Gaza Strip.

Speaking after a meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, special Middle East envoy Tony Blair said that "the elements of an agreement" for a cease-fire were in place. But Israeli officials with knowledge of the talks said significant obstacles remained.

Hamas representatives were also in Cairo on Monday, conferring with Egyptian officials. An Israeli Defense Ministry official, Amos Gilad, was negotiating with the Egyptian officials by phone Monday and was expected to travel to Cairo later in the week. The talks in Egypt center on the question of how to prevent Hamas from smuggling weapons across the Egypt-Gaza border, once a ceasefire is agreed by both parties

Tuesday

00:16 Italian DM departed from Beirut Airport

00:10 Morocco decided to join the list of countries that will attend the emergency summit in Doha , Qatar on Friday

23:18 Washington cancels a shipment of US ammunition to Israel from Greece after the objections of Greece

22:24 Lebanon will mourn Mansour rahbani in an official and public funeral in Antelias

22:22 Minister shatah will head to Kuwait to attend an economic summit

21:56 The army denies OTV report about the discovery of a bomb in Baabda and called it a unfounded rumor

21:20 Al Arabiyeh : A Palestinian was killed in Azroun, the West Bank in clash with the Israeli occupation forces

21:05 Al Jazeera : 13 arab countries have agreed to attend the emergency Arab summit in Doha

20:51 Clinton : we will not relinquish the military option in dealing with Iran to guarantee that it will not become a nuclear power

20:42 OTV: An explosive device was discovered and diffused in a car parked in the Baabda region, near the site of the assassination of the late Major General Francois el-Hajj.

20:28 Livni : Any ceasefire agreement should prevent any arms smuggling into Gaza

20:26 Now Lebanon: Anxiety in Southern Lebanon as Israel intensifies border patrols and have put troops on high alert, especially in Shebaa Farms and Ghajar village occupied territories. Lebanese living in nearby villages describe the current situation as tense

20:01 Olmert, Livni and Barak are meeting to discuss the next step in their offensive against Gaza

19:59 The death toll in Gaza has risen to 971 Palestinians killed and another 4418 wounded

19:50 Obama's nominee for secretary of state, Senator Hillary Clinton ruled out negotiations with Hamas "until it renounces violence, recognizes Israel and agrees to abide by past agreements " she told the senate Foreign relations committee during her confirmation hearing

19:05 Al Arabiyeh : Israel delays Amos Gilad's visit to Cairo till Thursday

19:02 Egyptian President Mubarak and the Saudi Monarch reject Qatar's proposal for a Friday summit of Arab nations on Gaza but agreed instead to discuss the Gaza situation at the Kuwait Summit set for the same day.

19:00 European diplomats are to meet Thursday in Paris to discuss how to allocate aid pledged to the Palestinians in the light of the Israeli offensive in Gaza, the French foreign ministry said.

18:54 Washington denies that it abstained in its vote on UN resolution 1860 because of a request by Olmert

17:40 Williams told reporters after the meeting he discussed with Geagea repercussions of the Gaza developments and Lebanon's need for stability before the elections.

17:31 Saudi Arabia's permanent representative to the Arab League, Ahmad Abdulaziz Qattan, said that his government "doesn't find the convening of a second Arab summit [after the Damascus summit] convenient and the kingdom awaits the the Arab League's announcement in this regard."

17:25 Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea received U.N. Representative Michael Williams.

16:48 Senator and Secretary of State-designate Hillary Clinton, during confirmation hearings, says Obama administration will make "every effort" to bring about peace between Israel and Palestine.

16:12 Senior Hamas leader Mussa Abu Marzuk tells Al-Jazeera there is "still a chance" that his party will accept an Egyptian ceasefire plan for Gaza.

16:05 Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak meets with Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdelaziz in Riyadh to discuss the latest developments in Gaza and the region.

15:58 Mitri announces that Lebanon has agreed to attend any Arab summit on Gaza, hoping the Qatar summit would be convened as a result of a consensus decision.

15:53 Five Palestinians, including three children, were killed in three Israeli air strikes on the northern Gaza Strip.

15:00 : Italian Defense Minister Ignazio La Russa arrived to Beirut for a short visit. He held a 45 minutes meeting with Defense Minister Elias Murr, and headed to the south by helicopter to visit UNIFIL forces.

14:58 Egypt refuses Arab Summit on Gaza

13:27 Two wounded by a wall that collapses in Beirut

13:15 House of Parliament Secretary General Adnan Daher receives decree to open parliament until March 16 to discuss the draft budgets of the years 2007 and 2008 and proposed bills.

12:40 : Investigating Judge Saqr Saqr listened to the testimony of three witnesses in the assassination of ex-premier Rafik Hariri.

12:12 Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri left Beirut for Istanbul to take part in the Conference of Islamic Parliaments on Gaza.

12:10 Al-Jazeera: Lebanon decided to participate in the proposed Arab Summit in Doha on Friday.

11:39 Cabinet is meeting in Baabda.

11:03 21 Kuwaiti MPs say Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas unwelcome in Kuwait.

10:58 Lebanese composer, musician and producer Mansour Rahbani dies at age 83 after a long battle with illness

10:23 Hawatmeh says Palestinians refuse to use Lebanon as a base to launch rockets into Israel

10:10 Nine people were arrested in the Bekaa Valley for stealing cars to later sell them as spare parts.

09:14 Israeli army patrol claims to have come under gunfire from Jordan, Jordan denies incident

08:28 Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh told VOL: We have received an invitation to an emergency Arab Summit this morning .Lebanon should attend this extraordinary Arab summit in Doha

4:47 concern among the population over the military movements of Jibril ( head of Damascus based PFLP-GC)

4:46 Sources at March alliance have revealed that the majority will propose during the dialogue session on Jan 26 that the issue of Palestinian weapons outside the camps should be dealt with and resolved

4:41 Al Jazeera:" Israeli forces has fired dozens of phosphorus bombs on Gaza.

4:39 Lebanon is awaiting the Syrian response to the proposed meetings for the demarcation of the border

4:32 United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will address the Lebanese parliament on Saturday and will meet the heads of parliamentary blocs.

4:13 Al Jazeera": huge explosions in Gaza City caused by Israeli air strikes
4:08 Al Jazeera": Israel heavily bombing Gaza from the land, sea and air

2:35 Al Siyassah : Israeli sources have revealed that there are differences between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Foreign Minister Livni and Defense Minister Ehud Barak over the continuation of the attack on the Gaza Strip.

2:06 Future TV : Heavy fighting between the Palestinians and Israeli army in Gaza

1:55 Libyan UN mission spokesman Ahmad Jibril has revealed that the security council will be meeting Tuesday at 10 AM to discuss the situation in Gaza

1:44 France urges Israel to refrain from firing Phosphorus bombs

0:37 Israeli minister : Hamas is using Shifa hospital for holding its meetings

Monday

23:30 Germany propsed to Egypt an initiative to end smuggling across the borders with Gaza

23:05 Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo
.
22:54 Information Minister Tareq Mitri said Egypt's Orascom and Kuwait's Zain won the contracts to operate the two networks, which are being currently operated by MTC Touch and Alfa,
.
22:50 The cabinet adjourned it meeting for today and will meet again Tuesday at 11 am

20:48 Egyptian FM Abu el Gheith after meeting Spanish counterpart: Egypt can guarantee that Rafah will not be used for smuggling

20:26 Israeli Radio: 3 rockets fell in Ashkol but no casualties reported

20:14 LBC: The cabinet will decide in its meeting on participation in the emergency FM meeting in Kuwait

20:10 Olmert : Stopping the firing aof rockets and ending the smuggling are 2 basic conditions to end the war

20:10 "Hamas is nearing victory in its war against Israel, Ismail Haniya, the head of the Islamist movement's government in the Gaza Strip, said in a televised address on Monday." As of the 17th day of the war Over 910 Palestinians killed while 14 Israelis were killed

19:58: Hamas leader Khaled Mishaal: "The Palestinian resistance is steadfast in the Gaza Strip and will not be defeated by Israeli aggressors ".

19:27 Israeli infrastructure minister : The war in Gaza will end next week

19:20 The cabinet meeting at Baabda palace has started under President Suleiman to tackle the 2009 budget and cellular communications, among other issues.

19:12 Saudi Arabia: what is required is a decisive international intervention to commit Israel to resolution 1860

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