Barak: Israel in 'all-out war' with Hamas
JERUSALEM, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- Israel is in an "all-out war" with the militant group Hamas, the de facto rulers in Gaza, Defense Minister Ehud Barak told Israel's parliament Monday.
Israel conducted airstrikes on Gaza for a third day Monday. The Palestinian death toll was reported at more than 300, Palestinian medical sources told CNN, while at least 650 people have been wounded.
Barak told the legislative body Israel has "stretched our hand in peace many times" to the Palestinian people.
"We have nothing against the people of Gaza," Barak said "But this is an all-out war against Hamas and its branches. The restraint that we have demonstrated is the source of our strength when it is time to fight."
Israel said its goal is to stop the barrage of rockets fired by militants from Gaza into Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told Israeli lawmakers Sunday the offensive "is liable to continue for some time."
Hamas leaders said they would defend their land and people against what they called Israeli aggression.
The U.N. Security Council has called for an immediate end to the airstrikes.
Palestinian security and medical sources said an airstrike hit the Jebaliya refugee camp in Gaza Monday, killing five children. Israelis also hit a home near Hamas leader Ismail Haniya's residence.
During the overnight hours, Israeli rockets exploded in at least one building at the Islamic University of Gaza, a Gaza-based journalist told CNN. The Israeli military, in a statement, said raid targeted "buildings that were used as meeting places for senior leaders of Hamas."
Rocket fired on Israeli site kills one
ASHKELON, Israel, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- At least one person died and five were injured Monday when a missile fired from Gaza struck a construction site in Ashkelon, Israel, officials said.
The missile struck the top floor of a building under construction, The Jerusalem Post reported.
Hamas claimed responsibility for the missile, the Post said. Nearly 40 rockets were fired into Israel Monday.
After the attack, Hamas's military wing urged Egyptians and Jordanians working in Israel to leave, Israeli Army Radio said.
Also on Monday, Palestinian militants fired four Kassam rockets at Netivot, the Post said. The rockets landed in open areas, and no injuries or damage were reported.
In Sderot, several people were reported to be suffering from shock after their house was hit by a rocket, the Post said.
Meanwhile, the Israeli army said it declared the Gaza border area a closed military zone, limiting movement in the area.
Somali's Yusef resigns as president
BAIDOA, Somalia, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- Somali President Abdullahi Yusef Ahmed, blamed for the country's deepening political crisis, resigned Monday, the Parliament speaker said.
Yusuf, in turn, blamed the international community for not doing more to help bolster Somalia's transitional government, which saw much of the country's control slip into the hands of Islamist rebels, The New York Times reported.
"Most of the country was not in our hands and we had nothing to give our soldiers. The international community has also failed to help us," Yusuf told lawmakers in Baidoa, Somalia's seat of Parliament.
Parliament speaker Adan Mohamed Nur called for unity after Ahmed resigned, Somali television and radio network Shabelle Media Network reported.
"I have received and accepted the resignation letter of President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed," Nur said. "I congratulate the president for the bold step he has taken in respect of the transitional federal charter."
Somalia's Parliament has 30 days to elect a new president by secret ballot and the Parliament speaker will be president until a new leader is elected.
Earlier in December, Yusuf tried to oust Somalia's prime minister, but the Parliament refused to accept his decision. Several of the country's neighbors also threatened to impose sanctions on Yusef and his family.
Weekend fighting broke out among factions of Somalia's Islamist community. On Sunday, a militarized Islamist group declared a holy war against the more militant Islamist factions, the Times reported. The group, Ahlu-Sunna Wal-Jama, reportedly killed more than 10 fighters from a rival Islamist faction known as one of Somalia's toughest groups.
Suicide car bomb attack kills two
KABUL, Afghanistan, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- A suicide bomb attack Monday in Charikar, the capital of Afghanistan's Parwan province near Kabul, killed two people and injured several more, authorities said.
"It occurred at around 8 a.m. local time when one suicide bomber drove a car laden with explosives and detonated himself in front of Parwan government building," Xinhua news agency quoted Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Zamari Bashari as saying.
Bashari said foreign soldiers appeared to have been the target, the report said.
The two who died in the blast were Afghan civilians, the BCC quoted officials as saying.
The BBC report quoted a U.S. military spokesman that two U.S. soldiers were among those injured. It said the attack occurred when a unit of U.S. troops from the Bagram base near Kabul was meeting the provincial governor.
Two of the injured were listed in critical condition, Xinhua reported.
Charikar is about 30 miles north of Kabul, the BBC reported.
On Sunday, 14 Afghan children died when an explosives-laden truck exploded outside a government building in Khost province in southeastern Afghanistan.
Canadian avalanches leave 8 missing
FERNIE, British Columbia, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- Two weekend avalanches near Fernie, British Columbia, left eight snowmobilers missing, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said.
In a news release, the RCMP said 11 males on snowmobiles ignored warnings of a high risk of snow slides Sunday in the Rocky Mountains near the Alberta border. All of them were wearing avalanche distress beacons.
Three men were able to dig themselves out and began searching for the others, some of whom were under 10 feet of snow. The RCMP said out of fear of another slide, the three men left the area and were rescued by helicopter and ground crews.
The search for the missing men was scheduled to resume at daybreak Monday, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. said.
About 3 feet of snow had fallen in the area in the past few days, while temperatures rose to just above freezing.
The Canadian Avalanche Center, in Revelstoke, British Columbia, said there had been avalanches in the area and issued a warning to stay out of the area for the next several days, the CBC said.
