Israel rebuffs calls for Gaza border observers

By Adam Entous

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel on Monday rebuffed European proposals for international observers in the Gaza Strip after any ceasefire, pushing instead for equipment and teams to help search out and destroy tunnels Hamas could use to rearm.

Israel's 10-day-old military offensive in the Gaza Strip has so far killed at least 541 Palestinians, and Israeli leaders made clear they were in no rush to pull back ground and air forces despite growing international pressure.

Israel's goal is to weaken Hamas by killing its fighters and destroying its rocket stockpile, officials said.

Israel has rejected any formal ceasefire that would bind its hands and provide the Islamist group a measure of legitimacy, but it is prepared to enter into arrangements with regional and international partners, like Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Egypt and the European Union, to help oversee security along Gaza's border.

At a press conference with visiting EU leaders, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, a leading candidate to become Israel's next prime minister in a February 10 election, said she saw no reason for an observation and monitoring force in Gaza.

"I don't see how this can help," she told reporters.

Instead of observers monitoring any ceasefire, Israel wants an international mission on the Egyptian-Gaza border to focus on preventing Hamas from re-establishing a network of tunnels that could be used to smuggle in longer-range rockets and other weapons, Israeli officials involved in the deliberations said.

They told Reuters that talks were under way with EU, U.S., Egyptian and other regional leaders about such a force, though no final decisions have been made.

The 14-km (9 mile) Egypt frontier, known as the Philadelphi corridor, is criss-crossed by tunnels which have let Palestinians in the coastal enclave smuggle in weapons and commercial goods, circumventing an Israeli-led blockade.

Israel's assault on Gaza has included several air force sorties in which "bunker buster" bombs were dropped along the narrow corridor, exploding underground.

An Israeli official said Israel had proposed that the United States provide army engineers to tackle the tunnels, and that Washington was "positive," though talks were still under way.

Germany has likewise voiced public support in the past few days for new measures to combat weapons smuggling.

"We don't need a monitor to tell us that 'At 10 a.m. this morning Hamas launched a rocket into Israel'," a senior Israeli official said. "What we need is tangible action to prevent Hamas from rearming at the end of this crisis."

Before the current offensive, Israel estimated that there were hundreds of smuggling tunnels under Gaza's border with Egypt. Palestinians say there were at least 3,000.

The tunnels include deep passages wide enough to bring through items as large as Katyusha rockets and farm animals. Leading to these are a matrix of smaller access shafts.

(Reporting by Adam Entous; Editing by Alastair Macdonald)