Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Hamas members killed in Gaza raid
Three members of Hamas's armed wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, have been killed in an Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip, Palestinian officials say.
Health officials said at least four other Palestinians were wounded on Tuesday in separate Israeli air raids.
The Israeli military said it targeted fighters who had fired mortar rounds across the border.
Hamas said 16 mortar shells were fired towards an Israeli-controlled border crossing in retaliation for the killings.
Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman said Israel's military action "clearly indicates that Israel [is] not interested in achieving calm."
"Therefore they must be ready to pay the price," he told the Associated Press news agency.
The attacks occurred east of the town of Jebaliya, in northern Gaza. (Al Jazeera)
Labels: Hamas, Israel, Palestine
Most Israeli ministers support Gaza military operation
A majority of Israeli ministers on Tuesday voiced their support for launching a military operation in the Gaza Strip, while some others expressed their readiness to accept a serious truce with Palestinian militant groups.
"Israel must launch a large-scale operation in Gaza against Hamas and the rest of the terror organizations," Housing and Construction Minister Zeev Boim was quoted by local daily Yedioth Ahronoth as saying at the weekly cabinet meeting.
He added that "a truce would only serve Hamas' interests" and Israel cannot risk letting the militant group rearm itself "beforethe next round."
"We must act; The question is in what way," Industry, Trade, and Labor Minister Eli Yishai told the cabinet, stressing that theJewish state cannot accept a "virtual" calm that does not include the release of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit.
"But if there will be a serious ceasefire, then there's room totalk," he added. (Xinhua)
Qaeda groups active in Gaza after year under Hamas
A year after Hamas Islamists seized control of the Gaza Strip, Abu Hafss is waiting impatiently to see a sword remove the hand of a thief or a woman stoned to death for adultery.
"Hamas does not implement the rule of God," the Palestinian ally of al Qaeda said. "We have seen no one have his hand cut off for stealing. We have seen no one stoned as an adulterer."
Yet for all Abu Hafss' disappointment with the approach Hamas has adopted since it routed secular rivals in Gaza a year ago, some analysts believe smaller, more radical groups like Abu Hafss' secretive Jaysh al-Ummah (Army of the Nation) have benefited from the Hamas takeover to expand their membership.
Despite an official Hamas policy of respecting the rights of Gaza's small Christian minority, there has been an increase in attacks on Christians in the past year, apparently by Islamists not content with the extent of Hamas's "Islamisation" of Gaza. (Reuters)
Labels: Al Qaeda, Hamas, Palestine
POLITICS-US: Pledging Allegiance to AIPAC
With the Iranian nuclear "threat" in the crosshairs, discussion of Palestinians or a Syrian-Israeli detente was virtually non-existent. But then again, one should not expect many overtures for peace when attending the annual policy conference for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
As more than 5,000 Jewish-American activists ascended Capitol Hill last week, the most common word circulating through panel discussions, daily briefings, and remarks made by high-level officials and presidential candidates was "security" -- more accurately, Israel's security.
And most of the tough talk, whether substantive or merely stylistic, was directed at a nuclear Iran and its presumed proxies -- Lebanese Hezbollah, Palestinian Hamas, and even Syria.
The policy prescriptions, outlined in a draft proposal of AIPAC's policy agenda, urge, among other things, that the U.S. "take all appropriate measures to halt Iran's pursuit of nuclear and 152 other weapons of mass destruction and the means to deliver them."
The language remains unsettling for many Democrats and war-weary U.S. citizens, who view it as a license for the President George W. Bush administration to launch a military attack on Iran. (IPS)
Labels: Iran, Israel, Lebanon, Palestine, U.S.
Family of captured Israeli soldier receives letter
The family of Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier abducted by militants in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, received a hand-written letter from him, Israeli officials said on Monday.
Shalit, then 19, was captured on June 25, 2006 by Palestinian gunmen who tunneled into Israel from Gaza. There has been no sign of life from the captive soldier except for a letter in September 2006 and an audio tape released by Hamas last June.
Shalit's family was not available for comment.
The release of the letter comes as Egypt is trying to broker a truce between Israel and Palestinian militant groups in Gaza.
A senior Hamas official said the letter was released in a gesture to former U.S. President Jimmy Carter who met with the group's leaders during a trip to the region in April. (Reuters)
Labels: Hamas, Israel, Palestine
Monday, June 9, 2008
Rice to hold talks with Israeli, Palestinian teams
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice plans to hold a three-way meeting next week with the chief Israeli and Palestinian negotiators, a senior Palestinian official said on Monday.
Marred by disputes over Jewish settlement expansion and violence in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, U.S.-backed peace talks have shown little sign of progress since they were launched at a conference in Annapolis, Maryland in November.
A corruption investigation of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert could trigger new elections, dimming the chances of a deal this year, Israeli, Palestinian and Western officials say.
Palestinian officials said the three-way meeting between Rice and the chief negotiators -- Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and former Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie -- would take place on June 15 in Jerusalem, and not June 16 as previously stated.
"It is to review the negotiations in all its aspects," said Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat.
Rice, who will visit Israel and the occupied West Bank, convened a similar three-way meeting earlier this year. (Reuters)
Labels: Israel, Palestine, U.S.
Hamas leader cautious on reconciliation with Abbas
The leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip played down on Monday the chances of quick reconciliation with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction.
"Things are still at the beginning and it may take a long time," said Ismail Haniyeh, whom Abbas dismissed as prime minister of a Hamas-led unity government last June after the Islamist group routed secular Fatah from the Gaza Strip.
Abbas's call last week for "a national and comprehensive dialogue" has been welcomed by Haniyeh, though aides to Abbas said there was no change in his demand that Hamas give up control of the Gaza Strip.
Haniyeh said any dialogue should be held "without conditions". "There should be no winners and no losers."
Haniyeh cited resistance from Israel as a factor that could delay reconciliation.
U.S. President George W. Bush is pushing Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to strike a deal on Palestinian statehood this year. But Israel has said it could review its ties with Abbas if he were to mend relations with Hamas, which refuses to renounce violence or recognise the Jewish state. (Reuters)
Labels: Fatah, Hamas, Palestine
Israeli Attack Looking More Likely
The likelihood of a large-scale Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip has crept closer as more rockets continue to land in southern Israel and another Israeli was killed by a mortar shell, further hardening attitudes amongst senior ministers against a proposed truce with Hamas.
Speaking to reporters aboard his plane as he returned to Israel from Washington, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Thursday that a military offensive was now a more likely option than a cessation of hostilities with Hamas. "The way it looks now, we are closer to a military operation in Gaza than we are to any other type of (diplomatic) arrangement."
Defence Minister Ehud Barak's assessment was similar. "A military operation is closer than ever, and it may even precede a ceasefire," he said Thursday while touring Kibbutz Nir Oz, where a 51-year-old Israeli man was killed earlier in the day by a mortar shell fired by Islamic militants in the Gaza Strip.
The mortar attack, which killed Amnon Rosenberg, father of three, when it slammed into a paint factory on Nir Oz, brought to three the number of Israelis killed in rocket and mortar attacks from Gaza in the past month.
Barak has been the strongest voice in the Cabinet in favour of accepting a truce with Hamas. Mediated by Egypt, the truce would see an end to the rocket fire from Gaza in exchange for a cessation of Israeli military operations in the strip and an easing of the siege Israel imposed on Gaza when Hamas seized control of the area a year ago. (IPS)
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Hundreds of students still stranded in Gaza
They squander their days watching TV and surfing the Web instead of studying, but it's not for lack of discipline: Gaza students accepted at foreign universities are stuck at home because Israel and Egypt won't let them leave the blockaded territory.
The students' plight made headlines last week when Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice interceded with Israel on behalf of seven students with prestigious Fulbright scholarships awarded by the U.S. government. But hundreds without such powerful allies will likely lose their shot at a good education, given Gaza's sparse offerings.
The blockade, imposed after Hamas' violent takeover of Gaza a year ago, is meant to bring down the Islamic militants and inspire Gazans to opt for a more moderate leadership.
But critics say the closure, backed by the international community, is accomplishing the opposite.
Hamas has become more entrenched and Gazans are growing more angry at the West as isolation worsens the strip's poverty, say the critics, who include both Israelis and Palestinians. They add that Gaza is also being robbed of future leaders - the trapped students - because they can't get the necessary training. (AP)
Labels: Hamas, Israel, Palestine, U.S.
Israelis, Palestinians to start writing peace pact
Israel and the Palestinians have agreed to start drafting sections of a proposed peace accord that address the main issues of their conflict, the chief Palestinian negotiator said.
Ahmed Qureia, the veteran negotiator heading the Palestinian team, said the decision did not mean agreement had been reached on the major issues that have tormented peace talks for years: final borders, the status of disputed Jerusalem and the fate of Palestinian refugees.
But it is the first time since negotiations resumed more than six months ago that anything will be put to paper on these divisive questions.
"We agreed with the Israelis to begin writing the positions," Qureia told reporters late Friday. He did not say what issue the two sides would start with.
Israeli government officials declined to comment. (AP)
Robert Fisk: The West's weapon of self-delusion
So they are it again, the great and the good of American democracy, grovelling and fawning to the Israeli lobbyists of American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac), repeatedly allying themselves to the cause of another country and one that is continuing to steal Arab land.
Will this ever end? Even Barack Obama – or "Mr Baracka" as an Irish friend of mine innocently and wonderfully described him – found time to tell his Jewish audience that Jerusalem is the one undivided capital of Israel, which is not the view of the rest of the world which continues to regard the annexation of Arab East Jerusalem as illegal. The security of Israel. Say it again a thousand times: the security of Israel – and threaten Iran, for good measure.
Yes, Israelis deserve security. But so do Palestinians. So do Iraqis and Lebanese and the people of the wider Muslim world. Now even Condoleezza Rice admits – and she was also talking to Aipac, of course – that there won't be a Palestinian state by the end of the year. That promise of George Bush – which no-one believed anyway – has gone. In Rice's pathetic words, "The goal itself will endure beyond the current US leadership."
Of course it will. And the siege of Gaza will endure beyond the current US leadership. And the Israeli wall. And the illegal Israeli settlement building. And deaths in Iraq will endure beyond "the current US leadership" – though "leadership" is pushing the definition of the word a bit when the gutless Bush is involved – and deaths in Afghanistan and, I fear, deaths in Lebanon too. (Independent)
Labels: Israel, Lebanon, Palestine, U.S.
Obama 'softens' Jerusalem stance
Barack Obama has appeared to soften comments he made on Jerusalem that provoked a wave of anger among Arabs.
The presumptive US Democratic presidential nominee had said during a speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Council (Aipac), a pro-Israeli US lobby group, Jerusalem "will remain the capital of Israel and it must remain undivided".
But he later told CNN, the US broadcast network, that the Israelis and Palestinians had to negotiate over the future of the city.
"Well, obviously, it's going to be up to the parties to negotiate a range of these issues. And Jerusalem will be part of those negotiations," Obama said on Thursday.
Obama's remarks to Aipac days earlier appalled Palestinians, who see occupied East Jerusalem as part of a future Palestinian state. (Al Jazeera)
Labels: Israel, Palestine, U.S.
Obama stands by controversial remarks backing Israeli claim to all of Jerusalem
Democratic White House candidate Barack Obama on Thursday defended his remarks that Occupied Jerusalem should not be divided under any Israeli-Palestinian peace pact, saying a divided city would be "very difficult to execute."A day after sparking outrage when he told a Jewish group that Jerusalem must be the "undivided" capital of Israel, Obama told CNN that the issue is still up to the two sides.
"Obviously it's going to be up to the parties to negotiate a range of these issues," he said, "and Jerusalem will be part of those negotiations."
However, he added: "My belief is that as a practical matter it would be very difficult to execute. And I think that it is smart for us to work through a system in which everybody has access to the extraordinary religious sites in old Jerusalem."
But, he said, "Israel has a legitimate claim on that city."
On Wednesday Obama pledged to a meeting of one of Washington's most powerful lobby groups, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), his "unshakeable commitment to Israel's security" if he is elected president in November, while making the statement that Jerusalem should not be undivided. (AFP)
Labels: Israel, Palestine, U.S.
Friday, June 6, 2008
EU VIPs hurt at West Bank protest
European Parliament Vice-President Luisa Morgantini and the Irish Nobel laureate, Mairead Corrigan, have been injured at a protest in the West Bank.
An Italian judge, Julio Toscano, was also hurt when Israeli troops fired tear gas to disperse the demonstration against the West Bank barrier in Bilin.
He suffered head wounds when he was hit by one of the tear-gas canisters.
The incidents came on the last day of an international conference supporting local protests against the barrier.
In September, the Israeli Supreme Court ordered the government to redraw its route near Bilin, accepting an appeal by residents, who had argued it prevented them from reaching 50% of their agricultural land.
The International Court of Justice issued an advisory ruling in 2004 that the barrier breached international law where it is built on occupied Palestinian territory and should be dismantled.
Despite the supreme court's ruling last year, the Israeli authorities have not yet begun to implement it, meaning Bilin's residents continue to be prevented from accessing around 200 hectares (500 acres) of their farmland. (BBC)
Labels: European Union, Israel, Palestine
Olmert threatens Gaza offensive
Israel's prime minister has said that the country's military could launch fresh large-scale military operations in the Gaza Strip.
Ehud Olmert's warning on Friday came as Israeli raids on the occupied Palestinian territory left at least one person dead and at least 17 injured.
"According to the information we have now, the pendulum is much closer to a decision on a harsh operation," Olmert said, soon after he returned from the United States.
He had earlier told US reporters that Israel was heading towards a military operation in Gaza.
He said that Egyptian peace efforts on the Gaza Strip were "not ripening in a way that can bring a ceasefire".
In Friday's raids, a member of the armed wing of Hamas died in an exchange of fire between Palestinian fighters and the Israeli military, emergency medical services said. (Al Jazeera)
Palestinian Rivals Step Towards Reducing Rift
In the early hours of Friday morning, Israeli warplanes targeted a Hamas-run security post in the northern town of Beit Lahiya, injuring 29 Palestinian civilians, according to Gaza medical sources. In the Eastern Gaza City neighbourhood of al-Shuja'iya, a 27-year-old man was shot dead by Israeli special forces during another invasion.
As the Israeli military invasions and attacks continue unabated in the occupied Gaza strip, movement towards a so-called Palestinian national unity government seem possible, according to local politicians.
On Thursday, Palestinian National Authority (PNA) Prime Minister Ismayil Haniyeh of the Hamas party extended an open invitation to PNA President Mahmoud Abbas, saying that Hamas's hand "reached out" to the Fatah party to hold talks on national dialogue, reconciliation and political unity.
Abbas had said on Wednesday that he hoped to "restart" unity talks with the elected government of Hamas, a political body that has been isolated and branded a terrorist organisation by the United States and Israel since its democratic election in January 2006.
"With the speech that Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas) delivered on June 4th, it was a breakthrough," Ahmad Yousuf, top political advisor to Haniyeh in the Hamas foreign ministry, told IPS. "On Thursday, the Prime Minister delivered a speech responding to Abu Mazen. I hope that with Abu Mazen's step forward, Haniyeh will give two more steps forward, and we can meet in the middle. This could be the beginning of the reconciliation of the rift between Fatah and Hamas." (IPS)
Labels: Fatah, Hamas, Palestine
Egypt deploys hundreds of policemen on Gaza border
Egypt deployed hundreds of riot police along the border with the Gaza Strip on Friday, fearing hundreds of Palestinian protestors may try to storm the Rafah crossing, security officials said.
One official said 500 policemen as well as scores of border guards were deployed at Rafah border crossing and along a concrete wall separating Sinai and the coastal strip.
"Hundreds of Palestinians are starting to gather in front of the main gate of the crossing on the Palestinian side demanding it to be opened," the official told Reuters on a customary condition of anonymity.
Another security official put the number of policemen at around 1,000, along with 500 border guards.
The Rafah crossing is the Gazans' main point of contact with the outside world because few of them are allowed through the passenger terminal at the Erez crossing with Israel.
All of Gaza's crossings have largely been shut since the Islamist group Hamas seized control of the coastal strip last June when its fighters routed the forces of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement. (Reuters)
Thursday, June 5, 2008
It's a Mitzvah
Now, here's a change we can believe in.
A mere 12 hours after claiming the Democratic presidential nomination, Barack Obama appeared before the American Israel Public Affairs Committee yesterday -- and changed himself into an Israel hard-liner.
He promised $30 billion in military assistance for Israel. He declared that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force has "rightly been labeled a terrorist organization." He used terms such as "false prophets of extremism" and "corrupt" while discussing Palestinians. And he promised that "Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel, and it must remain undivided."
Vowing to stop Tehran from getting a nuclear weapon, the newly minted nominee apparent added: "I will always keep the threat of military action on the table to defend our security and our ally, Israel. Do not be confused."
How could they be confused? As a pandering performance, it was the full Monty by a candidate who, during the primary, had positioned himself to Hillary Clinton's left on matters such as Iran. Yesterday, Obama, who has generally declined to wear an American-flag lapel pin, wore a joint U.S.-Israeli pin, and even tried a Hebrew phrase on the crowd. (Washington Post)
Labels: Israel, Palestine, U.S.
Child killed in Israeli air attack
A four-year-old girl has been killed and her mother wounded in an Israeli air strike in the Gaza Strip.
Another woman was also wounded in the attack which the Israelis said had targeted Palestinian armed groups.
The attack came after Palestinian fighters shelled an Israeli kibbutz (collective village), killing one person and injuring three others.
The girl and her mother were outside their house near Khan Yunis in southern Gaza when a drone fired a missile, witnesses said.
The Khan Yunis hospital identified the girl as Aya Al-Manjar and said her mother was critically wounded.
An Israeli military spokeswoman confirmed the attack, saying: "The air force conducted a raid and fired at Palestinian gunmen."
She said the attack targeted the area from which armed Palestinians earlier fired rockets that slammed into a kibbutz in southern Israel, killing one person and wounding four. (Al Jazeera)
Arabs shocked by Obama speech
Arab leaders have reacted with anger and disbelief to an intensely pro-Israeli speech delivered by Barack Obama, the US Democratic presumptive presidential nominee.
Obama told the influential annual policy conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Council (Aipac): "Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel and it must remain undivided."
His comments appalled Palestinians who see occupied East Jerusalem as part of a future Palestinian state.
Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, told Al Jazeera on Thursday: "This is the worst thing to happen to us since 1967 ... he has given ammunition to extremists across the region".
"What really disppoints me is that someone like Barack Obama, who runs a campaign on the theme of change - when it comes to Aipac and what's needed to be said differently about the Palestinian state, he fails."
"I say to Obama ... please stop being more Israeli than the Israelis themselves, leave the Israelis and Palestinians alone to make decisions required for peace."
Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, rejected the statement, saying: "We will not accept an independent Palestinian state without having Jerusalem as the capital.
"I believe that case is clear."
He said: "Jerusalem is part of the six points that are subjects on the negotiations' agenda.
"And the whole world knows that East Jerusalem, Arab Jerusalem and Holy Jerusalem were occupied in 1967." (Al Jazeera)
Labels: Israel, Palestine, U.S.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Palestinian President Abbas: renew dialogue with Hamas
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called Wednesday for renewed dialogue with Hamas after insisting for months that the Islamic militants relinquish control of Gaza first.
He said successful talks could lead to new elections.
Abbas said in a speech that the Palestinians must have national dialogue "to end the internal division that harms our people, (our) cause."
In Gaza, Hamas spokesman Taher Nunu welcomed the call for talks.
"We welcome this call by the President Abbas to launch a national dialogue, and we consider it a positive step," he said.
Abbas said if the talks succeed: "I will call for new legislative and presidential elections."
Abbas won an election to succeed Yasser Arafat, who died in 2004, but Hamas swept his Fatah Party out of power in a 2006 election.
Hamas ousted Abbas' security forces and seized control of Gaza last year. In response, Abbas fired the Hamas prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh, and appointed a government of moderates in the West Bank. (AP)
4 Fulbright students leave Gaza
Israel allowed four Palestinian Fulbright scholars to travel to Jerusalem to apply for U.S. student visas but delayed permission for three others to leave the Gaza Strip, one of the students and a human rights group said Wednesday.
American officials have protested Israel's prior refusal to allow the scholars to leave the Hamas-ruled territory. Israel has insisted that its security considerations are the overriding concern.
The prestigious scholarships were briefly deferred when the students could not get out of Gaza, but were reinstated Monday after intercession by the State Department.
U.S. diplomats had told the students the deferments were necessary because Israel would not grant an exception to its near-total travel ban on Palestinians living in the sealed-off Gaza Strip.
Gisha, an Israeli human rights group that escorted the four students after they entered Israel, said the delay for the three other students probably meant security checks were taking longer than anticipated.
Gisha director Sari Bashi welcomed the approval for the four students but said the rest should be allowed out. (AP)
Labels: Israel, Palestine, U.S.
Chomsky: Bush's bankrupt vision
In mid-May, President Bush travelled to the Middle East to establish his legacy more firmly in the part of the world that has been the prime focus of his presidency.
The trip had two principal destinations, each chosen to celebrate a major anniversary: Israel, the 60th anniversary of its founding and recognition by the United States, and Saudi Arabia, the 75th anniversary of US recognition of the newly founded kingdom. The choices made good sense in the light of history and the enduring character of US Middle East policy: control of oil, and support of the proxies who help maintain it.
An omission, however, was not lost on the people of the region. Though Bush celebrated the founding of Israel, he did not recognise (let alone commemorate) the paired event from 60 years ago: the destruction of Palestine, the Nakba, as Palestinians refer to the events that expelled them from their lands.
During his three days in Jerusalem, the president was an enthusiastic participant in lavish events and made sure to go to Masada, a near-sacred site of Jewish nationalism.
But he did not visit the seat of the Palestinian authority in Ramallah, or Gaza City, or a refugee camp, or the town of Qalqilya Ñ strangled by the Separation Wall, now becoming an Annexation Wall under the illegal Israeli settlement and development programmes that Bush has endorsed officially, the first president to do so. (Khaleej Times)
Labels: Iran, Israel, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, U.S.
Israel halts Gaza fuel after depot attack
Israel suspended fuel deliveries to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip on Wednesday after a mortar fired by Palestinian militants struck the territory's only fuel depot, wounding a Palestinian worker.
Israel blamed Islamist Hamas, which opposes coexistence with the Jewish state, for the attack on Nahal Oz border crossing. But Hamas issued a rare denial of involvement and said it would try to halt Palestinian fire against Gaza's imports conduits.
"Fuel deliveries were frozen after the mortar hit," said Gil Karie, a spokesman for the Israeli District Coordination Office, which oversees deliveries to Gaza.
"They are checking the situation ... We don't know yet if it will open again today, or at what time."
Deliveries of European Union-funded fuel to Gaza's sole power station were not affected because no deliveries had been scheduled for Wednesday, an EU official said.
Israel has reduced supplies to Gaza since Hamas routed the forces of Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to take over the coastal territory in June 2007. Israel has suspended fuel deliveries in the past after militant attacks. (Reuters)
Labels: Hamas, Israel, Palestine
Hamas expands cabinet to strengthen hold in Gaza
GAZA (Reuters) - Hamas expanded its administration in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday in an effort to strengthen its hold on the coastal territory, a senior official from the Islamist group said.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh's decision to add another six ministers to his Gaza cabinet opposes Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's demand that the group hand over control of the enclave.
Hamas Islamists took over Gaza after routing secular Fatah forces loyal to Abbas in June 2007.
A senior Hamas government official told Reuters that the six new ministers are pro-Hamas and include a Gaza mayor and a lecturer at Gaza's Islamic University.
In the West Bank, Fatah spokesman Fahmi al-Zarir said Hamas's move would deepen divisions and said the Islamist group was not serious in its calls for reconciliation with Abbas.
"Adding more people to an illegitimate body is worthless, but it signals that Hamas wants to consolidate the authority it gained from a coup in Gaza," Zarir told Reuters. (Reuters)
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Israeli strikes in Gaza after rocket barrage
An Israeli air strike injured three Islamic Jihad militants in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip on Tuesday after cross-border rockets fired from the territory wounded five Israelis.
One of the Islamic Jihad militants was critically injured in the air strike near the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis, medical officials and Islamic Jihad said.
An Israeli army spokesman said the air strike had targeted a single "armed Palestinian as he was preparing to launch rockets" into Israel.
The spokesman said the same area had been used by militants earlier in the day to launch five cross-border rockets at the Israeli village of Yesha, injuring five agricultural workers.
Israel frequently launches raids into the Gaza Strip, which it says are aimed at curbing cross-border rockets fired by Palestinian militants. The rocket salvoes rarely cause death or injury but sow panic in southern Israeli communities. (Reuters)
Labels: Islamic Jihad, Israel, Palestine
'Military Escalation Brewing'
After another round of Egypt-brokered talks between Israel and Palestinian resistance factions, a cessation of hostilities remains elusive as ever. According to statements by both sides, failure to achieve a degree of calm in the short term could lead instead to open confrontation.
"Both sides appear to be heading not to a ceasefire but towards military escalation," Abdelaziz Shadi, political science professor and coordinator of the Israeli studies programme at Cairo University, told IPS.
Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman made a quick trip last month to Tel Aviv where he tried to persuade Israeli leaders to back an Egyptian proposal for a calming of hostilities, or "tahdia", between the Hebrew state and Palestinian resistance factions.
In April, Suleiman convinced resistance group Hamas, along with a dozen smaller resistance factions, to sign on to the plan.
The initiative calls for a halt to Israeli military assaults on targets in the Gaza Strip in return for an end to the firing of Palestinian rockets on Israeli towns. In addition to a cessation of hostilities, the Egyptian proposal also calls for the reopening of border crossings -- including Egypt's Rafah terminal.
Since Hamas wrested control of the territory almost a year ago (after winning an election in 2006), virtually all routes in and out of the Gaza Strip have been hermetically sealed by the Israeli authorities.
Under the terms of the proposal, the ceasefire would initially apply only to the Gaza Strip. In the event that the truce holds, it would be extended to the West Bank, governed by the western-backed Fatah Party of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
But the offer met with a tepid response by Israeli officials, who insisted on attaching several of their own conditions. (IPS)
Labels: Egypt, Israel, Palestine
Israel court condemns student ban
The Israeli Supreme Court has called on the government to reconsider its almost total ban on Palestinian students leaving the Gaza Strip to study abroad.
The court said the policy was harming prospects for future coexistence between Israelis and Palestinians.
This follows the reinstatement by the US state department of Fulbright grants to seven Palestinians in Gaza.
The scholarships had been withdrawn because Israel would not provided exit permits to the students.
Israel tightened its blockade of Gaza after Hamas seized power there a year ago, largely cutting off the territory from the outside world.
The Israeli Supreme Court heard on Monday a petition filed by Israeli human rights group Gisha on behalf of two Palestinian students whose requests to leave Gaza to study in Britain and Germany have been rejected by Israel.
Palestinian human rights groups in Gaza said hundreds of students would miss deadlines to pursue studies at universities abroad if Israel did not relax travel restrictions. (BBC)
Housing Min.: Olmert backed move to build new homes in E. Jerusalem
Housing Minister Ze'ev Boim said Monday that the decision to build hundreds of new apartments in the East Jerusalem neighborhoods of Pisgat Ze'ev and Har Homa was approved by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
Tenders were issued for the construction of 884 homes last week. Both the White House and the United Nations on Monday expressed concern over the plans to build in eastern parts of the Jerusalem municipality, due to the obstacles such construction pose for peace talks with the Palestinians.
Boim said that the apartments will all be built within the municipal borders of Jerusalem. He added that while Jerusalem must remain united, solutions must be found for the large Arab population in the city.
Boim also said that no decision has been made to build in the controversial E1 area between Jerusalem and the settlement of Ma'ale Adumim, because it would disrupt the territorial contiguity between the north and south West Bank.
Meretz MK Zehava Gal-On said Monday that Boim and Olmert's decision to issue the tenders reveals the true nature of the current government, which talks about peace, but in fact is sabotaging any chance of a future agreement.
On Monday, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters at a press briefing that "our position on the settlements is that we don't believe that any more settlements should be built, and we know that it exacerbates the tension when it comes to the negotiations with the Palestinians." (Haaretz)
Labels: Israel, Palestine, Settlements
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Israel plans more settler homes
The Israeli government has announced plans to build nearly 900 new housing units in a part of East Jerusalem that is considered occupied territory.
The contentious move comes amid the ongoing political battle swirling around Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who is accused of corruption.
Mr Olmert's cabinet met for the first time since Defence Minister Ehud Barak said it was time for him to step down.
An Israeli official said Mr Olmert was getting on with government business.
The prime minister, he said, was keeping his cards close to his chest and did not discuss his future with his colleagues during the meeting.
Mr Olmert remained convinced he was innocent of the accusations that relate to his time as mayor of Jerusalem, the official said.
On Monday, the prime minister will have one of his regular meetings with the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, in an attempt to push forward peace talks.
Those talks will take place in the wake of the new housing announcement.
The Palestinian Authority has condemned the news of more settlement building on occupied territory.
The Israeli government insists that any final peace deal will see these districts redrawn inside the Israeli border.
In addition to Mr Barak's call for him to step aside, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said that the Kadima Party, to which both she and Mr Olmert belong, should hold new leadership elections. (BBC)
Labels: Israel, Palestine, Settlements
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Egypt finds weapons cache near Gaza border
Egyptian police seized a cache of weapons including anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles in the Sinai desert near the Gaza border on Saturday, security sources said.
Police found at least five boxes of weapons hidden in mountains about 77 km (48 miles) south of the border town of Rafah, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The cache included about 30 anti-aircraft missiles, 3,000 bullets as well as rifles, they said.
Police cordoned off the area but made no arrests, the sources said.
Israel has accused Egypt of not doing enough to stop arms reaching Palestinian factions through the Sinai desert and Egyptian authorities publicize their activities to stop smuggling and illegal crossings.
A halt to the smuggling is among Israeli conditions for considering an Egyptian-proposed ceasefire with Islamist militant group Hamas in Gaza.
The area where the cache was found was also used by militant groups accused of bombings in 2004 and 2005 in the Egyptian resorts of Taba and Sharm el-Sheikh, the sources said. (Reuters)
Israel Revisits Limitations on Gaza Students
Israel said Friday that it would reconsider a policy that prevents Palestinian students from leaving the Gaza Strip to pursue their education overseas as the United States pushed for recipients of the prestigious Fulbright scholarship to be allowed out.
The U.S. effort came a day after seven Fulbright recipients were informed that their awards had been withdrawn and that they would have to apply again next year.
Since January, Israel has generally declined to let students leave Gaza under a broader policy of isolating the coastal strip following its takeover by the militant Islamist group Hamas last June. Diplomats and human rights groups say hundreds of students are being kept from leaving Gaza to participate in foreign scholarship programs, including 12 Fulbright winners.
On Friday, State Department spokesman Tom Casey said the United States would appeal to Israeli authorities to allow the students out.
Casey said it "ought to be falling off a log for them to be able to do this."
Casey made his comments after the cancellations were reported in the New York Times. (Washington Post)
Friday, May 30, 2008
Israel uses gunfire to repel Hamas border rally
Israeli troops used gunfire and teargas on Friday to keep more than 3,000 Hamas supporters from approaching one of the Gaza Strip's main border crossings with Israel, wounding at least six Palestinians, witnesses said.
At least two of the wounded were in a critical condition, Palestinian medical workers said.
Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said the protest at the Sufa border crossing was part of a stepped up campaign to break Israel's blockade of the coastal territory, which the Islamist group seized last June from rival forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
"Hamas will use all means to end the siege ... We will use stronger and more violent means in the future," Abu Zuhri said, though he offered not details.
The Israeli army had posted signs before the protest warning Palestinians that they faced "Danger of Death" if they tried to approach the Sufa crossing, used to bring some humanitarian supplies into the Gaza Strip. (Reuters)
Labels: Free Speech, Hamas, Israel, Palestine
Thursday, May 29, 2008
U.S. Withdraws Fulbright Grants to Gaza
The American State Department has withdrawn all Fulbright grants to Palestinian students in Gaza hoping to pursue advanced degrees at American institutions this fall because Israel has not granted them permission to leave.
Israel has isolated this coastal strip, which is run by the militant group Hamas. Given that policy, the United States Consulate in Jerusalem said the grant money had been “redirected” to students elsewhere out of concern that it would go to waste if the Palestinian students were forced to remain in Gaza.
A letter was sent by e-mail to the students on Thursday telling them of the cancellation.
Abdulrahman Abdullah, 30, who had been hoping to study for an M.B.A. at one of several American universities on his Fulbright, was in shock when he read the letter.
“If we are talking about peace and mutual understanding, it means investing in people who will later contribute to Palestinian society,” he said. “I am against Hamas. Their acts and policies are wrong. Israel talks about a Palestinian state. But who will build that state if we can get no training?” (NY Times)
Labels: Israel, Palestine, U.S.
Tutu: Gaza blockade abomination
Nobel peace laureate Desmond Tutu has called Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip an "abomination".
He strongly condemned what he called international "silence and complicity" on the blockade, which he compared to the actions of Burma's leaders.
Speaking at the end of a two day mission to the area, the former archbishop said the humanitarian situation there could not be justified.
Earlier, 60 Palestinians were detained in an Israeli raid on northern Gaza.
Residents in the Beit Hanoun area were summoned to a local square by Israeli troops with loudhailers before dozens were taken away, witnesses said.
Mr Tutu was in Gaza on a United Nations fact-finding mission into the killing of 19 Palestinians by Israeli shellfire in November 2006.
The former archbishop of Cape Town said the international community's "silence and complicity, especially on the situation in Gaza, shames us all". (BBC)
Palestinians pin hopes of economic recovery on high-tech companies
Hunched over laptops in red cubicles, Palestinian software engineers are developing an award-winning new version of a program that makes desktop computer accessible from anywhere.
But beyond such technological breakthroughs, the young graduates of West Bank universities are blazing a trail, in this case with Israeli colleagues, for the fledgling Palestinian high-tech industry which many hope will bypass the old obstacles of the Mideast conflict and one day drive the sluggish Palestinian economy.
Palestinian information technology is still in its infancy, compared to
neighboring powerhouse Israel, with just two dozen software houses, a few thousand engineers and $15 million (9.6 million) in exports a year. When also counting telecommunications, high-tech contributes about $500 million (320 million) to a $4 billion (2.55 billion) Gross Domestic Product.
Yet Palestinian IT companies have proven remarkably resilient, making money through years of Israeli-Palestinian fighting that forced many traditional businesses to shut down or scale back.
Perhaps nowhere are high-techs' border-transcending quality more appreciated than in the West Bank and Gaza. With Gaza virtually sealed since last year's Hamas takeover and the West Bank stifled by a network of Israeli roadblocks, many businesses dependent on getting goods to market are struggling to survive. (Haaretz)
Labels: Palestine
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Tutu investigates Gaza shelling
South African Nobel peace laureate Desmond Tutu is on a UN fact-finding mission to Gaza, focusing on the deaths of Palestinians caused by Israeli fire.
He met relatives of 19 civilians killed in the Israeli shelling of two houses in Beit Hanoun in 2006.
Mr Tutu's team will report its findings to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, a body shunned by Israel.
In the latest violence, Hamas said two of its men were killed in an Israeli air strike in southern Gaza.
The army said it had conducted two air strikes targeting militants firing mortar shells.
The former archbishop of Cape Town called Israel's blockade of the Hamas-controlled territory illegal, and urged Palestinian militants to halt cross-border rocket attacks.
Israel says the Beit Hanoun deaths in November 2006 were a mistake during action to target areas used by Palestinian militants. (BBC)
Labels: Israel, Palestine, U.N.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Human rights abuses seen up in Gaza and W.Bank
Human rights conditions have worsened in both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank since Hamas ousted Fatah in Gaza last year, a Palestinian rights group said on Tuesday.
The Palestinian Independent Commission for Citizens' Rights (PICCR) said in its annual report, rights abuses had increased in both territories after Islamist Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip following clashes with President Mahmoud Abbas's secular Fatah faction in June.
"Our report finds that unfortunately because of what happened in Gaza, and the violent confrontation between Fatah and Hamas, grave human rights violations have resulted," PICCR head Mamdouh al-Aker said.
"There is a regression in the status of human rights in Gaza and the West Bank," he told Reuters.
Abbas sacked a Hamas-led government following Hamas's seizure of Gaza on June 14 and appointed a Western-backed administration in the West Bank -- a move that eased trade sanctions. Israel has since tightened its blockade on Gaza. (Reuters)
Labels: Fatah, Israel, Palestine
Abbas meets with Hamas reps in surprise move
In a surprise move, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas met late Monday night with a senior Hamas delegation in his office in Ramallah.
The unexpected meeting came amid reports about an impending prisoner exchange between Hizbullah and Israel.
The meeting focused on the reported deal and efforts to achieve a cease-fire between the Palestinians and Israel.
PA and Hamas officials expressed hope that the prisoner exchange would pave the way for a similar deal between Israel and Hamas. However, they refused to say whether the meeting between Abbas and the Hamas delegation was linked to the deal between Israel and Hizbullah.
"We welcome the news about a breakthrough in the talks between Israel and Hizbullah, especially with regards to the release of [Lebanese prisoner] Samir Kuntar," said a senior PA official in Abbas's office. "We hope that this would lead to the release of [kidnapped IDF soldier Cpl.] Gilad Schalit and Palestinian prisoners."
Hamas officials in the Gaza Strip refused to say whether the case of Schalit was part of the deal between Hizbullah and Israel. (JPost)
Labels: Fatah, Hamas, Palestine
Monday, May 26, 2008
Olmert: Only delusional people think we'll keep post-'67 borders
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Monday said that only people suffering from delusions believe it is possible to realize the dream of holding onto the greater Land of Israel, territories Israel captured in the 1967 Six Day War.
Olmert's comments came amid negotiations with the Palestinian Authority and indirect Israeli peace talks with Syria.
Palestinian officials said the negotiations over reaching a final status deal involved an Israeli offer of 91.5 percent of West Bank. He made the remarks speaking at a Knesset Foreign Affairs Committee meeting.
In response, MK Limor Livnat (Likud) charged that what was actually delusional was that a prime minister at the end of his political career can receive envelops of cash and hold talks on the return of the Golan Heights.
The former cabinet minister was referring to the ongoing corruption investigation against Olmert in which he is suspected of receiving illicit funds from an American businessman over a number of years.
Later on in the committee session, Olmert denied holding talks with Hamas despite Vice Premier Haim Ramon's claim of the opposite last week. (Haaretz)
Labels: Israel, Palestine, Syria
U.S. prof. gives Israeli prize money to Palestinian university
The American mathematician David Mumford, co-winner of the 2008 Wolf Foundation Prize in Mathematics, announced upon receiving the award yesterday that he will donate the money to Bir Zeit University, near Ramallah, and to Gisha, an Israeli organization that advocates for Palestinian freedom of movement.
"I decided to donate my share of the Wolf Prize to enable the academic community in occupied Palestine to survive and thrive," Mumford told Haaretz. "I am very grateful for the prize, but I believe that Palestinian students should have an opportunity to go elsewhere to acquire an education. Students in the West Bank and Gaza today do not have an opportunity to do that."
The Wolf Foundation awards prizes of $100,000 each year "to outstanding scientists and artists for achievements in the interest of mankind and friendly relations among peoples," its web site says. It is considered one of the most prestigious international honors in mathematics.
Mumford, professor emeritus at Brown University and Harvard University, shared this year's prize with Pierre Deligne and Phillip Griffiths of Princeton University. According to the Wolf Foundation, he was recognized for his "work on algebraic surfaces; on geometric invariant theory; and for laying the foundations of the modern algebraic theory of the moduli space of curves and theta functions." (Haaretz)
Palestinians reject Israeli offer to hand over 91.5% of W. Bank
Palestinian officials close to peace talks said Sunday that Israel has offered a West Bank withdrawal map that leaves about 8.5 percent of the territory in Israeli hands, less than a previous plan but still more than the Palestinians are ready to accept.
Also Sunday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was quoted as telling backers that the negotiations have achieved no progress since they were restarted last November with a pledge to U.S. President George W. Bush to try for a full peace treaty by the end of the year.
The Palestinian officials said Israel presented its new map three days ago in a negotiating session. The last map Israel offered had 12 percent of the West Bank remaining in Israel. Israel wants to keep West Bank land with its main settlement blocs, offering land inside Israel in exchange. The land would be between Hebron in the southern West Bank and Gaza - at least part of a route through Israel to link the two territories.
The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because the negotiations are being conducted behind closed doors, said Palestinians were ready to trade only 1.8 percent of the West Bank for Israeli land.
Israeli officials refused to comment.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said that progress has been made in several areas, but he refused to give details out of concern for harm