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Recent News..     5/7/2008     5/6/2008     5/5/2008     5/4/2008     5/1/2008     News Headlines News & Articles in text format Headlines in text format News Archives Get daily News & Articles by e-mail         Palestine Diaries courtesy The Electronic Intifada This webpage uses Javascript to display some content. Please enable Javascript in your browser and reload this page. EI: Human Rights courtesy The Electronic Intifada This webpage uses Javascript to display some content. Please enable Javascript in your browser and reload this page.

Breaking the Gaza Wall
Allan Nairn, Middle East Online 1/31/2008
   Most all political violence consists of clear wrongs, like murder or unjustified war, but sometimes, sadly, disgustingly, some violence is justified as a last resort, and sometimes -- as a subcategory of that -- some of that justified violence is also wise... more..

Bush’s Delusions Die in Gaza
Gary Kamiya, MIFTAH 1/31/2008
   It was a heart-wrenching story. Hundreds of thousands of people, trapped for endless years in an open-air jail and recently subjected to an airtight siege, blew up their prison wall and poured out to freedom.A 24-year-old man named Fares... more..

Short Term Gain for Hamas, Long Term Gain for Israel
Ghassan Khatib, MIFTAH 1/31/2008
   The dramatic recent developments on the Palestinian-Egyptian border are direct and predictable results of the internationally supported Israeli siege on Gaza. It should have been expected that the mounting pressure on Gaza would cause a popular explosion. The Egyptian border... more..

Israeli High Court defies international law by sanctioning collective punishment
The Palestine Monitor, ReliefWeb 1/30/2008
   Ramallah - Today’s ruling by Israel’s High Court sanctioning the Israeli government’s October 2007 decision to cut fuel and electricity supplies to the Gaza Strip "is nothing less than the legitimisation of collective punishment - in... more..

Israeli forces beat, shoot Palestinian civilians in Qalqilia
Ma’an News Agency 1/31/2008
   Qalqilia – Ma’an – Occupying Israeli forces beat one Palestinian man and beat another in separate incidents near the West Bank city of Qalqilia on Thursday evening, local sources said.Medical sources said that 38-year-old Hamad At-Tabib from the village...

IDF force kills gunman near Gaza border
Hanan Greenberg, YNetNews 1/31/2008
   Soldiers open fire at gunmen attempting to infiltrate Israel near Kerem Shalom, killing one. Palestinian source says gunmen belonged to al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades cell planned to carry out suicide attack in army outpost - An IDF force shot and killed an... more..

MIDEAST: Israel Warns of Further Supply Cuts to Gaza
Peter Hirschberg, Inter Press Service 1/31/2008
   JERUSALEM, Jan 31(IPS) - Already testy relations between Jerusalem and Cairo have frayed further in the last week as hundreds of thousands of Gazans have poured through a hole blasted in the Egypt-Gaza border fence, in a bid to escape... more..

Egypt preventing Gaza car traffic from entering
Associated Press, YNetNews 1/31/2008
   Border guards try to contain influx of Palestinians to Rafah; Gazans concerned border will soon be sealed -Egyptian border guards moved Thursday to prevent all car traffic from entering the country from the Gaza Strip, but still allowed hundreds of... more..

Beirut’s ’Bloody Sunday’
Lucy Fielder, Al-Ahram Weekly 1/31/2008
   The killing of demonstrators in Beirut has thrown the army chief’s presidential candidacy into question. An initiative on the brink Two violent incidents jolted Lebanon from numbing political paralysis this week and raised the ghosts of the past... more..

Dire scenarios demand Gaza solution
Lamis Andoni, Al Jazeera Middle East analyst, Al Jazeera 1/30/2008
   The sense of elation Palestinians felt while watching Gazans break down the wall and flood into Egypt is being replaced by the creeping realisation that Israel is now in a better position to cut loose the already isolated enclave. As... more..

Fallout from the Gaza Earthquake
Patrick Seale, Middle East Online 1/30/2008
   The mass break-out of some 700,000 Palestinians from Israel’s open-air prison at Gaza has profoundly changed the political landscape of the Middle East. In magnitude, it can be compared to the impact on Europe of the fall of the Berlin... more..

Report: Egypt thwarts suicide terror attack against Israel
Yoav Stern, Ha’aretz 1/30/2008
   Five Palestinian terrorists carrying explosives belts and reportedly planning a suicide attack against Israel were apprehended by the Egyptian authorities recently in recent days, the Egyptian daily al-Ahram reported Wednesday.The report came a week after Palestinian militants blew holes in... more..

PM mulls putting up fence on the border with Egypt
Barak Ravid and Avi Issacharoff, Ha’aretz 1/31/2008
   Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is examining the possibility of building a fence along the Israel-Egypt border, Israeli sources said yesterday. Several meetings on the matter have taken place over the last few months, and Olmert wants to expedite the process... more..

Poll: 69.9% of Palestinians support ceasefire in exchange for end of Gaza siege
Ma’an News Agency 1/30/2008
   Bethlehem – Ma’an – 69. 9% of Palestinians in the occupied territories support giving up rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip in exchange for an end to the Israeli siege of Gaza, a new poll released on Wednesday shows.The opinion... more..

2007 was good for parks, but bad for nature
Zafrir Rinat, Ha’aretz 1/31/2008
   2007 was a record year for nature reserves and natural parks, with more new ones established than in any previous year. Eighteen new parks and reserves were opened by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority (INPA). But the threats to... more..

Finally, a popular uprising
Amira Hass, Ha’aretz 1/30/2008
   The fall of the Rafah wall was a fitting combination of planning and the precise reading of the social and political map by the Hamas government, mixed with a mass response to the dictates of the overlord, Israel. Quite a... more..

Egyptian security forces close Gaza border; stranded Palestinians threaten hunger strike
Ma’an News Agency 1/29/2008
   Gaza – Ma’an – The Egyptian security services gradually started to resume control of the Egyptian frontier with the Gaza Strip on Tuesday morning using barbed wire to close gaps in the border wall.Palestinians forced the border open almost a... more..

Gaza Border Crisis Puts Egypt on the Spot
Ian Pannell, MIFTAH 1/29/2008
   Alaa smiled and pulled me by the arm. Firstly he wanted to check my credentials. "You are a foreign correspondent?"I nodded and we got the camera ready to record an interview.He shook his head - not an interview, he just... more..

57% of Palestinians Live in Poverty
Mohammed Mar’i, MIFTAH 1/29/2008
   The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) yesterday released a pessimistic report summarizing the living conditions of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 2007. The report said that 49 percent of Palestinian households in... more..

A break in the siege
Osamah Khalil, Electronic Intifada 1/29/2008
   It is 4:30 Friday morning and al-Arish’s souq is alive and packed with people.When asked where they are from, the inevitable reply with a broad grin is "I am from Palestine!" This sleepy Egyptian resort town nestled... more..

Power of the people
Nada Elia writing from US, Electronic Intifada 1/29/2008
   Today, more than any other day in my life, I am proud to be Palestinian. Let me explain. Nation-states mean little to me. They represent artificial boundaries, legal restrictions, "No Entry" signs, and collective brainwashing into the "uniqueness" of cultures... more..

VIDEO - Convoy to Erez Checkpoint, and demonstration, January 26th
International Solidarity Movement 1/28/2008
   Gaza RegionVideo On Saturday the 26th of January, a massive convoy of busses and cars from all over the country converged on the disused Erez Crossing terminal at the northern border of theGaza Strip. Up to 2000 Israeli, Palestinian and... more..

Palestinians try to prevent arbitrary arrests in Hebron, are removed by police
International Solidarity Movement 1/28/2008
   Hebron RegionOn Sunday, the 27th of January, at 4:15pm, the Israeli army arrested 6 Palestinian boys, all of them 15 years or younger in the old city of Hebron accusing them of breaking into a house and stealing things... more..

Egyptians gain tighter grip on border with Gaza
Agence France Presse - AFP, Daily Star 1/30/2008
   RAFAH, Egypt: Egypt on Tuesday boosted security around the border town of Rafah and resealed parts of the barrier blasted open a week ago as it tried to control the flow of people in and out of the Gaza Strip... more..

EGYPT-OPT: Hamas, Egyptians cooperate on Gaza border
Martina Fuchs/IRIN, IRIN - UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 1/30/2008
   Young Palestinian men in Egypt carry gas cylinders back over the border to Gaza. Hamas and Eygptian security forces are now cooperating to close Rafah border crossing CAIRO/JERUSALEM,, 29 January 2008 (IRIN) - The Palestinian Islamic group Hamas, which controls... more..

Olmert mulls putting up fence on border with Egypt
Barak Ravid and Avi Issacharoff, Ha’aretz 1/29/2008
   Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is examining the possibility of building afence along the Israel-Egypt border, Israeli sources said Tuesday.Several meetings on the matter have taken place over the last few months, and Olmert wants to expedite the process now that... more..

Israeli sources: "Abbas and Olmert agree to demand Egypt seal Gaza borders"�
Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center 1/29/2008
   Israeli sources reported on Monday that Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, and the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, agreed on Sunday to demand Egypt to seal the breached border with the Gaza Strip. Olmert also said that he objects to any... more..

Egyptian troops start to close the Rafah borders
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 1/29/2008
   Palestinian sources in Gaza conferment that the Egyptian troops started to close the borders between Egypt and the southern coastal city of Rafah on Tuesday.Earlier on Tuesday morning Cairo announced that its troops will complete on Tuesday evening the closing... more..

Hamas helps Egypt to reclose Gaza border
Middle East Online 1/29/2008
   Hamas forces joined Egyptian forces for a second day Monday in trying to restore control at three breaches in the Gaza border, building a chain-link fence to seal off one opening and directing traffic at two others. The number of... more..

Palestinians Clash Over Control of Border
James Hider, MIFTAH 1/29/2008
   The Palestinian Government of Mahmoud Abbas said yesterday that it had reached a deal with Egypt to take control of the Gaza border, which Hamas militants breached with blowtorches and explosives last week, allowing hundreds of thousands of people to... more..

Plan to build security wall around PM’s residence rejected
Ranit Nachum-Halevy, Ha’aretz 1/29/2008
   The Jerusalem District Appeals Committee headed by attorney Gilad Hass has rejected a request by the Prime Minister’s Office to build a 10-meter fence around Olmert’s residence on Balfour Street in Jerusalem, in the heart... more..

Palestine Today 012908
Ghassan Bannoura - Audio Dept, International Middle East Media Center 1/29/2008
   Click on Link to download or play MP3 file || File 3. 67 MB || Time 4m 0s ||Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Centre, www. imemc. org, for Tuesday January 29th, 2008. Egypt starts to... more..

Gazan fuel companies reject drastically reduced fuel supply in protest of Israeli sanctions
Ma’an News Agency 1/29/2008
   Gaza – Ma’an – Chief of the Gaza Strip’s union of fuel companies, Mahmoud Al-Khizindar affirmed on Tuesday that the fuel companies refused to receive the fuel shipment from Israel to the Gaza Strip save the natural gas... more..

The Tragic Political Geography of Fleeing
Rami G. Khouri, Middle East Online 1/28/2008
   BEIRUT - It was not exactly the Red Sea parting to allow a persecuted, enslaved people to flee to safety, but it was pretty close as far as political symbolism goes: Palestinians this week blew holes through the wall on the... more..

Hamas, Egypt cooperate in resealing Gaza border; U.S. peace envoy arrives
Avi Issacharoff and Yuval Azoulay, Ha’aretz 1/28/2008
   Egyptian security forces and Hamas militants strung barbed wire across one of the breaches in the border yesterday, blocking Palestinian traffic between the Gaza Strip and Rafah. It was the first sign that the six-day opening of the Gaza-Sinai frontier... more..

The Great Escape from Gaza
Aijaz Zaka Syed, Palestine Chronicle 1/28/2008
   MR Gorbachev, tear this wall down." Visiting West Berlin and the Wall that separated the West and East Germany, and the West from the Eastern bloc, US president Ronald Reagan looked eastwards and threw that famous challenge at Mikhail Gorbachev... more..

OPT: Gaza border breach fuels anger over food shortages
Will Rasmussen, ReliefWeb 1/28/2008
   RAFAH, Egypt, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Armed Egyptian Bedouin opened fire in the air to warn away Palestinians, highlighting growing anger over food shortages and price rises triggered by the breaching of the border wall with Gaza, witnesses said. The confrontation... more..

VIDEO - Hamas, Egyptians guards work together to reclose border
Ali Waked and AP, YNetNews 1/28/2008
   Video) Security forces, militants string barbed wire fence across one of three breaches in border in latest effort to stem flood of Palestinians across frontier. Meanwhile, EU considers sending monitors back to Gaza border - VIDEO - Egyptian security forces andHamas militants... more..

Gazan exodus to Egypt slows
Agence France-Presse, ReliefWeb 1/28/2008
   RAFAH, Egypt, Jan 28, 2008 (AFP) -A much-reduced flow of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip crossed into Egypt on Monday, six days after militants blew the border wall, an AFP correspondent reported. Several hundred Gazans were seen crossing, mostly on... more..

Health situation in Gaza 24 Jan 2008
World Health Organization, ReliefWeb 1/25/2008
   Yesterday tens of thousands of Palestinians poured into Egypt from Gaza after militants blew up part of the wall between Egypt and Gaza Strip protesting against the Israeli blockade. Gazans burst into the Egyptian border town of Rafah to buy... more..

OPT: Protection of civilians weekly report 09 - 15 Jan 2008
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, ReliefWeb 1/15/2008
   Of note this week Gaza Strip:- 25 Palestinians were killed and 46 were injured in the Gaza strip. The majority of casualties (18 deaths and 30 injuries) occurred in Gaza City during an IDF military operation. - Two Palestinians were injured... more..

Senior Hamas official: ’Third Intifada’ brewing in Gaza
Ma’an News Agency 1/28/2008
   Bethlehem – Ma’an Exclusive – Ahmad Yousef, the political advisor to deposed Palestinian Prime Minister Isma’il Haniyeh on Sunday said the flood of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip into Egypt marked the beginning of a possible third Palestinian... more..

Israel’s Gaza Fiasco
Palestine Chronicle 1/28/2008
   The experiment blew up in their faces," Shlomo Avineri, a political scientist at Hebrew University, told The New York Times on Sunday, January 27." The whole theory of putting pressure on a population to put pressure on their government doesn... more..

Mash’al: Hamas ready to turn over presidential security headquarters to PA
Ma’an News Agency 1/27/2008
   Bethlehem – Ma’an – Hamas is ready to turn over the presidential security headquarters to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, senior Hamas leader Khalid Mash’al told the -based Ash-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper on Sunday.Mash’al, the Damascus-based head of... more..

Abbas to ask Olmert for PA control over Gaza borders
Ma’an News Agency 1/27/2008
   Bethlehem – Ma’an – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is scheduled to meet on Sunday with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in Jerusalem to discuss the issue of the toppled border wall between Egypt and the Gaza Strip.The Israeli newspaper Ha... more..

Hamas leader Zahhar visits Gaza-Egyptian border
Ma’an News Agency 1/27/2008
   Gaza – Ma’an – Senior Hamas leader and former Palestinian Foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahhar visited the Palestinian-Egyptian border on Saturday, expressing his appreciation to the Egyptian police for facilitating the passage of Palestinians into Egypt.Zahhar also stated his apologies for... more..

Cabinet discusses Gaza blockade
Roni Sofer, YNetNews 1/27/2008
   Government debates situation in Gaza Strip, Rafah Crossing. Defense Minister Barak briefs cabinet on IDF’s anti-terror activities; Housing Minister Boim urges cabinet to work for new Israeli-Egyptian cooperation along the border - Sunday’s cabinet meeting revolved, among... more..

Gaza scrambles for supplies as border forced open
Rami Almeghari - Rami aL-Meghari, International Middle East Media Center 1/27/2008
   Three kids, their mother and their aunt hurried towards the Salah al-Din gate in southern Gaza on Wednesday.The mother, in her early thirties, explained in a rush, "We are heading to al-Arish [the Egypt border town] to follow my mom... more..

Sovereignty by stealth: Eyal Weizman’s "Hollow Land"
Ben White, Electronic Intifada 1/24/2008
   Last year, I experienced at first hand Israel’s new-look occupation. Intending to cross into Israel from the northern West Bank, I arrived at the Jalama checkpoint expecting the usual token passport check. Instead, I was told that it... more..

Gazans foil Egyptian moves to close border
Rory McCarthy in Rafah, The Guardian 1/26/2008
   Egyptian soldiers in riot gear deployed water cannon and rolls of barbed wire yesterday as they started to close the Gaza/Egypt border, turning back the thousands of Palestinians who have flooded across. But even as some gaps in the... more..

It’s all about Gaza
MIFTAH, MIFTAH 1/26/2008
   It has been a week full of hardships and surprises, with the most surprising turn of events taking place on January 23 when hoards of angry and besieged Gazans tore down the Rafah barrier between themselves and Egypt. Armed Palestinians... more..

Mubarak under pressure
Ian Black, The Guardian 1/26/2008
   It has been an uncomfortable few days for President Husni Mubarak, watching anxiously as the crisis in Gaza spilled over onto his territory, focusing intense and unwelcome attention - both at home and abroad - on Egypt’s role in the... more..

Umm al-Fahm turns out lights, Israelis rally against Gaza siege
Jack Khoury and Mijal Grinbergs, Ha’aretz 1/27/2008
   The Israeli-Arab town of Umm al-Fahm shut off its electricity for one hour on Saturday night in an intentional blackout, and a torch-lit march was held in solidarity with the residents of the Gaza Strip to protest an Israeli blockade... more..

MIDEAST: Egypt Welcomes Border Breach
Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani, Inter Press Service 1/26/2008
   CAIRO, Jan 26(IPS) - Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians flocked into the Sinai Peninsula last week after the border fence separating Egypt from the Gaza Strip was partially destroyed by a series of explosions. In a direct challenge to the... more..

Analysis: Gaza Border Breach Shows Israel that Hamas is in Charge
Amos Harel, MIFTAH 1/26/2008
   A few Israel Defense Forces Engineering Corps officers surely shed a tear yesterday while viewing the television reports from Rafah: The barrier built by the IDF with blood and sweat along the Philadelphi Route, on the Gaza Strip border with... more..

Hamas Challenges Egypt’s Bid to Close Gaza Border
Nidal Al-mughrabi, MIFTAH 1/26/2008
   Egypt started to close its breached border with the Gaza Strip on Friday but Palestinian militants bulldozed a new opening in a challenge to Cairo and Israel’s blockade of the Hamas-run territory. Palestinian crowds cheered as Hamas militants... more..

Israel Sees Upside in Hole in Gaza Wall
Ilene Prusher, MIFTAH 1/26/2008
   When Palestinians toppled a metal wall separating the Gaza Strip from Egypt Wednesday, many expected Israeli officials to howl over Egypt allowing Hamas "terrorists" to rearm. After all, a cornerstone of the current peace process was supposed to be isolating... more..

Israel Torn Over Relationship with Gaza
Martin Patience, MIFTAH 1/26/2008
   Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert delivered a keynote speech on Wednesday night presenting himself as an experienced leader in difficult times. But notably absent was any mention of the tens of thousands of Palestinians crossing from Gaza into Egypt after... more..

As Egypt seals the borders, Palestinians opens it again to get supplies
Ghassan Bannoura & Ageinces, International Middle East Media Center 1/26/2008
   On Friday late a night the Palestinian resistance and civilians living in Gaza breached a section of the iron wall surrounding the Gaza Strip after Egyptian troops closed a previous breach in the wall on Friday afternoon. Last Wednesday at... more..

Tens of Thousands more from Gaza Enter Egypt Seeking Consumer Goods
Steven Erlanger, MIFTAH 1/26/2008
   Tens of thousands more Palestinians flooded across the breached border crossing from Gaza into Egypt on Thursday, and Egyptian merchants greeted them with a cornucopia of consumer goods and higher prices than on Wednesday, when Hamas militants toppled large sections... more..

Egypt Seals Borders, Gazans Defiant
Palestine Chronicle 1/25/2008
   RAFAH — Egypt tried Friday, January 25, to seal its porous borders with the Gaza Strip to stem a three-day uncontrolled flood of Palestinians from the fenced-off territory, but Palestinians defied the move and ploughed new border breaches to stock... more..

Worse than a War Crime
Uri Avnery, Palestine Chronicle 1/25/2008
   It looked like the fall of the Berlin wall. And not only did it look like it. For a moment, the Rafah crossing was the Brandenburg Gate.It is impossible not to feel exhilaration when masses of oppressed and hungry people... more..

Gaza scrambles for supplies as border forced open
Rami Almeghari writing from Rafah, occupied Gaza Strip, Electronic Intifada 1/25/2008
   Three kids, their mother and their aunt hurried towards the Salah al-Din gate in southern Gaza on Wednesday. The mother, in her early thirties, explained in a rush, "We are heading to al-Arish [the Egypt border town] to follow my... more..

Down goes the wall
Laila El-Haddad writing from the United States, Electronic Intifada 1/25/2008
   Last night I received a text message from my dear friend Fida: "It’s coming down -- it’s coming down!" she declared ecstatically. "Laila! The Palestinians destroyed [the] Rafah wall, all of it. All of it not part... more..

Egyptian troops unable to push back Palestinians
Rory McCarthy in Rafah, The Guardian 1/25/2008
   Egyptian soldiers in riot gear using water cannon and rolls of barbed wire were unable to stop hundreds of Palestinians from rushing into Egypt today after a bulldozer tore down another section of the border fence. Although Egyptian forces closed... more..

Palestinian bulldozer overruns Gaza-Egypt border
Ma’an News Agency 1/25/2008
   Gaza – Ma’an – A Palestinian bulldozer overran a barbed wire fence and demolished parts of the wall separating the Gaza Strip and Egypt on Friday afternoon.At the same time, Egyptian security forces amassed on the border and fired warning... more..

Hebrew and Palestinian history, in reverse
Rami G. Khouri, Daily Star 1/26/2008
   It was not exactly the Red Sea parting to allow a persecuted, enslaved people to flee to safety, but it was pretty close as far as political symbolism goes. Palestinians this week blew holes through the wall on the Egyptian-Palestinian... more..

Hamas Al-Qassam Brigades deny bulldozing through Egypt-Gaza border fence
Ma’an News Agency 1/25/2008
   Bethlehem – Ma’an – The spokesman for the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, denied the Brigades were responsible for breaking through the Gaza-Egyptian border wall with a bulldozer on Friday afternoon.Earlier on Friday a Palestinian bulldozer overran a... more..

The Israeli army attacks a non-violent protest near Bethlehem
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 1/25/2008
   On Friday midday the villagers of Al Khader village located near the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem protested today against the illegal Israeli wall being built on the villagers lands.Around 200 villagers along with international and Israeli supporters gathered... more..

Eight injured and four kidnapped in the weekly Bil’in anti-wall protest
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 1/25/2008
   The villagers of Bil’in, located near Ramallah city in the central part of the West Bank, along with their international and Israeli supporters conducted their weekly nonviolent protest against the illegal Israeli wall on Friday.The main theme of... more..

11 injured in anti-separation wall demonstration near Bethlehem
Ma’an News Agency 1/25/2008
   Bethlehem - Ma’an – Eleven people were injured in a demonstration against the Israeli separation wall in the village of Al-Khader, south of Bethlehem on Friday.The proposed route of the wall will appropriate more than 20,000 dunoms (200,000 square metres...

Israeli air strike kills four Hamas members
Middle East Online 1/25/2008
   GAZA CITY - An Israeli air strike killed the Hamas military commander for the Gaza-Egypt border town of Rafah early on Friday, medical sources said.Mohammed Harb was killed along with one of his lieutenants when an Israeli missile struck their car... more..

This Week In Palestine - week 4 2008
Ghassan Bannoura - Audio Dept, International Middle East Media Center 1/25/2008
   Click on Link to download or play MP3 file|| File 12. 8 MB || Time 14m 0s || This Week In Palestine, a service of the International Middle East Media Center, www. IMEMC. org, for January 13th through to January 25th, 2008... more..

OPT: Gazans scramble to Egypt in last-minute supply rush
Will Rasmussen, ReliefWeb 1/25/2008
   RAFAH, Egypt, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Cranes lifted camels, cows and motorcycles into the Gaza Strip from Egypt on Friday as thousands of Palestinians scrambled to buy supplies in fear that breaches blown in the border would soon be sealed. Gazan... more..

Palestinians savor open Gaza border
Jim Teeple, Voice of America, ReliefWeb 1/24/2008
   Gaza, 24 January 2008 -Palestinians by the thousands continue to pour across the now open border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt - shopping, visiting relatives and enjoying their new-found freedom of movement. VOA’s Jim Teeple reports from Gaza... more..

OPT: Israel sees upside in hole in Gaza wall
Ilene R. Prusher, The Christian Science Monitor, ReliefWeb 1/25/2008
   Israeli officials see opportunity to turn Gaza over to Egypt to provide services. Jerusalem -When Palestinians toppled a metal wall separating the Gaza Strip from Egypt Wednesday, many expected Israeli officials to howl over Egypt allowing Hamas "terrorists" to rearm... more..

Egypt begins closing Gaza border, fueling tensions
Nidal al-Mughrabi, ReliefWeb 1/25/2008
   RAFAH, Gaza Strip, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Egypt began closing its breached border with the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip on Friday, using barbed wire and water cannons to keep Palestinians from crossing into Egypt in defiance of an Israeli blockade. Israeli air... more..

Egypt moves to control Gaza
Associated Press, YNetNews 1/25/2008
   Border guards form human chain, block movement of Palestinians into Egypt with riot shields; Hamas gunmen on Gaza side of the border check people’s bags and packages for weapons, drugs as they re-entered Strip. IDF raises alert level... more..

Gaza border remains breached
Associated Press, YNetNews 1/25/2008
   Ultimatum set by Egyptians to Gazans - to return to Strip by 7 pm - expires, but tens of thousands of Palestinians are still in Egypt. Earlier, Hamas militants knock over another section in border, allowing even more people to pour into... more..

Obeida: Palestinians won’t try to break through Gaza-Israel fence
JPOST.COM STAFF, Jerusalem Post 1/26/2008
   Palestinians will not try to breach the fence between Israel and the Gaza Strip, Hamas spokesman Abu Obeida said on Friday after thousands of Palestinians broke through a section of the fence between Egypt and Gaza. According to Israel Radio...

Breaking out
Al-Ahram Weekly 1/24/2008
   As ordinary Palestinians force their way into Egypt from besieged Gaza, the Israeli-instigated humanitarian and political crisis is carried with themClick to view caption Thousands of Palestinians crossed the Rafah border on foot into Egypt, as a mule-powered cart transports... more..

Egypt moves to stem tide of Palestinians breaching border
Allegra Stratton and agencies, The Guardian 1/24/2008
   Egyptian riot police attempted to reseal the country’s border with Gaza today as Palestinians continued to pour through a smashed wall into north Africa. Armoured vehicles flying the Egyptian national flag began patrolling the border and police used... more..

POWER TO THE (PALESTINIAN) PEOPLE!
Jeff Halper, International Solidarity Movement 1/23/2008
   The people of Palestine have done it again, taking their own fate in their hands after being let down by their own "moderate" political leadership and, indeed, the entire international community in their struggle for freedom. Early this morning they... more..

Gazans flock into Egypt; claim prices doubled in Egyptian border towns
Ma’an News Agency 1/24/2008
   Gaza – Ma’an – For the second day in row, Palestinians crossed from the Gaza Strip into Egypt through the toppled border fence at Rafah to stock up on basic supplies.Egyptian security forces stood and watched on Wednesday as tens... more..

Gazans pour into Egypt for second day
Middle East Online 1/24/2008
   RAFAH, Gaza Strip - Palestinians thronged out of Gaza into Egypt for a second consecutive day on Thursday to stock up on supplies after militants blew open the border of the Hamas-run territory.The area where several border walls stood in the... more..

Gazans pour into Egypt for second day
Mehdi Lebouachera, ReliefWeb 1/24/2008
   RAFAH, Gaza Strip, Jan 24, 2008 (AFP) - Palestinians thronged out of Gaza into Egypt for a second consecutive day on Thursday to stock up on supplies after militants blew open the border of the Hamas-run territory. The area where several... more..

Gazans continue to flow into Egypt, Israel says siege continues, Egypt sends troops
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 1/24/2008
   As thousands of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip continued to flow into Egypt through the southern Gaza strip city of Rafah border wall, the Israeli government announced that it will continue the siege on the Coastal region.On Wednesday at dawn... more..

VIDEO - Rafah: the breach in the wall is an act of freedom and a strong warning to the EU, the Quartet and Egypt
International Solidarity Movement 1/23/2008
   Gaza RegionVideo By Luisa Morgantini, Vice-President of the European ParliamentBrussels, 23rd January 2008, "The thousands of Palestinians crossing the Rafah border point these last hours, the breach in the wall and the breaking of the siege decided by Israel against... more..

Gaza in crisis - Dispatches from CRS field staff
Catholic Relief Services, ReliefWeb 1/23/2008
   As thousands of Palestinians stream from Gaza into Egypt following cutoffs in fuel and supplies, CRS staffers in the troubled region have contacted us with their stories of life during the blockade. One CRS project officer lives in Rafah, about... more..

Border breach could let Israel cut Gaza link, say officials
Rory McCarthy in Rafah, The Guardian 1/25/2008
   Israeli officials yesterday suggested the newly open border between Gaza and Egypt offered a chance of Israel completely severing its ties with the small strip of crowded Palestinian land. The deputy defence minister, Matan Vilnai, said the rush of Palestinians... more..

ANALYSIS: Gaza border breach shows Israel that Hamas is in charge
Avi Issacharoff and Amos Harels, Ha’aretz 1/25/2008
   A few Israel Defense Forces Engineering Corps officers surely shed a tear yesterday while viewing the television reports from Rafah: The barrier built by the IDF with blood and sweat along the Philadelphi Route, on the Gaza Strip border with... more..

Egypt rejects idea of Israel waiving responsibility for Gaza
Yoav Stern and Avi Issacharoffs, Haaretz Service and News Agencies, Ha’aretz 1/25/2008
   The current situation is only an exception and for temporary reasons, Zaki said. "The border will go back to normal." Meanwhile, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Thursday called on Gazans not to clash with Egyptian security forces guarding the border... more..

Olmert, Abbas set to meet in Jerusalem, discuss Gaza crisis Sunday
Barak Ravid, Ha’aretz 1/25/2008
   Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas are set to meet Sunday in Jerusalem to discuss the situation in the Gaza Strip following a breach in the barrier separating Gaza from Egypt.The residents of the coastal strip, impoverished... more..

Olmert, Abbas to met Sunday
Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center 1/25/2008
   Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, and the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, are scheduled to meet on Sunday in Jerusalem in order to discuss the conditions in the Gaza Strip.Well informed sources said that the main issue to be discussed in... more..

Egypt knew of Hamas intentions to blow up Rafah border wall
Ma’an News Agency 1/24/2008
   Bethlehem – Ma’an – Hamas had earlier informed Egypt of its intentions to blow through the border wall between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, the Israeli daily newspaper Maariv claimed on Thursday.Tens of thousands of Palestinians crossed the border into... more..

US will continue to be leading financial supporter of UNRWA
Ma’an News Agency 1/24/2008
   Bethlehem – Ma’an – The US will continue to be the leading financial supporter of UNRWA, Nicholas Burns, envoy to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Thursday."I think all members of the UN have a responsibility to... more..

Analysis: In the wake of Rafah, all eyes on West Bank separation wall
Ma’an News Agency 1/24/2008
   Bethlehem – Ma’an – When journalists used to ask late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat about former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s separation wall, he used to answer without hesitation, "Sharon is repeating the experience of the Berlin Wall... more..

New spins on an old story
Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff, Ha’aretz 1/24/2008
   Here is the rumor that was whispered this week, even before the Palestinian masses broke through the border fence in Rafah: The Israel Defense Forces will soon embark on a broad ground operation in the Gaza Strip, and thus finally... more..

Gazans break Israeli siege, stock up in Egypt
Daily Star 1/24/2008
   Tens of thousands of Palestinians poured into Egypt from the Gaza Strip on Wednesday after militants blew up a border wall, stocking up on food and fuel in short supply because of a crippling Israeli blockade. Meanwhile at the United... more..

Economic Warfare in Gaza
Yossi Wolfson, Palestine Chronicle 1/23/2008
   Israel is saying at last what, in the past, it always refused to acknowledge: its war is against the Palestinian population.Until now, in discussions about the separation wall, closures, blockades, house demolition, and other sorts of collective punishment, the State... more..

A day at the breach/Hamas planned blast for months
Amira Hass, Ha’aretz 1/24/2008
   Hamas operatives had been sawing away the foundations of the wall between Egyptian and Palestinian Rafah for a few months to make it easier to blow it up when the time came, a source close to the Popular Resistance Committees... more..

Palestinians force open parts of border with Egypt
Report, The Electronic Intifada, Electronic Intifada 1/23/2008
   GAZA/JERUSALEM, 23 January (IRIN) - In the early morning of 23 January Palestinian militants blew up sections of the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, effectively allowing tens of thousands of Palestinians to freely leave or enter the enclave... more..

After a one day respite on Tuesday, Israel resumes fuel blockade of Gaza strip
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 1/23/2008
   Israeli sources announced on Wednesday that the Israeli army had stopped all fuel and food supplies shipments from interring the Gaza strip on Wednesday.The Israeli government said that its decision comes as a response to the Palestinian resistance destroying the... more..

Blockaded Gazans pour into Egypt
Al Jazeera 1/23/2008
   Palestinians have poured into the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing through holes blown by explosions along the border wall between the Gaza Strip and Egypt.The scenes came on the sixth day of a blockade of Gaza, imposed by Israel... more..

Thousands cross Rafah borders; Hamas says it’s the decision of the people
Nisreen Qumsieh & Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 1/23/2008
   Thousands of Palestinians residents of the Gaza strip managed to cross into Egypt in the early hours of Wednesday after the Palestinian resistance destroyed part of the Wall located on the southern Gaza Egypt borders. Eyewitnesses reported that streets throughout... more..

Palestinians flood into Egypt after Gaza wall blasts
Middle East Online 1/23/2008
   RAFAH, Gaza Strip - Tens of thousands of Gazans poured into Egypt on Wednesday to stock up on goods in the face of an Israeli blockade, after militants blew up parts of the fence that marks the border.Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak... more..

Gaza: Exodus Into Egypt
Palestine Chronicle 1/23/2008
   Thousands of Palestinians have crossed into Egypt through the holes created by the explosions on the border," an Egyptian security source told Agence France-Presse (AFP)." They are heading to Rafah City on foot, where they are stocking up on food... more..

Palestinian Centre for Human Rights and Al-Dameer Association for Human Rights call upon Israel, Egypt and the international community to resolve the crisis at the Rafah border crossing
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, ReliefWeb 1/23/2008
   At approximately 02:00 on Wednesday January 23rd, a group of Palestinians detonated explosives in order to destroy sections the wall lying between the southern Gaza Strip Rafah border with Egypt. Several hours later, thousands of Palestinians poured over the... more..

VIDEO - Hundreds of thousands cross into Egypt from Gaza
Ali Waked, YNetNews 1/23/2008
   VIDEO) Palestinian gunmen set off several explosive devices along concrete wall dividing Palestinian and Egyptian Rafah. Some 350,000 Gazans flock to Sinai, fleeing siege imposed on Strip by Israel; food and equipment begin pouring into Strip. Mubarak: They were starving... more..

Egypt Comforts Gazans
Palestine Chronicle 1/23/2008
   RAFAH — Egyptians opened their homes and shops to solace Palestinians who came in their thousands from the Gaza Strip seeking food supplies." We have been packing up packages of foodstuffs for days waiting for this moment," Abdul-Rahman Al-Shurbaji told... more..

’Flour? Terrorists crossing through Rafah’
Hanan Greenberg, YNetNews 1/23/2008
   Defense establishment follows events at Egypt-Gaza crossing with concern: ’The free passage of Palestinians into Egypt and back, without any supervision, significantly increases the threat coming from the Strip’ - IDF officials on Wednesday described the situation at the... more..

US, Israel ’concerned’ over Palestinians pouring into Egypt from Gaza
Ynet, YNetNews 1/23/2008
   State Department voices unease over situation on Rafah crossing while Israel says it holds Egypt responsible for upholding order. PA demands Gaza borders be ’officially opened’ - The United States expressed concern Wednesday about the tens of thousands of... more..

ISRAEL-OPT: Militants force open parts of border with Egypt
Google Maps, IRIN - UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 1/24/2008
   GAZA/JERUSALEM, 23 January 2008 (IRIN) - In the early morning of 23 January Palestinian militants blew up sections of the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, effectively allowing tens of thousands of Palestinians to freely leave or enter the... more..

At Gaza border with Egypt, masses make reverse exodus into Sinai
Avi Issacharoff, Ha’aretz 1/24/2008
   It took seconds for the rumor to travel across the Gaza Strip: The border with Egypt is no more. It began with a series of blasts across Rafah that rang out at around dawn. Hamas’ military wing, Iz al-Din... more..

IDF kills gunman in Gaza as Palestinians return from Sinai
Ali Waked, YNetNews 1/23/2008
   Palestinian movement into Egypt slows; Egyptians say not planning to reseal border with Gaza anytime soon. IDF continues operations in Strip - IDF forces killed an armed Palestinian militant as he was attempting to launch an anti-tank rocket at the troops... more..

PM: Gazans can’t expect normal lives while rockets hit Israel
News Agencies, Ha’aretz 1/24/2008
   Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Wednesday he would not allow a humanitarian crisis to develop in the Gaza Strip but its residents could not expect to lead normal lives while rockets hit Israel. Olmert spoke at the annual Herzliya Conference... more..

Factbox - Key facts about the Gaza Strip
Reuters Foundation, ReliefWeb 1/23/2008
   Jan 23 (Reuters) -Palestinian militants blew up part of the wall between Gaza and Egypt on Wednesday, and tens of thousands of Palestinians streamed into Egypt to stock up on food and fuel in short supply due to an Israeli... more..

OPT: Stench wafts through Gaza as sewage system falters
Rebecca Harrison, ReliefWeb 1/22/2008
   GAZA, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Yussef Al-Jayar jolted awake this week when gallons of raw sewage spewed out of the pumping station next door and started to seep under his door and into his mattress. "We had to grab buckets and... more..

Jenin, Jenin
Gideon Levy, MIFTAH 1/21/2008
   It’s cold in the alleys of the Jenin refugee camp; it’s even colder indoors. Cold that is absorbed between the thin walls at night is trapped in the unheated, frozen spaces, even when the sun rises... more..

This Time Next Year?
Daoud Kuttab, MIFTAH 1/21/2008
   President George Bush, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert have committed themselves to give the world a new year’s gift in 2009: an independent state of Palestine. After decades of war and homelessness, oppression... more..

Italian agricultural delegation tours Jenin
Ma’an News Agency 1/22/2008
   Ramallah – Ma’an – An Italian delegation from the Italian Solidarity Foundation for agricultural relief visited Jenin, in the northern West Bank, this week.The delegation, from the province of Modena, was received by Dr Samer Al-Ahmed, Director of Agricultural Relief... more..

Israeli film Beaufort nominated for Oscar for Best Foreign Film
Assaf Uni, The Associated Press and Haaretz Staff, Ha’aretz 1/23/2008
   Beaufort," an Israeli film describing events at an army post in the run-up to Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000, has been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Film.The movie is based on the book... more..

Economic warfare in Gaza
Yossi Wolfson, Electronic Intifada 1/21/2008
   No more lies or twisted tongues. Israel is saying at last what, in the past, it always refused to acknowledge: its war is against the Palestinian population. Until now, in discussions about the separation wall, closures, blockades, house demolition, and... more..

Tel Aviv resists the global trend with only 3% losses
Nathan Sheva, Ha’aretz 1/22/2008
   Fears of a recession shocked markets all over the world, but Tel Aviv stocks weathered the storm much better than most with losses in "only" the 3% range.European markets saw over $300 billion in value disappear as investors were worried... more..

Farmer arrested in continuing harrasment of villagers of Bil’in
International Solidarity Movement 1/20/2008
   Bil’in Village Over 2 years ago the people of Bilin have established an "outpost" on their land, on the west side of the current rout of the wall. The point was to establish their presence on the ground... more..

Scores protest the illegal Israeli Wall near Bethlehem
Al-Khader- Bethlehem, International Solidarity Movement 1/19/2008
   Bethlehem Region About 200 Palestinians and their international and Israeli supporters protested the illegal Israeli Wall being built on the lands of Al Khader village south of Bethlehem city in the southern part of the West Bank.The protest started with... more..

Barak proposes security fence along Israel-Egypt border to fight infiltrations
Roni Sofer, YNetNews 1/20/2008
   Defense minister suggests tackling infiltrators by building special security fence along Israeli-Egyptian border, amending outdated laws. Amendment to address administrative, criminal aspects, offer humanitarian guidelines - Defense Minister Ehud Barak proposed Sunday to build a new security fence along theIsrael Egyptborder... more..

Palestinians Need Action, not Words
Daoud Kuttab, Middle East Online 1/19/2008
   Daoud Kuttab argues that the commitment to a solution of the Palestine-Israel conflict made during President Bush’s visit to the Middle East will be meaningless unless Palestinians see a true reversal of Israel’s 40-year-old occupation, starting... more..