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Israel
Raids Gaza Refugee Camp, Kills Three Palestinians
Islam Online, January 7, 2003
GAZA CITY, January 7 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Israeli
occupation troops killed two Palestinians during an incursion early
Tuesday, January 7, into the Maghazi refugee camp in the central
Gaza Strip, bringing the overnight total to three deaths, Palestinian
officials said.
Blair
enters Israel ban row
BBC, January 7, 2003
Blair's letter tells Sharon of the talks' importance -- UK Prime
Minister Tony Blair has written to his Israeli counterpart about
the ban on Palestinian officials attending talks in London. Downing
Street said Mr Blair was explaining the importance of the talks
in his letter to Ariel Sharon.
PM
aides admit Sharon got $1.5m from S. African businessman
Ha'aretz, January 7, 2003
Following allegations of financial improprieties by Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon and his two sons, which were reported in Ha'aretz,
advisers to Sharon conceded Tuesday that the prime minister had
received $1.5 million from a South African businessman, but denied
any connection to criminal activity.
Israel
tightens curbs on Palestinians
BBC, January 7, 2003
Palestinians' freedom to move has been curtailed -- Israel has tightened
restrictions on Palestinian civilians and officials moving around
the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
Row
flares between Israel, UK
Arab News, January 7, 2003
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — A diplomatic row broke out between Israel
and Britain yesterday over an Israeli decision to bar Palestinians
from attending talks on Middle East peace after suicide bombers
killed 22 people in Tel Aviv.
Al-Aqsa
Offshoot Claims Tel Aviv Blasts
Bradenton Herald, January 7, 2003
NABLUS, West Bank - The latest attack in Tel Aviv was carried out
by an Iranian-funded breakaway faction of the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade,
a militia linked to Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, a spokesman
for the group said Monday. The faction consists of only several
dozen armed men determined to continue attacks on Israeli civilians,
said the spokesman, who spoke to The Associated Press by telephone
and insisted on anonymity for fear of Israeli reprisal. Iran denied
that it is funding Palestinian militants.
Weissglass:
US aid likely to be faster than usual
Globes, January 7, 2003
Marani: Americans have not placed restrictions on aid so far becuase
we've made all the right moves. -- “Approval of the US loan
guarantees is likely to be faster than usual, thanks to the administration’s
great understanding of Israel’s economic distress caused by
the security situation and war against terrorism,” Prime Minister's
Bureau director Dov Weissglass told “Globes” today.
Court
winds up hearing petition against disqualifications
Ha'aretz, January 7, 2003
A full panel of 11 Supreme Court judges heard appeals Tuesday brought
by several potential Knesset candidates regarding their disqualification
from the elections race. The judges are expected to hand down their
rulings Thursday.
British
prime minister urges 'broader agenda' on United States
Ottawa Citizen, January 7, 2003
LONDON (AP) - Britain should use its alliance with the United States
to urge Washington to "broaden its agenda" to include Middle East
peace and other issues, Prime Minister Tony Blair said Tuesday.
Al-Jazeera
correspondent in Gaza freed
Reporters Without Borders, January 7, 2003
The Gaza correspondent of Al-Jazeera, Saifeddin Shahin, was freed
late on 6 January after being held for 18 hours in an effort to
make him reveal the true identity of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade
militant he talked to by phone on 5 January, simultanously broadcasting
the conversation.
Palestinians:
IDF takes over West Bank home of detainee
Ha'aretz, January 7, 2003
The IDF took over the West Bank family home of a Palestinian man
who has been detained in Israel for a year and a half, Palestinian
sources said Tuesday.
Israel
formally requests U.S. aid
Ha'aretz, January 7, 2003
The Israeli delegation last night submitted a formal request for
special U.S. aid, which includes $4 billion in military aid and
$8 billion in loan guarantees.
Israeli
Tanks, Helicopters Raid Gaza Strip
Palestine Chronicle, January 7, 2003
"Helicopter gunships fired on the town's refugee camp as some 20
tanks moved in and troops blew up a house belonging to a member
of the Islamic Jihad movement .." -- GAZA CITY - Two Israeli armored
columns backed by helicopters launched raids into the southern Gaza
Strip city of Rafah in which ten Palestinians were wounded, Palestinian
security and hospital sources said.
PA
says Tel Aviv attack serves Sharon interests; U.K.: Israel likely
not to change decision on London conference
Al-Bawaba, January 6, 2003
In response to the Tel Aviv bombings, Israel barred a Palestinian
delegation from attending a Mideast conference in London and decided
to close three Palestinian universities Monday.
Mofaz
warns Hizbullah not to attack Israel
Al-Bawaba, January 6, 2003
Israel's Minister of Defense, Shaul Mofaz, Monday warned Hizbullah
not to use the US-led war in Iraq as an opportunity to attack Israel,
Israel Radio reported.
3
Palestinian Gunmen Killed in Firefight
New York Times, January 7, 2003
GAZA, Gaza Strip (AP) -- Israeli troops exchanged fire with Palestinian
militiamen for four hours early Tuesday, killing three gunmen before
withdrawing from the outskirts of a refugee camp, witnesses said.
Israel
kills four Palestinians in Gaza Strip; Houses destroyed in Nablus
area
Al-Bawaba, January 7, 2003
Israeli forces killed four armed Palestinians in a refugee camp
in the central Gaza Strip early Tuesday morning, Palestinian sources
reported.
Fatah
denies link with Tel Aviv bombing attacks
Xinhuanet, January 7, 2003
GAZA, Jan. 6 (Xinhuanet) -- The Palestinian mainstream Fatah movement
chaired by Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat denied on Monday any
link with the deadly twin suicide bombing attack in Tel Aviv on
Sunday that killed 23 people.
Four
Palestinians killed in Israeli troops raids on central Gaza
Xinhuanet, January 7, 2003
GAZA, Jan. 7 (Xinhuanet) -- Israeli Border Police and army troops
backed by tanks and helicopters raided the refugee camp of Al Maghazi
in central Gaza Strip at predawn on Tuesday, killing four Palestinian
militants. Witnesses said that the Israeli soldiers entered the
refugee camp under the protection of tanks and helicopters, and
began to open fire at the residential area and at anything moving
in the darkness.
Blair
asks PM to allow PA delegation to attend London meet
Ha'aretz, January 7, 2003
British Prime Minister Tony Blair appealed to Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon following Israel's decision to block the departure of a Palestinian
contingent to an international conference on Palestinian Authority
reform scheduled for next week in London.
Israel,
UK row over ban on London conference
Ha'aretz, January 7, 2003
Responding to Sunday evening's lethal terror strike in Tel Aviv,
Israel decided to block the departure of a Palestinian contingent
to an international conference on Palestinian Authority reform scheduled
for next week in London. The decision, part of a "basket of responses"
approved by a ministerial team headed by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon
after the terror attack, has sparked a diplomatic clash between
Israel and Britain.
Palestinians
Barred From Attending London Conference
Washington Post, January 7, 2003
LONDON, Jan. 6 -- Israel today scuttled Prime Minister Tony Blair's
personal campaign to revitalize the Middle East peace process, responding
to Sunday's suicide bombings in Tel Aviv by barring Palestinians
from attending international talks Blair had planned to host here
next week. The Israeli foreign minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, pulled
the plug on the talks in the most public of fashions: releasing
the transcript of an acerbic telephone conversation with the British
foreign secretary, Jack Straw, then going on BBC Radio7 to condemn
the proposed talks as "a sham."
Russian
specialist: Tehran can't use nuclear plant to produce enriched uranium
Al-Bawaba, January 7, 2003
Iran can not use a nuclear energy plant, built with Russian assistance
in southern Bushehr, to produce enriched uranium, Itar-Tass on Monday
cited a Russian expert as saying in Moscow.
Arms
wrestling
Globes, January 7, 2003
Israel’s arms industry needs more muscle to vie with the US.
-- The cancellation of the Elisra Electronic Systems is a crude
example of how the United States is willing to employ any means
to prevent Israel’s aerospace industry from upsetting its
US counterpart’s hegemony in the global market.
Legal
foreign workforce in Israel up 6,800 to 89,400 in Q3 2002
Globes, January 7, 2003
The number of permits for foreign agricultural workers jumped when
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon also took on the job of Minister of
Labor and Social Affairs, after previously plunging.
Apartment
construction in territories down 71% in January-October
Globes, January 7, 2003
Apartment inventory in the territories fell 61%. -- New apartment
construction in the territories has almost come to a complete halt,
due to the security situation.
Labor
looks to exploit police probe on Sharon family
Ha'aretz, January 7, 2003
Amram Mitzna: Sharon must explain or resign. -- The Labor Party's
campaign staff Tuesday discussed the possible implications of the
report published by Ha'aretz regarding a police investigation into
alleged improprieties surrounding a $1.5 million loan received by
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's sons from a South African friend of
the family.
"Reports
of loans to Sharon's sons - attempt to seize power"
Globes, January 7, 2003
Likud media advisor Eyal Arad: The report originated in an organized
campaign by the prime minister's opponents. -- “The Attorney
General should open an investigation to find the leaks," Likud media
advisor Eyal Arad said this evening at a press conference called
to counter reports by Hebrew daily “Ha’aretz”
that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s son, Gilad, had received
money to repay debts to straw company Annex, which contributed to
Sharon’s campaign for prime minister in 1999.
Report:
Israeli police investigate why Sharon got $1.5 million from South
African businessman
Al-Bawaba, January 7, 2003
The Israeli State Attorney's office has asked the South African
Justice Ministry for help in an investigation of how and why Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon received $1.5 million from a South African
citizen, the Tel Aviv-based Haaretz daily reported on Tuesday.
Sharon,
King of Israel”: Likud’s Campaign Slogan
Islam Online, January 7, 2003
CAIRO, January 7 (IslamOnline) – The Israeli right-wing party,
Likud, has decided to focus its election program on insisting that
Jerusalem be the capital of Israel.
Background:
Broadcast campaign ads mirror anguished Israel
Ha'aretz, January 7, 2003
Three weeks before Israelis go to the polls, the election campaign
revved into high gear Tuesday, as the first of its closely-watched
party broadcast commercials were aired, the disparate messages forming
a mosaic of past symbols, a clouded future and the struggle to overcome
an anguished present.
Background:
When silence is not golden
Ha'aretz, January 7, 2003
The State Comptroller's report of September 2001 emphasized that
Omri Sharon refused to answer the comptroller's questions regarding
Annex Ltd. and corporations that paid money to it.
PM,
Shalom to cut all ministry budgets except defense Ministry
Ha'aretz, January 7, 2003
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Finance Minister Silvan Shalom decided
Tuesday to reduce all ministry budgets by 2.5 percent, with the
exception of the Defense Ministry.
Hezbollah
leader: Kidnapped Israeli is alive
Ha'aretz, January 7, 2003
Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, head of the Hezbollah, said yesterday that
Elhanan Tannenbaum, the businessman kidnapped by the Shi'ite organization
in October 2000, was alive.
Hear
Palestine, January 7, 2003
NEWS: Qalqilya: Occupation Bulldozers Level Agricultural Land /
Ramallah: Occupation Demolishes 4 Homes in Qalandya for "Isolation
Wall" / Jenin: Invasions and Arrests in Refugee Camp and Villages
/ Bethlehem: Occupation Escalates Military Measures / Nablus: 2
Homes Demolished, Wide-Scale Searches and Arrests / Hebron: Occupation
Army Shells al-Fawar Refugee Camp FEATURES: Occupation Demolishes
140 Homes since Beginning of Intifada / 'Salem': Inhumane Oppressive
Measures Practiced against Detainees
Blair
pleads with Israel to save summit
The Guardian, January 7, 2003
Prime minister Tony Blair has today written to his Israeli counterpart
Ariel Sharon, urging him to allow Palestinian leaders to attend
No 10 summit next week.
Palestinians
barred from Blair's peace summit
The Independent, January 7, 2003
Tony Blair may be forced to cancel a London conference on the stalled
Middle East peace process next week after Israel barred Palestinian
delegates from attending.
Analysis:
PA's chance to reap diplomatic dividends
Ha'aretz, January 7, 2003
Palestinian leaders were surprised yesterday by punitive diplomatic
steps taken by Israel, particularly the decision to stop Palestinian
officials from taking part in a conference on reforms in the Palestinian
Authority organized by British Prime Minister Tony Blair for mid-January.
Analysis:
How to hit back without hurting U.S.
Ha'aretz, January 7, 2003
The Tel Aviv terror attack left a vexing dilemma for Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon and his colleagues in the security-political cabinet.
How might they respond forcibly, without rupturing sensitive understandings
that have been forged with the American government?
IDF
nabs operations chief of Tel Aviv double bombing
Ha'aretz, January 7, 2003
The Israel Defense Forces yesterday arrested a senior officer in
the military wing of Fatah, Hazam Awad, believing him to have been
the "operations officer" for the terrorist cell that on Sunday sent
two Nablus youths on a suicide bombing mission in Tel Aviv, leaving
22 people dead.
More
than NIS 1 billion to be allocated to Negev Bedouin plan
Ha'aretz, January 7, 2003
A five-year plan for Bedouin in the Negev that includes investments
of NIS 1.175 billion will be submitted for government approval in
the coming weeks.
Jewish
population of Jerusalem shrinking
Ha'aretz, January 7, 2003
About 40 percent of children up to the age of four in Jerusalem
are Palestinians, and 41 out of 100 births in the capital are to
Palestinan mothers. Annual birth rates in Jerusalem's Palestinian
sector are much higher than rates in the Jewish population: 31 births
per 1,000 people in the Arab population, versus 19 births per 1,000
in the Jewish sector.
Russian
DM: "Israeli Methods" Will Be Used Against Chechens
Islam Online, January 7, 2003
MOSCOW, January 7 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The Russian
army has switched tactics in combating Chechen fighters, and is
now using an "Israeli method" to eliminate them, an Australian newspaper
quoted Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov saying Tuesday, January
7.
After
the blast, foreign workers are afraid to live in Neve Sha'anan
Ha'aretz, January 7, 2003
A path of blood went up the stairs in the building on Rosh Pina
Street, in Tel Aviv's Neve Sha'anan quarter near the old central
bus station. Shlomo Uzi, who was born there and lived in the building
until he got married 27 years ago, is worried. He suspects that
a foreign worker residing in the building was wounded in Sunday
evening's terror attack, and has avoided medical treatment due to
fears of exposing himself to Israeli authorities.
Despite
government incentives, Israel's foreign workers consider going home
Jordan Times, January 7, 2003
TEL AVIV (AFP) — Despite gestures of support by the Israeli
government, many migrant workers were reconsidering their future
in the Jewish state Monday following the double suicide bombing
which ripped through one of their neighbourhoods, killing 23 people
plus the two Palestinian bombers.
Egypt's
Christians, Muslims mark Christmas together for first time, focusing
attention on uneasy relationship
Jordan Times, January 7, 2003
CAIRO — A presidential decree making Christmas — which
falls Tuesday on the calendar of Egypt's native Christian church
— a national holiday has focused new attention on the sometimes
uneasy relations between Christians and Muslims in this overwhelmingly
Islamic country.
US
Backs Israel’s Right to Self-defense after Collective Punishments
Levied on Palestinians
Palestine Media Center, January 7, 2003
The United States on Monday backed Israel’s collective punishments
against the Palestinian people under Israeli occupation since 1967
and reoccupation since June, by renewing its support for Israel’s
right to ‘self-defense’.
Occupation
Chronicle, January 7, 2003
Palestine Media Center, January 7, 2003
IOF kill Three Civilians in al-Maghazi Refugee Camp / IOF Raid Khan
Younis, Ban Fishermen From Going to Sea / Israeli Bulldozers Demolish
Two Houses in Nablus
Film
Review: 'Divine Intervention'
Palestine Chronicle, January 7, 2003
On the grounds that “Palestine is not a nation”, the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has refused the Palestinian
entry “Divine Intervention”, for the nomination of “Best
Foreign Film”. The following is a review of the Palestinian
movie, which is making the rounds at film festivals across the US
and Europe.
Mustard
leak detected at Blue Grass Army Depot
Kentucky.com, January 6, 2003
RICHMOND, Ky. - An artillery shell was leaking mustard gas at the
Blue Grass Army Depot on Monday, but Army officials said it posed
no health hazard to the surrounding community.
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