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| Conflict |
The Israeli army attacks a Palestinian village near Nablus and kidnaps four civilians
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 1/31/2008
Palestinian sources reported that the Israeli army attacked the village of Beit Dajan, located near the northern West Bank city of Nablus, on Thursday at dawn and kidnapped four civilians. Witnesses said that around ten military jeeps invaded the village in the early hours; troops searched and ransacked a number of homes before kidnapping four men and taking them to an unknown location. Local sources identified the four as; Sief Hanini, 19, his brother Ra’ed, Nasser Aby Ladeef, 19, and Mohamed Abu Hanish, 20. Residents reported that during the search the army made of their homes, troops detonated sound bombs inside, they added that soldiers left unexploded bombs inside the houses they searched during the attack. The army left the village on Thursday morning shortly after kidnapping the four men. more..
The army attack Jenin city and nearby village, troops kidnaps 6 family members of resistance men
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 1/31/2008
The Israeli army invaded the northern West Bank city of Jenin and nearby Al Yamon village, during the attacks on Thursday morning, troops kidnapped six family members of Palestinian resistance fighters. In Al Yamon village, soldiers surrounded the house of Ahmad Nawahdah, 55, soldiers searched the house and forced the family out into the heavy rain for more than two hours. Witnesses said that after the army finished searching the house troops kidnapped Nawahdah along with three of his sons Jihad, Imad and Jad. The army claims that the Nawahdah family has a son that is part of the Islamic Jihad armed wing resistance group. Meanwhile Israeli troops attacked and searched the house of Amar Abu Ghaloiun, the army says he is also a member of the Islamic Jihad armed wing; troops again forced the family out into the rain and kidnapped two of his brothers, Nidal and Mohamed. more..
Israeli forces seize five Palestinians in the West Bank
Ma’an News Agency 1/31/2008
Bethlehem Ma’an Despite snow and hazardous weather conditions, Israeli military forces seized five more five Palestinians in the West Bank during overnight raids on Thursday. In the Nablus region, Palestinian security sources as said that seven Israeli military vehicles inavded the northern village of Beit Dajan, east of Nablus, at 3:00am and seized four young Palestinian men after conducting house-to-house searches. The security source named the arrestees as 19-year-old Sayf Hanani, 25-year-old Raed Hanani, 19-year-old Muhammad Abu Latifa and 20-year-old Muhammad Abu Hashish. Separately, local sources in the central West Bank town of Silwad, east of Ramallah, told Maans reporter that the Israeli forces invaded the town overnight and apprehended 24-year-old Islam Hamid after searching his family’s home. more..
Palestinian security arrests eight Hamas members in the West Bank
Ma’an News Agency 1/31/2008
Nablus Ma’an Hamas said on Thursday that Palestinian security forces affiliated to the Fatah-led caretaker government based in the West Bank have arrested eight Hamas members on Thursday. Hamas said in a statement that the security forces arrested Sheikh Zuhair Libbada,a who suffers a chronic illnesses, and his son Rashid in the city of Nablus. Three more Hamas members have been detained in the Nablus region. According Hamas’ statement, the rest of the arrestees were from Tulkarem and Jenin in the northern West Bank. [end]
Palestinians: Settler hit teen over snowball
Ali Waked and Efrat Weiss, YNetNews 1/31/2008
Teen’s parents say their son was assaulted by a Jewish man as he was playing with friends in the snow; police say settler filed complaint against teen - Palestinian sources in the West Bank city of Hebron said Thursday that a Jewish settler assualted a local teen who he claimed threw a snowball at him. The teen’s parents told Ynet that on Wednesday they sent their son, Mahmoud Da’ana, to a neighborhood grocery store located near the disputed house that was taken over by Jewish settlers several months ago. On the way to the store, they said, Mahmoud stopped to play in the snow with his friends when a settler appeared and began to punch him. "The settler, who was in his 30s, claimed that my son threw a snowball at him," said the teen’s father, Awani Da’ana. "He beat him severely and injured him. more..
IDF troops use computer simulation to train for Gaza op
Haaretz Staff and Channel 10, Ha’aretz 1/31/2008
Haaretz. com/Channel 10 daily feature for January 31, 2008. Israel Defense Forces troops training for a possible major operation in Gaza have been utilizing a new computer program designed to simulate the densely populated terrain of the coastal strip. The use of this program by regular infantry soldiers comes in the wake of the Second Lebanon War, where the IDF learned that its field intelligence had been neglected. As such, the army hopes the new computer-generated intelligence systems will help soldiers understand enemy terrain better, and fight better, wherever the next conflict may be. [end]
Resistance fighter killed during clashes with the army in the southern part of the Gaza Strip
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 1/31/2008
One Palestinian resistance fighter was killed on Thursday morning during clashes that took place between a group of resistance fighters and Israeli troops near the borders between the southern Gaza strip town of Rafah and Israel. Dr. Mo’awiah Hassanin of the Palestinian Ministry of Health reported that Mohamed Al Da’alsah, 20, died due to being shot with multiple rounds in his body. Al Aqsa brigades the armed wing of the Fatah movement headed by the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said in a press statement that Al Da’alsah died when a group of fighters from the brigades clashed with Israeli soldiers at the borders. Israeli sources confirmed that clashes took place near a military post located near the Rafah Israel borders, but reported no injures among Israeli troops. more..
Al-Aqsa Brigades fighter killed in clashes with Israeli soldiers near Rafah
Ma’an News Agency 1/31/2008
Gaza Ma’an A member of Fatah’s armed wing, the Al-Aqsa Brigades, was killed on Thursday morning when he attacked an Israeli military position near Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. Sources within Al-Aqsa Brigades told Ma’an’s correspondent that Mahmoud Da’alsa attacked an Israeli military post near the area of Ash-Shuka, south of Rafah, and fought with the Israeli troops for two hours before the Israelis announced that he was killed. [end]
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 armed terrorist near the border fence in southern Gaza early Thursday morning. A bullet-proof vest and a Kalashnikov rifle were found on the man’s body. The force sighted two suspicious figures moving near the fence north of Kerem Shalom. When they approached the area, one of the men opened fire at the soldiers, who responded with fire. The force then entered the Strip area to examine the weapons that the gunman was carrying. "This is another attempt by the terrorist organizations to carry out an attack against IDF forces patrolling the fence," said an army official. more..
Al-Quds Brigades claim projectile attacks
Ma’an News Agency 1/31/2008
Gaza Ma’an The Al Quds Brigades, the military wing of Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for launching two homemade projectiles at the Israeli town of Sderot and Al Majdal onThursday evening. The brigades said that this attack comes as a response for Israeli crimes in Gaza and West Bank. [end]
Palestine Today 013108
Ghassan Bannoura - Audio dept, International Middle East Media Center 1/31/2008
Click on Link to download or play MP3 file || 3 m 0s || 2. 75 MB || Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Centre, www. imemc. org, for Thursday January 31st, 2008. Two Palestinians die due to the Israeli siege on Gaza and meanwhile the army kidnaps 10 civilians from the northern part of the West Bank, these stories and more coming up stay tuned. The News Cast Palestinian medical sources reported that two Palestinian patients from Gaza died on Thursday due to the Israeli siege imposed on the Palestinian coastal region. Arafat Owdah, 23, a cancer patient and Judah Obeed, 56, with a serious illness were both reported dead by Palestinian medical sources on Thursday morning after the Israeli army would not allow them to leave the coastal region to get medical care. With the deaths of Owdah and Obeed, the number of Palestinians who have... more..
Jewish group begins new construction in East Jerusalem
Meron Rapoport, Ha’aretz 1/31/2008
The Yemin Yehuda non-profit association has begun building 200 housing units in the Shimon Hatzaddik compound, in the heart of East Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarra neighborhood. In the process, the organization intends to demolish the homes of dozens of Palestinian families who live there. This neighborhood is in a strategic location: If Yemin Yehuda completes its plan, it will cut the Old City off from the Palestinian neighborhoods in northern Jerusalem. MK Benny Elon (National Union-National Religious Party), who supports building the new neighborhood, says it is designed to create a Jewish continuum surrounding the Old City, where there currently is a massive Palestinian majority. Elon says this can be done by declaring open areas to be national parks and placing state property back-to-back with lands under Jewish ownership. more..
One Injured and four kidnapped during Israeli army attack on Jenin
Ghassan Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center 1/30/2008
The Israeli army invaded the northern West Bank city of Jenin on Wednesday at dawn, during the attack troops injured one civilian and kidnapped another four. Witnesses said that undercover Israeli soldiers invaded Jenin city, they surrounded and searched a house that belongs to Ali Al Sous, later ten Israeli military jeeps followed the undercover forces; troops forced the residents of the house out and made them stay out in the rain until the attack was finished. When the army jeeps invaded the city troops opened fire randomly at residents’ homes and injured Mohamed Al Ashkar, 30, medical sources said that the man sustained light wounds. After several hours troops left the city of Jenin and kidnapped Samier Al Sous, 22, his brother Ahmad, 23, Samier Al Batal, 25, and Samier Ali, 30. more..
The Israeli army shells northern Gaza and Palestinian resistance retaliates
Ghassan Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center 1/30/2008
At noon on Wednesday, Israeli jet fighters shelled areas in the northern Gaza strip town of Beit Hanoun. Meanwhile, the Palestinian resistance announced that it had shelled an Israeli military post located on the borders near central Gaza. In Beit Hanoun, local sources said that jet fighters shelled a farm and residential areas, causing damage to property, but no injuries. Later in the day the al-Quds brigade, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad, announced that the group fired three home-made shells at an Israeli military post located at the borders between central Gaza and Israel. Israeli sources reported no injures. [end]
Al-Quds Brigades launch three mortar shells at Israeli forces
Ma’an News Agency 1/30/2008
Gaza Ma’an The military wing of Islamic Jihad, the Al-Quds Brigades, claimed responsibility on Wednesday for firing three mortar shells towards an Israeli military position east of Al-Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. They said in a statement that the operation came as natural response to ongoing Israeli crimes against the Palestinian people in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. [end]
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 the border fence separating the Gaza Strip and Egypt, prompting hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to pour across the breached frontier. Al-Ahram reported Wednesday that Egypt has successfully sealed the breach, after several failed attempts, and intends to erect a new border fence equipped with technological advances in order to "absolutely prevent infiltration, in keeping with the national security of Egypt." According to the report, the five Palestinian suspects are currently being questioned by Egyptian security officials. more..
Soldier steals from Palestinians ’because of Gilad Shalit’
Hanan Greenberg, YNetNews 1/30/2008
Golani fighter steals NIS 100 from Palestinian house in Gaza, returns banknote several minutes later; explains, ’I wanted to buy pizza for my platoon’. Court gives him suspended sentence; prosecution appeals sentence - A Golani fighter who stole NIS 100 (about $27. 4) from a Palestinian house in the Gaza Strip explained that he committed the offense "out of anger after seeing a picture of Gilad Shalit. I wanted to buy pizza for my platoon." The Military Prosecution demanded that the soldier be sent to jail, but the court decided to give him a suspended sentence. The prosecution is now expected to appeal the sentence. The incident took place in the southern Gaza Strip during an operational military activity. "I went to search a house," the soldier from Golani’s 51st battalion recounted. more..
Palestine Today 013008
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 1/30/2008
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 Wednesday January 30th, 2008. One Palestinian woman dies in Gaza due to the Israeli siege while in the West Bank army attacks leave one injured in Jenin, these stories and more coming up stay tuned. The News Cast Palestinian medical sources reported on Wednesday that a Palestinian woman died late Tuesday night because the Israeli army would not allow her to leave the Gaza Strip for medical care. The sources said that Amneh Al Madhon, aged 60 had Breast Cancer. Al Madhon is the 85th patient to die from a serious illness in Gaza due to the Israeli siege that has been imposed on the Palestinian coastal region since June 2007. more..
The Israeli army target several West Bank cities and kidnap 6 civilians
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 1/29/2008
Palestinian sources reported that the Israeli army kidnapped 6 Palestinian civilians during pre-dawn invasions targeting several parts of the West Bank. In Jerusalem city, Israeli troops attacked Al Toor area, a Palestinian neighborhood located in the northern part of Jerusalem, troops searched homes and kidnapped two civilians, local sources identified the two as Durgham Al Amreen, 17 and Nidal Jaradat, 20. Meanwhile Israeli troops invaded the village of Beit Rima located near Ramallah city in the central part of the West Bank, troops searched a number of homes and kidnapped two civilians, Ahmad Al Rimawi, 22, and Sadam AL Rimawi, 19. Also on Tuesday at dawn Israeli forces attacked and searched residents homes in Tulkarem city and the nearby Nur Shams refugee camp, troops left the area after several hours after kidnapping Lou’ai Mustafa, 39, and Ali Yousif, 22. more..
Islamic Movement head charged with incitement to racism, violence
Yoav Stern, Ha’aretz 1/29/2008
The head of the Islamic Movement in Israel’s Northern Branch, Ra’ad Salah, was charged Tuesday in Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court with incitement to violence and racism, over a fiery speech he gave a year ago in which he invoked the blood libel. During the speech at the February 16, 2007 protest in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Wadi Joz, Salah accused Jews of using children’s blood to bake bread. "We have never allowed ourselves to knead [the dough for] the bread that breaks the fast in the holy month of Ramadan with children’s blood," he said. "Whoever wants a more thorough explanation, let him ask what used to happen to some children in Europe, whose blood was mixed in with the dough of the [Jewish] holy bread." "Great God, is this a religion? " he asked. more..
The Israeli army attack several villages in northern part of the West Bank and kidnaps two civilians
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 1/29/2008
Two Palestinian civilians were kidnapped by the Israeli army on Tuesday morning during an army attack targeting several villages near the northern West Bank city of Nablus. Jamal Harb, 28, and Oday Manour, 16, were kidnapped by Israeli troops during an invasion to the village of Kufer Kalil located near Nablus. Witnesses said that soldiers searched and ransacked several homes in the village before taking the two men and leaving the village. Meanwhile sources in Nablus city said that troops today also attacked and searched homes in the village of Beit Dajan and Beit Fourik also located near Nablus city. [end]
Hamas: "P.A security forces arrested eight Hamas members in the West Bank"
IMEMC News, International Middle East Media Center 1/29/2008
Hamas movement reported that the Palestinian Security Forces, loyal to Fateh movement, in the West Bank, continued their arrest campaign against members and supporters of Hamas and arrested eight residents on Monday in several parts of the West Bank. The Hamas members and supporters were arrested after the Palestinian security forces loyal to Fateh movement headed by President Mahmoud Abbas sent them summons ordering them to head to the nearest security center for questioning. Hamas stated that security forces arrested Mustafa Amro Bdeir and Ayman Shahroor from the northern West Bank city of Tulkarem. Both initially were ordered to head to a security center for questioning and were arrested there. Also in Tulkarem, security personnel arrested Fadi Omayyir and Ra’fat Shahroor, from the nearby Bal’a village. more..
Israeli forces seize 17 Palestinians in the West Bank
Ma’an News Agency 1/29/2008
Bethlehem Ma’an Israeli forces seized 17 Palestinians in different West Bank districts under the pretext that they are all wanted activists on Tuesday morning. Israeli sources said that a pistol and live ammunition was found in the house of one of the arrestees in Hebron in the southern West Bank. [end]
Al-Aqsa Brigades claim attack on Israeli forces
Ma’an News Agency 1/29/2008
Gaza Ma’an The armed wing of Fatah the Al-Aqsa Brigades, claimed responsibility on Monday evening for launching two mortar shells at the Israeli military position at Nahal Oz, east of Gaza City. They said in a statement that the shelling was an affirmation that resistance will continue against the ongoing Israeli atrocities in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. [end]
Israeli forces seize two Palestinians in Nablus
Ma’an News Agency 1/29/2008
Nablus Ma’an Israeli military forces seized two Palestinians on Tuesday morning from the northern West Bank village of Kafr Qallil, south of Nablus, one of whom was a Palestinian police officer. Palestinian security sources told our correspondent that several Israeli military jeeps stormed the village after midnight and arrested a Palestinian police officer, twenty-eight-year-old Kamal Abu Harb and sixteen-year-old Uday Mansur. Separately, the Israeli radio said that several Israeli settlers broke into the area of Qabir Yousif, or Joseph’s Tomb near Balata refugee camp east of Nablus and that a chief rabbi for Jews of French origin visited the Tomb amidst heavy security. The report added that the visit came after several Israeli ministers submitted a petition to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert asking him to demand that the Palestinian Authority repair the Joseph Tomb which was recently been damaged by Palestinians. more..
Palestinian security forces ’detain eight Hamas members’
Ma’an News Agency 1/29/2008
Nablus Ma’an Fatah-allied Palestinian security forces arrested eight Hamas members in the West Bank on Monday night, Hamas claims. The movement said in a statement that the arrestees were from the northern West bank districts of Tulkarem, Nablus and Jenin. The statement mentioned that amongst the arrestees was Sheikh Abdul-Ilah Daraghma, the director of West Bank mosques as well as two students from An-Najah National University in Nablus. [end]
Israeli forces seize three Palestinians in Ramallah
Ma’an News Agency 1/29/2008
Ramallah Ma’an The Israeli forces on Tuesday morning seized three Palestinians in the central West Bank city of Ramallah and in the village of Beit Rima northwest of Ramallah. Local sources told Ma’an that several Israeli military vehicles raided the village at 1:30 am, and the soldiers broke into numerous homes before apprehending a university student, twenty-two-year-old Ahmad Rimawi and nineteen-year-old Saddam Rimawi. Sources in Ramallah said that the Israeli forces arrested forty-eight-year-old Samir Hasarnah from his house in Ramallah’s Satih Marhaba neighborhood. Hasarnah is the representative of the Qatari Red Cross in Palestine, and he heads the academic council of the Ibn Rashid Al-Maktum School in Ramallah. more..
Israeli ’Economic Warfare’ to Include Electricity Cuts in Gaza
Ellen Knickmeyer, MIFTAH 1/29/2008
Saying they were waging "economic warfare" against the Gaza Strip’s Hamas leaders, Israeli officials told the Supreme Court on Sunday that the military intends to start cutting electricity to the Palestinian territory and continue restricting fuel. The statements by Israel’s state attorney, outlining Defense Ministry plans, came in response to a lawsuit filed by Israeli and Palestinian rights groups. The organizations are asking the Supreme Court to make Israel end fuel restrictions that caused power blackouts in the Gaza Strip this month. The activists argue that the restrictions constitute collective punishment of Gaza’s 1. 5 million people and violate international law. Israel’s restrictions on shipments into Gaza have become a central issue in the territory’s relations with Israel and neighboring Egypt. Israel halted deliveries of food, fuel and other supplies into the strip for 4½ days this month, saying it was acting in response to rocket attacks from Gaza on southern Israel. more..
Abu Ali Mustafa brigades target Sderot
Ma’an News Agency 1/29/2008
Gaza Ma’an The Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, the military wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine claimed responsibility on Tuesday for launching two projectiles at the Israeli town of Sderot and at Kibbutz Sa’d. The brigades said the attack comes as a response to the continuous attacks by Israeli forces against the Palestinian people. [end]
Al-Quds Brigades attack Israeli military bases
Ma’an News Agency 1/29/2008
Gaza Ma’an The Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility on Tuesday for launching nine projectiles at two Israeli military sites, north of the Gaza Strip. They said the attack was a reaction to Israeli crimes. [end]
Islamic Movement leader charged with inciting violence
Sharon Roffe-Ofir, YNetNews 1/29/2008
Jerusalem District Prosecutor’s Office indicts Sheikh Raed Salah for inciting violence at protest rally in east Jerusalem last February. Salah’s lawyer petitions Attorney General Mazuz for dismissal of ’false allegations’ - The Jerusalem District Prosecutor’s Office filed an indictment with the capital’s Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday against Islamic Movement head Sheikh Raed Salah for inciting violence and racism. Salah was arrested in east Jerusalem on February 2007, while attending a mass rally protesting Israel’s work at the Mugrabi Gate, which leads to Temple Mount. The court had previously banned Salah from entering the Old City, so the rally - attended by hundreds of his supporters - was held in east Jerusalem. According to the indictment, in a speech given at the rally Salah told his followers that "we stand here at this holy, blessed place,..." more..
The forgotten civilian fatalities / ’My son fell in the war too’
Yair Ettinger, Ha’aretz 1/29/2008
Nava Mansura’s table is piled with bags of documents - dozens, maybe hundreds - concerning the death of her son Shlomi, who was killed during the Second Lebanon War along with seven other workers at the Haifa train depot. His mother is "only looking for someone who will understand that he was killed in the war" and be recognized as a war casualty. For a year and a half she has been writing letters and sending them off. She wants an answer: from the Winograd Committee, from the state comptroller, from the president, from the transportation minister, from Knesset members, from Haifa city hall and from the Kiryat Haim municipality, where she lives. Mansura has saved all the answers sent her by various officials. Every one of the letter writers "express their condolences on her loss," but provide no answers. 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 close its borders with Gaza, and the Israeli army kidnap 8 civilians from several parts of the West Bank. These stories and more coming up stay tuned. The News Cast Palestinian sources in Gaza confirmed 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 completely re-seal the breaches in the wall that Palestinians made at the Rafah-Egypt borders. Last week Palestinian civilians and resistance groups opened around a dozen holes in the Rafah -Egypt border wall, after two weeks of an Israeli siege that left the.... more..
Palestinian teenager killed, seven injured as Israeli forces invade Bethlehem
Ma’an News Agency 1/28/2008
Bethlehem - Ma’an - The Israeli army withdrew from the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem on Monday evening, leaving one civilian dead and seven others injured. One resistance fighter was also seized. Qusay Al-Afandi, a seventeen year-old from Duheisha refugee camp, died from bullet wounds sustained in clashes between Palestinian youths and Israeli military forces during the incursion. Israeli forces invaded the southern West Bank city on Monday afternoon in a rare daylight incursion. Medical sources reported that nineteen-year-old Abdulkareem al-Atrash, from Duheisha refugee camp, was shot in the head with a rubber-coated steel bullet. The source added that Yousef Abu Srour, from Aida refugee camp was wounded in his leg, in addition to twenty-nine-year-old Salem Al-’Orouj, from nearby Tiqua village who was wounded by live ammunition that penetrated his knee as he was walking home from work. more..
Israeli airstrikes injure four in the Gaza Strip
Ma’an News Agency 1/28/2008
Gaza Ma’an Israeli warplanes struck a former Israeli settlement northwest of Rafah in the Gaza Strip in two separate raids on Sunday night. Palestinian sources said that two missiles were fired at a Palestinian car parked in the area, damaging it, while the other raid targeted a military position used by Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades, injuring four people slightly. Israeli sources mentioned that the Israeli air force also targeted armored vehicles that Hamas had seized from Fatah-affiliated security forces when it took control of the Gaza Strip last June. [end]
Israeli forces seize three Palestinian teenagers from Hebron’s old city
Ma’an News Agency 1/28/2008
Hebron Ma’an Israeli forces siezed three Palestinians in the southern West Bank city of Hebron on Sunday night. Ma’an’s reporter said that an Israeli force ransacked a Palestinian home near the Israeli settlement of Abraham Avinu in the old city of Hebron and seized two brothers, Sa’id and Thaer Al-Waiwi, aged 18 and 17, in addition to a relative 18-year-old Farid Al-Waiwi. [end]
IDF nabs Jihad chief in Bethlehem
Ali Waked, YNetNews 1/28/2008
Troops detain Islamic Jihad leader in West Bank town; Palestinians say youth killed during operation - Successful West Bank operation: The Islamic Jihad chief in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, Mohammad Abda, was arrested Monday evening in a joint IDF, Shin Bet and Border Guard operation that lasted several hours. Security officials said Abda commanded numerous Islamic Jihad cells and has been involved in the planning and financing of terror attacks against Israeli citizens and military forces. Abda was arrested after troops laid siege to his house for hours. During the operation a 17-year-old Palestinian youth who threw a Molotov cocktail at the soldiers was killed, Palestinian sources reported. Military officials said that during the operation, dozens of Palestinians gathered in the area and proceeded to... more..
Israeli forces raid Tulkarem
Ma’an News Agency 1/28/2008
Tulkarem Ma’an The Israeli force raided the northern West bank city of Tulkarem on Monday morning, forcibly searching a Palestinian house. Ma’an’s reporter said that several Israeli military vehicles broke into the city and stormed the home of Bakir Sanyura in the northern neighborhood of the city. They forced the residents to stay out in the open in very cold weather, under the pretext of searching for "wanted Palestinians." No arrests have been reported in connection with the raid. [end]
IDF troops kill Palestinian teen, hurt another in Bethlehem raid
Avi Issacharoff and Reuters, Ha’aretz 1/29/2008
A Palestinian teenager was killed and another was wounded by Israel Defense Forces troops during a raid into the West Bank city of Bethlehem on Monday, Palestinian medical officials said. The officials said the teenager was shot in his stomach by the troops who were surrounding a building in the city during a search for militants. Palestinian sources identified the killed teenager as 17-year-old Kusai al-Afandi. An IDF spokeswoman said troops had initially used non-lethal riot dispersal means but resorted to live fire at the lower bodies of some demonstrators when they endangered the troops by throwing stones and large building blocks at them. The militant being targeted in the raid surrended to the IDF forces a few hours later as was taken in for questioning. more..
IAF wounds four Hamas militants in strike on armored car in Gaza
Yuval Azoulay and Avi Issacharoffs, Ha’aretz 1/27/2008
Israel Air Force warplanes attacked a convoy of Hamas armored vehicle in the Gaza Strip late Sunday, wounding four militants. The vehicles were positioned in the former settlement of Morag, in the southern strip. IAF pilots reported precisely striking their targets. Palestinian witnesses said four people were wounded in the strike. Apparently, the armored vehicle was formerly owned by the Fatah movement and reappropriated by Hamas when it took control of the Gaza Strip last June. [end]
Hamas: PA seizes four more Hamas supporters in West Bank
Ma’an News Agency 1/27/2008
Nablus Ma’an The Hamas movement said on Sunday that Fatah-allied Palestinian security forces seized four Hamas members in the West Bank on Saturday. Hamas said in a statement that the arrestees were from the Tulkarem and Salfit districts in the northern West Bank. [end]
Israeli forces seize three Palestinians in the Hebron district
Ma’an News Agency 1/27/2008
Hebron Ma’an Israeli forces seized three Palestinians in Hebron and the nearby town of Beit Ummar in the southern West Bank on Sunday. Palestinian security sources said that Israeli forces detained 27-year-old Sufyan Abdul-Basit near the Ibrahimi mosque in the centre of Hebron. In Beit Ummar Israeli forces seized two brothers, Mousa and Muhammad Breigheith, under the pretext that they entered an area that is off-limits for Palestinians. Meanwhile, Palestinian security sources said that Israeli forces stormed the town of Taffuh, west of Hebron and ransacked several houses. [end]
Israeli suspected of dealing in arms with Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade
Eli Ashkenazi, Ha’aretz 1/27/2008
An Israeli resident of Kfar Kara is suspected of having sold weapons to the heads of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, a violent offshoot of the Palestinian Fatah movement. The gag order on the investigation was lifted Saturday, revealing that 20 Israeli citizens, residents of the Arab towns of Wadi Ara and Jiser a Zarka, have been arrested recently on suspicion that they were involved in arms trading with Hamza Masri, 24, of Kfar Kara. Masri himself is suspected of selling weapons to Shaher Hanina, the head of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade’s infrastructure in Qalqiliya. Indictments were filed against Masri and five other suspects at the Haifa District Court on Sunday. According to the indictments, Masri was arrested two years ago after supplying Hanina with bomb-making materials, among them 15 kilograms of fertilizer containing potassium chloride, potassium nitrate and sulfur. more..
Israeli Arabs accused of arms trade with Tanzim operative
Sharon Roffe-Ofir, YNetNews 1/27/2008
Six Israeli Arabs, headed by 24-year-old Hamze Massari, indicted for buying arms from Tanzim operative in West Bank city of Qalqilya, selling weapons for money, drugs - A wide-scale investigation, the results of which were publicized Monday with permission of the Nazareth Magistrates Court, revealed that Israeli-Arabs from the villages of Kfar Qira and Jaser al-Zarka regularly traded in arms obtained from Tanzim operatives from the West Bank city of Qalqilya. The investigation, spearheaded by the Central Investigations Unit of the Amakim District, revealed that ringleader Hamze Massari (24) from the village of Qira near Haifa, would regularly purchase arms from a Tanzim operative in Qalqilya, and then sell them for either money or narcotics. Beginning in April 2007, Massari would contact Chief Tanzim operative in Qalqilya, Sha’ar Hanini, and purchase illicit firearms which Massari would then sell. more..
Air strikes leave 5 Palestinians dead in Rafah; Jerusalem policeman stabbed
Yuval Azoulay, Ha’aretz 1/26/2008
Five Palestinians were killed early Friday in air strikes near Rafah, including a leading Hamas militant involved in rocket and mortar attacks against Israel. Yesterday, in the third violent incident in the Jerusalem area over the weekend, a Palestinian stabbed an Israeli policeman in the city, inflicting moderate injuries. Police said a patrol stopped a Palestinian man for a routine check when he pulled out a knife and stabbed a border policeman in the neck and back. The attack took place in the industrial area of Atarot at the northern edge of Jerusalem. Officers shot the attacker, wounding him in the leg. Both the border policeman and the attacker were rushed to Hadassah University Hospital, Ein Karem for treatment. Attacks on Israeli police and soldiers in Jerusalem and the West Bank have been relatively infrequent, with most Palestinian violence originating from the... more..
Dozens hurt on Gaza-Egypt border
Associated Press, YNetNews 1/26/2008
More than 30 Egyptian police officers hospitalized, including some in critical condition, after troops clash with Palestinians; Gazans continue to cross into Egypt despite Cairo’s attempts to restore order - Egyptian riot police and armored vehicles restricted Gaza motorists to a small border area of Egypt on Saturday, in the second attempt in two days to restore some control over the chaotic frontier which was breached by Hamas earlier in the week. At least 36 members of the Egyptian security forces have been hospitalized, some in critical condition, as a result of cross-border confrontations, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said. The minister complained of "provocations" at the border, a thinly veiled reprimand of Hamas, and said that while Egypt is ready to ease the suffering of Gazans, this should not endanger Egyptian lives. more..
Palestinian stabs Israeli soldier at checkpoint
Ma’an News Agency 1/26/2008
Jerusalem Ma’an An Israeli soldier sustained moderate injuries after being stabbed by a Palestinian at a military checkpoint north of Jerusalem on Saturday afternoon. Israeli sources said the indcident occurred at a military checkpoint near the industrial zone of Atarot north of Jerusalem north of Jerusalem. The sources added that another border guard fired at the Palestinian injuring him. No further details have yet emerged. [end]
Border Guard policeman stabbed by Palestinian
Efrat Weiss, YNetNews 1/26/2008
Terrorist attacks police officers on patrol north of Jerusalem; stab victim moderately hurt - A Border Guard police officer was stabbed by a Palestinian terrorist Saturday at the Atarot industrial zone north of Jerusalem. The officer suffered moderate wounds in the attack. The attacker was shot by police and is in critical condition. An initial investigation showed that Border Guard police officers who were patrolling the area wanted to check a Palestinian walking in the industrial zone. The man pulled out a knife, opened the door of the police jeep, and stabbed the Border Guard officer who was behind the wheel. The terrorist then attempted to stab a female police officer sitting at the back seat of the vehicle, but the officer struggled with him and he was unable to stab her. At that point, the commander of the police team disembarked from the vehicle... more..
Al-Aqsa Brigades clash with Israeli force near Jenin
Ma’an News Agency 1/26/2008
Jenin Ma’an Fatah’s Al-Aqsa Brigades claimed responsibility on Saturday morning for clashing with an Israeli force near Qabatia south of Jenin in the northern West Bank. They said in a statement that the operation was in retaliation for the ongoing Israeli atrocities against the Palestinian people in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. [end]
PFLP’s military wing fires three projectiles at Sderot
Ma’an News Agency 1/26/2008
Gaza Ma’an The military wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, claimed responsibility on Friday evening for firing three homemade projectiles at the Israeli town of Sderot in the western Negev and seven mortar shells at the Erez crossing and the Israeli settlement of Netiv Hasarah. They said in a statement that the actions were a demonstration of their rejection to the trial of the PFLP’s Secretary General Ahmad Sa’adat, and in retaliation for Israeli atrocities against the Palestinians. [end]
Explosion at Gaza Strip police station
Ma’an News Agency 1/26/2008
Gaza Ma’an An explosive device detonated on Friday evening at the entrance of the de facto government’s police headquarters in the southern Gaza Strip. Muawiya Hassanain, the director of the ambulance and emergency department in the Palestinian health ministry affirmed that there were no casualties. [end]
Al-Aqsa Brigades target Sderot
Ma’an News Agency 1/26/2008
Gaza Ma’an Fatah’s Al-Aqsa Brigades on Saturday afternoon claimed responsibility for firing two homemade projectiles at the Israeli town of Sderot. They said in a statement that the shelling came in retaliation for the ongoing Israeli atrocities against the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. They said they will continue to launch more projectiles, as well as conduct "qualitative military operations." [end]
Israeli forces seize two Palestinians near Qalqilia
Ma’an News Agency 1/26/2008
Qalqilia Ma’an The Israeli forces seized two Palestinians from the northern West Bank town of Azzun west of Qalqilia on Saturday. Palestinian security sources told Ma’an that la arge Israeli force stormed the town and conducted house-to-house inspections before arresting twenty-year-old Wael Aweidan and nineteen-year-old Shadi Sulaiman. [end]
Brigades attack Sderot
Ma’an News Agency 1/26/2008
Gaza Ma’an - The Abu Ali Mustafa brigades claimed responsibility for launching two projectiles at the Israeli town of Sderot on Saturday. The brigades told Ma’an that they will continue their resistance attacks to defend Palestinians. [end]
The Town that Measures Life in 15-Second Intervals
Mary Dejevsky, MIFTAH 1/26/2008
You can tell almost as much about a country from the things they want you to see as the things they would prefer you didn’t. And just now one of things Israel really wants the outside world to see is daily life as it is lived in the depressed southern town of Sderot. A "new town" created as a regional centre in the 1950s to accommodate the early waves of mainly north African refugees, Sderot was once distinguished only by middle-brow ordinariness and its relaxed lifestyle in the sun. More recently, it has stamped itself on Israel’s political and psychological map as the chief target of Palestinian rockets. The town’s vulnerability is apparent as you approach from the north. The urban sprawl of Gaza City is clearly visible on the near horizon just across what could one day be the border of a Palestinian state. The distance or lack of it - places Sderot just within the 10km range of Qassam rockets fired from the village of Beit Hanoun, essentially a northerly suburb of Gaza City. more..
Israel raid kills four Palestinians
Al Jazeera 1/25/2008
Four Palestinians have been killed in two separate Israeli air raids in the southern Gaza town of Rafah, security officials and health workers have said. Mohammed Harb - a leader of the Ezzeddine Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas - and one of his deputies are believed to be among the dead. The car they were travelling in was completely destroyed in the attack on Friday morning. Two other members of the Al-Qassam Brigades were killed overnight in another Israeli raid. Hamas confirmed the second strike was aimed at two of its local commanders in the area. An Israeli army spokeswoman said the military had carried out both air raids on Friday, saying that the targets had been "terror operatives". Rafah became the focus of international attention on Wednesday when tens of thousands... more..
Palestinians: IDF troops kill stone-throwing teenager near Hebron
Amos Harel, and News Agencies, Ha’aretz 1/25/2008
A Palestinian teenager was killed Friday by Israel Defense Forces troops during a raid in a village near the West Bank city of Hebron, hospital officials said. Witnesses said troops opened fire at local residents who hurled rocks at troops in the village, killing the teenager. An IDF spokesman said troops had initially used non-lethal riot dispersal means but resorted to live fire at the lower bodies of some demonstrators when they endangered the troops by throwing stones and large building blocks at them. At least four Hamas militants were killed by two Israel Air Force strikes in the Rafah area of southern Gaza late Thursday, Israeli and Palestinian officials said Friday. Israeli security officials said the militants belonged to a Hamas cell preparing to carry out a terror attack in Israel. more..
Clashes between Palestinians, Israeli forces and settlers leave 1 dead and 5 injured in Beit Ummar
Ma’an News Agency 1/25/2008
Hebron Ma’an Hebron Ma’an Two Palestinians were injured after being hit by a car driven by an Israeli settler on the main road between Bethlehem and Hebron, near the village of Beit Ummar, on Friday evening. Eyewitnesses said it looked as though the settler deliberately hit twenty-seven-year-old Mufid Muhammad Mahmoud Khalil and twenty-year-old Mu’taz Muhammad Khalil. Mahmoud received a serious head injury and Mu’taz was injured in his leg. Meanwhile three Palestinians were shot by Israeli forces during confrontations at a funeral for three Palestinians from Beit Ummar, who were killed in separate incidents on Thursday evening and Friday afternoon. Doctors at the Al-Ahli Hospital told Ma’an that seventeen-year-old Mahmoud Muhammad ’Awad had been brought into the hospital with gunshot wounds to the chest but medical teams were unable to save him. more..
IDF kills Palestinian teen near Hebron
Ali Waked, YNetNews 1/25/2008
Seventeen-year-old teen from village of Beit Omer shot to death by IDF soldiers conducting searches in area following Thursday’s shooting attack in Kfar Etzion - A 17-year-old Palestinian teen was killed by IDF soldiers Friday afternoon in the village pf Beit Omer near Hebron, Palestinian eyewitnesses reported. The IDF confirmed that a Palestinian was hurt during disturbances in the village, which was the home of the two gunmen killed Thursday after infiltrating a yeshiva in the West Bank settlement of Kfar Etzion. Witnesses said that the teen killed, Muhammad Awad, was hit after Israeli soldiers opened fire at locals who were hurling stones at the force. Army sources reported that soldiers were conducting searches in the village following Thursday’s shooting attack in Kfar Etzion. more..
Report: Israeli strikes kill 4 Palestinians in Gaza
Ali Waked and Reuters, YNetNews 1/25/2008
Palestinian sources say two aerial strikes on vehicles traveling in Rafah kill at least four gunmen; Hamas says two local commanders among those killed - Two Israeli air strikes on cars killed at least four Palestinian militants in the southern Gaza town of Rafah on Friday, security officials and medical staff said. An Israeli army spokeswoman confirmed the military had carried out both air strikes, saying that the targets had been "terror operatives". In the first strike on Friday morning the car of the two men who were hit was completely destroyed. Hamas said the second later strike targeted two of its local militant commanders in the area. Palestinian sources said among those killed were Muhammad Abu Hareb, the commander of the Islamist group’s "artillery force, and Sami el-Hamaydeh, a senior member of Hamas’ armed wing. more..
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. During Thursday night, two other members of the military wing of the democratically elected Hamas movement which controls Gaza were also killed when two Israeli missiles slammed into their jeep, medical sources said. An Israeli army spokeswoman confirmed the two raids saying that they had hit "Palestinians implicated in acts of terrorism." Harb commanded Hamas forces in the divided Egyptian frontier town of Rafah where militants blew up sections of the border fence on Tuesday night allowing hundreds of thosuands of Gazans to pour across over the past few days. more..
Al Quds brigades detonate explosive near Israeli patrol south of Jenin
Ma’an News Agency 1/25/2008
Jenin Ma’an The military wing of Islamic Jihad, the Al-Quds Brigades, claimed responsibility on Friday for detonating an explosive device near an Israeli intelligence patrol in Qabatya south of Jenin. The incident occured as Israeli forces stormed the town on Friday morning. A Brigades spokesman said the activists detonated the explosive device as the patrol passed by. The brigades said that the operation was in retailation for the assassination of Brigades leader in the West Bank, Walid Al-Ubeidi who was killed in clashes with Israeli forces earlier this week. [end]
Abu Ali Mustafa brigades launch projectiles at Sderot
Ma’an News Agency 1/25/2008
Gaza Ma’an The Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, the military wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, claimed responsibility on Friday for launching two projectiles at the Israeli town of Sderot and at the Israeli military base at Nahel ’Oz. The brigades said the attack comes in retaliation for Israeli atrocities against the Palestinian people. [end]
Palestinian security arrest 5 Hamas members across West Bank
Ma’an News Agency 1/25/2008
Bethlehem Ma’an Palestinian security services arrested five Hamas members from cities across the West Bank on Thursday, Hamas announced on Friday. In the governorate of Nablus, security services arrested Sheikh Musa Al- Kharaz and Saher Dshon after calling them in for interview. They also arrested ’Amer Younis for the second time after a raid on his house in Al-Ain refugee camp in Nablus. In the province of Salfit, security services arrested Sheikh Abdel-Rahman Al Qazaq after breaking into his house. In the province of Jenin, security agencies arrested Saker Ahmed Bthor from Raba, east of Jenin. [end]
Four dead, including three Al-Qassam Brigades members in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza Strip
Ma’an News Agency 1/25/2008
Gaza Ma’an Two members of the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a car in the town of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, on Friday morning. The Al-Qassam Brigades said that the dead were two of their leaders, Mohammed Abu Harb and Sami Al-Hamaydeh. Israeli security officials told the Israeli daily newspaper Ha’aretz that the militants belonged to a Hamas cell preparing to carry out a terror attack in Israel. They claimed Mohammed Abu Harb had been coordinating Qassam rocketattacks on Sderot and that he was involved in attacks in the Rafah area. Two hours earlier two Palestinians were killed, including an Al-Qassam Brigades member, and a number of others injured when the Israeli airforce raid targeted a truck in Rafah, southern Gaza. Medical sources said that Ibrahim Al-Absi, an Al-Qassam Brigades activist and another man,Zayed Abdel-’Al died in the strike. more..
Hamas: "P.A security arrested five Hamas members in the West Bank on Thursday"
IMEMC News, International Middle East Media Center 1/25/2008
Hamas media sources reported on Friday that Palestinian security forces, loyal to Fateh movement in the West Bank, arrested on Thursday five Hamas members in several areas in the West Bank. In the northern West Bank city of Nablus, security forces arrested sheikh Mousa Al Kharraz and Shaher Bashoun. Both received orders to head to a security center in Nablus for questioning and were arrested there. In Al Ein refugee camp in Nablus, security forces arrested Amer Younis after breaking into his home. This is the second time Younis is arrested by P. A security forces, Hamas sources said. Hamas sources added that the Palestinian Security Forces issued an order for Samah Shawkat Al Nadi to head to a security center for questioning. Al Nadi is the wife of Raed Al Nadi who is currently detained by Israel. Security forces repeatedly broke into the house of Al Nadi in order to search for weapons. 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. As the UN fails to condemn Israel for its siege on Gaza, the Israeli army kills 12 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and three in the West Bank this week, these stories and more coming up stay tuned. Nonviolent Resistance Let’s begin our weekly report with the nonviolent actions in Palestine, Marguerite Mancy with the details: Bethlehem On Friday midday the villagers of Al Khader village located near the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem protested against the illegal Israeli wall being built on the villagers land. Around 200 villagers along with international and Israeli supporters gathered at a nearby Israeli military checkpoint just out side the village of Al Khader. more..
Sources: Kfar Etzion terrorists released by Israel last week
Ali Waked and Efrat Weiss, YNetNews 1/25/2008
Palestinian sources tell Ynet terrorists who were killed after infiltrating yeshiva were recently freed after serving two years in an Israeli prison for attempting to steal weapons from IDF base. Search for gunmen behind Shoafat shooting attack continues - The two terrorists who were killed Thursday evening after breaking into a yeshiva in the settlement of Kfar Etzion were released from an Israeli prison last week, Palestinian sources in Hebron told Ynet. According to the sources, the terrorists were identified as relatives Muhammad and Mahmoud Sbarana, both 20-year-old Hamas members from the village of Beit Omer, near Hebron. The terrorists, armed with a gun and a knife and dressed in uniform, threatened the students and the instructors with the weapons before being shot to death by the yeshiva’s instructors, two of whom were lightly injured while struggling with the terrorists. more..
One Israeli policeman, two Palestinians killed, four Israeli injured in two separate attacks
Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center 1/25/2008
Israeli military and medical sources reported on Thursday at night that one Israeli policeman, member of the Border Guard Units, in addition to two Palestinian fighters, were killed, and four other Israelis, including a female soldier, were injured in two separate Palestinian attacks that took place in the Jerusalem area. The sources stated that the policeman was killed and one policewoman was injuredin a shooting attack carried by Palestinian fighters against the Ras Khamis Israeli military roadblock, near Shu’fat town, north of Jerusalem. The Maan News Agency reported that a previously unknown groups, calling itself The Return and Struggle Brigades, claimed responsibility for the attack, the groups is apparently affiliated with the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the armed wing of Fateh movement. In a separate attack, three Israeli settlers were injured in Kibbutz Atzion near Hebron... more..
Settlers attack a Palestinian house , international observers in Hebron
IMEMC News, International Middle East Media Center 1/25/2008
Israeli settlers attacked on Thursday the house of Shadi Nabeel Sidir, in the southern West Bank city of Hebron, and also attacked members of the Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH) when they attempted to stop them. The settlers are from the illegal settlement of Beit Hadassah. They hurled stones at the home of Al Sidir and broke the windows of his kitchen. Al Sidir stated that he filed a complaint to the Israeli Police but they did not investigation the incident. He later on contacted members of the TIPH, and they sent some of their observers to his home but the settlers attacked them and hurled stones at them. The Palestinian Popular (Folk) Committees slammed that attack and stated that there are five illegal settlement outposts in the center of Hebron city. The settlers repeatedly closed the roads and alleys, especially in the Old City, and barred the... more..
Palestinian Sources: Israeli army invades several parts of the West Bank and kidnaps 7 civilians
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 1/24/2008
Palestinian media sources reported that the Israeli army invaded several parts of the West Bank on Thursday at dawn and kidnapped at least seven Palestinian civilians. According to sources the kidnappings took place in the northern West Bank cities of Nablus and Jenin, Ramallah in the central West Bank and Hebron city in the southern part of the West Bank. Local Palestinian sources said that all those kidnapped are civilians, meanwhile Israeli army sources said that those kidnapped are part of the Palestinian resistance. There are 12,000 Palestinian political detainees in Israeli detention camps, among them children, the majority of those detainees did not undergo trial or face any charges. more..
Israeli forces seize 8 Palestinians across West Bank
Ma’an News Agency 1/24/2008
Bethlehem Nablus Ma’an Israeli forces seized seven Palestinians on Wednesday night from several West Bank cities. Their identities have not been revealed, Israeli sources said. Separately, Israeli security sources said that two molotov cocktails were thrown at an Israeli force, attempting to apprehend Palestinians in the central West Bank village of Ni’lin west of Ramallah. No casualties have been reported. Palestinian security sources told Ma’an’s reporter that the Israeli forces arrested a Palestinian boy in Balata refugee camp, east of Nablus in the northern West Bank. In a different regard, the Israeli army claimed that they seized chemicalsthat could be used in manufacturing explosives during a joint Palestinian Israeli operation east of Nablus in the northern West Bank. more..
Unidentified assailants attack charity organisation in Gaza Strip
Ma’an News Agency 1/24/2008
Gaza Ma’an Unidentified assailants attacked the offices of a charity organisation in the Al-Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on Wednesday. This iss the second attack on the Al-Maghazi Association for Community Development in less than a month. The head of the organisation’s board of directors, Wasif Abu Mashayikh, condemned the attack, saying that such assaults only harm the interests of Palestinians and they are the people the association aims to help. [end]
Israeli forces invade village near Salfit
Ma’an News Agency 1/24/2008
Nablus Ma’an Occupying Israeli forces overran the West Bank village of Deir Stiyah, near the city of Salfit on Thursday afternoon. Witnesses said dozens of Israeli soldiers invaded the village, transforming the home of 33-year-old Netham Ismail Al-Khatib into a military barracks. [end]
Israeli forces seize 13 Palestinians in the West Bank
Ma’an News Agency 1/23/2008
Bethlehem Ma’an Israeli forces seized 13 Palestinians throughout the West Bank on Wednesday, claiming they were "wanted" by the Israeli government. Israeli media said a rifle was found at the house of one of the detainees in the southern West Bank city of Hebron. [end]
Palestinian security forces enter village in Area B near Salfit
Ma’an News Agency 1/23/2008
Nablus Ma’an A hundred illegal vehicles have been destroyed and large numbers of fines have been issued against drivers whose cars are not completely licensed in the village of Bidya west of Salfit, a Palestinian security source told Ma’an on Thursday On Wednesday hundreds of Palestinian security officers entered the northern West Bank village for the first time in five years on Wednesday. The security forces pledged to arrest criminals and clamp down on threats to public order. Biddya is located in Area B as designated in the Oslo peace accords, meaning that the village in under mixed Palestinian and Israeli control. [end]
Israeli forces raid Qabatiya
Ma’an News Agency 1/23/2008
Jenin Ma’an More than 20 Israeli military vehicles raided the northern West Bank town of Qabatiya, near Jenin, on Wednesday, threatening to kill "wanted" activists in Islamic Jihad’s armed wing, the Al-Quds Brigades, witnesses said. Al-Quds Brigades fighters fought the Israeli troops, hurling explosive devices. Israeli forces responded by detonating sound grenades near Palestinian houses. Qabatiya residents said the invading forces stormed the homes of Islamic Jihad members Abdul Fattah Khzeima, Bilal Kameel and Ziad Nazzal, warning their families of their impending assassination. Earlier, the Al-Quds Brigades claimed responsibility for shooting at Israeli soldiers at the Al-Jalama checkpoint, north of Jenin. more..
Israeli forces seize two Palestinians in Bethlehem raid
Ma’an News Agency 1/23/2008
Bethlehem Ma’an Israeli forces seized two Palestinians from the West Bank city of Bethlehem on Wednesday, Palestinian security sources said. The sources said Israeli forces invaded the Cinema neighborhood as well as Al-Madbasa and Bab Az-Ziqaq squares. The Israeli troops ransacked the Al-Ihsan health center, confiscating computers and detaining forty-four-year-old Mousa Abda and Thiry-five-year-old Samih Riziq from the center. [end]
Al-Aqsa Brigades fire at Israeli liaison office in Tulkarem
Ma’an News Agency 1/23/2008
Tulkarem Ma’an The Al-Aqsa Brigades, the armed wing of Fatah, claimed responsibility on Wednesday for shooting at the Israeli military liaison’s office near the northern West Bank city of Tulkarem. They said in a statement that a group of their fighters fired on the building, then withdrew after "causing casualties amongst the enemy." The statement added that the Al-Aqsa Brigades will continue operating against the Israeli forces in retaliation for ongoing Israeli aggression and siege of the Gaza Strip. [end]
Al-Quds Brigades fire three projectiles at Sderot
Ma’an News Agency 1/24/2008
Gaza Ma’an The Al Quds brigades, the military wing of Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for launching three projectiles at the Israeli town of Sderot, north of the Gaza Strip on Thursday evening. The brigades said the attack was as a response for Israeli crimes committed against Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. Israeli media confirmed that three projectiles landed in Sderot one inside the town and one on the outskirts of the city. Israel has imposed a total blockade on the Gaza Strip since last Friday, limiting supplies of food, fuel, medicine and other essential supplies. [end]
An-Nasser Salah Addin Brigades target Israeli military post
Ma’an News Agency 1/24/2008
Gaza Ma’an The military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees, the An-Nasser Salah Addin Brigades claimed responsibility on Wednesday evening for firing a homemade projectile at the Israeli military post of Nahal ’Oz east of Gaza City. They said in a statement that the action in retaliation for the Israeli aggressions against the West Bank and Gaza Strip. [end]
Palestinian security arrest two Hamas members in the West Bank
Ma’an News Agency 1/24/2008
Nablus Ma’an Hamas said on Thursday that Palestinian security services arrested two of their members on Wednesday evening in the West Bank. They said in a statement that one of the arrestees was from Nablus in the northern West Bank, and the other was from Tulkarem and but he was seized in Ramallah in the central West Bank. [end]
Settlers kill Palestinian attackers
Al Jazeera 1/24/2008
Two Palestinians have been shot dead after infiltrating the Jewish settlement of Kfar Etzion where they managed to stab a number of students, an Israeli radio report says. Several students injured and some were taken to hospital on Thursday. Settlements built on occupied Palestinian land are illegal according to international law. A resident of the settlement told Israel Radio that the two Palestinians were disguised as Israeli soldiers and were carrying knives and a pistol. They were killed after Jewish settlers overpowered and shot them. In a second incident, Palestinian fighters shot and killed one police officer and wounded another near the Shuafat refugee camp in northern Jerusalem, Micky Rosenfeld, a police spokesman, said. more..
Gaza sniper’s bullet fails to deter friends of fallen kibbutz volunteer
Cnaan Liphshiz, Ha’aretz 1/25/2008
Despite pressure from their families, eight volunteers at Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha say they’re determined to stay there as they deal with the tragic loss of their friend. A Palestinian sniper gunned down 20-year-old Carlos Chavez from Ecuador last week while he was working in a potato field facing the Gaza Strip. Hailing from seven countries on four continents, each one found a way to handle the crisis with loved ones from home. Dana Gottfried, Carlos’ girlfriend, called her parents in New York immediately after Carlos’ death. "I didn’t want them to hear it on the news," Dana told Anglo File at the kibbutz on Tuesday - exactly one week after the shooting. She says her parents’ first reaction was to think about Carlos’ family. Later they began worrying about her safety at the kibbutz, which is situated eight kilometers east of the central region of the Gaza Strip. more..
’Wartime’ in Israeli Border Town
Tim Franks, MIFTAH 1/24/2008
The good news, for Or Cohen, is that she has managed to coax people out of their houses in Sderot." Everyone is so sad and so anxious," she says. "People told me they were afraid to leave their homes". In the end, though, a little more than 100 people - mainly residents from Sderot - turned up at the town’s new community centre to join in that evening’s celebrations marking the festival of Tu B’Shevat, the Jewish "New Year for Trees". Ms Cohen had organised the entertainment." It should be a celebration," she told me. "It is a happy festival." But at the same time, ask anyone in Sderot, and they will say, as Ms Cohen puts it: "We are living in a war." ’Trauma’For the past seven years, Sderot has lived under a daily volley of rockets and mortars, fired by Palestinian militants in northern Gaza. Some of the teenagers who have come to the Tu B’Shevat celebrations broke away from the tables covered with dried fruit, soft drinks and wine, to try to explain what passes for normality in their town. more..
Ongoing Kassam attacks on Sderot and western Negev and the situation in Gaza
Government of Israel, ReliefWeb 1/24/2008
Since January 16, well over 200 Kassam rockets have been fired by Palestinian terrorists in the Gaza Strip at Sderot, Ashkelon and other communities in the western Negev. Despite this, the supply of electricity to Gaza from the Israeli and Egyptian power grids continues and represents about three quarters of Gaza’s electricity needs. DM Barak on Tuesday (22 Jan) authorized the entry of limited supplies into the Gaza Strip. Israel Foreign Ministry response to events at the Rafah crossing (23 Jan): The Egyptians are deployed along the border between Gaza and Egypt. It is their responsibility to ensure that the border operates properly, in accordance with the signed agreements. Israel expects the Egyptians to solve the problem. The UN Security Council convened an emergency meeting (22 Jan) to discuss the situation in the Gaza Strip. more..
Gaza rocket fire resumed
Shmulik Hadad, YNetNews 1/24/2008
Five rockets fired at Sderot Thursday evening; Islamic Jihad claims responsibility for first barrage in two days - Rocket fire from Gaza Strip resumed: After roughly 45 hours of relative quiet in the western Negav region, Palestinian terrorists fired five Qassam rockets at the southern town of Sderot Thursday evening. One rocket landed within the town while the others landed in open areas outside the city. No injuries or damage were reported in the latest barrage. At around 5:40 pm, the "Red Color" alert system warned of incoming rockets. A short time later, explosions could be heard in town. The Islamic Jihad’s military wing, the al-Quds Brigades, claimed responsibility for the rocket attack. Palestinian terrorists have not fired at Israel since 8 pm on Tuesday. That day, about 20 Qassam rockets were fired at Sderot and Gaza-region communities. more..
Fatah: More attacks to come
Ali Waked, YNetNews 1/24/2008
Al-Aqsa Brigades’ spokesman tells Ynet group plans more attacks in response to ’Israeli crimes’ - Fatah activists belonging to the "Brigades of Return" and to "Black September" claimed responsibility for carrying out the shooting attack in Shoafat Thursday evening. The attack left one Israeli dead and another one seriously wounded. A spokesman on behalf of the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, Fatah’s military wing, told Ynet that the attackers "returned to their base safely." The Fatah spokesman called a Ynet reporter to claim responsibility for the attack and said it marked the continuation of the organization’s new policy, as reported last week in another talk with Ynet. In that talk, the group said it was no longer committed to the calm with Israel and added that small cells were again active across the West Bank in order to prepare for a series of attacks. more..
Palestine Today 012408
Ghassan Bannoura - Audio Dept, International Middle East Media Center 1/24/2008
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 Thursday January 24th, 2008. The Israeli army kills one Palestinian and injures another in Gaza, and in the West Bank troops kidnap seven civilians, these stories and more coming up stay tuned. The News Cast Medical sources reported one Palestinian killed and another injured in the Israeli shelling of the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun on Thursday at dawn. Local sources said that Israeli tanks and bulldozers invaded the border area of Beit Hanoun and opened fire at the residents’ homes. Israeli sources stated that troops killed 1 Palestinian and injured another; the army also stated that troops kidnapped 56 Palestinians during the operation that ended early Thursday morning. more..
The Israeli army kills two Palestinians in two separate attacks on the Gaza Strip
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 1/23/2008
The Israeli army killed two Palestinians on Wednesday in two separate attacks in the Gaza Strip. On Wednesday midday a Palestinian farmer, Isma’el Al Attar, 50, was killed when Israeli army tanks stationed North West of Beit Lahiya town located in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, and opened fire at him while he was working on his land. Witnesses said that the farmer was working his land along with other farmers when tanks opened fire at them, the witnesses added that there was no provocation made by anyone in the area towards the army. Medical sources said that Al Attar suffered multiple gun-shot wounds in the head and died instantly. Earlier on Wednesday morning Israeli forces invaded the border area of Karm Abu Mo’amar, east of Rafah, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, during the invasion that lasted for three hours Israeli troops killed one Palestinian and injured another four. more..
7300 housing Units to be constructed in Israeli settlements located inside and around Jerusalem
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 1/23/2008
The Israeli municipality controlling the occupied city of Jerusalem approved 7300 new housing units to be added to five Israeli settlements located inside and around the city of Jerusalem. The announcement was made by the Mayor of the Israeli municipality, Youri Lewinski during an interview he made with the Israeli TV Channel 2 on Tuesday evening. Lewinski said that 3000 units will be added to Gilo settlement inside Jerusalem and around 1700 will be added to Bisgat Za’iv settlement, 1000 to Harhuma settlement 1200 in Ramot settlement and 400 in Navih Yakov settlement. Israeli media sources stated that the new construction order was made by the settlement planning committee and the Israeli Jerusalem municipality; the sources added that the Israeli Prime Minister Ehod Olmert was not informed of this plan and he was forced to accept it as a reality. more..
Eight Palestinian kidnapped by the army during invasion in several parts of the West Bank
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 1/23/2008
Palestinian sources reported that the Israeli army conducted several pre-dawn invasions that targeted Palestinian cities and villages located in the northern and central parts of the West Bank and kidnapped eight Palestinians on Wednesday. Two civilians were kidnapped when the Israeli army attacked and searched homes in Al Amari refugee camp and the village of Ein Ereek, both located near the central West Bank city of Ramallah. Witnesses to the two attacks said that troops searched and ransacked homes then took the two men to unknown locations; the two men were identified as Mohamed Awad, 23, from Ein Ereek village, and Dia’ Jabber, 18, from Al Amari refugee camp. Meanwhile five Palestinian civilians were kidnapped when Israeli troops invaded the villages of Zbuba and Seliat Al Harthia located near the northern West Bank city of Jenin. more..
Israel’s withholding of maps still hampers demining
IRIN News.org, Daily Star 1/24/2008
ZAWTAR WEST: Deminers clearing Israeli-dropped cluster bombs in South Lebanon are turning up an average of 10 new sites per month, while Israel continues to ignore requests for data that would assist clearing the estimated 1 million unexploded bomblets, which continue to kill and maim civilians and decimate rural livelihoods. A single cluster bomb can disperse hundreds of bomblets. "All these weapons systems are computerized and grid references are entered before the bombs drop. Not receiving the cluster-bomb strike data from the Israelis remains our biggest obstacle to clearance," Dalya Farran, a spokeswoman for the UN Mine Action Coordination Center for South Lebanon (MACC), told IRIN. The UN estimates that Israel rained down approximately 4 million bomblets - most US-supplied - onto South Lebanon in the last three days of its summer 2006 war against Lebanon, when a cease-fire had already been agreed. 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 Wall separating the southern part of the Gaza strip from Egypt in order to allow the Palestinian people to leave Gaza and shop for supplies in Egypt and come back to the Coastal region. Israeli army officials held the Egyptian army responsible of policing the borders since Israel claims that it has no troops at this section of the borders. On Wednesday at dawn the Palestinian resistance destroyed part of the Wall separating the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah from Egypt using five home made bombs, shortly afterwards thousands of Palestinian flocked through and started to buy food and fuel supplies from Egypt to bring... more..
Almost 2,500 new settler homes planned for East Jerusalem
Daily Star 1/24/2008
Israel has authorized the construction of nearly 2,500 new housing units in settlements across Occupied East Jerusalem, municipal officials authorities said on Wednesday. Palestinian officials slammed the move, saying it threatened to torpedo the peace negotiations the two sides revived under US stewardship in late November after a seven-year freeze. Municipal spokesman Gidi Shmerling told reporters that the city authorities "have obtained all the necessary authorizations for the building of 8,000 new housing units in Jerusalem." According to a list which was circulated Wednesday, 2,461 units are in neighborhoods in East Jerusalem, which the Palestinians plan to make the capital of their promised state. Construction, officials said, is due to begin shortly in the Jewish areas of Ramot, Pisgat Zeev, Armon Hantsiv and Har Homa in the eastern part of the Holy City. more..
Hamas militant killed in IDF arrest raid in southern Gaza Strip
Yuval Azoulay and Avi Issacharoffs, and Haaretz Service, Ha’aretz 1/23/2008
Israel Defense Forces troops killed a Hamas militant during a military operation in the southern Gaza Strip early Wednesday, Hamas sources said. The IDF confirmed that infantry and special forces had entered the southern Gaza Strip overnight Wednesday, conducting an arrest operation in the area between Khan Yunis and the Sufa Checkpoint. The army said militants opened fire on the troops, who returned fire, killing one of the militants. Some 20 militants were detained and taken to Israel for questioning. Residents reported that IDF tanks crossed into the territory after the clash. On Tuesday, at least 20 Qassam and mortars were fired at Sderot and the western Negev from the Gaza Strip. Related articles: Gazans flood across breached Egyptian border They neither see nor remember Palestinian water authority:... more..
Hamas militant killed in IDF raid in southern Gaza
Ha’aretz 1/24/2008
Israel Defense Forces troops killed a Hamas gunman during a military operation in the southern Gaza Strip early yesterday. Special forces had entered the area in a round-up raid when militants opened fire on the troops, IDF sources said. The troops fired back, killing one of the militants. Some 20 militants were detained and taken to Israel for questioning. In another operation in the West Bank, IDF troops yesterday arrested 13 Palestinians and took them in for questioning. (Yuval Azoulay) [end]
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 near Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip late Wednesday night. As the IDF was operating in the Strip, the movement of Palestinians into Egypt over the destroyed wall that once formed their border calmed down considerably. Palestinians in the coastal enclave reported that the vast majority of those who crossed into the Sinai Peninsula had already returned - except businessmen who stayed in Egypt to work and the sick and infirm who sought treatment in Egyptian hospitals. Palestinians also reported that many of those returning brought with them goods and livestock from their trip to Egypt. more..
IDF finds dangerous prohibited substances in factories near Nablus
JPOST.COM STAFF, Jerusalem Post 1/24/2008
Dangerous prohibited substances were found in two factories east of Nablus in a joint IDF, Civil Administration and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) operation, the IDF announced Wednesday night. Among the substances found in the Tuesday night operation, were four containers of Formalin, two containers with over 50-percent concentration of Acid Sulfate, 24 containers of Acid Sulfate, four boxes containing Silver Nitrate, two bottles containing over 30% concentration of Hydrogen Peroxide and one liter of Nitrate. The army said that the substances discovered can be used for the production of weaponry and explosives, adding that the IDF operations will continue in order to prevent the transfer of banned substances into the Palestinian territories. more..
Two sentenced for Israeli deaths
Al Jazeera 1/23/2008
A Palestinian Authority court in the occupied West Bank has sentenced two Palestinians to 15 years in jail for killing two Israelis last month. The Palestinians shot two off-duty but armed Israeli soldiers who were hiking near the city of Hebron. Two other Palestinians were also killed in the gun battle. Speaking on Tuesday, Samil al-Safi, a security official in Hebron, said the two "were criminals who carried out a criminal act against Israelis". He said the attack had "aimed to destroy the safety and security for the Palestinian security plan in the West Bank". Israeli rescue workers said a third person, a woman in her 20s, hid from the attackers to avoid being shot. Shortly after the shooting in the village of Halhul, Hamas and Islamic Jihad took responsibility for the attack. more..
Father of terror victim slams Olmert for letting PA try the killers
Avi Issacharoff and Yuval Azoulays, Reuters and Haaretz Service, Ha’aretz 1/24/2008
The father of an Israeli murdered last month by Palestinian terrorists while hiking near Hebron lashed out Wednesday at Prime Minister Ehud Olmert for failing to insist that they be extradited to Israel. The Palestinian Authority sentenced the perpetrators of the attack to 15 years in prison on Tuesday, for killing Ahikam Amihai and David Rubin, both Israel Defense Forces soldiers on leave. Rabbi Yehuda Amihai, Ahikam’s father, said that "the Palestinian Authority cannot bring murderers of soldiers to trial, only Israel can." The Hebron Jewish Council also expressed Wednesday its outrage over the fact that the PA was allowed to try the two terrorists, both of whom were employed by the PA. The defendants, 24-year-old Amar Taha, a Palestinian police officer, and 26-year-old Ali Dandanes, a PA court clerk, turned themselves... more..
Palestine Today 012308
Ghassan Bannoura - Audio Dept, International Middle East Media Center 1/23/2008
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 Wednesday January 23rd, 2008. The Israeli army kills two Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and kidnaps 12 civilians in the West Bank, these stories and more coming up stay tuned. The News Cast The Israeli army killed two Palestinians on Wednesday in two separate attacks in the Gaza Strip. On Wednesday midday a Palestinian farmer, Isma’el Al Attar, 50, was killed when Israeli army tanks stationed North West of Beit Lahiya town located in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, opened fire at him while he was working on his land. Earlier on Wednesday morning Israeli forces invaded the border area east of Rafah, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, during the invasion that lasted for three hours Israeli troops killed one Palestinian and injured another four. more..
IDF kills Hamas gunman in Gaza
Ali Waked, YNetNews 1/22/2008
Palestinian gunman killed as IDF clashes with Hamas in Gaza, sources report Israeli troops have launched an operation deep within Gaza - Israeli troops killed a Hamas militant in a clash in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, Hamas sources said. According to sources in Gaza, heavy exchanges of fire are taking place near Khan Younis, where the Hamas member was killed and a number of others were injured. Additional clashes took place in northern Gaza, residents said. Palestinian sources reported that an IDF force entered deep into Palestinian territory in what they said appeared to be the beginning of a full operation. Residents said Israeli tanks crossed into the territory after the clash. An army spokeswoman said she was looking into the report. Israeli forces frequently cross into Gaza to try to stop Islamist militants from firing rockets into Israel. more..
Israeli army invades Nablus; 15 Palestinians seized
Ma’an News Agency 1/22/2008
Nablus Ma’an The Israeli army invaded the city of Nablus at dawn on Tuesday, arresting 15 Palestinians including three members of the Palestinian security services. Palestinian security sources told Ma’an that more than 15 Israeli jeeps stormed the city from several sides and carried out an arrest campaign. In Askar refugee camp, east of Nablus, several citizens, including two members of the Palestinian security services were seized. More than eight Israeli military jeeps stormed the village of Asira, east of Nablus at two o’clock in the morning, apprehending twenty-four-year-old Assem Mohammed Rashid Hamadnh, along with a Palestinian policeman who works in Ramallah. more..
Palestinian dies of injuries 3 days after Israeli artillery bombardment
Ma’an News Agency 1/22/2008
Gaza Ma’an A thirty-one-year-old Palestinian has died of injuries he sustained during an Israeli attack on the Jabalia refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, medical sources announced on Tuesday morning. Mahmoud Al-Ghandour was seriously injured in the Israeli artillery bombardment of the Az-Zahra park area of the camp on January 19. [end]
Gaza: man dies of wounds sustained earlier in the week, while navy attacks fishermen
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 1/22/2008
Palestinian medical sources reported that a Palestinian man died on Tuesday morning due to wounds he sustained in Israeli army attacks on Sunday. The Islamic Jihad armed wing, Al Qudes Brigades, stated that the man who died on Tuesday is a member of the brigades and named him as Mohamed Al Ghandor. Al Ghandor sustained critical wounds on Sunday when Israeli jet fighters fired several missiles at a group of Palestinians in Beit Lahyia town in the northern part of the Gaza strip. Last week the Israeli Army attacks on Gaza left 37 Palestinians dead and at least 70 others injured. Meanwhile on Tuesday morning, Israeli navel boats opened fire at Palestinian fishermen in the southern Gaza strip town of Rafah, Israeli troops then took over the Fishing boats and kidnapped a number of Palestinian fishermen and took them to an unknown location, eyewitnesses reported. more..
The Israeli army injures a Palestinian youth and kidnaps him near Hebron city
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 1/22/2008
Israeli troops shot and injured a young Palestinian man late Monday night in the village of Al Shukh located north of the southern West Bank city of Hebron. Lou’e Warssanah, 19, sustained head injuries and was kidnapped by troops who took him to an Israeli hospital, local sources said. The sources added that Warssanah was injured during clashes that erupted between local youths and Israeli troops who invaded the village late Monday night. Eyewitnesses said that scores of local village youths organized a protest against the Israeli army attacks on the Gaza strip; troops attacked the protest injuring Warssanah and later kidnapped him. [end]
Israeli tanks shells civilians in southern Gaza Strip, no injures reported
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 1/22/2008
Palestinian sources reported that on Tuesday midday Israeli tanks shelled a group of Palestinian civilians in Khaza’a village near Khan Younis city in the southern part of the Gaza Strip [end]
Palestinian court sentences killers of two Israelis to 15 years
Avi Issacharoff and Yuval Azoulays and Reuters, Ha’aretz 1/23/2008
A special Palestinian Authority court in Hebron on Tuesday sentenced two PA employees to 15 years in jail for shooting dead two Israelis hiking near Hebron last month. The two, 24-year-old Amar Taha, a Palestinian police officer, and 26-year-old Ali Dandanes, a PA court clerk, turned themselves in after killing Ahikam Amihai and David Rubin roughly three weeks ago, fearing they would be captured by Israeli security forces. Amihai and Rubin were Israel Defense Forces soldiers on leave from their units. They were hiking near Hebron when they came under fire from three Palestinian terrorists in a Jeep. Amihai and Rubin were both armed, and managed to return fire, killing one of the terrorists. Their female companion, a Kiryat Arba resident who had joined them for the hike, was uninjured. more..
Palestinian jail for Israeli deaths
Al Jazeera 1/22/2008
A Palestinian Authority court in the occupied West Bank has sentenced two Palestinians to 15 years in jail for killing two Israelis last month. The Palestinians shot two off-duty but armed Israeli soldiers who were hiking near the city of Hebron. Two other Palestinians were also killed in the gun battle. Speaking on Tuesday, Samil al-Safi, a security official in Hebron, said the two "were criminals who carried out a criminal act against Israelis". He said the attack had "aimed to destroy the safety and security for the Palestinian security plan in the West Bank". Israeli rescue workers said a third person, a woman in her 20s, hid from the attackers to avoid being shot. Shortly after the shooting in the village of Halhul, Hamas and Islamic Jihad took responsibility for the attack. more..
Resistance fires homemade shells at settlements near the Gaza Strip
IMEMC News, International Middle East Media Center 1/22/2008
The Al Quds brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad, claimed responsibility on Tuesday evening of firing several homemade shells at Kfar Azza settlement, east of the Gaza Strip, and Al Majdal town, north of the Gaza Strip. In a press release, the Brigades said that its fighters fired one shell at Kfar Azza Israeli settlement, and that during the day the fighters fired eight other homemade shells at the settlement. Also, the Brigades added that its fighters fired two homemade shells at Al Majdal town, north of the Gaza Strip. The Brigades stated that the shelling comes is a natural response to the ongoing Israeli crimes and assaults against the Gaza Strip. According to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR)’s Weekly Report, during the week of 10- 16 January 2008, 22 Palestinians were killed and 51 were injured by the Israeli military in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. more..
Brigades target Israeli towns
Ma’an News Agency 1/22/2008
Gaza Ma’an The military wing of Islamic Jihad, the Al-Quds Brigades, claimed responsibility for launching two projectiles at the Israeli town of Sderot on Tuesday morning. The brigades issued a statement saying the attack was a response to the continued Israeli aggression against Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Separately, the An-Nasser Brigades, the military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees, claimed to have launched a projectile against the Israeli town Ashkelon on Monday evening. They said the attack was in retaliation for the Israeli siege on the Gaza Strip. [end]
Palestinians open fire at farmers in Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha
Shmulik Hadad, YNetNews 1/22/2008
Ecuadorian volunteer murdered in same area last week. Seven Qassam rockets, one mortar shell land in Israel; no injuries reported, but damage caused to crops - Palestinians opened fire Tuesday morning at farmers working in a field near Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha in southern Israel. There were no reports of injuries. An IDF force fired back at the shooters, and the farmers stopped their work and were removed from the field. An Ecuadorian volunteer was murdered by a Palestinian simper in the same area last week. Seven Qassam rockets and one mortar shells landed in Israel since the morning hours. There were no reports of injuries, but damage was caused to crops in a kibbutz at the Sdot Negev regional council. Two barrages were fired shortly before 8 am, as Sderot’s children were making their way to school. more..
Right-wingers combat illegal Palestinian outposts
Efrat Weiss, YNetNews 1/22/2008
’National Land Protection Trust’ issues report on illegal construction by Palestinians, says Civil Administration takes no action against Palestinian outposts in Israeli-held C Areas - Amidst heavy debate concerning illegal Israeli outposts, the right-wing National Land Protection Trust has issued its own report regarding illegal outposts erected by the Palestinians. Chairman of the Land Protection Trust, Bezalel Smotrich, said that "if there is indeed a rule of law, then there can be no discriminating between Jews and Arabs. The edict issued in the beginning of 2007, which indicated that illegal construction is a criminal offense and allows authorities to take action against offenders, does not indicate whether the construction in question is Israeli or Palestinian." Smotrich also noted that the National Land Protection Trust has records of every single Palestinian outpost. more..
Israel unveils plans for missile to counter Hezbollah missiles
Barak Ravid, and Haaretz Service, Ha’aretz 1/23/2008
Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, Israel’s arms development firm, unveiled plans for a new missile system Tuesday designed to intercept mid to long-range rockets and missiles of the kind used by Hezbollah during the Second Lebanon War. The firm introduced the "Stunner" missile during a visit from Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, the Prime Minister’s Office said. Jointly developed by Rafael and the U.S. defense contractor Raytheon as a counter to medium-range missiles and rockets, Stunner is likely to become operational in four years. It will be incorporated into the new Magic Wand anti-missile system. Because of the advanced technologies involved, the estimated cost of each individual missile is the relatively high sum of several hundred thousand dollars. A defense source said Tuesday that the missile is meant to serve as the interceptor element of a defensive system called Magic Wand. more..
Anti-rocket missile said to be 4 years off
Yuval Azoulay, Ha’aretz 1/23/2008
Stunner, the missile being developed jointly by Rafael and the U.S. defense contractor Raytheon as a counter to medium-range missiles and rockets, is likely to become operational in four years. Because of the advanced technologies involved, the estimated cost of each individual missile is the relatively high sum of several hundred thousand dollars. A security source said yesterday that the missile is meant to serve as the interceptor element of a defensive system called Magic Wand. The system is meant to provide a defense against missiles and rockets whose range is between 40 and 250 kilometers. Magic Wand will probably be incorporated in the future into a defensive structure that Israel is developing to counter rockets and missiles. The first layer of this defensive structure will include Iron Dome, which Rafael is developing against Qassam and Katyusha rockets. more..
Palestine Today 012208
Ghassan Bannoura - Audio Dept, International Middle East Media Center 1/22/2008
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 22nd, 2008. As Israeli continues to siege Gaza, Palestinian women protest at Rafah crossing, while in the West Bank the Israeli army kidnaps 16 civilians, these stories and more coming up stay tuned. The News Cast Palestinian medical sources reported that a Palestinian man died on Tuesday morning due to wounds he sustained in Israeli army attacks on Sunday. The Islamic Jihad armed wing, Al Qudes Brigades, stated that the man who died on Tuesday is a member of the brigades and named him as Mohamed Al Ghandor. Al Ghandor sustained critical wounds on Sunday when Israeli jet fighters fired several missiles at a group of Palestinians in Beit Lahyia town in the northern part of the Gaza strip. more..
One killed, two injured in Israeli airstrike in Gaza
Ma’an News Agency 1/21/2008
Gaza Ma’an Israeli warplanes killed a Palestinian activist and wounded two others, one of them seriously in an airstrike on a civilian car in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City on Sunday evening. Muawiya Hassanain, the director of ambulance and emergency service in the Palestinian health ministry identified the deceased as twenty-five-year-old Ibrahim Al-Ghuti, a fighter with the Al-Mujahidin Brigades, an armed group linked to Fatah. Hassanain said that two other injured Palestinians were treated at Ash-Shifa hospital in Gaza City. The main military wing of Fatah, the Al-Aqsa Brigades, announced that the target of the Israeli raid was As’ad Abu Shari’a, a leader in the Al-Mujahidin Brigades. They said that he had been seriously injured in the attack. more..
Israeli settlers attack Palestinian women and children in Hebron; seven injured
Saed Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 1/21/2008
In the latest Israeli settler attack to take place in the Palestinian city of Hebron, a group of armed settlers attacked and beat a group of women and children, and a human rights worker who was accompanying them, on Saturday evening. The settlers threw stones and then assaulted the group, beating them into the ground. The injured were unable to be evacuated to a hospital for several hours, as the Israeli military closed the area and prevented ambulances from entering to evacuate the wounded. It is common for Israeli troops stationed in Hebron to target Palestinian victims of Israeli settler attacks for further repression and restrictions. Indeed, after an Israeli settler killed 27 Palestinians praying in a mosque in 1994, the mosque was split in half, with half of it turned into a synagogue -- as was demanded by the killer. more..
Lebanon says troops opened fire on IAF planes over south of country
The Associated Press, Ha’aretz 1/21/2008
Lebanese troops opened fire on Monday on Israel Air Force warplanes flying reconnaissance missions over southern Lebanon, but no hits were reported, the Lebanese army said. The firing by the Lebanese army on IAF fighter jets flying over southern Lebanon was the second time since a UN-brokered cease-fire ended a 34-day war between Israeli forces and Hezbollah guerrillas in August 2006. A senior Lebanese military official told The Associated Press that IAF planes flew at a medium altitude over the southern city of Tyre and the border town of Naqoura on the Mediterranean coastline. The Lebanese army said in a statement that six Israeli warplanes violated airspace in southern Lebanon, drawing anti-aircraft fire near the coastal city of Tyre. more..
Siege on Gaza / Paying the price
Avi Issacharoff, Ha’aretz 1/22/2008
Defense Ministry officials yesterday pointed with satisfaction at the low number of Qassam rockets launched at Israel from the Gaza Strip in the past few days. Here was proof of the wisdom of Defense Minister Ehud Barak’s decision last weekend to impose a total blockade on Gaza, in response to the ceaseless fire from Hamas. Just last week there were 42 launches a day on average, whereas in the past two days there were only four. And maybe finally, Israelis hope, the magical solution to the Qassams has been found that will save the Israel Defense Forces from a major ground offensive with heavy casualties. But on Sunday it already emerged that not everyone in the defense establishment shared Barak’s new-old thinking, that pressure on the Palestinian populace in Gaza is to be used against the Qassams only as a last resort. more..
A Palestinian killed in northern Gaza as Israeli aircraft shell a home
Nisreen Qumsieh, International Middle East Media Center 1/21/2008
Israeli aircraft shelled overnight Sunday an occupied home in Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in northern Gaza. The attack left one Palestinian killed another two injured, one critically and were moved to the hospital for receiving treatment. On Sunday night, Gaza had plunged in darkness after the cut of the fuel supply in the coastal territory which caused the death of five Gazans hospital patients. [end]
Palestinian fighter dies of his wounds in Gaza
Ma’an News Agency 1/21/2008
Gaza Ma’an A twenty-three-year-old Palestinian fighter named Imam Ahmad died of his wounds on Monday, after being wounded days ago in an Israeli air raid on a civilian car in the town of Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip. Ahmad was a member of Al-Mujahidin Brigades, a military offshoot of Fatah. Muawiya Hassanein, the director of ambulance and emergency service in the Palestinian Health Ministry said the victim has been hospitalized in the Intensive Care Unit at Ash-Shifa hospital in Gaza City. [end]
A Week of Funerals in Gaza
Palestine Chronicle 1/21/2008
"We see them all the time, but we cannot stay inside forever," Yusef al-Yazji, a mourning relative of the pair, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) Saturday, January 19." We have to work to support our families. We are not wanted men, so we did not think we had to hide," he added after paying last respects to Mohammad and his eight-year-old son. The pair were killed in an Israeli missile raid Wednesday night, January 17, targeting a car carrying Hamas resistance fighters. It was indeed a week of funerals in Gaza with at least 37 people, including children, toddlers and women, killed in the past seven days. Israel has launched an aggressive military operation in Gaza to stop Palestinian rockets fired on neighboring Israeli towns. Palestinian civilians take the brunt of the random raids. Two more Palestinians were killed Saturday in a pre-dawn Israeli air strike in northern Gaza. more..
Al-Qassam Brigades: 160 projectiles fired from Gaza since Tuesday
Ma’an News Agency 1/20/2008
Gaza Ma’an Hamas’ military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, say they have launched 160 homemade projectiles and 100 mortar shells at Israeli towns bordering the Gaza Strip since an Israeli incursion last Tuesday that killed 19 people, including 13 Al-Qassam Brigades fighters Calling their military operations against Israel Israel "the lava of the siege," the Al-Qassam Brigades said that they fired 66 projectiles at the town of Sderot alone. The Israeli government has repeatedly stated that stopping projectile attacks is the main goal of its ongoing military assault on the Gaza Strip. At least 38 Palestinians have been killed there since last Monday. They claimed responsibility on Saturday evening for firing another homemade projectile at Sderot affirming that they will continue to fight the Israeli occupation by every available means "until they defeat the Israeli army on the thresholds of the Gaza Strip. more..
Palestinian military groups claim attacks on Israeli areas bordering Gaza Strip
Ma’an News Agency 1/20/2008
Gaza Ma’an Several Palestinian military groups claimed responsibility for attacks on Israeli targets near the Gaza Strip on Saturday night and Sunday morning in response to Israel’s ongoing assault on the coastal territory, which has killed 38 Palestinians in less than a week. The Al-Mujahidin Brigades, believed to be linked to the Fatah movement, claimed on Saturday evening responsibility for firing a homemade projectile at the Israeli town of Sderot. Meanwhile, the military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees, the An-Naser Salah Addin Brigades said their fighters launched two homemade projectiles at the Israeli military installation at Nahal Oz. Separately, the military wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades claimed responsibility for firing two mortar shells at the Kerem Shalom area and another one at Sderot. more..
Islamic Jihad’s military wing ’launches projectile at Sderot’
Ma’an News Agency 1/20/2008
Gaza Ma’an The military wing of Islamic Jihad, the Al-Quds Brigades claimed responsibility on Sunday for firing two homemade projectiles at the Israeli town of Sderot, north of the Gaza Strip. They said in a statement that the shelling commemorates the anniversary of the "martyrdom" in 1995 of the founder and Secretary General of the Islamic Jihad, Fathi Shiqaqi. [end]
Israeli forces kill Palestinian man in Tulkarem during wide-scale attack
Nisreen Qumsieh, International Middle East Media Center 1/21/2008
A young Palestinian man was killed by Israeli gunfire in the Thenaba neighborhood in eastern Tullkarem Monday morning, when Israeli forces invaded the neighborhood and besieged his home. Medical sources reported that the man killed Monday morning was identified as Murad al Basha, 23. The sources added that Al Basha died immediately after being shot by Israeli troops with several rounds in different parts of his body. Palestinian sources reported that the wide-scale military operation is ongoing in the area, with troops executing house-to-house searches after imposing curfew in the area. [end]
Israeli forces kill Palestinian man after standoff in Tulkarem
Ma’an News Agency 1/21/2008
Tulkarem Ma’an Israeli forces killed one Palestinian during an incursion in the Zhinnaba neighborhood east of Tulkarem in the northern West Bank, witnesses said. The victim was a twenty-five-year-old member of the armed wing of Islamic Jiha named Ibrahim Al-Basha. More than 15 Israeli military vehicles invaded the area and surrounded Al-Bashas house. The soldiers used a public address system to call on residents to quit the area. They then called on Al-Basha to surrender. He refused, opening fire on the Israeli soldiers, injuring one in the shoulder. The solders returned fire, killing Al-Basha. Witnesses said the soldiers used a robot to drag Al-Basha from his house after he was shot before they were able to approach him for fear that he was wearing explosives. more..
IDF officer lightly wounded, militant killed in Tul Karm raid
Yuval Azoulay, Ha’aretz 1/22/2008
An Israel Defense Forces officer was lightly wounded and a Palestinian gunman killed on Monday during an exchange of fire in an IDF operation in the West Bank City of Tul Karm targeting wanted militants. The wounded officer, Lieutenant Colonel Nir Baron, is the regiment commander of the IDF’s Nachshon unit. The troops, led by Baron, entered a Tul Karm house to find the militant, Murad Al-Bassa, when they came under short-range fire. Baron was lightly wounded in his hand from grenade shrapnel when fired upon. He then returned fire, killing Al-Bassa. Baron was later taken to a hospital in Kfar Sava for further medical treatment. In a separate operation on Monday, IDF troops uncovered a stockpile of weapons in a house in Abu Dis, just outside Jerusalem. more..
Israeli forces seize five Palestinians in West Bank raids
Ma’an News Agency 1/21/2008
Bethlehem Ma’an Israeli forces seized five Palestinians in the West Bank on Monday morning, claiming that they were "wanted activists." Israeli media said that homemade explosives were found in the home of one of the detainees in the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem. [end]
Special for Tu B’Shvat: Goat-manned outposts
Efrat Weiss, YNetNews 1/21/2008
Right-wing activists find original way to ’take over’ more West Bank lands by releasing goats in-between manned outposts; say ’goats more difficult to remove than caravans’ - Right-wing activists have discovered feisty new recruits to aid them in "capturing" West Bank lands. These are herds of goats that they have released in the hills and mountain between manned outposts. "This is a sure fire way to attain additional lands without using caravans or trailers," said Bentzi Gupshtein, who organized this unique operation. The right-wing group named "Hasidei Meir", after extreme right-wing leader Rabbi Meir Kahane began to seize West Bank lands roughly a year ago by planting trees in unmanned West Bank fields and hills. This year is a Shmita year however, which under Jewish law mandates allowing the land to rest by not planting any new crops or plants. more..
Palestinian security ’detain four Hamas members’
Ma’an News Agency 1/20/2008
Nablus Ma’an Hamas said on Sunday that Fatah-allied Palestinian security forces detained four Hamas members in the West Bank on Saturday. According to Hamas, the detainees were from the cities of Tulkarem and Jenin, in the northern West Bank. [end]
Israeli forces seize Bethlehem governor’s aide
Ma’an News Agency 1/21/2008
Bethlehem Ma’an Israeli forces seized forty-year-old Muhammad Abu Alia, an advisor to the governor of Bethlehem and a Fatah activist, from Duheisha refugee camp south of the West Bank city of Bethlehem on Sunday night. Palestinian security sources said that at least 10 Israeli military vehicles entered Bethlehem from the north, near Rachel’s Tomb and moved south towards the camp. Israeli soldiers abducted Abu Alia after surrounding his house. Separately, Israeli forces raided the town of Al-Khadr, south of Behtlehem. Witnesses said the soldiers ransacked the home of Al-Khadr resident Walid Al-Julani while firing sound grenades. No one was arrested in the raid. [end]
Israelis kidnap the Governor’s consultant to religious affairs in Bethlehem
Nisreen Qumsieh, International Middle East Media Center 1/21/2008
Israeli forces kidnapped, Mohammad Abu Alia, the Governor’s consultant of religious affairs, and a senior leader of Fatah in Al Duhiesheh refugee camp in the southern West bank city of Bethlehem. Abu Alia, 40, is the Secretary of Fatah movement in Al Duhiesheh refugee camp and the consultant of the Salah al Ta’mary, the Governor of Bethlehem. For his part, the Governor condemned the abduction saying that the Israeli procedures are non-stop and they illustrate Israeli intentions to disrupt the peace process [end]
Qalqilia police arrest gang of ’olive tree thieves’
Ma’an News Agency 1/20/2008
Qalqilia Ma’an Police in the West Bank City of Qalqilia say the have arrested a gang of local Palestinians for uprooting ancient olive trees from Palestinian land and selling them to Israeli settlers. Qalqilia Police Chief Khalil Hassan said that the Israeli settlers then re-plant the trees in their own fields, claiming that they belonged to their Jewish ancestors. Muayyad Abbas, the director of the criminal investigations department in Qalqilia, said the police were alerted to the gang’s activities by an informant. He said the gang was in possession of olive trees when they were arrested. [end]
West Bank Jewish settler population rises by 5.1 percent
Agence France-Presse, ReliefWeb 1/20/2008
JERUSALEM, Jan 20, 2008 (AFP) - The number of Jewish settlers living in the occupied West Bank excluding annexed Arab east Jerusalem rose by 5. 1 percent last year, figures released by the Israeli interior ministry on Sunday showed. The Jewish population increased to 282,362 in January this year compared to 268,163 in January 2007 and 253,371 in the first month of 2006. The figures exclude a further 200,000 or so settlers in east Jerusalem which Israel annexed following its capture in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. The population increase in the settlements is three times greater than the 1. 7 percent increase in the Israeli population as a whole. The rise is attributed both to settlement expansion and to a high birth rate among religious communities. West of Ramallah, close to the Green Line separating Israel from the West Bank, lies the largest settlement, ultra-orthodox Modiin Illit, which is home to 35,895 people. more..
Sderot residents: Barak folded, now Qassams are back
Shmulik Hadad, YNetNews 1/21/2008
(VIDEO) Nine rockets and 13 mortar shells land in Israel on Monday as defense minister announces easing of closure on Gaza. ’Resumption of rockets is proof that Barak was brash,’ says chairman of Committee for a Secure Sderot - VIDEO - Sderot residents found little solace in Defense Minister Ehud Barak ’s call for Israel to exert "more and more pressure on the Gaza Strip" on Monday evening. Earlier in the day Barak consented to ease the near-complete closure imposed on the Hamas -controlled territory, authorizing the entry of humanitarian aid and a one-time shipment of diesel fuel to power Gaza’s electricity station less than a day after it was shut down. Shortly after Barak’s pronouncements the relative respite in rocket attacks on southern Israel seemed over, with nine Qassam rockets and 13 mortar shells landing in and around communities in the western Negev. more..
Palestine Today 012108
Ghassan Bannoura - Audio Dept, International Middle East Media Center 1/21/2008
Click on Link to download or play MP3 file || 3 m 0s || 2. 75 MB || Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Centre, www. imemc. org, for Monday January 21st, 2008. The Israeli army kills one Palestinian man in the West Bank and steps up the Siege on Gaza, these stories and more coming up stay tuned. The News Cast Thousands of Palestinians, including children, public figures and medical workers, took out to the streets of Gaza city on Monday, in protest of the crippling siege, Gaza Strip has been going through since June 2007, especially with the recently tightened sieges. Marchers, headed by the National Committee for Breaking the Siege, walked down in Gaza streets, as loudspeakers chanted ’ no for the repressive siege’. Dozens of children carried posters in English and Arabic, condemning the Israel-imposed closure on Gaza, and appealing... more..
Israeli missile strikes kill 2 Gaza militants
Reuters, YNetNews 1/20/2008
Two Palestinian gunmen killed in two separate IDF strikes in Gaza, Hamas reports - Israeli missile strikes killed at least two Palestinian militants and critically wounded two others in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, local medical workers and Hamas officials said. Hamas Islamists, who control the coastal territory, said the targets of the Israeli strikes were militants who were involved in firing makeshift rockets into southern Israel. The Israeli army confirmed it carried out the two missile strikes. Four Qassam rockets have landed in Israel on Sunday, causing no injuries. Two women were treated for shock in the town of Sderot as a result of one barrage. Earlier this evening Palestinian sources reported that Israeli Navy vessels fired flares over the Jabaliya refugee camp near Gaza City. more..
Quds Brigades fighters exchange fire with invading forces in Qabatia
IMEMC Staff, International Middle East Media Center 1/20/2008
Fighter of the Al Quds Brigades, the armed wing if the Islamic Jihad, exchanged fire on Sunday at dawn, with Israeli forces invading Qabatia town, near the northern West Bank city of Jenin. In a press release, the Al Quds Brigades reported that its fighters clashed with Israeli forces invading the town from several directions, and hurled grenades at them. The Brigades stated that its fighters will not stop their resistance activities against the Israeli occupation and that they will not remain idle while the army is committing daily crimes against the Palestinian people. Earlier on Saturday, the Israeli army killed two Palestinian fighters in Jabalia town, in the northern part of the Gaza Strip. Saturday’s fatalities bring the death toll in the Gaza Strip this week to 37, most of the casualties were civilians. more..
Siyam: "Security forces arrested a suicide bomber who intended to kill Haniyya"
IMEMC Staff, International Middle East Media Center 1/20/2008
Palestinian Legislator of the Hamas movement, previous Minister of Interior, Sa’id Siyam,stated on Friday that Hamas-controlled security forces in the Gaza Strip arrested a resident who intended to carry a suicide bombing in Gaza in order to kill Hamas leader Ismail Haniyya while he was praying in a Gaza mosque. In a press conference from his home in Gaza, Siyam presented pictures of the bomber and his last statement, and added that the bomber received orders from Tayyib Abdul-Rahim, and other main Fateh leaders in Ramallah, to detonate himself near Haniyya, and that Abdul-Rahim vowed to him that the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah will cover the finance expenses of his family and rebuild their home. According to Siyam, the officials in charge of the plan are Ahmad Mansour, a Fateh leader from fled Gaza to Egypt, Thafir Abu Mathkour in Ramallah, and other Fateh members who fled... more..
Number of settlers rises by 5% in 2007
Tani Goldstein, YNetNews 1/20/2008
Jewish population in West Bank continued to grow in 2007 in both religious and secular settlements - The Jewish population in West Bank settlements grew by 5. 2% in 2007, rising by 14,000 residents from 268,000 at the end of 2006 to 282,000 at the end of 2007. According to the Interior Ministry, which provided the data, the increase should be attributed both to natural growth and to internal migration from communities within the Green Line to settlements. Naturally, the statistics do not include illegal outposts in the region. A substantial part of the growth in Israeli population was registered in the large haredi settlements, including Beitar Illit, Modi’in Illit and Immanuel, where the birthrate was exceptionally high. But the growth was not exclusive to haredi communities, and was noted in secular ones as well, including Maale Adumim, Givat Ze’ev and Ariel. more..
’Israel’s sanctions strengthen Hamas’
Ali Waked, YNetNews 1/20/2008
As Gaza plunges into darkness due to power shortage, locals warn of impending humanitarian crisis. One resident says Israel’s ’collective punishment’ increases solidarity among Palestinians - Wide areas in the Gaza Strip plunged into darkness Sunday evening, as a local power plant was forced to shut down its turbines after Israel stopped fuel supply into the Strip. Many Gazans now fear that a massive humanitarian crisis is imminent, despite Israel’s claims that 70% of power supply is still provided by an Israeli plant. Hospitals in the Strip have already announced the cancellation of all operations scheduled for the coming days. Health officials are worried that electrical medical equipment, such as dialysis machines and respirators, would collapse. According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, 10 minutes without electricity could lead to the death of dozens of patients. more..
VIDEO - Gaza power plant begins shutting down
YNetNews 1/20/2008
(Video) Israeli power, fuel sanctions on Gaza begin taking their toll as Strip’s main power plant initiates shutdown procedures. UNRWA warns of ’significant impact on daily lives of hundreds of thousands of people’ - VIDEO - Gaza’s main power plant began shutting down on Sunday due to a fuel shortage caused by Israel’s closure of the territory’s borders in response to Palestinian rocket attacks. Video courtesy of infolive. tv Defense Minister Ehud Barak ordered a tightening of the closure imposed... more..
Hilltop youth say they no longer believe in ’the rule of heretics’
Nadav Shragai, Ha’aretz 1/20/2008
Seven 14-year-old girls who were arrested last month at the unauthorized West Bank settlement outpost of Givat Haor near Beit El, were put in the Neveh Tirza jail for three weeks due to their refusal to identify themselves or recognize the authority of the court to rule on their case. After they subjected the legal establishment to public humiliation, a "creative solution" - as defined by Dr. Yitzhak Kadmon, head of the Council for the Welfare of the Child - was found last week. Jerusalem District Court judge Noam Sohlberg subsequently ruled that police were obliged to identify the girls, and not force the girls to identify themselves. Sohlberg decided that if police had not identified the minors within 48 hours, they would be released from custody. On the basis of this decision, the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court freed four of the girls on Friday. more..
IDF chief: Home front becoming battlefront
Aviram Zino, YNetNews 1/20/2008
Israel’s top military man, Gabi Ashkenazi warns home front is becoming part of the battlefront in Herzliya Conference held in Knesset - IDF Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi warned Sunday that Israel’s home front was quickly becoming the battlefront. "In every conflict, the threat on the home front is increasing and it is becoming part of the battlefront. We see this everyday in Gaza Vicinity communities," Ashkenazi said in a speech at the Herzliya Conference, hosted by the Interdisciplinary Center and held at the Knesset. He added that the IDF operates in Gaza day and night in order to confront this threat. Ashkenazi that the steadfastness of residents of Sderot and other Gaza Vicinity communities was exemplary. Ashkenazi also mentioned that a nuclear-armed Iran represented a threat to the Middle East as whole that Israel could not allow. more..
Two Hamas fighters killed in Gaza
Ma’an News Agency 1/19/2008
Gaza Ma’an Two Palestinian activists affiliated to Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades were killed and three others injured in an Israeli air raid on a group of fighters who attempted to stop the infiltration of an Israeli force into Izbat Abed Rabbo in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, on Saturday morning. Muawiya Hassanain, the director of ambulance and emergency services in the Palestinian health ministry named the victims as Eyhab Al-Banna and Ali Jum’a. He added that three wounded were taken to hospital. In the same regard, another Al-Qassam activist twenty-one-year-old Shadi Qteifan has died of wounds he sustained two days ago east of Gaza City. Hassanain said that the Israeli forces fired at ambulances as they tried to evacuate injured people, preventing ambulance crews from reaching the injured. Separately, a group of Palestinian activists survived an assassination... more..
Hamas: We foiled Fatah plot on Haniyeh
Reuters, YNetNews 1/19/2008
Would-be suicide bomber tasked with killing Hamas leader nabbed, senior group member says; Fatah denies allegations - A senior Hamas figure in the Gaza Strip on Saturday accused rival Fatah of plotting to assassinate Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh as he prayed and said the would-be suicide bomber had been arrested and had confessed. "There was a plan by a suicide bomber wearing an explosives belt to assassinate Haniyeh as he prayed in the mosque. He was arrested and confessed," Said Siam, who oversees Hamas government security forces in Gaza and is a former interior minister in the Hamas government, told reporters. Haniyeh was prime minister of the Hamas-led government which Abbas sacked after the Gaza takeover. A Fatah spokesman dismissed Siam’s allegations. "We deny any involvement or considering any bomb plot in mosques against any Palestinian figure, whether it be Haniyeh or anybody else," Fahmi al-Zareer said. more..
Israeli Srikes Kill 36 in Gaza
MIFTAH, MIFTAH 1/19/2008
This week witnessed one of the worst displays of Israeli violence against Palestinians in recent years. 36 Palestinians, consisting of at least 10 innocent civilians, have been killed and over one hundred wounded thus far by Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip from January 15-19. The number of Palestinians who have been killed in Gaza alone by Israeli aggression since November 2007 has now reached approximately 130 people. The violence began just one day after Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and former Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmad Qurei had met in Jerusalem to conduct quiet negotiations over core issues such as Jerusalem, refugees, borders and settlements. The two parties, following the visit from US President G. W. Bush, aim to reach a framework and an agreement on the establishment of a Palestinian state by the end of 2008. more..
Israel seals off Gaza; prevents UN aid from entering
Saed Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 1/19/2008
After over six months of closure, the 1. 5 million Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip have come to depend heavily on aid from the United Nations. Although they are willing and able to work, the Israeli closure has devastated the economy, and prevented employment, imports and exports. Now, the Israeli forces that completely control Gaza’s borders have sealed the border even to the UN emergency aid vehicles. Sixty-one patients have died since last June due to the Israeli closure, which has prevented them from receiving needed medical care. The hospitals in Gaza have been unable to receive the supplies necessary for providing quality care, and patients in need of equipment or care unavailable in Gaza have been prevented from leaving. On Thursday, in the midst of a large-scale military invasion of Gaza in which 34 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces over the last week, including... more..
Israeli forces seize two Fatah activists in northern West Bank
Ma’an News Agency 1/19/2008
Tulkarem Ma’an Israeli forces apprehended two Fatah-affiliated activists in the northern West Bank town of Zeita north of Tulkarem on Saturday morning. Eyewitnesses told Ma’an that an Israeli force invaded the town at two o’clock in the morning and carried out inspections in several houses, before arresting twenty-year-old Rabah Rabah and twenty-year-old ’Eid Bawaqna. [end]
Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades fire projectiles at Israeli military post
Ma’an News Agency 1/19/2008
Gaza Ma’an The military wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades claimed responsibility on Friday night for launching three homemade projectiles at an Israeli runway and military post in the area of Juhr Ad-Deik, east of Nusayrat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. They said in a statement that the shelling came in retaliation for Israeli atrocities against the Palestinian people in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. [end]
Qassams wreck Israeli idyll near Ashkelon
Ofra Edelman, Ha’aretz 1/19/2008
It’s 2 P. M. on Friday at Moshav Nativ Ha’asara, south of Ashkelon. Red-roofed homes, green gardens, sunbeams hitting the greenhouses. From the highest points the sea is visible. The concrete wall next to the deserted playground is the first false note in the idyll. A large, gray concrete barrier stands in the background. The Gazan town of Beit Hanoun begins a few yards from the other side. Welcome to the land of the Qassams. It’s 3 P. M. , and 50 men have begun their weekly soccer game. Their kids play nearby. The benchwarmers joke with the reporter: "Never mind the Qassams, see to some lights for the field and we’re golden." Twenty minutes into the game, the "Tzeva Adom" alert - Color Red - bursts from a hidden loudspeaker. Sweaty and panting, the men run to a nearby migunit shelter. As soon as the missile hits the ground they return to the game. more..
Israeli forces seize three ’wanted’ Palestinians in West Bank
Ma’an News Agency 1/19/2008
Bethlehem Ma’an Israeli forces seized three Palestinians in the West Bank on Saturday morning, claiming they are "wanted activists." Hebrew sources reported that the Israeli army arrested the three in the West Bank, and that one of them had a knife in his car when he was seized at a military checkpoint near Ramallah in the central West Bank. [end]
Two military groups attack Israeli patrol
Ma’an News Agency 1/19/2008
Gaza Ma’an The military wing affiliated to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, and Fatah’s Al-Aqsa Brigades claimed joint responsibility on Saturday for throwing an explosive device at an Israeli patrol east of Gaza City. They said in a statement that the joint operation reflects resistance unity. [end]
Al-Qassam Brigades vow to continue projectile attacks
Ma’an News Agency 1/19/2008
Gaza Ma’an Hamas’ military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, claimed responsibility on Saturday for firing a homemade projectile at the Israeli town of Sderot. They affirmed in a statement that they will continue launching projectiles at Israeli towns in retaliation for the "ugly Israeli criminal acts committed against the Palestinian people." They mentioned in the statement that they have launched 159 projectiles since the Israeli massacre at Az-Zeitoun neighborhood in Gaza City on January 15 left 17 dead, including five civilians and the son of senior Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahhar. [end]
Israel Closes Vital Gaza Crossings
Ibrahim Barzak, MIFTAH 1/19/2008
Israel sealed all border crossings with the Gaza Strip on Friday, cutting the flow of vital supplies in an attempt to stop Palestinian rocket attacks on Israeli border towns. But the rockets kept flying and Israel hit back with airstrikes against a rocket squad, a Hamas government building and a Hamas militia base, killing one militant and two civilians, Hamas said. U. N. officials warned that the Israeli closure of the Gaza crossings would increase hardship in the impoverished territory of 1. 4 million Palestinians. The Gaza quagmire could complicate President Bush’s efforts to prod the sides toward a final peace deal by year’s end and sour newly revived talks between Israel and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ West Bank government. Abbas spokesman Nabil Abu Rdeineh said Friday that Israeli operations in the Gaza Strip and West Bank "will negatively impact the negotiations, and we warn against the continuation of this policy." more..
In Gaza, life destroyed by the Qassams
Catrin Ormestad, Ha’aretz 1/19/2008
The Qassam crew arrived in the late afternoon. The two men were in their mid-twenties, both from Hamas, and probably from Beit Hanun. The place they had chosen was perfect: an orange grove, only a few kilometers from the border with Israel. The roofs of the houses in Sderot are clearly visible between the palm trees. In the small house behind the orange grove, Khadra Wahdan, 52, was making pita when she suddenly spotted the militants. It was not the first time they had fired Qassams from the fields around the house, but they had never come so close before. She ran out to tell them to leave. "What are you doing here? Go away! There are children in the house!" she yelled. At that moment, an Israeli shell exploded at the entrance to the house. Khadra died instantly, as did a 15-year-old boy who was collecting firewood in the groves. more..
Israeli jet fighters attack northern Gaza killing two, death toll stands at 37 this week
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 1/19/2008
Palestinian sources reported that two Palestinians said to be resistance fighters for Al Qassam Brigades the armed wing of Hamas were killed on Saturday morning, when Israeli jet fighters fired missiles at them in the northern Gaza Strip town on Jabaliya. Medical sources identified them as; Ali Jom’a and Ihab Al Bana, both in their 20’s. The sources added that another four were injured during the attack. Witnesses said that Israeli tanks and bulldozers invaded the farming area near the town, undercover Israeli troops clashed with Palestinian resistance fighters, during the clashes, Israeli jet fighters fired missiles at the Palestinian fighters positions killing two and injuring four. Also on Saturday Israeli jet fighters attacked civilian cars east of Gaza City, damage was reported but no injuries. Saturday’s fatalities bring the death toll in the Gaza Strip this week to 37, all due to Israeli attacks. more..
PRC leader: plot to assassinate Haniyeh was "evil"
Ma’an News Agency 1/19/2008
Gaza Ma’an A leader from the the military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), theAn-Nasser brigades leaders, on Saturday described the attempted plot to assassinate deposed Palestinian Prime Minister Isma’il Haniyeh as "evil." Abu Abir told Ma’an the plotters had taken a step too far and should expect a strong reaction from the An-Nasser Brigades. There are people who live among us but they are troublemakers and want to destroy any move towards peace. [end]
Fatah denies Hamas accusations of plot to assassinate Haniyeh
Ma’an News Agency 1/19/2008
Gaza Ma’an The Palestinian presidency on Saturday denied Hamas claims that Fatah had planned to assassinate deposed Prime Minister Isma’il Haniyeh, calling the accusations "too naοve to be responded to." "Hamas always comes up with baseless accusations against Fatah and the Palestinian Authority. They do so in an attempt to distract people’s attention from the security chaos prevailing in the Gaza Strip after the Hamas takeover," a presidential spokesman said in a statement. Earlier on Saturday theformer Palestinian interior minister in the deposed Hamas-led government, Sa’id Siyam, said that "Fatah-affiliated suicide bombers" were behind a plot to assassinate Isma’il Haniyeh. At a press conference in the Gaza Strip, Siyam said, "The men who planned the assassination attempt fled their homes when they heard that the bombing operation at Al-Yarmouk playground, where Haniyeh was honouring the Gazan Hajj pilgrims, was thwarted. more..
Hamas says it foiled Fatah plot to assassinate Ismail Haniyeh
Reuters, Ha’aretz 1/20/2008
A senior Hamas official in the Gaza Strip on Saturday accused rival Fatah of plotting to assassinate Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh as he prayed and said the would-be suicide bomber had been arrested and had confessed. Tension between Islamist Hamas and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s secular Fatah faction has increased since Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in a brief but bloody civil war in June. Fatah still holds sway in the West Bank. "There was a plan by a suicide bomber wearing an explosives belt to assassinate Haniyeh as he prayed in the mosque. He was arrested and confessed," Saeed Seyam, who oversees Hamas government security forces in Gaza and is a former interior minister in the Hamas government, told reporters. Haniyeh was prime minister of the Hamas-led government which Abbas sacked after the Gaza takeover. more..
6 Palestinians killed in clashes with IDF
Amos Harel Avi Issacharoff and Yuval Azoulay, Ha’aretz 1/19/2008
Five Palestinians were killed over the weekend by the Israel Defense Forces in the Gaza Strip, while one al-Aqsa Brigades operative was killed in Nablus in the West Bank. The Palestinians fired fewer Qassam rockets into Israel from Gaza over the past two days. But those that were fired came from Hamas, not other Palestinian factions that had previously been responsible. Security sources said the IDF had thus increased attacks on Hamas. The IDF has also changed its mode of action in Gaza. On Friday, for the first time, it targeted from the air sites identified with the Hamas government. One of the buildings bombed, which IDF sources said Hamas was using as a command post, had also been used by the Palestinian Interior Ministry and had been empty for the past few months. Palestinian sources said a woman, 52-year-old Hania Abdel Jawad who was in a nearby building, was killed in the attack. more..
Gaza: 4 gunmen turn themselves in to IDF troops
Hanan Greenberg, YNetNews 1/19/2008
Golani soldiers raid building near Jabalya, exchange fire with members of Hamas’ military wing, who are later arrested and taken in for questioning. Military sources define incident as ’an important operation and intelligence achievement’ - The IDF on Saturday morning arrested four Palestinian gunmen following exchanges of fire which took place in the northern Gaza Strip. The four men are members of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military wing. The incident took place as soldiers of the elite Golani unit raided a building near the town of Jabalya. The forces encountered the four armed men, exchanges of fire erupted in the area, and the gunmen turned themselves in. The troops confiscated the gunmen’s weapons, and the four were taken in for questioning by security forces in Israel. more..
Israel pounds besieged Gaza
Al Jazeera 1/18/2008
A Palestinian civilian has been killed and over 40 injured in an Israeli missile attack that destroyed the deserted, Hamas-run interior ministry in Gaza City. The building, destroyed on Friday, was situated in the heart of a residential neighborhood but had been vacant since it was severely damaged in a air raid two years ago. A woman was killed and at least 46 other civilians were injured in the attack, hospital officials said. An Israeli military spokeswoman said the attack, against what she called "a Hamas headquarters", was part of Israel’s campaign against rocket fire coming from the Palestinian territory. Al Jazeera’s Jacky Rowland, speaking from Gaza, reported that the attack on the interior ministry was one of three simultaneous missile attacks on Gaza. more..
Israel closes Gaza crossings
Reuters, The Independent 1/18/2008
Israel tightened its closure of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip today in response to cross-border rocket fire, preventing even UN humanitarian supplies from getting in, officials said. The decision came after Israel vowed to broaden its military campaign against Gaza militants who have fired more than 110 rockets at southern Israel in the last three days. An Israeli missile strike this morning killed at least one militant in the northern Gaza Strip. In the West Bank city of Nablus, Israeli troops killed a militant linked to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah movement. The escalation in violence has prompted Abbas’s Western-backed government in the occupied West Bank to warn that renewed peace talks - spurred by last week’s visit by US President George W. more..
Al-Aqsa Brigades announce end to 3-month ceasefire
Ma’an News Agency 1/18/2008
Bethlehem Ma’an exclusive The general commander of the Al-Aqsa Brigades, the military wing of Fatah, in the West Bank announced an end to their three-month ceasefire on Friday. Abu Uday said in a statement that the ceasefire was now over and that the Brigades will respond to the recent Israeli assassinations in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. "We will not stand idly by while witnessing massacres of our people in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. We will respond to these massacres and we give the green light to all our brigades. Thus we will calm the hearts of the martyrs’ families," he said. Abu Uday said that the ceasefire had been abandoned as the Israeli forces "have not stopped killing our people and destroying our institutions and our cities for a single day." more..
Israeli army kidnaps 8 Palestinians from the West Bank
Nisreen Qumsieh, International Middle East Media Center 1/18/2008
Israeli forces kidnapped eight Palestinians from different parts of the West Bank overnight Thursday and in the early hours of Friday morning. The abduction campaigns were carried out in the West Bank cities of Hebron, Ramallah and Tulkarem. In Tulkarem also the army invaded the village of Kufr Jamal and kidnapped a Palestinian. The army carried out a house-to-house search in the area searching for so-called wanted Palestinians, and confiscated properties. In the southern West Bank city of Hebron, the army invaded Sourif town and kidnapped two named as Mohammad Abu Saleh, 27 and Moneer Abu Fara, 25. The army also invaded the town of Beit Omar, near Hebron. Troops also carried out searching operations in several areas of Hebron city In a separate operation, the military invaded Sulwad town, north of Ramallah and kidnapped a Palestinian then moved him to an undisclosed detention center. more..
Palestinian security services arrest 3 Hamas members in West Bank
Ma’an News Agency 1/18/2008
Nablus Ma’an - Hamas said on Friday that the Palestinian security services arrested three of their supporters in the West Bank, on Thursday evening. In the governorate of Nablus, security agencies arrested Mujahid and Mu’tasem Salim. Mujahid had recently been released from jail in Israel. In the province of Salfit, security services arrested seventeen-year-old Mohammed Fattash, just days after he was released from a Palestinian Authority prison. [end]
Al-Aqsa Brigades leader killed in clashes with Israeli forces; Abbas denies reports he threatened to resign
Ma’an News Agency 1/18/2008
Nablus - Ma’an A leader from the military wing of Fatah, the Al-Aqsa Brigades, was killed during several hours of clashes with Israeli Special Forces in the Balata refugee camp, east of Nablus on Friday. Israeli Special Forces stormed Balata refugee camp east of Nablus at dawn, and surrounded a house where four brigades members were holed up. Armed clashes ensued and Al-Aqsa leader Ahmed Sanakra was killed. His three fellow combatants, Yousef Hanoun, Mohamed Hweta and Mahmoud Shtawi, were arrested. The Israeli military had made several attempts to assassinate twenty-five-year-old Ahmed Sanakra in recent years. Medical sources reported that three-year-old Yazan Qar’an was also shot and wounded during the large scale invasion, carried out by more than 50 military vehicles that surrounded the camp from all its sides. more..
Israeli forces raid Tulkarem; seize 25 Palestinians
Ma’an News Agency 1/17/2008
Tulkarem Ma’an Israeli forces withdrew from the centre of the West Bank city of Tulkarem on Thursday evening, after conducting an extensive military operation in the city and arresting more than 25 Palestinian citizens. Palestinian security sources and eyewitnesses said that a large Israeli military force stormed the city centre at six o’clock on Thursday evening and surrounded a cafe next to a Fatah office. They apprehended all of the people inside the cafe and took them away to an unknown destination. The latest Israeli raid on the city is the first of its kind since the declaration of the Palestinian security apparatus campaign on 4 December 2007, when more than 15 Israeli military vehicles stormed the city. more..
Al-Aqsa brigades shoot and injure Israeli near Ramallah
Ma’an News Agency 1/17/2008
Bethlehem Ma’an The Al-Aqsa brigades annopunced on Thursday that they had shot and injured an Israeli man as he drove his car near the Nel’in crossing near Ramallah. [end]
More than 30 rockets hit western Negev since Friday morning
YNetNews 1/17/2008
Palestinians in Gaza fire Qassams, mortar shells towards Israel; landings noted in SderotAshkelon’s industrial area, Zikim and Sufa Crossing. No injuries reported - Palestinians in Gaza fired more than 30 Qassam rockets toward Israel since Friday morning. One of the rockets landed near a Sderot kindergarten, damaging a water pipe. No injuries were reported. Residents of Sderot reported hearing loud explosions in the area, as the city’s Color Red alert was sounded. [end]
Sderot: Only 28% of students attend school
Shmulik Hada, YNetNews 1/17/2008
Sderot Municipality reveals 28% of school children, 48% of Kindergarteners attend classes. Internal security minister visits rocket-battered town, surveys barrage damage - Sdeort residents are barricading themselves at home: An examination conducted by the Education Division of the Sderot Municipality revealed that Sderot’s schools and Kindergartens remained virtually empty Friday, with only 28% of school children and 48% of kindergarteners attending classes. Director of the Sderot Municipality Education Division, Miriam Sassi noted that "we saw similar statistics during earlier rocket salvos. I figured that many students would be out of classes because of the weekend as well as due to billionaire Arcadi Gaydamak’s efforts to evacuate youths from the city." Sassi also noted that a ’situation room’ would be established in Sderot that would coordinate the efforts of all organizations operating in the city. more..
A week of funerals in Gaza as Palestinians feel Israel’s wrath
Donald Macintyre in Beit Lahiya, Gaza, The Independent 1/19/2008
Mariam Rahal, a 53-year-old grandmother and her two sons, were in the wrong place at the wrong time as they drove their donkey cart of oranges home through a mainly residential district of Beit Lahiya. Mrs Rahal was buried yesterday with one of the sons, Mohammed, 23. The pair were innocent victims of a four-day conflict between Israel and Palestinian militants that last night seemed far from over. They were killed when their cart was destroyed by a missile which targeted the car of a rocket-launching crew on Thursday evening. At the mourning tent for mother and son, as another son, Mansour, 16, lay critically ill in Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital, a third brother, Amar, 33, explained: "They had gone to see another of my brothers who has just had a baby and on their way back they stopped to buy some oranges to sell." more..
Jewish state keeps pounding Gaza, seals off borders
Daily Star 1/19/2008
Israel sealed all border crossings with the Gaza Strip Friday while launching new air strikes that killed a Palestinian woman and wounded dozens of people in the Hamas-run territory, medics and witnesses said. The raids were part of a recent escalation of violence between the Israeli Army and Hamas, amid warnings the upsurge could sink revived peace efforts. A 47-year-old woman died when an Israeli warplane fired into a building that used to house a Hamas Interior Ministry in Gaza City, destroying the structure, officials said. The building was abandoned, but the powerful blast damaged 15 adjacent houses, killing the woman and wounding 46 others, including several children. Many of the wounded were on their way to a wedding in the neighborhood, witnesses said. A second strike hit a Hamas police building in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, wounding four people. more..
Resistance strikes forces army to dismantle a new military post in Gaza
IMEMC Staff, International Middle East Media Center 1/19/2008
Talal Abu Tharefa, member of the Central Committee of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), stated on Friday that the Israeli army was forced to dismantle a military post in the Gaza Strip on Friday morning due to repeated shelling by different resistance groups, using homemade shells. The post was installed several months ago. Abu Thareefa added that the military post, and several military posts in the Gaza Strip, were repeatedly shelled by several resistance groups. He added that this event is considered an outcome of ongoing resistance against the repeated Israeli invasions and shelling in the Gaza Strip. He also stated that the International Community, and the United States, are to be held responsible for the Israeli assaults in Gaza since they remained idle and did not attempt to stop the Israeli violations. more..
Media office in Gaza: Israeli army evacuates a military base in Khan Younis
Nisreen Qumsieh, International Middle East Media Center 1/18/2008
A media office in Khan Younis stated on Friday that the Israeli evacuation of one of its military bases took place in Khaza’a town, east of Khan Younis. According to the media office, the army evacuated the base as a result of the extensive attacks of the Al Qassam brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, who shelled the area with explosive devices and home-made shells. The evacuated military base had been used as a military observation center and the army used a balloon to watch the area and to register civilian movements using advanced cameras. Civilians expressed their happiness at the army withdrawal by going out to the streets and praising resistance fighters who the army used to attack, and who had opened fire against a farmer who lived near the military base. Hamad al Raqap, the spokesperson of Hamas in Khan Younis considered the withdrawal to be a victory for the resistance... more..
Palestinian military groups claim attacks in Gaza Strip
Ma’an News Agency 1/17/2008
Gaza Ma’an The armed wing of Fatah, the Al-Aqsa Brigades said on Wednesday evening that their fighters launched three homemade projectiles at the Israeli town of Sderot, north of the Gaza Strip. Separately, the armed wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, claimed responsibility for firing several mortar shells in the area of the Erez border crossing in the northern Gaza Strip. Both military groups said in statements that they will continue with to resist the Israeli occupation in light of what they called ongoing atrocities against the Palestinian people. [end]
Palestinian security forces ’detain seven Hamas members’
Ma’an News Agency 1/17/2008
Nablus Ma’an Fatah-allied Palestinian security services detained seven Hamas members in the West Bank on Wednesday night, Hamas claimed. Hamas said that three of its members were seized in the town of Illar near the West Bank city of Tulkarem. Two of them were school teachers. Another Hamas supporter, a student at the University of Jordan, was detained in Jericho, en route from Jordan. Two other Hamas members were detained in Nablus and Qalqilia in the northern West Bank, Hamas said. [end]
Youths clash with Israeli soldiers in Hebron
Ma’an News Agency 1/17/2008
Hebron Ma’an A number of Palestinian citizens were injured in the southern West Bank city of Hebron after clashes erupted between Palestinian youths and Israeli soldiers in the city centre. Ma’an’s reporter said that dozens of young Palestinian men threw stones and empty bottles at Israeli soldiers, who responded with gunfire, rubber-coated metal bullets and tear gas canisters. Palestinian medical sources in Hebron said that several people had received medical treatment at the governmental hospital in Hebron including Agence France Presse photojournalist, Hazim Badir, who was injured in his foot. The sources added that Ayman Abu Arqub from the town of As-Samu’, west of Hebron was shot in the back during the clashes. He is undergoing surgery and his condition is said to be stable. Ma’an’s reporter added that the Israeli army had ordered shop owners in the city to close their premises. more..
Armed Palestinian groups fire on Israeli towns
Ma’an News Agency 1/17/2008
Gaza Ma’an Fatah’s military group, the Al-Aqsa Brigades claimed responsibility on Thursday for firing four homemade projectiles at the Israeli towns of Sderot and Netiv Haasara, bordering the Gaza Strip. They said in a statement that the shelling was "a clear message to the Israeli occupation," telling them that attempts to deter the Palestinian resistance through targeted assassinations will not work, and will only result in more resistance. Separately, another group of Al-Aqsa Brigades fighters claimed responsibility for launching two more homemade projectiles at Sderot on Thursday. Also on Thursday, the military wing of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) said they launched two homemade projectiles at the Israeli military position at Zikim. more..
Palestinian citizen shot by Israeli soldiers in eastern Gaza
Ma’an News Agency 1/17/2008
Gaza Ma’an A thirty-five-year-old man was shot and injured by Israeli soldiers in the town of Deir Al-Balah, in the southern Gaza Strip, Palestinian medical sources announced on Thursday. Muawiyah Hasanain, head of ambulance and emergency services in the Palestinian health ministry told Ma’an that Subhi Al-Bahari was shot in his right knee, as well as suffering an injury to his neck. He was taken to the Al-Aqsa Hospital in Gaza City for treatment. [end]
Al Quds brigade shells Askalan with home-made shells
International Middle East Media Center 1/18/2008
The Al Quds brigades, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, claimed responsibility for the shelling of Askalan city with two home-made shells and also for initiating clashes with Israeli military in Qabatiya town, south of the northern West Bank city of Jenin on Friday morning. The brigades stated that Israelis confirmed the shelling on the new industrial zone in Askalam and on Zikkim military base. The brigades also reported that they clashed with the Israeli army overnight on Thursday when they invaded the old city of Qabatiya from several directions. In their statement the Al Quds brigades said that this operation came as a response to the continuous Israeli attacks and offenses against the Palestinian civilians in Gaza and the West Bank. This week, Israeli military intensified attacks on Gaza, leaving at least 22 killed and 51 injured. more..
Large-scale Israeli invasion of Gaza postponed until spring, Israeli newspaper says
Ma’an News Agency 1/17/2008
Bethlehem Ma’an - The Israeli army is waiting for the spring before launching a large-scale invasion of the Gaza Strip, the Israeli daily newspaper Maariv reported on Thursday. However, the invasion may be brought forward if the continuing Palestinian rocket attacks on the towns bordering the coastal strip cause severe injury to Israeli citizens, the newspaper report said. The newspaper added that the Israeli military had received instructions from the Israeli government to hold off on a large-scale incursion and to continue with what they describe as "low level" incursions, despite the continued launching of projectiles by Palestinian resistance groups. According to the newspaper, the new instructions are consistent with the position of senior Israeli army commanders, who fear that any Israeli invasion of Gaza to stop the projectile attacks will result in a prolonged military campaign. more..
VIDEO - Gaza: Israel destroys Hamas-controlled Interior Ministry ; woman killed
YNetNews 1/17/2008
(Video) Palestinian sources say woman killed, 15 injured in Israeli missile strike that destroyed Hamas-controlled Interior Ministry building; casualties were celebrating wedding at nearby structure during attack - VIDEO - A Palestinian woman was killed and 15 people were injured during an Israeli Air Force missile strike that destroyed Hamas’ Interior Ministry in Gaza City on Friday, Palestinian sources reported. Attack in Gaza (Video: IDF Spokesperson’s Unit) [end]
Israeli air strike ’destroys Gaza ministry’
Allegra Stratton and agencies, The Guardian 1/18/2008
The Hamas-run interior ministry building in Gaza was destroyed by an Israeli air strike today, witnesses said. Israeli missiles also hit two cars in Gaza City, wounding at least 20 people, Palestinian medical workers told Reuters. The interior ministry has been vacant since it was damaged in a July 2006 air strike but is situated in a residential area. Witnesses said several civilians were injured. The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, denounced the attacks. "In these days, we can only condemn gravely what happens in our cherished Gaza, this brutal attack on this cherished part of our land, every hour, which targets women, children and elderly," he said. But Abbas also demanded that Hamas relinquish control of Gaza, which it seized in June last year after a bloody battle with Abbas’ Fatah group. The Hamas takeover "destroyed and tries to destroy our dreams, future and national aspirations", he said. more..
Brigades attack Israeli targets
Ma’an News Agency 1/18/2008
Gaza Ma’an - The Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, the military wing of the Popular Front claimed responsibility on Friday for launching three projectiles at Sderot and several kibbutz in the western Negev on Friday morning. Meanwhile, the Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military wing announced they had launched a Qassam rocket at an Israeli military base, near the Karm Abu Salem crossing. Separately, the An-Nasser Brigades, the military wing of the Popular Resistance claimed responsibility for launching two projectiles at the Karm Abu Salem military base, east of the city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip. The brigades said their actions were a response to the recent Israeli assassinations in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. more..
Israeli army raid home of former general in the Palestinian security services
Ma’an News Agency 1/18/2008
Bethlehem Ma’an exclusive The Israeli army stormed the house of Brigadier Kifah Barakat, a former commander of Force 17 of the Palestinian security services in Bethlehem, in a dawn raid on Friday. They searched the house, insepcting documents and rifling through the contents of the house. Brigadier Barakat told Ma’an said that between 8 - 10 Israeli patrols surrounded the house, throwing a grenade at the front door, before entering. The soldiers were accompanied by intelligence officers. [end]
Palestinian arrested for attempted stabbing of Israeli soldier
Ma’an News Agency 1/18/2008
Jerusalem Ma’an - Hebrew sources said that Israeli soldiers at a military checkpoint near the Israeli settlement of Ma’ale Adumim, northeast of the West Bank city of Bethlehem, arrested a Palestinian youth accused of the attempted stabbing of an Israeli soldier. According to the sources the man approached the soldiers at the checkpoint with a knife in his hand. They quickly took action, forcing him to drop the knife. He was then taken away for questioning. [end]
Funerals of 7 victims of Israeli airstrikes held in Gaza
Ma’an News Agency 1/18/2008
Gaza Ma’an - Crowds of Palestinians took to the streets of Gaza City on Friday for the funerals of seven people killed in Israeli airstrikes. Twenty-seven-year-old Muhammad Al-Barsh and twenty-two-year-old Ismael Radwan, both members of the Al-Qassam Brigades were killed on Friday morning, in an Israeli strike in the city of Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip. On Thursday, Ashraf Al-Ashi and Mahmoud Al-Banna were killed in another Israeli raid. Fifty-year-old Maryam Ar-Rahl was killed, along with her two sons Muhammad and Mansour, when as Israeli plane targeted a car in Beit Lahiyah in the northern Gaza Strip. The funeral procession started at Ash-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City and proceeded to Kamal Udwan Hospital. The coffins of the deceased were raised on the shoulders of the mourners and taken to their final resting place. more..
Israeli forces storm village near Qalqilya
Ma’an News Agency 1/18/2008
Qalqilia Ma’an Israeli forces raided the village of’Azbet At-Tabib, near Qalqilya in the West Bank on Friday, storming a number of houses. The village chairman told Ma’an that the forces forced many villagers out of their houses and firing on children during the raid. [end]
Al-Quds and Al-Qassam Brigades fire on Israeli targets
Ma’an News Agency 1/18/2008
Gaza Ma’an The Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility on Friday evening for launching six projectiles at the Israeli border towns of Sderot and Ashkelon. Separately, the Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military wing claimed responsibility for launching a projectile at the Israeli military base of Nahel ’Oz. The brigades said the attacks were a response to Israeli crimes against Palestinians. [end]
Israeli forces seize six Palestinians in West Bank raids
Ma’an News Agency 1/17/2008
Bethlehem Ma’an Israeli forces seized six Palestinians throughout the West Bank claiming that they are "wanted activists" on Thursday morning, Israeli sources said. The detainees were from Tulkarem and Nablus in the northern West Bank, Hebron and Bethlehem in the southern West Bank. [end]
Israeli forces seize Palestinian man at Huwwara checkpoint
Ma’an News Agency 1/17/2008
Nablus Ma’an Israeli soldiers seized a Palestinian man at Huwwara checkpoint south of the West Bank city of Nablus on Tuesday evening, Palestinian security sources said. The sources named the detainee as twenty-four-year-old Imad Al-Qaddoumi from Nablus. [end]
This Week In Palestine - week 3 2008
Ghassan Bannoura - Audio Dept, International Middle East Media Center 1/18/2008
Click on Link to download or play MP3 file || File 11. 9 MB || Time 13m 0s || This Week In Palestine, a service of the International Middle East Media Center, www. IMEMC. org, for January 12th through to January 18th, 2008. Palestinian and Israeli negotiation teams met in the occupied city of Jerusalem and this week Israeli army attacks on the Palestinians leave 37 killed in the Gaza strip and the West Bank, these stories and more coming up stay tuned. Nonviolent Resistance Let’s begin our weekly report with the nonviolent actions in Bethlehem and Ramallah, IMEMC’s Nate Bremen with the details: Bil’in The villagers of Bil’in located near the Central West Bank city of Ramallah, along with their international and Israeli supporters conducted their weekly demonstration against the illegal Israeli wall on Friday. more..
Israeli aircraft bomb interior ministry of de facto government in Gaza; one woman dead, 46 injured
Ma’an News Agency 1/18/2008
Gaza - Ma’an - A woman was killed and 46 people were injured, three of them seriously, in an Israeli airstrike on the interior ministry of the de facto government in the Gaza Strip, in Tel Al-Hawa, on Friday afternoon. The building was completely destroyed and a missile hit a wedding party in front of the ministry, resulting in the injury of dozens of people, including women and children. According to Muawiya Hassanein, the director of emergency and ambulance services in the Palestinian health ministry, fifty-two-year-old Haniya Abd Al-Jawad was killed. 32 of the injured were taken to Ash-Shifaa’ Hospital in Gaza City, three of them in a critical condition. 14 others were taken to Al-Quds Hospital. The de facto government’s interior ministry has been targeted twice in the past several months by the Israeli airforce. more..
Suspicion: Palestinians robbed Israeli cabby near Beit Jalla
Tova Daddon, YNetNews 1/17/2008
Driver says three Palestinians threatened him with a knife, threw him out of taxi near Beit Jalla - Hebron Police is looking into a complaint filed by an Israeli taxi driver from Ashkelon who said he was kidnapped and robbed by three young Palestinian men on Friday. According to the driver, the Palestinian passengers asked that he take them to the Israeli West Bank settlement of Beitar Ilit. The driver said he complied after the men presented him with Israel (blue) identification cards. He told investigators that during the drive the three men pulled out a knife and demanded that he drive them instead to the Beit Jalla area, located just south of Jerusalem, where they threw him out of the taxi and sped away. The driver said he was later safely transferred by Palestinian security officers to the IDF’s Coordination Office near Jabalya. more..
Israeli army kidnaps at least 24 from Nablus
Ameen Abu Wardeh, International Middle East Media Center 1/16/2008
Israeli forces kidnapped at least 24 Palestinians from different parts of the northern West Bank city of Nablus and the refugee camps of Balata and Askar in pre-dawn invasion on Wednesday Sources added that the army invaded homes, ransacked them and confiscated property before kidnapping the Palestinians. In the same operation, the army invaded a neighborhood named as al Ma’ajeen and kidnapped Ghassan Khaled, a professor in Al Najah University. The army also kidnapped three brothers from the same neighborhood. According to Israeli sources, at least 24 Palestinians on the Israeli ’wanted list’ were kidnapped in the Nablus area. The abduction operations in the Nablus area have intensified since the beginning of this week as army implemented several abduction campaigns in the area including 12 on Tuesday and three on Monday. more..
Israeli forces kill a senior leader of Islamic Jihad in Jenin
Ali Samoudi, International Middle East Media Center 1/16/2008
Walid Obeidi, 41, a leader of the Al Quds brigades, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad in the West Bank and the top senior leader on the Israeli wanted list was killed in clashes that borke out with the Israeli forces during their invasion into Qabatiya town, near Jenin in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Eyewitnesses reported that at least 60 military vehicles executed a wide scale raid in the area at 3am; they besieged the neighborhoods and closed the roads. Despite the extensive distribution of Israeli forces, resistance fighters from the Al Quds brigades clashed with them from several directions. Residents reported that Israeli forces besieged the house in Qabatiya where Obeidi lived, in the south of Jenin. They also surrounded the adjacent homes, and asked Obeidi to surrender himself to the forces. When Obeidi refused, a gun battle ensued with the military forces and Obeidi was killed. more..
Jerusalem approves controversial Mughrabi bridge project
Akiva Eldar, Ha’aretz 1/16/2008
Jerusalem’s district planning and construction committee has approved a controversial plan to restore the Mughrabi bridge leading to one of the entrances to the Temple Mount, construction that caused an outcry among Muslims and generated protest from the Jordanian and Turkish governments in June. The plan, approved two weeks ago, also includes expansion of the women’s section of the Western Wall plaza. A ministerial committee established after the summer’s protests and headed by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert decided two months ago to approve the construction, pending approval by the district planning and construction committee. The cabinet approved the ministerial committee decision after Science and Culture Minister Raleb Majadele withdrew his objection in response to Olmert’s request. more..
IAF kills five in Gaza as rockets pound south Israel
Amos Harel Mijal Grinberg and Avi Issacharoffs, Ha’aretz 1/17/2008
An Israel Air Force strike killed two Palestinians in the central Gaza Strip on Wednesday evening, as militants in Gaza launched more than 40 Qassam rockets at the western Negev. The strike came shortly after Defense Minister Ehud Barak vowed that Israel would step up its military offensive on Gaza in response to the barrage of Qassam rockets on southern Israel. Hamas said the IAF missile strike Wednesday evening destroyed a car, killing its two occupants and wounding at least three others. The Israel Defense Forces confirmed the strike and said the vehicle targeted was carrying a load of weapons. Earlier Wednesday afternoon, three Palestinian civilians were killed in an IAF strike that targeted a militant’s car east of Gaza City. The fatalities included a teenager, his father and his uncle. more..
Qassams pound Sderot; IDF kills 5 in Gaza
Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff, Ha’aretz 1/17/2008
Tension along the border with the Gaza Strip continued yesterday as Hamas fired close to 50 Qassam rockets and at least a dozen mortar shells at Israel, while five Palestinians were killed in air strikes. Three of the dead Palestinians were civilians who were killed when a missile missed its target. No Israeli casualties were reported, but some civilians were treated for shock and anxiety in Sderot. At least 18 rockets in the barrage landed in Sderot, one in the yard of a house, causing no casualties but severe damage to the home. Most of the rockets that landed in the town hit fields. Eight civilians were evacuated to Barzilai Hospital for treatment, two of them suffering minor injuries from shrapnel. After the second day of fighting, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said last night that Israel will step up the pressure against the militants in the Gaza Strip. more..
At least 10 hurt in Qassam barrage on Israel
Mijal Grinberg, Ha’aretz 1/17/2008
At least 10 people were hurt yesterday when Palestinian militants launched a barrage of Qassam rockets and mortar shells at Israel in a day of fierce fighting in Gaza. The father of a 5-year-old girl hurt after a Qassam hit their neighbor’s Sderot home yesterday vowed his family will not return to the city that has been repeatedly hit by rockets and mortar shells. The girl, Lior Ben-Shimol, was at her neighbor’s house playing with their children when the attack occurred. Her father and younger brother were in their adjacent home. "Suddenly my wife called me, telling me there was a Color Red alert and that she does not know where to take cover," the girl’s father, Yaron Ben-Shimol said, referring to the siren informing residents of an incoming rocket attack. more..
Israel launches lethal raids into Gaza
Donald Macintyre in Jerusalem, The Independent 1/16/2008
Israeli forces using tanks and helicopters yesterday killed 19 Palestinians including the son of a top Hamas leader, in their most lethal raids into Gaza since the Islamic faction’s enforced takeover of the Strip last June. While most killed were militants, including Husam Zahar, the second son lost to the conflict in three years by the hawkish political leader Mahmoud Zahar, Palestinian sources said at least three civilians, including a 65 year old farmer, were also killed. At least 35 Palestinians were wounded, five critically, including an 8-year-old boy, according to local medics. Meanwhile Palestinian sniper fire from Gaza killed a 19 year old Ecuadorian volunteer, Carlos Chavez, as he worked in a potato field at the Israeli border kibbutz of Ein Hashlosha. more..
ANALYSIS / Despite raid, Hamas, Israel don’t seek escalation
Amos Harel and Avi Isacharoffs, Ha’aretz 1/16/2008
Tuesday’s fighting in the Gaza Strip and western Negev was the fiercest in a year, making it one of the worst days since the disengagement in August 2005. The Palestinians suffered 19 deaths and dozens of wounded. On the Israeli side, a foreign volunteer was killed at Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha, a few people were lightly wounded in Sderot, and dozens of Qassam rockets and mortar shells fell on communities near Gaza and a Katyusha rocket hit Ashkelon. Despite this, Tuesday’s military operation in Gaza was basically routine. It was not part of a major operation to reoccupy the Strip; neither Israel nor Hamas is currently interested in a broader confrontation. Nevertheless, a cautionary note must be added to this assessment: The large number of fatalities suffered by Hamas - more than 30 since the start of the month - could push the organization into escalation even if this is not in its interest. more..
Palestinian open fire on Jewish neighborhood in Hebron
Nadav Shragai, Ha’aretz 1/16/2008
Palestinian militants on Wednesday opened fire on the Jewish neighborhood of Beit Hadassa in the center of West Bank city of Hebron. Fifteen bullets were fired, two of which penetrated houses and another hit the playground of the neighborhood’s nursery school. No one was injured. The Hebron Community Council sent a letter to Defense Minister Ehud Barak, urging him to "engage the security forces in protecting Jews, rather than in evicting them from their homes." A copy of the letter was sent to Shas ministers. Related articles: IDF kills 16-year-old Palestinian carrying toy rifle in Hebron Last Jew to leave Hebron after 1929 massacre to back settler claims The Hebron tactic more..
Palestinian resistance fires 25 home made shells at southern Israeli
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 1/16/2008
Palestinian resistance groups fired 25 home-made shells at the southern Israel towns of Sederot and Ashkelon neighboring the Gaza Strip, causing damage but no injures on Wednesday. The Al Quds brigades the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the firing; the group said in a statement sent to the press that today’s attack is a response to the killing of Walid Obeidi, 41, a leader of the Al Quds brigades in the West Bank. Obeidi was killed by under cover Israeli forces in the northern West Bank city of Jenin on Wednesday at dawn. On Tuesday evening, Palestinian resistance groups fired a dozen Qassam home made shells at the Israeli town of Sderot lightly injuring five Israelis, among them two children. Earlier on Tuesday morning the Israeli army invaded the eastern part of the Gaza strip, the operation lasted for several hours came to an end by Tuesday midday leaving 17 Palestinian killed and 47 injured. more..
Qassam salvo hits western Negev
Shmulik Hadad, YNetNews 1/16/2008
(Video) Sderot, Ashkelon residents wake up to another day of rocket attacks following IDF operation which killed 19 Palestinians. At leaset 28 rockets fired from Gaza within one hour; several people suffer from shock, hothouses damaged - VIDEO - The residents of Sderot and Ashkelon woke up Wednesday to a continuing rocket barrage, as at least 30 Qassam rockets were fired from northern Gaza towards the two cities. Several people suffered from shock. Wednesday’s salvo followed the 41 rockets fired at the western Negev Tuesday. At least 12 Qassams were fired at Sderot, 11 more at Ashkelon and several at the Eshkol regional council, within an hour. Most of the rockets landed in open areas, but a loud explosion was heard coming form Ashkelon’s industrial area and security forces were trying to locate its origin. more..
3 civilians killed in IDF strike in Gaza
Ali Waked, YNetNews 1/16/2008
Several hours after barrage of 30 Qassam rockets hits southern communities, army fires missile at vehicle reportedly carrying Islamic Jihad gunmen, but accidentally kills three family members, including child. Military sources confirm missile accidentally hit civilians - At least three Palestinian civilians were killed Wednesday afternoon in an IDF airstrike on a car traveling in Gaza’s Sheikh Raduan neighborhood, Palestinian sources reported. The strike was apparently carried out in response to a barrage of at least 30 Qassam rockets fired Wednesday morning at Gaza vicinity communities. Military sources confirmed that a vehicle traveling near the strike’s original target - a terror cell involved in the firing of rocket attacks - was accidentally hit, adding that the incident was being looked into. more..
Sderot braces for further escalation
Shmulik Hadad, YNetNews 1/16/2008
Sderot Mayor Eli Moyal meets with defense officials to discuss ways to deal with ongoing Qassam attacks on town. ’They anticipate further escalation,’ he says. Meanwhile, emergency services in town remain on high alert - Defense officials told Sderot Mayor Eli Moyal Wednesday that the rocket fire at town is expected to continue and even escalate further. Moyal convened with senior IDF officials, including Southern Command Chief Maj. -Gen. Yoav Galant, following a day of heavy barrages at the western Negev. "They foresee an escalation," Moyal told Ynet. "They don’t know when and how this campaign will end." Municipality workers and defense officials met at City Hall to discuss ways to deal with the ongoing attacks on town, as mental health services, social workers and emergency teams remained on high alert. more..
Palestine Today 011608
Ghassan Bannoura - Audio Dept, International Middle East Media Center 1/16/2008
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 Wednesday January 16th, 2008. The Israeli army kills three Palestinian civilians in the Gaza strip and a resistance leader in the West Bank, these stories and more coming up stay tuned. The News Cast Palestinian sources reported that Israeli jet fighters launched two missiles at a civilian car driving on a road east of Gaza city in the eastern part of the Gaza strip at midday on Wednesday, killing the 3 passengers in the car. Palestinian medical sources identified two of those killed as Amer Mohamed and Amer Al Yazigi, while witnesses said that one child was killed in the attack but his name remains unknown. Media sources said that the jet fighters targeted the car carrying resistance fighters from Al Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad. more..
State to court: People’s resilience more vital than reinforcement
Yuval Yoaz, Ha’aretz 1/16/2008
High Court of Justice The State Prosecution told the High Court of Justice on Wednesday that rocket fire on Sderot should not be tackled by reinforcing buildings, but rather by enhancing the residents’ resilience to the strikes. The prosecution’s statement came in response to a petition of 30 Sderot residents, who demand reinforcing 800 homes in the western Negev town so that they would be able to sustain Qassam strikes. Meanwhile, over 40 Qassam rockets and three mortar shells struck the western Negev on Wednesday. On behalf of the State Prosecution, Attorney Dina Silber claimed that "since other parts of Israel are already, or will be in the near future, subject to rocket fire - Qassams, Katyushas, shells or mortars ? the state could not afford to work under the false impression that this policy would be applicable to the Sderot area only. more..
State: We need to reinforce Israelis’ endurance to rocket fire, not their homes
Yuval Yoaz, Ha’aretz 1/16/2008
The State Prosecution told the High Court of Justice on Wednesday that it was more imporant to increase Sderot residents’ endurance in the face of ongoing rocket fire from Gaza than to reinforce homes in the area. The prosecution’s statement came in response to a petition by 30 Sderot residents, who demanded the reinforcement of 800 homes in the western Negev town, so that they would be able to sustain Qassam strikes. Over 40 Qassam rockets and mortar shells struck the western Negev on Wednesday. Acting on behalf of the State Prosecution, attorney Dina Silber claimed that "since other parts of Israel are already, or will be in the near future, subject to rocket fire - Qassams, Katyushas, shells or mortars - the state could not afford to work under the false impression that this policy would be applicable to the Sderot area only. more..
Sdeort: Quarter of all pupils stay home
Shmulik Hadad, YNetNews 1/16/2008
As massive Qassam fire on city continues, parents leave children home. Billionaire Arcadi Gaydamak volunteers to send children and teens to camps, hostels outside city. Municipality prepares to evacuate elderly - Southern Israel is under attack. On Tuesday, 41 Qassam rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel, and Wednesday morning alone a salvo of 30 Qassam rockets was fired on Gaza vicinity communities. Not surprisingly, many parents in the battle-weary town of Sdeort chose to leave their children at home today and not run the risk of sending them to school. An examination of records kept at the Sderot municipality’s education branch, revealed that 25% of all school children did not attend classes Wednesday, along with 30% of Kindergarteners who were kept at home. more..
Explosion at Haifa Naval Base wounds 7
Ahiya Raved, YNetNews 1/16/2008
Soldiers, servicemen caught in blast during routine maintenance on warships docking at base. One suffers sever head injury, rushed to emergency surgery; six others sustain moderate to light wounds. Navy to probe incident - Seven people were injured Wednesday, one sustaining serious wounds, in an explosion which occurred at the Haifa Naval Base. The seven, both soldier and civilian servicemen, were part of a technical crew servicing one of the guns on board the INS Tarshish, which docked at the base after a malefaction was discovered in its guns while at sea. The Navy has launched an investigation into the incident. Magen David Adom and military ambulances evacuated the injured to the Rambam Medical Center in the city. Prof. Raffi Biar, Rambam’s chief of staff told Ynet that one of the man suffered a sever head injury and was undergoing emergency surgery. more..
Death toll in Gaza rises to 19 after new Israeli raid on Gaza City
Ma’an News Agency 1/15/2008
Gaza Ma’an The death toll in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday has risen to 19 after two Palestinians were killed in an Israeli raid into northern Gaza City on Tuesday evening. Just hours after the Israeli withdrawal from the Zeitoun neighbourhood of Gaza City, eyewitnesses said an Israeli rocket attack near the agricultural school left two people dead and several others injured. Mu’awiyah Hassanein, the head of ambulance and emergency services in the Palestinian Health Ministry, said the injured were transferred to Beit Hanoun Hospital for treatment. Earlier in the day Israeli tank fire killed 17 Palestinians, including five civilians and the son of senior Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahhar, in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City within four hours on Tuesday, witnesses and medics said. 13 of the dead are thought to be members of Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades. more..
Israeli Settlers burn a Palestinian house and the Army up-root trees in Hebron
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 1/15/2008
A group of radical armed settlers attacked a Palestinian house and set fire to it while the Israeli Army kidnapped the owners of the house on Tuesday midday in the southern West Bank city of Hebron. Palestinian sources reported that a group of settlers from Beit Hadasa located in the central part of Hebron city attacked the nearby Palestinian home and set fire to it. When the owners of the house along with their neighbors tried to put out the fire Israeli troops attacked them, beat them up and forced them away from the house leaving it to burn. Witnesses added that soldiers kidnapped the owners of the house Shadi and Nabeil Sader and took them to an unknown location. Eventually the neighbors put out the fire but the house sustained great damage. Also today near Hebron Israeli Army bulldozers have uprooted 3000 trees that belonged to farmers from the village of Beit Ola south of Hebron city. more..
Israeli Settlers and troops attacked farmers and journalists in Bili’n village near Ramallah
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 1/15/2008
On Tuesday a group of armed settlers and Israeli troops attacked Palestinian farmers and a journalist in Bili’n village located near the central West Bank city of Ramallah. The farmers stated that they were working on their land located near the illegal Israeli wall that is being built by Israel on the village land when a group of armed settlers and Israeli soldiers attacked them and confiscated a tractor owned by the farmers. Imad Burnat, a Palestinian journalist, was documenting the farmers working on their land when the settlers and soldiers arrived and attacked him and the farmers. Burnat said that soldiers took his tape and beat him up. The village of Bili’n has been actively resisting the Israeli wall in weekly non-violent protests for the past three years. The International Court of Justice in 2004 deemed the Israeli wall to be illegal. more..
Israel plans to resume its settler-only road which will surround Jerusalem
IMEMC Staff, International Middle East Media Center 1/15/2008
Khalil Tafakji, an expert in maps and settlements, revealed that the Israeli Authorities revived a project which aims at establishing a settler-only road around Jerusalem, and will lead to the annexation of 1250 Dunams of Palestinian lands, in addition to demolishing dozens of Palestinian homes near Jerusalem. The affected homes are in the stretched area between Sur Baher and Al Z’eyyim south east of Jerusalem. The statements of Tafakji came during a seminar organized by The Civic Coalition for Defending Palestinian Rights in Jerusalem (CCDPRJ) in Dahiat Al Bareed area, north of Jerusalem. Engineer Adnan Al Husseiny, advisor to President Mahmoud Abbas on Jerusalem affairs, also attended the seminar in addition to several officials and representatives of Palestinian institutions in the city. Tafakji stated that the Israeli plan, known as the "Eastern Belt" number 4584 aims at establishing... more..
Rocket attack on Sderot injures four, causes widespread power outage
Ma’an News Agency 1/15/2008
Bethlehem Ma’an Four Israelis were injured, including an eight-year-old child, in a rocket attack on the Israeli town of Sderot on Tuesday, Israeli security sources said. A Palestinian rocket, fired from the northern Gaza Strip into Sderot, also hit electricity cables, plunging much of the town into darkness. The Israeli Electricity Company rushed to the scene to repair the damage and restore power. After a four-month ceasefire, the Al-Qassam brigades, Hamas’ military wing, claimed responsibility for launching projectiles at Sderot. It is the first time in four months that the Al-Qassam bridgades have admitted targeting Sderot. Fatah-affiliated military wings frequently claim responsibility for such attacks on the town that borders the Gaza Strip. At a press conference in Gaza City, Al-Qassam Brigades spokesman Abu Obeida announced that 13 rockets were fired... more..
Israel destroys 40 dunams of land, 6 wells west of Hebron
Ma’an News Agency 1/15/2008
Hebron Ma’an Israeli bulldozers destroyed six wells and razed 40 dunams (40,000 square metres) of olive groves near Beit Awla west of the city of Hebron in the West Bank. Local residents said that the land belongs to local farmers. The six wells had just been repaired for the second time by the Agricultural Relief organisation and European donors. Agricultural Relief condemned the Israeli action. The organisation’s director, Dr Abdul Ghani Siabra, said that the lands that were targeted had been reclaimed with the aid of a 200,000 US dollar grant from the European Union. [end]
Israeli military kidnaps at least 12 Palestinians from Nablus
Ameen Abu Wardeh, International Middle East Media Center 1/15/2008
Israeli forces invaded the northern West Bank city of Nablus through Beit Iba checkpoint in the early hours of Tuesday morning and imposed a curfew on Sura town, near Nablus. Local sources reported that several military vehicles invaded the city center and several streets in the area and carried out an abductions campaign. The operation ended with the abduction of three Palestinians, only two were identified; Khader al Sarkagy and Omar Tufaha. In Sura town the military imposed a curfew through loudspeakers and carried out a widespread abduction campaign kidnapping nine Palestinians. Local sources reported that scores of military vehicles invaded the town and handed out a statement signed by the leader of the Israeli army in the area stating that "the military operation will continue in order to stop resistance men and hamas members are at the top of that list". more..
Hamas-allied police detain former Gaza security chief
Ma’an News Agency 1/15/2008
Gaza Ma’an Police in the Gaza Strip detained the former chief of the Palestinian National Security Services, Brigadier General Jamal Kayid early on Tuesday morning, Kayid’s family said. Kayid’s daughter Khulood said that six police officers affiliated with the Hamas-led Gaza Strip government knocked on the door of the family home in Gaza City’s Ar-Rimal neighborhood at 2am, delivering an arrest warrant. She said the police searched the house, confiscating two cameras, two firearms, and her father’s computer and cell phone. Police also confiscated Kayid’s private car. Khulood Kayid said that her father phoned the family Tuesday morning to say that he is being held at Al-Mashtal detention center in Gaza City. The Palestinian National Security Services were defeated by Hamas forces during fighting in mid-june. more..
Israeli settlers hurl molotov cocktail into Palestinian house in Hebron
Ma’an News Agency 1/15/2008
Hebron Ma’an Israeli settlers from theBeit Hadassah outpost in the centre of the southern West Bank city of Hebron hurled a molotov cocktail into a Palestinian home on Tuesday. Abdul-Khaliq Sidir told Ma’an that he was in his house when he heard an explosion and fire broke out in the kitchen. He said that the fire was caused by settlers who had hurled a molotov cocktail into his kitchen. His home is overlooked by the Israeli settlement outpost. Israeli settlers in Hebron attack Palestinian houses on a daily basis. The attacks have continued as the Israeli government is talking about removing settlement outposts. There has been an increase in the number of attacks since US President George W. Bush visited Israel and the Palestinian territories. more..
Israel continues Jerusalem settlement works
Middle East Online 1/15/2008
JERUSALEM - Israel has begun constructing 66 new homes in an illegal Jewish settlement in occupied east Jerusalem, according to a media correspondent who visited the area on Tuesday, in a move likely to anger Palestinians and the international community. The development comes as Israel and the Palestinians are engaged in the most serious peace talks in years aimed at solving the thorniest issues of the Middle East conflict, including the future status of Jerusalem, occupied by the Israelis since 1967. Infrastructure work for new homes is under way in Maaleh Hazeitim, in the Ras al-Amud area of east Jerusalem which Israel occupied and illegally annexed in the 1967 war and which Palestinians demand that it would be freed from occupation. "We are building 66 new apartments in three buildings," said David Ben Hamo, the manager of the construction site where a cornerstone was laid in a ceremony on Sunday. more..
Israel expands a Jewish settlement in occupied Jerusalem
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 1/15/2008
Palestinian media sources reported on Tuesday that this week the Israeli Authorities began the construction of more housing units in a settlement located in the eastern part of the occupied city of Jerusalem. The additional constructions will include 60 housing units solely for the use of Jewish families; the location is the Ma’alih Hazim settlement built illegally in the Damascus gate area, a Palestinian neighborhood in Jerusalem just outside of the old city. The sources said that the settlement funding came mainly from the Jewish American millionaire Irphing Moscophitch, who funded the construction of Ma’alih Hazim several years ago. In 1997 the construction in Ma’alih Hazim settlement was stopped due to world wide criticism especially from the US, a year later when Benjamin Netanyahu was the Prime Minister in Israel he ordered the construction to be resumed. more..
Army chief: IDF to boost Gaza operations if needed
Hanan Greenberg, YNetNews 1/15/2008
Chief of Staff Ashkenazi: Troops engaged in ’real fighting’ in Strip, army may boost operations if necessary - IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi said Tuesday evening that the army may further expand its operations in the Gaza Strip. Speaking at a bereaved families’ convention in the Dead Sea, Ashkenazi addressed the fierce fighting in and around Gaza Tuesday, which saw the southern town of Sderot coming under ceaseless rocket barrages, as IDF forces targeted Gaza terrorists. "Our best commanders and soldiers are engaged in real fighting in the Strip," the army chief said. "We will continue to operate in the Strip in order to minimize the Qassam fire." Referring to the possibility of upgrading military operations in Gaza, Ashkenazi said that "if necessary, we will expand our operations there. more..
Israelis kill Hamas leader’s son in Gaza raid
Allegra Stratton and agencies, The Guardian 1/15/2008
Israeli forces today killed the militant son of a powerful Hamas leader in Gaza in one of the bloodiest days of fighting since the group took control of the Gaza Strip in June. Seventeen Palestinians died in today’s clashes, which began when Israeli troops targeted a house east of Gaza City. At the same time, Palestinian sniper fire killed a 20-year-old Ecuadorian who was working on an Israeli kibbutz. The violence came days after the US president, George Bush, set the goal of a peace deal by 2008 during his first visit to the region last week. Bush, who is now in the Gulf, is due to leave the Middle East tomorrow. The killing of Mahmoud Zahar’s 24-year-old son, Hussam, will inflame hostilities. Hamas has so far sanctioned daily attacks on Israeli forces, but has refrained from carrying them out itself. Holding his son’s head in his hands and reciting from the Qur’an, Zahar accused... more..
25 Qassams fired at Israel after deadly IDF Gaza raid
Amos Harel Yuval Azoulai and Avi Issacharoffs, Ha’aretz 1/15/2008
Parts of southern Israel were subjected to a barrage of 25 Qassam rockets and dozens of mortars Tuesday, the Israel Defense Forces said, in the wake of IDF raids in Gaza that killed 19 Palestinians. Of the dead, 15 were confirmed as armed militants. Three militant Palestinian factions, including a group allied to Hamas, claimed responsibility for the rocket fire. Hamas claimed responsibility for 17 of the mortars. In the months leading up to Tuesday’s raids in Gaza , the Islamic militant group hadn’t taken the lead on the assaults, but had allowed other militant factions to attack southern Israel with impunity. Four residents of Sderot were lightly wounded after at least four Qassam rockets struck the western Negev town, causing a power outage in some neighborhoods. more..
Army ends its offensive in eastern Gaza leaving 17 dead and 45 injured
Rami Al Maghari & Ghassan Banoura, International Middle East Media Center 1/15/2008
Palestinian sources reported that the Israeli army military offensive in the eastern part of the Gaza Strip that started on Tuesday at dawn has come to an end, leaving 17 Palestinians dead, and at least 45 injured, 12 seriously. The offensive started when army tanks and bulldozers invaded the Al Zaytoun area near Gaza city backed by army helicopters. Witnesses said that army tanks shelled residents’ homes and groups of resistance fighters who were trying to stop the invading forces resulting in the death of 17 Palestinians. Al Qassam brigade, the armed wing of Hamas, announced that among those killed were 13 resistance fighters from the brigade who were clashing with the invading Israeli tanks. The brigade statement added that Hussam al Zahar, son of the prominent Hamas leader Dr Mahmoud Al Zahar, was among those killed in the attack. more..
Al-Qassam Brigades ’shell Israeli position’
Ma’an News Agency 1/15/2008
Gaza Ma’an The military wing of Hamas, the Al-Qassam Brigades claimed responsibility on Tuesday for firing seven mortar shells at Israeli forces stationed east of Al-Qarara in the southern Gaza Strip. They said in a statement that the shelling came in response to Israeli incursions and targeted assassinations of Palestinian resistance fighters. [end]
DFLP’s military wing confronts Israeli forces in Gaza
Ma’an News Agency 1/15/2008
Gaza Ma’an The military wing of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), the National Resistance Brigades said on Tuesday that it clashed with undercover Israeli forces in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City. They said in a statement that they will continue to confront Israeli incursions in the Palestinian territories. [end]
Al-Aqsa Brigades claim projectile attack in response to Israeli invasion
Ma’an News Agency 1/15/2008
Gaza Ma’an Fatah’s armed wing, the Al-Aqsa Brigades, claimed responsibility on Tuesday for launching a homemade projectile at the Israeli city of Ashkelon, north of the Gaza Strip. The fighters said that the attack was in response to the ongoing Israeli incursion in Gaza’s Zeitoun neighborhood. [end]
Al-Mujahidin brigades claim attack on Israeli soldier
Ma’an News Agency 1/15/2008
Gaza Ma’an - The Al-Mujahidin brigades, who are affiliated to Fatah, claimed they shot and injured an Israeli soldier on Tuesday while he was on the top of a tank in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City. The brigades said that this attack was an initial response to the Israeli massacre in the neighborhood that left 17 dead and more than 45 injured, earlier in the day. [end]
Israeli Ministry of Defense spokesperson denies increase in fuel supply to Gaza prelude to total cut-off
Marian Houk, Ma’an News Agency 1/15/2008
Bethlehem - Ma’an - Israeli Ministry of Defense spokesperson Shlomo Dror has denied stories published in the Israeli media on Monday that the militarys 10 January decision to allow an increase in the amount of industrial diesel fuel supplied to the main Gaza power plant might just be a one time operation, before a total cut-off. Dror said in a phone interview that that he had no idea where these stories came from they were totally untrue. The intention with the fuel cuts, Dror said was not to make a humanitarian crisis we only wanted to signal to the Palestinians that the situation can no longer continue as it is. He admitted that We did some mistakes we had figures for fuel deliveries for the last three months, then we found out that the amounts used in that period were less than before, Dror explained, so the cuts were deeper than they should have been. more..
Israeli Special Forces apprehend Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades member in Nablus
Ma’an News Agency 1/15/2008
Nablus Ma’an - Israeli Special Forces apprehended a member of the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, the military wing of the Popular Front, in Nablus on Tuesday afternoon. Media sources from the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades told Ma’an that Israeli special forces seized twenty-three-year-old Ibrahim Al-Damouni in a public library in An-Najah Street. They said Al-Damouni, a resident of Al-Ain refugee camp, was arrested at gunpoint. He had been on Israel’s ’wanted’ list for three years. [end]
Israel Escalates Violence: Scores Killed and Wounded
Palestine Chronicle 1/15/2008
David Chater, Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Jerusalem, said: "Apache helicopter gunships, armoured bulldozers, tanks and ground troops were all involved in this incursion." There are also reports of another incursion in the industrial zone near the Erez crossing." Incursion ’a Massacre’Israel’s incursion came a week after Bush said he wanted a peace deal between the Israelis and the Palestinians by the end of his presidential term at the end of 2008. Hamas officials blamed Bush’s presence in the region for the violence. Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, has reportedly ordered a series of such "sharp and short" incursions, into Gaza and the West Bank. Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, said on Tuesday: "What happened today is a massacre, a slaughter against the Palestinian people." Our people cannot keep silent over these massacres. These massacres cannot bring peace." more..
At least 18 dead as Gaza violence explodes
Adel Zaanoun, ReliefWeb 1/15/2008
GAZA CITY, Jan 15, 2008 (AFP) - Israeli troops killed 17 Palestinians on Tuesday, including a son of a top Hamas leader, as fighting flared around Gaza a day after the two sides launched talks on the core issues of their conflict. The deadliest single day of violence in months saw the son of hardline Hamas leader Mahmud Zahar killed, while a civilian just inside Israel was shot dead in a rare sniper attack by militants in Gaza. The fighting erupted a day after a meeting of top Israeli and Palestinian negotiators, hot on the heels of US President George W. Bush’s visit and his prediction of a peace treaty by the time he leaves office in a year. Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas branded the Gaza operation a "massacre" and said it flew in the face of peace efforts. "What happened today is a massacre, a slaughter against the Palestinian people," Abbas told reporters in the West Bank town of Ramallah. more..
VIDEO - Palestinian sniper shoots to death foreign volunteer near Gaza
Yonat Atlas, YNetNews 1/15/2008
(VIDEO) Foreign volunteer killed by Palestinian sniper gunfire from within Gaza; man was shot as he was working in the fields of Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha. Hamas claims responsibility - Carlos Andres Chavez, a 20-year-old volunteer from Ecuador, was killed after he was shot by a Palestinian sniper from within the Gaza Strip as he was working in the fields of the Ein Hashlosha kibbutz located near the coastal territory. The Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military wing, took responsibility for the shooting. Magen David Adom paramedics arrived to the scene while the man was still alive but seriously injured. They tried to save his life but were unsuccessful and were forced to pronounce him dead. Yochai (Yochi) Kopler, a kibbutz resident who was out in the field when the shooting began, described the incident. more..
Grad missile lands in Ashkelon neighborhood
Shmulik Hadad, YNetNews 1/15/2008
After bloody day in Gaza, Grad missile, 4 Qassam rockets, 5 mortar rounds fired into Israel. Israeli farmers trying to recover tractors abandoned in Ein Hashlosha sniper attack fired upon by Gaza gunmen - A Grad missile fired from northern Gaza Tuesday landed near a tennis court in a southern Ashkelon neighborhood. There were no reports of injuries or damage in the incident. A few hours later, two Qassam rockets fired from the northern Gaza Strip landed in an open field outside Sdeort. No injuries or property damage were reported. In a separate incident, laborers from the Ein Hashlosha kibbutz, the site of a deadly sniper attack on Tuesday morning, were fired upon as they attempted to retrieve tractors abandoned in a kibbutz field following this morning’s attack. Eight kibbutz residents arrived to the fields, but as soon as they approached the equipment, they were fired upon from gunmen across the border. more..
4 hurt in Sderot rocket barrage
Shmulik Hadad, YNetNews 1/15/2008
Tough day in the south: Palestinian terrorists fire rockets at Sderot Tuesday afternoon, at least four people reportedly wounded, including 5-year-old girl; for first time in months, Hamas claims responsibility for rocket barrage - Hamas rockets pound Sderot: At least four people were wounded, including a 5-year-old girl, in a rocket barrage on the southern town of Sderot Tuesday afternoon. At least 18 Qassams were fired at Sderot since the afternoon hours, with four rockets landing in town. The rocket fire started at around 4:15 PM, with one Qassm hitting a poultry processing plant where Yakov Yakobov was killed in November 2006. Since Tuesday morning, a total of 26 Qassam rockets and 16 mortar shells were fired at western Negev communities. One of the rockets hit a power line in Sderot, halting power supply to several areas in town. more..
VIDEO - Settlers present tape allegedly proving they own Hebron house
Efrat Weiss, YNetNews 1/15/2008
(VIDEO) Jewish residents of disputed Hebron house release videotape they claim shows sale of property by Palestinian owner to their representative. ’We paid a lot of money for this house,’ says one of the settlers - Hebron settlers have started distributing Tuesday a videotape that they claim establishes their ownership of a house that has been at the center of a bitter dispute between Jews and Palestinians in recent months. Last March settlers took over the house, which a local Palestinian claims belongs to him, and have been living there ever since, despite repeated attempts by the authorities to evacuate them from the property. The High Court is scheduled to discuss a petition on the matter Thursday, and may order its evacuation. The transaction. Arrow points to Baiz Rajbi The video released by the settlers allegedly depicts the sale... more..
Sderot braces for more rockets
Shmulik Hadad, YNetNews 1/15/2008
Southern town under attack: More than 40 Qassams fired at Sderot Tuesday, bomb shelters opened; meanwhile, more social workers, psychologists dispatched to help residents, IDF decides to keep schools open - Sderot hit by massive rocket offensive: More than 40 rockets were fired at southern communities Tuesday afternoon and evening. Most of the rockets targeted the southern town of Sdeort, prompting municipal officials to convene an emergency meeting to decide on the next moves in the rocket-stricken town. In the meeting, led by Mayor Eli Moyal, officials decided to boost the entire support system offered to Sderot residents coping with ceaseless Qassam attacks. Bomb shelters will be opened and more social workers, psychologists, and doctors will be sent to help residents. Four civilians, including a 5-year-old girl, sustained shrapnel wounds in Tuesday’s attacks. more..
Rightists refuse to vacate land slated for mental facility
Or Kashti and Meron Rapoport, Ha’aretz 1/14/2008
The right-wing Elad settlement organization is refusing to vacate an area in the Jerusalem Peace Forest that had been promised to the special education organization Hadvir Hahadash. The Jewish National Fund signed an agreement in 2004 with Hadvir, which wants to build a boarding school for young people over 21 with profound developmental disabilities, but has since avoided ratifying the deal. Elad, which aims to settle Jews in East Jerusalem, has been very active in recent years in the Peace Forest, located between Abu Tor and the Armon Hanatziv neighborhood. The group operates tours from the forest to various East Jerusalem sites, and conducts archaeological activity there in cooperation with the Israel Antiquities Authority. "Now I understand how a settlement gets established," says the director of Hadvir Hahadash, Lia Natan-Martziano. more..
Palestinians yearn for unity
Lamis Andoni, Al Jazeera 1/15/2008
The Israeli onslaught against the Gaza Strip which has left scores of Palestinians dead has further underscored the weakness and failure of the Palestinian leadership to protect its people as it continues unconditional negotiations with Israel. The incursion has further undermined the credibility of the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority’s negotiating strategy and deepened the disillusionment of Palestinians already sceptical of the ongoing talks with Israel. The new attack, which mainly targeted members of Hamas, came a day after the launch of Israeli-Palestinian final status talks in a clear signal to the Palestinian leadership that Israel is determined to sustain what it calls its "overriding security control" over the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. more..
Palestine Today 011508
Ghassan Bannoura - Audio Dept, International Middle East Media Center 1/15/2008
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 15th, 2008. The Israeli army invades the eastern Gaza strip and kills 17 Palestinians, while settlers attack farmers in the West Bank, these stories and more coming up stay tuned. The News Cast Palestinian sources reported that the Israeli army military offensive in the eastern part of the Gaza Strip that started on Tuesday at dawn has come to an end, leaving 17 Palestinians dead, and at least 10 injured. The offensive started when army tanks and bulldozers invaded the Al Zaytona area near Gaza city backed by army helicopters. Al Qassam brigades the armed wing of Hamas announced that among those 17 killed were 13 fighters from the brigades who were clashing with the invading Israeli tanks. more..
Rightists take up cinematography to confront Arab lecturer
Efrat Weiss, YNetNews 1/15/2008
Marzel, Ben Gvir enroll in Sapir College in Sdeort to confront cinematography lecturer Nizar Hassan, who removed uniform-wearing IDF officer from classroom - While most university students are still unsure of what will be the fate of the current academic semester, the coming acdemic year is certain to be an interesting one for Sapir College in the Negev because of two prospective new film students: Extreme right-wing activists Baruch Marzel and Itamar Ben-Gvir. No, the two did not come to study in Sdeort due to a sudden affinity for Charlie Chaplin movies and the cinematique intricacies of Film Noir. They did not even come because of the Qassams. It was an incident in November of 2007 that drove the two activists to Sapir College’s film department, namely cinematography lecturer Nizar Hassam’s removal of uniformed IDF officer Eyal Cohen from his classroom. more..
Will volunteers stay in Israel?
Liron Milshtein, YNetNews 1/15/2008
Kibbutz officials concerned that terror attack will reduce number of international helpers - In recent years, despite ongoing Qassam attacks on southern communities, volunteers from across the world continued to flock to area kibbutzim. However, Kibbutz Movement officials are concerned that Tuesday’s terror attack , which claimed the life an Ecuadorian volunteer, would deter others from coming to Israel. However, in Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha, where Carlos Andres Chavez was murdered Tuesday morning, other volunteers said they are determined to stay. In the past year, about 1,500 international volunteers offered their assistance at 35 kibbutzim across the nation. Kibbutz officials noted that Ecuador, where terror victim Chavez came from, is among the countries that send the highest number of volunteers, along with other South American countries like Columbia and Chile. more..
Israeli bombing leaves three Palestinians dead in Gaza
Ma’an News Agency 1/14/2008
Gaza Ma’an Three Palestinian activists were killed on Sunday evening when Israeli warplanes bombed a car near the home of deposed Palestinian Prime Minister Isma’il Haniyeh in Ash-Shati refugee camp in Gaza City, Palestinian sources at Ash-Shifa hospital said. According to the sources, two other activists were seriously injured in the same attack, sustaining massive burns. The spokesperson of the Al-Aqsa Brigades, Abu Al-Walid identified the deceased as thirty-five-year-old Nidal Al-Amudi, who was the main target of the raid, and Mahir Al-Mabhuh who was affiliated to the Army of Islam and twenty-five-year-old Hammuda Rizqa. The Al-Aqsa Brigades are the armed wing of Fatah. more..
Israeli army issues demolition order for Palestinian water well
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 1/14/2008
On Monday the Israeli army issued demolition orders against a water reservoir that belongs to Palestinian farmers from the Bedouin village of Al Hathalen, located near the city of Hebron in the southern part of the West Bank. The farmers reported that the wells are used to collect rain water to be used for drinking. The wells were originally built several years ago by farmers who live in the Bedouin village, with funds from the Spanish NGO called "ASIPO". The Bedouin village of Al Hathalen is under constant threat of attacks by radical Israeli settlers who live in the nearby illegal Israeli settlements, including Havet Maon. more..
Israeli forces seize five Tulkarem residents
Ma’an News Agency 1/14/2008
Tulkarem Ma’an A Hamas activist missing since Friday has been confirmed to be captured by the Israeli military, and four other Palestinians were seized near the West Bank city of Tulkarem on Monday, Palestinian security sources said. Thirty-six-year-old Wathiq Jitawi has been missing for more than three days. His car was found in the village of Bal’a, near Tulkarem. On Monday Palestinian security officers confirmed that Jitawi had been abducted by Israeli soldiers at the main entrance to the village. Jitawi is from the village of Iktaba, also near Tulkarem. Jitawi’s brother Mu’tasim Jitawi and another Hamas activist named Abdil-Hamid Salama were seized by Israeli forces in homes on Monday. Activist Hussein Ya’qub was detained at a military checkpoint in the village of Jbarah, south of Tulkarem. more..
Hamas sources: "P.A security arrests eight Hamas members in the West Bank"
IMEMC News, International Middle East Media Center 1/14/2008
Hamas media sources reported on Monday that Palestinian Security Forces arrested eight members of the movement on Sunday in several West Bank cities. In Salfit district, security forces arrested Hamza As’ad, from Jam’een village, north of Salfit, after he was ordered to head to a Palestinian security center for questioning. The sources also stated that the security devices closed a charitable society which takes care and provides services to 350 orphans and dozens of needy family. In Nablus district, in the northern part of the West Bank, security forces arrested Radhi Rawajba, vice-president of Rojeeb village council, and in Aseera Al Shimaliyya village near Nablus, security men also broke into the house of Ayman Yassin and arrested him. Yassin was released from an Israeli detention facility eight days before he was arrested by the Palestinian security forces. more..
Army attack villages near Nablus and kidnaps three civilians
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 1/14/2008
Palestinian sources reported that the Israeli army attacked the villages of Awarta and Houwara located in the northern West Bank city of Nablus on Monday morning and kidnapped three civilians there. In Awarta village Israeli forces stormed the village, searched homes then kidnapped three men and left, the three were identified as; Shadi Qawarik, Fadi Qawarik, and Amjad Qawarik. Meanwhile another army force entered the village of Houwara, troops imposed a curfew on the village not allowing families to leave their houses and then made searches of the houses, witnesses said that soldiers beat up men during the house to house search. more..
Israel foils bid to take explosive material into Gaza on aid truck
Zohar Blumenkrantz and Yuval Azulay, Ha’aretz 1/14/2008
Israel Airports Authority security personnel on Monday thwarted an attempt to smuggle a chemical substance that can be used to manufacture explosives and rockets, from Israel into the Gaza Strip though the Kerem Shalom crossing. The IAA recovered two tons of the bomb-making material from a truck attempting to smuggle the material into Gaza in the guise of a humanitarian aid delivery. According to security sources, last week a larger amount of the material was found on a similar truck attempting to cross into Gaza. The source also said that the amount apprehended Monday, could have been used to produce 500 rockets. The chemical substance was found in a test sample. It can be used to fuel rockets and to create explosives. The IAA has submitted its findings to the police, who will continue the investigation into the matter. more..
PM says he opposes major IDF offensive in Gaza for time being
Shahar Ilan, Ha’aretz 1/14/2008
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Monday that he opposed a broad Israel Defense Forces offensive in the Gaza Strip for the time being, despite the ongoing Qassam rocket attacks on the Negev. Olmert said that he "very much recommends that we not get ourselves embroiled in operations and in [paying] prices that are disproportionate to the constraintswe are dealing with." The prime minister added that he did not wish to minimize the distress caused by Qassam rocket attacks on Sderot and the western Negev. "If we believe that we should do more, we will do more, but there is no need to inflame ourselves." Speaking to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Commitee, Olmert said of the embattled Strip, "There’s a war there, and Israel is conducting [it] with wisdom." more..
Israel blasts Gaza amid peace talks
Al Jazeera 1/14/2008
Israel has launched a missile attack in the Gaza strip, killing three Palestinians, as its negotiators opened fresh peace talks with Palestinian officials. Two of those killed in the raid near the home of Ismail Haniya, the Hamas leader in Gaza, were members of Fatah’s armed wing, Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade. The third man was linked to Hamas’ military wing. Israel has said two of the men were on their way to fire rockets across the border into Israel. Bush encouragement The attack came amid the start of negotiations which follow Bush’s first presidential visit to Israel and the occupied West Bank, where he set the goal of signing a peace treaty in 2008 and encouraged both sides to begin talking in earnest. more..
While leaders talk peace, three Palestinians killed by Israeli missile
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 1/14/2008
Three Palestinians were killed early Monday morning when Israeli army jet fighters attacked a car near the house of Hamas leader and deposed Palestinian Primer Isma’il Haniyya, located in Gaza city. The attack came just as Palestinian and Israeli leaders were set to meet and discuss peace terms in Jerusalem. Witnesses said that they saw three men driving a car near Haniyya’s home when jet fighters fired two missiles at the car. Medical sources stated that one of the men died in the attack while the other two died later in the hospital. The medical sources identified two of the men as; Nidal Al Amodi, 35, Maher Al Mabhoh, while the identity of the third man is still unknown due to the severe burns on his face. Palestinian sources in Gaza announced on Monday morning that the three men killed were resistance fighters from Al Islam, a new Islamic resistance group in the Gaza strip. more..
Explosives, projectile found in Nablus
Ma’an News Agency 1/14/2008
Nablus Ma’an The Palestinian intelligence service said on Monday that they discovered a bag containing 16 kilograms of explosives and a homemade projectile ready to be launched in the northern West Bank city of Nablus. Director of Nablus intelligence, Abu Al-Abbas, told Ma’an that the bag was found inside a bigger bag with three detonators in the old city of Nablus. more..
Report: PA seizes rocket in Nablus
Ynet, YNetNews 1/14/2008
Palestinian news agency reports PA security forces uncover improvised projectile, 35 lbs of explosives hidden in Nablus Casbah - Palestinian security forces in Nablus seized an improvised projectile rocket and 35 lbs of explosives concealed in a bag in the city’s Casbah, the ’Ma’an’ news agency reported on Monday. Officials within the Palestinian Authority refused to confirm the report. The Israeli military has frequently expressed its concern that the technology used to manufacture and use rockets in Gaza would be transferred to the West Bank. Earlier in the day a Palestinian youth was arrested at the Beit Furik checkpoint southeast of Nablus with a 60 cm mortar shell. The shell was detonated in a controlled manner and the youth was taken for questioning by security forces. Earlier this month the IDF carried out a three-day operation in Nablus,... more..
Olmert attributes rocket attack last week to ’international terror groups’
Daily Star 1/15/2008
Israel believes that militants from outside Lebanon were behind last week’s firing of two rockets from Lebanon into the Jewish state, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Monday. "We have information that this attack was carried out by international terror groups that are not directly affiliated to the terror organizations inside Lebanon," a senior Israeli official quoted Olmert as telling Parliament’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. The official said that the groups were believed to be linked to Al-Qaeda. Israeli police said last Tuesday that two rockets fired from Lebanon hit a community in northern Israel causing no casualties a day before US President George W. Bush started a landmark visit to the region. The Lebanese military denied any rockets had been fired. Hizbullah also denied any involvement in the incident. more..
Palestine Today 011408
Ghassan Bannoura - Audio Dept, International Middle East Media Center 1/14/2008
Click on Link to download or play MP3 file || 3 m 0s || 2. 75 MB || Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Centre, www. imemc. org, for Monday January 14th, 2008. Three Palestinians killed in Israeli army air strikes in Gaza, while army invasions are reported in several parts of the West Bank. These stories and more coming up, stay tuned. The News Cast Three Palestinians were killed on Sunday at midnight when Israeli army jet fighters attacked a car near the house of Hamas leader and deposed Palestinian Prime Minister Isma’el Hanyiah, located in Gaza city. Witnesses said that they saw three men driving a car near Hanyiah’s home when jet fighters fired two missiles at the car. Medical sources stated that one of the men died in the attack while the other two died later in hospital. more..
Two Palestinian fighters killed by Israeli airstrike
Saed Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 1/13/2008
Two fighters with the al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, were killed Saturday evening, and five others were injured, when the Israeli military shelled a training site near Khan Younis, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. Medical sources at an-Nassar Hospital in Khan Younis reported that an Israeli unmanned drone fired three missiles at a training center of the al-Qassam Brigades, in the Ma’an area east of Khan Younis. Two fighters were killed, and fiver were wounded. Two of the wounded are in serious condition at an-Nassar hospital. The two who were killed were identified as Ayad Abu Abed and Mansour Al-Breem. The Israeli military spokesman stated that the strike came in response to Palestinian homemade shells that have been fired into Israel -- causing no injuries or damage -- during the last week. more..
8 mortar shells hit community of Netiv Haasara
Shmulik Hadad, YNetNews 1/13/2008
Shells fired from northern Gaza Strip land in western Negev, causing damage to two houses - Eight mortar shells were fired Sunday from the northern Gaza Strip towards the western Negev. Two of the mortars hit the community of Netiv Haasara, and the rest landed in open areas. One of the mortars fell between two houses, causing damage. Moira Dror’s daughter lives in one of the houses, which was hit by shrapnel. "She left one or two minutes before the mortar hit the house," she said. The second building hit was the house of a woman and her two children. Luckily, they were not at home during the strike. "We have a lot of luck or miracles," Dror added. "We live about 200 meters (656 feet) from (the northern Gaza Strip town of) Beit Hanoun. As opposed to Qassam rockets, which have an alert system, we try to listen to the mortars being launched and manage run to the bomb shelters. more..
Eleven Palestinians injured, four abducted during Israeli settler attack in Hebron
Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center 1/13/2008
On Saturday night, eleven Palestinians were injured by Israeli settlers, and four others were abducted by the Israeli army, during an attack by the settlers and soldiers in Wad al-Hasin area, according to the Palestinian news agency WAFA. The neighborhood is adjacent to the Kiryat Arba settlement, east of Hebron in the southern part of the West Bank. Kiryat Arba is infamous as being home to some of the most violent and extremist of Israeli colonizers of Palestinian land. Local resident Jamal Abu S’efan, who lives near the settlement fence, stated that dozens of settlers began hurling stones, empty bottles and iron bars at his home after their prayer session on Saturday. The barrage resulted in injuries of Abu S’efan and ten others in his extended family, including four children. Several of those injured suffered from concussions when they were hit in the head with rocks and other objects. more..
Israeli forces seize six Palestinians in the West Bank
Ma’an News Agency 1/13/2008
Bethlehem Ma’an Israeli forces seized six Palestinians in the northern West Bank, Israeli sources said. Three were detained in the city of Nablus and three in Jenin on the pretext that they were "wanted" by the Israel intelligence services. more..
Hamas: PA security forces detain nine Hamas members
Ma’an News Agency 1/13/2008
Nablus Ma’an Hamas says that Fatah-allied Palestinian security forces seized nine Hamas members in the West Bank on Saturday evening. In a press statement the Islamic movement said that one Hamas member was detained in the town of Beit Ummar, near the southern city of Hebron, and eight others in Salfit, in the northern West Bank. more..
Israeli forces shut down Huwwara village in respone to alleged stone throwing
Ma’an News Agency 1/13/2008
Nablus Ma’an The Israeli military imposed a curfew on the West Bank village of Huwwara south of Nablus, local sources said. The head of the village council of Huwwara, Samir Mir’ib told Ma’an that Israeli soldiers forced all the business owners to close their shops and banned all residents from walking the streets. He added that the Israeli forces claimed that the curfew was imposed because young men from the village pelted stones at Israeli settlers’ cars on the main road near the village. more..
Report: Israel plotting to assassinate Hamas’ top leaders
Ma’an News Agency 1/13/2008
Bethlehem Ma’an The London-based Al-Hayat newspaper quoted an anonymous Palestinian official saying that a European country had told Hamas leaders that Israel decided to assassinate Hamas’ three top leaders, Isma’il Haniyeh, Khalid Mash’al and Mahmoud Az-Zahhar. According to the source, Israel had delayed the assassination until the end of US president George Bush’s visit to the region. He also said that Hamas and the de facto government in the Gaza Strip are taking the issue seriously, imposing intensive security to protect their leaders. In the same regard, Al-Hayat quoted Hamas security sources as saying that they thwarted an explosion in the park where deposed Prime Minister Haniyeh was honoring the Gazan hajj pilgrims. They said a young Palestinian man was arrested holding a bag containing three kilograms of TNT, which was designed to kill Haniyeh. more..
Report: Al-Qaeda planned to attack Israel from Egypt
Roee Nahmias, YNetNews 1/13/2008
Local security sources tell Al Jazeera 14-member cell comprised of engineers, army officers planned to launch attacks against Israel with the use of an unmanned plane, rockets - About two months ago Egyptian authorities arrested a 14-member terror cell comprised of engineers and army officers that were planning to carry out a series of al-Qaeda-linked terror attacks against Israel, Al Jazeera reported Saturday. Quoting local security sources, the report said the cell members - 12 engineers and two officers in the Egyptian army - were planning to assemble an unmanned aircraft to attack targets inside Israel. The report said the cell manufactured rockets similar to those being used by Palestinian terror organizations, which were meant to be launched toward Israel from inside Egyptian territory. more..
Report: Egypt arrests terror cell planning attacks on Israel
Yoav Stern, Ha’aretz 1/13/2008
Egypt arrested two terrorists planning to attack targets in Israel, the Qatar-based Arabic language news network Al-Jazeera reported on Sunday. According to Al-Jazeera, about two months ago, Egyptian security forces arrested two military officers and 12 engineers who were reportedly planning on building an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to use against targets in Israel. The group reportedly built rockets similar to the Qassam rockets fired by Palestinian militants from the Gaza Strip. Security sources toldAl-Jazeera reporters in Cairo that the commander of the terrorist cell was an engineer who visited Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates where he is suspected to have met with Al-Qaida terrorists from Afghanistan. The cell reportedly were driven by an extreme, fundamentalist Islamic ideology under which they feel... more..
Israeli drones violate Lebanese airspace
Daily Star 1/14/2008
Israel once again violated Lebanon’s sovereignty over the weekend when an Israeli drone entered Lebanese airspace at 21:30 Saturday, flying over the sea off the coast of Beirut. The aircraft left Lebanese airspace at 22:55 from South Lebanon, the Lebanese Armed Forces said in a statement. Israeli planes and drones routinely enter Lebanese airspace and fly over the country in violation of United Nations resolutions, including Security Council Resolution 1701. more..
Al-Aqsa Brigades claim projectile attack
Ma’an News Agency 1/13/2008
Gaza Ma’an Fatah’s armed wing, the Al-Aqsa Brigades launched a homemade projectile at the Israeli city of Ashkelon, north of the Gaza Strip on Sunday. The fighters said that the attack was in response to ongoing Israeli aggression in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. more..
Al-Qassam Brigades ’shell Israeli forces’
Ma’an News Agency 1/13/2008
Gaza Ma’an The military wing of Hamas, the Al-Qassam Brigades, claimed responsibility on Sunday for firing 13 mortar shells at an Israeli infantry unit and military vehicles east of the Gaza City. They considered the attack to be in retaliation for ongoing Israeli atrocities against the Palestinian people. more..
2 Palestinians indicted for kidnapping Israeli cabbie
Avi Cohen, YNetNews 1/13/2008
Riad Qa’ad, Jalal Abdullah of Birzeit face kidnapping charges at Judea, Samaria Military Court for abducting Israeli taxi driver Meir Chayu in mid December - The two Palestinians who were implicated in the kidnapping of Israeli taxi driver Meir Chayu one month ago were indicted Sunday at the Judea and Samaria Military Court. Riad Qa’ad and Jalal Abdullah of the West Bank city of Birzeit were charged with kidnapping Chayu after boarding his cab in Bnei Brak and forcing him to take them to the West Bank. Chayu apparently new one of the men and agreed to the fare - originally requested for Kfar Qassem - but during the drive, his passengers suddenly changed their minds, asking him to take them to the West Bank village of Azun instead. According to the indictment, after passing several military checkpoints, Chayu became suspicious, at which point his passengers... more..
2 Palestinians killed in IDF strike near Haniyeh’s house
Ali Waked, YNetNews 1/13/2008
IAF aircraft fire several missiles at commercial vehicles carrying Palestinian gunmen in Gaza. One of men killed involved in firing rockets at Sderot; two gunmen injured. Palestinians report strike took place near home of dismissed Palestinian prime minister of Hamas - Two Palestinian gunmen were killed Sunday evening in an Israel Air Force strike near the home of dismissed Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas at the Shati refugee camp. Two other gunmen were injured in the attack. The target of the strike was a Mitsubishi commercial vehicle, carrying members of the al-Aqsa Brigades, Fatah’s military wing. The airstrike was a joint operation launched by the IDF and the Shin Bet. Injured evacuated (Photo: Reuters) One of the gunmen killed was identified as Nidal Amudi, a senior al-Aqsa Brigades member, who was involved... more..
IAF assassinates at least two militants in Gaza City strike
Yuval Azoulay and The Associated Press, Ha’aretz 1/14/2008
At least two Palestinian militants were killed Sunday evening in an Israel Air Force strike near Gaza City. One of the militants was identified as a member of Islamic Jihad. According to the Israel Defense Forces, the air force targeted a jeep in which three militants were traveling, adding that the militants were involved in firing Qassam rockets at the western Negev town of Sderot. Security sources described the strike as a "targeted killing," which is designed to assassinate terror operatives, not thwart an imminent attack. The strike was carried out close to the home of deposed Palestinian prime minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas. Earlier, Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip fired eight mortar shells at the western Negev, one of which damaged a house in Nativ Ha’asara. more..
IAF strike kills 2 Hamas militants in Gaza
The Associated Press, Ha’aretz 1/13/2008
Two Hamas militants were killed and one was injured when the Israel Air Force struck a Hamas post in the southern Gaza Strip yesterday, the Islamic group said. An Israel Defense Forces spokesman confirmed a strike on a post near Khan Yunis in southern Gaza, which he said comes in response to mortar fire from the coastal territory. Hamas said the post was a training camp for its military wing. The IDF frequently conducts air strikes and ground operations in the Gaza Strip in an effort to curb daily Qassam rocket strikes on southern Israel from the Strip. "The IDF will continue to target the Hamas terrorist organization as long as it will continue to fire mortars at Israeli communities," an IDF statement said. However, during the high-profile visit of U.S. President George W. Bush to Israel and the West Bank last week, there was no IAF activity over Gaza. more..
Israeli settlers attack Palestinian family in Hebron, wounding 12
Ma’an News Agency 1/12/2008
Hebron Ma’an 12 Palestinians were injured and four detained in the West Bank city of Hebron after Israeli settlers invaded and attacked a private Palestinian home on Saturday. Witnesses said that 70 settlers from the Kiryat Arba colony broke into the Abu S’eifan family home, beating the residents with clubs and other objects. Jamal Abu S’eifan said that the family attempted to defend itself before Israeli soldiers arrived, deploying tear gas. Abu S’eifan said that this only made it easier for the settlers to attack. According to Abu S’eifan, three children were injured. He said the Israeli military blocked Palestinian ambulances from reaching the house. more..
Israeli airstrike kills two Palestinians, injures six
Ma’an News Agency 1/12/2008
Gaza Ma’an Israeli warplanes killed two Hamas fighters and wounded at least six other Palestinians during an air raid on a military installation belonging to Hamas’ armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, near the Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis on Saturday evening. Witnesses said the Israeli aircraft fired three missiles at the military site. Mu’awiya Hassanain, the director of ambulance and emergency services in the Palestinian Health Ministry confirmed the deaths of Mansour Albraim, and Ayed Abu Abed, both fighters with the Al-Qassam Brigades. They had been taken to Nasser hospital. more..
Abu Ali Mustafa brigades launch 10 projectiles at Sderot
Ma’an News Agency 1/12/2008
Gaza Ma’an The Abu Ali Mustafa brigades, the military wing of the popular front, claimed responsibility for launching 10 projectiles at the Israeli border town of Sderot on Saturday morning. The brigades said the attack was in response to Israeli crimes. more..
An-Nasser Salah Addin Brigades target Sderot
Ma’an News Agency 1/12/2008
Gaza Ma’an The military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees, the An-Naser Salah Addin Brigades claimed responsibility on Friday evening for launching a homemade projectile at the Israeli town of Sderot in the western Negev. They said in a statement that the shelling came in retaliation for the ongoing Israeli atrocities against the Palestinian people in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. In a separate incident, the An-Nasser Brigades and the Fatah-affiliated Ahmad Abu Ar-Rish Brigades said their fighters launched two homemade projectiles at the Istraeli city of Ashkelon north of the Gaza Strip on Friday evening. Meanwhile, the military wing affiliated to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades said they clashed with an Israeli undercover force who attempted to infiltrate east of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip at midnight. more..
2 Hamas men killed in strike
Ali Waked, YNetNews 1/12/2008
Air Force fires missiles at group of Hamas men in southern Gaza Strip Saturday evening - IDF strikes in Gaza: Two Palestinians were killed and five more were wounded in an Air Force strike on a Hamas post near Khan Younis Saturday evening. The IDF confirmed that it targeted a Hamas structure in the southern Gaza Strip. Military sources said the latest attack came in response to mortar attacks on Israel in recent days. Palestinian sources in the Strip reported that two members of Hamas’ military wing were killed in the strike - Mansour Ibraim and Ayad Abu Abed. The sources added that two of the men injured in the strike are in serious condition. According to the Palestinians, an IDF aircraft fired at least three missiles at the post. The sources say that the missiles hit a group of Hamas men at the site of the attack. more..
Palestinian navy officer found dead in southern Gaza
Ma’an News Agency 1/12/2008
Gaza Ma’an Palestinian medical sources said on Saturday that the body of a Palestinian naval officer hasbeen found in the area of Juhr Ad-Deek in the southern Gaza Strip. Mu’awiya Hassanein, the director of ambulance and emergency services in the Palestinian health ministry said Sha’ban Dughmush died from three gunshots to his head. more..
Man’s body found near Gaza City
Ma’an News Agency 1/12/2008
Gaza Ma’an Palestinian medical sources on Saturday announced that the body of a Palestinian resident of Ash-Shati’ refugee camp west of Gaza City, has been found. Mu’awiya Hassanein, the director of ambulance and emergency services in the Palestinian health ministry said thirty-three-year-oldSami Ar-Rawwagh was shot dead and his body was found in a Bedouin village in the northern Gaza Strip. more..
Bethlehem security services arrest 10 Hamas members on eve of Bush’s arrival
Ma’an News Agency 1/12/2008
Bethlehem Ma’an Palestinian security services arrested more than 10 Hamas members in Bethlehem on the eve US President George W. Bush’s visit to the city, security sources said on Saturday. The sources indicated that the arrestees were found to have weapons on them. The intelligence services arrested 10 Hamas activists before the arrival of the president and charged them with belonging to the executive power. more..
Israeli forces raid barber shop, seize two Palestinians
Ma’an News Agency 1/12/2008
Bethlehem Ma’an Israeli forces seized two Palestinians from the West Bank village of Al-Khader, south of Bethlehem on Saturday. Israeli forces surrounded a mens barber shop in the center of the town, detaining the ninteen-year-old proprietor, Ali Yousif Ali Salah, and twenty-three-year-old Salem Musa Ali Salah. They were taken to unknown location. more..
Watchdog: Release 7 girls arrested at outpost
Nadav Shragai, Ha’aretz 1/13/2008
The director of the National Council for the Child, Dr. Yitzhak Kadman, has asked the State Attorney’s Office to find a "creative solution" that will allow the release from prison of seven minors arrested at the outpost of Givat Ha’Or. The seven minors were arrested three weeks ago and are refusing to identify themselves. They are also refusing legal representation and have declared they do not recognize the authority of the courts. The minors, teenage girls aged 13-15, could be released if they heed the demands of the court to identify themselves. For their part, the girls insist that they want to be brought before a "Jewish court," practicing Jewish law. In a letter to Jerusalem District Attorney Eli Abarbanel, Kadman emphasizes that the National Council for the Child does not support any kind of violation of the law - "yet, we cannot agree with an inconceivable situation... more..
Israeli settlers hold vigil for two soldiers killed in drive-by shooting near Hebron
Ma’an News Agency 1/12/2008
Hebron Ma’an Dozens of Israeli settlers, protected by Israeli soldiers, held a vigil on Friday near the southern West Bank village of Beit Kahil south of Hebron, for two off-duty Israeli soldiers who were killed two weeks ago. According to the local citizens, and farmers, this is the second time Israeli settlers have held a vigil since the shooting. They performed religious rituals while several military patrols toured the area and erected flying checkpoints to protect the settlers. The two Israeli settlers were killed in a drive-by shooting on December 28. Four Palestinians in a speeding car opened fire at two young men and a woman who were hiking near the Israeli settlement of Telem, close to the Palestinian village of Beit Kahil. The two men were killed and the woman survived. more..
Palestine Today 011008
Ghassan Bannoura -Audio Dept, International Middle East Media Center 1/10/2008
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 Thursday January 10th, 2008. As Bush visits the Palestinian cities of Bethlehem and Ramallah, Israeli army attacks leave two Palestinians dead in the Gaza strip, these stories and more coming up stay tuned. The News Cast During his visit to the region the President of the United States of America George Bush and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met in the central West Bank city of Ramallah On Thursday morning where they had brief talks and afterwards they had a joint press conference. First to take the floor was President Abbas who welcomed Bush and deemed his visit as historical, Abbas added that the Palestinians wish for peace, freedom and stability and asked Bush to help them accomplish that. more..
This Week In Palestine - Week 2 2008
Ghassan Bannoura - Audio Dept, International Middle East Media Center 1/11/2008
Click on Link to download or play MP3 file || File 14. 6 MB || Time 16m 0s || This Week In Palestine, a service of the International Middle East Media Center, www. IMEMC. org, for January 5th through January 11th, 2008. This week Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met with the US President, George W. Bush while Israeli army attacks continue in the West Bank and the Gaza strip resulting in the deaths of seven Palestinians, these stories and more coming up stay tuned. Nonviolent Resistance Let’s begin our weekly report with the nonviolent actions in Bethlehem and Ramallah, IMEMC’s Eva Cohen with the details: The villagers of Bil’in located near the Central West Bank city of Ramallah, along with their international and Israeli supporters conducted their weekly demonstration against the illegal Israeli wall on Friday. more..
Israeli gunboats and apache aircraft bomb targets in southern Gaza
Ma’an News Agency 1/11/2008
Gaza Ma’an - Israeli gunboats shelled a Palestinian boat near the shores of Tel Sultan, south of the Gaza Strip, on Friday. Mu’awiyah Hassanain, director of ambulance and emergency services in the Palestinian Health Ministry said there were no casualties in the incident, but the bombing resulted in the total destruction of the boat. Apache aircraft also launched two missiles at an open area in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip. No casualties were reported. [end]
Hamas: security services arrest 6 Hamas members in West Bank
Ma’an News Agency 1/11/2008
Nablus Ma’an - Hamas said on Friday that Palestinian security services had arrested six of their supporters in the West Bank on Thursday evening. In the Nablus district they arrested Nasr Al Betawi, after storming his house, along with Ayman Taha. In the district of Salfit, the security services arrested Issam Samer Suleiman from Marda in the south of the city after storming his house. In the governorate of Hebron, the security agencies arrested Abdul Rahim Ashalalda and Imadad Shalalda from Sa’ier. [end]
Judge indicts two suspects in 2006 murder of Islamic Jihad officials
Daily Star 1/12/2008
BEIRUT: Investigating Magistrate at the Military Court Adnan Bulbul indicted two men, a Lebanese and a Palestinian, over the 2006 murder of Islamic Jihad officials Mahmoud Majzoud and his brother Nidal in the southern port city of Sidon, a judicial report said on Friday. The charge sheet said Lebanese Mahmoud Qassem Rafeh and Palestinian Hussein Suleiman Khattab killed the Majzoub brothers in a bombing in Sidon on May, 26, 2006. If convicted the two could face the death penalty. Bulbul also indicted two other men, identified only as George and Fouad, in forming an armed gang and taking part in the Majzoub brothers’ assassination. The examining magistrate asked security forces to arrest five other people in connection with the case. The five were identified only by their first names. more..
Brigades attack Israeli military base
Ma’an News Agency 1/11/2008
Gaza Ma’an The National Resistance Brigades, the military wing of the Democratic Front and the Al-Aqsa Brigades claimed joint responsibility on Friday for launching a projectile at the Migen Israeli military base, bordering the Gaza Strip. The brigades issued a statement saying the attack was in response to Israeli crimes against Palestinians. [end]
Al-Quds brigades fire on Israeli military checkpoint south of Jenin
Ma’an News Agency 1/11/2008
Jenin Ma’an - The Al-Quds brigades claimed responsibility on Friday for firing on a military checkpoint next to the town of Mathlayah, south of Jenin. The brigades spokesman promised they would widen their attacks in response to Israeli crimes against the Palestinian people. [end]
9 rockets land in western Negev
Shmulik Hadad, YNetNews 1/11/2008
Terror groups send departing US president an aggressive message, fire four mortars, five Qassams at western Negev. No injuries, damage reported in the incidents - US President George W. Bush’s visit to Israel, which began with a Qassam salvo on the western Negev, ended in a similar fashion, as seven rockets were fired form the Gaza Strip towards Israel on Friday. Four mortar shells were fires from northern Gaza at Israel early Friday morning, landing in open areas near the security fence. A Qassam rocket landed in an open area near Zikim several hours after that; and was followed by two more Qassams, which landed in the western Negev. Two more Qassam rockets were fired from northern Gaza Friday evening, landing near Sha’ar Hanegev regional council. One of the rockets exploded, causing no damage. more..
Israeli military issues demolition orders to residents of Kherbet Taweel
Nisreen Qumsieh, International Middle East Media Center 1/10/2008
The Israeli Authority gave demolition orders to residents of Kherbet Taweel in Aqraba village in eastern Nablus on Thursday to demolish their buildings, claiming that they don’t possess building licenses. Jawadat Bani Jaber, Mayor of Aqraba village indicated that Kherbert Taweel which is considered part of Aqraba village’s land is inhabited by 500 people. They depend on livestock and they use the buildings as a shelter for their livestock. Sources reported that the Israeli Authority issued the residents with the demolition orders in that area and they have to refer to the management department in Beit Eil to get legal advice for building. Bani Jaber petitioned all the concerned international organizations to intervene and halt any action that might be taken by the management department to demolish these buildings. more..
Israeli military kidnaps three Palestinians in the West Bank
Nisreen Qumsieh, International Middle East Media Center 1/10/2008
Israeli forces carried out invasion operations in different parts of the West Bank on Wednesday night. more..
Unidentified gunmen fire an RPG at the American school in Gaza City
Ma’an News Agency 1/10/2008
Gaza Ma’an Three unidentified gunmen detonated a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) in the art hall on the second floor of the American school in Gaza City on Wednesday night. The school’s principal Ribhi Salem told Ma’an’s reporter that the gunmen asked the school’s guards to leave after they broke into the school. They then fired an RPG from zero range destroying the hall’s contents. The principal condemned the assault saying, "The school’s staff and students are all Palestinians, and it is licensed by the Ministry of Education. Its mission is purely educational with nothing to do with politics." He said that the same school had been targeted in the past and that an American visitor to the school had been kidnapped about a year ago. more..
Al-Quds Brigades fire two mortars at Israeli military post
Ma’an News Agency 1/10/2008
Gaza Ma’an The military wing affiliated to Islamic Jihad, the Al-Quds Brigades, claimed responsibility on Wednesday evening for firing two mortar shells at the Israeli military post of Abu Mtaibeeq, east of Al-Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. They said in a statement that the shelling was in response to Israeli aggression the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. more..
Palestinian military groups launch mortars at Israeli targets
Ma’an News Agency 1/10/2008
Gaza Ma’an Fatah’s Al-Aqsa Brigades and the military wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, claimed responsibility on Thursday for launching several mortar shells at the Erez crossing in Beit Hanoun, in the northern Gaza Strip, and at the Israeli settlement of Netiv Ha’sara. They said in a statement that the shelling was in response to Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. more..
Hamas fighters active in Gaza Strip
Ma’an News Agency 1/10/2008
Gaza Ma’an The military wing of Hamas, the Al-Qassam Brigades, claimed responsibility on Thursday for several attacks on Israeli targets south of the Gaza Strip. They said in a statement that a group of their fighters launched 23 mortar shells at Israeli military vehicles stationed near the Kerem Shalom crossing, east of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, and another five shells at Israeli vehicles in Al-Karara east of Khan Younis, also in the southern Gaza Strip. Separately, Hamas said its fighters clashed with Israeli military squadrons on the beach near Rafah. The brigades said their activities were in retaliation for the frequent Israeli incursions into the Gaza Strip. more..
Israeli military jams Palestinian radio with propaganda
Saed Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 1/10/2008
According to local sources, several Palestinian radio stations on the FM radio dial in the Gaza Strip have been jammed by Israeli military propaganda. The stations, which were affiliated with the Islamic Jihad and Hamas, have been replaced by recorded messages in Arabic broadcast from the nearby Israeli military bases. Some of the messages broadcast on the jammed signals include, "The army warns you of the consequences of cooperation with the "ravagers", and those who do so will be reached and punished. Hamas brings you only suffering. We promise that your suffering will come to an end, and you will feel soon that the Israeli army will deal with you better than Hamas did. You will soon see the strength of the Israeli army." The broadcast aggression took place on the heels of an Israeli attack that resulted in the deaths of three Palestinians earlier on Wednesday. more..
Palestine Today 011008
Ghassan Bannoura -Audio Dept, International Middle East Media Center 1/10/2008
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 Thursday January 10th, 2008. As Bush visits the Palestinian cities of Bethlehem and Ramallah, Israeli army attacks leave two Palestinians dead in the Gaza strip, these stories and more coming up stay tuned. The News Cast During his visit to the region the President of the United States of America George Bush and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met in the central West Bank city of Ramallah On Thursday morning where they had brief talks and afterwards they had a joint press conference. First to take the floor was President Abbas who welcomed Bush and deemed his visit as historical, Abbas added that the Palestinians wish for peace, freedom and stability and asked Bush to help them accomplish that. more..
Three killed, nine injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza Strip
Ma’an News Agency 1/9/2008
Gaza Ma’an Two people were killed and four others injured in an Israeli artillery attack on a house in Beit Hanoun, in the northern Gaza Strip. Thirty-year-old Khadra Wahdan and twenty-two-year-old Muhammad Maher Al Kafarneh died in the attack, according to Mu’awiyah Hassanein, the head of ambulance and emergency services in the Gaza Strip. The dead were taken to Beit Hanoun’s governmental hospital. Four people were also injured, two of them seriously. Eyewitnesses told Ma’an that an Israeli ground missile targeted the house. Earlier on Wednesday a Palestinian activist was killed and five others when Israeli artillery fired three missiles at a group of activists in the town of Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip. Two were seriously injured. Palestinian medical sources said the dead man was Amjad Abdul-Dayim. more..
Qassam hits Sderot home
Shmulik Hadad, YNetNews 1/9/2008
Palestinians fire several rockets at Sderot Wednesday afternoon. One rocket hits house, four residents wounded - Five Qassam rocket were fired from the Gaza Strip Wednesday afternoon, including one that hit a house in Sderot. Another rocket landed in the center. Four people sustained injuries in the latest attack, including a 17-year-old girl who suffered shrapnel wounds to her arm and a boy who was hurt while attempting to take cover. Meanwhile, a 60-year-old man arrived at hospital after reporting chest pains in the wake of the attack. Immediately after the explosions were heard, police forces were dispatched to the area in order to pinpoint the landing sites. Earlier Wednesday, a few hours before US President George W. Bush landed in Israel, terrorists fired nine Qassam rockets and several mortar shells from northern Gaza. more..
Israeli military kills one Palestinian, wounds six in missile strike on Gaza
Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center 1/9/2008
Early Wednesday morning, the Israeli military fired a surface-to-surface missile at a group of Palestinians that they claimed were launching a homemade shell from the northern Gaza Strip. The Islamic Jihad confirmed that one of its fighters had been killed by an Israeli missile and six had been injured, two of them critically. According to Israeli Army Radio, several Palestinian shells were fired toward the Negev desert prior to the missile strike, with no injuries or damage reported. Over the last six years, 12 Israelis have been killed by Palestinian homemade shells. Israeli authorities use this as a justification for their ongoing occupation and attacks against the Palestinian people. In the last six years, Israeli forces have killed 4,765 Palestinians. Israeli forces have killed nine Palestinians in the past several days. more..
2 killed in IDF air strikes in Gaza
Yuval Azoulay and Mijal Grinberg, Ha’aretz 1/10/2008
An Israel Defense Forces strike in the northern Gaza Strip yesterday killed two Palestinians, witnesses and medical officials said. The army is saying both casualties were firing at the troops, but Palestinian sources say at least on was a civilian. According to the IDF Spokesman’s Office, troops shot and killed a Palestinian after observing him firing mortar rounds at Israeli towns. In another incident, the IDF fired on militants launching Qassams on Israel from around Beit Hanun, killing one Palestinian. The army said both casualties were militants, but added it would look into the claims that civilians had been hit. A senior officer in charge of the area told Haaretz that even if the report turn out to be true, "the terrorist organizations are responsible for their deaths and not the IDF." Meanwhile, at least 10 Qassam rockets were fired from Gaza at settlements in the northern Negev, in addition to some 12 mortar rounds. more..
Israeli artillery fire on northern Gaza leaves two Palestinains dead
Rami Almeghari & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center 1/9/2008
Two Palestinians including a woman have been reportedly killed and three others wounded Wednesday when the Israeli artillery opened heavy fire towards a gathering of Palestinians near a house in the northern Gaza Strip city of Beit Hanoun. Witnesses said that the Israeli fire hit Palestinian-owned house in the city, where a group of people were gathering just close to the house. Medical sources confirmed the death of Khadra Wahdan, a woman of her twenties and Mohammad aLkafarna, a 16-year-old teen, as well as the injury of three others in the latest Israei shelling. Earlier in the day , the Israeli army fire claimed the life of one Palestinian fighter and injured six others during an attack on the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Lahya. Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahyia are the closest destinations to the northern Gaza-Israel border line, where Israeli army claims Palestinian... more..
Israeli naval forces attacked, PFLP fighters say
Ma’an News Agency 1/9/2008
Gaza Ma’an The military wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades claimed responsibility on Tuesday evening for firing a homemade projectile at an Israeli naval squadron at the beach along the northern Gaza Strip. They said in a statement that the shelling came in retaliation for ongoing Israeli attacks on the Palestinian people. [end]
Hamas: six more members detained by PA in West Bank
Ma’an News Agency 1/9/2008
Nablus Ma’an The Hamas movement said on Wednesday that Fatah-allied Palestinian security services have seized six Hamas members in the northern West Bank. They said in a statement that three of their members have been detained in Nablus. Two others were arrested in Jenin and another Tulkarem. [end]
DFLP fighters claim projectile attack
Ma’an News Agency 1/9/2008
Gaza Ma’an The military wing of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), the National Resistance Brigades, claimed responsibility on Wednesday for launching a homemade projectile at the Israeli town of Sderot on Wednesday. They said in a statement that the shelling was in response to daily Israeli attacks on Palestinians. [end]
Israeli settlers attempt to establish new outpost in Hebron as Bush arrives
Ma’an News Agency 1/9/2008
Hebron Ma’an Israeli settlers seized a plot of Palestinian land on Wednesday in the West Bank city of Hebron in an attempt to establish a new illegal outpost, witnesses said. Local sources said settlers occupied land belonging to resident Mahmoud Jabir and began erecting tents. The new outpost is near the existing Israeli settlement of Kiryat Arba. Witnesses said Israeli police later removed the tents later, which provoked the settlers to block the nearby main road with stones preventing the local Palestinian residents from reaching the area. Palestinian school students stayed at home fearing attack by Israeli settlers. Hebron Governor Hussain Al-A’raj called on visiting US President George W. Bushto give address the issue of Israeli settlements in talks with Israeli leaders. He said, "Settlers in Hebron have sent a welcome message to George Bush telling him that settlement construction is still ongoing. more..
An-Nasser Brigades bombard Israeli towns
Ma’an News Agency 1/9/2008
Gaza Ma’an The military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees, the An-Nasser Salah Addin Brigades, claimed responsibility on Wednesday for launching 16 homemade projectiles at Israeli towns bordering the Gaza Strip. They said in a statement that the shelling was a welcome for US President George W. Bush, as well as being a response to the ongoing Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip. [end]
Palestinian security forces dispose of explosives in Nablus
Ma’an News Agency 1/9/2008
Nablus Ma’an The Palestinian security services safely detonated several explosive devices in the West Bank city of Nablus. A reliable Palestinian source said that the bombs were intended to be exploded in the onion market in Nablus’ old city. The source also said that an Al-Aqsa Brigades activist who surrendered to the Palestinian Authority alerted the security forces to their existence. On Tuesday, nine prominent members of the Al-Aqsa Brigades, the military wing of the ruling Fatah party, handed themselves into the Palestinian Authority. The group has been all but shut down in Nablus, with some fighters joining the security services. [end]
An-Nasser brigades launch eight projectiles at Sderot
Ma’an News Agency 1/9/2008
Gaza Ma’an The An-Nasser brigades, the military wing of the popular front, claimed responsibility on Wednesday evening for launching eight projectiles at the Israeli town of Sderot, north of the Gaza Strip. The brigades said in a statement that the Israeli authorities had admitted the attacks occured and had resulted in the injury of many people. They said that the attack was in response to US President George W. Bush’s visit to Palestine. [end]
Early warning system fails in North
Yuval Azoulay, Ha’aretz 1/10/2008
The two Katyusha rockets fired against Israel from southern Lebanon early yesterday were not identified by the army’s early warning system. The Israel Defense Forces said poor weather conditions were probably the cause, and the residents of northern community Shlomi thought the blasts had been thunderclaps. At Northern Command, IDF officers said it was still unclear which militant group in Lebanon was responsible for the attack. During a similar attack last June, a local Palestinian organization, Fatah al-Islam, claimed responsibility. That time, a barrage of rockets targeted Kiryat Shmona. Officers from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) visited the site where the Katyushas hityesterday. Defense Minister Ehud Barak, meanwhile, visited the northern border, though the trip had been planned and was not related to the attack. more..
9 Qassams hit Negev; IDF attacks rocket launchers in Gaza
Shmulik Hadad and Ali Waked, YNetNews 1/9/2008
Rocket attacks from Gaza come just hours before President Bush’s scheduled arrival in Israel; at least one gunman killed in Israeli missile strike - Palestinians in northern Gaza fired nine Qassam rockets and a number of mortars toward the western Negev Wednesday morning, just several hours before US President George W. Bush’s expected arrival in Israel. In the initial barrage, three rockets landed around Kibbutz Zikim, while the other two hit outside Sderot. Later another Qassam landed near a kibbutz in the Sha’ar Hanegev regional council, and two mortars landed near the security fence separating Israel from the Strip. No injuries or property damage were reported. A short while after the rocket attacks, an Israeli missile strike against Qassam rocket launchers in the northern Strip killed at least one Palestinian militant and wounded four others. more..
Palestinian Today 010908
Ghassan Bannoura - Audio Dept, International Middle East Media Center 1/9/2008
Click on Link to download or pla|| 3 m 0s || 2. 75 MB || y MP3 file Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Centre, www. imemc. org, for Monday 9th January, 2008. Bush arrives in Israel and the Israeli army continues to attack the Gaza strip killing one Palestinian, these stories and more coming up, stay tuned. The News Cast Early Wednesday morning, the Israeli military fired a surface-to-surface missile at a group of Palestinians who they claimed were launching a homemade shell from the northern Gaza Strip. The Islamic Jihad confirmed that one of its fighters had been killed by an Israeli missile and six had been injured, two of them critically. Later in the day The President of the United States of America, George Bush, arrived in Israel. His visit to Israel is the first since he took office seven years ago. more..
No claim of responsibility as two Katyushas land in northern Israel
Daily Star 1/9/2008
Two rockets slammed into northern Israel from Lebanon overnight, Israeli police said on Tuesday, in an attack that underscored cross-border tensions ahead of US President George W. Bush’s regional visit. It was the first such incident in nearly seven months and came a day before Bush arrives on a landmark trip aimed at bolstering revived Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations. "Two 107-millimeter Katyusha rockets were fired overnight into northern Israel," Avi Edri, a spokesman for the Israeli northern district police said. One of the rockets landed on a road, and the other on the porch of a home in the town of Shlomi. The attack, which the army said took place around 2 a. m. , caused little damage and no injuries. "This was an unusual incident. We don’t intend to allow the status quo in the region to change," Defense Minister Ehud Barak told Israel’s Army Radio after inspecting the site. more..
Five injured in unknown explosion in Gaza
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 1/8/2008
Palestinian sources reported that five Palestinians from the same family were injured on Monday evening when an explosion hit their home located in Gaza city. Medical sources reported that five members of Al Batsh family among them children reached the hospital late Monday after an explosion that hit their house. The reasons of the explosion is still unknown, eyewitness said that Israeli army helicopter was in the are in the time of the explosion. [end]
Hamas says its forces traded fire with Israel Navy boats off Gaza
The Associated Press, Ha’aretz 1/8/2008
Hamas forces on shore traded fire with Israel Navy boats off Gaza’s southern coast Tuesday, and an Israeli missile landed in nearby Egyptian territory, Hamas said. During the exchange of fire south of the town of Rafah, an Israel Air Force Apache helicopter fired two missiles at the Hamas forces in a security post, Hamas said. One missed a car and the second struck inside Egypt, it said. There were no immediate reports of casualties. Hamas said it shot at the boats after militants were fired upon, and the IDF said it was acting against weapons smuggling from Egypt. The Israel Defense Forces could not immediately say what was happening in the area. There was no immediate reaction from Egypt. IDF forces frequently conduct operations in the Gaza Strip to thwart rocket fire rom the volatile area, which the Islamic militant Hamas took over in June. more..
Violence escalates ahead of Bush’s Israel visit
Associated Press, The Guardian 1/8/2008
Two rockets fired from Lebanon exploded in northern Israel before dawn today, according to the Israeli military, part of growing violence in the region ahead of a visit by the US president, George Bush. Residents said at least three rockets landed, but the army confirmed only two. There were no injuries reported. One rocket landed on the porch of a home in the town of Shlomi. Its owner, Simona Salamon, said: "It was such a big noise and my ears were ringing. It made a hole in the wall." It was the second rocket attack on Israel from Lebanon since Israel’s summer 2006 war with Lebanese Hizbullah guerrillas when Israel was bombarded with nearly 4,000 rockets, killing 40 Israeli civilians and 119 soldiers. More than 1,000 Lebanese, most of them civilians, were killed in Israeli retaliation. Last June, two rockets fired by a previously unknown group, the Jihadi Badr Brigades Lebanon Branch, fell in Israel, causing minor damage but no injuries. more..
Ring wing activists establish 2 outposts ahead of Bush visit
Jerusalem Post 1/9/2008
Right wing activists on Tuesday evening have set up two new outposts ahead of US President George W. Bush’s upcoming visit. According to Israel Radio, The outposts were established near Efrat and Psagot. The activists said they planned to expand ten more existing outposts. [end]
Rockets fired from Lebanon into Israeli town; bomb explodes in Lebanon
Saed Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 1/9/2008
Two incidents took place Tuesday morning in which Lebanese fighters targeted both the United Nations and Israel. The political leadership in Israel has connected the two attacks with the planned arrival of U.S. President George W. Bush in Israel Wednesday. A roadside bomb exploded in southern Lebanon on Tuesday morning, injuring two workers with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon. Soon after, two rockets were fired from southern Lebanon into northern Israel, damaging one building but causing no injuries. These are the first rockets fired into Israel from Lebanon since June 2007, when a previously unknown group called the Jihadi Badr Brigades fired two rockets into Israel, causing no damage. During the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 2006, more than 4,000 rockets were fired by Lebanese fighters with the Hezbollah movement into northern Israel. more..
Roadside bomb wounds pair of UNIFIL troops
Daily Star 1/9/2008
A roadside bomb exploded Tuesday near a United Nations vehicle traveling along the highway south of Beirut, lightly wounding two peacekeepers, UN and Lebanese officials said. Milos Strugar, adviser to the force commander of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), said one UNIFIL vehicle was damaged in the explosion and two peacekeepers in the vehicle were "lightly wounded" and taken to a hospital. More than an hour after the explosion in Rmeileh, security officers were seen leading away two men in handcuffs. It was not immediately clear whether they were suspected of triggering the explosion by remote control or whether they were passers-by. Lebanese troops sealed off the area as investigators wearing plastic gloves picked up pieces of debris and searched for parts of the bomb. Military Prosecutor Jean Fahd and Investigative Magistrate Rasheed Mezher visited the crime seen and later met with investigators from UNIFIL. more..
Israel claims Hezbollah fired rockets across border
Middle East Online 1/8/2008
Two rockets slammed into northern Israel from neighbouring Lebanon, police reported Tuesday, in an attack underscoring cross-border tensions ahead of US President George W. Bush’s visit here. "Two 107-mm Katyusha rockets were fired overnight into northern Israel," saidAvi Edri, a spokesman for the Israeli northern district police. One of the missile hit a house in the border town of Shlomi, causing some damage, while the second crashed onto the street nearby, police said. There were no reports of injuries. The attack overnight was the first such incident in nearly seven months and came a day before Bush is due to arrive for a landmark visit. The Israeli army, which had initially said an old rocket had exploded in the area, confirmed the incident. The firings were not reported until hours later because the residents of the town thought the noise from the explosions was thunder, Shlomi mayor Gabi Naama told army radio. more..
Bomb wounds 2 UN peacekeepers in Lebanon
Associated Press, YNetNews 1/8/2008
UNIFIL force targeted by roadside bomb which injures two soldiers; six soldiers killed in attack in June 2007 - A roadside bomb exploded Tuesday near a United Nations vehicle traveling along a coastal highway south of Beirut, lightly wounding two peacekeepers, UN and Lebanese officials said. Tuesday’s explosion rocked the town of Rmeileh, near the southern coastal city of Sidon. Smoke was seen billowing from the scene, witnesses said. Milos Strugar, adviser to the force commander of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, said one UNIFIL vehicle was damaged in the explosion and two peacekeepers in the vehicle were "lightly wounded" and taken to a hospital. Two Lebanese security officials also described the attack, both on condition of anonymity in line with Lebanese military regulations. more..
Any number of suspects could be behind attack on UNIFIL
Michael Bluhm, Daily Star 1/9/2008
Analysis - BEIRUT: Tuesday’s roadside bomb attack on the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) delivered a clear message that peacekeepers remain a target here, although the abundance of possible perpetrators makes it unclear who planted the explosive device, a number of political and security analysts told The Daily Star on Tuesday. The bombing comes less than two weeks after Al-Qaeda head Osama bin Laden slammed the UNIFIL troops and lashed out at Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in a recording released December 29 on the Internet. In addition, Fatah al-Islam boss Shaker al-Abssi, who led militants in an unsuccessful three-month battle against the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) at the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp in mid-2007, threatened the LAF with further bloodshed in a tape released on Monday. more..
UN troops wounded in Lebanon blast
Al Jazeera 1/8/2008
Two UN peacekeeping soldiers have been slightly wounded after a roadside bomb struck their vehicle in south Lebanon. Milos Strugar, a spokesman for the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, said on Tuesday: "One Unifil vehicle was hit in an explosion on the coastal road at the northern entrance of Sidon." He said the wounded were taken to hospital in Sidon. "Unifil has launched an investigation and is working in close co-operation with the Lebanese authorities," Strugar said. Doctors at the hospital in Sidon identified the soldiers as Irish. Tuesday’s blast marked the third such incident against the UN peacekeepers since the force was boosted to more than 13,000 soldiers after the 2006 war between Israel and Lebanese Shia group Hezbollah. more..
Construction to start in area Palestinians want for corridor
Nadav Shragai, Ha’aretz 1/9/2008
Construction is to start soon on 60 new housing units in the Jewish section in East Jerusalem’s Ras al Amud neighborhood. The Jerusalem municipality has approved the project, which sources on the right have said could impede the creation of a Palestinian corridor between the eastern West Bank and the Temple Mount. Fifty-one families currently live in the area, known as Ma’aleh Zeitim, on the slope of the Mount of Olives, on land purchased some 15 years ago by Jewish tycoon Irving Moskowitz. Moskowitz bought the land from two Jewish charitable trusts, who had owned it for over a century. During the Mandate era, the British refused to annex the land to the Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives, and the land remained open until Moskowitz built the small Jewish neighborhood there. more..
Palestinian resistance fires projectiles toward Israeli military base
Saed Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 1/8/2008
The An-Nasser Salah Addin Brigades, the military wing of the Popular Resistance Committee, claims to have launched 14 projectiles toward the Israeli military base at Kissufim, in central Gaza. No damage was reported. The Brigades claim that the action was carried out in retaliation for the Israeli attacks over the past several days in the al-Boreij refugee camp and in Nablus city, which have resulted in the deaths of three Palestinians since Friday. [end]
The Israeli army invades Ramallah and kidnaps two Hamas leaders
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 1/8/2008
An Israeli army force invaded the West Bank city of Ramallah on Tuesday at dawn and kidnapped two Hamas leaders, Palestinian sources reported. Troops searched and ransacked residents homes in Al Amari refugee camp located in Ramallah, during the search the army kidnapped Hassan Abu Kwik, 47 and Faraj Abu Rumanah, 44, both are leaders of the Hamas movement. Abu Kwik is a founder of Hamas and he was jailed by the Israeli army for 10 years in the past, six years ago the Israeli army killed his wife and both of his children along with the friend of his children, the army was trying to kill him but he was not I the car his wife was driving his kids and their friend home after school. more..
Israeli forces arrest two top Hamas leaders near Ramallah
Ma’an News Agency 1/8/2008
Ramallah Ma’an Israeli forces and general intelligence service Shin Bet announced on Tuesday that they arrested two top Hamas leaders in Ramallah in the central West Bank. Sources within the Israeli forces said the army stormed Al-Am’ari refugee camp, south of Ramallah, and arrested Hasan Abu Kwaik and Faraj Rumman. The Israeli forces came under fire when they entered the camp, but no casualties have been reported. Both arrestees had previously served five years in Israeli jails. They were also detained for a few hours by the Palestinian security two days ago after they slammed the Palestinian Authority and Salam Fayyad’s government in an interview with the Qatar-based Al-Jazeera TV. Separately, Israeli forces arrested 12 Palestinians in different West Bank districts. more..
Palestinian security arrest five Hamas members in the West Bank
Ma’an News Agency 1/8/2008
Nablus Ma’an Hamas said on Tuesday that Palestinian security services arrested 5 Hamas members in the West Bank on Monday. A Hamas statement claimed that three members of the movement were arrested in the central West Bank town of ’Abwein, north of Ramallah, in addition to two Hamas members from the southern West Bank town of Sa’ir, north of Hebron. [end]
Israeli forces seize two Palestinians near Nablus
Ma’an News Agency 1/8/2008
Nablus Israeli forces seized two Palestinians on Tuesday morning from the northern West Bank village of Qusin, west of Nablus, after imposing a curfew on the village. Local sources told Ma’an’s correspondent that more than ten Israeli military vehicles stormed the village, imposed curfew and ordered all males between the ages of sixteen and fifty to gather in the school yard. They then arrested sixteen-year-old Hassan Salman and Ali Salman. The villagers were told the Israeli operation was to apprehend Palestinian youths from the village who pelt Israeli settlers’ vehicles on the bypass road with stones. [end]
Israeli forces arrest five in Hebron
Ma’an News Agency 1/8/2008
Hebron Ma’an Israeli forces arrested five Palestinians from the village of Beit Ummar north of Hebron, in the southern West Bank,on Tuesday morning, after storming their homes, Palestinian security sources said. Separately, the security sources said that 15 soldiers occupied the home of Ishaq Abu ’Eisha in Hebron and detained the family for several hours. [end]
PFLP fighters claim projectile attack
Ma’an News Agency 1/8/2008
Gaza Ma’an The military wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, claimed responsibility on Tuesday for launching a homemade projectile at Nativ Ha’asara, in Israel on the northern border with the Gaza Strip. The fighters said the attack was a response to the Israeli military’s crimes against the Palestinian people. [end]
Clashes between Hamas, Israeli Navy on Gaza coast
Associated Press, YNetNews 1/8/2008
Hamas forces exchange fire with naval boats off Strip’s southern coast; IDF missile targeting Islamist group outpost south of Rafah lands in Egyptian territory; no immediate reports of casualties - Hamas forces on shore traded fire with Israeli naval boats off Gaza’s southern coast Tuesday, and an Israeli missile landed in nearby Egyptian territory, Hamas said. During the exchange of fire south of the town of Rafah, an Israeli Apache helicopter fired two missiles at the Hamas forces in a security post, Hamas said. One missed a car and the second struck inside Egypt, it said. There were no immediate reports of casualties. The Israeli army spokesman could not immediately say what was happening in the area. There was no immediate reaction from Egypt. Israeli forces frequently conduct operations in the Gaza Strip to thwart rocket fire from the volatile area, which the Islamic militant Hamas took over in June. more..
Palestinian fighters: four Israeli soldiers injured in Gaza Strip clash
Ma’an News Agency 1/8/2008
Gaza Ma’an The military wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, and Islamic Jihad’s Al-Quds Brigades claimed on Tuesday that their fighters clashed with Israeli forces in the east of the town of Al-Qarara in the southern Gaza Strip. They said in a statement that four Israeli troops have been injured. [end]
Al-Aqsa Brigades fire homemade projectile at Ashkelon
Ma’an News Agency 1/8/2008
Gaza Ma’an Fatah’s Al-Aqsa Brigades claimed responsibility on Tuesday morning for firing a homemade projectile at the Israeli city of Ashkelon, near the Gaza Strip. They said in a statement that the shelling emphasizes that they will go ahead with resistance against the Israeli occupation and it is in retaliation for Israeli atrocities against the Palestinian people in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. [end]
Egyptian police: Bedouin attack guards near crossing with Israel
News Agencies, Ha’aretz 1/8/2008
Dozens of Bedouin armed with rocket-propelled grenades ambushed Egyptian guards at a commercial crossing with Israel on Tuesday, injuring two people, police said. One of the wounded was a police officer, and the other was a civilian who works at the checkpoint, an officer said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to media. More than 50 Bedouin - their faces masked with traditional Arab scarves - blocked commercial traffic for several hours Tuesday at the Aouja crossing, about 60 kilometers south of the main Egypt-Gaza crossing of Rafah. Hundreds of Egyptian security forces and anti-riot police retook control of the checkpoint by mid-afternoon and were scouring the area for the attackers, who escaped before the soldiers’ arrival. The Bedouin also set fire to a police car and shot at the tires of trucks... more..
Al-Aqsa Brigades fighters in Nablus surrender to PA
Ma’an News Agency 1/8/2008
Nablus - Ma’an Another member of the Al-Aqsa Brigades, the armed wing of Fatah, turned himself in to the Palestinian Security forces on Tuesday evening. Former fighter Jaafar Al Samhan also surrendered his weapons. Earlier on Tuesday, nine prominent members of the Al-Aqsa Brigades surrendered to the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) forces. Al Samhan told Ma’an that he decided to surrender following orders by the collective leadership of the Al-Aqsa Brigades in Nablus. The Al-Aqsa Brigades is responding to the decision by President Mahmoud Abbas to abandon armed resistance in favor of negotiations with Israel. The other nine men who surrendered on Tuesday included the Bridages’ spokesperson in Nablus, Mahdi Abu Ghazaleh, senior leader Saleh Abu Al-Hayyat, Stephen Aneptawi, Ahmed Aneptawi, Ahmed Alshantir, Ala Ad-Dalal, and Allam Ar-Ra’i. more..
IDF kills armed Palestinian woman
Hanan Greenberg, YNetNews 1/7/2008
Soldiers shoot and kill two armed Palestinians, man and woman, who open fire at force near Erez crossing in northern Gaza. Shin Bet notes sharp increase in women’s involvement in terror activities in recent years - Two armed Palestinians were shot and killed by IDF soldiers Monday after they approached an army post near the Erez crossing in the northern Gaza Strip and opened fire at the force. The IDF is still looking into the gunmen’s identity, but Palestinian sources confirmed to Ynet that one of them was a woman, Asma Abu Fanuna, a resident of the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza. According to the IDF, the two were spotted moving towards the post holding hands, in an apparent attempt to look like an innocent civilian couple. When they got to a distance of about 50 meters from the soldiers, they began shooting at them. more..
Israeli airstrike leaves five Palestinians injured in Gaza City
Ma’an News Agency 1/7/2008
Gaza Ma’an Five Palestinians were injured on Monday when and Israeli warplane fired a missile at a house in the Ad-Daraj neighborhood of Gaza City, Palestinian medical sources said. Mu’awiya Hassanein, the director of ambulance and emergency services in the Palestinian Health Ministry said that the injured Palestinians have been transferred to Ash-Shifa hospital in Gaza City. He said they suffered burns. Witnesses in the area said they heard a deafening explosion in a house belonging to Al-Batsh family. more..
Construction to start in area PA wants for corridor
Nadav Shragai, Ha’aretz 1/8/2008
Construction is to start soon on 60 new housing units in the Jewish section in East Jerusalem’s Ras al Amud neighborhood. The Jerusalem municipality has approved the project, which sources on the right have said could impede the creation of a Palestinian corridor between the eastern West Bank and the Temple Mount. Fifty-one families currently live in the area, known as Ma’aleh Zeitim, on the slope of the Mount of Olives, on land purchased some 15 years ago by Jewish tycoon Irving Moskowitz. Moskowitz bought the land from two Jewish charitable trusts, who had owned it for over a century. During the Mandate era, the British refused to annex the land to the Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives, and the land remained open until Moskowitz built the small Jewish neighborhood there. The construction company to build the new units, Kedumim 3000, is headed by contractor Nahman... more..
Second PFLP man found guilty of murder for Ze’evi assassination
Ofra Idelman, Ha’aretz 1/8/2008
Jerusalem District Court convicted a second Palestinian militant Monday of murder for his role in the 2001 assassination of former minister Rehavam Ze’evi. Bassel Asmar, a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, was also convicted of membership in a terrorist organization and several counts of attempted murder for placing car bombs and explosive devices in Jerusalem in 2001. Last month, the court convicted PFLP member Hamdi Qur’an was convicted of the 2001 murder and other terror activities, sentencing him to two life terms and an additional 100 years in prison. In the fall of 2001, Asmar and Qur’an ambushed the 75-year-old minister when he returned to his room at the Jerusalem Hyatt hotel. According to their plan, Qur’an was to shoot the minister, while Asmar’s role was to shoot Ze’evi’s bodyguard, should he be accompanied by one. more..
Police gear up to stop rabbis from praying on Temple Mount
Nadav Shragai, Ha’aretz 1/8/2008
Jerusalem police are preparing to prevent religious Zionist and settler rabbis from holding prayers on the Temple Mount this morning. The rabbis used posters to exhort supporters to pray at the mount "for the annulment of the wicked plans for the division of Jerusalem and the surrender and abandonment of the Temple Mount to the hands of foreigners and adversaries." The planned protest comes shortly after Public Security Minister Avi Dichter made it clear that Jews are not allowed to pray in any overt manner on the Temple Mount, even including merely moving their lips in prayer. The rabbis are expected to be allowed entry to the Temple Mount as long as they do not pray there. more..
Undercover Israeli forces kill a Palestinian resistance fighter near Jenin
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 1/7/2008
Undercover Israeli forces ambushed a Palestinian resistance fighter in the village of Burken near the northern West Bank city of Jenin. Fawaz Frihat 18 a fighter for Al Qudes Brigades the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad, was found shot in several parts of his body and that his hands were tied behind his back, witnesses reported. Frihat is originally from the village of Al Yamon located near Burken village. The Israeli army stated that Frihat clashed with Israeli troops and sustained wounds but he managed to escape. Palestinian medical sources said that the fighter was shut several times and some of the wounds he sustained were from a close range shots. more..
Islamic Jihad activists fight invading Israeli forces in Qabatia
Ma’an News Agency 1/7/2008
Jenin Ma’an Fierce fighting erupted on Monday morning in the northern West Bank town of Qabatia, near Jenin between Palestinian activists affiliated with Islamic Jihad Israeli forces who raided the city searching for so-called "wanted Palestinian activists," witnesses said. Sources in the military wing of the Islamic Jihad, the Al-Quds Brigades, told our reporter that their fighters used machine guns and homemade explosive devices in clashes with the invading Israeli troops. The Israeli forces later withdrew, and no casualties or detentions have been reported. more..
Israeli forces seize 21 Palestinians in the West Bank
Ma’an News Agency 1/7/2008
Bethlehem Ma’an The Israeli forces arrested on Monday morning 21 Palestinians from different West Bank districts, Israeli sources said. The sources added that the arrestees were "wanted" by the Israeli intelligence and that six small rifles were found during the apprehension campaign. more..
Israeli forces raid Ramallah, fail to capture Palestinian activist
Ma’an News Agency 1/7/2008
Ramallah Ma’an Israeli forces raided an apartment building the West Bank city of Ramallah in the pre-dawn hours of Monday but failed to detain a so-called "wanted" Palestinian activist. At 3:30am local time, Palestinian security sources said, dozens of Israeli military vehicles surrounded the An-Nabali building in the At-Tira neighborhood. Israeli troops conducted a door-to-door search for an activist named Luay Qana, affiliated with the armed wing of Fatah, the Al-Aqsa Brigades. The Israeli forces later withdrew without detaining any Ramallah residents. more..
An-Nasser Brigades claim to have launched 14 projectiles at Israeli site
Ma’an News Agency 1/7/2008
Gaza Ma’an The An-Nasser Salah Addin Brigades, the military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees announced on Monday morning that they launched a barrage of 14 homemade projectiles at once towards the military post of Kisufim. They said in a statement that the shelling came in retaliation for Israeli atrocities against the Palestinian people in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. more..
Israeli forces seize Palestinian man near Nablus
Ma’an News Agency 1/7/2008
Nablus Ma’an Israeli forces abducted a twenty-five-year-old Palestinian man named Khalil Alawna from the village of Azmut, east of the West Bank city of Nablus. Witnesses said that more than 20 Israeli military vehicles raided the village at 4am local time using sound grenades, storming houses and pulling residents from their beds into the street. more..
Sorrow and fury as Gaza buries its dead
Ma’an News Agency 1/7/2008
Gaza Ma’an Crowds of Palestinians angrily took to the streets in the Gaza Strip refugee camp on Monday for the funeral processions of three Palestinians who were killed by Israeli forces on Sunday. In Al-Bureij refugee camp, Palestinians mourned Eiman Hamdan who was killed yesterday in front of her home in the camp, and Ahmad Khalaf who was killed by an Israeli artillery shell in front of her home. Her brother, sister, and mother were injured in the same attack. In Gaza City, there was a funeral procession for 18-year-old Mahmoud Abid, an activist affiliated with Hamas armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, who killed while fighting Israeli forces invading Al-Bureij camp. The mourners’ mood was one of fury at an apparent Israeli policy of targeting civilians in their homes. On Saturday Israeli forces killed five members of the same family in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip. more..
Israeli forces kill Islamic Jihad activist near Jenin
Ma’an News Agency 1/7/2008
Jenin Ma’an An activist within the military wing of the Islamic jihad, Al-Quds Brigades has been killed on Monday evening in armed clashes with the Israeli forces in the village of Al-Yamun near Jenin in the northern West Bank, Ma’an’s reporter said. Palestinian medical sources said that 20-year-old Fawwaz Fraihat was killed by Israeli forces in the area of Wadi Hasan between Burqin and Al-Yamun west of Jenin. They added that the corpse of the deceased arrined to Khalil Sulaiman hospital in Jenin. more..
Israeli forces seize a woman and 10 young men in Nablus
Ma’an News Agency 1/7/2008
Nablus Ma’an Israeli troops seized a young woman and ten young men from the city of Nablus and the nearby village of Osarin, accusing them of supporting Hamas. Palestinian security sources said that more than 20 Israeli military vehicles invaded the city at 2am different directions, raiding Balata and Al-Ein refugee camps. They arrested a twenty-nine-year-old woman and six men in their twenties. In the same regard, Palestinian local sources in the village of Osarin south of Nablus said that the Israeli forces stormed the village and arrested four teenagers. The Israeli forces had withdrawn from Nablus hours earlier on Sunday evening after a three-day military incursion. more..
Migron settlers keep watering gardens
Nadav Shragai, Ha’aretz 1/8/2008
Migron, an outpost whose evacuation American diplomats demand every time they discuss the outposts with their Israeli counterparts, ceased to be an outpost a long time ago. Seven years after it was established, Migron now looks like a full-fledged settlement: two permanent houses and more than 60 prefabricated homes, where 50 families with 150 children live. At Migron there are no hilltop youth or ecological settlers, and no "shanty" settlers. There is a varied population with an urban-communal orientation: young couples, veterans, students, social workers, teachers, nurses, academics, yeshiva students from Har Hamor, and rabbis. But mostly there is a rich community life, which in recent years contributed to transforming Migron into one of the most desirable communities among young settlers. More than 100 families would like to live there, but because Migron was established without... more..
Gaza: Sniper fires at Israeli photographers
Hanan Greenberg, YNetNews 1/7/2008
Four photographers employed by news agencies nearly hit by Palestinian gunfire directed towards them from Gaza Strip - Israeli news photographers employed by various news agencies were miraculously unharmed on Monday after they were fired upon by a gunman in the Gaza Strip in an incident that took place near the separation fence. Around 2:30 pm, three photographers were standing on a hill near the Erez border crossing on the edge of the Gaza Strip. A fourth photographer was sitting in his car close to the other three. At a certain point, the photographers noticed a Qassam rocket being fired from the area of Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip. They moved towards the launching site in order to get a better look at what was going on. Luckily only the vehicles were hit (Photo: Amir Cohen) As they were walking, they heard a sudden burst of automatic gunfire. more..
Five IDF soldiers wounded, five Palestinians killed in Gaza fighting
Yuval Azoulay and Avi Issacharoff, Ha’aretz 1/7/2008
Five Israel Defense Forces soldiers were wounded Sunday, one of them moderately, and five Palestinians killed in series of incidents in the Gaza Strip. The fighting, which ended when the IDF withdrew at nightfall, also wounded at least 34 Palestinians, including four women, seven children and 15 gunmen. The soldiers were hurt by anti-tank missiles fired by militants in two separate incidents during an operation in the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza. In the first incident, one soldier was moderately wounded and two others lightly hurt by shrapnel. A short time later, a second missile hit the troops, lightly wounding two soldiers. All five of the soldiers were evacuated by helicopter to Soroka Medical Center in Be’er Sheva. Later, two additional troops were lightly hurt by an anti-tank missile in the same area. more..
Three Palestinians killed in renewed Israeli attacks on Gaza
Rami Almeghari & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center 1/6/2008
Israeli army incurred early on Sunday morning into the central refugee camp of Buraij, killing one resident and injuring three others. Palestinian medical sources identified the killed as Ziyad Abu Rokba, 17 and said that that three other people injured. The sources added that the invading Israeli army force, comprised of two bulldozers and some tanks, opened fire at medical crews, forcing an ambulance to retreat after having smashed its glass. Dr. Moawiya Abu Hasanin, chief of emergence and ambulance department, denounced the attack on crews. Witnesses in the Buraij camp said that the two bulldozers razed vast areas of locals-owned arable lands; the tanks fired rounds of gunfire as some soldiers took over positions on nearby houses’ rooftops. In the meantime, an Israeli tank fired a land-to-land missile onto eastern Gaza city, killing a resident, said to be a member of the aL-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas. more..
Report: IDF develops tiny bulldozer for combat inside Palestinian cities
The Associated Press, Ha’aretz 1/6/2008
The Israel Defense Forces have developed a tiny bulldozer for combat operations inside Palestinian cities, a military publication reported. The little machine is designed for rumbling down narrow roads and paths in the closer quarters of Palestinian cities, where old sections are warrens of crowded alleyways between rundown concrete block buildings. In previous operations, IDF forces have sent full-size bulldozers ahead of ground troops, causing considerable damage to buildings. The current edition of the soldiers’ weekly Bamahaneh carries a picture of the new machine, called Lioness. It looks like a toy - a vehicle higher than it is wide or long, painted olive drab, with small wheels, and a black shovel attached to the front. It has room for one person behind heavily reinforced and protected windows. more..
Israeli army develops tiny bulldozer for warfare inside Palestinian cities
Associated Press, YNetNews 1/6/2008
Vehicle can clear away obstacles like piles of garbage and improvised blockades of rocks and other materials; main innovation is firing post for the driver - The Israeli army has developed a tiny bulldozer for combat operations inside Palestinian cities, a military publication reported. The little machine is designed for rumbling down narrow roads and paths in the closer quarters of Palestinian cities, where old sections are warrens of crowded alleyways between rundown concrete block buildings. In previous operations, Israeli forces have sent full-size bulldozers ahead of ground troops, causing considerable damage to buildings. The current edition of the soldiers’ weekly Bamahaneh carries a picture of the new machine, called "Lioness." It looks like a toy - a vehicle higher than it is wide or long, painted olive drab, with small wheels, and a black shovel attached to the front. more..
Israel ’escalates’ miltary actions
Al Jazeera 1/6/2008
Israel’s prime minister has vowed to step up attacks on Palestinians firing rockets from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. Ehud Olmert’s comments at a meeting of his cabinet on Sunday came as at least four Palestinians, including two civilians, were killed in an Israeli raid. He told the cabinet that Ehud Barak, the defence minister, had ordered security forces "to escalate Israel’s actions" in the coastal territory after a rocket fired last week reached an unprecedented distance, hitting the Israeli city of Ashkelon. "There is no doubt that this signals a certain escalation in the activity of terror organisations in Gaza," Olmert said. "The defence ministry has instructed the security services to strengthen Israel’s reaction, which has already been firmer in recent weeks. more..
Olmert says Israel will exacerbate response to rockets
Roni Sofer, YNetNews 1/6/2008
Prime minister tells cabinet launching of Grad rocket at Ashkelon Thursday constitutes escalation in terror activity emanating from Gaza, pledges army will increase response to attacks in Strip - "The launching of a rocket at Ashkelon Thursday represents an escalation in the terror activity emanating from the Gaza Strip," Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in a cabinet meeting Sunday. "Israel will continue to respond and target those responsible for terror across Gaza. The defense minister has already ordered to increase the IDF’s operations in the area, and we have already seen results," Olmert stated. Sources in the Prime Minister’s Office said Sunday that in firing the Russian-made Grad rocket at Ashkelon , the Palestinians "have crossed the line." The security forces plan to respond accordingly, and intensify operations against rocket launching cells. more..
Woman, fourteen-year-old among six killed in 24 hours in Israeli assault on Gaza Strip
Ma’an News Agency 1/6/2008
Gaza Ma’an Three people including a woman and a fourteen-year-old boy were killed and eight others were injured when an Israeli artillery shell hit a house in Al-Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. Palestinian security sources said that the Israeli forces targeted a house belonging to the Hamdan family in the eastern part of Al-Bureij camp. The dead women was identified as Eyman Hamdan. Military sources also said that the eight injured people arrived at Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in the central Gaza Strip. They described most of the injuries as "moderate." Our correspondent in Gaza Strip reported that twenty-nine-year-old Ahmad Khalaf was killed in a separate shelling. Mu’awiya Hassanain, the director of ambulance and emergency service in the Palestinian health ministry said that Khalaf arrived dead at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital. more..
Israel to build 1000 new settler homes on "absentee" Palestinian land
Ma’an News Agency 1/6/2008
Bethlehem Ma’an The Israeli Housing Ministry has given agreen light to the construction of 1000 new apartments in the controversial West Bank settlement Har Homa, known as Jebel Abu Ghneim to Palestinians, on land owned by so-called "absentee" Palestinians, the Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz reported on Sunday. The decision violates an order by the Israeli attorney general not to implement the absentee law in occupied East Jerusalem. 18 dunams of land own by Palestinian residents of the village of Beit Sahour, near Bethlehem, are to be expropriated. Announcement of an additional 300 units of housing at Har Homa four weeks ago provoked condemnation from Palestinian as well as American, European, and United Nations officials. more..
Shin Bet: PA has arrested 250 Hamas operatives
Avi Issacharoff and Barak Ravid, Ha’aretz 1/6/2008
Palestinian security forces have arrested more than 250 Hamas operatives in the West Bank over the past month, according to a report by the Shin Bet security service. The report suggests a crackdown by Fatah-affiliated security services on the Islamist organization’s infrastructure in Judea and Samaria. Most detainees are from Nablus, where the Palestinian security forces enjoy partial control. Additionally, Hebron - which is considered a Hamas stronghold - has seen increased activity on the part of security forces, according to the report. The report, titled "Tracking the Performance of Palestinian Security Forces," is updated weekly and submitted to decision-makers, among other recipients. It lists all known arrests by Palestinian security forces, as well as raids to seize illegal weapons and thwarted terrorist attacks. more..
State Prosecution: Police should help evacuate settlers from Hebron home
Jerusalem Post 1/7/2008
The police should help evacuate the settlers from the contested Hebron home, the State Prosecution said Sunday. In response to a petition to the High Court of Justice, the Prosecution wrote that the home legally belonged to a Palestinian resident of the West Bank town and was forcibly taken away from him. The Prosecution went on to say that the Society for the Renewal of the Jewish Quarter in Hebron, that petitioned the court against the evacuation, relied on forged documents in their petition. The hearing will continue next week. [end]
Palestinian caught with knife says wanted to ’murder Jews’
Eli Senior, YNetNews 1/6/2008
Jericho resident detained near Rishon Lezion, tells detectives ’ I couldn’t find work in Israel and I do not have a stay permit, so I decided to murder Jews’ - A 29-year-old Jericho resident suspected of planning a stabbing attack was apprehended by Rishon Lezion police Sunday evening near the Beit Dagan Junction in central Israel. The Palestinian said he had entered Israel in order to "murder Jews" because he could not find work. He was later transferred to Shin Bet custody. During a search of the man’s body security personnel found a large kitchen knife, which was apparently meant to be used in the planned attack. The police station in Rishon Lezion received word of a man wandering near the Beit Dagan Junction at the entrance to the city, where numerous bus stops are located. Patrol cars were dispatched to the scene and the Palestinian was apprehended. more..
Soldier moderately wounded in Gaza, 4 others lightly hurt
Hanan Greenberg, YNetNews 1/6/2008
Palestinians in al-Bureij refugee camp fire antitank missiles at IDF forces operating in area, wounding five soldiers - An IDF soldier was moderately wounded in the course of an IDF operation in the al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza Sunday afternoon. He was evacuated to Soroka hospital in Beersheba by helicopter. Doctors at Soroka said the soldier suffered from shrapnel wounds but was fully conscious. His treatment will be determined following a CT scan. Two other soldiers were lightly wounded in the same incident, and two more were hurt in a separate incident, and sustained light injuries as well. The soldiers were injured after Palestinians fired antitank missiles at forces operating near the refugee camp. Golani Brigade and Armored Corps forces entered the area early Sunday morning in a bid to locate and destroy terror infrastructure and explosives. more..
PFLP fighters claim to have injured two Israeli soldiers near Al-Bureij
Ma’an News Agency 1/6/2008
Gaza Ma’an The military wing affiliated to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades claimed on Sunday that their fighters have shot and injured two Israeli soldiers in the area of Sufa east of Al-Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. They said in a statement that the operation came as part of their efforts to counter the Israeli aggression on the Palestinian people in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. [end]
Al-Quds Brigades claim shooting Israeli soldiers in Al-Bureij camp
Ma’an News Agency 1/6/2008
Gaza Ma’an The military wing of Islamic Jihad, the Al-Quds Brigades, claimed on Sunday that their fighters fired at an undercover Israeli force that was attempting to storm a house in Al-Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. The Al-Quds Brigades said in a statement that their activists discovered 15 Israeli troops approaching Abu Khusa family. The activists opened fire at the Israeli troops forcing them to retreat, claiming that they hit a number of soldiers. [end]
Two Palestinian military groups fire mortars at Sufa crossing
Ma’an News Agency 1/6/2008
Gaza Ma’an A joint group of the military wing of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), the National Resistance Brigades, and Fatah’s Al-Aqsa Brigades claimed responsibility on Sunday for firing two mortar shells at the Israeli-controlled Sufa border crossing in the southern Gaza Strip. They said in a statement that the Israelis reported the two shells landing in the area, yet they reported no casualties. [end]
Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades claim projectile attacks
Ma’an News Agency 1/6/2008
Gaza Ma’an The military wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades claimed responsibility on Saturday evening for launching three homemade projectiles at Israeli towns in the western Negev. They said in a statement that the shelling came in retaliation for ongoing Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people and resistance fighters. [end]
Palestinian hurls bomb at troops southwest of Bethlehem; none hurt By
Jerusalem Post 1/7/2008
A Palestinian hurled a bomb at IDF troops southwest of Bethlehem on Sunday night. No one was wounded and no damage was reported. [end]
Bethlehem intelligence chief: Hamas stepping up weapons trafficking in Bethlehem
Ma’an News Agency 1/6/2008
Bethlehem Ma’an Weapons trafficking in the West Bank city of Bethlehem has increased significantly in the last two months, the director of the Palestinian intelligence service for Bethlehem, Muhammad Ghanayim told Ma’an. The intelligence service has also confiscated large amounts of weapons from Hamas and detained numerous Hamas members in the city, he said. He said Hamas’ relative strength in Bethlehem is equal to other West Bank cities. Ghanayim however said that while the quantity of weapons moving through the area has increased, the equipment seized by Palestinian authorities is traditional, suggesting that Hamas fighters have not gained access to advance weaponry. Ghanayim alleged that Hamas is attempting to rebuild its military strength in the West Bank in hopes of staging a coup similar to its takeover of the government in the Gaza Strip in June. more..
Palestinian security reportedly detain 35 Hamas members in the West Bank
Ma’an News Agency 1/6/2008
Nablus Ma’an Hamas said on Sunday that the Palestinian security services detained 35 Hamas members in the West Bank overnight on Saturday. Among those arrested, Hamas said, were two of the movement’s leaders Ramallah in the central West Bank, Sheikh Hussein Abu Kwaik and Sheikh Faraj Rummana. In the village of Arura, near Ramallah, Palestinian security seized 15 Hamas affiliates, Hamas’ statement added. According to the statement, two other Hamas members were arrested in the village of Abwein, north of Ramallah, and three others in Sinjil, also north of Ramallah, including a lecturer at An-Najah National University, Dr Khalid Ilwan. In Tulkarem in the northern West Bank, Hamas said the Palestinian security arrested a reporter for Al-Aqsa satellite TV, Muhammad Shteiwi, and a reporter for Al-Aqsa radio Tariq Shihab, as well as the director of public relations at Az-Zakat hospital in Tulkarem Farid as-Sayyid. more..
Palestinian killed in Israeli raid
Al Jazeera 1/5/2008
The death brings to 6,034 the number of people killed in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since 2000 - One member of an armed Palestinian group has been killed and four others wounded in an Israeli air raid on the north of the Gaza Strip. Witnesses and medical sources said the man, aged around 30, died after Israeli aircraft fired air-to-ground missiles east of Jabaliya early on Sunday. The five members of the Popular Resistance Committees had been in position near the Israeli border in case of an Israeli ground operation. An Israeli military spokesman confirmed the air raid. Earlier, a Palestinian fighter was killed and three other people were wounded on Saturday when Israeli forces fired an anti-tank missile into the northern Gaza Strip. The dead man was named as a member of the Executive Force, the police force of the Hamas movement which seized control of the Gaza Strip last June. more..
’Absentee’ land slated for Har Homa homes in E. Jerusalem
Meron Rapoport, Ha’aretz 1/6/2008
The Housing Ministry is pushing forward with the construction of more than 1,000 residential units in East Jerusalem’s Har Homa neighborhood on land held by "absentee" Palestinians from the Bethlehem area. The move is in violation of both an instruction from the attorney general to stop applying the absentee law in East Jerusalem and explicit promises to the U.S. not to apply that law in the capital’s eastern quarters. About four weeks ago, the Housing Ministry published a tender to build 300units to complete Stage B of the Har Homa plan. The tender evoked international outrage and U.S. and Palestinian pressure to block the construction. It is now evident that most of the land for the 300 units belongs to residents of Beit Sahur who were declared absentee, so their lands were taken by the state without compensation or legal hearings. more..
Israeli military operation in Nablus enters third day
Ma’an News Agency 1/5/2008
Nablus Ma’an The Israeli military operation in Nablus and its refugee camps in the northern West Bank continued for the third consecutive day on Saturday. Israeli forces have intensified their activity in the centre of Nablus city, the Ad-Duwwar neighbourhood and the area of Al-Kindi school as well as the old city. They also raided Balata refugee camp east of Nablus on Saturday morning. Ma’an’s correspondent said that the invading Israeli forces arrested six Palestinians including twenty-year-old Jawad Shakhshir, an activist within the Al-Awda Brigades - a minor group within Fatah’s Al-Aqsa Brigades. The invading forces used explosives to blast their way into shops in An-Nasr street, the Onion market and the Blacksmiths market in the old city. They then searched the premises. They also set fire to a shoe shop and ransacked several homes using them as monitoring towers... more..
IDF operation in Nablus ends with twenty arrests
Yuval Azoulay and Avi Issacharoff, Ha’aretz 1/6/2008
In an operation in Nablus the Israel Defense Force uncovered a rocket factory that security sources said belonged to Fatah’s Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades. The operation that began Wednesday night and was code-named Electric Cavern was declared completed yesterday. During the joint operation with the Shin Bet security services, about 20 Palestinian terror suspects were arrested. At least half are considered senior figures and were wanted for their role in suicide bombings and other attacks against Israelis. Most of those arrested are affiliated with Fatah. The operation was the most extensive sweep in Nablus in recent months. An IDF statement said it was aimed at destroying terror networks. In addition to sweeps of the alleyways of the Nablus casbah, soldiers searched a complex of caves and hiding places - some in use since ancient times - underneath the casbah. more..
Israel ends West Bank incursion
Al Jazeera 1/5/2008
Israeli troops have pulled out of the West Bank city of Nablus after detaining about 20 Palestinians during a three-day incursion, according to the Israeli army. Earlier on Saturday, the 70,000 residents of the city centre had been placed under curfew, saying it was to protect civilians living in the area where the arrests were made. The Israeli army said that the operation was aimed at "terrorist infrastructure" and that troops found a "weapons cache with rocket manufacturing materials, explosive substances and military equipment". Palestinian medics said about 40 people were wounded by rubber bullets during the incursion. "These are essential defensive measures being taken against an ever-growing terrorist infrastructure, one which continuously plans and perpetrates attacks against Israelis," David Baker, Israeli government spokesman, said. more..
Qassam rocket fired from Gaza strikes Sderot
Mijal Grinberg, Yuval Azoulay and Avi Issacharoff, Ha’aretz 1/6/2008
Seven Qassam rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip at Sderot yesterday evening, one of which damaged several homes and cars. One man suffered from shock, and was taken to Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon for treatment. Palestinian rocket fire into Israel continued yesterday, a day after a Qassam hit the yard of a house in Sderot and the Israel Defense Forces killed two Hamas militants in the northern Gaza Strip. A Qassam rocket struck an open field in the western Negev yesterday morning, causing neither injury nor damage. Several hours earlier, Palestinian militants fired a mortar shell at IDF troops near the Gaza border fence. No one was injured in the incident, either. Palestinians in Gaza launched seven Qassam rockets at the western Negev on Friday, one of which struck the yard of a home in the town of Sderot, causing damage. more..
The Israeli army attacks Azon village and injures two civilians
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 1/5/2008
Two Palestinian civilians were injured by Israeli army fire at midday on Saturday during a military attack on the village of Azon located east of Qalqilia city in the northern part of the West Bank. Local sources reported that at least 10 Israeli military vehicles stormed the village on Saturday midday; troops searched homes and opened fire at civilians. Medical sources reported that the two injured, known as Mohamed Fisal and Othman Radwan, both sustained moderate wounds to the legs. Israeli soldiers imposed a curfew in the village not allowing residents to leave their homes. After some time, troops left and no kidnappings were reported. more..
Al-Qassam Brigades fire 21 mortars at Israeli forces in Gaza City
Ma’an News Agency 1/5/2008
Gaza Ma’an Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades claimed responsibility on Saturday morning for firing 21 mortar shells at Israeli forces east of Gaza City. They told Ma’an that they would counter the Israeli forces by any means possible in retaliation for the Israeli military activity in Gaza Strip and the West Bank. more..
Two Palestinians shot as Israeli forces invade Qalqilia
Ma’an News Agency 1/5/2008
Qalqilia Ma’an Two Palestinians were injured on Saturday when Israeli forces raided the northern West Bank town of Azzun east of Qalqilia, amid heavy gunfire. He named the victims as twenty-year-old Muhammad Faisal, who was hit by a bullet in his thigh, and sixteen-year-old Uthman Radwan, who suffered a gunshot wound to his leg. Both were evacuated to the UN hospital in Qalqilia. The invading forces have imposed a curfew in the town. more..
Once a stronghold of Palestinian resistance, Nablus security plan had been succeeding before Israeli incursion
Ma’an News Agency 1/5/2008
Nablus Ma’an This week’s Israeli incursion in Nablus, now in its third day, is the first large-scale invasion since Palestinian security forces took control of the city in November. The Palestinian Authority’s forces had moved into the city to restore stability in a town where security chaos was compelling many residents to leave, some to other West Bank cities, some to other countries. Nablus was the only Palestinian city in which the Israeli forces were defeated and forced to withdraw during the second Palestinian uprising. In 2000, Palestinian resistance fighters routed the invading Israeli forces an area called Yousef’s Tomb. Nablus has witnessed more "martyrs" killed by the Israeli forces than any other Palestinian city. It also has had the highest number of wounded and the highest number of detainees captured by the Israelis. more..
Three more injured in ongoing Nablus incursion
Ma’an News Agency 1/5/2008
Nablus Ma’an Three Palestinians have been injured near the eastern graveyard in the West Bank city of Nablus Saturday afternoon after clashes erupted between Palestinian youth and Israeli forces during an ongoing incursion. Palestinian medical sources said that twenty-three-year-old Wasfi Maqbul and twenty-year-olds Muhammad Mirshid and Muhammad Salhub were hit with rubber-coated metal bullets. All three were evacuated to Rafidia hospital in Nablus. more..
IDF operation in Nablus over; explosives lab destroyed
Efrat Weiss, YNetNews 1/5/2008
Three-day operation in West Bank town concludes after forces apprehend 20 wanted suspects, uncover weapons cache, explosives lab. Palestinian officials say raids ruin PA’s security plan in town - Following three days of intense operations in Nablus, IDF forces left the West Bank town Saturday afternoon, after apprehending 20 wanted suspects and uncovering a weapons cache and an explosives lab. This week’s operation was one of the largest conducted by the IDF in the West Bank in recent months. Army forces on a large scale, including special paratrooper, Golani and Border Guard units, entered Nablus’ old quarter Wednesday night, and were met with extensive disturbances by locals, including stone throwing and the hurling of Molotov cocktails at soldiers. None of the soldiers was injured in the clashes. more..
Qassams hit Sderot, residents suffer shock
Tova Dadon, YNetNews 1/5/2008
Eight rockets fired at Israel Saturday afternoon, but only two land in western Negev town; several people treated for shock, including young girl, elderly woman - Two Qassam rockets fired from northern Gaza Strip landed in the town of Sderot Saturday evening, causing several local residents to suffer shock. One of the residents was evacuated to Barzilai hospital in Ashkelon for treatment. Locals told Ynet that among those treated for shock were a young girl and an elderly woman. According to police, eight rockets were launched from Gaza, but only two were located in town. Police forces, Magen David Adom paramedics and firefighters were called to the scene and extensive damage was caused to vehicles parked in the area. more..
Report: IDF kills Hamas gunman in Gaza
Ali waked, YNetNews 1/5/2008
Soldiers open fire at group of gunmen in northern Gaza, hitting two. Palestinians report senior Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades operative killed in clash - Palestinian sources reported that the IDF killed a Hamas gunman in the northern Gaza Strip Saturday evening. The Palestinian operative, Muhammad Abu Awayda, a senior member of Hamas’ military wing the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, was reportedly killed after IDF forces opened fire at a group of gunmen near the town of Beit Hanoun. Two other people were injured by IDF fire. The IDF confirmed soldiers shot and hit two armed Palestinians in northern Gaza. Additionally Saturday, the Salah al-Din Brigades, the Popular Resistance Committees’ military wing, said it fired at IDF soldiers patrolling the security fence in the northern Gaza Strip. more..
PA forces loyal to Abbas detain two Hamas leaders in Ramallah
Avi Issacharoff, Haaretz Staff, and Reuters, Ha’aretz 1/6/2008
RAMALLAH - A Palestinian security force loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas detained two Hamas leaders for seven hours on Saturday after one of them said publicly the Palestinian Authority was behaving like Israel. Faraj Rummana told Reuters that he and Hussein Abu Kwaik were held in separate cells and questioned by the Preventive Security Service (PSS) in the West Bank city of Ramallah, where Abbas’s Fatah faction holds sway. A Palestinian security official confirmed the two men had been summoned to PSS headquarters. Earlier in the day, Abu Kwaik said on Al-Jazeera television that Palestinian forces in the Ramallah area had arrested dozens of Hamas activists recently and were acting like Israeli occupation forces. Both Rummana and Abu Kwaik are prominent West Bank leaders of Hamas. more..
40 million NIS the cost of the damage that was made by the Israeli army in Nablus
Ameen Abu Wardah, International Middle East Media Center 1/5/2008
Shaher Sa’ed, the head of the Palestinian Workers Union, said on Saturday that the city of Nablus needs at least 40 million NIS to recover from the damage caused by the Israeli army in the city in the past three days. The city of Nablus is located in the northern part of the West Bank. It is one of the largest Palestinian cities and is the home of many Palestinian factories. The Israeli army invaded the city of Nablus on Thursday morning and by Saturday morning the military operation had left 38 Palestinians injured, among them 4 children and 2 disabled civilians. Of those 38 injured, 5 are in a critical condition. The old part of the city is totally surrounded by the Israeli army, Sa’ed said, and the damage caused by the Israeli tanks in the old city, soldiers attacking local shops and businesses, in addition to a curfew being imposed in the city and workers not being allowed... more..
Palestinian security seizes 8 Hamas members across West Bank
Ma’an News Agency 1/5/2008
Nablus Ma’an Hamas said on Saturday that the Palestinian security services in the West Bank have arrested eight Hamas loyalists. They said in a statement that six of their members were arrested in the northern West Bank town of Fasr’un, south of Nablus, and two others in Jenin in the northern West Bank. more..
Israeli Operations Kill 9 In Gaza
Jonathan Finer, MIFTAH 1/5/2008
Israeli forces launched military operations in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank early Thursday, hours before a Katyusha rocket fired from Gaza crashed down harmlessly near the Israeli city of Ashkelon. At least nine Palestinians were killed during Israeli tank and helicopter attacks in Gaza, including five members of a family killed near the central city of Khan Younis, Palestinian officials said. Israeli officials said the Katyusha attack was the deepest strike ever into Israel from Gaza. Katyushas are Soviet-designed rockets with a range of about a dozen miles, roughly twice the maximum distance flown by makeshift Palestinian rockets known as Qassams. Israeli military officials said the operation in Gaza, which began just after midnight, was intended to counter Palestinian attacks and followed recent rocket strikes. Israeli soldiers also entered the northern West Bank city of Nablus in search of Palestinian fighters. The Katyusha was fired at about 8:30 a. m. Thursday, they said. more..
Israel Kills 11 Gazans
Palestine Chronicle 1/5/2008
Israeli soldiers gunned down two members of Hamas’s Ezzeddin Al-Qassam Brigades near the northern town of Beit Hanun Friday, January 4, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP). An army spokesman said troops operating near the border fence opened fire on the two men who were approaching the barrier between Gaza and Israel. The new fatalities followed the killing of nine Palestinians, including two women, in heavy Israeli ground and air strikes in the village of Bani Suheila near the southern city of Khan Yunis. Two brothers, both members of the Islamic Jihad group, were killed in an Israeli raid on their house in Gaza, said medics. Their mother and sister were also killed in the Israeli attack. A Hamas fighter was also killed in clashes with Israeli troops in the area. Witnesses said that Israeli planes also destroyed two houses in the area and a third was blown up by ground troops. more..
Israeli warplane fires missiles at home of assassinated fighter
Saed Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 1/4/2008
The family of Karim Dadouh, who was extrajudicially assassinated by Israeli forces several months ago, has been made homeless by the Israeli airforce, which fired a targeted missile at the family home Thursday, destroying most of the home. Local medical sources reported that the house was empty at the time that it was struck, but nine bystanders were wounded by shrapnel. Cars parked nearby were also destroyed, and several neighboring homes were damaged. The Israeli airforce confirmed that an airstrike had taken place, but would not give details regarding the target. Witnesses reported that the Israeli plane fired missiles at the home, blasting large holes through the second floor and into the first floor, while neighbors in the crowded neighborhood began to panic, fearing their homes would be next. more..
This Week In Palestine - Week 01 2008
Ghassan Bannoura - Audio Dept, International Middle East Media Center 1/4/2008
Click on Link to download or play MP3 file File 14. 6 MB || Time 16m 0s || This Week In Palestine, a service of the International Middle East Media Center, www. IMEMC. org, for December 29th 2007, through January 4th, 2008. This week Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called for early elections, and Israeli army attacks continue in the West Bank and the Gaza strip resulting in the deaths of 18 Palestinians, these stories and more coming up stay tuned. Nonviolent Resistance in West Bank Let’s begin our weekly report with the nonviolent actions in Bethlehem and Ramallah. Ramallah The inhabitants of Bil’in village, located near the central west bank city of Ramallah, conducted their weekly non violent demonstration against the illegal wall that is being constructed by Israel on the village land. more..
Israeli forces kill two Hamas men in Gaza, wound dozens in West Bank raid
Daily Star 1/5/2008
Two Hamas gunmen were killed in a shootout with Israeli troops in Gaza early Friday, hours after US President George W. Bush insisted peace efforts would continue despite the violence. Ahead of his landmark visit to the region next week, Bush called on Israel to dismantle wildcat settlement outposts in occupied Palestinian territory, in an interview with Israel’s top-selling newspaper. Also Friday, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert made the rare acknowledgement that by continuing to build and grow settlements in the Occupied West Bank and Occupied East Jerusalem, Israel was not living up to its end of a recently revived peace plan. In Israel-Palestinian violence, two members of Hamas’ armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, died in the firefight with troops near the northern town of Beit Hanun, the group and Palestinian medics said. more..
38 Palestinians injured by gunfire since start of Israeli military campaign in Nablus
Ma’an News Agency 1/4/2008
Nablus Ma’an Thirty-eight Palestinian citizens have been injured by Israeli gunfire as the ongoing Israeli military campaign in Nablus reaches the end of its second day, Dr Ghassan Hamdan, director of Palestinian Medical Relief, said on Friday afternoon. Sixteen-year-old Khaldoun Salem, who is blind, was seriously injured when he was shot by an Israeli soldier in front of his home. According to eyewitnesses, Israeli soldiers shot and wounded on Friday morning a Palestinian citizen. They then administered first aid and handed him over to medical crews. On Friday afternoon another Palestinian citizen was seriously wounded after Israeli sources opened fire on him. Thirty-two-year-old Ahmad Abu Hantash was shot in the head as he walked to the mosque for Friday prayers in the west of the city. He was taken to hospital where his condition is described as very serious. more..
Israeli forces seize 7 Palestinians across West Bank
Ma’an News Agency 1/4/2008
Bethlehem Ma’an Israeli forces seized seven Palestinians from across the West Bank on Friday morning. Three were apprehended in the city of Nablus, where Israeli forces have been carrying out an extensive military campaign since Thursday morning. One Palestinian was seized in Jenin and another three from Hebron and Jericho. [end]
4 Qassams lands in Sderot, one woman suffers shock
Tova Dadon, YNetNews 1/4/2008
Shabbat eve in Sderot interrupted by Color Red Alter, as four rockets hit the city. Pregnant woman suffers shock, one house sustains damage. Islamic Jihad’s al-Quds Brigades claim responsibility - Four Qassam rockets, fired from northern Gaza, landed in Sderot Friday - three in open areas and one near a private residence in the city. The Islamic Jihad’s al-Quds Brigades claimed responsibility for the shooting. The Color Red alert was sounded in the city shortly after the commencement of the Shabbat. One woman, nine-months pregnant, suffered shock and was treated by Magen David Adom emergency services on site. The house’s windows were shattered. Earlier Friday, eight mortar shells were fired at Netiv Ha’asara in the western Negev. The rockets landed in open areas, causing no damage. more..
An Nasser brigades target Israeli military base east of Beit Hanoun
Ma’an News Agency 1/4/2008
Gaza Ma’an The An-Nasser Brigades, the military wing of the Popular Front, claimed responsibility on Friday for launching three projectiles at a military base east of Beit Hanoun. [end]
Israeli troops kill 2 Hamas members in Gaza
Hanan Greenberg, YNetNews 1/4/2008
Palestinian gunmen killed in clash with IDF soldiers near Beit Hanoun - Israeli troops killed two Palestinian gunmen in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip on Friday, Hamas and local medical staff said. The gunmen were identified as a member of Hamas. The Islamist Hamas group, which seized control of the coastal territory in June by routing Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ forces, said the militants were killed in a clash with Israeli troops near the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun. An Israeli army spokeswoman said troops operating near the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip shot at the gunmen and identified hitting them. Army officials said the soldiers were operating against terror infrastructure in the area. On Thursday, witnesses and hospital officials said Israel killed at least four Palestinian gunmen and five civilians in air and ground strikes in the Gaza Strip. more..
Two Hamas gunmen killed in Israeli raid on Gaza
Middle East Online 1/4/2008
Israeli jets launched a fresh air raid on the Gaza Strip early Friday killing two Hamas militants, sources said, hours after US President George W. Bush insisted diplomatic efforts continue. A missile strike near the northern town of Beit Hanun killed two members of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, medical sources said. The Gaza Strip has been under the control of Hamas since last year. The latest strike came one day after a series of Israeli ground and air attacks killed nine Palestinians including at least four militants. But civilians were also among the casualties. Two of the militants killed on Thursday were members of the radical Islamic Jihad group. The brothers were targetted in their home in the attack that also killed their sister and mother. Thursday’s raids also left 48 people wounded and several houses destroyed, witnesses and medics said. more..
Tens of thousands turn out for funeral of brigades members killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza Strip
Ma’an News Agency 1/4/2008
Gaza Ma’an - Tens of thousands of people from Rafah and Beit Hanoun took to the streets on Friday for the funeral procession of three Al-Qassam Brigades members and a Fatah member, killed in Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip. Al-Qassam Brigades members Muhammad Awad Al-Kafarna and Muhammad Naser Al-Kafarna died during dawn clashes with Israeli forces near Beit Hanoun on Friday and twenty-three-year-old Yasser Hillis, also an Al-Qassam Brigades member, died when Israeli warplanes targeted the Al-Shaja’eyah neighbourhood of Gaza City. Twenty-five-year-old Abdallah Qishta, a commander in the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades who was being detained by Hamas, died after Israeli helicopters launched three missiles at the Al-Qassam Brigades base, where he was being held. The Al-Aqsa Brigades have condemned Hamas for the death of their leader, saying they are holding them responsible for his death. more..
Two Al-Qassam fighters killed in Gaza Strip, bringing death toll in Gaza to 11 in 24 hours
Ma’an News Agency 1/4/2008
Gaza Ma’an Two Al-Qassam Brigades fighters were killed in clashes with Israeli forces in Beit Hanoun in the Gaza Strip on Friday. The deaths of Muhammad Awad Al-Kafarna and Muhammad Naser Al-Kafarna, during the dawn clashes, bring the number of dead to 11 in the past 24 hours in the coastal enclave. Eyewitnesses said that Israeli forces fired seven missiles at groups of resistance fighters as they penetrated three kilometers inside Beit Hanoun. More than 25 citizens were also injured in the incursion. Nine people died on Thursday during Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip. Twenty-five-year-old Abdallah Qishta, a Fatah member detained by Hamas, died after Israeli helicopters launched three missiles at the place he was being held. Al-Qassam Brigades member twenty-three-year-old Yasser Hillis died when Israeli warplanes targeted the Al-Shaja’eyah neighbourhood of Gaza City. more..
Qassam causes damage to home in Sderot; IDF kills 2 Hamas men
Mijal Grinberg, Yuval Azoulay and Avi Issacharoffs, Haaretz Service and, Ha’aretz 1/4/2008
Palestinian rocket fire into Israel hit the yard of a house Friday in Sderot while the army continues its campaign against Palestinian armed groups in the Gaza Strip. Palestinians operating from Gaza launched six Qassam rockets at the western Negev on Friday, one of which struck the yard of a home in the town of Sderot, causing damage. Israel Radio reported that a 14-year-old boy was lightly injured and subsequently evacuated to Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon. Meanwhile, a Qassam rocket hit a western Negev open field Friday morning. No damage or injuries were reported. Israel Defense Forces troops on Friday killed two Hamas militants in the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanun, Palestinian sources said. The total number of Palestinians killed in the Strip since Thursday morning stands at 11, including four civilians. more..
Israeli soldiers kill Hamas gunmen
Mark Tran and agencies, The Guardian 1/4/2008
Israeli troops today killed two Palestinian Hamas gunmen in Gaza, wounding three others in an upsurge of violence days before the US president, George Bush, visits Israel. Hamas said the gunmen died in a clash during an Israeli incursion near the northern town of Beit Hanoun. An Israeli army spokeswoman confirmed there had been an operation near the town, and said the men were shot in separate incidents as they approached the soldiers. The killings came after Palestinian militants yesterday fired a Katyusha rocket at the northern part of the Israeli town of Ashkelon - the longest reach yet by a Palestinian rocket. Israel hit back with airstrikes and ground operations in which nine people, including three civilians, were killed. The Israeli operations continued today when infantry went into Gaza near the Israeli border. more..
Israel kills Hamas fighters in Gaza
Al Jazeera 1/4/2008
Israeli soldiers have killed two Palestinians and wounded three more in a raid on the Gaza Strip, as forces continued operations in the West Bank. The move against members of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, on Friday centred on Bait Hanun and followed days of operations that have killed at least 11 Palestinians. An Israeli army spokeswoman said that the men had been shot in separate incidents as they approached the soldiers. A day earlier up to nine Palestinians died and dozens more were hurt in ground and air raids on Gaza. The dead include a mother and daughter and at least three members of an armed faction. Nablus searches Israeli ground forces also continued their raid on Nablus in the West Bank on Friday. Al Jazeera’s correspondent in the city said about 10 people had been injured, including a child who was hot in the head. more..
PA forces uncover Hamas explosives lab in Nablus
Avi Issacharoff, Ha’aretz 1/4/2008
Palestinian security forces uncovered a Hamas bomb-making laboratory in Nablus a week ago, where 33 kilograms of mercury and other materials used to make bombs were found, Palestinian sources said Thursday. The bombs were to be used against Israel but also against Palestinian Authority targets, the sources said. The hazardous materials were found in a building Palestinian intelligence believed was serving as a Hamas arms cache. Mercury is often used to complete the electrical circuit in bombs - basically an "on" switch for detonation. In recent weeks the Palestinian security forces carried out a broad security operation in Nablus against Hamas networks. Several dozen Hamas activists were arrested, and most were released after they agreed to turn in their weapons and avoid any activities against Israel or the PA. more..
Hamas weapons arsenal discovered in Nablus
Ma’an News Agency 1/4/2008
Nablus Ma’an exclusive Palestinian security services revealed on Friday that a new type of explosive material has been discovered in Nablus, believed to be part of a Hamas arsenal to be used in a coup against the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. Palestinian intelligence officer Abdullah Kamil said the explosives were discovered in a bomb-making factory in Nablus. He added that Palestinian security services had also found a large quantity of weapons belonging to Hamas in Nablus. He said that "sleeping cells" belonging to Hamas in Nablus were planning to use the weapons and explosives to stage a coup in the West Bank. [end]
Israel kills nine in Gaza raids
Agence France Presse - AFP, Daily Star 1/4/2008
GAZA CITY: Nine Palestinians, including two women, were killed in Israeli bombardments in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, medical sources said, in the latest blitz against the Hamas-ruled territory. Israeli troops and tanks backed by attack helicopters were operating in the village of Bani Suheila near the southern city of Khan Yunis. Israeli warplanes also carried out a series of four air strikes across Gaza in response to the firing for the first time in months of a rocket at the Israeli city of Ashkelon, the army said. Nine people, including a mother and daughter and at least four militants, were killed in the Israeli attacks, while 48 people were wounded and several houses destroyed, witnesses and medics said. Israel has carried out near-daily military strikes and incursions across what it considers a "hostile entity" in a bid to halt militant rocket fire since the Islamist movement Hamas seized control of Gaza in June. more..
Israeli army continue to attack Nablus city, 33 injured among them four critical
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 1/3/2008
Palestinian medical sources in Nablus city located in the northern part of the West Bank reported on Thursday midday that the Israeli army had injured 33 Palestinian civilians among them four critically injured, during the continuing military offensive targeting the city. The offensive started on Thursday at dawn as Israeli troops, supported by dozens of armored vehicles and jeeps, invaded Nablus and imposed a curfew in the Old City and the surrounding neighborhoods. Soldiers started a wide scale house to house search campaign targeting what the army calls "wanted Palestinians". A number of civilians were kidnapped during the early morning house searches, witnesses said. Dr. Ghassan Hamdan director of the Union of the Palestinian Medical Relief committees told IMEMC that 33 Palestinians have been injured by army fire since this morning and four of those are in a critical condition. more..
Israeli military invades Jenin city, Silat al Harthia and al Yamoun towns
Nisreen Qumsieh, International Middle East Media Center 1/3/2008
Israeli forces invaded the northern West Bank city of Jenin, Jenin camp, the towns of Silat al Harthia and al Yamoun early Wednesday morning. Sources added there had been another Israeli military invasion in the nearby towns of Silat al Harthia and al Yamoun, soldiers surveyed large areas located between the two towns, claiming they were searching for what so-called wanted Palestinians. [end]
Israel steps up Gaza strikes
Allegra Stratton and agencies, The Guardian 1/3/2008
Israeli forces today stepped up attacks on militant forces in Gaza, just days before George Bush’s first visit to the region as the US president. Aircraft hit two targets in Gaza City, including the home of a senior Palestinian militant who was killed by Israeli troops last week. The attack sent thick plumes of black smoke into the sky and, although there were no immediate reports of injuries, ambulances were racing to the scene. Officials in the ruling Hamas militant group said the home belonged to Mohammed Dadouh, a master rocket maker from Islamic Jihad, who was killed last week. The building is next to a Hamas training base. Earlier today, five Palestinians were killed by Israeli troops in an operation against rocket launchers in the southern Gaza Strip, witnesses and Palestinian doctors said. It came after a Palestinian rocket fired from Gaza landed in a northern neighbourhood of the Israeli city of Ashkelon, 15. more..
Katyusha in Ashkelon / The other side is cautious too
Amos Harel, Ha’aretz 1/3/2008
The Katyusha rocket that hit the northern part of Ashkelon yesterday does not herald a new situation in the fighting on the Gaza border. Katyushas and even enhanced Qassam rockets have landed in Ashkelon before. The only difference is that this one landed a few hundred meters farther north. But that, of course, is not the whole story. A rocket hitting Ashkelon’s northern edge means that another several thousand people are suddenly in rocket range of Gaza. In financial terms, this is a significant change, if one assumes that Ashkelon will demand the same defensive package priced at NIS 310 million for the much smaller Sderot. The Palestinians who launched yesterday’s rocket know this very well. That was the message they intended to send Israel - that they are capable of hurting it. They also sought to respond to Israeli attacks that have killed dozens of Palestinians in the last month, most of them terrorists. more..
Katyusha lands in northern Ashkelon; nine Palestinians killed in IDF response
Amos Harel Avi Issacharoff, Yuval Azoulay and Mijal Grinberg, Ha’aretz 1/3/2008
Israel stepped up its offensive in the Gaza Strip yesterday, killing at least nine people, including civilians, in a broad series of airstrikes and shelling attacks on Hamas and Islamic Jihad targets, after Palestinian militants fired a long-range GRAD Katyusha rocket at northern Ashkelon. No one was hurt in the Katyusha attack, which was the farthest distance a rocket of this sort had reached. The Palestinians responded to Israel’s strikes with a barrage of Qassam rockets, one of which hit the yard of a house in Sderot. In Nablus, Israel Defense Forces troops discovered two rockets-in-process, in an arms cache belonging to Hamas. Despite the escalated Israeli response and use of fighter planes, defense sources told Haaretz yesterday that a large-scale ground offensive in Gaza is not in the works for now. more..
PA forces uncover Hamas explosives laboratory
Avi Issacharoff, Ha’aretz 1/3/2008
Palestinian security forces uncovered a Hamas bomb-making laboratory in Nablus a week ago, where 33 kilograms of mercury and other materials used to make bombs were found, Palestinian sources said yesterday. The bombs were to be used against Israel but also against Palestinian Authority targets, the sources said. The hazardous materials were found in a building Palestinian intelligence believed was serving as a Hamas arms cache. Mercury is often used to complete the electrical circuit in bombs - basically an "on" switch for detonation. In recent weeks the Palestinian security forces carried out a broad security operation in Nablus against Hamas networks. Several dozen Hamas activists were arrested, and most were released after they agreed to turn in their weapons and avoid any activities against Israel or the PA. more..
IDF uncovers two rockets in process of assembly in Nablus
Yuval Azoulay and Avi Isaacharoffs, Ha’aretz 1/4/2008
Israel Defense Forces troops operating in the West Bank city of Nablus discovered Thursday evening two rockets that were in the process of being assembled. The rockets, which resemble the Qassam rocket that has plagued communities along the Gaza Strip for years, already had fins and rods that were apparently intended to function as a launcher. There have been several attempts in recent years to fire rockets at Israel from the West Bank, although in the past the rockets have only traveled a few dozen meters. A military source said the secret cache was discovered thanks to IDF’s freedom of operation in the West Bank, which has allowed it to thwart Palestinian attempts to develop rockets in the area. Twenty-four Palestinians in Nablus were lightly wounded by rubber bullets fired by IDF soldiers on Thursday, according to witnesses in the West Bank city. more..
IDF uncovers pipes used in manufacturing of Qassams in West Bank
Efrat Weiss, YNetNews 1/3/2008
Pipes found along with launch pads in laboratory in Nablus Casbah; 25 Palestinians injured in IDF operations in the city - IDF forces operating in Nablus Thursday night found two pipes resembling Qassam-like rockets in later stages of assembly in a laboratory in the West Bank city’s Casbah. Aided by intelligence pinpointing its location, the IDF forces found the laboratory with two pipes as well as the launching ramps for the projectiles. The IDF said the rockets were in the advanced stages of assembly. Locating the laboratory was one of the primary goals of the IDF’s operations in the area. Military officials from Central Command told Ynet that this incident "proves that as long as the IDF has full freedom of operation in Judea and Samaria, we will succeed in achieving results against terror organizations and if it weren’t for this freedom of operation, things wouldn’t look the same. more..
Israeli army kidnaps 28 Palestinians from several parts of the West Bank
Nisreen Qumsieh, International Middle East Media Center 1/3/2008
Palestinian sources reported on Thursday morning that there had been at least 28 Palestinians kidnapped in pre-dawn invasions in several parts of the West Bank According to sources four Palestinians were kidnapped from the central West Bank city of Ramallah and one from Bethlehem, while the remaining arrests were made between the West Bank cities of Nablus and Hebron. Local sources in Ramallah indicated that two Palestinians were kidnapped from the village of Beit Seira, near Ramallah, after invading their homes. The same sources added that the military abducted two university students named as Mohammad al Ramahy and Mohammad Samara on their way to cross through the Atara checkpoint. The army also invaded several neighborhoods in Al Bireh city and the nearby refugee camp of al Am’ary, they ransacked homes but no abductions have been reported. more..
Palestinian security forces continue to arrest Hamas members in the West Bank
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center 1/3/2008
The Hamas movement stated on Thursday that the security forces of the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah had arrested 15 Hamas members on Wednesday night from several parts of the West Bank. In a statement that was faxed to the press the movement said that Palestinian security troops searched homes in Isskaka village near the northern West Bank city of Salfit then arrested five youths. Meanwhile in Ramallah city, in the central West Bank, Palestinian police arrested four Hamas members. Also in the nearby Bier Ziet town Abbas’ forces arrested six Hamas members, among them several students in the Beir Ziet University. [end]
Major Israeli incursion into Nablus 48 hours after Barak visit
Ma’an News Agency 1/3/2008
Nablus Ma’an Israeli forces stormed Rafedia Hospital and besieged other hospitals in Nablus on Thursday morning in a major incursion into the northern West Bank city, just 24 hours after Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak and his Chief of Staff, Gabi Ashkenazi, had visited the volatile city. Ma’an’s correspondent said that more than 70 Israeli military vehicles entered Nablus from all directions, declaring the old city of Nablus a closed military zone preventing citizens’ and medical staff from entering the area. He said that Israeli forces arrested four Palestinians - twenty-year-old Ahmad Dhoqan, from Balata refugee camp, thirty-year-old Rami Al-Qadi, also from Balata, twenty-year-old Mahir Mabruka, from the old city of Nablus and sixteen-year-old Ayid Abdul-Rahim, from the village of Zuwata, west of Nablus. more..
Israeli forces raid village near Tulkarem, injuring one
Ma’an News Agency 1/3/2008
Tulkarem Ma’an A young Palestinian was shot and injured by Israeli soldiers in the village of Far’un, south of Tulkarem, as he walked near the separation wall west of the village, Ma’an’s reporter said. Our reporter quoted Palestinian security sources and eyewitnesses as saying that the Israeli soldiers raided the village and shot at 18-year-old Mu’ath Ata wounding him in his leg. The Israeli troops then detained the injured man at the Jbara military checkpoint south of Tulkarem refusing to turn him over to the Palestinian ambulance services. In another incident, Israeli forces raided the area of Ar-Ras north of Shuwaika neighborhood in Tulkarem. Clashes erupted in the area between the invading Israeli forces and young Palestinian men who pelted the soldiers with stones and empty bottles, while the soldiers fired sonic bombs and tear gas canisters. more..
Report: 25 Palestinians wounded in IDF operation in Nablus
Ali Waked, YNetNews 1/3/2008
Palestinian sources report IDF operation in Nablus results in 25 people wounded, including infant, one man critically injured. ’Operation meant to undermine PA’s security efforts in the city,’ says Palestinian source - Palestinian sources reported Thursday that at least 25 people were wounded during an IDF operation in Nablus. According to reports, the casualties include an infant and one man, who were critically injured. The IDF confirmed the attack, saying military forces were operating in Nablus’ Qasbah in an effort to locate weapons and wanted gunmen, and were using means of riot dispersal. Large IDF forces made their way into Nablus Thursday morning, surrounding several areas, especially near Nablus’ old city, and imposing a curfew. The IDF has detained one wanted gunmen for questioning. more..
Palestinians killed in Gaza raids
Al Jazeera 1/3/2008
Up to nine Palestinians have been killed and dozens more wounded in Israeli ground and air raids targeting the Hamas-ruled Palestinian territory of Gaza. The dead include a mother and daughter and at least three fighters. Also on Thursday, Israeli ground forces raided the West Bank town of Nablus, searching for wanted fighters. In Gaza, Palestinian witnesses and medics said Israeli troops and tanks backed by combat helicopters were operating in the village of Bani Suheila near the southern city of Khan Yunis. Fighter jets carried out more raids across the Gaza Strip in response to the firing for the first time in months of a rocket towards the Israeli town of Ashkelon, the Israeli army announced. By Al Jazeera’s estimate, the death count from Thursday’s Gaza raids was nine, with at least 37 more wounded. more..
Israeli raids in Gaza kill nine
BBC Online 1/3/2008
At least nine Palestinians have been killed amid Israeli operations in Gaza, witnesses and medics say. Several of the deaths occurred during raids by Israeli troops east of Khan Younis in the early hours of Thursday. Civilians were among those killed. The fighting is some of the heaviest seen in recent weeks. Israel says it is trying to stop rocket fire into Israel. A rocket launched on Thursday reached the city of Ashkelon, some 17km (10 miles) north of Gaza. No-one was hurt, but the Israeli army said it was the furthest a rocket launched from Gaza had reached. Israeli spokesmen said greater Palestinian rocket range was putting a far greater number of Israelis in the firing line. Tank shell Israeli tanks and troops moved into the area close to Khan Younis early on Thursday, sparking exchanges of fire with militants, reports said. more..
Nine dead, more than forty injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza Strip
Ma’an News Agency 1/3/2008
Gaza Ma’an Israeli helicopters launched three missiles at a site belonging to Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades killing 25-year-old Atallah Qishta, a Fatah’ member detained by Hamas, and injuring four others, one seriously. This brings the death toll since Thursday morning to nine. The number of those injured also rose to 46. Helicopters also fired a missile at a site belonging to the Hamas-affiliated police in Rafah, injuring two. Less than an hour earlier, Israeli warplanes targeted the Ash-Shja’iyya neighbourhood in Gaza City, killing 23-year-old Yasser Hillis, who is also affiliated to Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades. Earlier in the day a Palestinian woman, her daughter and two sons, and another activist affiliated to Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades were killed in an Israeli incursion in the town of Bani Suhaila, south of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. more..
Israeli forces arrest 27 Palestinians across the West Bank
Ma’an News Agency 1/3/2008
Bethlehem Ma’an Israeli forces arrested 27 Palestinians in different West Bank districts on Thursday morning, Hebrew sources said. The Hebrew sources quoted military sources as saying that the Israeli army arrested 27 "wanted" Palestinians in Ramallah in the central West Bank, Nablus in the north and Hebron in the south. They added that the Israeli troops came under fire while arresting a Palestinian in Ramallah, and that a machine gun was found in his house. No casualties have been reported. [end]
Palestinian security seize 15 Hamas members
Ma’an News Agency 1/3/2008
Bethlehem Ma’an Hamas said on Thursday that the Fatah-allied Palestinian security services arrested 15 Hamas members in the West Bank on Wednesday evening. In a statement Hamas said that five of its affiliates were arrested in the village of Skaka in the Salfit district in the northern West Bank and another from the village of Jamma’in, north of Salfit. In the Ramallah district in the central West Bank, Hamas said Palestinian security seized 10 Hamas members, including a lecturer from the Teachers’ College in Ramallah and three students from Birzeit University, near Ramallah. [end]
An-Nasser Salah Addin Brigades leader injured in Gaza City
Ma’an News Agency 1/3/2008
Gaza Ma’an A prominent leader from the An-Nasser Brigades, the military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), was injured on Wednesday evening when Israeli fighter jets launched a missile at a car carrying a group of combatants in the As-Saftawi neighbourhood of northern Gaza City, eyewitnesses told Ma’an’s reporter. The spokesperson of the An-Nasser Brigades, Abu Mujahid, said that the outstanding leader "Abu Sha’ban" was moderately injured in an Israeli air raid on his car. "Israeli assassination will not discourage resistance fighters; it will only strengthen their will," Abu Mujahid added. Mu’awiya Hassanain, the director of ambulance and emergency services in the Palestinian health ministry affirmed that ambulances two bystanders were also slightly injured passersby. more..