Bloodbath in Gaza Refugee Camp
Arab News, March 7, 2003
JABALYA, Gaza Strip, 7 March 2003 — Israeli forces killed 11 Palestinians, including some torn apart by a tank shell, when troops stormed a Gaza Strip refugee camp yesterday after a Palestinian bomber killed 15 people on an Israeli bus.

Israel Occupies Part of Gaza, Jabalya Carnage Death Toll Mounts to 15
Palestine Media Center, March 7, 2003
As Gazans mourned the death of fifteen Palestinians in one of its most poverty-stricken refugee camps, about 100 Israeli tanks thrust yet again into Gaza, reaching the entrances of Jabalya refugee camp and the nearby town of Beit Lahia, occupying some territory early Friday.

IDF arrests top W. Bank bomber, behind dozens of Israeli deaths
Haaretz, March 7, 2003
The IDF revealed Friday that it has arrested Abdallah Jamal Barghouti, considered the senior bomb maker in the West Bank. Barghouti is thought to be the head of several separate terror cells.

Israel Kills 4 Palestinians, Abducts Hamas Bomb-maker
Islam Online, March 7, 2003
Israeli tanks chased Palestinian teenagers killing one, wounding eight others  -- OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, March 7 (IslamOnline.net & news Agencies) – Further exploiting world preoccupation with mounting Anglo-American threats to unleash war on Iraq, Israeli occupation forces gunned down four Palestinians on Friday, March 7, amid fears of spiraling violence ahead of the looming war.

Israeli military escalates its campaign against the Gaza Strip
The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, March 6, 2003
In the third major onslaught against the Gaza Strip in one week, Israeli occupying forces killed 11 Palestinians, mostly civilians, including 3 children and two old men, when they invaded the northern Gaza Strip town of Jabalya and its refugee camp.  Eight of the victims, including a fireman, were killed by one tank shell, while they were trying to put out fire that had broken out in a house.

Arafat deputy nominated for PM
BBC, March 7, 2003
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has proposed appointing senior PLO figure Mahmoud Abbas as the Palestinian Authority's first prime minister, officials have said. Mr Arafat has been under intense pressure to share some of his power as part of reforms demanded by international mediators.

Abu Mazen demands significant powers as Palestinian PM
Al-Bawaba, March 7, 2003
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has asked senior Palestinian Liberation Organization official Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) to be the PA prime minister, the PA parliament speaker said Thursday.

The only question was when revenge would come. At dawn, it came to Jabaliya
The Guardian, March 7, 2003
Three young boys among the dead after Israeli tanks enter Palestinian refugee camp  -- Naji Abu Jalila paid a high price for the murders in Haifa. The young Palestinian fireman had no hand in the suicide bombing hundreds of miles away that prompted Israeli forces to tear into a Gaza refugee camp in the early hours of yesterday morning.

Israel Orders Destruction of Mosque
The Guardian, March 7, 2003
NAZARETH, Israel (AP) - In a peaceful protest, hundreds of Muslims knelt for prayers Friday across from an unfinished mosque that an Israeli court has ordered demolished within three days.

Palestinians, detained during the al-Boreij raid, have been subjected to torture and inhuman treatment
The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, March 5, 2003
Information available to PCHR suggests that the six Palestinians detained by Israeli occupying forces during the onslaught on al-Boreij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on Monday, 3 March 2003, have been subjected to beating, torture and inhuman treatment by Israeli soldiers.

The Beating of Muhammad Da'ana, age 13, by IDF Soldiers in Hebron, 23 January, 2003
B'tselem
Testimony of Muhammad Shaker Da'ana, born 1990, seventh grade student, resident of Jabel Johar in area H2 in Hebron. The testimony was given to Musa Abu Hashash at the witness' home on 29 January, 2003

The ABCs of the unthinkable
Haaretz, March 4, 2003
While most of the media attention ahead of the American assault on Iraq has focused on preparations by various defense establishment agencies to protect the home front, the Israel Defense Forces engineering corps' own ABC units - atomic, biological, and chemical - have been barely mentioned.

Angry U.S. groups to stop emergency fund donations
Haaretz, March 7, 2003  
American Jewish fund-raising organizations recently told the Health Ministry they plan to stop all donations to Israel's health system in the context of the Israel Emergency Fund (IEF), following a report in Haaretz earlier this week about the waste of funds contributed so far.

World Bank criticises Israel
BBC, March 5, 2003
Many Palestinians live on $2 a day -- Israeli-imposed closures in the West Bank and Gaza Strip are continuing to cause severe economic problems for Palestinians, according to a new report from the World Bank. It says more than half the Palestinian population is now living on less than two dollars a day and that only massive foreign aid is preventing full economic collapse.

World Bank: Poverty in Palestinian territories reaches 60 Percent
Al-Bawaba, March 6, 2003 
Twenty-seven months after the outbreak of the intifada, 60 percent of the population of the West Bank and Gaza live under a poverty line of two dollars per day. The numbers of the poor have tripled from 637,000 in September 2000 to nearly two million today.

Haaretz journalist Amira Hass wins World Press Freedom Prize
Haaretz, March 7, 2003  
Haaretz journalist Amira Hass has been awarded the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization/Guillermo Camo World Press Freedom Prize for 2003, UNESCO Director-General Koichiro Matsuura said Thursday.

'Death threat' to Palestinian gays
BBC, March 6, 2003
Homosexuals are accused of collaborating with Israel
Civil rights campaigners in Israel are trying to stop the deportation of a Palestinian homosexual back to the Gaza Strip, where they say he faces death threats. They are appealing to the Israeli Supreme Court to overturn the order against the man. Campaigners say the 21-year-old fled to Israel four years ago after being arrested and tortured by Palestinian police because of his sexuality.

PLO official Abu Mazen says considering post of PA premier
Haaretz, March 7, 2003 
Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat has asked senior Palestinian Liberation Organization official Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) to be the PA prime minister, the PA parliament speaker said Thursday.

Profile: Mahmoud Abbas
BBC, March 7, 2003
Mahmoud Abbas, the PLO Secretary General who is usually referred to as Abu Mazen, has been nominated by Yasser Arafat to be the Palestinian Authority's prime minister. He is the most senior Palestinian leader after Yasser Arafat and, as such, holds a symbolic importance for most Palestinians.

Analysis / Palestinians unlikely to oppose Abu Mazen for PM
Haaretz, March 7, 2003 
To Arafat's dismay, he has been forced to bow to internal and external pressure and appoint a prime minister. It should come as no surprise that the candidate is the most senior Fatah leader, who has often been at odds with the PA chairman.

Israel lets Palestinian legislators pass
Haaretz, March 7, 2003  
Israel has authorized most members of the Palestinian National Assembly to attend a meeting over the weekend in Ramallah to elect a Palestinian Authority prime minister. Diplomatic sources say just seven of the 143 PNA members were barred from traveling because of an alleged role in terrorist activities.

11 Palestinians killed, over 80 wounded in Jabalya raid; at least half are civilian dead
Haaretz, March 7, 2003  
Eleven Palestinians were killed - including two 14-year-olds and possibly other children, a fireman, and 61-year-old muezzin - and more than 80 were wounded during an IDF raid yesterday into Jabalya and its neighboring refugee camp in northern Gaza.

At least 15 Palestinians killed; Second Israeli raid on Gaza Strip in less that 24 hours
Al-Bawaba, March 6, 2003
Some 100 Israeli tanks and armored vehicles were moving into the Jabalya refugee camp in the Gaza Strip Thursday night. Thursday night's operation came less than one day after a previous raid in the camp, in which eleven Palestinian civilians were killed.

Israel seizes Gaza 'security zone'
BBC, March 7, 2003
Israeli forces have seized a triangle of territory in the northern Gaza Strip, creating what Israeli Army Radio called a "security zone".
An army spokesman said the operation was open-ended and aimed at preventing Palestinian rocket attacks on southern Israel.

Israel seizes chunk of northern Gaza Strip
Toronto Globe and Mail, March 7, 2003  
Gaza City, Gaza Strip — Israeli troops seized a chunk of the northern Gaza Strip on Friday and set up key positions there in what an army commander said would be an open-ended stay to try to stop rocket attacks on nearby Israeli towns.

Israel Has No Plans To Leave Gaza
CBS News, March 7, 2003
(CBS) Israeli troops seized a chunk of the northern Gaza Strip on Friday and set up key positions there in what an army commander said would be an open-ended stay to try to stop rocket attacks on nearby Israeli towns.

IDF takes over areas in Gaza used to launch Qassam rockets
Haaretz, March 7, 2003
Senior officer: troops to remain as long as needed; 3 armed militants killed near Netzarim -- IDF forces continued to hold strategic positions Friday around the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun and the Jabalya refugee camp in a bid to foil the firing of Qassam rockets into Israel.

IDF kills Jihad man in Bethlehem
Haaretz, March 7, 2003 
The Israel Defense Forces killed an Islamic Jihad militant in Bethlehem early yesterday and arrested a Hamas bomb maker based in El Bireh later in the day. A soldier in the Nahal Brigade was lightly injured in the Bethlehem operation.

UN, World Bank Blame Israeli Closures for Palestinian Economic Devastation
Palestine Media Center, March 5, 2003
The United Nations and the World Bank will present Wednesday in Jerusalem findings from two reports exploring the impact of the Middle East conflict on the bleak state of the Palestinian economy, the UN News Center reported Tuesday.

11 Killed, at least 100 Wounded in Renewed Israeli Invasion of Gaza Refugee Camp
Palestine Media Center, March 6, 2003
Eleven Palestinian citizens, including a 60-year-old elderly man, were killed and at least one hundred were wounded Thursday in a renewed Israeli onslaught on the Gaza Strip Jabaliya refugee camp, which was invaded by Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) at dawn.

Occupation Chronicle Events in Palestine March 6, 2003
Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) killed eleven Palestinian civilians and wounded at least a hundred more in the Gaza Strip refugee camp of Jabalya. IOF also killed a Palestinian citizen in Bethlehem and wounded three children after opening fire at them near Ramallah. / IOF Invade Jabalya Refugee Camp, Kill 11, including 3 Children / IOF Murder Citizen in Bethlehem / Children Wounded by IOF Gunfire / Four Citizens Detained in Ramallah

Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, 27 Feb - 05 Mar, 2003
The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights
An Escalation of Israeli Illegal Military Actions against the Palestinian People and the International Community Remains Silent -- 28 Palestinians, including 6 children, a deaf young man, two old men and two women, one of whom was pregnant, killed by Israeli forces / 21 of the victims were killed during Israeli offensives on Palestinian areas in the Gaza Strip / Israeli forces conducted a series of incursions into Palestinian areas, accompanied by indiscriminate shelling / Israeli forces continued to use Palestinian civilians as human shields / The Israeli retaliatory campaign continues against families of wanted Palestinians and those who allegedly have carried out armed attacks against Israeli targets / A number of Palestinians have been detained / The severe siege of the OPT has continued

Hear Palestine, March 6, 2003
NEWS: Apache Helicopters Wage attack on Beit Lahya; Tanks Return to Jabalya / Jenin: Woman Killed in Israeli Fire while Inside her Home / Over 12 Killed in New Jabalya Massacre / Bethlehem: Soldiers Execute Youth at Dawn / Jenin: Home Demolished; 4 Children Wounded / Nablus: Israeli Army Reoccupies Old City; Demolishes Residential Building / Tulkarem: Escalation in Military and Oppressive Measures / Ramallah: Israeli Army Invades Ein Misbah this Evening; Al-Bireh at Dawn / Qalqilya: Occupation Army Demolishes Home / Hebron: Tanks  Advance towards City    FEATURES: Terrorism and Death in Jabalya Refugee Camp / European Consuls Watch Destroyed Nablus. / Al-Mighraqa: Murder of Old Man. Aims at Transfer of Residents / And the Occupation Army Bulldozed Al-Nour Mosque in Rafah!

Israel ponders budget chaos
BBC, March 4, 2003
During the first eight weeks of 2003 the government has already spent one-third of the budget deficit allowed for the full year. -- Binyamin Netanyahu and Ariel Sharon ponder Israel's economy Israel's new finance minister Binyamin Netanyahu has tried to quash rumours that he is set to abandon official budget targets and cut income taxes instead.

Yediot Ahronot”: Israelis concealing overseas deposits on huge scale
Globes, March 7, 2003
The “Yediot Ahronot” Hebrew daily reports that Israelis have recently been concealing their overseas bank accounts by not reporting them to the Income Tax Commission, thereby evading the tax stipulated in the Rabinovitch committee tax reform.

Globes-Smith survey: Expectations of Sharon gov't lower than before
Globes, March 6, 2003
49% of the general public think the new government will not solve the country's problems at all.

Netanyahu, Klein agree to cut budget, lower interest
Haaretz, March 7, 2003  
Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Minister without Portfolio Meir Sheetrit and Bank of Israel Governor David Klein yesterday agreed on a three-stage economic recovery program to be implemented over the next several months. The main elements of the plan are a budget cut, a gradual reduction of interest rates, and elimination of the "crawling peg" exchange rate mechanism.

MI chief: Iraq hasn't put missiles in western desert 
Haaretz, March 5, 2003  
Israel yesterday completed its deployment of Patriot anti-missile batteries, while a senior officer said Iraq has not deployed any of its own missiles in western Iraq within range of Israel.

Intelligence chief promises Iraq war will calm territories, maybe North as well
Haaretz, March 5, 2003   
"The American campaign against Iraq will have a moderating effect on the Palestinian organizations," according to Military Intelligence commander Maj. Gen. Aharon Ze'evi. Speaking to a meeting of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Ze'evi said, "Some of those operating in the territories will want to moderate their activity, fearing Israeli reaction that could lead to a large-scale action such as the occupation of large areas in Gaza or mass expulsions to Lebanon."

Israel seeks international support for a treaty against suicide bombers 
Haaretz, March 5, 2003   
The Foreign Ministry has completed a rough draft of an international convention against suicide bombers and will soon begin distributing it to foreign governments in an effort to obtain enough signatures to make it a recognized international treaty.

Israel criticizes draft Palestinian constitution 
Haaretz, March 4, 2003
Government officials are vehemently critical of a draft constitution prepared by a Palestinian team. One source called it "eyewash, meant to perpetuate the conflict."

International Solidarity Movement, March 6, 2003
International Solidarity Movement
1) Nablus:  Israeli Army Re-Invades Old City  2) Tulkarem:  Activists Assist Palestinians in Dismantling Roadblock  3) Susan Barclay: Interior Ministry Seeks Warrant for Re-Arrest

Calling cards
Al-Ahram Weekly On-line, 6 - 12 March 2003
Hani Mustafa speaks to Palestinian filmmaker Nizar Hassan about his latest film, Ijtiyah (Invasion), which will open this week at the Creativity Centre.

Pentagon wants mini-nuke ban to be lifted
The Guardian, March 7, 2003
The Pentagon has asked the US Congress to lift a 10-year ban on developing small nuclear warheads, or "mini-nukes", in one of the most overt steps President George Bush's administration has taken towards building a new atomic arsenal.

Congress Asked To Allow U.S. To Develop ‘Mini Nukes’
Islam Online, March 7, 2003
WASHINGTON, March 7 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – In one of the most overt steps U.S. President George Bush's administration has taken towards building a new atomic arsenal, the Pentagon has asked the U.S. Congress to lift a 10-year ban on the development of small nuclear warheads, or "mini-nukes", a British paper reported Friday, March 7.

New Pictures of the Israeli incursion into Jabalia refugee camp on 06 March 2003
The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights