| News |  |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Conflict
Israel kill 2 Palestinians in Gaza, wounds four others
Daily Star 4/1/2009
Two Palestinian fighters were killed and four others were wounded by Israeli fire Tuesday in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, medics said, in the most serious violation to date of the unilateral ceasefires declared by Israel and Hamas on January 18. The two Palestinians were killed in an air raid on the Maghazi area in the center of the territory, a strike that also wounded two others, they said. The firefight between Israeli troops and Palestinian fighters near the Kissufim border crossing east of Maghazi, in which two Palestinian fighters and an Israeli soldier were wounded. The exchange of fire came after an explosion near an Israeli military jeep driving in the area, witnesses toldAFP. An army spokeswoman told AFP that a soldier was lightly wounded during the gunfight near Kissufim, saying the "soldiers saw Palestinian armed men and opened fire on them while they were trying to put explosives near the security barrier. more.. e-mail
Gaza offensive: Israeli military says no war crimes committed
Helen Pidd, The Guardian 3/31/2009
Investigation declares Israeli soldiers’ confessions exaggerated stories of civilian casualties in GazaThe Israeli military has concluded that no war crimes were committed during its recent offensive in the Gaza Strip, dismissing as "hearsay" the testimonies of soldiers who allegedly admitted intentionally killing Palestinian civilians. Closing an investigation into wrongful shootings, the Israeli army declared soldiers’ confessions relating to two incidents were "purposely exaggerated" and not supported by facts. One case involved the killing of an elderly woman by a rooftop sniper, and another involved a sniper fatally shooting a mother and two children who had entered a no-go zone. After talking to soldiers who made the claims, Israeli military investigators concluded that the two incidents never took place and that the young men who made the allegations had embellished the stories during a seminar at a military preparatory school. more.. e-mail
Report: Israel used unmanned drones to attack Sudan convoys
Ha’aretz 4/1/2009
The Israel Air Force used unmanned drones to attack secret Iranian convoys in Sudan that were trying to smuggle weapons to Palestinian militant organizations in the Gaza Strip, the London-based Sunday Timesreported Sunday. Defense officials were quoted as saying that the trucks were carrying missiles capable of striking as far as Tel Aviv and the nuclear reactor in Dimona. The unmanned aerial vehicles attacked two convoys, killing at least 50 smugglers and their Iranian escorts, the newspaper reported. All the trucks in the convoys were destroyed. Israel has carried out three air strikes since January against what was believed to be Iranian arms shipments passing through Sudan on their way to Gaza, the American news network ABC reported on Friday. more.. e-mail
Two fighters killed, two injured, in the central Gaza Strip
Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center 3/31/2009
Palestinian medical sources reported that two resistance fighters were killed in an Israeli shelling targeting an area east Al Maghazi refugee camp, in the central Gaza Strip. At least two more fighters were injured. The Ramattan agency reported that the two slain fighters were moved to the Al Aqsa Hospital, in central Gaza. The two were identified as Abdullah Sbeitan, and Ali Abu Al-Foul. The two are members of the Salah Ed Deen brigades, the armed wing of the Popular Resistance Committees. Both are from Al Shaty’ refugee camp, in Gaza City. Eyewitnesses reported that loud explosions and sounds of armed clashes were heard in the area, while gunmen also fired mortar shells at the Kissufim Military Crossing. The Israeli army admitted that it shelled Gaza, and claimed that the shelling targeted a cell planting a bomb on the Gaza fence. more.. e-mail
Two Palestinians seized in Qalqiliya-area village
Ma’an News Agency 3/30/2009
Qalqiliya – Ma’an – Israeli troops detained two locals from the Jit village east of Qalqiliya and took them to unknown destination on Monday at dawn. Local Palestinian sources said that several Israeli patrols raided the village and detained Jamal Mahmoud Yamin, 42, and Abdullah Ahmad Abu Baker, 42, after raiding their houses. [end]
Palestinian farmer wounded in IOF shooting
Palestinian Information Center 3/30/2009
BEIT HANUN, (PIC)-- Israeli occupation forces on Monday fired at a group of Palestinian farmers who were tending to their farms near the northern Gaza Strip city of Beit Hanun wounding one of them. Security and medical sources told the PIC reporter that Abdullah Al-Za’nin, 19, was moderately wounded in the shooting. The sources pointed out that the IOF soldiers intermittently fire at farmers and citizens who try to reach their lands near the security fence separating the Gaza Strip from Palestine occupied in 1948. Meanwhile, IOF bulldozers on Sunday started paving the way for the construction of a bypass road for the settlers of the Sahve Shamron settlement near Deir Sharaf village west of Nablus city. The IOF troops had confiscated 78 dunums of Palestinian citizens’ lands near the village to construct the 12-meter wide road. more.. e-mail
’Dozens of Israeli jets and drones attacked in Sudan’
Ha’aretz 4/1/2009
TIME Magazine on Tuesday cites high-ranking Israeli security officials as saying that dozens of Israeli jets and unmanned drones took part in the January strike on a Gaza-bound weapons convoy in Sudan. According to sources cited in the TIME article, the attacks were carried out by F-16 fighters, which carried out two attack runs on the convoy. F-15 fighter planes were also positioned nearby, a precaution against the possibility of hostile fighters rushing to the area. Once the first bombing run was completed, unmanned drones laden with cameras passed over convoy site to ensure its destruction. After the footage indicated that the party was only partially hit, a second pass was ordered. Since, according to the source, Israel had but a few days to prepare for the strike, from the time the initial Mossad tip-off was received, naval. . . more.. e-mail
Extremist settlers attack Palestinian homes in Hebron
Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center 3/31/2009
A group of extremist settlers attacked on Tuesday a number of Palestinian homes in the southern West Bank city of Hebron causing excessive damage and terrifying the residents, especially the children. Local sources reported that several settlers baring arms and others carrying batons attacked homes adjacent to the Keryat Arba’ illegal settlement, north east of the city, and hurled stones and empty bottles at the windows while chanting slogans calling for killing all Arabs. Resident Khalawi Jadallah Al Ja’bary, an owner of one of the attacked homes, said that the settlers attacked dozens of homes across the road between Keryat Arba’ settlement and the illegal outpost which was evacuated recently by Israel. The illegal outpost was evacuated after the Israeli High Court ordered the army to remove the settlers from a home that belong to a resident of Al Rajabi family in the city. more.. e-mail
Palestinian fighter wounded by Israeli fire in Gaza
Ma’an News Agency 3/30/2009
Gaza – Ma’an – A Palestinian fighter was seriously wounded in an exchange of fire with Israeli forces on the Israeli border east of Beit Hanoun, in the northern Gaza Strip, on Monday morning, according to medical officials and an armed group. A group calling itself the Al-Aqsa Protectors said that one of their men was wounded in the clash. They said their actions were a response to Israeli attacks on the Palestinian people. Dr Mu’awiyah Hassanein, the director of Emergency and Ambulance Services in the Health Ministry in Gaza told Ma’an that that the man was seriously wounded. The Israeli military has not yet responded to an inquiry about the incident. [end]
Israeli troops detain PFLP fighter near Ramallah
Ma’an News Agency 3/30/2009
Bethlehem – Ma’an – Israeli troops detained a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine northwest of Ramallah on Monday afternoon, Israel Radio reported. The seizure occurred through coordination with the country’s intelligence service for the occupied territories, Shin Bet, in the village of Deir Abu Mash’al, according to the broadcast. Military sources identified the young man as Qassam Muhammad Shehadeh Barghouti, 23, who is accused by Israel of carrying out attacks against Israeli sites. [end]
Israeli Soldiers Kill Palestinian in West Bank
Ali Sawafta, MIFTAH 3/14/2009
Israeli soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian youth and wounded another on Wednesday after firebombs were thrown at their vehicle in the occupied West Bank, an Israeli military spokeswoman said. A Palestinian paramedic said Fayez Atta, 17, from a village near the West Bank town of Ramallah, had died of gunshot wounds and another youth had been taken to an Israeli hospital in a serious condition. The Israeli spokeswoman said troops opened fire when the Palestinians, whom they suspected had attacked their vehicle with firebombs, ignored their orders to surrender. Atta was the first Palestinian youth killed by Israel for about a month in the West Bank, territory captured by Israel in a 1967 war and now also controlled by Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Most of the recent Israeli-Palestinian violence has taken place along Israel’s border with the Gaza Strip, where more than 1,300 Palestinians and 14 Israelis died in a 22-day Israeli offensive launched in December against Islamist Hamas militants. more.. e-mail
Israeli police kills a Palestinian in Jerusalem
IMEMC & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 3/14/2009
A Palestinian Youth was shot and killed by the Israeli police on Saturday morning. The police claimedthat he attempted to rob a store in Jerusalem, with the help of a Jewish woman. The police claimed that the youth, a resident of Jerusalem, also attempted to ram his vehicle into them while trying to flee the scene. A probe has been initiated into the incident, the police said. According to a police report, eyewitnesses said that they saw a young man and a woman trying to rob a clothes store, and informed the police. The woman is from an Israeli settlement in East Jerusalem. A police patrol arrived at the scene and the two tried to drive away from the scene. The police report stated that policemen ordered the two to surrender but they sped away, and rammed a number of vehicles during the pursuit. Later on, a policeman opened fire at the two and wounded the Jerusalemite youth seriously. more.. e-mail
Two Palestinians detained at checkpoint ’in posession of explosives’
Ma’an News Agency 3/14/2009
Bethlehem – Ma’an – Israeli forces detained two Palestinian youth at the Qalandiya military checkpoint between Ramallah and Jerusalem Saturday. The Israeli military reported that the youth were carrying Molotov cocktails, and that they had been planning to throw the explosives at Israeli forces in the area. The Qalandiya checkpoint is a massive vehicle and passenger terminal in the Israeli separation wall. [end]
IOF troops wound Palestinian teen, kidnap others in southern Gaza
Palestinian Information Center 3/14/2009
RAFAH, (PIC)-- Israeli occupation forces wounded a Palestinian youth and kidnapped four others during an incursion into eastern Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip, on Friday night, locals reported. Security sources told PIC reporter that the IOF soldiers backed by tanks and bulldozers advanced east of Rafah in Shuka town and fired at citizens. They said that Salah Abu Sneima, 18, was wounded while four other citizens were kidnapped and taken to the 1948 occupied Palestinian lands. In the West Bank, IOF troops stormed the village of Jayyus, southeast of Qalqilia city, closed all its entrances and imposed a curfew. Local sources said that the troops blocked worshippers from attending the Friday congregation and dispersed the weekly peaceful march organized by the villagers to protest IOF confiscation of their lands to build the separation wall. more.. e-mail
More rockets fired at south
Shmulik Hadad, YNetNews 3/14/2009
More rockets land in southern Israel Saturday night; local leader: Other side continues to choose violence - At least two more rockets landed in open area in the south Saturday night, bringing the number of rockets and mortar shells fired at the western Negev since the end of Operation Cast Lead in Gaza to about 100. No injuries or damages were reported in the latest attacks. One rocket landed near a southern Kibbutz while another landed in an open area south of Ashkelon. On Friday, three Qassam rockets fired from the northern Gaza Strip landed in the Sha’ar Hanegev and Eshkol regional councils. "There is no agreement, and therefore I don’t think the fire will top," Sha’ar Hanegev Regional Council Head Alon Shuster said. "Yesterday we had two sirens near one of the kibbutzim, and immediately after that we returned to a Purim party in the Kibbutz. more.. e-mail
2 Qassams hit Negev day after Hamas condemns rocket fire
Ha’aretz 3/14/2009
Two Qassam rockets fired from the Gaza Strip hit the western Negev Friday evening. No injuries or damage were reported in either incident. The first rocket exploded just outside Kibbutz Sha’ar Hanegev, and the other has yet to be located. On Friday morning, a rocket hit the Eshkol region causing no injuries or damage. The rocket fire from the Gaza Strip continued Friday despiterare criticism voiced by the Gaza rulers, Hamas, on Thursday, who said that now is not the time for such attacks. The Islamic militant group has fired thousands of rockets at southern Israel in recent years. But Hamas said Thursday that it was not behind recent attacks and that it was investigating who was responsible. It apparently fears that new rocket fire could disrupt the reconciliation talks currently underway in Cairo. more.. e-mail
Border Areas Bombed Again
Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa Al-Omrani, Inter Press Service 3/13/2009
CAIRO, Mar 12(IPS) - Almost two months after the war on the Gaza Strip, the border area between the battered coastal enclave and Egypt continues to come under frequent Israeli aerial bombardment. Israeli officials say the strikes target cross-border tunnels used to smuggle weapons to Palestinian resistance factions. "Israel is still regularly launching air strikes on the border area," Ibrahim Mansour, political analyst and executive editor-in-chief of independent daily Al-Dustour told IPS. "Such attacks represent a violation of all international rules and agreements, including the Egypt-Israel Camp David peace agreement. " Throughout the course of Israel’s recent assault on the Gaza Strip (Dec. 27 to Jan. 17), the border zone between Egypt and Gaza was pummelled by hundreds of Israeli air strikes. Sources in the area also say that Egyptian airspace was repeatedly violated by Israeli aircraft during the campaign. more.. e-mail
Israeli soldiers kill Palestinian in West Bank
Middle East Online 3/13/2009
RAMALLAH, West Bank - Israeli occupation forces shot and killed a Palestinian youth Wednesday night in Deir Abu Mishaal village northeast of Ramallah city, local sources reported. They said that Faris Atta was killed while two others were wounded by Israeli army fire. Israeli sources claimed that its soldiers fired at the young men for throwing firebombs at Israeli vehicles near Halamish settlement north of Ramallah. Meanwhile, Israeli forces on Wednesday evening detained a Palestinian young woman in the Old City of occupied Jerusalem, saying she had a knife in her possession. A local Hebrew radio reported that the 20-year-old woman was held for interrogation. Israel detains around 100 Palestinian women on charges of resisting occupation. An Israeli soldier was reportedly injured also on Wednesday when a petrol bomb was tossed at an Israeli occupation army patrol near the Palestinian city of Nablus. more.. e-mail
Four Israeli military checkpoints halt hundreds near Jenin; fire at residents
Ma’an News Agency 3/13/2009
Jenin – Ma’an – Transportation to the northern West Bank nearly halted Friday evening after Israeli military checkpoints were erected around the city of Jenin. Soldiers checked each car and the belongings of each individual passing in and out of the area, checking ID card numbers on all males. Residents said soldiers were using dogs to sniff through the cars at the checkpoints, and noted hours-long wait times to travel to the area. In addition to the four checkpoints residents reported seeing “a number of Israeli soldiers deployed at the entrance of Kherbat Marka southwest of Jenin hiding behind the olive trees. ” The streets were closed with branches torn off the olive trees, and shots were fired at anyone passing through the area who attempted to clear the obstruction from the road. Palestinian security sources confirmed that checkpoints the checkpoints were at towns. . . more.. e-mail
Rafah: Israeli fire injures 13-year-old boy
Ma’an News Agency 3/13/2009
Gaza – Ma’an – A Gazan boy was shot and injured by Israeli soldiers stationed east of Rafah city Friday, said Head of Emergency and ambulance department in the de facto Ministry of Health, Muawieyah Hasaneen. Thirteen-year-old Salah Abu Sneina was brought to hospital with moderate injuries after being shot near the Ash-Shuka area, where Israeli forces are deployed near the southern border of the Gaza Strip. Abu Sneina is the eighth Gazan to be injured by Israeli fire in the past week. [end]
Israel carries out air raids near Egyptian-Palestinian borders in Rafah
Palestinian Information Center 3/12/2009
GAZA, (PIC)-- Two Israeli air raids were carried out at dawn Thursday on the Egyptian-Palestinian borders near the Yibna refugee camp, south of Rafah, without any reported casualties. Palestinian security sources told the PIC reporter that Israeli warplanes bombed the area of Al-Abd Jabr causing material damage to several Palestinian homes in the area. In the West Bank, the IOF troops at an early hour Thursday stormed different parts of Jenin city and patrolled the invaded areas. Several Israeli military vehicles invaded the Anin village adjacent to the apartheid wall, west of Jenin, and searched the area located along the wall using flash grenades. In the Arraba town, south of Jenin, Palestinian eyewitnesses reported that dozens of IOF troops reinforced by Apache helicopters carried out all night military drills and airdrops in a deserted military camp called Mapou Dotan. . . more.. e-mail
Israeli forces seize two Palestinians overnight
Ma’an News Agency 3/13/2009
Bethlehem – Ma’an – Israeli soldiers seized two Palestinians from their homes during raids in the West Bank early on Friday. The Israeli military said one person was arrested in Bethlehem and another in Jenin. Both were taken to detention centers. Israeli forces have seized dozens of Palestinians during raids across the West Bank this week. [end]
Qassam lands in Eshkol; none injured
Ilana Curiel, YNetNews 3/13/2009
Rocket fired from Gaza Strip falls in open area in Eshkol Regional Council in western Negev, causing no damage or injuries - While the Hamas-Israel prisoner exchange deal for captive soldier Gilad Shalit continues to take up most of the headlines, rockets launched from the Gaza Strip continue to fall on Israel. Friday morning Palestinian gunmen launched a Qassam rocket at the western Negev. The rocket landed in an open area in the Eshkol Regional Council. There were no reports of injury or damage in the incident. Thursday evening a rocket fell near a kibbutz in Sha’ar Hanegev Regional Council, also causing no injuries or damage. Meanwhile, Israel has been responding to such attacks by isolated strikes on Hamas targets, and mainly arms smuggling tunnels. Wednesday night IAF aircraftstruck two smuggling tunnels in the southern Gaza Strip,. . . more.. e-mail
Projectile from Gaza causes no damage
Ma’an News Agency 3/13/2009
Bethlehem – Ma’an – A homemade projectile allegedly fired from Gaza landed in an open area east of the Gaza Strip on Friday morning. According to Israeli reports, the projectile caused no injuries or damage. No Palestinian group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack. On Thursday morning Israeli warplanes bombed the southern Gaza Strip in response to the reported launch of four homemade projectiles and one mortar shell from Gaza, all of which caused no damage. [end]
Israeli settlers attack homes and stores in East Jerusalem
IMEMC News, International Middle East Media Center News 3/12/2009
Palestinian sources reported on Wednesday that a group of extremist Jewish settlers attacked dozens of Palestinian homes and stores in East Jerusalem. The settlers were marching in the city and chanting slogans against Arabs and Palestinians, calling for their expulsion from the Holy City. The Israeli police did not attempt to intervene, and allowed the settlers to continue their march, which encouraged them to attack Palestinian property, local sources reported. The settlers chanted "death to Arabs" and other racists slogans while marching in Arab markets and the alleys of the Old City. The Palestinian News Agency, WAFA, reported that different settler groups marched in different parts of the Old City under heavy protection and presence of the Israeli military and police. The police closed main roads in the Old City barring Palestinians from using them in order to allow the settlers to march. more.. e-mail
Israeli Soldiers Kill Palestinian Teen near Ramallah
Palestine Media Center 3/12/2009
Israeli soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian youth and wounded another on Wednesday after firebombs were thrown at their vehicle in the occupied West Bank, an Israeli military spokeswoman said. A Palestinian paramedic said Fayez Atta, 17, from a village near the West Bank town of Ramallah, had died of gunshot wounds and another youth had been taken to an Israeli hospital in a serious condition. The Israeli spokeswoman said troops opened fire when the Palestinians, whom they suspected had attacked their vehicle with firebombs, ignored their orders to surrender. Atta was the first Palestinian youth killed by Israel for about a month in the West Bank, territory captured by Israel in a 1967 war and now also controlled by Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Most of the recent Israeli-Palestinian violence has taken place along Israel’s border with the Gaza Strip, where more than 1,300 Palestinians and 14 Israelis died in a 22-day Israeli offensive launched in December against Islamist Hamas militants. more.. e-mail
Clashes erupt as Israeli army surrounds home near Ramallah
Ma’an News Agency 3/12/2009
Bethlehem – Ma’an – Dozens of Israeli soldiers invaded the West Bank town of Silwad, near Ramallah, late Thursday evening. Sodliers arrested Rushdi Mohamad Rushdi Hammad after surrounding his home. Palestinian security sources said the “Israeli army and undercover units have arrested Hammad and withdrawn from the town aftersurrounding the home for several hours. " The soldiers had surrounded the home in the area, under the pretext that the Palestinian affiliated with the Fatah-affiliated Al-Aqsa Brigades was hiding inside. Eyewitnesses told Ma’an that "more than 15 armored vehicles backed by a bulldozer surrounded Rushdi Hamad’s home, claiming that he is ’wanted. ’"Others added that the soldiers have begun to demolish a wall surrounding the house with a bulldozer, threatening to demolish the house itself in the event that the wanted man does not give himself up. more.. e-mail
Israeli forces seize Palestinian man at Nablus-area checkpoint
Ma’an News Agency 3/12/2009
Jenin – Ma’an – Israeli soldiers seized a Palestinian man at the Shave Shomeron military checkpoint north of the West Bank city of Nablus. Palestinian security sources told Ma’an that Israeli troops stationed at the checkpoint detained 25-year-old Talal Zeidan after checking his ID card. Zeidan is from the city of Jenin. Also according to Palestinian security, Israeli forces set up a military encampment on a hill in the village of Anin at 10pm on Wednesday, in the Jenin area, surveying the surrounding area until 6am. Israeli forces also invaded the villages of Yabud and Yamoun, patrolling the streets of both towns while firing into the air. No injuries or arrests were reported. more.. e-mail
Hundreds attend funeral procession for slain Ramallah teen
Ma’an News Agency 3/12/2009
Ramallah – Ma’an – Hundreds of Palestinians on Thursday attended a funeral procession for slain 17-year-old Fayez Fars A’ta, who was shot to death by Israeli soldiers on Wednesday. One other Palestinian was injured after soldiers reportedly fired randomly on a group of youth in the village of Dir Abu Mesh’al, near the West Bank city of Ramallah on Wednesday. The procession walked from the governmental hospital in Ramallah before arriving at the village where A’ta was buried. The procession was attended by senior Palestinian leaders of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, in addition to national and Islamic factions, as well as many of A’ta’s fellow students. more.. e-mail
Israeli military kidnaps seven Palestinians from northern West Bank village
Ghassan Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 3/12/2009
Seven Palestinian civilians were kidnapped by Israeli troops on Thursday during a military invasion targeting the village of Tall, located near the northern West Bank city of Nablus. Witnesses said that Israeli soldiers stormed the village in the morning and barred people from getting in or out of the village. For several hours, troops searched homes and took the seven men to an unknown detention camp, the witnesses added. In related news, Palestinian media sources reported that a number of invasions took place at villages near Bethlehem and Hebron in the southern part of the West Bank, no kidnappings were reported there. [end]
Israeli soldier wounded by Molotov cocktail in northern West Bank
Ma’an News Agency 3/12/2009
Jenin – Ma’an – An Israeli soldier was injured on Wednesday night when a Molotov cocktail was thrown at a military jeep near the West Bank city of Nablus. The military confirmed that the soldier was hospitalized. The apparent attack took place in the Al-Far’a area, southeast of the town of Tubas, in the northern West Bank. The jeep was reportedy set on fire. Palestinian security sources and witnesses also said that a Palestinian teenager threw a Molotov cocktail at a jeep in the Al-Far’a area. The Israeli soldiers immediately responded by opening fire on a group of young Palestinians. [end]
Israeli soldiers seize Bethlehem man from his home
Ma’an News Agency 3/12/2009
Bethlehem – Ma’an – Israeli forces seized a Palestinian man during a raid on his house in the West Bank city of Bethlehem early on Thursday. Witnesses said that soldiers raided the Shoka family house in the Fawaghreh neighborhood of Bethlehem at 4:00am local time and detained Nasser Ahmad Yoused Shoka, 39. It is not known where Shoka is held. The Israeli army said that it detained 16 Palestinians during overnight raids throughout the West Bank. More than 40 have been arrested in the last two days alone, including dozens in the town of Beit Ummar, in the southern West Bank. [end]
Air Force strikes Gaza tunnels
Ynet, YNetNews 3/12/2009
In response to Qassam fire, Israeli aircraft targets tunnels used to smuggle weapons into Hamas-ruled territory; direct hits identified -The Israeli Air Force struck two weapons-smuggling tunnels in the southern Gaza Strip overnight Thursday in response to the incessant launching of rockets and mortar shells from the Hamas-ruled territory. The army said direct hits were identified, and there were no reports of casualties among the Palestinians. Wednesday night saw a Qassam that was fired from north Gaza explode in an open area within Eshkol Regional Council limits in the Negevregion, but no injuries or damage were reported. A short while later a mortar landed in close proximity to a factory in a the Sha’ar Hanegev Regional Council kibbutz. There were no injuries, but slight damage was caused. " The Color Red alert system, which is also supposed to warn of. . . more.. e-mail
Israel carries out air raids near Egyptian-Palestinian borders in Rafah
Palestinian Information Center 3/12/2009
GAZA, (PIC)-- Two Israeli air raids were carried out at dawn Thursday on the Egyptian-Palestinian borders near the Yibna refugee camp, south of Rafah, without any reported casualties. Palestinian security sources told the PIC reporter that Israeli warplanes bombed the area of Al-Abd Jabr causing material damage to several Palestinian homes in the area. In the West Bank, the IOF troops at an early hour Thursday stormed different parts of Jenin city and patrolled the invaded areas. Several Israeli military vehicles invaded the Anin village adjacent to the apartheid wall, west of Jenin, and searched the area located along the wall using flash grenades. In the Arraba town, south of Jenin, Palestinian eyewitnesses reported that dozens of IOF troops reinforced by Apache helicopters carried out all night military drills and airdrops in a deserted military camp called Mapou Dotan. . . more.. e-mail
Israeli warplanes bomb tunnels in southern Gaza
Ma’an News Agency 3/12/2009
Bethlehem – Ma’an – The Israeli military confirmed that it bombed smuggling tunnels in the southern Gaza Strip early on Thursday. Witnesses in Gaza said that the bombing took place in Rafah Refugee Camp, along the border with Egypt. The Israeli military said the strike was in response to four homemade projectiles and one mortar shell that landed in Israel. No damage or injuries resulted from those attacks. The tunnels in southern Gaza are used to import goods made scarce by an Israeli blockade that has been imposed on Gaza since 2007. [end]
2 Rockets Hit South Israel; No Injuries
Ilana Curiel, MIFTAH 3/12/2009
Two Qassam rockets fired from the northern Gaza Strip Wednesday morning landed in open areas within Eshkol Regional Council limits. There were no reports of injuries or damage. " We heard the Color Red siren (warning of incoming projectiles) and entered a secure room; then we heard two explosions," Negev resident Rivka said. Shlomi, another local, said "the anxiety level is beginning to rise again. " Dozens of rockets and mortar shells have been fired towards the South since Israel ended its military offensive in Gaza. "True, this is not the same amount that was fired before Operation Cast Lead, but that’s not the issue," Eshkol Regional Council head Haim Yalin told Ynet, "a sovereign country cannot allow rockets to be fired at its territory. " Meanwhile, we are continuing to lead normal lives under insane conditions, and the government continues to ignore the situation. I guess the Iranian centrifuges are more important than what has been going on here for the past eight years," he said. more.. e-mail
Police foil second Jerusalem stabbing attack in one week
Jonathan Lis, Ha’aretz 3/12/2009
For the second time in a week, the Israel Police foiled a stabbing attack in Jerusalem on Wednesday, arresting a young Palestinian woman, carrying a kitchen knife, in the Old City. During questioning, the young woman confessed that she had planned to stab a police officer. The would-be assailant arrived at the central entrance to the Old City in Jerusalem, leading to the Temple Mount, and caught the eye of two officers patrolling the area. The police officers searched her, recovered the knife, and took her into custody for questioning. On Monday, police arrested two Arab youths carrying a commando knife in the Pisgat Ze’ev neighborhood of Jerusalem, foiling a stabbing attack. During a preliminary investigation, the pair said they had planned on carrying out a terror attack. more.. e-mail
Palestinian stabbed in East Jerusalem
Ma’an News Agency 3/12/2009
Jerusalem – Ma’an – A young Palestinian man was stabbed on Sultan Suleiman street in East Jerusalem, not far from Damascus Gate of the Old City. An Israeli ambulance transported the man to a hospital. The Magen David Adom ambulance service would not disclose the victim’s identity. Israeli police said that they opened an investigation into the incident. Israeli news reports have labeled the stabbing a “criminal incident,” without reporting details. [end]
Israeli settlers uproot olive trees near Qalqilia
Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 3/12/2009
Palestinian sources reported on Wednesday that an extremist settler group uprooted nearly 70 Olive trees belonging to resident Khader Eed, from Jensafut village, near the northern West Bank city of Qalqilia. The sources added that nearly 20 Israeli settlers of the Moshi Zohar illegal outpost attacked the Palestinian orchards while the Israeli Army didn’t make any attempts to stop them. Also, the settlers carried out repeated attacks against orchards belonging to residents Mahmoud Abu Sa’ad and Mohammad Bashir, uprooting dozens of trees, in addition to bulldozing farmlands belonging to several other residents of the village. Saher Ayish, coordinator of the National Committee Against settlements, said that the settlers are contniuing their expansion plans under direct support of the Israeli government. Ayish added that the settlers recently targeted Palestinian orchards and lands in Bethlehem, Jerusalem and Nablus. more.. e-mail
Three Gazans injured as Israeli navy fires on a car
Ma’an News Agency 3/10/2009
Gaza – Ma’an – Three Palestinians were when Israeli warships fired on a car driving near the beach at the As-Sudaniya neighborhood northwest of Gaza City on Tuesday evening. According to Muawiya Hassanein, director of Ambulance and Emergency Services in the Palestinian Health Ministry, medics evacuated three moderately-injured people to Ash-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. The Israeli military says that it launched an airstrike on three men who fired a homemade projectile into Israeli territory in the western Negev desert. Minutes later another projectile landed in the area, the military said. A military spokesperson said she was not aware of naval forces firing on the Gaza Strip. more.. e-mail
Israeli aircraft strike Gaza rocket squad, wounding three
Ha’aretz 3/10/2009
The Israel Defense Forces says its aircraft hit a Palestinian rocket squad in Gaza just after the militants fired rockets at Israel. Palestinian security says three people were wounded. The airstrike took place in northern Gaza, the most frequent launching area for rockets. Militants fired four rockets at Israel on Tuesday, the IDF said. There were no reports of damage or casualties. Since Israel called off its offensive in Gaza in late January, and the Islamic Hamas rulers of Gaza also declared a cease-fire, more than 100 rockets have been fired at Israel, according to the IDF. Israel routinely retaliates by bombing smuggling tunnels along the Gaza-Egypt border and targeting Hamas weapons stores. Airstrikes at militants are less frequent. Related articles:Four rockets hit Negev as IAF bombs Gaza targets. . . more.. e-mail
Israeli forces detain 10 across West Bank, raid Tubas and Jenin
Ma’an News Agency 3/10/2009
Jenin – Ma’an – Israeli forces detained ten Palestinian civilians across the West Bank at dawn on Tuesday, security sources said. Meanwhile, Israeli forces stormed areas in the Tubas and Jenin governorates. Israeli patrols raided Tubas city, Al-Far’a Refugee Camp south of Tubas, Rummana and At-Taiba, west of Jenin city, and other areas around it. No arrests were immediately reported in those areas. There were other reports of Israeli forces patrolling streets and neighborhoods at the northern entrance of Tubas, where forces opened fire and erected a military checkpoint. On Monday morning, Israeli forces detained two Palestinians from the northern West Bank villages of Fahma and Iqaba. Thirty-year-old Iyad Nawasra, from the village of Fahma, was taken at the military checkpoint of Barta’a south west of Jenin as he was passing through to go to work. more.. e-mail
Israeli Army kidnaps seven Palestinians from different parts of the West Bank
Ghassan Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 3/10/2009
Seven Palestinian civilians were reported kidnapped by the Israeli military during pre-dawn invasions, targeting several areas of the West Bank on Tuesday. Israeli troops stormed and searched homes in Tulkarem city in the northern West Bank and kidnapped four civilians, local sources reported. Meanwhile, three residents were kidnapped when Israeli soldiers invaded the city of Ramallah in the central West Bank, and nearby villages, local sources said. All seven were taken to unknown detention facilities, the sources added. In related news, local sources in Bethlehem city in the southern West Bank said that Israeli soldiers invaded the city and surrounded the home of Mohamed and Ra’ed Fararjah. The family said that troops left them an order for an interview with the Israeli secret police at a nearby military camp. more.. e-mail
Two more hospital patients die in Gaza
Ghassan Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 3/10/2009
Two Palestinian men were reported dead on Tuesday after the Israeli Army refused to allow them to leave Gaza for medical treatment. The Palestinian Ministry of health in Gaza announced that Samier Abu al-Naja, age 21, was injured by white phosphorous shells used by Israel during her military operation "Cast Lead", which began on December 27th and lasted 22 days. Meanwhile, doctors reported that Ibraheem Abu Idheer, age 76, needed medcial care outside of Gaza. His family had prepared all documents needed, but the Israeli Army still refused to let him leave; he died today. With the deaths of al-Naja and Idheer, the number of Palestinian patients who have died as a result of the 21 month-long siege on Gaza has reached 300, the Palestinian Ministry of health in Gaza reported. Two Palestinian patients from Gaza were pronounced dead at Egyptian hospitals, Palestinian medical sources reported on Monday. more.. e-mail
Israel Imposes West Bank Closure During Festival
The Associated Press, MIFTAH 3/10/2009
The Israeli military has imposed a three-day closure on the West Bank, banning Palestinians from entering Israel during a Jewish festival. The military says the closure began early Monday and will last through the Purim holiday, ending at midnight Wednesday. The military says exceptions will be made for Palestinians needing urgent medical care and in other humanitarian cases. Israel’s military considers Jewish festivals likely times for Palestinian attacks and regularly imposes such closures. In the past there have been several deadly bombings targeting Israelis on the Purim festival. In 1994, a Jewish settler killed 29 Palestinians in a Hebron mosque during the holiday. Source: , 9 March. more.. e-mail
Al-Mujahidin Brigades: Israeli jeep blasted with RPG in Beit Hanoun
Ma’an News Agency 3/10/2009
Gaza – Ma’an – An Israeli military jeep was blasted with a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) north of Gaza City Monday evening. The Fatah-affiliated Al-Mujahidin Brigades claimed to have launched the explosive at the Jeep, which was touring near Beit Hanoun. The Brigades released a statement following the attack claiming thata videotape showsan Israeli ambulance rushing to the scene. The Israeli military press office said there was no evidence of an attack. Late on Monday night, Hizbullah in Palestine claimed responsibility for firing a rocket-propelled grenade at an Israeli military jeep northeast of Beit Hanoun in Gaza. In a statement, the group said there were injuries among the Israeli soldiers targeted. That claim could not be independently verified by Ma’an. Meanwhile, the Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, claimed responsibility. . . more.. e-mail
Al-Aqsa Brigades launch projectile at Western Negev
Ma’an News Agency 3/10/2009
Gaza – Ma’an – Fatah’s Jihad’s Al-Aqsa Brigades launched a projectile early at the Western Negev Tuesday morning in retaliation for aggressive and violent Israeli tactics against Palestinians. Israeli sources said two projectiles hit the Ashkelon and Western Negev regions in the early morning. No injuries were reported. In a statement the Al-Aqsa Brigades said the projectile launch was an act of retaliation against the ongoing air and naval strikes against Gaza, as well as the planned home demolitions in Silwan that will see 88 East Jerusalem homes destroyed and over 1,000 homeless. During the week of 1-7 March, 33 rockets and 7 mortars were fired by Palestinian groups into Israel. No Israeli casualties were reported. At the same time 22 Israeli airstrikes and 5 shells caused 5 Palestinian deaths and 11 injuries. more.. e-mail
Gaza militants fire two rockets into western Negev
Ha’aretz 3/10/2009
Palestinian militants in Gaza fired two Qassam rockets into the western Negev Tuesday morning. One rocket struck the Hof Ashkelon regional council, while the other hit Sdot Negev. No casualties or damage were reported. On Sunday, four Qassam rockets fired from Gaza struck open fields in the western Negev. No one was hurt in any of the incidents. Before dawn Sunday, Israel Air Force warplanes bombed a warehouse and two smuggling tunnels in the southern Gaza Strip. Related articles: Poll: Hamas more popular after Gaza offensiveHamas official hails British MP George Galloway as ’hero’ in Gaza ANALYSIS / Gilad Shalit will not be coming home soon #newsletterLink a {text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer;} #newsletterLink img {border:0px;} #newsletterLink{width:470; margin-bottom:20px;} . more.. e-mail
Israel hands over corpse of slain bulldozer driver
Ma’an News Agency 3/10/2009
Bethlehem – Ma’an – Israeli police handed over the corpse on Tuesday, of 24-year-old Mir’i Radayda, the driver of the bulldozer that careened onto the wrong side of the road near a Jerusalem mall on Thursday, crashing into a police car and pubic bus. Israeli authorities labeled the incident, in which two police officers were wounded, a “terrorist attack. ” Radayda was shot dead by police officers and a taxi driver. Radayda lived in Beit Hanina, a neighborhood on the northern outskirts of Jerusalem. Israeli police handed the corpse over to the Palestinian Authority at the Gilo military checkpoint in the West Bank city of Bethlehem. The body was then transferred to the slain driver’s family in the village of Al-Ubaydiya. Mir’i was buried in Al-Ubaydiya at noon. more.. e-mail
Sderot opens heavily fortified indoor children’s playground
Ha’aretz 3/10/2009
Battered by years of Palestinian rocket attacks, the southern Israeli town of Sderot opened a heavily fortified indoor playground on Tuesday that will give its traumatized children a safe place to play. The converted warehouse is equipped with a half dozen shelters and an emergency broadcast system giving the kids a 15-second warning for incoming rockets. Thousands have exploded in the town next to Gaza over the past eight years, including dozens since Israel’s January offensive in Gaza ended. On Tuesday, Israeli aircraft hit a Palestinian rocket squad in northern Gaza just after the militants fired rockets at Israel, wounding three. The protected facility, with a mini-soccer field, video games and a climbing wall, received a warm welcome from residents. more.. e-mail
Palestine Today 031009
Ghassan Bannoura - Audio Dept, International Middle East Media Center News 3/10/2009
Click on Link to download or play MP3 file|| 3 m 00s || 2. 75 MB || Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Center, www. imemc. org, for Tuesday , March 10th, 2009. Two Gazans reported dead and the military kidnaps seven civilians from the West Bank. , These stories and more coming up - stay tuned. The News Cast Two Palestinian men were reported dead on Tuesday after the Israeli army refused to allow them to leave Gaza for medical treatment. The Palestinian Ministry of health in Gaza announced that Samier Abu Al Naja, 21, was injured by the Israeli White Phosphorous shells during the military operation "Cast lead" which lasted for 22 days two months ago. Meanwhile doctors reported that Ibraheem Abu Idheer, 76, needed medical care outside Gaza; his family had prepared all documentation needed but still the Israeli army refused to let him leave and he died today. more.. e-mail
Israeli Settlers Terrorise Palestinian Villagers
Mel Frykberg, Inter Press Service 3/9/2009
AT TUWANI, West Bank, Mar 9(IPS) - "I couldn’t run. My pregnancy was too far advanced and there was nowhere to hide," said Amna Salman Rabaye, 31, as she recalled the terrifying incident several months ago. Rabaye from the Palestinian Bedouin village of At Tuwani in the southern West Bank was grazing her sheep when she was assaulted by a security guard from the adjacent illegal Israeli settlement of Ma’on. "We saw a group of masked Israeli settlers armed with sticks and chains heading towards us. The younger shepherds ran and managed to escape, leaving me with the flock of sheep," Rabaye told IPS. "It was physically impossible for me to run and I also didn’t want the settlers to kill or steal my sheep. The security guard pushed me over but I was not injured," recalled Rabaye who was then seven months pregnant. more.. e-mail
Jewish settlers storm Al Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem on birthday of Muslim Prophet Mohammed
Maisa Abu Ghazaleh, Palestine News Network 3/9/2009
PNN exclusive -- As the Israeli assault on Palestinians in Jerusalem reaches increasingly alarming levels of extremism, 30 Jewish settlers stormed Al Aqsa Mosque this morning. The Israeli administration is demolishing, or overtaking for settlers, Palestinian homes in Silwan, Sheikh Jarrah, Shu’afat, Beit Hanina, and points between within East Jerusalem. On Monday morning Jewish settlers dressed in civilian clothes, appearing to be tourists while carrying religious garb and tools for Jewish prayer in their bags, entered the Muslim holy site. They were preparing to perform religious rituals for Purim, the Jewish holiday that has the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and certainly the Gaza Strip, under lock-down. A guard at Al Aqsa Mosque took notice and immediately informed Waqf (the Islamic ministry) officials. Police intervened and prevented the intruders from performing the act described as “humiliating” for Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims. more.. e-mail
IDF imposes closure on West Bank ahead of Purim
Ha’aretz 3/9/2009
The Israel Defense Forces imposed a general closure on the West Bank at midnight Sunday ahead of the Jewish holiday of Purim, which begins on Monday evening. The army said it will lift the closure at midnight Wednesday in accordance with security assessments. "The IDF regards the Purim holiday as a highly sensitive period in terms of the security risk," it stated in a communique. In addition to the closure, the IDF was also to boost its deployment in areas it views as "points of friction. "The army said it would do this in order to ensure the safety of Israeli citizens, while preserving the daily life of the Palestinian population to the best of its ability. Palestinians in need of medical care will be permitted to pass into Israel proper in order, the army said. more.. e-mail
IOA imposes hermetic closure on WB for three days
Palestinian Information Center 3/9/2009
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- Israeli war minister Ehud Barak imposed a hermetic closure on the West Bank as of dawn Monday for three days to celebrate the Jewish feast of Purim, the Hebrew radio reported. It said that the closure would be lifted by midnight Wednesday and would only allow entry of Palestinians into the 1948 occupied Palestine for "humanitarian" conditions after coordinating with the Israeli liaison offices. Meanwhile, a group of Israeli settlers tried to enter the Aqsa Mosque on Monday disguised as foreign tourists. Sources in the Mosque said that the group of 30 settlers wished to celebrate Purim in the Aqsa plazas but the attempt was foiled by the Aqsa guards and citizens. In Nablus, a similar attempt was made by Israeli settlers to pray inside the Nebi Yousef area east of Nablus city. Local sources said that the Israeli occupation forces escorted those settlers to protect them. more.. e-mail
Israeli forces take two men from Jenin-area villages
Ma’an News Agency 3/9/2009
Jenin – Ma’an – Israeli forces detained two Palestinians from the northern West Bank villages of Fahma and Iqaba on Monday morning. From Fahma, 30-year-old Iyad Nawasra was taken at the military checkpoint of Barta’a south west of Jenin as he was passing through to go to work. From Iqaba, 19-year-old Muthanna Abu Arra was seized from his home after troops stormed the building and ransacked its contents. The villages of Al-Fari’a, Tammun, and Az-Zababda, also in the northern Jenin governorate, were stormed overnight, no seizures were reported. [end]
IOA plans demolition of mosque and six homes in Aqraba
Palestinian Information Center 3/9/2009
NABLUS, (PIC)-- The Israeli occupation authority has handed inhabitants of Aqraba village, southeast of Nablus city, on Sunday notifications that a mosque and six of their homes would be flattened, locals reported. They charged that the IOA wants to evacuate the entire village of Aqraba after 90% of its land, used in grazing (the main livelihood for the villagers) was confiscated and distributed to four Jewish settlements surrounding the village. The sources also pointed out that four of the village inhabitants were killed at the hands of settlers in those settlements over the past few years. They noted that the settlers recently escalated their attacks and planted roadside bombs, one of which lately blasted killing a man and wounding a child. more.. e-mail
Police foil stabbing attack in Jerusalem
Jonathan Lis, Ha’aretz 3/9/2009
Police arrested two Arab youths carrying a commando blade in the Pisgat Ze’ev neighborhood of Jerusalem on Monday, foiling a stabbing attack. During a preliminary investigation, the pair said they had planned on carrying out a terror attack. The attempted stabbing came after two police officers were lightly wounded in Jerusalem on Thursday when an Arab bulldozer driver overturned their police car and rammed it into a bus, before being shot by police and a taxi driver. He later died of his wounds. The attack occurred around 1 P. M. near the Malha shopping mall, on Menachem Begin Boulevard in southern Jerusalem. Police said that a copy of the Koran had been found in the bulldozer after the attack, and that the driver had not been carrying any identification. more.. e-mail
Jewish settlers enter Al-Aqsa compound; scuffle avoided
Ma’an News Agency 3/9/2009
Jerusalem – Ma’an – Dozens of Jewish settlers entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound from the Moroccan Gate (Bab Al-Maghariba) Monday afternoon, according to the Al-Aqsa foundation for Waqf and Heritage. The foundation said in a statement that Israeli police guarded settlers who were led by a Rabbi. The group toured the compound starting from the southern mosque to the Marwani mosque in the east. Then they went to the Bab Ar-Rahma (Compassion Gate) in the north, then they headed west then to the (Chain Gate) near the Dome of the Rock staircase. Several settlers tried to enter the Dome of the Rock, but were prevented by the guards. During the tour, settlers performed prayers and rituals, and a heated argument was observed when Muslim worshippers tried to prevent the settlers from performing some of the rites on the holy Islamic area. more.. e-mail
Israeli extremists storm al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City
Ghassan Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 3/9/2009
A group of 30 Israeli extremist settlers stormed the courtyard of the al-Aqsa mosque in the Old City of Jerusalem midday Monday. Palestinian worshippers said that the group were disguised as tourists, and as soon as they were at the main courtyard they started to conduct prayers for the Jewish holiday Purim. Local sources said that Israeli troops and police arrived at the location and moved the settlers away. al-Aqsa mosque is the third holiest place for Muslims; Jewish extremists say that the mosque was built on top of the Suleiman Temple, a claim that was not proven by archeologists. In related news, the Israeli military announced a total closure of the Palestinian areas because of the Jewish holiday Purim. The Israeli Army announced that the closure will be implemented from Monday untill Wednesday. more.. e-mail
Hizbullah Brigades shell Israeli target near Gaza with RPG
Ma’an News Agency 3/9/2009
Gaza – Ma’an – Hizbullah in Palestine claimed responsibility on Monday for firing a rocket-propelled grenade at an Israeli military jeep northeast of Beit Hanoun in Gaza. In a statement, the group said there were injuries among the Israeli soldiers targeted. That claim could not be independently verified by Ma’an. Meanwhile, the Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, claimed responsibility for targeting the Kisufem military post near central Gaza with two mortars. [end]
Gaza: Israeli forces exchange fire with unknown Palestinian faction
Ma’an News Agency 3/9/2009
Bethlehem – Ma’an – An unknown Palestinian faction exchanged fire with a unit of Israeli soldiers working near the separation barrier on Gaza’s borders with Israel on Sunday, Israeli sources said. The Israeli forces were reportedly conducting “engineering work” at the electronic fence near the Nireim kibbutz when they heard shots fired. The forces responded by return fire on the unidentified group. No injuries were reported on either the Palestinian or Israeli side. No faction has yet claimed the attack. [end]
Palestine Today 030909
Ghassan Bannoura - Audio Dept, International Middle East Media Center News 3/9/2009
Click on Link to download or play MP3 file || 3 m 00s || 2. 75 MB ||Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Center, www. imemc. org, for Monday, March 9th, 2009. Two Gazans reported dead and the military confiscates land in the West Bank. , These stories and more coming up - stay tuned. The News Cast Two Palestinian patients from Gaza were pronounced dead at Egyptian hospitals, Palestinian medical sources reported on Monday. Both were suffering from cancer. Doctors say that they have many cases in Gaza that they can’t treat because of the continued Israeli siege. They added that patients wait for a long time to get the necessary permissions to leave Gaza for treatment, putting their lives at risk. The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza reported that the two who died today bring the number of patients who have died due to the 21-month Israeli siege to 298. more.. e-mail
Israel to demolish a mosque, six homes near Nablus
Ma’an News Agency 3/8/2009
Ramallah – Ma’an – Israel plans to demolish six homes and a mosque in the villages of A’qraba and Kherbet At-Taweel, both south of the West Bank city of Nablus, residents said on Sunday. Officials representing the Israeli military handed over demolition orders to the residents in question, they added, announcing their intentions in the West Bank villages. According to Yaser Suleiman, the coordinator for the Nablus-area Agricultural Committee, “the occupation is working to force residents out of the village. ”“Repeated attacks on homes, demolition warnings, and settler attacks have killed four Palestinians over the past few years,” he added, noting that the Palestinians killed by settlers were first abducted before their alleged murders. Musa Derieyah, an official with the Agricultural Action Committee, said that A’qrabas is surrounded by four illegal settlements,. . . more.. e-mail
Two Palestinian fishermen wounded in IOF shooting
Palestinian Information Center 3/8/2009
RAFAH, (PIC)-- Two Palestinian fishermen were wounded on Saturday evening when Israeli gunboats fired at them west of Rafah city to the south of the Gaza Strip, local and medical sources reported. They told PIC reporter that the gunboats fired a number of projectiles and opened their machineguns at a group of fishermen while at sea off the Rafah coast wounding two of them moderately to seriously. The Israeli gunboats routinely target Palestinian fishing boats causing casualties and material damage. Israeli warplanes at dawn Sunday blasted a container northeast of Gaza city destroying the container and starting fire in it, other than damaging nearby houses and property, locals reported. They told the PIC reporter that an F-16 warplane dropped two missiles at the target with no casualties reported. The IOF command claimed that it bombed a warehouse for combat means in Tuffah suburb northeast of Gaza. more.. e-mail
Army shells agricultural structure in Gaza
Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 3/8/2009
The Palestinian News Agency, WAFA, reported on Sunday at dawn that the Israeli Air Force shelled an agricultural structure in Gaza CityThe agency said that an F-16 Israeli fighter-jet fired two missiles at the structure, located in farmlands in Yaffa Street, in al-Tuffah neighborhood north east of Gaza City. Damage to the structure and some surrounding homes and properties was reported. Rescue teams and fire-fighters rushed to the shelled area. No injuries were reported in the shelling until the time of this report. On Saturday evening, a Palestinian man and his wife were injured when the Israeli Navy shelled their home in al-Mawasy area, west of Rafah City, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. On Saturday morning, a Palestinian fighter, and member of the al-Quds brigades of the Islamic Jihad, was killed and another fighter was wounded when the Israeli Air Force fired. . . more.. e-mail
Palestinian man and wife wounded by Israeli gunfire in Rafah
Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 3/8/2009
Palestinian medical sources in Rafah, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, reported on Saturday that two Palestinians were wounded in an Israeli Navy shelling that targeted an area close to the Rafah shore. The sources added that a man and his wife were wounded when the Israeli Navy fired a shell at their home in al-Shaty’ area in Rafah. Also in Rafah, the Israeli Air Force fired a missile at an area close to the border line between the Egyptian and Palestinian sides of the city. Furthermore, an Israeli tank fired a shell at the eastern part of al-Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip; no injuries were reported. On Saturday morning, a Palestinian fighter, and member of the al-Quds brigades of the Islamic Jihad, was killed and another fighter was wounded when the Israeli Air Force fired a missile at their vehicle in Beit Lahia, in the northern part of the Gaza Strip. more.. e-mail
Four rockets hit Negev as IAF bombs Gaza targets
Ha’aretz 3/8/2009
Hamas security officials said Sunday morning that Israeli aircraft targeted a Gaza City warehouse in an overnight airstrike. The officials said the warehouse was empty and no one was injured. The Israel Defense Forces confirmed the strike, saying the target was used by militants as a weapons warehouse. The military added that the Israel Air Force jets also bombed two smuggling tunnels under the Egypt-Gaza border. On Sunday morning, militants in Gaza fired four Qassam rockets at the western Negev. Three rockets hit the Eshkol region and one struck the Sdot Negev region. No injuries or damage were reported in any of the incidents, but the early warning siren was not activated, causing panic among some local residents. Rocket fire by Gaza militants and retaliatory Israeli airstrikes have become nearly daily occurrences. more.. e-mail
Israel carries out two airstrikes on Gaza; Palestinians retaliate with four projectiles fired on western Negev
Ma’an News Agency 3/8/2009
Gaza – Ma’an – Palestinian resistance fighters fired four homemade projectiles at the western Negev following two Israeli airstrikes that destroyed a wood warehouse in Gaza City and several tunnels in Rafah city on Sunday morning. Hizbullah Brigades in Palestine claimed to have launched the two projectiles. They said in a statement that the shelling came in retaliation for Israeli aggressions against the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem where excavations and repair work are ongoing. Israeli sources confirmed that one projectile hit at Sdot Negev, and two others in the Eshkol region. No casualties were reported. Earlier Sunday Israeli warplanes destroyed a wood warehouse in the At-Tuffah neighborhood of Gaza City. While no casualties have been reported the warehouse, empty at the time, was obliterated. Israeli forces claimed the area was being used as a weapons manufacturing lab. more.. e-mail
Israel imposes three-day blanket closure on West Bank
Ma’an News Agency 3/8/2009
Bethlehem – Ma’an – Israel will close its borders with the West Bank on Sunday night due to the Jewish holiday of Purim. Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak ordered the army to close the borders from Sunday night through Wednesday evening, due to the holiday. [end]
'Rocket-like' apparatus in street sees settler road closed near Nablus
Ma’an News Agency 3/8/2009
Nablus – Ma’an – Israeli forces closed the bypass road to the Israeli Yizhar settlement south of Nablus after they reported seeing a red “rocket-like” object propped up in the middle of the street Sunday at mid-day. Eyewitnesses described the object as “huge” and “red” and connected to several wires laid across the street toward the settlement. When Israeli forces came across the apparatus they closed the street and put residents of the settlement on alert. Dozens of military vehicles and a bomb squad arrived at the scene, while settlers took the chaos as a chance to pelt Palestinian cars with rocks. Israeli sources have not confirmed whether the apparatus was indeed an explosive device, though some eyewitnesses said it may simply have been a structure to impede traffic on the bypass road. Palestinians are not permitted to drive on bypass roads in the West Bank; they are under Israeli military control. more.. e-mail
IDF raises alert level for fear of 'kidnappings'
Hanan Greenberg, YNetNews 3/8/2009
Following last week’s attempt to kidnap officer in Jerusalem, commanders instructed to brief soldiers once again on hitchhiking prohibition - Following a security assessment by the General Staff, the IDF has raised its alert level for fear of possible attempts by terror groups to kidnap soldiers. Security officials said Wednesday’s incident in which Arabs tried to kidnap an Israel Air Force officer near Jerusalem’s Malcha Mall underlined the need to raise the alert level and prevent the abduction of a soldier on Israeli soil. To this end, IDF commanders were instructed to brief their soldiers once again on the prohibition regarding hitchhiking and make sure they offer them the safest possible way to get home. As part of the effort to enforce the hitchhiking prohibition, undercover Military Police officers will offer unsuspecting soldiers rides at hitchhiking posts throughout the country. more.. e-mail
Palestinian killed, another injured in an Israeli air strike
Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 3/7/2009
Palestinian medical sources in the Gaza Strip reported on Saturday morning that one Palestinian was killed and another was injured in an Israeli air strike that targeted a car they were driving in Beit Lahia, in the northern part of the Gaza Strip. The slain fighter was identified as Mahmoud Sami Fattouh. His body was severely mutilated whilst the resident suffered serious wounds. Eyewitnesses reported that an Israeli drone fired at least one missile at the vehicle. The Al Quds Brigades, armed wing of the Islamic Jihad, said that the two are its members and vowed fierce retaliation. Israel has killed five fighters, including four members of the Al Quds Brigades, over the past few days. more.. e-mail
Israel hands out demolition orders for 36 Palestinian more families in J’lem
Palestinian Information Center 3/7/2009
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- Palestinian sources reported that the Israeli controlled municipality of occupied Jerusalem handed Thursday demolition orders for 36 Palestinian families living in the Abbasiya neighborhood near the Old City. The sources said that the orders gave the families, who live in two buildings in this neighborhood, 10 days to evacuate their homes. According to the sources, the number of Palestinian homes threatened with demolition in different Jerusalem neighborhoods rose to 124 so far. Last week, Israel issued demolition orders for 88 homes in Al-Bustan neighborhood, located south of the Aqsa Mosque, in occupied Jerusalem. New reports received Saturday said that the Palestinians in the Sahel area near Jerusalem’s Old City set up a protest camp on the ruins of the last house that was demolished two weeks ago in the area. more.. e-mail
IAF bombs Gaza smuggling tunnel after rockets hit Negev
Ha’aretz 3/8/2009
The Israel Air Force bombed a smuggling tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip on Saturday after militants in the coastal territory fired at least three rockets into Israel. The rockets fired from Gaza hit the western Negev, causing injuries or damage. Meanwhile, a member of an Islamic Jihad rocket squad was killed and two others were wounded Saturday in what a Palestinian medic said was an Israeli airstrike in the northern Gaza Strip. The Israel Defense Forces, however, said it did not carry out any operations in Gaza at the time of the incident. The dead man was identified as Mahmoud Fattouh, 25, according to Dr. Moawiya Hassanain, a Gaza health official. Two Islamic Jihad members were wounded in the incident near the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya. The Islamic Jihad squad was targeted as it fired rockets toward Israel. more.. e-mail
IAF bombs Gaza tunnel after rockets hit Negev
Ha’aretz 3/8/2009
The Israel Air Force bombed a smuggling tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip yesterday, after militants fired at least three rockets into Israel. The rockets fired from Gaza hit the western Negev, causing no injuries or damage. Meanwhile, a member of an Islamic Jihad rocket squad was killed and two others were wounded Saturday in what a Palestinian medic said was an Israeli airstrike in the northern Gaza Strip. The Israel Defense Forces, however, said it did not carry out any operations in Gaza at the time of the incident. Dr. Moawiya Hassanain, a Gaza health official, identified the dead man as Mahmoud Fattouh, 25. The squad was targeted as it fired rockets toward Israel, according to Hassanain and Islamic Jihad spokesman Abu Ahmed. more.. e-mail
Israeli airstrike kills Islamic Jihad member in Gaza
Ma’an News Agency 3/7/2009
Gaza – Ma’an – Israeli warplanes bombed a car in the northern Gaza Strip killing one member of the Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, and seriously wounding another early on Saturday. According to a statement from the Al-Quds Brigades, a fighter jet fired a missile at a car in the town of Beit Lahiya, killing Mahmoud Fattouh. The Israeli military said it did not carry out any operations in Gaza on Saturday. “Fattouh was killed after he fired a homemade projectile towards the Israeli town of Sderot,” the Brigades’ statement added. Medical sources noted that Fattouh’s body arrived at the hospital torn into pieces. Israeli sources said four projectiles landed in an open area in the western Negev desert, causing no damage or injuries. Israel’s air force launched another airstrike on the Al-Fukhkhari neighborhood of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. more.. e-mail
Palestinian fighter killed in Israeli air raid
Palestinian Information Center 3/7/2009
BEIT LAHIA, (PIC)-- An Israeli air raid on northern Gaza killed an Islamic Jihad activist and wounded another at dawn Saturday, sources in the Jihad’s armed wing told the PIC. They said that Mahmoud Fattuh was killed and another Quds Brigades member was seriously injured in the Israeli warplanes shelling of a car they were riding in Beit Lahia, in northern Gaza. The sources said that the martyr was a member of the armed wing’s missile unit, and vowed reprisal to the "cowardly assassination". Fattuh is the fourth Jihad member to be killed and the fifth in Palestinian resistance lines within the few past days in a clear indication of the Israeli military escalation against the Gaza Strip. Israeli gunboats on Friday opened machinegun fire at Palestinian fishing boats on the Khan Younis and Rafah beaches in southern Gaza but no casualties were reported. more.. e-mail
IAF strikes tunnel in southern Gaza
Hanan Greenberg, Reuters, YNetNews 3/7/2009
Rocket hits Israel Saturday morning; Islamic Jihad militant reported by local residents as killed by aerial strike on rocket-launching team in Gaza - Israeli aircraft struck a tunnel near the Philadelphi route in the southern Gaza Strip Saturday evening. The army stated that the strike was a response to the rocket fire at Israel during the morning hours. Earlier Saturday, an Israeli air strike killed a Palestinian operative and left another wounded in the northern Gaza Strip, local medical workers and residents said. An Israeli army spokesman said he was checking on the reported air strike. A few hours earlier, three rockets launched from Gaza landed in open areas in the western Negev - near the Eshkol Regional Council, near Sderot and near Be’eri on the Ashkelon coastline. No casualties or damages were reported in any of the attacks. more.. e-mail
Four projectiles land near Gaza
Ma’an News Agency 3/7/2009
Bethlehem – Ma’an – Four homemade projectiles landed in open areas east of the Gaza Strip on Saturday morning, according to Israeli officials. No casualties or damage were reported. One of the projectiles fell before an Israeli airstrike killed an Islamic Jihad fighter, and three fell shortly after the strikeThe Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, said it fired six projectiles into Israel on Saturday. On Friday senior Israeli military officials were quoted as saying that they are preparing a "harsh attack" on Gaza in response to the projectiles. Israel failed to stop the homemade rockets in a three-week offensive against the Gaza Strip in December and January. More than 1,400 Palestinians were killed in the campaign. ***Updated at 10:50 Gaza time more.. e-mail
Palestinian youth wounded in Nablus
Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 3/7/2009
On Friday evening, Israeli soldiers invaded the Jabal Al Shimaly area of the northern West Bank city of Nablus, shot and wounded one youth in clashes that took place during the invasion. Medical sources in Nablus reported that Moneer Al Bastamy, 17, was shot by live ammunition in his leg. Al Bastamy was moved to the Rafidia Hospital in Nablus. His wounds were described as moderate. The invasion comes as the Palestinian Authority, headed by President Mahmoud Abbas, managed to implement a new plan to ensure security. The invasion was seen as an attempt to impede the efforts of the Palestinian security forces in restoring order and maintaining security control. [end]
Israeli forces raid northern West Bank towns, camp
Ma’an News Agency 3/7/2009
Jenin – Ma’an – Israeli forces raided the northern West Bank towns of Tubas and Qabatiya, and the Al-Fari’a Refugee Camp on Friday morning. No arrests or injuries were reported. Palestinian security sources said that three military patrols moved through the streets nearthe entrance to Al-Fari’a camp. Four other patrols entered the eastern neighborhood of Qabatiya and took up positions on the settler bypass road in the village. In Tubas, five military patrols stormed the city center on their way to Tayaseer military checkpoint, east of the city. [end]
Al-Quds Brigades launch two mortar shells at Kisufim
Ma’an News Agency 3/7/2009
Bethlehem – Ma’an – Islamic Jihad’s Al-Quds Brigades launched two mortar shells at the Israeli military base at Kisufim on Saturday afternoon, a statement from the group claimed. The actions were said to have come in retaliation for Israeli atrocities committed in the Gaza Strip. Earlier Saturday Israeli warplanes bombed a car in the northern Gaza Strip killing one member of the Al-Quds Brigades and seriously wounding another. Israeli officials denied the accusation and said not attacks on the Strip were conducted on Saturday. Saturday’s attack was the third strike against Islamic Jihad fighters in Gaza this week. [end]
Israeli warplane fires missiles at Rafah borders
Palestinian Information Center 3/7/2009
RAFAH, (PIC)-- An Israeli warplane on Saturday evening launched an air raid on the Palestinian-Egyptian border area in Rafah, south of the Gaza, inflicting more material damage but no casualties. Local sources told the PIC reporter that an F-16 warplane fired two missiles at an area near to the Rafah main border gate with Egypt targeting tunnels used for smuggling goods into the besieged Strip. The sources pointed out that the raid caused more damage to the already devastated buildings, which were evacuated by their inhabitants due to the ceaseless Israeli air raids. [end]
Man and wife injured by Israeli naval fire near Rafah
Ma’an News Agency 3/7/2009
Gaza – Ma’an – Israeli war boats shot at a husband and his wife from the Al-Mawassi area west of Rafah city on Saturday. Medical sources in Abu Yousef An-Najjar hospital reported that the couple was moderately injured after the boats opened fire at them. Eyewitnesses said that the boats also opened fire at houses in the area. [end]
Officer wounded in Gaza is promoted
Hanan Greenberg, YNetNews 3/7/2009
Aharon Karov, who made impossible recovery from critical shrapnel wounds, becomes a lieutenant -Saturday’s Paratroopers’ Brigade training graduation ceremony, for soldiers who enlisted in March 2008, was an especially heartwarming sight. Aharon Karov, who made an impossible recovery after being mortally wounded during Operation Cast Lead, received the rank of lieutenant at the ceremony held in Beit Lid Saturday. Karov was alerted to the battle in Gaza the day after his wedding and fought with the paratroopers who commanded the northern Strip. He was seriously wounded when his force stumbled upon a booby-trapped house on January 13, and sustained over 300 shrapnel injuries. Against all odds, Karov made a miraculous recovery and even managed to go home for certain periods during his treatment. more.. e-mail
Haaretz: The bulldozer attack reflects the anger level among Jerusalemites
Palestinian Information Center 3/7/2009
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- The Israeli Haaretz newspaper said that the bulldozer attack carried out by a Palestinian citizen called Marei Radaydeh in occupied Jerusalem reflected that the level of tension and anger among the Palestinians in East Jerusalem and the West Bank is on the rise as a result of the demolition policy pursued by Israel. The newspaper added that mayor of occupied Jerusalem Nir Barakat decided, in light of the already tense atmosphere, to pour oil on the fire by declaring plans to demolish 88 Palestinian homes in the Bustan neighborhood adjacent to the Silwan village. It noted that the Jerusalem municipality itself seems to realize that the demolition of Palestinian houses is an extremist step, so it offered alternative lands to the Palestinians whose homes are threatened with demolition. The newspaper stressed that there are political reasons under the pretext. . . more.. e-mail
Arrest turns into destruction
Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 3/6/2009
Broken TV, smashed furniture and broken windows, torn books, a stolen computer and a television were the outcomes of an attack carried out by Israeli soldiers who broke into the residence of a Palestinian family in Ramin village, near the northern West Bank city of Tulkarem, the Arabs48 news website reported. The attack took place three weeks ago when soldiers broke into the home of Mustafa Awwad in order to abduct him. But, in the process, troops ripped through the house, smashing windows, doors, a computer and even taking the father’s mobile phone. The Israelis broke into Awaad’s house late at night, waking the family by violently knocking and kicking at the door; then they dragged Awwad out. The family said that the attack did not end after he was kidnapped; soldiers started smashing furniture, windows and everything that they could see. more.. e-mail
Israeli military readying for second 'harsh attack' on Gaza
Ma’an News Agency 3/6/2009
Bethlehem – Ma’an – The Israeli military is preparing a “harsh attack on Gaza,” in response to homemade rockets that are continuously fired into Israel by Palestinian fighters, multiple Israeli news sources reported on Friday. “The army is preparing to carry out a huge and harsh attack at any moment, which is required to stop firing projectiles on Israel,” said one report, quoting senior military sources. Last Sunday Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert vowed a “painful response” to the homemade projectiles that Israel failed to stop with its three-week war on the Gaza Strip in December and January. More than 1,400 Palestinians were killed during the offensive. Israel holds Hamas, the ruling party in Gaza, totally responsible for the projectiles, which are fired by a variety of Palestinian armed factions. more.. e-mail
Israel’s navy attacks fishermen along Gaza shore; bombs Rafah tunnels
Ma’an News Agency 3/6/2009
Gaza – Ma’an – Two fresh Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip were reported Friday morning on the southern Strip. No injuries were reported though damage to the Rafah tunnels was sustained. First thing Friday Israeli gunboats opened fire at Palestinian fishermen on the shore near Khan Younis and Rafah then Israeli warplanes renewed bombing against underground smuggling tunnels along the Gaza-Egypt border. The attacks mark the third in two days, the earliest of which killed three Palestinian militiamen. On Thursday morning, Israeli aircraft attacked a group a Palestinian fighters east of Al-Maghazi Refugee Camp, killing three. On Wednesday night, a separate strike killed a leader in the Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad. Islamic Jihad has vowed to avenge those attacks, and began by firing a barrage of homemade projectiles into Israel. more.. e-mail
East Jerusalem Settlements Ratchet Up Tensions
Analysis by Helena Cobban, Inter Press Service 3/7/2009
JERUSALEM, Mar 6(IPS) - As the fires of human misery continue to smolder in Gaza, the situation in Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem is emerging as another potentially explosive issue in, and far beyond, the Middle East. The future of the city is considered an issue of prime importance to both Palestinians and Israelis, as well as to their supporters around the world. Jerusalem-related tensions have sparked several earlier rounds of violence between the two peoples, including when former (and future) Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu started work on the new East Jerusalem settlement of Har Homa in 1997. In September 2000, it was a visit by opposition leader Ariel Sharon to Jerusalem’s Temple Mount - accompanied by 1,000 armed security people - that sparked the Second Intifada. Now, Israeli and Palestinian peace activists warn that the provocative actions of government-backed settler. . . more.. e-mail
Police to deploy in force in Jerusalem
Ronen Medzini, YNetNews 3/6/2009
Police to reinforce presence in capital ahead of Purim holiday, as tens of thousands of revelers prepare to hit streets; two police officers wounded after married east Jerusalem father goes on rampage earlier in the day - Police not taking any chances - Officials have decided to reinforce the police presence on Jerusalem’s streets next week, in the wake of the terror attack Thursday that left two police officers lightly hurt. Police forces will deploy in force in order to secure the upcoming Purim celebrations, the Jerusalem Police said Thursday night. As is the case every year, tens of thousands of dressed-up revelers are expected to hit the streets during the holidays. Jerusalem’s municipal government is organizing several events to celebrate the holiday, including shows for the entire family, musical performances, and a Hassidic puppet show. more.. e-mail
Israel declares alert in Jerusalem fearing attack
Ma’an News Agency 3/6/2009
Jerusalem – Ma’an – Israel deployed extra police and military forces in and around Jerusalem fearing violent attacks, a day after a Palestinian tractor driver plowed his vehicle into a police car in an alleged attack. Two police officers were injured in Thursday’s incident and the driver was shot dead. According to the Israel Police, patrols will be increased in residential neighborhoods and additional checkpoints installed on roads leading to Jerusalem from the West Bank. Meanwhile Israel imposed tight restrictions on access to the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City. Protests were expected in response to a renewed Israeli threat to demolish dozens of Palestinian houses in East Jerusalem. Israel is expected to continue the state of high alert next week in advance of the Jewish holiday of Purim. more.. e-mail
Israeli soldiers shoot 17-year-old in foot near Nablus
Ma’an News Agency 3/6/2009
Nablus – Ma’an – Israeli forces shot and injured a Palestinian youth following clashes on the northern mountain (Al-Jabal Ash-Shamali) of Nablus Friday. Palestinian medical sources identified the boy as 17-year old Muneer Al- Bustami, and noted he was shot in the foot. The youth were in an Israeli-controlled area on the outskirts of the city when the incident took place. Al-Bustami was transferred to the Rafidyah hospital and his condition was described as moderate. [end]
Israeli soldiers seize man from Jericho
Ma’an News Agency 3/6/2009
Jericho – Ma’an – Israeli soldiers seized a young Palestinian man from Aqbat Jaber Refugee Camp on the outskirts of the West Bank city of Jericho early on Friday. Israeli soldiers detained 25 year-old Muhannad Mahmoud Yousef during a raid on his family’s house in the camp. The Israeli military said that it arrested two Palestinians during overnight raids in the West Bank. The second detainee has not yet been identified. [end]
Israeli settlers demonstrate against removal of West Bank checkpoints
Ma’an News Agency 3/6/2009
Bethlehem – Ma’an – Israeli settlers blocked a road in the southern West Bank on Friday morning in protest of Israel’s reported intention to remove military checkpoints. The demonstration took place at the Tarqumiya checkpoint, west of the city of Hebron. No violence was reported. On Wednesday Israel dismantled one military checkpoint south of the city of Tulkarem. The military has stated its intention to remove other roadblocks, but these reports have not been independently verified. Right-wing Israeli settlers living in the West Bank claim that the checkpoints are important for their security. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN-OCHA), Israel maintains more than 500 checkpoints, roadblocks, gates, earth mounds and other obstructions as a part of its occupation of the West Bank. more.. e-mail
Settlers stone Palestinian cars north of Ramallah
Ma’an News Agency 3/6/2009
Bethlehem – Ma’an – Israeli settlers showered Palestinian cars with stones on the road between Ramallah and Nablus on Thursday night, witnesses reported. According to Palestinian witnesses, car windows were broken, and Israeli soldiers were present during the stoning. The attackers came from the settlement of Shilo. Incidents of settlers stoning Palestinian cars have been reported for the last decade. [end]
This Week in Palestine -Week 10 2009
Ghassan Bannoura - Audio Dept, International Middle East Media Center News 3/6/2009
Click on Link to download or play MP3 file|| 15 m 00s || 13. 7 MB || Welcome to This Week in Palestine, a service of the International Middle East Media Center, www. imemc. org, for February 28th through March 6th, 2009. Palestinian factions, including the rival Hamas and Fatah parties, met this week in Cairo as Israeli attacks and siege on Gaza leave 10 killed this week. These stories and more, coming up Stay tuned. Nonviolent Activities Lets begin our weekly report with the nonviolent activities in the West Bank with IMEMC’s George Rishmawi: The residents of Bil’in, near the central West Bank city of Ramallah, marched towards the wall today following Friday prayers, in a protest joined by Israeli and international activists. Protesters called for national unity among Palestinians. The protest headed towards the wall being built by Israel on Bil’in’s farmland. more.. e-mail
False alarm causes scare in south
Ilana Curiel, YNetNews 3/6/2009
Southern residents enter secured rooms as siren goes off; police: Alert system malfunctioned - A false alarm caused a scare Friday afternoon at several southern communities, including Beersheba, Ofakim, Rahat, and Ashdod. Police later said a malfunction in the anti-rocket siren system caused the needless panic. Residents in various southern regions reported hearing a siren around 4:15 pm. Concerned residents rushed into secured rooms, only to be told a few minutes later that no rockets were fired from Gaza. Ashdod resident Ilya recounted the tense moments: "We heard a siren, entered the building, and took cover. " The false alarm reminded residents that they are still within range of Palestinian rockets. "I felt helpless," said Dina Zilberman. "I was wondering whether I was wondering whether I was imagining it or not"¦after it was over, I said thank God that nothing happened. more.. e-mail
Islamic Jihad: Israeli threats 'psychological tactic'
Ma’an News Agency 3/6/2009
Gaza – Ma’an – Islamic Jihad’s Al-Quds Brigades are ready to confront any attack on the Palestinians, a statement from the group said Friday. Brigades Spokesman Abu Ahmad was responding to the recent Israeli threats to attack Gaza less than seven weeks after the close of the Israeli onslaught that killed 1,455. The Israeli threats were once again based on “stopping the flow of projectiles” from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel. “We will not stand still in front of the Israeli crimes and assassinations of resistance fighters,” Abu Ahmad said. He called the statements war mongering and psychological tactics by the Israeli army in an effort to “restore its power,” following their failure to halt the projectiles after the first three-week onslaught. more.. e-mail
Islamic Jihad claims responsibility for four projectiles
Ma’an News Agency 3/6/2009
Gaza – Ma’an – The Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, claimed to have launched four homemade projectiles into Israel from the Gaza Strip on Thursday night. According to Israel, three projectiles landed in the vicinity of Gaza – two to the east of the Strip and one to the north. No damage or injuries were reported. The group said in a statement that the attack was in response to Israeli attacks on Gaza. On Wednesday night and Thursday morning, Israel’s air force killed three Al-Quds Brigades fighters and a fourth affiliated to another group. [end]
Al-Aqsa Brigades claim Gaza projectile attack
Ma’an News Agency 3/6/2009
Gaza – Ma’an – Palestinians affiliated to the Al-Aqsa Brigades, the armed wing of Fatah, claimed to have launched two homemade projectiles at the Israeli town of Sderot from Gaza on Friday morning. Members of the Ayman Joudeh organization, an offshoot of the Al-Aqsa Brigades, told Ma’an that the attack was a response to Israeli attacks on Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. One projectile landed south of the Israeli city of Ashkelon after midnight on Friday. [end]
Israel kills five militants in air raid on Gaza Strip
Agence France Presse - AFP, Daily Star 3/6/2009
GAZA CITY: Israeli air raids on Gaza killed four fighters just hours after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ended her first Mideast trip vowing to breathe life into the peace process. An air strike in the Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza on Thursday killed three fighters and wounded two others, medics said. An army spokesman said the raid targeted a group who had fired an anti-tank shell at an army unit on the Israeli side of the border. Late Wednesday, an Israeli air raid killed a senior Islamic Jihad military commander as he drove through the Jabaliya refugee camp near Gaza City. The Palestinian group vowed to avenge his death and on Thursday said its militants fired three rockets into Israel. None caused casualties. It was the latest violation of the tenuous ceasefire Hamas and Israel declared on January 18 to end Israel’s 22-day devastating war on the tiny coastal strip. more.. e-mail
Driver Shot Dead After Rampage in Jerusalem
Isabel Kershner, New York Times 3/5/2009
JERUSALEM — The Palestinian driver of a construction vehicle flipped over an Israeli police car and rammed an empty bus here on Thursday, injuring two police officers before he was shot dead, police said. Police later identified the assailant as a Palestinian resident of Beit Hanina, a predominantly Arab neighborhood in northeast Jerusalem. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the man, Mari al-Radeideh, 26, was married and the father of one child. Jerusalem’s deputy police commander, Niso Shahar, told reporters: “We have no doubt that it is a terror attack. ”The driver was shot by other police officers who arrived at the scene and at least one civilian, a taxi driver, witnesses said. “I saw the police car flying in the air,” Oz Ma’atabi, the taxi driver, told Israel Radio. “He lifted it in the air, he rolled it over twice and dragged it in the direction of a bus. more.. e-mail
Four Palestinians killed in two Israeli airstrikes in Gaza; Islamic Jihad vows revenge
Khaled Sha'lan, Ma’an News Agency 3/5/2009
Gaza – Ma’an – Israeli warplanes killed four Palestinians in two separate airstrikes in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday night and Thursday morning. Three were killed in an airstrike in the east of Al-Maghazi Refugee Camp, in the central Gaza Strip in the second strike. A spokesperson for the Al-Quds Brigades, Abu Ahmad, said a brigades member, Wasim Mansour, and an NRB member were killed immediately. The NRB (National Resistance Brigades) man was identified as Mahmoud Hammad, who fought under the armed wing of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP). A third man, also affiliated with Islamic Jihad,died later at the Al-Aqsa Hospital in the Central Gaza Strip. He was identified as Ibrahim Bamba. A fourth was said to be seriously wounded. According to Abu Ahmad, an Israeli reconnaissance plane monitored a group of fighters advancing toward the eastern border of Gaza. The plane then launched two missiles at the group. The operation was to have been a joint effort with the NRB and Al-Quds Brigades. more.. e-mail
IOF Airstrike Kills 3 Palestinians in Gaza
Palestine Media Center 3/5/2009
Israeli forces have killed three Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday night, two of them members of the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, the Al-Quds Brigades. The latest fatalities were killed in an airstrike in the east of Al-Maghazi Refugee camp, in the central Gaza Strip, early on Thursday Medical sources at the Al-Aqsa Hospital said that two people were killed in the strike and two seriously injured. A spokesperson for the Al-Quds Brigades, Abu Ahmad, identified the dead as Wassim Mansour, a member of his group, and Mahmoud Hammad, a member of the National Resistance Brigades, the armed wing of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP). He said that an Israeli reconnaissance plane monitored a group of fighters from both factions who were assembling in the area before launching two missiles at them. On Wednesday evening another Israeli reconnaissance drone fired missiles at a car in Jabaliya Refugee Camp, killing one member of the Al-Quds Brigades. more.. e-mail
Israel kills two Palestinians despite ceasefire
Middle East Online 3/5/2009
GAZA CITY - Two Palestinians were killed in an Israeli air strike on the Gaza Strip on Thursday, medics said. Three other people were wounded in the strike near the Maghazi refugee camp in the centre of the impoverished Palestinian territory, they said. An army spokesman claimed the raid targetted a group of armed men who had fired an anti-tank shell at an army unit on the Israeli side of the border. The Israeli army claimed that Gaza resistance fired a rocket into Israel, without causing injuries. It was the latest violence to shake tenuous ceasefires Hamas and Israel declared on January 18 to after Israel’s 22-day war on the tiny coastal strip. Egypt has been brokering talks to turn the ceasefires into a durable truce. On Wednesday, an Israeli air raid killed a senior military commander from the Islamic Jihad as he drove with an associate through the Jabaliya refugee camp near Gaza City. more.. e-mail
Three fighters killed in the Gaza Strip
Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 3/5/2009
Palestinian medical sources reported on Thursday morning that two fighters were killed in the Israeli air strike that targeted Al Maghazi refugee camp, while that a third fighter died of his wounds later on. Another fighter lies wounded at a local hospital. Abu Ahmad, spokesperson of the Al Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad, said that Waseem Mansour of the Al Quds Brigades, and Mahmoud Hammad of the National Resistance Brigades were killed in the attack while the third fighter Ibrahim Bamba also a member of the National Resistance Brigades, died of his wounds later on. In a phone interview with the Maan News Agency, Abu Ahmad said that the fighters were in an area close to the eastern borders of the Gaza Strip, and on their way back an Israeli drone fired two missiles at them. The Al Quds Brigades and the National Resistance Brigades said in a joint press release. . . more.. e-mail
Quds commander killed in IOF bombing
Palestinian Information Center 3/5/2009
JABALIA, (PIC)-- The armed wing of the Islamic Jihad Movement, the Quds Brigades, announced the assassination of one of its field commanders in northern Gaza late Wednesday night in an Israeli occupation forces’ targeted raid. It said in a communiquĆ© that Khaled Sha’lan, 24, was seriously wounded in the raid but later succumbed to his wounds, noting that another fighter accompanying Sha’lan was injured in the attack. The Quds Brigades stressed that the "crime would not go unpunished", and reserved the right to retaliate to the crime at the opportune time and place. The IOF raid targeted a civilian car in one of the Jabalia refugee camp’s streets, wounding seven citizens including two seriously, according to a preliminary medical report. In the West Bank, the Israeli occupation authority handed notifications to 15 citizens in the Nablus district that they should evacuate their. . . more.. e-mail
Air force retaliatory strike kills one, wounds six in northern Gaza Strip
Ha’aretz 3/5/2009
An Israel Air Force missile strike last night killed one Islamic Jihad militant and critically wounded another in Jabalya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip. Khareb Khaled Sha’alan died of his wounds a short time after the strike. Hamza Najar, who the army says was involved in long-range rocket fire at Israel in recent days, was seriously injured. Palestinian medical officials said five other people were wounded in the strike. This is the second time since the end of Operation Cast Lead that the Israel Defense Forces has conducted targeted killings against Palestinian militants. The army has also responded to rocket and mortar fire in recent weeks by striking suspected weapons-smuggling tunnels along Gaza’s border with Egypt. The stepped-up strike comes in reaction to the heightened Qassam rocket fire from the coastal strip which began this weekend, including a Grad. . . more.. e-mail
Report: Hamas demands Islamic Jihad stop launching
Ali Waked, YNetNews 3/5/2009
Sources in Gaza say group wants to show control in region, not escalate situation while negotiations ongoing -Hamas has asked Islamic Jihad operatives to stop firing rockets at Israel, Palestinian sources told Ynet on Thursday. Five rockets were fired on the western Negev from Gaza, following an IDF aerial strike that killed three Palestinian terrorists near Kissufim. According to reports, Hamas is trying to convince the Islamic Jihad to cease rocket fire, on the grounds that doing so while ceasefire negotiations are in progress gives Israel an excuse to escalate military operations and undermine the relative quiet of the past several days. Hamas sources said they viewed the Islamic Jihad’s rocket fire as a legitimate response to the deaths of its operatives and is merely asking them to make do with the rockets launched so far. more.. e-mail
Attacks on south continue; Synagogue damaged
Shmulik Hadad, YNetNews 3/5/2009
More rockets, mortar shells explode in open areas; no injuries or damages reported - Attacks on south continue: A Qassam rocket exploded Thursday evening in an open area in the Sha’ar Hanegev regional council. No injuries or damages were reported in the attack. Later, a Qassam rocket landed near a synagogue in the southern town of Netivot, damaging it but causing no injuries. Earlier in the evening, two mortar shells fired from the Gaza strip landed in open areas in the south. No injuries or damages were reported in this attack either. Five Qassam rockets and a mortar shell were fired on the western Negev earlier Thursday in response to an Israeli air strike on a terror cell in the Gaza Strip that left three gunmen dead and another wounded. The first rocket fell just before 9 am in an open area in the Sdot Negev Regional Council. more.. e-mail
5 Qassams fired after IAF kills Gaza gunmen
Ali Waked, YNetNews 3/5/2009
Israeli aircraft target terror cell that fired anti-tank missile at soldiers patrolling Kissufim crossing area; five Qassams, mortar shell hit Negev shortly after attack, no injuries -Five Qassam rockets and a mortar shell were fired on the western Negev Thursday in response to an Israeli air strike on a terror cell in the Gaza Strip that left three gunmen dead and another wounded. The first rocket fell just before 9 am in an open area in the Sdot Negev Regional Council. About an hour later, two more rockets were fired from the Strip, landing in the Sha’ar Hanegev Regional Council. In both incidents there were no reports of injuries or damage. Jihad’s al-Quds Brigades claimed responsibility for the rocket fire. Later Thursday another rocket and mortar shell landed in the Sha’ar Hanegev Regional Council, also causing no injuries or damage. more.. e-mail
Two Jihad activists killed in IOF raid
Palestinian Information Center 3/5/2009
GAZA, (PIC)-- Two members of the Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad Movement, were killed at an early hour on Wednesday in an Israeli aerial raid that targeted them east of Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza Strip. Abu Hamza, a spokesman for the armed wing, said in a telephone contact with the PIC that the two Wasim Mansour and Mahmoud Hammad were on their way back from an advanced monitoring position when they were targeted in the aerial shelling. He said that a third fighter and a number of citizens were wounded in the same raid. The spokesman said that the bodies of the two fighters were shredded in the blast that directly hit them. Local sources said that an armed clash took place between a number of resistance elements and Israeli occupation forces east of Maghazi that was followed by the air raid. more.. e-mail
Israel launches renewed airstrikes on southern Gaza
Ma’an News Agency 3/5/2009
Gaza – Ma’an – Israel launched renewed airstrikes on the Gaza Strip’s border with Egypt on Thursday afternoon after two other strikes killed four Palestinians in less than 24 hours. Witnesses told Ma’an that Israeli fighter jets bombed the Brazil and the As-Salam neighborhoods of the city of Rafah. There were no reports of injuries. On Thursday morning, Israeli aircraft attacked a group a Palestinian fighters east of Al-Maghazi Refugee Camp, killing three. On Wednesday night, a separate strike killed a leader in the Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad. Islamic Jihad has vowed to avenge those attacks, and began by firing a barrage of homemade projectiles into Israel. Israeli officials said the rockets landed in an open area and cause no damage. more.. e-mail
Hezballah Brigades fire two projectiles toward western Negev
Ma’an News Agency 3/5/2009
Gaza – Ma’an – The Hezballah Brigades in Palestine claimed responsibility for firing two projectiles on the western Negev Thursday evening. In a statement sent to Ma’an, the Brigades said the operation "came as a continuity of our attacks. " [end]
The Israeli military kidnaps four Palestinians near Hebron
Ghassan Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 3/5/2009
Four Palestinian civilians were kidnapped during an Israeli military invasion targeting villages near the southern West Bank city of Hebron on Thursday mornings. Local sources said that Israeli troops stormed the villages of Al Shyukh and Al Thahriya near Hebron and searched dozens of homes; witnesses said that troops left after kidnapping four men from the villages. The four men were identified as; Issa Al Ferokh, 40, Sa’ed Al Halayka, 32, Ibraheem Tafesh, 38, and Marwan Al Qawasmi, 24. Meanwhile Israeli troops have set up checkpoints around Hebron city in the morning and searched Palestinian cars, local sources said. [end]
Israeli forces seize five civilians from two towns near Hebron
Ma’an News Agency 3/5/2009
Hebron – Ma’an – Israeli forces seized five Palestinian civilians in the West Bank towns of Sa’ir and Beit Ummar, north of Hebron, on Wednesday night and Thursday morning. According to Palestinian security officials and local sources, Israeli forces conducted house-to-house raids in Sa’ir, arresting 40-year-old Issa Al-Froukh, 32-year-old Sa’ed Al-Halayqah and 38-year-old Ibrahim Al-Halayqah. In Beit Ummar, Israeli forces detained 19-year-old Muntasser Abu Ayyash and 17-year-old Ahmad Abd Al-Aziz during skirmishes in the town late on Wednesday. [end]
Israeli forces raid Nablus area village
Ma’an News Agency 3/5/2009
Nablus – Ma’an – Israeli forces overran the West Bank village of Madama, south of the city Nablus, and handed documents to several men summoning them for interrogation. Hassan Ziadeh, a member of the village council, told Ma’an that Khaled Ziadeh, Abdel Karim Ziyadeh, Ihsan Awad Al-Qut, and Ahmad Sadeq Al-Qut were all summoned for questioning by the Israeli intelligence at a nearby military base. No injuries or arrests were reported. [end]
Israeli forces invade Jenin area towns
Ma’an News Agency 3/5/2009
Jenin – Ma’an – Israeli forces invaded several villages in the Jenin area of the northern West Bank early on Thursday morning, according to the Palestinian security services. Israeli soldiers raided Qabatiya, Kufr Dan, Kherbat Maraka, and Qabatiya. Shots were fired in Qabatiya. The soldiers later withdrew. No injuries or arrests were reported. [end]
PLO report on Israeli violations in the occupied territories
Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 3/5/2009
The National and International Department of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) said in its monthly report that the Israeli occupation continued its violations in the occupied territories, killed 17 Palestinians in February, kidnapped 320, and confiscated orchards in addition to demolishing eight homes in Jerusalem. The report stated that the Israeli occupation continued its violations to human rights in the Palestinian territories and continued the siege on the Gaza Strip for the nineteenth month causing further suffering and increasing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza especially after the recent war which led to thousands of casualties. The PLO Department stated that the occupation is still barring the entry of basic supplies into the Gaza Strip, and added that 300 patients have died after being barred from leaving the Gaza Strip for medical treatment. more.. e-mail
Palestine Today 030509
Ghassan Bannoura - Audio Dept, International Middle East Media Center News 3/5/2009
Click on Link to download or play MP3 file|| 4 m 00s || 3. 66 MB || Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Center, www. imemc. org, for Thursday, March 4th, 2009. Three Palestinians killed in Gaza, one in Jerusalem as the Israeli governments issue more demolition orders to Palestinian residents, these stories and more coming up - stay tuned. The News Cast Two fighters were killed in the Israeli air strike that targeted Al Maghazi refugee camp in Gaza, whilst a third fighter later died of his wounds. Another fighter lies wounded at a local hospital, Palestinian medical sources reported on Thursday morning Abu Ahmad, spokesperson of the Al Quds Brigades, said that the fighters were in an area close to the eastern borders of the Gaza Strip, and on their way back an Israeli drone fired two missiles at them. more.. e-mail
The Israeli Jerusalem municipality hands out demolition orders for 36 Palestinian families
Ghassan Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 3/5/2009
The Israeli Jerusalem municipality handed out demolition orders for 36 additional Palestinian families in the city on Thursday. The families live in two buildings located at the Al Abasiya neighborhood just out side Jerusalem’s old city. The orders gave the families 10 days to evacuate their homes. On Wednesday when the Israeli municipality issued orders to demolish 55 more homes, owners of the homes near the old city set up a protest camp. Akkram Joweless is one of these home owners at the camp: "Its main goal is to get the attention of the entire world on this Israeli Judaization of Jerusalem and the Israeli plans against us, the rest is in the hands of God. "Joweless said. Last week Israel issued demolition orders for 88 homes in the Al Bustan neighborhood, located immediately south of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, in Jerusalem’s old city. more.. e-mail
Palestinian who carried tractor attack is from Jerusalem
Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 3/5/2009
Israeli sources reported on Thursday that the Palestinian man who carried out the Thursday tractor attack, in which two Israeli policemen were slightly injured, was identified as Mer’ey Radeedeh, from Beit Hanina in East Jerusalem. Israeli Ynet News reported that the man carried a Palestinian Identity Card, married and a father of one child. He was killed after an Israeli policeman and a taxi driver opened fire at him. The Ynet added that the police arrested some of his family members on Thursday evening and took them in for interrogation. The relatives said that they believe the incident was an accident, and one of his relatives said that the man did not have any extreme views, and it is unlikely that this incident was a deliberate attack. Directly after the attack took place, the so-called "The Forum for the Land of Israel" asked the Israeli Defense Minister and the Attorney General to raze the home of Radeedeh. more.. e-mail
Jerusalem ’tractor attacker’ killed
Al Jazeera 3/5/2009
Israeli police say they are treating the incident in Jerusalem as a ’terrorist’ act - A man has been shot dead in Jerusalem after he drove a tractor into two vehicles, Israeli police have said. The man was killed on Thursday after his digger turned over a police car and hit an empty bus, Mickey Rosenfeld, an Israeli police spokesman, said. "It seems to be a terrorist attack from the evidence we have at the moment," he said. Two people were "lightly injured" in the apparent attack, a statement from the Magen David Adom medical rescue service said. Driver shot - The driver of the vehicle was killed when a police officer and a taxi driver shot him, police said. "A police officer at the site saw the tractor lifting the police vehicle into the air and opened fire at the driver," Niso Shaham, deputy head of Jerusalem police, said. "Several seconds later a taxi driver joined in" the firing, he said. more.. e-mail
Jerusalem 'terrorist' a married father
Hanan Greenberg, YNetNews 3/5/2009
"Terrorist" who carried out attack earlier Thursday identified as 26-year-old east Jerusalem resident; ’We could see tractor hammering police car with its shovel,’ policeman says as he recounts dramatic moments - The "terrorist" who carried out Thursday’s tractor attack in Jerusalem was identified as Mir’i Radeideh, 26, of the Beit Hanina neighborhood in east Jerusalem. A policeman and policewoman were lightly hurt in the attack. Radeideh was married and a father of one. He was carrying a Palestinian ID. Thursday evening, security forces detained some of the terrorist’s family members and took them in for questioning. His relatives told Ynet that they believe the event was an accident. According to a family member, Radeideh was "a normal person who did not hold extremist views" and thus his relatives do not believe he intended to carry out a "terror" attack. more.. e-mail
Bulldozer rams police car and bus in Jerusalem; driver shot dead
Ma’an News Agency 3/5/2009
Jerusalem – Ma’an – A tractor driver plowed into a police cruiser and a bus in Jerusalem on Thursday before he was shot dead. According to Israeli spokesperson Micky Rosenfeld, Jerusalem police killed the alleged Palestinian attacker. But an Israeli taxi driver, Oz Ma’atabi, also claimed to have joined in on the shooting: "I shot at him with my gun. " "With four bullets I finished him. I used my personal weapon and the policeman next to me also shot," Ma’atabi said. Witnesses told Israel Radio that the tractor managed to flip a police cruiser near a shopping mall in Al-Malha (Malcha in Hebrew), in southern Jerusalem. Two police officers were injured in what has been labeled a deliberate attack. The driver, reported to be a Palestinian, was eventually identified as Mar’i Radaydah from Al-U’beidieyah in the West Bank, a resident of Beit Hanina. more.. e-mail
Jerusalem: Bulldozer plows into police vehicle; terrorist killed
Ronen Medzini, YNetNews 3/5/2009
Tractor hammers into police squad car on Menachem Begin Boulevard in the capital; misses nearby bus. Two officers injured, attacker neutralized -A tractor plowed into a police squad car on Menachem Begin Boulevard in Jerusalem on Thursday. The driver was apparently also trying to hit a nearby bus, but missed. Two police officers were in the car when it was hit and both sustained mild injuries. Other police officers patrolling nearby shot the terrorist. Magen David Adom emergency services were immediately dispatched to the area. The paramedics treated both the injured officers and the tractor driver, who reportedly sustained severe injuries. One of the police officers and the terrorist were taken to Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem. The other police officer was taken to the capital’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center. more.. e-mail
A bulldozer rams an Israeli police car in Jerusalem injuring two officers
Ghassan Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 3/5/2009
A bulldozer said to be driven by a Palestinian man crashed into an Israeli police car in Jerusalem, injuring two officers and the driver was killed on Thursday afternoon. Israeli media reported that the two officers were moderately wounded and were moved to a nearby hospital. Meanwhile the driver was shot dead by a policeman and a taxi driver who was nearby. This is the fourth such attack in the past 20 months. The Israeli army reported that it may be that Palestinian groups are using this as a new attack method. As of the time of this report no Palestinian group have announced responsibility for the attack. Tension has been high in Jerusalem for the two weeks, since Israel deployed troops and policemen around Palestinian areas in the city, after the government announced plans to destroy at least 100 Palestinian-owned homes in the city. more.. e-mail
Palestinian goes on Jerusalem tractor rampage
Agence France Presse - AFP, Daily Star 3/6/2009
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: A Palestinian tractor driver was shot dead Thursday after he rammed into a bus and a police car in Occupied Jerusalem. It was the third such attack in nine months in the holy city and came the day after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wrapped up her first visit to the region pledging aggressive diplomacy to revive peace talks. "A bulldozer hit an empty bus and a police" car on Begin Boulevard near the busy Malcha shopping mall, said a statement from the Magen David Adom medical rescue service. "Two people are lightly injured and the bulldozer driver has been shot and killed," it said. Officials later said the wounded were police officers. "We have no doubt this was a terror attack," Niso Shaham, deputy head of Jerusalem police, told reporters at the scene. The driver of the construction vehicle was killed when a nearby police officer and a passing taxi driver shot him, police said. more.. e-mail
Bulldozer rams vehicles in Jerusalem
Reuters, The Independent 3/5/2009
A Palestinian driver crashed his bulldozer into a police car and hit a bus on a busy Jerusalem highway on Thursday before police and a taxi driver shot him dead. An open Koran, the Muslim holy book, was found in the driver’s cabin, Niso Shaham, Jerusalem’s deputy police chief, told reporters at the scene. A police spokesman said it was a "terrorist" attack. Palestinian residents identified the driver as Marei Radaydeh, a West Bank construction worker who lived with his family in the Arab East Jerualem neighourhood of Beit Hanina. Police have yet to announce results of its investigation. No Palestinian militant groups have claimed responsibility for the incident, which came a day after a visit by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Hamas said the attack was a "natural response" to Israel’s demolition of Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem and to the Jewish state’s military offensive in the Gaza Strip, which the Islamist movement controls. more.. e-mail
Bulldozer rams Israeli police car
Rory McCarthy in Jerusalem, The Guardian 3/5/2009
Palestinian driver shot after injuring two officers and hitting empty bus in attack in Jerusalem -- A Palestinian bulldozer driver rammed a police car in Jerusalem, injuring two police officers, and then hit a bus before he was shot, officials said today. Israeli police said they regarded the incident as a terrorist attack. The driver of the bulldozer was shot several times and taken by ambulance to hospital with severe injuries. There were conflicting reports about whether he had been killed. The two policemen suffered slight injuries. Uzi Mahatabi, 32, a taxi driver who witnessed the incident said: "When I saw the bulldozer throw the squad car up and down in the air with an officer inside, I realised it was a terror attack. " Mahatabi said he got out of his cab, and fired two or three bullets, hitting the attacker in the stomach after police had already shot the man. more.. e-mail
Two policemen hurt in bulldozer terror attack in Jerusalem
Ha’aretz 3/5/2009
Two police officers were lightly wounded in Jerusalem Thursday afternoon when an Arab bulldozer driver overturned their police car and rammed it into a bus, before being shot by police and a taxi driver. He later died of his wounds. The attack occurred around 1 P. M. near the Malha shopping mall, on Menachem Begin Boulevard in southern Jerusalem. Police said that a copy of the Koran had been found in the bulldozer after the attack, and that the driver had not been carrying any identification. Israel Police and local residents later identified the man as Marei Radaydeh, a West Bank construction worker in his mid-20s who lived with his family in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit Hanina. Radaydeh was married and had a daughter. The bulldozer attack was the fourth of its kind over the past year. more.. e-mail
IAF Gaza strike kills top Islamic Jihad militant
Ha’aretz 3/4/2009
An Israel Air Force missile attack killed a senior Islamic Jihad militant in the northern Gaza Strip after dark on Wednesday, and critically wounded another, Palestinian security and health officials said. The Israel Defense Forces confirmed the attack, saying the target wassenior Islamic Jihad gunman Khaled Shalan, who was involved in firing rockets at the Israeli city of Ashkelon, north of Gaza. Islamic Jihad, a smaller faction than Hamas, said Shalan had overseen its rocket launches and other attacks on Israel from northern Gaza. This is the second time since the end of Operation Cast Lead that the IDF has conducted targeted killings against Palestinian militants. Palestinian security officials said the two militants jumped out of their car when they heard the IAF jet approaching. more.. e-mail
Israel reports bombing nine Gaza tunnels; six Palestinians wounded
Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 3/4/2009
Israeli sources reported that the Israeli Air Force shelled six tunnels along the Gaza/Egypt border on Tuesday, and three more tunnels on Wednesday at dawn. The Israeli Army claimed that the shelling came in retaliation to homemade shells fired into Israel. A spokesperson of the Israeli Military stated that secondary explosions were seen after the Israelis shelled one of the tunnels, and added that this is an indicator that the tunnel had ammunition in them. Meanwhile, medical sources in Gaza reported that six Palestinians were wounded in the Israeli shelling. On Monday, the Israeli Army stated that Palestinian fighters fired a rocket into Ashkelon, and that parents in the city closed down schools after arguing that school buildings were not protected from rocket attacks, Israeli online daily Haaretz reported. more.. e-mail
Israeli troops beat father, two sons at Beita checkpoint
Ma’an News Agency 3/4/2009
Nablus – Ma’an – A truck driver and two of his sons were injured on Wednesday after Israeli forces beat the three men at a checkpoint south of Nablus, witnesses said. All three had bruises on their bodies following the alleged beatings near the Beita checkpoint. Several Israeli soldiers beat 55-year-old Mahmoud Ghassan Odeh after he stopped his truck near the Beita crossing, as well as his two sons who tried to intervene in the reported assault. After the assault Odeh was taken, his face bloodied, to the Huwwara military installation. Witnesses told Ma’an on Wednesday evening that Muhamad, 20, and Ghassan, 23, were taken to a hospital in Nablus “with bruises all over their bodies” as Israeli soldiers detonated sound grenades at crowds rushing toward the scene. The Beita checkpoint was set up several months earlier, and is typically used to check cars and identity cards of Palestinians passing through the area. more.. e-mail
Israeli forces destroy property, beat teenager east of Qalqiliya
Ma’an News Agency 3/4/2009
Qalqiliya – Ma’an – Israeli forces raided the town of Jit, east of Qalqiliya, at dawn on Wednesday. The forces stormed a number of houses there and searched them, claiming they were looking for “wanted” Palestinians. Local sources reported that the forces stormed the houses of Ali As-Sidda, Taysir Yamin and Nasser As-Sakhen before searching them. Soldiers also destroyed property and beat 17-year-old Mahmoud Ali As-Sidda, witnesses said. Civilians reported that the soldiers claimed Palestinians threw stones at the settlers’ cars driving near the town and demanded that the alleged attackers turn themselves in. [end]
Military forces seal off village near Salfit
Ma’an News Agency 3/4/2009
Salfit – Ma’an – Israeli forces on Wednesday morning closed entrances to the northern West Bank village of Haris, west of Salfit. Soldiers reportedly piled dirt to block a road before arresting a young man from the Shamlawi family. Eyewitnesses said that Israeli bulldozers dug up large piles of earth, closing the village’s three main entrances and preventing anyone from entering or exiting the area. [end]
Nine Palestinians seized overnight across West Bank
Ma’an News Agency 3/4/2009
Bethlehem - Ma’an/Agencies - Israeli forces seized nine "wanted" Palestinians across the West Bank on Tuesday night, according to news reports. An M-16 rifle was reportedly found at the house of one of the arrestees. All of the detainees were transferred to undisclosed locations for questioning, according to Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth’s online, English-language website. [end]
Israeli forces storm Jenin camp and nearby Arraba
Ma’an News Agency 3/4/2009
Jenin – Ma’an – Israeli forces on Wednesday morning stormed the northern West Bank refugee camp of Jenin and the nearby town of Arraba, Palestinian security sources said. Soldiers also ransacked several homes including that of jailed Hamas leader Jamal Abu Al-Hayja, they added. Meanwhile, Israeli forces entered houses in the refugee camp, firing gunshots and percussion grenades into the air as military vehicles patrolled the streets. Local sources asserted that amongst the homes ransacked was the home of Jamal Abu Al-Hayja, a senior Hamas leader in the camp. The family was ordered to leave the home for several hours as troops ransacked the interior of the house, firing percussion grenades inside. Abu Al-Hayja has been jailed in Israel since the 2002 Israeli invasion and “massacre” in Jenin, sources added. more.. e-mail
Military forces patrol West Bank city of Tulkarem
Ma’an News Agency 3/4/2009
Tulkarem – Ma’an – Israeli forces patrolled the streets and neighborhoods across the northern West Bank city of Tulkarem on Wednesday morning, witnesses said. While in the city, forces "provoked" Palestinian policemen in the streets and frustrated civilians, according to witnesses. Ma’an’s correspondent in Tulkarem reported that three patrols stopped for five minutes in front of a compound "just to provoke security personnel. " No arrests were immediately reported. [end]
Quds Brigades says fighter killed in Jabalia
Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 3/4/2009
The Al Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad confirmed that one of its fighters was killed in an Israeli strike that took place near Al Tawba mosque, in the Jabalia refugee camp, in the northern part of the Gaza Strip. The Brigades stated that Khalid Sha’lan, one of its leaders died of his wounds, and that five Palestinians were wounded in the attack. The Brigades vowed retaliation. Al Quds Brigades: "Two fighters seriously wounded in Israeli attack" Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agecnies, Wed, 04 Mar 2009 23:07:30The Al Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad, stated Wednesday that two of its fighters were seriously wounded after being targeted by the Israeli army in the northern part of the Gaza Strip on Wednesday evening. Sources in Gaza said that the two fighters were killed but Abu Hamza, spokesperson of the Brigades said that the assassination. . . more.. e-mail
Israeli warplanes launch three raids on Palestinian-Egyptian borders
Palestinian Information Center 3/4/2009
RAFAH, (PIC)-- Israeli warplanes launched three air raids on the Palestinian-Egyptian borders at an early hour on Wednesday in a fresh escalation of military strikes against the Gaza Strip. Local sources told PIC reporter that three missiles at least were fired at the Rafah border strip, south of Gaza, but no casualties were reported. Israeli military sources said that the raids targeted three tunnels, claiming that one of the raids led to a series of explosions, which indicated that combat means and ammunition were hidden in the place. The local sources, however, strongly denied the allegation. Nine Palestinians were wounded on Tuesday evening in the Israeli air raids that targeted the same border strip area; one of them was seriously injured. Adel Zu’rub, the spokesman of the Palestinian crossings and borders administration, told PIC that medical and civil defense squads. . . more.. e-mail
Israeli warplanes bomb Egypt-Gaza border
Ma’an News Agency 3/4/2009
Gaza – Ma’an – Israeli warplanes on Wednesday morning bombed the tunnel area at the Gaza-Egypt border in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. Director of Ambulance and Emergency Services in the Palestinian Health Ministry Muawiya Hassanein told Ma’an that there were no casualties amongst Palestinians there. Meanwhile, Palestinian medical sources at Abu Yousif An-Najjar Hospital in Rafah said 12 Palestinians were injured in Tuesday’s shelling of the same tunnel area. Israel’s security cabinet is scheduled to convene Wednesday at the Israeli prime minister’s office to discuss the continuation of fired projectiles from the Gaza Strip toward towns in southern Israel. Defence Minister Ehud Barak, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, and other military commanders are expected to attend the meeting. more.. e-mail
Two Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in northern Gaza
Ma’an News Agency 3/4/2009
Gaza – Ma’an – An Israeli airstrike killed two Palestinians and injured five others in Jabaliya Refugee Camp in the northern Gaza Strip on Wednesday evening. The strike targeted a car near the At-Tawba Mosque in the camp. The two fatalities were members of the Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad. Mu’awiya Hassanein, the director of Ambulance and Emergency Services in the Health Ministry in Gaza, said that the wounded were taken to Kamal Udwan Hospital in northern Gaza. The Israeli military has confirmed the strike. [end]
Islamic Jihad: We will retaliate against Israel for airstrike in Gaza
Jpost.com Staff, Jerusalem Post 3/4/2009
The Islamic Jihad vowed that it would retaliate against Israel for the IAF air strike earlier Wednesday evening which targeted a senior commander in the group as he was driving in Gaza. "The [attempted] assassination points to the fact that the Zionist entity is not interested in calm," the group said in a statement. "Therefore, [Israel should] expect our reaction, and more rockets. " "This crime will not pass without a response," the group warned. [end]
Hezbollah Brigades launch four projectiles at western Negev
Ma’an News Agency 3/4/2009
Gaza – Ma’an – The Hezbollah Brigades in Palestine claimed responsibility for launching four homemade projectiles at the western Negev late on Tuesday. The Brigades said in a news release that the strikes came "in retaliation for the sake of Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. " Israeli sources reported that two projectiles landed in an open area in Ashkelon on Tuesday evening. No injuries or damage were reported. [end]
PLO Report: In February, Israeli military kills 17 Palestinians including four children
Maram Isid & Ghassan Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 3/4/2009
The International Relations Department of the Palestinian Liberation Organization issued a report on Wednesday documenting Israeli military attacks on Palestinians during the month of February 2009. The report shows that 17 Palestinian, including four children, were killed last month by Israeli military fire in the West Bank and Gaza. In addition, 320 Palestinians have been kidnapped by Israeli forces, and eight Palestinian-owned homes demolished by the Israeli Authorities in Jerusalem, the PLO reported. The report also shows that the Israeli Army continued its siege on the Gaza strip for the 19th straight month. Moreover, the report documents a number of cases in which the Israeli army did not allow patients to leave Gaza for treatment in outside countries, bringing the number of patients who have perished due to the siege to 300. more.. e-mail
Armed wing of Hamas says ready to resist 'any Israeli aggression'
Ma’an News Agency 3/4/2009
Gaza – Ma’an – The Hamas-affiliated Al-Qassam Brigades said on Tuesday that Israel’s repeated threats to attack Gaza "confirm their loss" in the recent assault there. In a statement sent to Ma’an, Al-Qassam spokesperson Abu Ubaidah said that Israel’s failure to achieve its aims has been "shown to the world" and that Israel wants to justify its losses by making new threats. He insisted that "resistance forces" will remain ready "to stand against any aggression. " The Hamas spokesperson also addressed Israel, saying, "Performing another attack against Gaza will record another failure in your collapsed history. " [end]
Palestine Today 030409
Ghassan Bannoura - Audio Dept, International Middle East Media Center News 3/4/2009
Click on Link to download or play MP3 file || 3 m 00s || 2. 75 MB ||Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Center, www. imemc. org, for Wednesday, March 4th, 2009. three Palestinians injured as army shells the Gaza-Egypt borders and Palestinian President Abbas meets the U. S. Secretary of State in the West Bank, These stories and more coming up - stay tuned. The News Cast The Israeli Air Force shelled three tunnels at dawn on Wednesday along the Gaza/Egypt border. The Israeli Army claimed that the shelling came in retaliation to homemade shells fired into Israel. A spokesperson of the Israeli Military stated that secondary explosions were seen after the Israelis shelled one of the tunnels, and added that this is an indicator that the tunnels had ammunition in them. more.. e-mail
IOF notifies 55 house owners in occupied Jerusalem of demolishing their homes
Palestinian Information Center 3/4/2009
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- The Israeli occupation authority has delivered notifications to the Palestinian owners of 55 homes in Sha’fat refugee camp north of occupied Jerusalem informing them that their homes would be flattened, local sources reported. They said that the demolition process would start on Thursday at the pretext of lack of construction permits. They warned that the IOA was embarking on a systematic expulsion of Arab Jerusalemites in a bid to judaize the holy city amidst Arab and international silence. Meanwhile, an Israeli woman on Tuesday deliberately ran over a Palestinian man in Nabi Elias village, Qalqilia district, wounding him all over his body. Eyewitnesses said that an Israeli ambulance rushed to the scene believing that the man was an Israeli but when its crew found that it was a Palestinian they refused to carry him to Israeli hospitals for treatment. more.. e-mail
Housing Min. slams ’baseless’ report of 73,000 new settlement homes
Ha’aretz 3/4/2009
Housing Minister Ze’ev Boim on Wednesday called a report released earlier this week over a government plan to build more than 73,300 new housing units in the West Bank "delusional and baseless. ""There are a total of 11,530 housing units in Judea and Samaria that were approved by Housing and Construction institutions," Boim told Knesset. "The report about 73,000 housing units is delusional and baseless. " Peace Now’s report released on Monday estimates that if 73,000 units werebuilt, it would mean a 100-percent increase in the total number of Israeli settlers. The report says that some settlements, including the two largest Ariel and Ma’aleh Adumim, would double in size. According to the report, approval has already been granted for the construction of 15,000 housing units, and is pending for a further 58,000 units. more.. e-mail
Settler & three Palestinians arrested for forging land ownership documents
Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 3/4/2009
The Israeli police reported Tuesday that an Israeli settler from Givat Ze’ev settlement, along with three Palestinians from East Jerusalem, were arrested for forging land ownership documents, and selling Palestinian lands to Jewish agencies that support settlements in the occupied territories. The Israeli Radio reported that the settler and three Palestinians focused their forgeries on lands located close to Givat Ze’ev settlement, in north Jerusalem. The three used forged documents and fake names to sell Palestinian lands. Several similar cases have been revealed in recent years regarding Palestinian lands in and around Jerusalem, and in different areas in the West Bank. [end]
Rabbi describes Goldstein as a saint
Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 3/4/2009
Zionist Rabbi Shlomo Aviner stated Tuesday that Baruch Goldstein, an Israeli who murdered 29 Muslim worshipers at the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron in 1994, was a righteous man and a saint who knew that what he was doing was dangerous, even though what he did was wrong, Israeli Ynet News reported. Shlomo added that Goldstein was a righteous man who did something wrong when he killed 29 Palestinians, and wounded 125 others by firing at them while they were praying at the Ibrahimi mosque. Aviner is a spiritual leader for Jewish settlers in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Ynet added that the statements of Shlomo came as he was replying to a question by a reader who posted on Ma’ale website. The reader asked the Rabbi whether the act of Goldstein was justified, or if it would be considered a heinous crime because he killed many civilians praying at the mosque. more.. e-mail
Settlers burn Bil’in’s Center for Peace
Palestine News Network 3/3/2009
Kristen Ess - The western Ramallah town of Bil’in is known for its unrelenting resistance to occupation, particularly to the Wall that crisscrosses its land. In the West Bank, the Wall and settlements generally come hand in hand. The Wall is not only routed to take the water supply, but also to bring more territory into Israeli boundaries via the settlements built on Palestinian lands. During the night a group of Israeli settlers broke into Bil’in’s Center for Peace. It is a room kept by residents to ensure Palestinian presence on the land on the "other side of the Wall" despite harassment by settlers and soldiers. Until a month ago Bil’iners took shifts 24 hours day. That was until the Israeli soldiers in the area drove them out. Under a ruling by an Israeli court three years ago Bil’in residents are "allowed" to pass through a gate in the Wall in order to reach their land, and that includes the Center for Peace. more.. e-mail
3 Palestinians trapped in tunnels bombed by IAF
Ali Waked, YNetNews 3/3/2009
Army confirms six smuggling tunnels destroyed in Rafah area in response to surging rocket fire from Gaza, Palestinians report nine people rescued from collapsed tunnels, three still trapped - IDF aircraft bombed six smuggling tunnels in the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday afternoon. The army said pilots confirmed hitting their targets. At least a dozen Palestinians were reported trapped in the wreckage of the tunnels. Palestinian sources said that local emergency services have so far rescued nine people and efforts continue to extricate three others. It is unknown if any of the three are wounded or killed. The IDF said secondary explosions were identified as the tunnels were attacked, adding that this proved explosives were being smuggled through them. The attack comes as a response to the launching of Qassam rockets and mortar shells from Gaza into Israel over the past several days. more.. e-mail
Israeli troops open fire at farmers east of Khan Younis
Ma’an News Agency 3/3/2009
Gaza - Ma’an - Israeli forces used heavy artillery fire against farmers in the town ofAl-Farrahin east of Khan Younis on Tuesday morning. While no casualties were reported, witnesses said the shelling lasted for about five minutes, causing farmers to flee the area where they had been tending and collecting their crops. Farmers in the area have come under repeated attack when harvesting or watering crops near the border area with Israel, despite being clearly identified as farmers. [end]
Six injured after Israeli forces strike Gaza
Ma’an News Agency 3/3/2009
Gaza – Ma’an – Six Palestinians were injured when Israeli forces targeted smuggling tunnels along the Gaza-Egypt border at Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip Tuesday afternoon. According to medics, six people were treated for wounds at Abu Yousef An-Najjar Hospital in Rafah. Their condition was described as stable. Israeli gunboats also fired on the As-Sudaniya north of the city of Rafah, and an aeriel drone attacked south of the city, witnesses said. The Israeli military said it attacked six tunnels in the area after homemade projectiles fired from Gaza hit a school and two houses in the vicinity of of the Strip. Muawiyya Hassanein, head of ambulance and emergency services in the Health Ministry in Gaza, said that ambulances rushed to the area when they heard the sound of missiles. Earlier on Tuesday Israeli forces fired on farmers near the border wall in the Al-Farahin area, east of the city of Khan Younis. more.. e-mail
IAF bombs 6 Gaza tunnels; Palestinians: 7 people hurt
Ha’aretz 3/3/2009
Israel Air Force jets bombed six tunnels in the Gaza Strip near the border with Egypt on Tuesday in retaliation for Qassam rocket and mortar shell fire from the territory into Israel. The Israel Defense Forces spokesperson’s office said that secondary explosions could be seen when one of the tunnels was targeted, indicating the presence of ammunition inside it. Gaza medical officials reported that seven people had been hurt in the attack. On Monday, Palestinian militants fired a rocket from the Gaza Strip into Ashkelon, prompting the city’s parents to close down schools, arguing that the school buildings in the city were not protected from rocket attacks. U. S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who is visiting Israel, on Tuesday said that "there is no doubt that any nation, including Israel, cannot stand idly by. . . more.. e-mail
Two patients die of wounds sustained during Israeli offensive in Gaza
Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 3/3/2009
The Quds. net news agency reported Tuesday that two Palestinians who were injured during the Israeli offensive on Gaza died of their wounds at an Egyptian hospital. Dr. Muawiya Hassanen, head of the Emergency Department at the Palestinian Ministry of Heath, reported that the bodies of the two patients were transferred back to Gaza via the Rafah terminal. The two were identified as Barham Suleiman Abu Erjila, 25, from Rafah, and Atef Abu Jazar, 22, from Khan Younis. Also on Tuesday, the Egyptian Authorities allowed the transfer of 22 patients back to Gaza after receiving medical treatment. Palestinian sources at the Rafah terminal reported that Egypt informed the Palestinian side of the crossing hat the terminal will be opened in both directions for three days next week. more.. e-mail
Gaza death toll rises to 1,455 as two more die of wounds in Egypt
Ma’an News Agency 3/3/2009
Gaza – Ma’an – Two Palestinians died of wounds sustained during the Israeli war on Gaza, Palestinian medical sources reported Tuesday. Muawiyah Hassanein, head of ambulance and emergency services in the Gaza ministry of health, said that two patients from southern Gaza died in Egyptian hospitals Monday. The two were identified as Barham Abu Rjeilah from the Rafah governorate and Atef Abu Jazar from Khan Yunis. Their bodies were transferred to the Gaza Strip through Rafah crossing along with 22 Gazans who had been successfully treated in Egypt. [end]
Israeli troops overrun Tulkarem at dawn Tuesday
Ma’an News Agency 3/3/2009
Tulkarem – Ma’an – Israeli troops overran several areas in the northern West Bank city of Tulkarem on Tuesday at dawn. No one was detained. Palestinian security sources told Ma’an that troops deployed in the eastern and central parts of the city, where they raided several houses. The homes apparently belong to Raed Awwad and Yousef Ar-Raghd from the town of Thanabah, nearby, and Abdel Latif Jarad, whose house was apparently ransacked by the time the soldiers left. Security sources insisted that the troops raided the Anbata village in east Tulkarem, driving around its streets after they deployed in the city, throughout the early morning hours. [end]
Israeli forces detain 13 across West Bank
Ma’an News Agency 3/3/2009
Nablus – Ma’an – Israeli forces detained 13 civilians from Nablus, Ramallah and Hebron before sunrise Tuesday morning. From Nablus eight were detained after as many Israeli vehicles entered the city, surrounded and stormed several homes. Most homes were in the Old City area where two brothers were among those taken. Locals identified those detained as:Nidal Abu Koshk, Mahmoud Nayef Issa, Fares Halawah and his brother Firas, Ala’ Rizeq, Nasser Halawah, Ala’ Halawah, and Ahmad Esteitiyah. The names of the other five men have not yet been reported. Following the detention sweep Israeli forces withdrew and took the men to an unknown location. In Hebron and Ramallah eyewitnesses reported seeing Israeli forces enter the areas, but the number and identities of those taken is as yet unknown. more.. e-mail
The military kidnaps 16 Palestinians during invasions targeting cities in the West Bank on Tuesday
Ghassan Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 3/3/2009
At least 16 Palestinian civilians were reported to be kidnapped by the Israeli military during pre dawn and morning invasion targeting several communities all over the West Bank on Tuesday. In Nablus city eight civilians were kidnapped when Israeli troops invaded the city and searched homes in down town Nablus. Meanwhile five young men where taken on pre dawn house to house search campaign Israeli soldiers did at Qadura refugee camp in Ramallah city. Another two were kinaped during home searches in Ramallah city. One man from Hebron was kidnapped on Tuesday morning by Israeli troops manning checkpoint near the city of Bethlehem, local sources said. [end]
Israeli troops detain four Palestinians from Ramallah
Ma’an News Agency 3/3/2009
Ramallah – Ma’an – Israeli troops detained four young men after raiding the Qaddura refugee camp in Ramallah on Tuesday and took them to an unknown destination. Palestinian security sources said troops overran the camp at dawn and raided several houses. Those detained were identified as:Abdel Baset Janatah, 24, Ibrahim Husny Marshed, 23, Rami Al-faroukh, 24, and Muhamad Abu At-Tahrir 29. [end]
Israel bombs Gaza tunnels
Al Jazeera 3/3/2009
Israeli fighter planes have bombed smuggling tunnels linking the Gaza Strip to Egypt, witnesses said. The attack on Tuesday came after Tel Aviv vowed to respond to rocket fire from the Hamas-ruled territory. Residents said Israeli aircraft carried out at least seven strikes along Gaza’s southern border, where dozens of tunnels are used for trafficking people, goods and arms into the impoverished territory. Four people were wounded in the raids, Palestinian medics said. An Israeli army spokesman confirmed that the air force "has been carrying out strikes in the southern Gaza Strip". Tzipi Livni, Israel’s foreign minister, had earlier warned that Israel would not shy away from striking Gaza in response to persistent rocket fire. "If it turns out that Hamas has not got the message, it will be hit again," Livni told public radio hours before meeting Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, on her first official visit to the Jewish state. more.. e-mail
Israeli violations of its self-declared ceasefire on the rise
Palestinian Information Center 3/3/2009
RAFAH, (PIC)-- Israeli warplanes on Tuesday launched raids on the Palestinian-Egyptian borders in Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip, but no casualties were reported. Adel Zu’rub, the spokesman of the Palestinian general administration of crossings and borders, said in a telephone contact with the PIC that Israeli F-16s launched two raids on the border areas. The bombing did not cause any casualties but inflicted more damage to the already devastated civilian houses, he elaborated. Israeli army tanks also on Tuesday fired a number of shells at the areas east of Khan Younis, south of Gaza Strip, with no casualties reported. Witnesses said that three artillery shells fell in open areas. In the west Bank, Israeli occupation forces kidnapped eight citizens in Nablus city including two brothers after storming the city in eight army jeeps and breaking into citizens’ homes. more.. e-mail
2 rockets fired from Gaza, no injuries
Shmulik Hadad, YNetNews 3/3/2009
Qassam rocket lands south of Ashkelon, second rocket next to kibbutz in Negev. None injured, no damage reported - Palestinian gunmen fired two Qassam rockets into Israel on Tuesday evening; just hours after the IAF struck a series of smuggling tunnels in Rafah as a response to the ongoing rocket fire emanating from Gaza. The rockets landed south of Ashkelon and near a kibbutz belonging to the Sha’ar HaNegev Regional Council. No injuries were reported and no damage was caused. The attacks came as US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert at his Jerusalem residence. Speaking at a conference on the rehabilitation of Gaza in Egypt on Monday, Clinton said: "There is no doubt that any nation including Israel cannot stand idly by while its territory and people are subjected to rocket attacks. more.. e-mail
Israel Plans to Double Size of Settlements in Palestinian Territory
Sana Abdallah, MIFTAH 3/3/2009
One day before Hillary Clinton begins her maiden visit to Israel and the West Bank as the U. S. secretary of state, an Israeli peace group announced more settlement expansion plans on Palestinian territories, posing an even tougher challenge to the new American administration’s peace endeavors. In a report released on Monday, Peace Now said the Israeli authorities have plans for 73,302 new housing units in Jewish settlements, which would double the number of settlers in the occupied territory and blow the chances for a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. It added that 15,156 units have already been approved, while an additional 58,000 were pending approval. Peace Now warned that if all these plans are realized, the number of settlers in the territories will be doubled to 600,000. The activist group estimates more than 280,000 Jewish settlers living in 121 settlement more.. e-mail
No mending the fence?
Ha’aretz 3/3/2009
The comptroller’s report found numerous problems in the construction and operation of the separation fence around Jerusalem, which have reduced the fence’s effectiveness and disrupted life for Palestinians on both sides. The route of this 165-kilometer stretch was approved in December 2001. Six years later, only 30 percent had been built, but more than three-fourths of the original NIS 3. 8 billion budget had been spent. One source of delay was the 2006 Second Lebanon War, as a result of which NIS 500 million were taken from the fence’s budget to replenish the army’s inventory. Another was that responsibility for the project kept switching, from the Israel Defense Forces to the police to other agencies. Today, several agencies are involved in manning the fence and checkpoints, causing massive confusion. more.. e-mail
Peace Now: Israel Planning 73,300 New Homes in West Bank
Sara Miller, MIFTAH 3/3/2009
A report by the Israeli left-wing NGO Peace Now released Monday says that the government is planning to build more than 73,300 new housing units in the West Bank. Peace Now estimates that if all of the units are built, it would mean a 100-percent increase in the total number of Israeli settlers. The report says that some settlements, including the two largest Ariel and Ma’aleh Adumim, would double in size. According to the report, approval has already been granted for the construction of 15,000 housing units, and is pending for a further 58,000 units. The report states that 5,722 of the planned housing units are in East Jerusalem, and some 9,000 units in total have already been built. Peace Now says that a new right-wing government presents the danger of "expanding settlement growth at a rapid pace. . . with the clear intention of destroying the possibility of a two-state solution. " more.. e-mail
BBC: Israel ’plans settlement growth’
BBC, Palestine News Network 3/3/2009
3 March 2009 - The Israeli government has plans to build at least 73,000 new homes for Jews in the occupied West Bank, the anti-settlement group Peace Now says. If the plans are implemented in full it would double the number of settlers in the West Bank outside east Jerusalem, according to the Peace Now website. Israeli officials said the plans referred to potential construction and only a small number had been approved. Continued settlement work is seen as a major barrier to Palestinian statehood. Correspondents say the information indicates Israel’s next coalition government, currently in the process of being formed by Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu, has a wide choice of projects for settlement expansion. If coalition negotiations force him into a strongly pro-settlement right-wing government, the plans could put him in collision course with the new US government, they add. more.. e-mail
Palestinian struck by settler car near Qalqiliya
Ma’an News Agency 3/3/2009
Qalqilia – Ma’an – A Palestinian man was moderately injured after being struck by an Israeli settler’s car in the village of Nabi Elias, east of Qalqilya. Eyewitnesses said the man was crossing the road when an Israeli woman hit him with her private car. The man was identified as 55-year-old Jamil Al-Jidi from the northern West Bank town of Habla, south of Qalqiliya. Palestinian Red Crescent and Israeli Red Star of David ambulances arrived on the scene and the man was transferred to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Qalqiliya after Israeli ambulances refused to take him to an Israeli hospital, witnesses said. [end]
Defense officials warn of intent to kidnap Israelis in West Bank
Efrat Weiss, YNetNews 3/3/2009
Region put on high alert following intelligence tip-off regarding plot to kidnap soldiers, civilians in West Bank. Yesha Council Chairman, Danny Dayan urges residents to be cautious, refrain from hitchhiking - Defense officials issued a serious warning Tuesday evening based on intelligence information regarding the intention of hostile groups to kidnap Israelis in the West Bank. The tip-off warned both soldiers and civilians could be targets. The army confirmed that soldiers were briefed once again on the prohibition regarding hitchhiking. The warning calls on civilian residents and those visiting the area to refrain from hitchhiking in dark or isolated areas, or only accept rides from those heading out from the communities themselves. In general civilians were to use public transportation and be alert while traveling. more.. e-mail
Molotov cocktail hurled at Israeli vehicle near Ni’lin; none hurt
Jpost.com Staff, Jerusalem Post 3/3/2009
A Molotov cocktail was hurled at an Israeli vehicle traveling near the Palestinian village of Ni’lin, west of Ramallah, on Tuesday night. No one was wounded and no damage was reported. [end]
No further delay
Yossi Melman, Ha’aretz 3/3/2009
The deployment of the Phalanx defense system for intercepting Qassam rockets has been delayed by the air force and the Defense Ministry even though the rapid firing, radar guided weapon was deemed suitable for the defense of Israeli communities bordering the Gaza Strip from Hamas rocket barrages. In a report published yesterday, State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss warned against further delay in the deployment of the system that is described as "being capable of offering a solution to the defense of strategic sites. "The Phalanx system comprises a Vulcan rapid firing cannon and the necessary radar systems to track and target incoming rockets and mortars. The U. S. made weapon, originally used for close proximity fleet defense, has been successfully used to defend American bases in Iraq and Afghanistan against rocket and mortar attacks. more.. e-mail
Palestine Today 030309
Ghassan Bannoura - Audio Dept, International Middle East Media Center News 3/3/2009
Click on Link to download or play MP3 file|| 3 m 00s || 2. 75 MB || Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Center, www. imemc. org, for Tuesday, March 3ed, 2009. Three Palestinians die in Gaza and the army kidnaps 16 civilians from the West Bank. These stories and more coming up - stay tuned. The News Cast Two Palestinians who were injured during the Israeli offensive on Gaza died of their wounds at an Egyptian hospital on Tuesday. The Palestinian Ministry of Heath, reported that the bodies of the two patients were transferred back to Gaza via the Rafah terminal. Also on Tuesday, the Egyptian Authorities allowed the transfer of 22 patients back to Gaza after receiving medical treatment. Palestinian sources at the Rafah terminal reported that Egypt informed the Palestinian side of the crossing that the terminal will be opened in both directions for three days next week. more.. e-mail
Which IDF unit captured more prisoners in Gaza and why?
Amos Harel, Ha’aretz 3/3/2009
Separate Israel Defense Forces units took vastly different numbers of Palestinian prisoners during Operation Cast Lead in Gaza, internal IDF inquiries reveal. Yet in the end, the army captured fewer than 200 Palestinians, most of whom were freed immediately after their preliminary interrogations in the field. Fewer than 30 Gazans, mostly Hamas members, were transferred to prisons in Israel for further investigation by the Shin Bet security service. The Paratroops Brigade, which fought in the northwest part of the Gaza Strip, took 128 Palestinians prisoner during the hostilities. The Golani infantry brigade, which operated in the northeast sector of Gaza City as well as its Sajaiyeh quarter and the Jabalya refugee camp, arrested only 15 prisoners throughout the entire operation - or by some counts, even fewer: Since some of. . . more.. e-mail
Israeli jet fighters air raid Gaza southern borders with Egypt
Ghassan Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 3/3/2009
Israeli jet fighters have conducted several bombing raids in the southern Gaza Strip city Rafah along the borders with Egypt on Tuesday afternoon, Palestinian sources reported. Witnesses said that jet fired several missiles at opened areas along the border line, the Israeli army says that this area has under ground tunnels that Israel clams Palestinian factions use to smuggle weapons into Gaza. Palestinian medical sources said that ambulances rushed to the bombarded areas but no injures were reported. Earlier on Tuesday Israeli tanks at the borders near Khan Younis town in central Gaza Strip opened fire on farmers while working on their lands nearby; medical sources reported no injures. more.. e-mail
Palestinians fire 2 Kassams at w. Negev; no casualties or damage
Jpost.com Staff, Jerusalem Post 3/3/2009
Palestinians in the Gaza Strip fired two Kassam rockets at Israel on Tuesday night, Army Radio reported. One rocket landed south of Ashkelon, while the second struck the Sha’ar Hanegev region. No casualties or damage were reported in either attack. [end]
Time wasted, billions down drain and still no Iron Dome
Amos Harel, Ha’aretz 3/3/2009
The state comptroller’s report on efforts to develop a missile defense system against Qassam rockets, which the south has been desperately awaiting for eight years now, reveals a worrying picture of bureaucratic confusion, wasted money and broken rules. The bottom line: The Iron Dome system is still far from completion, and Israel still has no effective defense against short-range rockets. Yet it has already been through two wars - the Second Lebanon War in 2006 and the recent Operation Cast Lead in Gaza - in which the home front was exposed to rocket fire. Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss, who sees the rocket threat as "a real and ongoing danger," said the Defense Ministry’s weapons development administration genuinely tried to speed up the system’s development, but made several critical errors. more.. e-mail
Near-misses on rise
Ha’aretz 3/3/2009
Twelve years after the collision of two Israel Air Force Yasur helicopters claimed the lives of 73 airmen, the State Comptroller’s Office has found there has actually been an increase in the number of near-misses for IAF copters. The comptroller reports that in the decade since the Yasur helicopter disaster, there have been 643 collisions or near-misses between IAF helicopters and other aircraft, including a collision of two Apache helicopters during the Second Lebanon War, in which a pilot died. A main cause of near-misses is the congestion in civilian and military airspace in Israel. The air force is introducing advanced equipment that allows a pilot to know the location of other aircraft in the area, but it still won’t provide a warning of an imminent collision. more.. e-mail
Rabbi Aviner refers to Baruch Goldstein as saint
Tzofia Hirschfeld, YNetNews 3/3/2009
Asked by a reader whether Jewish doctor who murdered 29 innocent Palestinians erred, Zionist rabbi says answer is ’complicated’ - Baruch Goldstein was a righteous man, but what he did was wrong, Zionist Rabbi Shlomo Aviner said in a response to a question regarding the Jewish doctor who murdered 29 Palestinian civilians and injured another 125 at the Cave of Machpela on Purim eve 14 years ago. Aviner replied to a reader’s question posted on the Ma’ale website. The reader was wondering whether Goldstein’s act was justified, "seeing that at the time many innocent Jews were murdered by Arab terrorists," or whether his act constituted "a heinous murder. " Rabbi Aviner agreed that the issue was complicated: On the one hand, Goldstein’s act could not be viewed separately from the man himself, who, according to Aviner lived during a time of multiple terror attacks. . . more.. e-mail
Israeli soldier fires at Hezbollah mural
Middle East Online 3/3/2009
MARJAYOUN, Lebanon - An Israeli soldier patrolling the border with Lebanon opened fire on Tuesday at a pro-Hezbollah mural painted on a wall at the entrance to a Lebanese village, the Lebanese army said. "A soldier got out of his vehicle and deliberately fired at the wall bearing the inscriptions," a spokesman said, explaining that five bullets had hit the wall in the village of Aadaisseh, some 20 metres (yards) from the border. The mural shows the "hand of resistance," a reference to the Lebanese resistance group. An inscription refers to the "divine victory," a slogan created by Hezbollah. An Israeli army spokeswoman said "a soldier mistakenly fired his rifle" and that the military was "investigating the incident in order to prevent similar events in the future. " Israel waged a bloody 34-day war on Lebanon in the summer of 2006 after Hezbollah fighters seized two. . . more.. e-mail
Israel plans to double West Bank settlers - study
Agence France Presse - AFP, Daily Star 3/3/2009
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Israel’s Housing Ministry has plans for West Bank construction that would nearly double the number of settlers there, the group Peace Now said Monday. The presence of the so-called Israeli "settlers" in the Occupied Territories is illegal under international law. The group gave the estimate in research issued on the day that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is due to visit to Israel on her first trip to the region since taking office. US President Barack Obama has vowed to vigorously pursue peace efforts in the region, and Israeli settlements on occupied land have long been one of the main obstacles to an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal. "The Ministry of Construction and Housing is planning to construct at least 73,000 housing units in the West Bank," said the Peace Now study, based on analysis of data on Israeli government websites. more.. e-mail
Israel demolishes two Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem
Ha’aretz 3/2/2009
Israel demolished two Palestinian houses in East Jerusalem on Monday, a day before U. S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was to launch an initial effort to shore up the foundations of a shaky peace process. Two bulldozers flattened a home owned by Mahmoud al-Abbasi in the Arab neighborhood of Silwan. Israeli authorities said the house was built without a municipal permit. Palestinians say building permission is nearly impossible to obtain from Israel’s Jerusalem city hall and say this is part of a policy to drive out Arab residents. The Jerusalem municipality said last week it planned to demolish 88 homes, not all immediately, that were built without permits in another section of Silwan, near the walls of Jerusalem’s Old City, to create a public garden. more.. e-mail
Peace Now: Israel planning 73,300 new homes in West Bank
Sara Miller, Ha’aretz 3/2/2009
A report by the Israeli left-wing NGO Peace Now released Monday says that the government is planning to build more than 73,300 new housing units in the West Bank. Peace Now estimates that if all of the units are built, it would mean a 100-percent increase in the total number of Israeli settlers. The report says that some settlements, including the two largest Ariel and Ma’aleh Adumim, would double in size. According to the report, approval has already been granted for the construction of 15,000 housing units, and is pending for a further 58,000 units. The report states that 5,722 of the planned housing units are in East Jerusalem, and some 9,000 units in total have already been built. Peace Now map showing planned settlement construction beyond East Jerusalem, on both sides of the West Bank fence. Peace Now says that a new right-wing government presents the danger of "expanding settlement growth at a rapid pace. . . with the clear intention of destroying the possibility of a two-state solution. -- See also: Ministry of Housing’s Plans for the West Bank - March 2009 more.. e-mail
Israel plans to double West Bank settlers
Marius Schattner - JERUSALEM, Middle East Online 3/2/2009
Israel’s housing ministry has plans for West Bank construction that would nearly double the number of settlers in the occupied territory, the anti-settlement group Peace Now said on Monday. The report was issued on the same day that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is due to visit to Israel on her first trip to the region since taking office. US President Barack Obama has vowed to vigorously pursue peace efforts in the region, and Israeli settlements on occupied land have long been one of the main obstacles to an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal. "The ministry of construction and housing is planning to construct at least 73,000 housing units in the West Bank," said the Peace Now report based on analysis of data on Israeli government websites. "At least 15,000 housing units have already been approved and plans for an additional 58,000 housing units are yet to be approved," it said. more.. e-mail
Israelis demolish home in East Jerusalem
Ma’an News Agency 3/2/2009
Jerusalem – Ma’an – Israeli forces stormed the house of Mahmoud Al-Abbasi in the Ein Al-Loza area of the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan on Monday morning. Al-Abbasi told Ma’an that a large Israeli police force surrounded the area where the house is located and stormed inside, forcing the family to leave and throwing furniture out. But no clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police were immediately reported. Al-Abbasi added that bulldozers demolished his house, in which 11 people lived, including nine children, and claiming that he had received no prior notice of the demolition beforehand. The house was located in a neighborhood 500 meters from the Al-Bustan neighborhood in East Jerusalem, where Israeli officials say 88 homes of 1,500 Palestinians are slated for demolition. more.. e-mail
Israeli military kidnaps three civilians from Nablus; two Palestinians injured in nearby villages
Ghassan Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center News 3/2/2009
On Monday morning, Israeli troops kidnapped three Palestinian civilians during a pre-dawn invasion, targeting the northern West Bank city of Nablus. Local Palestinian sources reported that Israeli Army forces invaded Nablus city, searched a number of homes and took three men to unknown detention camps. Also on Monday near Nablus, a local doctor, Amer Mansour, received treatment after inhaling tear gas fired by Israeli troops in the village of Kafer Qaliel. Witnesses said that Israeli soldiers stormed the village in the morning, and fired tear gas at homes. In related news, Palestinian farmers from the Jordan Valley reported on Monday that a Palestinian farmer was attacked by wild pigs. The farmers said that Ayman Ibraheem was attacked while working on his land, and was taken to a hospital in Nablus for treatment. more.. e-mail
Israeli soldiers assault Palestinian man in Hebron
Ma’an News Agency 3/2/2009
Hebron – Ma’an – Israeli soldiers assaulted a Palestinian man in the West Bank city of Hebron on Monday, according to witnesses and medics. Medical workers said they administered first aid to 37-year-old Essam Abu Es’efan, from the Wadi Hussein area, in the east of Hebron. Abu Es’efan was treared for bruises on various parts of his body. The man’s brother, Jamal Abu Es’efan, told Ma’an that Israeli soldiers attacked him while he was standing in front of his house. No reason was given for the attack. Abu Es’efan’s condition has stabilized, his brother said. [end]
Israeli Army kidnaps five Palestinian civilians from Ramallah
Ghassan Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 3/2/2009
Five Palestinian civilians were kidnapped by the Israeli Army on Monday during pre dawn invasions targeting a refugee camp in the central West Bank city of Ramallah. Local sources said that Israeli troops stormed al-Jalazon refugee camp, searched homes and then kidnapped five men. Meanwhile, other invasions were reported in the northern West Bank city of Tulkarem and in the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem on Monday. Israeli troops searched and ransacked homes, but no kidnappings were reported. [end]
Israeli forces detain two from Nablus, Balata
Ma’an News Agency 3/2/2009
Nablus – Ma’an – Israeli forces detained two young men from Nablus city and the Balata Refugee Camp east of the city at dawn on Monday. Palestinian security sources said several Israeli military jeeps entered the city and suburbs early Monday and stormed half a dozen civilian homes. According to eyewitnesses the forces detained 20-year-old Amid Eleiwi from the city and Mohammad Daoud from Balata camp. [end]
Reservist: We did not bring Hamas to its knees
Yael Levy, YNetNews 3/2/2009
Soldiers drafted during Gaza offensive frustrated by government’s inability to propel military leverage into lasting results. ’It’s as if we did nothing,’ says one. ’We set out to protect southern communities but the fire continues,’ adds another -Six weeks after the conclusion of Operation Cast Lead, many of the reservists who took part inIsrael’s military campaign in the Gaza Strip are frustrated by what they call "the political echelon’s incompetence". " It’s as if we did nothing," G. , an officer who was drafted by proxy of the campaign’s emergency orders, told Ynet on Monday. While in uniform, Major G. commands a special forces unit. The offensive saw him and his troops operate in the northern Gaza districts of al-Attatra and Beit Lahiya. "We were inside (Gaza) for 10 days and preparing for that took three weeks of being away from family and friends. more.. e-mail
Olmert orders Barak to act swiftly against Gaza rocket attacks
Barak Ravid Anshel Pfeffer and Avi Issacharoff, Ha’aretz 3/2/2009
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert ordered Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Sunday to implement a military response to the ongoing rocket fire as soon as possible, in accordance with a cabinet decision taken last week. "The cabinet decided that if the firing continues from the Gaza Strip, it will be met with a painful, harsh, strong and uncompromising response from the security forces," Olmert said at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem. Palestinians have launched more than 110 rockets and mortar shells at Israel since the military operation in Gaza ended in a cease-fire January 18, according to the IDF. Palestinians fired three Qassam rockets on Israel Sunday, which caused no injuries. They came on the heels of eight rockets fired on the south over the weekend, including a Qassam that exploded in an empty Ashkelon. . . more.. e-mail
Palestine Today 030209
Ghassan Bannoura - Audio Dept, International Middle East Media Center News 3/2/2009
Click on Link to download or play MP3 file|| 3 m 00s || 2. 75 MB || Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Center, www. imemc. org, for Monday, March 2nd, 2009. Five Palestinians killed in Gaza and two injured in the West Bank as army invaded a number of cities, these stories and more coming up stay tuned. The News Cast Five Palestinians died late on Sunday when a tunnel collapsed on them due to heavy rain, Palestinian medical sources reported. The tunnel is located at the Rafah-Egypt border in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. A medical source at Abu Yousef Al Najjar Hospital in Rafah said that the bodies of five residents were taken to hospital. A Palestinian man died on Saturday in a similar accident in Rafah. The International Solidarity for Human Rights group reported on Monday that the Israeli army killed 23 Palestinians including four children and three women in February. more.. e-mail
Qassam lands south of Ashkelon
Shmulik Hadad, YNetNews 3/2/2009
Parents say City’s school strike will continue Tuesday and beyond until all schools are fortified - A Qassam rocket fired from Gaza landed in open spaces south of Ashkelon late Monday evening. No injuries or damage were reported. The city’s parents have decided to continue their education system strike due to many school buildings’ lack of fortification. The strike began Monday and will continue Tuesday despite the municipality’s objections. Ashkelon Municipality announced that all schools and kindergartens will remain open and that the faculty would be present, and recommended that parents send their children in "so that they don’t wander the streets". However the Ashkelon Parents’ Committee plans to send representatives to the facilities’ gates to persuade parents to take their children home. more.. e-mail
Comptroller: No protection from ongoing Gaza rockets or potential chemical attack
Amos Harel, Ha’aretz 3/2/2009
The State Comptroller on Monday released a scathing report of the defense establishment, lambasting its delays in providing protection from Gaza rockets for southern residents and expressing concern that most Israelis would have no protection from a chemical attack. Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss’ report reveals a worrying picture of bureaucratic tumult, waste of funds and administrative irregularities. Southern towns on the border with the Gaza Strip have been waiting eight years for the government to reinforce their homes and public buildings, to little avail. The comptroller examined two active defense systems: Iron Dome, built to protect against short-range missiles, and Magic Wand, designed to intercept medium-range missiles. Both systems are still in the development stage. more.. e-mail
ANALYSIS / Another harsh report shows little has changed for Gaza border residents
Amos Harel, Ha’aretz 3/2/2009
There is something symbolic about the fact that the State Comptroller’s report was originally due to be released on the eve of Israel’s Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip, and was postponed until Monday, when Israel’s southern communities are once again under rocket attack. There is a direct connection between the report’s findings, which are characterized by a lack of order and a denial of reality, and Israel’s management of the situation faced by communities bordering Gaza - specifically when it comes to public defense systems and missile-interception systems. The truth is we have grown used to these reports. Once or twice a year, State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss releases his findings, which are comprehensive and disturbing. The media (barely) gets worked up the day after the report is released, the defense ministry promises change and then everything returns to its regular course. more.. e-mail
Comptroller finds ’severe flaws’ in development of anti-missile systems
Aviad Glickman, YNetNews 3/2/2009
Lindenstraus’ report notes billion shekels were spent on ’Iron Dome’, ’Magic Wand’ defensive systems before IDF ever specified operational needs; adds home front ill-prepared for chemical attack -The 2008 State Comptroller’s report points to severe deficiencies in the Defense Ministry’s decision-making process regarding Israel’s anti-missile systems. According to the report, published Monday, the State spent considerable funds, amounting to billions, on developing defensive systems before determining their actual operational objectives. State Comptroller Micha Lindenstraus also noted defense establishment failures in addressing additional threats, mainly the possibility of a chemical attack on the IDF and Israel’s civilian population. "The security establishment is obligated to find a comprehensive solution to Israel’s defensive and offensive needs as soon as possible, including the development or acquisition of defense systems," the report stated. more.. e-mail
Explosive cache found near Gaza
Associated Press, YNetNews 3/2/2009
Egyptian police find 450 kg of TNT hidden in sacks near Rafah on border with Gaza Strip -An Egyptian security official says police have discovered 450 kilograms of TNT hidden in sacks near the country’s volatile border with the Gaza Strip. The explosives were found Monday in two buried deposits near Sheik Zuwayed - a village just west of the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media. The find comes as Egyptian police are cracking down on tunnels used to smuggle weapons, fuel, cigarettes and foodstuff to the Palestinians in Gaza. Police have found 10 tunnels north of Rafah crossing during the past 48 hours. The tunnel-rich area was a target for air strikes during Israel’s offensive in the Gaza Strip, and the IDF claimed at the. . . more.. e-mail
Israeli settlers’ unleashed pigs attack Palestinian near Nablus
Ma’an News Agency 3/1/2009
Nablus – Ma’an – Dozens of pigs belonging to Israeli settlers attacked a Palestinian young man from the village of An-Nasarieyah, north of the West Bank city of Nablus, on Sunday. Palestinian medical sources said that Ayman Ibrahim Hamdan, 25, was transferred to Rafidia Hospital in the city after being bitten by one of the pigs. Hamadan told Ma’an that dozens of pigs unleashed by the Israeli settlers of the illegal settlement of Al-Hamra adjacent to the village had attacked him while he was in his farm in the village. One of the pigs apparently bit him in the foot, causing injuries, and he was transferred to the hospital, where his condition was described as lightly injured. more.. e-mail
Outgoing Israel PM vows harsh response to homemade shells from Gaza
Rami Almeghari & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 3/1/2009
The outgoing Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, vowed on Sunday that Israel would response harshly to continued homemade shell-fire from Gaza into nearby Israeli towns. Olmert’s remarks came more than one month after Israeli warplanes, tanks and naval forces waged a massive war on Gaza, in which more than 1,350 Palestinian men, women and children were killed, and more than 6,000 others were injured. Gaza’s infrastructure, including thousands of homes, was destroyed partially or completely. Meanwhile, a senior Israeli Army officer, speaking under conditions of anonymity to the Yediout Ahronot Israeli Daily, said that the continued homemade shell-fire is believed to be intended to undermine the Israeli deterant policy following the last three-week attacks on Gaza. The officer maintained, however, that the Hamas party in Gaza has been dealt a severe blow during the recent military offensive, but Hamas pretends that they have not been affected. more.. e-mail
Israelis beat, detain young Palestinian at Nablus checkpoint
Ma’an News Agency 3/1/2009
Nablus – Ma’an – Israeli soldiers arrested 20-year-old Husam Mohammad Abu Hamad from a village near Nablus on Sunday, local witnesses said. The young man from the village of A’sira Al-Qebliya was beaten before his arrest at the Huwwara checkpoint on the outskirts of the West Bank city of Nablus, witnesses claimed. "The Israeli soldiers harshly beat Abu Hamad [who was] trying to pass through Huwwara, before being handcuffed, and then transferred him to the nearby Huwwara military post," one of the witnesses told Ma’an. [end]
Israeli military detains a Fatah leader in Tulkarem
Rami Almeghari & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 3/1/2009
The Israeli military detained early on Sunday a Fatah leader from the West Bank city of Tulkarem, Palestinian media sources reported. The sources added that an Israeli military contingent broke into the Qafin neighborhood, where Ala To’mah, age 24, lives. The sources explained that Israeli soldiers took To’mah to an unknown destination shortly after he was arrested from his home. The Israeli military has been detaining Palestinian residents from the occupied West Bank on a daily basis since the outbreak of the Palestinian uprising, or Second Intifada in September of 2000. Currently, Israel has more than 11,500 Palestinians, including women and children, locked up in prisons. [end]
Israeli forces detain Fatah affiliate near Tulkarem
Ma’an News Agency 3/1/2009
Tulkarem – Ma’an – Israeli forces on Sunday morning arrested a Fatah member in the northern West Bank town of Qaffin, north of Tulkarem. Ma’an’s correspondent quoted Palestinian security sources as saying that Israeli military vehicles stormed the town and detained 24-year-old Alaa Tu’ma from his home in the center of the town. [end]
Six Qassams hit Negev after Olmert vows ’painful’ response
Barak Ravid, Ha’aretz 3/1/2009
Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip on Sunday launched six Qassam rockets into southern Israel, just hours after Prime Minister Ehud Olmert promised a ’painful, uncompromising response’ to Palestinian rocket fire. One of the rockets struck in a field in the Sha’ar Hanegev region. Another exploded in the backyard of a Sderot home, causing damage. A third launched earlier in the day hit near Ashkelon,There were no casualties reported in any of the strikes. Olmert’s vow came a day after ten rockets were fired at Israel from the coastal territory, bringing the number of projectiles launched from Gaza since the truce to more than 100. Speaking before the weekly cabinet meeting, Olmert accused Hamas of using Qassam rockets to make up for their losses suffered during the three-week Israel Defense Forces offensive in the Gaza Strip which ended in late January. more.. e-mail
6 Qassams hit Negev region
Shmulik Hadad, YNetNews 3/1/2009
Rocket lands in yard, lodging itself in mud thereby causing little damage, five more Qassams land in open Negev areas ; no injuries reported -A Qassam rocket landed Sunday evening in the yard of a Sderot home. Luckily, because of the recent rain the rocket became lodged in mud, causing only minor damage to the house. No injuries were reported as no one was in the house at the time. Later two more Qassam rockets landed in open spaces in Sdot Negev Regional Council, and another landed in Eshkol Regional Council. No injuries or damage were reported in the attacks. The Color Red alert interrupted Sderot Mayor David Buskila while he was honoring a number of basketball players with trophies after a game that took place in the southern city. " We stopped the ceremony and ran for cover. more.. e-mail
Hizbullah in Palestine fires two projectiles at western Negev
Ma’an News Agency 3/1/2009
Gaza – Ma’an – Palestinian Hizbullah on Sunday claimed responsibility for firing two homemade projectiles at the western Negev and Ashkelon. According tostatement, the attacks came as part of the military group’s “sacrifice for Jerusalem” campaign. The armed group added that the shelling came in retaliation for Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people. [end]
Diplomacy
Report: U.S. warned Sudan before attack on Gaza convoy
Ha’aretz 3/31/2009
The U. S. warned the Sudanese government that weapons were being smuggled into the Gaza Strip through its territory ahead of a recent attack on a Gaza-bound arms convoy, which foreign media has attributed to the Israel Air Force, the pan-Arab daily Al-Sharq al-Awsat reported Monday. On Friday, the American network ABC reported that the IAF had targeted a convoy of trucks in Sudan carrying Iranian weapons to Gaza in January. According to the report, 39 people riding in 17 trucks were killed, and civilians in the area sustained injuries. The network later reported that the IAF had carried out three such strikes since the beginning of the year. According to the report in Al-Sharq al-Awsat, which quotes reliable sources, a senior American official transferred a message to a Sudanese government official and asked him to make sure. . . more.. e-mail
Americans for Peace Now: Netanyahu coalition doesn`t bode well for peace
Natasha Mozgovaya, Ha’aretz 4/1/2009
Americans for Peace Now are skeptical of incoming prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s promise to pursue peace with the Muslim and Arab world. "The long-held positions of Netanyahu and his coalition partners do not bode well for peace efforts," Debra DeLee, APN’s president and CEO, said in a statement. "Netanyahu refuses to endorse the two-state solution," she continued. " His foreign minister [Yisrael Beiteinu Chairman Avigdor Lieberman] is a hate-monger; several of his coalition partners support the most extremist West Bank settlers and their messianic vision; Netanyahu reportedly gave his promise to coalition partners to build new settlements in crucially sensitive areas such as the Jerusalem - Ma’aleh Adumim corridor. " "We find all these alarming," DeLee concluded. more.. e-mail
Netanyahu: Nukes greatest threat
Amnon Meranda, YNetNews 3/31/2009
’Greatest threat to Israel, all of mankind will come from radical regime that will try to arm itself with nuclear weapons,’ incoming PM says during new government’s induction ceremony, adding ’we have no desire to rule over Palestinians’ - Prime minister, again: "I stand before not with a glee of victory, but with an overwhelming sense of responsibility; these are not normal times. I ask for your faith during this time of unprecedented crises," incoming Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the Knesset during the induction ceremony of his new government Tuesday afternoon. "The greatest danger to the State of Israel and to all of mankind will come from a radical regime that will try to arm itself with nuclear weapons," he said, adding "Israel is facing two immense challenges on the economic and security fronts. more.. e-mail
Arab-Latin American ties hailed
Al Jazeera 3/31/2009
Latin American leaders have underscored the importance of economic and political ties with the Arab world in a summit meeting with their Arab counterparts in Qatar. Tuesday’s meeting, the second Arab-Latin American summit, in Doha, the Qatari capital, followed the conclusion of the Arab League conference in the city. Though geographically distant, the two blocs are looking to step up trade and investment flows. The meeting reflects Latin America’s changing priorities - with left-of-centre governments dominating the region, there has been a move away from the US and a push to embrace a multipolar world. Opening the conference, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the emir of Qatar, said: "We feel there are a lot of similarities between South America and the Arab world. more.. e-mail
Think tank urges US to adopt more pragmatic approach toward Hamas
Daily Star 3/31/2009
Analysis WASHINGTON: A new report from a New York-based think tank and delivered to US President Barack Obama by a signatory who is also an adviser recommends that Washington forcefully reinsert itself into the Palestinian-Israeli peace process, calling for "a more pragmatic approach to Hamas. "Even by its title, the report from the US/Middle East Project (USMEP) alludes to the urgency of US involvement: "A Last Chance for a Two-State Israel-Palestine Agreement. " "[T]he next six to 12 months may well represent the last chance for a fair, viable and lasting solution," said the paper. "[I]t is essential that the incoming administration make Arab-Israeli peace a high national-security priority from the beginning. "Taking on the frank realism of several of the group’s signatories, the statement lays out specific policy recommendations, debunks arguments against robust engagement, and. . . more.. e-mail
Arabs-Israelis protest against Jewish state’s ’racism’
Agence France Presse - AFP, Daily Star 3/31/2009
DEIR HANNA: Thousands of Arab-Israelis on Monday demonstrated against what they called Israel’s "racism" at a rally commemorating the killing of six people in a 1976 protest against land grabs. Arab-Israeli MPs, mayors and other dignitaries were among the demonstrators in the annual Land Day protest at Deir Hanna village in Israel’s Galilee region. Waving Palestinian flags and green banners - the color of the Islamic movement - as well as the symbols of the various Arab-Israeli parties, the demonstrators chanted their support for Palestinians in Gaza in the wake of Israel’s deadly onslaught in December and January. Organizers said the rally was also aimed at protesting against "racism and fascism in Israel" which will swear in one of the most right-wing governments in its 61-year history Tuesday. A prominent member of the Cabinet will be ultra-nationalist Avigdor Lieberman, who. . . more.. e-mail
Egypt’s opposition wants Camp David shelved
Daily Star 3/31/2009
AnalysisCAIRO: Egyptian and Israeli officials celebrated the anniversary of the Camp David peace agreement last week. The agreement normalized relations between the two former adversaries 30 years earlier on March 26. Opposition leaders, however, are calling for a suspension of the treaty, which they say fails to serve Egyptian interests. "The terms of the agreement infringe on Egypt’s national sovereignty and diminish its ability to defend itself," Abdel-Halim Kandil, political analyst and prominent opposition journalist told IPS. "By calling for the suspension of Camp David, we’re merely calling for a restoration of Egyptian sovereignty. "Amid much fanfare on March 26, 1979, Egyptian president Anwar Sadat and Israeli Premier Menakhem Begin signed the peace accord on the White House lawns in the presence of US President Jimmy Carter. more.. e-mail
Arab summit rejects charges against Bashir
Agence France Presse - AFP, Daily Star 3/31/2009
DOHA: Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir won strong support against his international arrest warrant over Darfur from an Arab summit on Monday that also warned Israel that an Arab peace offer was not open-ended. While Sudan emerged with the most gains, a surprise tirade by Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi against Saudi King Abdullah was the main talking point of the annual summit held in Qatar’s capital aimed at putting on a show of Arab unity (see box). Bashir had urged Arab leaders to reject his indictment on war crimes charges by the International Criminal Court (ICC) and lashed out at the UN Security Council, accusing it of applying "double standards. ""We stress our solidarity with Sudan and our rejection of the ICC decision against President Omar al-Bashir," the leaders said in their final statement, as read out by Arab League chief Amr Moussa. more.. e-mail
Netanyahu vows to pursue peace, stays silent on Palestinian state
Compiled by, Daily Star 3/31/2009
Incoming Premier Benjamin Netanyahu pledged on Monday to make every effort to achieve peace with Israel’s neighbors and the Arab world, but again made no mention of Palestinian aspirations to statehood. "The government I am forming will do its utmost to achieve a just and lasting peace with all our neighbors and the Arab world in general," Netanyahu said in a speech to Parliament, a day before his administration was to be sworn in. Netanyahu, leader of the right-wing Likud party, has said he would negotiate with the Palestinians but wanted to focus on shoring up their economy rather than on territorial issues that have blocked progress in negotiations that are currently frozen. He has shied away from a direct commitment to the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, the main goal of US-backed peace efforts. more.. e-mail
Talk of change - and nothing changes - in the Middle East
Daily Star 3/31/2009
AnalysisOCCUPIED JERUSALEM: In the Middle East this week it’s all change. In fact, it’s all diplomatic stasis. Neither Monday’s Arab League summit in Doha nor Tuesday’s induction of a new Israeli government in Jerusalem is likely to break or even ease the conflict deadlock that grips the region. Sixteen months ago, returning from the Annapolis peace summit that underlined the imperative of creating a Palestinian state alongside Israel, outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert warned bluntly, "Two states, or Israel is done for. "Ten months further on, and Olmert is "done for" as Israel’s prime minister. There’s still no second state, no state of Palestine. And, in the absence of a breakaway US policy vis-a-vis Israel and the Palestinians, with Olmert’s right-wing successor Benjamin Netanyahu steadfast in his refusal to commit even to the two-state principle, only a diehard optimist. . . more.. e-mail
Netanyahu names government, says he ’will talk peace’
Agence France Presse - AFP, Daily Star 4/1/2009
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday he was willing to talk peace with the Palestinians as he presented his Cabinet for parliamentary approval amid international concern that Israel’s new government could bury the negotiations. Speaking at the swearing-in ceremony for his predominantly right-wing cabinet, the hawkish Likud leader also alluded to Iran, telling MPs the biggest threat Israel faced was the possibility of "a radical regime armed with nuclear weapons. "Netanyahu, who has opposed the creation of a Palestinian state, said, however, that "it is possible to reach peace. " "We will carry out peace negotiations with the Palestinian Authority (PA) with a view to reaching a final accord. "Under the final accord, the Palestinians will have all the rights to govern themselves except those that can put in danger the security and existence of the state of Israel," Netanyahu said. more.. e-mail
Israel denies compromise with Hamas in Shalit deal
Ha’aretz 3/29/2009
Israeli officials on Friday denied Hamas’ claims that the sides had renewed their indirect negotiations over a prisoner swap for the release of abducted Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit, according to Army Radio. A Hamas leader said Thursday that Israel has made a new offer for a prisoner swap in exchange for Shalit. According to Osama al-Muzaini, negotiations have resumed and Egypt informed Hamas that Israel has retreated from its previous demands that some prisoners’ names be removedfrom the list and that others be freed only into exile. Muzaini added that the new proposal could be acceptable to Hamas and thus lead to a prisoner swap. But the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement on Friday that Israel has not yet reached a compromise with the Islamist group over the release of more than a hundred prisoner involved in some of the deadliest attacks of the Intifada. more.. e-mail
Report: Israel carried out 3 attacks on Sudan arms smugglers
Ha’aretz 3/31/2009
Israel has carried out three air strikes since January against what was believed to be Iranian arms shipments passing through Sudan on their way to Gaza, the American news network ABC reported on Friday. Earlier this week Sudanese officials confirmed that in January, in the wake Israel’s assault on Hamas-ruled Gaza, unidentified aircraft attacked a convoy of 17 trucks heading north through eastern Sudan. CBSNews reported on Thursday that the Israel Air Force was apparently behind the attack. A U. S. official confirmed to ABC that there were actually three attacks in total. This information matches reports from Sudanese officials of two strikes on truck convoys on January 27 and February 11, and the sinking of a suspected arms ship in the Red Sea. According to the report, 39 people riding in the 17-truck convoy were killed, while a number of civilians in the area were injured. more.. e-mail
Shin Bet: Nearly 70 tons of explosives smuggled into Gaza since IDF op
Barak Ravid, Ha’aretz 3/31/2009
Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin on Sunday briefed the cabinet on ongoing efforts to stem the smuggling of weapons into the Gaza Strip. Dozens of tons of explosives have been smuggled into the Strip since Israel concluded its three-week offensive against the Hamas leadership in January, Diskin said. According to Diskin, Egyptian efforts to curtail the smuggling across its shared border with Gaza have improved, and several successes have been recorded. "When Israel provides intelligence on smuggling that is about to happen, or is happening, they respond quickly and effectively," he said. However, Diskin added, since the end of Operation Cast Lead, the express goal of which was to bring an end to rocket fire from Gaza into Israel, 45 tons of raw materials for the production of weapons have been smuggled into the Strip, along. . . more.. e-mail
Israel okayed Hamas prisoners’ meet on Shalit deal
Ha’aretz 3/31/2009
Senior Hamas members jailed in Israel held a meeting last week at the Ketziot Prison on negotiations for prisoner swap deal in exchange for abducted Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. The meeting was approved of in advance by the defense establishment, it emerged on Sunday, despite Israel’s moves to toughen conditions for Hamas prisoners in order to pressure the Islamist group to relax its demands and free Shalit. According to Palestinian sources, the meeting was arranged by two Israeli officials in coordination with a few of Hamas’ jailed leaders. Details of the meeting have not yet been released. The defense establishment apparently gave its approval with the hope that such lenience would encourage Hamas to show flexibility in the number of prisoners it is demanding for Shalit, who has been in Palestinian captivity since he was abducted in a 2006 cross-border raid from the Gaza Strip. more.. e-mail
Noam Shalit: Netanyahu must outdo Olmert’s attempts to release Gilad
Jack Khoury and Haaretz Service, Ha’aretz 3/31/2009
The Shalit family and activists working for the captive soldier Gilad Shalit’s release expressed disappointment Monday at the Ehud Olmert administration ending its term in office with the Shalit case still pending and no end in sight. Gilad’s father Noam Shalit said Tuesday that he expects Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu to outdo PM Ehud Olmert’s attempts to secure the release of his son. According to Shalit, Olmert did not do the best he could to release his son, saying that the Shalit family looked on as the current government failed to make any meaningful accomplishment that could possibly hasten his son’s release. Shalit also said that his family will closely examine the dealings of the new government in regards to his son and will plan its future moves accordingly. more.. e-mail
Netanyahu: Israel seeks lasting peace with Arabs
Ha’aretz 4/1/2009
Incoming prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu told lawmakers Tuesday that he would work toward Mideast peace, warned of the threat of Iranian nuclear ambitions and vowed to bring abducted Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit home. "We will not let anyone question our right to exist," he told lawmakers gathered at the Knesset in Jerusalem for the swearing-in of the new coalition. "Israel can`t afford to treat statements against it light-heartedly. "In his address, Netanyahu called radical Islam and the Iranian regime major threats to regional security, but praised Islamic culture as "great and rich, with many branches in our people’s history which has known periods which flourished for Arabs and Jews who lived together and created together. " He said that blocking the Iranian nuclear program was in the interest of both Israel and the. . . more.. e-mail
U.S. and Iran diplomats meet briefly in rare sign of thaw
Ha’aretz 4/1/2009
A senior U. S. diplomat met Iran’s delegate at an international conference in the Hague on Tuesday, in a sign of tentatively improving ties after decades of hostility between Washington and Tehran. In a rare diplomatic exchange, the United States directly gave a letter to Tehran over the case of three Americans. U. S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said U. S. special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, met briefly with Iranian deputy foreign minister Mohammad Mehdi Akhoundzadeh on the sidelines of the meeting. "It did not focus on anything substantive. It was cordial, it was unplanned and they agreed to stay in touch," Clinton said. While unscripted, Holbrooke’s encounter reflected a strong wish by the Obama administration to engage Iran on issues of mutual concern such as Afghanistan and help kickstart what the new U. more.. e-mail
Hamas: 'Arab Summit closing statement lacks practicality'¯
Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center 3/31/2009
Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, slammed the closing statement of the Arab Summit which was held Monday in Qatar, and said that the summit failed to address the suffering of the Palestinian people and lacked practical measures. Hamas leader, Fawzi Barhoum, issued a statement on Monday saying that the closing statement of the summit was "weak, lacked seriousness and did not carry anything new to the Palestinians", the Hamas affiliated news website, Palestine-Info reported. Barhoum also said that the statement did not even rise to the basic aspirations of the Palestinian people living under occupation, killing and destruction. He also stated that the Palestinians were hoping that this summit will be able to take active decisions to protect them, their holy sites, and support their steadfastness. "We were hoping they would break the siege, with actions not with words", Barhoum. . . more.. e-mail
Sudan eclipses Palestine at Arab League Summit
Ma’an News Agency 3/30/2009
Doha – Ma’an – Sudan and its indicted head of state, Omar Al-Bashir, are likely to eclipse Palestine at this year’s Arab League Summit in Doha, Qatar. While the organizers of the conference say that the Palestinian struggle for self-determination will be a key issue, the attention given to Al-Bashir’s arrival at the airport on Sunday already shows how Sudan has risen to the top of the agenda. The absence of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, a sign of the deep rift in Arab official politics, is also expected to mar the meeting. War-torn Iraq and Somalia will be on the agenda, as well. The Arab leaders are expected to show support for Al-Bashir after the International Criminal Court (ICC) indicted him for war crimes and crimes against humanity in the conflict in Sudan’s Darfur province. The indictment is perceived in the Middle East as a Western attempt to undermine a sitting Arab leader. more.. e-mail
Hamas leader threatens Israel with third Intifada in face of Al-Aqsa excavations
Ma’an News Agency 3/31/2009
Gaza - Ma’an - Hamas leader in Gaza Amir Abu Al-Amrin threatened Israel with a new Intifada if the country continues its assault on the Al-Aqsa Mosque. The statements were made during a Hamas-backed rally in Gaza City on Monday in support of a Palestinian East Jerusalem and against what is believed to be the construction of an Israeli network of tunnels underneath the Al-Aqsa complex. Al-Aramin reminded Israeli forces about the event that sparked the second Intifada; then Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon walked on the top of the Western Wall, which is in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. The act, seen as a territorial grab, set off protests and riots across Jerusalem. “I send this message to all Muslims and Arabs around the world and call them to take care of the Al-Aqsa mosque and prevent Israeli actions that harm this holy place. more.. e-mail
Masri: Israel’s attempts to force Hamas to release its soldier would not succeed
Palestinian Information Center 3/30/2009
GAZA, (PIC)-- MP Mushir Al-Masri, the secretary-general of Hamas parliamentary bloc, said Sunday that all Israeli attempts to intimidate Hamas would not force it to make concessions on the prisoners’ swap deal, stressing that the Israeli soldier would never see daylight if Palestinian prisoners did not return to their families. Commenting on the Israeli escalation against Hamas, MP Masri stated that this cheap Israeli policy of blackmail would only impose on the Movement further adherence to its demands to release the Israeli soldier, warning that Israel is the only side which would be fully responsible for the consequences of any negative developments in the swap deal. The Israeli government escalated lately its arbitrary measures against Hamas through kidnapping its leaders and lawmakers in the West Bank and imposing more restrictions on its prisoners in order to force it to release the Israeli captive soldier according to its own conditions. more.. e-mail
Haneyya asks Arab leaders to implement previous summit resolutions on Gaza siege
Palestinian Information Center 3/30/2009
GAZA, (PIC)-- Palestinian premier Ismail Haneyya has asked the Arab rulers to implement former summit resolutions concerning the siege on Gaza and to demand the trial of Israeli war criminals. Haneyya in a televised address to the Arab summit on Sunday night asked the Arab countries that still maintain relations with Israel to sever those ties. "Waiting is no longer acceptable and we ask for implementation of what previous summits had approved," he underlined, adding, "The siege has claimed the lives of hundreds of patients and paralyzed life in the Gaza Strip". Shifting to the internal Palestinian dialog, he opined that there was still a chance to solve pending questions away from foreign intervention. "We agree to a unity government that would re-build institutions, prepare for the elections, break the siege and stabilize internal conciliation," Haneyya elaborated. more.. e-mail
Hamas: Arab leaders are tested again regarding the Arab issues
Palestinian Information Center 3/30/2009
GAZA, (PIC)-- The Hamas Movement stated Monday that the Arab leaders face a new test regarding the Arab issues in general and the Palestinian cause in particular, highlighting that the Israeli measures committed in Gaza and the judaization schemes targeting occupied Jerusalem are two issues of concern to the Arab and Islamic nation. In an exclusive statement to Al-Bayan website, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum stressed the need for tangible Arab positions effectively translated on the ground to protect the holy city and its people from judaization and displacement. For his part, Dr. Yahya Mousa, a member of Hamas parliamentary bloc, played down the importance of the Arab summit held in Doha, saying that this summit does not represent any qualitative addition but a quantitative addition to the previous summits. In an exclusive statement to same website, Dr. more.. e-mail
Islamic-Christian front calls on Doha summit to discuss Zionist schemes in J’lem
Palestinian Information Center 3/30/2009
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- The Islamic-Christian front for the defense of Jerusalem and its holy sites on Sunday called on the Arab summit held in Doha to take firm and urgent positions to confront the Zionist schemes aimed to judaize occupied Jerusalem. In a letter addressed to the summit, the front warned that the IOA embarked over the past few years on stealing Jerusalem from its indigenous people, Christians and Muslims, noting that the most dangerous threats that Israel almost isolated Jerusalem from its Palestinian surrounding through the apartheid wall, completely controlled the holy city’s entrances and prevented the Palestinian citizens from entering. The front also warned that there are schemes targeting the Arab presence directly and systematically in the holy city through withdrawing ID cards, barring Jerusalemites from building, demolishing their homes, displacing families, doubling taxation and confiscating lands. more.. e-mail
Peres: Next gov’t will be committed to seeking peace
Roni Sofer and AP, YNetNews 3/30/2009
During press conference in Prague, Israeli president tries to allay EU, American concerns that Netanyahu-led government may abandon two-state solution; urges Europeans to make sure funds aimed at reconstructing Gaza don’t end up in Hamas’ hands -During a press conference in Prague on Monday, President Shimon Peres expressed optimism that Israel’s next government can achieve Mideast peace, despite the presence of parties within the incoming coalition traditionally opposed to making concessions to the Palestinians. His comments appeared aimed a soothing both US and EU concern that the new government underBenjamin Netanyahu may abandon the concept of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel as the primary goal of a Western-backed "road map" to peace in the Middle East. Peres spoke on the eve of the swearing in of a new Israeli coalition. . . more.. e-mail
Netanyahu: We’ll seek lasting, just peace
Amnon Meranda, YNetNews 3/30/2009
Day before he enters office, prime minister-designate tells Knesset ’any Arab state that truly wants to make peace will find our hand outstretched’; Olmert urges his replacement to adopt two-state solution - "Even I did not think we could reach a peace agreement with Egypt. I can only guess that (Menachem) Begin knew in his heart that there was only one way to make peace - to give up all of Sinai, including Sharm el-Sheikh," outgoing Prime MinisterEhud Olmert said Monday during a special Knesset session commemorating the 30th anniversary of the historic accord. A day before the official end of his government’s term, Olmert urged his intended replacement Benjamin Netanyahu to continue the peace process with the Palestinians and seek a two-state solution. " There is no Jewish state without the guarantee of a Jewish majority for generations to come, and this. . . more.. e-mail
Abbas to Arab summit: Israel chose settlement instead of peace
Roee Nahmias, YNetNews 3/30/2009
Palestinian president says Authority closely following ’rise of extremist forces’ in Israel, adding ’construction of racist wall turned the lives of West Bank’s residents into living hell’ -"Our experience in the aftermath of the Annapolis conference has proven that Israel is still a ways off from abandoning its settlement policy and choosing the path of peace," Mahmoud Abbas said Monday. Speaking at the Arab summit in Doha, Qatar the Palestinian president said that at the same time it was conducting negotiations on a permanent peace agreementIsrael "continued to establish facts on the ground in accordance with its ambitions of expansion. "Abbas said "the construction of the "racist wall (security barrier), the Israeli blockade, the Judaizing of Jerusalem and the imprisonment of 11,000 Palestinians have turned the lives of the West Bank’s residents into a living hell. more.. e-mail
Chavez: No plan to restore ties with Israel
Associated Press, YNetNews 3/30/2009
Venezuelan president tells Al-Jazeera would consider matter if Israel’s leaders ’stop being a genocidal elite subordinated to US’ -Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says his government isn’t considering restoring diplomatic ties with Israel. Chavez told the pan-Arab TV station Al-Jazeera that he would only reconsider the matter if Israel’s leaders stop being a "Genocidal elite subordinated to the United States. "Venezuela broke off relations with Israel in January to protest its offensive in the Gaza Strip. The Venezuelan state news agency reported that Al-Jazeera asked Chavez about restoring ties and that Chavez replied: "We haven’t thought about that, and nothing is seen on the horizon to re-establish relations. " Clips from the interview were shown Sunday on Venezuelan state TV as Chavez prepared to attend a summit of South American and Arab leaders in Qatar. more.. e-mail
Uneasy rivals US, Iran meet at Afghan conference
Associated Press, YNetNews 3/31/2009
Top American diplomat Holbrooke has brief, cordial meeting with Islamic Republic’s deputy FM at international conference on Afghanistan reconstruction; Clinton says meeting ’did not focus on anything substantive’ -Top US diplomat Richard Holbrooke had a brief but cordial meeting with Iran’s deputy foreign minister in The Hague, Netherlands Tuesday at an international conference on Afghanistan, marking another modest step in unlocking 30 years of tense relations. The meeting between Holbrooke, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, and Mehdi Akhundzadeh came on the sidelines of a meeting where Iran pledged to help the reconstruction of its neighbor but criticized US plans to send in more troops. Holbrooke’s meeting "did not focus on anything substantive. more.. e-mail
Police simulate terror attack on pope
Sharon Roffe-Ofir, YNetNews 3/31/2009
Security personnel hold drill in north ahead of Benedict XVI’s visit in May, focus on possibility of glider, car bomb attack during mass events -Northern District Police held a drill on Tuesday ahead of Pope Benedict XVI’s scheduled visit to Israel in May. Some 100 police officers, firefighters and Magen David Adom emergency services personnel took part in the exercise, as Nazareth Mayor Ramiz Jeraisi and representatives from other northern municipalities looked on. During his visit the pope is expected to hold a public Mass at Nazareth’s Mount Precipice, where, according to tradition, a mob pursued Jesus and tried to throw him from a cliff. He is also expected to visit Jerusalem, Bethlehem, the Jordan River and the Church of the Annunciation, also located in Nazareth. The exercise focused on dealing with a number of possible scenarios, including. . . more.. e-mail
UK: Not the time to rush for more Iran sanctions
Reuters, YNetNews 3/31/2009
Foreign Secretary Miliband says world powers should refrain from imposing new sanctions due to ’Tehran’s chance to normalize ties with US’ -Big powers should not rush to impose new sanctions on Iran at a time when Tehran has a good chance to move to normal ties with Washington, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said on Tuesday. In a sharp change in US policy, President Barack Obama has offered a new start in relations with Iran after decades of deep mistrust between the two countries which are also locked in a dispute over Iran’s nuclear program. Britain, a close US ally and one of the six powers that have been trying to persuade Iran to abandon uranium enrichment, has backed the new US approach. Miliband told Britain’s parliament the US offer "represents the best chance Iran will ever have to normalize its relations with the rest of. . . more.. e-mail
Palestinians: US must press Netanyahu government
Ali Waked, YNetNews 4/1/2009
Abbas spokesman says new Israeli PM’s speech ’not promising’; urges Obama administration to make certain Israel ’abides by land for peace principle’ -A spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Tuesday night that the speech delivered by incoming Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the induction of his new government "was not a promising start, as he did not mention our right to an independent state. " Nabil Abu Rudeina said "Netanyahu’s statements were vague, and he did not publically recognize a Palestinian state and did not speak of the need to freeze settlement construction. "What is required now is intense American pressure on the Israeli government to respect the peace process and past agreements, and particularly the ’land for peace’ principle. By ’land’ we mean all of the territory more.. e-mail
9 nations agree on plan to combat arms flow to Gaza
Reuters, YNetNews 3/14/2009
Countries, all in NATO, determine program of action they believe crucial to reaching durable ceasefire - The United States, Canada and seven European nations agreed on Friday to try to stop the flow of weapons to Gaza by methods such as interception at sea, information sharing and diplomatic pressure. Experts from the nine nations, meeting in London, agreed on a program of action to prevent arms from reaching the Palestinian enclave, a senior British diplomat said. But states are not obliged to join any particular action and the diplomat said that naval vessels would not use force. Britain, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Norway also signed up to the program, the diplomat said. Stopping the flow of arms is seen as a crucial part of international efforts to bring a durable ceasefire to Gaza and persuade Israel to lift tough restrictions. . . more.. e-mail
Ex-U.S. envoy to UN: Obama policy ’bad news for Israel’
Shlomo Shamir, Ha’aretz 3/14/2009
Former U. S. ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton said Friday that the Obama administration’s fixation on resolving the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians as a means of achieving peace and stability in the Middle East is "bad news for Israel, and for America. " In an article published in the daily New York Post on Friday, John Bolton said that the pressure that the U. S. administration will exert in efforts to resolve the crisis, will be turned with force against Israel, being a U. S. ally. "Almost invariably, Israel is the loser - because Israel is the party most dependent on the United States, most subject to U. S. pressure and most susceptible to the inevitable chorus of received wisdom from Western diplomats, media and the intelligentsia demanding concessions. When pressure must be applied to make compromises, it’s always easier to pressure the more reasonable side," Bolton wrote. more.. e-mail
Nasrallah: Hizbullah will not recognize Israel
Ma’an News Agency 3/14/2009
Bethlehem – Ma’an – Hizbullah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah vowed that his organization will never recognize Israel in a televised speech on Friday. "To those who impose conditions on us, we say: We will never recognize Israel," Nasrallah said from a secret location in Lebanon. The United States reiterated on Tuesday its demand that both the Palestinian Hamas and Lebanese Hizbullah must renounce violence and recognize Israel before they can expect even low-level US engagement. "We reject the American conditions. . . Today, tomorrow and after 1,000 years and even until the end of time, as long as Hezbollah exists, it will never recognize Israel," Nasrallah said. A senior US official said on Thursday he was unhappy with a British decision to open provisional low-level contact with the Lebanese movement and suggested London only indirectly informed the new US administration ahead of time. more.. e-mail
Nasrallah: We’ll never recognize Israel
Jerusalem Post 3/14/2009
In a recorded speech aired Friday evening in Beirut in honor of Prophet Muhammad’s birthday, Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah reportedly rejected a preliminary US condition for talks and stressed his group would not recognize Israel "even in 1,000 years. " "Today the United States comes and says to us: You are terrorists and we are willing to forgive you for what has been, under the condition that you recognize Israel," French news agency AFP quoted Nasrallah as saying. The Jerusalem Post could not independently confirm the report. Nasrallah stressed that the Lebanese people are "capable of defeating this entity (Israel) and can make it disappear," and therefore, Hizbullah will not recognize Israel "not today, not tomorrow, not even in 1,000 years. " According to AFP, after harshly rejecting the Obama administration’s conditions for dialogue, according to which the group must denounce terrorism and recognize the Jewish state, Nasrallah touched on Hizbullah’s ties with the Hamas leadership in the Gaza Strip. more.. e-mail
Zahhar denies deal reached on release of Shalit
Palestinian Information Center 3/14/2009
CAIRO, (PIC)-- Mahmoud Al-Zahhar, a prominent Hamas leader, has denied Hebrew press reports that claimed Israel had agreed to release all 450 Palestinian prisoners on the list of Hamas’s Movement in return for the release of its captured soldier Gilad Shalit. Zahhar, who is attending the inter-Palestinian national dialog in Cairo, said in a terse press statement that the news were not true. Hebrew daily ’Ha’aretz’ published on Friday quoted sources in Cairo as saying that Israel had agreed to free all 450 prisoners demanded by Hamas as a condition for releasing Shalit. The sources added that Israel put the condition that all those released prisoners should be deported outside Palestine. The Hebrew radio said that Ofer Dekel, who is charge with the prisoners’ exchange issue, briefed Israeli premier Ehud Olmert on Friday on results of his talks in Cairo with Egyptian intelligence chief on the exchange deal. more.. e-mail
Sources: Israel Agrees to Free all 450 Hamas Prisoners for Shalit
Yoav Stern, MIFTAH 3/14/2009
Israel has agreed to free all 450 of the prisoners demanded by Hamas in exchange for kidnapped Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit, and the dispute now revolves around Israel’s demand that some of these prisoners be deported rather than returned home, Palestinian sources in Cairo said Thursday. Ofer Dekel, Israel’s lead negotiator on the issue, was in Cairo Thursday for further talks with Egyptian mediators. According to the sources, Israel is insisting that several dozen of the released prisoners be exiled abroad and that others be released to Gaza rather than the West Bank. However, Hamas has thus far agreed to the deportation of only a handful of prisoners, and has conditioned even this on the consent of the prisoners to be deported. It also opposes releasing prisoners to Gaza rather than the West Bank. Though Hamas officials are concerned that a deal might be harder to strike more.. e-mail
Hamas official: We’ll keep smuggling arms
Roee Nahmias, YNetNews 3/14/2009
Group slams recent announcement by NATO member states to help prevent arms from entering Palestinian territory -Gazans will continue to smuggle arms despite international efforts to stop them, Hamas parliamentarian Moushir al-Masri announced on Saturday. Al-Masri, responding to a Friday decision by several NATO member nations to help stop arms smuggling to Gaza, said "any attempts to eliminate the Palestinian peoples’ right to resistance will fail in the face of the peoples’ determination. " "The Palestinian people have the right to resist to occupation and this right is anchored in international laws and in the principles of the resistance," he said. " The fact that the occupation is utilizing superpowers in order to stop arms from entering Gaza is yet more proof of its bankruptcy," he added. more.. e-mail
Olmert: 'Sunday is crucial for a deal on Shalit'¯
Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 3/14/2009
Outgoing Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, stated on Saturday that Sunday is a crucial day for the fate of a prisoner-swap deal that would see the release of the captured soldier, Gilad Shalit. Olmert said that the Israeli cabinet will decide on Sunday whether a deal would be declared on Monday or not. On Saturday evening, Olmert dispatched negotiator Ophir Dekel, and Shin Bet director, Yuval Diskin, to Cairo for what seems to be the last effort to secure the release of Shalit before Olmert and his government end term in office. Diskin will be meeting with Egypt’s Intelligence Chief, Omar Suleiman, and a number of senior Egyptian officials. Olmert will have no power as a Prime Minister next week as factions in Israel will present their coalitions for the new government. Israeli TV, channel 10, said that Israel gave Hamas an ultimatum until Sunday night to sign a prisoner-swap deal. more.. e-mail
Shalit’s brother: Golden opportunity to free Gilad
Ynet, YNetNews 3/14/2009
Gilad Shalit’s brother breaks silence, urges outgoing government to secure abducted soldier’s release - Yoel Shalit, the older brother of Gilad Shalit, is urging the government to secure the release of the abducted IDF soldier before its term in office ends. In an interview with Channel 2’s "Meet the Press," Yoel Shalit said: "I can imagine his suffering and his pain. Although it’s very difficult to imagine such suffering, which has been going on for three years - almost a 1,000 days - in Hamas captivity, where we don’t know what conditions he faces and what he’s been going through. "Yoel Shalit, 25, currently resides in Haifa. Just like his abducted brother, he served in the IDF armored corps. In the past he served as a tank commander. Up until this past week, the abducted soldier’s brother maintained a low profile and focused on his studies at the Technion. more.. e-mail
Negotiators in Cairo for intensive Shalit talks
Barak Ravid , and Haaretz Service, Ha’aretz 3/14/2009
Israel on Saturday told Hamas that Sunday night is the deadline for reaching an agreement on a prisoner exchange that would free abducted Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit. "There are still divisions, but we are making a final attempt to bridge them," said a source close to the negotiations. A senior official at the Prime Minister’s Office said this is a last-ditch effort before a new government takes power in Israel. The official added that on Tuesday, Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu will present his coalition agreements to the Knesset for approval. "There has not yet been a breakthrough as we would have liked," said the official. "This is a final attempt. There is still time to reach a deal by Sunday. " It appears that with the help of Egyptian mediators, Israel and Hamas have reached agreement. . . more.. e-mail
ANALYSIS / Fatah-Hamas unity would pose major dilemma for Israel
Zvi Bar'el, Ha’aretz 3/14/2009
If the understandings reached on Thursday in Cairo between Fatah and Hamas remain valid even after the representatives from both sides return home, they are likely to expedite the release of Gilad Shalit. Because now Hamas has an additional incentive to wrap up the prisoner swap and claim for itself the credit and glory that comes with freeing Palestinian prisoners instead of bequeathing the task to a Palestinian unity government to which Fatah will also be a party. On the other hand, these understandings will present Israel with a difficult dilemma. Should Jerusalem recognize a united Palestinian government comprised of Hamas and other factions, or should it adopt anew the position of Israel’s government since the elections in 2006 which posits that any entity of which Hamas is a part is illegitimate? A union between Fatah. . . more.. e-mail
Major effort to free Shalit underway
Roni Sofer, YNetNews 3/14/2009
PM’s Office issues special statement, Israeli negotiators sent to Cairo in effort to finalize prisoner swap; relative of senior Hamas detainee: We were told deal on verge of completion. Olmert to convene special cabinet session Monday - Is Shalit swap being finalized in Cairo? The Prime Minister’s Office issued a special statement Saturday night regarding the latest efforts to secure the release of abducted IDF soldier Gilad Shalit. According to the statement, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert sent Shin Bet Director Yuval Diskin and negotiator Ofer Dekel to Egypt for a last-ditch effort to release Shalit. The two are expected to stay in Egypt until Sunday night. Diskin and Dekel are scheduled to meet with senior Egyptian officials serving as mediators in the effort to secure Shalit’s release and look into the possibility of advancing a prisoner swap. more.. e-mail
Dozens of British MPs attend solidarity meeting on Gaza in House of Commons
Palestinian Information Center 3/14/2009
LONDON, (PIC)-- Dozens of British MPs including former lawmaker and minister Tony Benn attended a massive assembly in solidarity with Gaza held Thursday evening in the House of Commons at the invitation of friends of Palestine affiliated with the British labor party and the Palestine solidarity campaign. This special meeting was also attended by representatives of British parties, political, social and religious organizations and student and labor unions. The most prominent speech that touched the hearts of the attendees was delivered by Sameh Habib, the editor-in-chief of the English-language Palestine Telegraph newspaper. Habib moved some of the audience to tears when he described a number of real tragic scenes that occurred during the last Israeli war on the Gaza Strip and explained the size of suffering experienced by the distressed Gaza people after war. more.. e-mail
UAE charity allocates 17 million US dollars to Gaza
Ma’an News Agency 3/14/2009
Bethlehem – Ma’an – An Emerati charity said on Friday that it will donate 17 million US dollars for three projects to help the Gaza Strip recover from Israel’s three-week war and ongoing siege. The Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum Charity and Humanitarian Establishment (MBRCHE) in the United Arab Emirates announced in a press conference in Dubai on that it will spend the money on rehabilitation of the sewage network, water treatment, and assistance to Gazan fishermen. Deputy Chairman of MBRCE’s Board of Trustees, Ibrahim Bumilh, said studies revealed that the most important projects in the Gaza Strip would be those aimed at improving standards of living and helping the territory’s economy recover. He pointed out that Gaza Strip citizens rely on groundwater that is pumped by artisan wells to treatment plants. more.. e-mail
British politicians meet Hamas leader in Syria
Associated Press, YNetNews 3/14/2009
Six-member delegation meets Khaled Mashaal in effort to urge British government to talk to Hamas -A delegation of British politicians pressing their government to hold direct talks with Hamas has met with the Palestinian group’s exiled leader, Khaled Mashaal, in Syria. Britain, along with the United States and the European Union, considers Hamas a terrorist organization and refuses to have talks with the group, which has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007. The six politicians include Labor Party member Clare Short and Jenny Tonge, a parliamentarian who was fired as her party’s spokeswoman on children’s issues after expressing understanding for Palestinian suicide bombers in 2004. Short told reporters in Syria on Saturday that the aim of the visit was to urge the British government to talk to Hamas in the interest of peace. more.. e-mail
Jordan: Israel polluting shared water resources
Ma’an News Agency 3/14/2009
Bethlehem – Ma’an – The Jordanian government lodged an official protest with the Israeli government over pollution of the Yarmouk River, the largest tributary of the Jordan River and the body of water separating Jordan and Israel south of the Sea of Galilee. A Jordanian official told the Jordanian Al-Ra’i newspaper that Jordan’s Minister of Water and Irrigation, Raed Abu Sa’ud, sent a letter to Israeli officials complaining of water pollution from Israel. He said thousands of cubic meters of water in the King Abdullah Canal have been polluted. The canal’s water is used for irrigation and for drinking after being refined. [end]
Hizbullah journalist kept out of UK
Ynet, YNetNews 3/14/2009
British Home Secretary denies visa for editor of Hizbullah-linked paper, meant to deliver a lecture at U of London on ’Hizbullah history, strategy, and ideology’ -A Hizbullah-affiliated journalist was refused a visa to the United Kingdom, on the grounds that his presence would not be "conducive to the public good," the British newspaper the Telegraph reported Saturday. Ibrahim Moussawi, who edits the Hizbullah-linked al-Intiqad (translation, ’criticism’) newspaper, had been due to deliver a lecture on "political Islam" at the School of Oriental and African Studies, part of the University of London, later this month. Material advertising the lecture described Moussawi as an "expert on Hizbollah and Islamist political theory" and said that he would talk about Hizbollah’s "history, strategy and ideology" and "current politics and prospects. "Last Thursday, Britain’s Foreign Office announced that it had contacted Hizbullah’s political wing in an attempt to reach out to its legislators. more.. e-mail
Nasrallah: We’ll never be able to recognize Israel
Roee Nahmias, YNetNews 3/13/2009
In recorded speech in honor of Prophet Muhammad’s birthday, Hizbullah chief addresses American demand is organization recognizes Jewish state, says ’not in 1,000 years’. Nasrallah clarifies he will launch dialogue with US under his conditions only - Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah says his organization will never recognize Israel, rejecting a US precondition for dialogue with the group it considers a terrorist organization. In a recorded speech aired Friday evening in Beirut in honor of Prophet Muhammad’s birthday, Nasrallah said that "Hizbullah is on the list of terror organizations. Even its television stations and its organizations are on the list of terror groups, as well as many other names like (slain Hizbullah commander) Imad Mugniyah, myself and other brothers. " Today the United States comes and says to us: ’You are terrorists and we are willing to forgive you for what has been, under the condition that you recognize Israel. more.. e-mail
Report: U.S. officials urge Obama to engage Hamas
Ha’aretz 3/14/2009
A group of former senior American officials and one current adviser are calling on U. S. President Barack Obama to talk with Hamas in an effort to disarm the group and persuade it to join a peaceful Palestinian government, according to a report published Saturday on the Boston Globe. According to the Boston Globe, the bipartisan group includes economic recovery adviser Paul A. Volcker and former national security advisers Brent Scowcroft and Zbigniew Brzezinski, who are said to have made their recommendation in a letter handed to Obama before he took office. "I see no reason not to talk to Hamas," Scowcroft, who was national security adviser to President George H. W. Bush, told the Boston Globe. Talking to Hamas would signal a shift in U. S. policy, which has up until now designated Hamas as a terrorist organization and insisted. . . more.. e-mail
Nasrallah: 'Hezbollah does not have any branch in Gaza'¯
Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 3/13/2009
Secretary-general of the Lebanon-based Hezbollah party, stated Friday that his party does not have any branch or formation in the Palestinian territories, especially in the Gaza Strip. In a televised speech marking the birth of the Muslim prophet Mohammad, Nasrallah said that his party supports the Palestinian resistance but only as "a brother supports his brother". He also said that his party does not intervene in the internal Palestinian affairs, as it does not accept any interference it its internal affairs, and added that the Palestinians know what is best for them and act accordingly. Referring to the internal Palestinian talks in Cairo, Nasrallah urged the Palestinian leaders to act in order to end their internal conflicts and divisions, and to achieve national unity. He also welcomed the Arab efforts to maintain unity among the Arab countries, and urged the Arab. . . more.. e-mail
Obama aide: Talk to Hamas
Yitzhak Benhorin, YNetNews 3/14/2009
Economic Advisor Volcker, nine former senior American officials urge Obama Administration to change stance on Hamas, engage in talks with organization, Boston Globe reports - WASHINGTON- Economic Recovery Adviser Paul A. Volcker and nine former senior American officials have urged President Barack Obama to engage in dialogue with Hamas leaders, the Boston Globe reported Saturday. According to the report, the group of former US officials includes former National Security Advisers Brent Scowcroft and Zbigniew Brzezinski. In a letter handed to Obama before he took office, the officials called on the president to look into the possibility of convincing Hamas to disarm and join a peaceful Palestinian government. "I see no reason not to talk to Hamas," Scowcroft, who was national security adviser to President George H. more.. e-mail
Nine NATO nations pledge to stop arms smuggling to Gaza; Hamas slams decision
Ma’an News Agency 3/14/2009
Bethlehem – Ma’an/Agencies – The United States, Canada and seven European states agreed to stop alleged weapons smuggling to the Gaza Strip by campaigns of, information sharing diplomatic pressure and interception at sea. A senior British diplomat told Reuters Friday that the agreement had been reached by experts from the nine nations at a meeting in London. In the pact, individual states are not obliged to carry out any specific action, and the diplomat said that naval vessels would not use force. Britain, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Norway also signed up to the loose “program of action. ”Responding to the new initiative, Hamas lawmaker in Gaza Mushir Al-Masri said "Any attempts to eliminate the Palestinian people’s right to resistance will fail in the face of the people’s determination. more.. e-mail
Masri: Asking other states to block arms into Gaza proves Israel’s bankruptcy
Palestinian Information Center 3/14/2009
GAZA, (PIC)-- MP Mushir Al-Masri, the secretary-general of the Hamas parliamentary bloc, stated Saturday that the Israeli occupation’s resort to other countries in order to stop supplies of weapons into Gaza is new proof of its bankruptcy, highlighting that the Palestinian people’s strong will would defeat all attempts to extract their right to resistance. In a press release received by the PIC, MP Masri underlined that the Palestinian people’s right to resistance is guaranteed by all international laws and conventions, pointing out that peoples under occupation had practiced resistance until they regained independence. The US, Canada, and seven European states agreed Friday on intervening to stop the flow of weapons into Gaza through ways such as intercepting ships at sea, sharing information and diplomatic pressure. more.. e-mail
Bin Laden ’tape’ calls Israel offensive on Gaza a holocaust
The Guardian 3/14/2009
Audio recording claiming to be of al-Qaida leader played on al-Jazeera news network - Osama bin Laden today called Israel’s offensive on Gaza a "holocaust" and blamed Arab leaders for not doing enough to stop the fighting, in what appears to be the latest audio recording by the al-Qaida leader. Broadcast on al-Jazeera television, the Bin Laden recording accused some Arab countries of "collaborating" with Israel on the offensive earlier this year that killed about 1,300 Palestinians in Gaza. " It is clear that some Arab leaders have plotted with the Zionist-crusader coalition against our [Muslim] people," he said. Bin Laden did not name any specific Arab countries or politicians in the brief recording. The authenticity of the tape could not be verified and the Arabic satellite network did not say how it was obtained. It was the latest message reportedly from the terrorist leader since an audio recording on Gaza in January, in which he urged Muslims to launch a jihad against Israel. more.. e-mail
Hamas: Plan to stop Gaza arms smuggling will fail
Ha’aretz 3/14/2009
Moushir al-Masri, a senior Hamas official and parliamentarian, on Saturday said that his organization will continue to smuggle arms into Gaza, despite international efforts to stem the flow of weapons into the coastal strip. Al-Masri said that Israel’s attempts to eliminate the Palestinians’ right to resistance will fail in the face of their determination. His comments came in response to a plan agreed to on Friday by the United States, Canada and seven European nations, which proposed to use methods such as interception at sea, information sharing and diplomatic pressure to stop arms smuggling. "Experts from the nine nations, meeting in London, agreed on a program of action to prevent arms reaching the Palestinian enclave bordering the Mediterranean," a senior British diplomat said. more.. e-mail
Bin Laden slams Arab leaders on Gaza
Ola Galal - DUBAI, Middle East Online 3/14/2009
Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden accused some Arab leaders of being "complicit" with Israel and the West against Muslims and urged holy war to liberate the Palestinian territories, in an audio tape broadcast by Al-Jazeera television on Saturday. "It has become clear that some Arab leaders were complicit with the Crusader Zionist alliance against our people. These are the leaders that America calls moderate," said bin Laden, without singling out any leaders. "The countries of the Muslim world from Indonesia to Mauritania are divided into two: Some of them are crooked, while others are even more crooked," he added, in excerpts of the tape aired by the Doha-based channel. In the tape, whose authenticity could not be confirmed, bin Laden labelled the devastating offensive by Israel against Gaza at the new year as a Holocaust. more.. e-mail
Hezbollah will not recognise Israel
Al Jazeera 3/14/2009
Hassan Nasrallah, the secretary-general of the Lebanese Hezbollah group, has said his movement would never recognise Israel, rejecting a US precondition for dialogue with the group it considers a terrorist organisation. "To those who impose conditions on us, we say: We will never recognise Israel," Nasrallah said in a speech on Friday. The White House said on Tuesday that both Palestinian movement Hamas and Hezbollah must renounce violence and recognise Israel before they can expect even low-level US engagement. "We reject the American conditions. . . Today, tomorrow and after 1,000 years and even until the end of time, as long as Hezbollah exists, it will never recognise Israel," Nasrallah said. A senior US official said on Thursday he was unhappy with a British decision to open low-level contact with. . . more.. e-mail
Bin Laden accuses Arab leaders
Al Jazeera 3/14/2009
Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda, has said in an audio tape obtained by Al Jazeera that some Arab leaders were "complicit" with Israel during its offensive in Gaza. Bin Laden said in the tape aired on Saturday that Arab leaders were "hypocrites", and that "liberating Jerusalem needed honest Arab leadership" to fight and liberate the Arab people. "It has become clear that some Arab leaders were complicit with the crusade zionist alliance against our people. These are the leaders that America calls moderate," bin Laden said. ’Holocaust’ He said that "Gaza’s holocaust" was a "historic event and a tragedy" adding that the Arab world needed a "devoted committee of scholars from the Islamic world to establish an advisory body" on the future of the region, "not leadership that is formed by hypocrites". more.. e-mail
Nine countries agree on a plan to stop weapon flow into Gaza
Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 3/14/2009
The United States, Canada and seven European countries agreed on Friday on a plan meant to stop the flow of arms and munitions into the Gaza Strip. The plan includes a number of strategies including intercepting ships heading to Gaza, share intelligence information and practicing diplomatic pressure. A senior British diplomat stated that experts from the nine countries had agreed during a meeting in London on a plan to bar the entry of weapons into Gaza. The diplomat added that this plan does not mean engaging in combat. In addition to Canada and the United States, the seven European countries involved in the plan are Britain, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Holland and Norway. Stopping the flow of weapons into Gaza is considered an important aspect that would boost a permanent cease fire in Gaza, the diplomat said. more.. e-mail
Bin Laden: Israeli Gaza offensive is a ’holocaust’
Ha’aretz 3/14/2009
Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden has called Israel’s offensive on Gaza a holocaust and blamed Arab leaders for not doing enough to stop the fighting in his latest audio recording aired on Al-Jazeera on Saturday. Bin Laden accused some Arab countries of collaborating with Israel on the offensive earlier this year that killed some 1,300 Palestinians in Gaza. "It was clear that some of the Arab leaders have collaborated with the Crusader-Zionist alliance against our people, those whom America calls the moderate leaders," said bin Laden. "We must disown ourselves from all those governments. " He did not mention any governments by name in the brief excerpts, but Egypt, in particular, drew criticism during the offensive for not opening its border with Gaza to more aid shipments and humanitarian cases. more.. e-mail
Nasrallah ’strongly endorses’ Arab reconciliation efforts
Daily Star 3/14/2009
BEIRUT: Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said Friday any form of Arab rapprochement should be "strongly endorsed," and stressed that his party will not recognize the state of Israel, "not now and not in a thousand years. "Speaking during a rally at the Sayyed Ash-Shudada complex in Beirut’s southern suburbs, to mark Prophet Mohammad’s birthday and the start of the Week of Islamic Unity, Nasrallah said Arab reconciliation should be "welcomed and endorsed. "After almost four years of tensions that escalated during Israel’s three-week offensive on Gaza in January, the leaders of Saudi Arabia King Abdallah, Syria Bashar Assad, and Egypt Hosni Mubarak met in Riyadh on Wednesday in a bid to mend rifts. "Arab reconciliation gives strength to all of us," Nasrallah told thousands of supporters. However, Wednesday’s talks are seen by many as a Saudi effort to curb Iran’s regional. . . more.. e-mail
Nasrallah vows to never recognise Israel
Middle East Online 3/14/2009
BEIRUT - Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said Friday his movement would never recognise Israel, rejecting a US precondition for dialogue with the group it considers a terrorist organisation. "To those who impose conditions on us, we say: We will never recognise Israel," he said in a speech during celebrations to recognise the birthday of the Prophet Mohammed. The White House said Tuesday that both Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah must renounce violence and recognise Israel before they can expect even low-level US engagement. "We reject the American conditions. . . Today, tomorrow and after 1,000 years and even until the end of time, as long as Hezbollah exists, it will never recognise Israel," Nasrallah said. A senior US official said Thursday he was unhappy with a British decision to open low-level contact with Hezbollah and suggested. . . more.. e-mail
Israel’s toilet-paper rules for Gaza
Adam Entous - Jerusalem, Middle East Online 3/13/2009
The United States is protesting to Israel over seemingly random restrictions on deliveries to the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip of harmless goods such as soap and toilet paper, diplomats said Wednesday. Diplomats fear day-to-day crisis management on Gaza was diverting the United States and other Western governments from bigger issues like the goal of restarting peace negotiations for a Palestinian state. In one case, Israel blocked for weeks a World Food Program (WFP) shipment of chickpeas, used to make the Palestinian food staple hummus, the UN food agency said. "We’re certainly asking the Israelis questions about this," a US official said of the restrictions on what is allowed into Gaza. A Western official said: "The Americans and international NGOs (non-governmental organizations) are raising their concerns. . . We’re protesting. " more.. e-mail
’Israel lobby’ blamed as Obama’s choice for intelligence chief quits
Rupert Cornwell in Washington, The Independent 3/13/2009
Veteran diplomat attacks wilful distortions that ’plumb the depths of dishonour’ - Fears over the Jewish lobby’s excess influence on US foreign policy flared anew yesterday after a former diplomat and strong critic of Israel backed out of a key national intelligence post, saying his appointment by President Barack Obama had been torpedoed by a campaign of lies against him. Charles Freeman, a veteran diplomat hugely experienced in Middle Eastern affairs, had been chosen to head the National Intelligence Council, the body that delivers to the White House influential and highly sensitive reports synthesising the views of the country’s 16 intelligence agencies. But, on Wednesday, he withdrew his name from consideration, declaring he had fallen victim to what he called the "Israel lobby". Its campaign, he charged, had "plumbed the depths of dishonour and indecency," including "wilful distortion of the record, the fabrication of falsehoods, and an utter disregard for the truth. " -- See also: Freeman's post-withdrawal statement more.. e-mail
Report: U.S. slams renewed ties between Britain and Hezbollah
Ha’aretz 3/13/2009
A senior official in the Obama administration said the United States disagrees with Britain’s decision to renew contact with the Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah. The New York Times reported on Friday that the official, who spoke Thursday on condition of anonymity, said the British government had informed the "previous administration" of its decision. Britain’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office last Thursday said it was re-establishing contact with the political wing of the Lebanese militant group,as part of an effort to press the militant organization to disarm. The official also said that the U. S. would like Britain to explain "the difference between the political, social and military wings of Hezbollah because we don’t see the difference between the integrated leadership that they see. " more.. e-mail
Anti-siege committee urges Arabs and Muslims to follow European brave steps
Palestinian Information Center 3/13/2009
GAZA, [PIC]-- The governmental anti-siege committee has called on the Arab and Muslim Ummah to follow the footstep of the European delegations that bravely challenged the embargo on Gaza Strip and worked hard to break the unjust siege on it. In a written press release, the committee’s spokesman Adel Zourob hailed the stand of the British "life line" convoy, the Libyan "Viva Palestina" convoy, ad the Scottish "Justice for Gaza" convoy, saying that the arrival of those convoys to Gaza was great victory for the Palestinian people’s will and determination. "As we warmly welcomed the foreign supports with flowers and hospitality, we now bid them a farewell in the same way for the great efforts and for the sacrifices they have made for the Palestinian people in Gaza", underlined Zourob. He said that the besieged Palestinian people in Gaza Strip were waiting fro similar brave steps as. . . more.. e-mail
Israeli chief of staff travels to US
Middle East Online 3/13/2009
TEL AVIV - Israeli military chief of staff Lieutenant General Gaby Ashkenazi heads to the United States on Friday evening for a five-day working visit, the Israeli military said. Ashkenazi is accused of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity, but no international warrant has been issued against him yet. He is scheduled to hold talks with National Security Advisor General James Jones and other officials, and will be the guest of honour at the annual "supporters of the IDF (Israeli army)" convention in New York City. Israeli media said his talks will focus on Iran’s nuclear programme. Israeli military intelligence chief Major General Amos Yadlin claimed last week that Iran was using trying to use talks with European powers on its nuclear ambitions to buy time to produce an atomic bomb. Iran insists it has the right to develop nuclear technology, which it says is aimed at generating energy for its growing population. more.. e-mail
Anti-apartheid activists in Los Angeles set up mock checkpoint
Saed Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center News 3/13/2009
Dozens of Los Angeles-area Jews, Palestinians and other activists erected a mock checkpoint at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s (AIPAC) annual Valley Fundraiser. They said the checkpoint was meant to protest AIPAC’s attempt to steer US policy makers to ignore recent Israeli war crimes in Gaza and the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestinian land. Cars were confronted by people dressed as Israeli soldiers and those attending the event were "allowed to pass through" after receiving a new program for the event that activists say exposes AIPAC support for Israeli policies which contravene international law. A boisterous crowd also chanted "Angelenos choose a side, human rights or Apartheid!" at AIPAC donors as they approached the hotel entrance. "At a time when President Obama’s administration seeks to restart peace talks with Palestinians and Israelis, AIPAC advocates. . . more.. e-mail
Activists set up checkpoint at AIPAC fundraiser
Stop The Wall 3/13/2009
Dozens of Los Angeles-area Jews, Palestinians and other allies erected a mock checkpoint at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s (AIPAC) annual Valley Fundraiser in protest of AIPAC’s attempt to steer US policy makers to ignore recent war crimes in Gaza and the occupation of Palestinian land. Cars were confronted by people dressed as Occupation soldiers and those attending the event were "allowed to pass through" after receiving a new program for the event that exposes AIPAC support for the Occupation. A boisterous crowd also chanted "Angelenos choose a side, human rights or Apartheid!" at AIPAC donors as they approached the hotel entrance. AIPAC is self-described as "America’s leading pro-Israel lobby," and as such has supported the land theft and settlement expansion while whitewashing the apartheid system that exists across historic Palestine. more.. e-mail
Australian activists launch campaign to derail Veolia/Connex
Stop The Wall 3/13/2009
When the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) launched its campaign against the Veolia and Connex companies, all of Melbourne took notice. Australian visual artist (and PSC member) Van Thanh Rudd contributed a simple yet powerful work to the Melbourne exhibition, “Resisting Subversion of Subversion Resistance: Propositions towards urban (r)evolution exhibition. ” Titled “Economy of Movement (a Piece of Palestine),” the work consists of a rock on a stand flanked by two information signs. One sign identifies the rock as coming from East Jerusalem and says that it was thrown at an Occupation tank by Palestinian youth. The other sign states: “IDF tanks are protecting French companies Veolia (Connex) and Alstom as they are conducting illegal* operations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory*under international law” Veolia is the French parent company of Australian Connex; Alstom is a French company that specializes in rail infrastructure. more.. e-mail
Europeans are getting involved in Israeli-Palestinian peace process
Maram Isid & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 3/13/2009
Palestinian Prime Minister, Salam Fayyad, said that the European Union is working on a political plan for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, which determines its position on the resumption of bilateral negotiations between the two sides, especially after the formation of the Israeli government. Fayyad stated that the plan is now in the final stage formulation, having completed about 50 to 65 percent of the process. Fayyad said during his meeting with Palestinian journalists that the plan was prepared by the Federation, in consultation with the Palestinian Authority, describing it as "a political dynamic that could affect the U. S. administration. "The plan includes the position of the European Union in regards to Israel’s settlement activities, the continuous Israeli invasions of Palestinian cities in the West Bank, and the issue of transportation and movement of Palestinians between cities. more.. e-mail
Europe moves towards talking with Hamas
Palestinian Information Center 3/13/2009
LONDON, [PIC]-- Two high-profile European parliamentary delegations were set to bound for Syria to meet with Hamas’s political leadership there as part of a European moves aims at ending isolating the Movement. The Quds Press quoted those sources as affirming that the two delegations would land in Syria within few days, and would comprise 15 lawmakers from Britain, Scotland, Ireland, Greece, and Italy, adding that they would hold talks with the Movement leadership in Damascus. According to the sources, the discussion would focus on recognizing Hamas as legitimate Movement duly and democratically elected by the Palestinian people in 2006 to rule them, and thus international isolation of the Movement must end, and Europe should reformulate its relationship with the Movement. The sources, furthermore, added that three years of international isolation of Hamas proved that the Movement. . . more.. e-mail
Declaration by the Presidency on behalf of the EU on possible house demolitions in East Jerusalem
Alix de Mauny, Palestine News Network 3/13/2009
Jerusalem - The European Union is deeply concerned about the threat of demolition to approximately 90 houses in the Al-Bustan Silwan area adjacent to the Old City in East Jerusalem. If implemented, the demolition would deprive more than 1,000 Palestinians of their homes and would be the largest destruction of Palestinian houses in East Jerusalem since 1967. The EU reminds Israel of its obligations under the Roadmap and international law. Demolition of houses in this sensitive area threatens the viability of a comprehensive, just and lasting settlement, in conformity with international law. The EU urges the Israeli authorities to prevent the demolition of Palestinian houses in East Jerusalem. -- See also: EU Presidency Declaration on possible house demolitions in East Jerusalem more.. e-mail
US discontent over British Hezbollah contact
Middle East Online 3/13/2009
WASHINGTON - A senior US official said Thursday he was unhappy with a British decision to open low-level contact with Hezbollah and suggested London only indirectly informed the new administration ahead of time. The remarks contrasted with those last week from the State Department which said US officials had been informed about the move in advance and gave no sign of displeasure -- even if Washington was not ready to follow London’s lead. The senior US government official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to a group of journalists in Washington, clearly expressed discomfort with the British decision. He said he would like the British to explain to him "the difference between the political, military and social wings of Hezbollah because we don’t see a difference between the integrated leadership that they see. more.. e-mail
US-MIDEAST: Even Mixed Signals Mark a Policy Shift
Analysis by Helena Cobban, Inter Press Service 3/13/2009
WASHINGTON, Mar 13(IPS) - The British government has announced it will hold talks with the political wing of Lebanon’s Hizbullah. The Barack Obama administration sent two envoys to Syria to discuss steps to improve relations. U. S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has invited Iran to take part in a conference on the future of Afghanistan. It looks as though the United States and Britain are trying to end the policy of exclusion and - where possible - regime change that the Bush administration and its allies once vigorously pursued against Iran and its regional allies. But how far-reaching have these changes actually been, and what do they mean for the Middle East in the months ahead? The picture is still mixed. There are many signs that the Obama administration has not yet taken any clear decisions on Middle Eastern issues other than the important decision, announced Feb. more.. e-mail
Diplomats: U.S. will review its aid to Palestine if a united Palestinian government is formed
Maram Isid & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 3/13/2009
Diplomats said the United States will not devote hundreds of millions of dollars to the Palestinian Authority if the Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas forms with Hamas a unity government do not meet its conditions. A Western official, "we would not mind if Hamas reconciliation is ready to take specific steps," referring to the three Western demands of the Islamic resistance movement, to renounce violence and recognize Israel and abide by interim peace deals with the Jewish state. He added "But if Hamas joined (the government) we will have to reconider whether we can provide funds to the Palestinian Authority. . . . "And the talks between Palestinian fractions were resumed in Cairo this week. In contrast to the policy of the administration of President George W. Bush which sought to isolate Hamas and opposed the talks on forming a united government, the new administration of President. . . more.. e-mail
Turkey says willing to continue Syria mediation
Roni Sofer, YNetNews 3/12/2009
Turkish ambassador pledges Ankara’s friendship to Israel at Tel Aviv conference. Israeli defense official Amos Gilad: ’The Turks taught Syria how to speak Turkish. We should learn from them’ - "In the neighborhood we live in - Israel could not find a better friend than Turkey," Turkish Ambassador to Israel, Namik Tan, said on Thursday evening at a conference held at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv. He added that Ankara is willing to resume its role of mediator in the indirect talks between Israel and Syria if both countries agree to return to the negotiations table. "The strategic relationship with Israel is of key importance to Turkey," said Tan. "These relations are not only important to Israel and Turkey. They are important on a regional and global scale, and their foundations are steadfast. . . " more.. e-mail
Report: Israel agrees to free all 450 prisoners on Hamas’ list for Shalit
Ma’an News Agency 3/13/2009
Bethlehem – Ma’an/Agencies – Israel has agreed to release all 450 prisoners on a list submitted by Hamas in exchange for captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, a leading Israeli newspaper reported on Friday. The daily newspaper Haaretz quotes unnamed Palestinian sources in Cairo as saying that the dispute now revolves around Israel’s demand that some of the prisoners be deported rather than returned to their homes in the West Bank and Gaza. Hamas is requesting the release of 1,000 prisoners in exchange for Shalit, and has specified 450 prisoners for release including members of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), leading Hamas members and long term prisoners. The names of the remaining 650 prisoners to be released will be identified by Israeli officials. Ofer Dekel, Israel’s top negotiator on the prisoner swap, was in Cairo on Thursday for another round of talks with Egyptian officials who are mediating between Israel and Hamas. more.. e-mail
Conflicting reports on Israeli approval to release 450 detainees demanded by Hamas
Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 3/13/2009
According to a report by Israeli online daily, Haaretz, Palestinian sources involved in the talks over the release of the captured Israeli soldier, Glad Shalit, said that Israel has agreed to release 450 detainees demanded by Hamas. The sources added that the current obstacle is that Israel is demanding that dozens of the 450 detainees be deported instead of being sent back home. Another Israeli demand is that the rest of the detainees should be released to the West Bank and not to the Gaza Strip. According to Haaretz, Hamas agreed to the deportation of some detainees if they give their consent to be deported. On Thursday, Mahmoud Zahhar of Hamas said that the Israeli reports are false. In a phone interview with Kul al-Arab newspaper, based in Nazareth, Zahhar said that Hamas is not holding any prisoner swap talks. more.. e-mail
Report: Shalit deal hinges on prisoners’ consent to deportation
Roni Sofer, YNetNews 3/13/2009
Sources involved in Cairo talks on Shalit’s release say Hamas insists only small number of Palestinian prisoners will be deported to Gaza or abroad as part of deal, and only after agreeing to expulsion - Hamas has demanded that only a minimal number of the prisoners slated to be released in exchange for Israeli captive Gilad Shalit will be deported to the Gaza Strip or abroad, and insisted that the prisoners give their consent to the move before any deal is finalized, sources involved in the negotiations in Cairo told Ynet Friday. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s special envoy in the negotiations for Shalit’s release, Ofer Dekel returned from Egypt to Israel Thursday night for consultations. Dekel will brief the prime minister on progress in the talks and on the yet-to-be resolved issues vis-Ć -vis Hamas. more.. e-mail
Sources: Israel agrees to free all 450 Hamas prisoners for Shalit
Yoav Stern, Ha’aretz 3/13/2009
Israel has agreed to free all 450 of the prisoners demanded by Hamas in exchange for kidnapped Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit, and the dispute now revolves around Israel’s demand that some of these prisoners be deported rather than returned home, Palestinian sources in Cairo said Thursday. Ofer Dekel, Israel’s lead negotiator on the issue, was in Cairo Thursday for further talks with Egyptian mediators. According to the sources, Israel is insisting that several dozen of the released prisoners be exiled abroad and that others be released to Gaza rather than the West Bank. However, Hamas has thus far agreed to the deportation of only a handful of prisoners, and has conditioned even this on the consent of the prisoners to be deported. It also opposes releasing prisoners to Gaza rather than the West Bank. more.. e-mail
Hamas issues rare condemnation of homemade shelling
Saed Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center News 3/13/2009
According to the Reuters news service in Gaza, the Hamas-led government on Thursday issued a condemnation of the most recent spate of homemade shells fired from the Gaza Strip across the border into Israel. The shells were not fired by the armed wing of Hamas, according to the group’s statement, and the Hamas party condemned the shells as being "fired at the wrong time". Over the last eight years, the armed wing of Hamas has fired hundreds of shells across the border into Israel. These shells are crude, makeshift rockets fired blindly with no aiming capability. They rarely result in casualties or damage on the Israeli side. During the same time period, over 5,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces. Human rights groups estimate that 80% of those killed have been civilians. Israeli authorities hold Hamas responsible for all shells fired across the border into Israel, regardless of which resistance faction is responsible. more.. e-mail
Report: Ofer Dekel leaving Cairo
Roni Sofer and AFP, YNetNews 3/13/2009
Prime minister’s special envoy returns to Israel after three days of Egyptian-mediated talks with Hamas. Meanwhile Gilad’s brother, Yoel, joins his parents at the protest tent in Jerusalem - Ofer Dekel, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s special envoy in the negotiations to free Gilad Shalit, left Cairo late Thursday night after taking part in a round of Egyptian-mediated talks with Hamas, sources involved in the talks told AFP. The sources were quoted as saying that perhaps "there is a glimmer of hope. " However, a spokesman for Hamas said the organization had not received any new proposals, and that there is no news on the Shalit front. The three involved in the talks, Israel, Egypt and Hamas, are determined to push forward with the negotiations. Dekel has been keeping Olmert abreast of any developments, and the envoy consults with the prime minister on Hamas’ demands. more.. e-mail
Shalit family hold Shabbat dinner at protest tent
Jack Khoury, Ha’aretz 3/13/2009
The extended family of abducted Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit gathered at the protest tent pitched across from Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s Jerusalem residence Friday evening, and held a Shabbat dinner, with Gilad’s photo displayed above an empty chair around the table. Shalit was kidnapped by Gaza militants in a cross-border raid in June 2006. Hamas, the rulers of the Gaza Strip, have demanded the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Shalit’s release. At the dinner, Gilad’s father Noam thanked all the people that had visited the protest tent over the past week to show their solidarity with the Shalit family, and voiced hope that the "message will reach the right places. " Earlier Friday, hundreds of people arrived at the tent to help the Shalit family exert pressure on Olmert to secure Gilad’s release. more.. e-mail
Hundreds protest for Shalit outside PM’s home
Ronen Medzini, YNetNews 3/13/2009
Protest tent set up by captive soldier’s family in Jerusalem becomes scene of large protest when hundreds arrive in show of support. Demonstrators carry signs with soldier’s face, block road - Hundreds of supporters arrived at the Shalit family protest tent outside Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s residence in Jerusalem on Friday, carrying signs with captive soldier Gilad Shalit’s face on them, whistling loudly and shouting out slogans such as "Olmert, you made a promise, Olmert, keep it!"Several of the protesters even temporarily blocked the access road to the site. Speaking to Ynet, Noam Shalit, the captive soldier’s father, shared his feelings about the broad display of support, saying, "We only organized the place, not the people. They came from all over the country spontaneously, and this encourages us. . . " more.. e-mail
Shalit family greets Shabbat at protest tent
Ronen Medzini, YNetNews 3/13/2009
Kidnapped soldier’s relatives hold sad Shabbat ceremony outside prime minister’s residence in Jerusalem, keeping empty seat for Gilad - A sad Shabbat ceremony was held Friday evening at the Shalit family’s protest tent outside the prime minister’s residence in Jerusalem. Some 40 close and distant relatives of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit sat around the table for the Shabbat meal. An empty seat carrying Gilad’s picture was placed between the captive’s father, Noam, and his brother, Yoel. "I would like to thank the masses of people who arrived to encourage, strengthen and support the family over the past week and convey the public’s unequivocal message to the prime minister that most of the people of Israel, if not all, want to see Gilad home," Noam Shalit said after making the Jewish blessing over wine. more.. e-mail
ANALYSIS / Even God may find it hard to help Olmert close Shalit deal
Avi Issacharoff, Ha’aretz 3/13/2009
"I pray to the good Lord to help me be the one who will bring back Gilad Shalit in the next few days," Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Thursday during a conference of municipal leaders in Tel Aviv. In addition to divine intervention, Olmert will also require a little more willingness on the part of Hamas. And besides that flexibility, whose advent is doubtful, he will also need the assistance of the heads of the Egyptian intelligence. Noam Shalit, the abducted soldier’s father, gave interviews to Al Jazeera and to the BBC in Arabic Thursday. His message in both interviews was the same. He said the people of Gaza are also interested in the soldier’s return to Israel because it will bring them relief. The step must be made now so the opportunity doesn’t pass us by, he stressed. more.. e-mail
Egyptian-Saudi messages
Abdel-Moneim Said, Al-Ahram Weekly 3/12/2009
Wise and judicious leadership is the cornerstone of the Arab order led by Cairo and Riyadh, but it needs to be strengthened by an effective support network. As an Egyptian, I felt grateful for the letter from King Abdel-Aziz bin Saud to President Hosni Mubarak, praising the Egyptian role during the recent Gaza crisis and offering support for the steps Cairo has taken following the ceasefire. In one respect at least, the letter was opportune. At a time when an anti-Egyptian campaign was at its most vicious lengths, it conveyed an appreciation for the hard work and skill that Egyptian leadership and diplomacy brought to bear to save the Palestinian people and to prevent the collapse of inter-Arab relations. Quite simply, the letter puts things in perspective and gives a clear signal from Saudi Arabia that it is willing to put its weight and influence alongside Egypt in order to attain the same goals. more.. e-mail
Clinton: U.S. Gaza aid tied to recognition of Israel
Barak Ravid, Ha’aretz 3/12/2009
Some $900 million pledged by the United States to the Palestinians will be withdrawn if the expected Palestinian Authority coalition government between Fatah and Hamas does not recognize Israel’s right to exist, Western and Israeli diplomats said Wednesday. During her visit to the region last week Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas against forming a coalition with Hamas that will not meet the expectations of the Quartet. Clinton told Abbas that Congress will not approve funding of a Palestinian government that does not recognize Israel’s right to exist and renounce violence. She added that if those requirements are not met the U. S. -funded program under the supervision of General Keith Dayton training PA security forces would be the first to be axed. Fatah and Hamas are currently engaged in talks intended to reestablish. . . more.. e-mail
Withdrawal of Obama’s top intel pick marks victory for pro-Israel lobby
Daniel Luban and Jim Lobe, Inter Press Service, Daily Star 3/12/2009
WASHINGTON: Ambassador Chas Freeman withdrew from consideration for a top intelligence post in the Obama administration on Tuesday, following a vitriolic battle that pitted Republican lawmakers and pro-Israel hardliners opposed to his appointment against liberals and members of the intelligence and diplomatic communities who had come to his defense. Freeman’s withdrawal came as a surprise to many in Washington, particularly since it came only hours after Adm. Dennis Blair, the administration’s director of national intelligence (DNI) who made the appointment, issued a strong defense of Freeman during his testimony before the US Senate. His withdrawal is likely to be viewed as a significant victory for hardliners within the so-called ’Israel lobby,’ who led the movement to scuttle his appointment, and a blow to hopes for a new approach to Israel-Palestine issues under the Obama administration. -- See also: Freeman's post-withdrawal statement more.. e-mail
EU Slams Israeli House Demolitions in E. Jerusalem
Palestine Media Center 3/12/2009
The European Union (EU) is “deeply concerned” about the threat of demolition to approximately 90 houses in the Al-Bustan area adjacent to the Old City in East Jerusalem. The EU noted in a statement released on Wednesday that the demolitions would make more than 1,000 Palestinians homeless, “and would be the largest destruction of Palestinian houses in East Jerusalem since 1967. ” “Demolition of houses in this sensitive area threatens the viability of a comprehensive, just and lasting settlement, in conformity with international law,” The houses were built without construction permits which residents say are nearly impossible to obtain. Many of the houses were also built before Israel occupied East Jerusalem in 1967. The Israeli Jerusalem municipality has designated the area for a public park. A confidential EU report slammed Israeli policies in East Jerusalem stressing that it hinders Palestinian existence in the occupied city. more.. e-mail
Galloway secretly meets with Haniyeh
Associated Press, Jerusalem Post 3/11/2009
British lawmaker George Galloway held a meeting with Gaza’s head at an undisclosed location. Ismail Haniyeh, right, hands British lawmaker George Galloway a symbolic VIP Palestinian passport during their meeting in Gaza City, Tuesday, March 10, 2009. Top Hamas leader in Gaza Ismail Haniyeh has kept out of sight since Israel launched a military offensive against Hamas last December. Haniyeh’s office said the meeting took place on Tuesday. It released a picture of the two men embracing and says Galloway was awarded an honorary Palestinian passport. Galloway left Gaza on Wednesday through the Egyptian border. Galloway led a delegation that he says delivered some $1. 1 million of humanitarian aid to Gaza. Among those traveling with Galloway was Lauren Booth, the sister-in-law of international Mideast envoy and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. more.. e-mail
Haneyya confers with Galloway on latest Palestinian developments
Palestinian Information Center 3/11/2009
GAZA, (PIC)-- Ismail Haneyya, the PA premier in Gaza, on Tuesday night received British MP George Galloway for a discussion on latest Palestinian political developments. The discussion also tackled Palestinian internal conditions. Haneyya thanked Galloway for his visit and for heading the lifeline convoy that came from Britain to the Gaza Strip with tens of truckloads of medicine and relief material in addition to a number of ambulance vehicles. The premier handed Galloway and the accompanying delegates symbolic gifts. [end]
EU warns Israel over Jerusalem home demolitions
Ma’an News Agency 3/11/2009
Bethlehem – Ma’an - The European Union (EU) is “deeply concerned” about the threat of demolition to approximately 90 houses in the Al-Bustan area adjacent to the Old City in East Jerusalem. The EU noted in a statement released on Wednesday that the demolitions would make more than 1,000 Palestinians homeless, “and would be the largest destruction of Palestinian houses in East Jerusalem since 1967. ”“Demolition of houses in this sensitive area threatens the viability of a comprehensive, just and lasting settlement, in conformity with international law,”The houses were built without construction permits which residents say are nearly impossible to obtain. Many of the houses were also built before Israel occupied East Jerusalem in 1967. The Israeli Jerusalem municipality has designated the area for a public park. more.. e-mail
A London meeting discusses how to prevent arms smuggling into Gaza
Rami Almeghari & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 3/12/2009
According to French diplomats, an international meeting will be held in London on Friday to discuss how to prevent arms smuggling into the Gaza Strip, Maan News Agency reported. The sources, according to Maan, revealed that participants are facing legal difficulties as to how to monitor smuggling into the coastal territory. The only legal basis for such a meeting is an article of a recent UN Security Council resolution, resolution 1860, referring to the need to prevent arms smuggling. Sources stated that the said clause was not enough to work out legal means to prevent such smugglings, expecting merely a statement that calls for preventing arms smuggling, with no concrete actions taken. In the wake of the recent Israeli three-week attack on Gaza, France sent a military ship close to Gaza’s territorial waters, in a bid to help monitor the coast of the Hamas-ruled Gaza. more.. e-mail
U.S. Official: Obama Won’t Cut Military Aid to Israel
Deutsche Presse Agentur, MIFTAH 3/12/2009
U. S. President Barack Obama will not cut the billions of dollars in military aid promised to Israel, a senior U. S. administration official said Wednesday. The $30 billion in aid promised to Israel over the next decade will not be harmed by the world financial crisis, the official told Israel Radio. He spoke on condition of anonymity. The Obama Administration however expects the next government of Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu to continue peace negotiations with the Palestinians, he said. The increased military aid was promised to outgoing prime minister Ehud Olmert by then-under secretary of state for political affairs Nicholas Burns in August 2007. Israel Radio also quoted the official as saying that if Hamas joins a Palestinian unity cabinet but does not accept the conditions of the Quartet of Middle East peace sponsors - the U. S. , European Union, United Nations and Russia - the Obama Administration would have no dealings with that government. more.. e-mail
Senators Quash Bill Seen Against Palestinians
Barbara Ferguson, MIFTAH 3/12/2009
Anti-Palestinian amendments were quashed Monday in the Senate and, for now, have come to an end. The amendments that would have made it illegal for US budget funds to be used to resettle Gazans in the US was withdrawn before it could be brought to a vote. Republican Sen. Jon Kyl, who, as Senate minority whip, is the second-most important Republican in the Senate, put the bill forward. High-ranking Senate leaders spoke out in opposition to Sen. Kyl’s amendments, including the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Sen. John Kerry and the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee Sen. Patrick Leahy. In a passionate speech on the floor of the Senate yesterday opposing the measure, which would have prevented Palestinians from Gaza from seeking refuge in the United States, Sen. Leahy said:“I have to think back — I read about my family 150 years (ago) or so when they came to Vermont, on my father’s side, the Irish. more.. e-mail
U.S Secretary of State: A Palestinian government should recognize Israel
Rami Almeghari & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 3/12/2009
U. S Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, stated during a recent meeting in the region with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, that Washington would only fund a Palestinian government that recognizes Israel, Haaretz Israeli Daily newspaper reported. According to the paper, Clinton warned President Abbas that Washington would withdraw a financial pledge of $900 million USD if the Palestinians formed a coalition government that does not recognize ’Israel’s right to exist’. The paper added that President Abbas assured his guest that the new government will include independent politicians and representatives of other factions, and that such a government’s mission will be preparing for general elections in Palestine. According to the new American administration, led by President Barak Obama, the United States would continue boycotting the Islamist Hamas party. more.. e-mail
Report: US will withhold aid from Hamas-Fatah unity government
Ma’an News Agency 3/12/2009
Bethlehem – Ma’an – The United States will boycott a Hamas-Fatah coalition government, withdrawing 900 million US dollars pledged to help rebuild the Gaza Strip, an Israeli newspaper reported on Thursday. According to the report in Haaretz, the US will condition aid to the Palestinian Authority on whether it explicitly recognizes Israel’s ’right to exist. ’ The report quotes unnamed Western and Israeli diplomats saying that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of this during her visit to the region last week. Approached by Ma’an about the report, an American official said, “I don’t know where they got that from. The secretary has not made those statements. ”Haaretz also reported that in addition to aid for Gaza, a security assistance and training program for the PA would also be cut if the Palestinian government does not meet US and international conditions. more.. e-mail
Kouchner: France ready to open talks with PA unity gov’t including Hamas
Palestinian Information Center 3/11/2009
PARIS, (PIC)-- French external affairs minister Bernard Kouchner has said that France was ready to open talks with a Palestinian national unity government including Hamas, describing the Movement as an important component of the Palestinian society. France will have no problem in having talks with such a government that would respect the peace process and accept the Arab peace plan, he elaborated. The minister, in an interview with French daily ’Le Figaro" published on Monday, said that peace is important in the Middle East and needs a viable Palestinian state alongside Israel. Kouchner said that France would always fight for the existence of an Israeli state and would also fight to the finish for the establishment of a Palestinian state. He said that his country was backing Egypt in its bid for inter-Palestinian reconciliation. more.. e-mail
Cairo: No unity deal yet
Ma’an News Agency 3/12/2009
Cairo – Ma’an Exclusive – Discord over the makeup of a Palestinian transitional government and the timing and nature of elections mean that rival Palestinian factions will need more time to resolve their differences, participants in the Egyptian-brokered negotiations said on Thursday. Jamil Mizhir, a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) Central Committee, said that Egypt has extended the dialogue until Saturday as a result of the disagreements. Specifically, Mizhir said, Hamas is conditioning its approval of a transitional government on an agreement on PLO reform. In the elections committee Mizhir also attributed the slowdown in the talks to Hamas, saying that the Islamic movement opposes applying proportional representation in elections, and disagrees with other factions about the date for the elections. more.. e-mail
Israeli firms seek role in Lockheed’s new fighter-jet project
Ora Coren, Ha’aretz 3/12/2009
The Defense Ministry is urging the American aircraft manufacturer Lockheed Martin to subcontract work on the future F-35 jet fighter to Israeli companies, including the Israel Aerospace Industries, the Israel Military Industries and Rafael. The Israeli companies could build parts for the plane, electronic systems and so forth. The Lockheed Martin F-35 is a future fifth-generation, single-pilot stealth fighter. Israel wants 75 of the beasts: The Air Force has ordered 25 and has an option to order 50 more. The cost of the 75 jets would come to about $10 billion. In parallel with trying to persuade Lockheed to work with the Israeli companies, Defense is trying to persuade it to lower the price. Lockheed has been working on the new-generation jets for the U. S. armed forces. more.. e-mail
Home free?
Avi Issacharoff, Ha’aretz 3/12/2009
RAMALLAH - Marwan Barghouti, currently serving five consecutive life sentences in an Israeli prison, would roundly defeat Hamas’ Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh in elections for the Palestinian presidency, according to a survey published this week by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research. Conducted by the center’s Khalil Shikaki, the poll said 61 percent of respondents preferred Barghouti for the post, whereas only 34 percent favored Haniyeh. If Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) were to run against Haniyeh, the latter would receive 47 percent support, compared to only 45 percent for Abu Mazen. All signs say that Barghouti will probably be freed under the terms of the Gilad Shalit prisoner swap. As a free man, he is likely to help Abu Mazen, but at the same time undermine him, too. more.. e-mail
Progress reportedly made on Shalit deal
AFP, YNetNews 3/12/2009
Source close to talks says says Cairo preparing two-stage plan that will see 300 Palestinians freed in exchange for captive soldier; current Hamas list includes names unacceptable to Israel, he says -Egypt hosted closed-door talks on Wednesday on a prisoner swap between Hamas and Israel that would set free soldier Gilad Shalit along with hundreds of Palestinians. For a third time in two weeks, Israeli negotiator Ofer Dekel returned to Cairo on Tuesday night in an effort to nail down an elusive deal, that could pave the way for a long-term truce for the Gaza Strip. "Intensive and tough negotiations are underway on the names of the Hamas prisoners to be traded for Shalit," a source close to the talks told , asking not to be named. Dekel "is now expected to spend a second night in Egypt and will pursue talks, in an apparent sign that things are moving," the source said later on Wednesday. more.. e-mail
Ben-Eliezer: 'Government majority approves a prisoner exchange deal'¯
IMEMC & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 3/12/2009
On the fourth day of protest in the camp which was installed in front of Prime Minister’s office in Jerusalem, Israeli Infrastructure Minister, Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, visited the protesters and said that there is a majority in the Israeli government that approves a prisoner exchange deal. Ben-Eliezer stated that the current government in Israel should not leave office before it secures the release of the captured soldier, Gilad Shalit. He added that he has no doubt that a majority in the government wants a prisoner-swap deal, but should act now to place this issue on its cabinet table and the ministerial council. Meanwhile, Noam Shalit, the father of Gilad, said that the government must conclude a deal, and added that the current time is the best time to advance this deal. Shalit stated that Hamas must realize that the "window of opportunity is about to close". more.. e-mail
Schalit’s captors to Channel 2: ’We won’t hold him forever’
Jpost.com Staff, Jerusalem Post 3/12/2009
Several Gaza operatives who claimed they participated in Gilad Schalit’s capture stressed that they wanted to release the soldier and that they would not hold him forever. "We want to free Gilad Schalit," the masked gunmen told Channel 2 in an interview aired Thursday. "There is simply a document that [Prime Minister Ehud] Olmert needs to sign to free him. " The purported captors insisted that "we won’t hold him forever," and that the whole issue could be resolved in "one swap deal. " They said they would only reveal details about Schalit’s condition "for a price" and emphasized that they were prepared to deal with the next Israeli government. "Yes, we want to finish this thing," they said. Nevertheless, a source close to the Schalit talks told the television channel that the negotiations were "difficult" and that "no end was in sight. " more.. e-mail
Gilad’s father to Hamas: The best offer you’ll get
Barak Ravid and Nir Hasson, Ha’aretz 3/12/2009
Noam Shalit, the father of abducted Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit, urged Hamas to reach an agreement with Israel over a prisoner swap that will include his son, saying the current offer was the best they will get. Speaking at the protest tent outside the house of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, the soldier’s father received hundreds of visitors and supporters including many lawmakers. "I suggest Hamas reach a deal. These are the best terms it will get," Shalit said. The prominent guests who came to see Shalit at the tent yesterday included Infrastructure Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer of Labor. "This is the time for action," Ben-Eliezer said. "There’s no time for debate or arguments. I am aware that there’s a serious moral argument over the price but despite everything that the prime minister has done, it has not yet reached the cabinet table. more.. e-mail
Hamas seeks to sustain Gaza truce
Middle East Online 3/12/2009
GAZA CITY – Palestinian democratically elected Hamas spoke out on Thursday against firing rockets from Gaza into arch-enemy Israel for now and vowed to pursue those who do. The statements come as Israel and Hamas conduct Egypt-brokered talks on a durable truce and on a prisoner exchange. "The resistance movements have nothing to do with the rockets fired from the Gaza Strip" in recent days, the Hamas interior ministry said. "These firings come at a bad time," a statement added, vowing to "act against those responsible. " On Sunday a leader of the Islamic Jihad group said that 10 members of the group had been detained by Hamas and made to sign an agreement not to fire on Israel. Egypt is brokering talks to turn into a durable truce the mutual ceasefires Hamas and Israel declared on January 18 to end a devastating 22-day war on Gaza. more.. e-mail
Hamas condemns Gaza rocket strikes on Israel
Ha’aretz 3/12/2009
Gaza’s Hamas rulers issued rare criticism Thursday of Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel from the strip, saying now is the wrong time for such attacks. The Islamic militant group has fired thousands of rockets at southern Israel in recent years. But Hamas said Thursday that it was not behind recent attacks and that it was investigating who was responsible. It apparently fears that new rocket fire could disrupt the reconciliation talks currently underway in Cairo. A Hamas spokesman says Palestinian factions trying to hammer out a power-sharing agreement are struggling to reconcile their differences toward peace talks with Israel. Fawzi Barhoum says the disagreement is one of the key hurdles holding up the formation of a new unity government between the militant Hamas group and the more moderate Fatah faction. more.. e-mail
Bereaved parents: Prisoner swap will bring wave of terror
Ahiya Raved, YNetNews 3/12/2009
Parents gathered near Shalit protest tent in Jerusalem blame media for ’unbalanced coverage,’ say ’everyone will lose’ if terrorists released -Over the past few days a group of bereaved parents has been gathering opposite the protest tent set up by Gilad Shalit’s family in Jerusalem. The group is voicing its objection to a possible exchange deal with Hamas that would see the captive IDF soldier returned to Israel in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners - some of them considered to be terrorists with ’blood on their hands. ’ "The Shalit family’s campaign is spread out over whole pages in the newspapers, while we get two lines on the side of the page," said Yossi Tzur, whose son Asaf was killed when a suicide bomber detonated himself aboard a bus in Haifa on March 5, 2003. more.. e-mail
Al-Qassam: Any new aggression on Gaza will be strongly retaliated
Palestinian Information Center 3/11/2009
GAZA, (PIC)-- Abu Obeida, the spokesman for Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, stated Wednesday that any new Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip would be the spark that ignites the whole region, warning that the Brigades would strongly retaliate if Israel waged another war on the Strip. In a statement received by the PIC, Abu Obeida noted that the Brigades had modest capabilities but could inflict painful strikes on the Israeli occupation. Commenting on Israeli allegations that the armed wing was building bases under hospitals, schools and mosques, the spokesman affirmed that these Israeli lies reflect the impotence suffered by Israel after its failure to eliminate the Palestinian resistance and stop its operations, saying that such fabrications were repeated by Israel on more than one occasion especially during its last war on Gaza. more.. e-mail
Israel to return weapons it confiscated from the Palestinian Authority
Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 3/12/2009
Israeli media sources reported on Thursday that Israel is planning to return to the Palestinian Authority light weapons and munition it confiscated during the so-called "Operation Defensive Shield" military assault Israel carried out in 2002. Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth quoted a political official in Israel that Israel previously agreed to transfer thousands of light weapons to Palestinian security personnel. The sources added that "it is not by accident that this decision was made after US secretary of state, Hilary Clinton, visited the region". Yet, the sources said that this is a symbolic move that should not be interpreted as a policy shift. The Israeli paper also reported that Israel is planning a series of measures to facilitate the work of the Palestinian Security forces in the West Bank. Israel previously said that it would allow the construction of seven. . . more.. e-mail
Israeli FM: 'Israel launching multi-million dollar campaign to improve its image'¯
Saed Bannoura & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 3/12/2009
Israeli Ynet News reported Wednesday that the Israeli Forging Minister, Tzipi Lvni, stated that Israel is investing in a multi-million dollar campaign to improve its image in the world after its latest war on Gaza. Livni stated that the Foreign Ministry is holding talks with the Ministry of Finance for a grant of additional funds for its campaign which will focus mainly on Europe and the United States. The Israeli Foreign Ministry recently received confidential letters from a number of its embassies informing the Israeli leaders that Israel is about to be considered by some European countries as a racist state, similar to the former South African apartheid regime. Different Israeli embassies warned its leaders that Operation "Cast Lead" against the Gaza Strip, along with international reports on ongoing settlement construction and expansion, is showing Israel as a state that is not seeking peace. more.. e-mail
Israel launches yet another PR campaign to improve its image
PNN, Palestine News Network 3/12/2009
Tel Aviv -- The Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot announced on Wednesday that Israel is investing millions in a culture and media campaign, founded to repair its damaged image caused by the weeks of major bombings and attacks in Gaza. The campaign, initiated by Israeli Ministry of Foreign affairs and Ministry of Finance, will be focusing on improving the status of Israel in Europe and the United States. Reports from Israeli embassies abroad were recently handed over to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. According to the reports the "war on Gaza" led to a loss of legitimacy for the Hebrew state. "Israel is considered as a trigger-happy country that saves up money in order to build settlements and the fact that Israel is seeking peace [sic] has been forgotten," said a European-based diplomat. The campaign is estimated to cost eight million shekels and has two main focuses, media and culture. more.. e-mail
Inside Intel / Camera shy
Yossi Melman, Ha’aretz 3/12/2009
Security relations between Israel and Russia are continuing to deteriorate. The first fracture in the relationship occurred after Israel provided weapons systems and military consulting to Georgia. In the years preceding the war between Russia and Georgia, which ignited in the summer of 2008, president Vladimir Putin’s administration expressed criticism of these sales on a number of occasions. For the most part the Ministry of Defense ignored the Russian requests. In response the Putin administration has scorned Israel’s requests to Russia that they refrain from selling weapons to Iran and Syria. Israel is particularly worried by Russia’s intention to sell Iran advanced air defense missile systems. This sale has not been removed from the Russian-Iranian agenda. It is not clear whether there is any connection, but a few months ago the Ministry of. . . more.. e-mail
Rabbis meet with pope to smooth interfaith tensions
Kobi Nahshoni, YNetNews 3/12/2009
Delegation of prominent rabbis meets with Benedict XVI in Rome in hopes of healing ties following crisis sparked by pope’s decision to lift excommunication of Holocaust-denying bishop - Less than two months after the Vatican’s decision to lift the excommunication against Holocaust-denier Bishop Richard Williamson inflamed tensions between Jews and the Church, a group of prominent rabbis met on Thursday with Pope Benedict XVI to mend the fragile relationship between the two religions. The delegation of representatives sent on behalf of the Chief Rabbinate traveled to Rome after some in the Rabbinate had already threatened to sever ties with the Church following the incident. Ynet has learned that the pope was not originally scheduled to participate in the meeting, which had been set several months ago and intended to include other Vatican officials. more.. e-mail
Singing Across the Divide
Jerrold Kessel and Pierre Klochendler, Inter Press Service 3/12/2009
JERUSALEM, Mar 12(IPS) - From the flattened buildings in Gaza, through angry demonstrations outside a Swedish tennis stadium, to the web pages of human rights reports, battles continue to rage over Israel’s policies and the legacy of its Gaza war. Alongside, another battle is unfolding - over Israel’s image. And, on an unexpected stage. Over 100 million TV viewers are expected to tune in to Moscow from May 12 to 16 for the 2009 Eurovision song contest. The annual competition between dozens of countries across Europe and the Mediterranean chooses by popular acclaim the continent’s most popular song. This year they’ll be assessing not only the merit of this or that pop ditty, the glitzy choreography and the flamboyant pyrotechnics; they’ll also be confronted by the question whether Israel had any justification for conducting the war the way it did. more.. e-mail
Australia threatens to quit Durban 2 anti-racism meet
Ha’aretz 3/12/2009
Australia threatened on Thursday to withdraw from a UN conference on racism next month unless the wording of a document it considers anti-Semitic is dropped or substantially altered. Israel and Canada have already withdrawn from the April 20-24 World Conference Against Racism in Geneva amid fears Arab nations will use it to criticize Israel. The United States has also said it will not attend the conference unless the wording of the final declaration is altered radically. Israel is calling for a boycott of the event. "If we form the view that the text is going to lead to nothing more than an anti-Jewish, anti-Semitic harangue, an anti-Jewish propaganda exercise, Australia will not be in attendance," Foreign Minister Stephen Smith told parliament. more.. e-mail
Swedish trade union delegation barred from Gaza
Ma’an News Agency 3/12/2009
Gaza – Ma’an – Israel prevented a Swedish trade union delegation from entering the Gaza Strip on Wednesday evening. Tareq Al-Hindi, the secretary of the General Federation of Palestinian Trade Unions, said that the delegation organized the visit in advance and received permits from Israel that would allow them to enter Gaza. When the delegation reached the Erez crossing, they were told that they would not be allowed into the Strip. Al-Hindi said they had planned to meet with the Swedish union activists to discuss cooperation between unions in Palestine and Sweden, labor law, safety, and women’s involvement in the union movement. [end]
Israel steps up patrols as UNIFIL begins drills
Daily Star 3/13/2009
BEIRUT: The first day of military exercises by United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) regiments along the Blue Line were met with heightened Israeli patrols and several violations of Lebanon’s airspace on Thursday. The maneuvers, expected to last till March 16, were carried out by UNIFIL’s Nepalese, Indonesian, Malaysian and Indian contingents. Coinciding with the exercises, Israel deployed a number of armored tanks to patrol the environs of settlements adjacent to the Lebanese towns of Adaisseh, Kfar Kila and al-Wazzani. In addition to the tanks, armored Hummers were seen touring the Israeli side of the border along the settlements of Mtella and Margeliot. UNIFIL contingents staged mock terrorist and grenade attacks on automotive patrols in addition to setting up surveillance posts. Separately, at least four Israeli warplanes violated Lebanon’s airspace around 10 am. . . . more.. e-mail
Justice campaigners say US urged Lebanon not to join International Criminal Court
Daily Star 3/12/2009
BEIRUT: The US government has demonstrated "intense opposition" to Lebanon joining the International Criminal Court (ICC) because the move could leave Israel liable to face war crimes accusations dating from the summer 2006 war, justice campaigners said on Wednesday. A week after the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir for his role in the Darfur conflict, a conference in Beirut heard that Washington was opposed to Lebanon signing an international treaty that would give the court powers to investigate war crimes committed in the country since 2002. Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar told The Daily Star on Wednesday that there were no plans to sign the treaty in the near future. "Lebanon has not decided to join the ICC now," he said. When asked whether this was a result of US pressure, he replied: "Not at all. more.. e-mail
Hizbullah must ’recognize Israel, halt violence’ prior to US talks
Daily Star 3/12/2009
BEIRUT: Hizbullah has to renounce "terrorist activities" and recognize the state of Israel before the group could anticipate even the lowest level of dialogue with the United States, American officials said on Tuesday. According to White House spokesman Robert Gibbs, both Hizbullah and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas need to acknowledge their Jewish neighbor and renounce violence before the US could even begin to contemplate relations with the groups. President Barack Obama was committed to working toward a permanent peace deal in the Middle East but "has stated on a number of occasions that, in order for anything like that to happen, there are certain responsibilities that those individual organizations have," Gibbs said. Those responsibilities would have to be adopted "well before this administration can render a judgment," he added. more.. e-mail
Diplomats: Iran seeks to buy banned carbon fiber
Associated Press, YNetNews 3/12/2009
Two International Atomic Energy Agency member nations diplomats independently report intelligence of Iran automaker company planning orders for carbon fiber banned by UN embargo that can be used for uranium enrichment. Iran Khodro denies claims, says ’limited number of executives instructed to make procurement’ - Two diplomats say Iran’s national car company has made plans to purchase large quantities of carbon fiber, which is under UN embargo because it could be used in the country’s nuclear program. The automaker’s chief executive denied it. The two diplomats independently told Thethat their countries’ intelligence agencies had gathered information that Iran Khodro executives were planning international orders for carbon fiber. Some would be used for fuel tanks in a new car that runs partly on compressed natural gas, the diplomats said. more.. e-mail
Iran tries to boost influence in South America by investing millions
Barak Ravid, Ha’aretz 3/12/2009
Iran is widening its influence in South America and will soon begin to channel hundreds of millions of dollars into developing Ecuador’s energy market. The Foreign Ministry is following Iran’s increasing involvement in the continent and hopes the administration of President Barak Obama will manage to reverse the trend that developed during the tenure of former president George W. Bush, in which Tehran made inroads into the Spanish-speaking world. Last week Iranian Deputy Energy Minister Hamid Chitchian met with President Rafael Correa in the Ecuadorian capital of Quito, where they signed a number of agreements, including a $120 million deal to build power stations in the cash-strapped country. In addition, Tehran pledged to invest $40 million in small businesses. more.. e-mail
British MP donates cars and cash to de facto government in Gaza
Ma’an News Agency 3/10/2009
Bethlehem – Ma’an/Agencies – Leftist British MP George Galloway personally donated 25,000 pounds and a fleet of vehicles to the de facto government in the Gaza Strip after arriving in an aid convoy. "We are giving you now 100 vehicles and all of their contents, and we make no apology for what I am about to say. We are giving them to the elected government of Palestine," Galloway said at a press conference in Gaza City, according to AFP. Galloway dared western states to prosecute him for supporting the Hamas-run government, which is boycotted by the US, EU, and much of the international community. "I say now to the British and European governments, if you want to take me to court, I promise you there is no jury in all of Britain who will convict me. They will convict you. " Galloway made the announcement at an outdoor presence conference in the presence of several senior. . . more.. e-mail
Israel opens two crossings into Gaza Strip, keeps one closed
Ma’an News Agency 3/10/2009
Gaza – Ma’an – Israeli authorities allowed the Kerem Shalom and Nahal Oz crossings into the Gaza Strip to be opened on Tuesday while Karni was kept closed, officials said. According to Ra’ed Fattouh, a crossings official in the Gaza Strip, Israel opened the Kerem Shalom crossing to allow in 110 truckloads of humanitarian aid, including 45 loaded with supplies for Palestine’s UN refugee agency, UNRWA, and other international organizations. Meanwhile, Israel allowed in 55 truckloads of flour, sugar, spaghetti, beans, cooking oil, diapers, toilet tissue and blankets for the commercial-private sector. Ten more truckloads of fruit and fertilized eggs were allowed in for the agricultural-private sector, though the Karni crossing remained closed by Tuesday morning. Furthermore, Israel permitted 400,000 liters of industrial diesel needed to operate the power plant in Gaza. . . more.. e-mail
Israel reopens some Gaza crossings
Rami Almeghari & Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 3/10/2009
On Monday, Israel reopened the Kerem Shalom and Nahal Auz crossings while it kept other Gaza crossings closed, Palestinian crossings officials said. The crossings officials explained that 110 trucks, including 45 belonging to the UNRWA and other international organizations and 55 others belonging to the private sector, loaded with flour, rice, sugar, pasta, beans, cooking oil and blankets, where able to enter Gaza. Also, Israel allowed the entry of apporximately 120,000 gallons of crude-industralized fuel for generating electricity at Gaza’s power plant, as well as 85 tons of cooking gas, while she continued to prevent gasoline and benzene for the fifth month in a row. Since had Israel imposed a crippling blockade on Gaza in June of 2007, it has irregularly re-opened the Gaza commercial crossings; sometimes once or twice a week, and sometimes keeping them closed for prolonged periods of weeks at a time. more.. e-mail
Israel tightens grip on east Jerusalem, West Bank
Middle East Online 3/10/2009
JERUSALEM - A confidential European Union report accuses the Israeli government of using settlement expansion, house demolitions, discriminatory housing policies and the West Bank separation wall as a way of “actively pursuing the illegal annexation” of east Jerusalem, The Guardian newspaper reported. The document said that Israel has accelerated its plans for east Jerusalem and is undermining the Palestinian Authority’s credibility and weakening support for peace talks. Meanwhile, an Israeli human rights group on Monday asked the high court to freeze all Israeli mining activity in the occupied West Bank, calling it a "blatant infringement" of international law. "Under international law, this type of activity constitutes a violation of the laws of occupation and hence of human rights and in some cases is even defined as pillage," Yesh Din said in a petition to the court. more.. e-mail
Global Pressure Mounts Against Israel
Adel Safty, MIFTAH 3/10/2009
Israel is facing unusual pressure for its continued siege of the Gaza population, and for its conduct of the Gaza war. The United States, the European Union (EU) and the United Nations have demanded that Israel allow at least 500 trucks of aid daily into Gaza - Israel has been allowing less than 200. According to Israeli officials, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has relayed messages "expressing anger at obstacles Israel is placing to the delivery of humanitaria