Israel, PA working on Gaza-first details
Ha'aretz, August 8, 2002      
Shin Bet chief Avi Dichter and IDF Strategic Planning chief Maj. Gen. Giora Eiland were meeting last night with Mohammed Dahlan, the security advisor to Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat, and Amin al Hindi, head of the PA's General Intelligence Service, to hammer out details of the "Gaza-first" plan that the PA cabinet accepted yesterday.

Israel continues with arrests, raids, demolition of houses as PA delegation holds talks in Washington
Al-Bawaba, August 8, 2002
A Palestinian was killed as Israeli army continued its policy of raids, arrests and house demolitions. The 17-year-old Palestinian was fatally wounded as the Israeli army staged a new incursion into the town of Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip, Palestinian security sources and witnesses said.

PA team meets Rice; Erekat: We need a third party
Ha'aretz, August 8, 2002
A delegation of Palestinian officials met Thursday with senior members of the Bush administration. The Palestinians, led by chief negotiator Saeb Erekat, were to meet later in the day with Secretary of State Colin Powell and National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice.

Palestinians seek US support
BBC, August 8, 2002
Palestinians are preparing for their first high-level talks with US officials in months, as a tentative agreement between the Palestinian Authority and Israel over a phased withdrawal appears to have collapsed.

Palestinian killed, 4 hurt in IDF raid in Beit Lahia
Ha'aretz, August 8, 2002  
One Palestinian was killed and four were injured during an IDF incursion into the town of Beit Lahia on Thursday. IDF troops and armor entered the northern Gaza Strip town and damaged the town's electricity network. The town's governor said troops were conducting house-to-house searches.

IDF arrests nine foreign activists and plans to deport them
Ha'aretz, August 8, 2002   
IDF troops arrested nine foreign activists, including three Americans, during a protest against Israel's occupation of Palestinian towns, and police said Thursday the detainees would be deported. Among those taken into custody was Adam Shapiro, 30, a New York City Jew who spent a night in Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's headquarters in April, at a time when the compound was under siege by Israeli forces.

Israel Alters 'Gaza First' Plan, Talks Fail
Palestine Chronicle, August 8, 2002
RAMALLAH: Nabil Abu Rudeina, a close aide to Palestinian President Yasser Arafat was quoted by AFP as saying that talks between Israeli and Palestinian officials on an Israeli security plan "failed, as Israel imposed new conditions."

Arafat gives wary approval to Israeli offer of withdrawal
Despite grassroots scepticism, Palestinian cabinet hopes its response will give momentum to US talks
Guardian, August 8, 2002
Yasser Arafat and the rest of the Palestinian cabinet gave cautious approval yesterday to an Israeli proposal for its troops to withdraw gradually from Palestinian areas, beginning in the Gaza strip, in exchange for a Palestinian crackdown on militants.

Joint security talks deadlocked over phased withdrawal plan
Jerusalem Post, August 8, 2002
Arafat advisor, Nabil Abu Rudeina, said Thursday that joint security talks between Israel and that Palestinians had failed, Israel Radio reported. According to Rudeina, Israel backed out of its agreement to implement a phased withdrawal for the city of Bethlehem and also came with new demands and conditions.

ADC Rejects Rumsfeld's Remarks on Israeli Occupation and Settlement Activities
American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, August 8, 2002
WASHINGTON, DC-- The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) today expressed serious concern about comments made yesterday by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld regarding Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza and its settlement activities in these areas.

Analysis: Ben-Eliezer Gaza plan is good for the PA - but a dilemma for Hamas
Ha'aretz, August 8, 2002
As Yasser Arafat's representatives, Palestinian Minister Saeb Erekat and Interior Minister Abdel Razek Yehiyeh, landed in Washington for meetings with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and U.S. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice. Arafat, in Ramallah, adopted what's being called the "Gaza-first" plan.

Occupied Palestinian, Arab Land Is Real Estate Israel Won: Rumsfeld
Islam Online, August 8, 2002
DUBAI, August 8 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Arab countries should declare U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld “persona non grata” after he justified Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land, the Dubai daily Al-Bayan said Thursday, August 8.

audio:
NPR: Malnutrition on the West Bank
August 5, 2002

Druse arrested by Israel for allegedly spying for Syria
Al-Bawaba, August 8, 2002
A Druse student from the village of Buqaata in the Golan Heights has been detained for allegedly having contacts with Syrian intelligence agents, according to an Israeli daily on Thursday.

Palestinians agree to Israeli plan
Arab News, August 8, 2002
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, 8 August — The Palestinian Authority agreed to an Israeli security plan yesterday even as six Palestinians were gunned down by Israeli forces. The Palestinian Cabinet gave initial approval in a meeting in Ramallah to an Israeli proposal to ease some restrictions on Palestinians in the Gaza Strip in a trial gesture to restore security cooperation.

Jews in UK renounce right to live in Israel
Guardian, August 8, 2002
A group of prominent Jews seek today to renounce their right to Israeli residence and citizenship in protest at Israel's "barbaric" policies towards the Palestinians.

STANDING IDLY BY: Non-enforcement of the Law on Settlers
B'tselem, Hebron, 26-28 July 2002
"… I saw a group of settlers, including men, women and children, going into the yards of Palestinian homes, destroying everything in their path. They broke windows, fences, and flower pots and damaged cars. At that stage, I saw a soldier who was on duty, standing near one of the Palestinian homes that came under attack. He did nothing. Four other soldiers arrived a little later. They didn't try to stop the settlers either.” - From the testimony of the soldier A.

Today B'Tselem is publishing a report on the failure of security forces to enforce the law on settlers who rioted in Hebron after the killing of the soldier Elazar Leibowitz. The report strongly criticizes the performance of IDF and Police forces in Hebron from the time that Leibowitz was killed until his funeral.

Israel to strip first Arabs of citizenship
Guardian, August 7, 2002
Israel's one million Arab citizens, who are already treated with suspicion by their Jewish compatriots, faced a new threat yesterday when the country's interior minister revealed plans to strip two of them of their citizenship.
The punishment - on the grounds that they harmed state security - has never been used in Israel's 54 years of existence as a modern state. The prime minister, Ariel Sharon, called it "correct, considered, and balanced".

Israeli tanks storm Gaza
Guardian, August 7, 2002
Witnesses report heavy machine gun fire as column attacks camp renowned as militant stronghold
Up to 30 Israeli tanks and armoured personnel carriers stormed into the northern part of the Gaza strip early this morning, entering the village of Beit Lahiya and reaching the outskirts of the Jabalya refugee camp, a stronghold of Palestinian militants.

Israel to block Belgian law meant to allow Sharon trial
Ha'aretz, August 8, 2002 
BRUSSELS - Israel will try to block Belgian legislation that could pave the way for further war crimes cases to be brought against Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, a Foreign Ministry official said on Thursday.

Palestinians agree to Israeli truce plan despite killing of six militants
The Independent, August 8, 2002
The Palestinian cabinet accepted Israel's proposal to begin withdrawing troops from parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip in exchange for security guarantees yesterday, as Israeli troops hunting terrorist suspects killed six Palestinians in three raids.

Erekat: Chaos will reign if Arafat replaced
Ha'aretz, August 8, 2002 
WASHINGTON - Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat's top negotiator made his first visit to Washington for talks with U.S. officials since President George W. Bush called on Palestinians to dump Arafat, and wasted no time in telling reporters that the alternative to the PA leader was chaos.

2 More Palestinian Commanders Slain
Israel Presses Pursuit of Militia Chiefs
Washington Post, Augsut 8, 2002
JERUSALEM, Aug. 7 -- At least two senior Palestinian militants were among six people killed today by Israeli security forces in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, continuing a relentless campaign against Palestinians accused of attacks against Israeli civilians.

Druze student indicted for passing on information to Syrian
Ha'aretz, August 8, 2002    
A Druze student studying in Syria was indicted Thursday in the Nazareth Magistrates' Court for allegedly spying for Syria. The Shin Bet security service and the Galilee District police arrested the student, a resident of the northern village of Bukata, at the beginning of July, when he returned from Syria for his summer vacation, for having contacted Syrian intelligence officials.

Israel holding thousands of Palestinians 'illegally' — IADL
Jordan Times, August 8, 2002   
CAIRO (AFP) — Lawyers from Arab countries, the United States, India and other nations launched a campaign here Tuesday calling on Israel to free thousands of Palestinians they say are being detained illegally.

Number of terror attacks up by 90% in first half of 2002
Ha'aretz, August 8, 2002     
By Ha'aretz Service
In the first six months of 2002, 238 people were killed in 1,071 terror attacks, a 90 percent increase in the number of attacks compared with the first half of 2001, in which 68 people were killed, Police Commissioner Shlomo Aharonisky told reporters Wednesday.

Treasury says all funds for security fence transferred
Ha'aretz, August 8, 2002      
The Finance Ministry rejected Wednesday claims by the Defense Ministry that the slow progress of the Green Line security fence was due to lack of funds, insisting that the defense establishment had received all the monies necessary so far for building the fence.

Israeli army removes wildcat settlement set up near Ramallah 
Jordan Times, August 8, 2002       
PSAGOT, West Bank (AFP) — The Israeli occupation army on Wednesday started dismantling a wildcat settlement set up at dawn close to the Jewish settlement of Psagot near the West Bank town of Ramallah, an AFP correspondent on the scene said.

International Solidarity Movement's Statement on the Tulkarm Killings
Palestine Chronicle, August 7, 2002
TULKARM (ISM): "Israeli soldiers executed three men in Tulkarm center today in a disgusting and brutal fashion. Rebecca Murray (UK) reports that no medical teams have been allowed to operate. Once the (Israeli) military stopped strafing the city with apache helicopters, residents where finally able to retrieve the bodies of Ziad D’ias (28), Hamad Saidz (18), Maher Jeshmawi (17).

Erekat Demands US 'To Do Something' Ahead of Powell Meeting in Washington
Palestine Chronicle, August 7, 2002
WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Colin Powell meets Thursday with a delegation of three Palestinian cabinet ministers. It will be the highest level U.S.-Palestinian discussion since President Bush, in his June 24 Middle East policy statement, lashed at Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and effectively ended U.S. dealings with him.

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