Palestinian child killed as talks falter on all fronts
Jordan Times, August 16, 2002
SECURITY TALKS between the Palestinians and Israelis on a phased Israeli withdrawal were put off at the last minute on Thursday, while in the Gaza Strip a Palestinian child was killed and his father seriously injured by occupation forces.

Israel Destroys Two Houses
Guardian, August 16, 2002
JERUSALEM (AP) - Israeli soldiers destroyed two houses belonging to suicide bombers in the West Bank, the military said Friday, a day after soldiers killed a child and two attackers in two shootings in the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, a meeting set for Thursday to discuss a plan to ease tensions was put off, probably until Saturday night.

Officers defend 'human shield' practice
Ha'aretz, August 16, 2002
Senior Israel Defense Forces officers yesterday defended the army's use of Palestinians to call wanted men out of hideouts or to tour homes suspected of containing booby traps, on the grounds that the method "saves lives, on our side and their side." According to IDF sources, the method was used in the capture of Marwan Barghouti, the Fatah leader now on trial on various counts of terrorism.

Israel cancels meeting, continued acts of arrest, demolishing, Palestinian child killed by Israelis
Arabic News, August 16, 2002
The Israeli forces on Thursday continued attacks against the Palestinians. The Israeli tanks incurred for long distances into Gaza valley opening fire in all directions. The same Israeli incursion was made into the area situated to the north of Khan Younis and this resulted in killing the Palestinian child Aymen Basem fares and demolishing vast area of the agricultural lands.

Israel Urges U.S. To Attack Iraq
Guardian, August 16, 2002
JERUSALEM (AP) - Israel is urging U.S. officials not to delay a military strike against Iraq's Saddam Hussein, an aide to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Friday. Israeli intelligence officials have gathered evidence that Iraq is speeding up efforts to produce biological and chemical weapons, said Sharon aide Ranaan Gissin.

Occupation Army Kills Five-Year-Old Boy in Khan Yunis, Crushes Wheel Bound Man to Death
Palestine Chronicle, August 15, 2002
KHAN YUNIS/TUBAS: Israeli forces shot and killed a five year old Palestinian boy in Khan Yunis. The killing comes one day after the occupation army carried out its third extra-judicial execution of Palestinian activists this week. Israeli occupation soldiers killed Nasser Jarrar, a Palestinian belonging to the Hamas faction, in the occupied West Bank village of Tubas.

Israeli Soldiers kill 23-year-old Palestinian in Cold Blood
Arabic News, August 16, 2002
"Ghazal Friehat was executed in cold blood in today's dawn hours when 30 Israeli occupation soldiers riddled his body with dozens of bullets after taking him outside his home near the occupied West Bank City of Jenin."

That's my boy
Guardian, August 16, 2002
Technically he is an unemployed 38 year old who spends a lot of time with his dad. But in reality, Omri Sharon, the Israeli prime minister's son, may be the most powerful backroom operator in the Middle East. As well as being a devoted follower of his father, he also has the ear of Yasser Arafat. In a rare interview he talks to Guy Lawson.

Israel gambles on prosecution of Fatah leader
AUDIO: Guardian, August 14, 2002
Israel is hoping the court case against Marwan Barghouti will prove the Palestinian Authority supports terrorism. But, says Jonathan Steele from Tel Aviv, if they fail they could find it is the Israeli occupation in the dock.

Israel razes two houses in West Bank; Security talks postponed
Al-Bawaba, August 16, 2002
The Israeli army demolished late Thursday night the family homes of two Palestinian bombers in the West Bank, Israel Radio reported.

Sharon in message to Bush: Attack on Iraq should not be delayed
Al-Bawaba, August 16, 2002
Israel has been pressing the United States not to defer its military strike directed at toppling Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq, the Israeli Ha'aretz reported on Friday.

New York City legislators call to shut down Palestinian observer mission at U.N.
Al-Bawaba, August 16, 2002
Accusing the Palestinian Authority of sponsoring terrorism in Israel, New York City legislators on Thursday urged U.S. President George W. Bush to shut down the Palestinian observer mission at the United Nations.

King Abdullah rejects calls to abandon peace treaty with Israel, urges diplomatic solution to Iraqi issue
Al-Bawaba, August 16, 2002
Jordan's King Abdullah II rejected Thursday war threats against Iraq and urged continued dialogue between the United Nations and Baghdad. In a wide-ranging televised speech, Abdullah said Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories was the "main cause of conflict in the region." "Peace cannot prevail until the occupied Arab lands are returned to the Palestinians on the bases of United Nations resolutions ... and the Arab initiative."

Palestinian-Israeli talks put off
Arab News, August 16, 2002
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, 16 August — Security talks between Israel and the Palestinians scheduled for late yesterday were postponed due to serious differences of views, Israeli sources said. The meeting, set to discuss a phased withdrawal from certain Palestinian areas, had been put off until next week.

Sheikh Yassin receives Arafat's rival candidate
Arabic News, August 16, 2002
The founder of the Hamas movement Sheikh Ahmad Yassin on Wednesday in Gaza received Husam Nazzal, who intends to nominate himself for the Palestinian Presidency in the next elections.

King Abdullah: Jordan will not talk on behalf Palestinians
Arabic News, August 16, 2002
The Jordanian King Abdullah II has stressed his country's stand in supporting the Palestinian people in all international forums and circles so as to restore back their lands and establish their independent state with Jerusalem as a capital.

Israel shoots down 'target range truce'
The Independent, August 15, 2002
Jerusalem - Israel totally rejects a Palestinian proposal for militant groups to confine their attacks to the occupied territories and target only soldiers and settlers, a foreign ministry spokesman said Thursday. "This distinction is totally unacceptable; we cannot differentiate between the blood of Israelis depending on where they are killed," Noam Katz told AFP.

Jerusalem: An Occupation Set in Stone
VIDEO: Free Speech TV
Since the Israeli government annexed East Jerusalem in 1967, it has persued a deliberate policy to limit the Palestinian population in the city, while at the same time seeking to increase the Jewish population, all against international law.

Sha'ath: Jordanian, Egyptian officers to train PA policemen
Ha'aretz, August 16, 2002
Jordanian and Egyptian intelligence officers are to arrive soon in Jericho to train Palestinian policemen, Israel Radio quoted senior PA Minister Nabil Sha'ath as saying Friday. On Thursday, SHa'ath said that the negotiations between the Palestinian Authority and the radical Islamic organization Hamas on an end to terror attacks inside Israel have failed.

PA: Holding company formed to oversee all funds, assets
Ha'aretz, August 16, 2002
Palestinian Finance Minister Salam Fayad said on Thursday a holding company had been formed to consolidate all Palestinian Authority funds and assets under a single umbrella, a reform that meets a key U.S. demand.

Arafat loyalists fight hardliners linked to al-Qa'ida
The Independent, August 16, 2002
So now it is Yasser Arafat's "war on terror". Amid the slums of Ein al-Helweh – the largest refugee camp in Lebanon with up to 70,000 Palestinians living in its stinking, narrow streets – they are asking if Mr Arafat has done a deal with the Americans, even with the Israelis. Why else, they ask, would Arafat's Fatah guerrillas have tried to arrest 10 Islamist gunmen linked to Osama bin Laden?

IDF arrests killer of 10-month-old Shalhevet Pass
Ha'aretz, August 16, 2002
In an operation in the Hebron area early Friday morning, Israel Defense Forces soldiers arrested Sudki Zaro, the Palestinian sniper who is believed to be behind the killing 18 months ago of 10-month-old Shalhevet Pass, Israel Radio reported.

BBC with Liol Yavne, Israeli human rights group B'tselem
AUDIO: "According to the army version the Palestinian militant thought the youth was an Israeli soldier."

UNWRA employs its first Israeli worker
Ha'aretz, August 16, 2002
The first Israeli citizen to be employed by UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency) in the organization's 52-year history will join its legal affairs department later this month. The appointment of Allegra Pacheco, a lawyer with dual Israeli and American citizenship, is groundbreaking, a senior UNRWA official told Ha'aretz.

Bir-Zeit poll: Arafat would win 55% of vote in PA election
Jerusalem Post, August 16, 2002
Some 55 percent of Palestinians said they would vote for PA Chairman Yasser Arafat if elections were held now, according to an opinion poll released by Bir Zeit University this week. Of those who agreed to participate in elections, 60% said they would give the Palestinian leader their vote, as opposed to 86% who voted for Arafat in 1996.

Israel to bar east Jerusalem Arabs from PA election
Jerusalem Post, August 16, 2002
Israel has made it clear that it will not allow Palestinian residents of east Jerusalem to participate in the elections for the presidency of the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian Legislative Council, scheduled for next January, PA officials said yesterday. The decision was conveyed to the Palestinians by American and European diplomats, the officials told The Jerusalem Post.

Transfer of Bethlehem and Gaza together a possibility, Peres says
Jerusalem Post, August 15, 2002
Israel, answering a key Palestinian demand, is willing to consider transferring security control of both the Gaza Strip and Bethlehem simultaneously, Foreign Minister Shimon Peres told a group of international observers who are overseeing Palestinian reform.

Checkpoint in Pictures
SLIDES: Palestine Chronicle, August 5, 2002
At a military checkpoint near Jerusalem, one out of hundreds separating between Palestinian towns and villages, many Palestinians were aware of the hassle and humiliation awaiting them. Nonetheless, they needed to reach work, schools, hospitals or simply return home. They had no other choice but to wait. Our photojournalist, Mahfouz Abu Turk narrated the story of the checkpoint in pictures.