Israel Begins to Withdraw From Bethlehem
New York Times, August 19, 2002
JERUSALEM, Aug. 19 — Israeli troops began withdrawing today from Bethlehem, according to Israeli radio reports. The Associated Press reported from Bethlehem that residents said that the Israeli-imposed curfew was still in effect in the town, though Israel Radio and Israel Army radio both reported that Israeli forces were no longer on patrol there.

Settlers and militants attack Israeli withdrawal deal
Guardian, August 19, 2002
Palestinian militants and Jewish settlers today criticised a plan to ease Israel's military hold over the Gaza Strip and West Bank city of Bethlehem. Hamas said last night's agreement - which will see Israeli forces withdraw from parts of the Gaza Strip and Bethlehem in return for a Palestinian Authority commitment to reduce violence - will not deter it from carrying out future attacks.

PA warns of health, environmental catastrophe
Ha'aretz, August 19, 2002
Gaza - The Palestinian Authority's ministry of health warned Sunday there was a danger of a health and environmental catastrophe in the Palestinian territories as a result of the tightened measures imposed by Israel.

Abu Nidal 'found dead' in Baghdad
Guardian, August 19, 2002
Abu Nidal, one of the world's most wanted terrorists, has been found dead in his Baghdad home according to senior Palestinian sources.

Gaza Strip deal threatened by Hamas
icWales.com, August 19, 2002
The Islamic militant group Hamas today threatened the proposed deal that would see Israeli troops pull out of the Gaza Strip and Bethlehem to be replaced by Palestinian security.

NRP considering leaving the gov't following IDF withdrawal
Ha'aretz, August 19, 2002
Head of the National Religious Party (NRP) Effi Eitam said Monday evening that his party was considering leaving the government in light of the "Gaza and Bethlehem First" plan. In an interview to Channel One television, Eitam criticized the plan and said that it opposed the security policy that the NRP was committed to.

Massive Pro-Israeli Think Tank Influence Controlling U.S. Foreign Policy: Paper
Islam Online, August 19, 2002
U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney sat on the advisory board of JINSA, a think tank that makes no distinction between U.S. and Israeli national interests: WASHINGTON, August 19 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - A leading progressive news weekly reports that members of two extreme rightwing pro-Israeli think tanks are currently influencing U.S. foreign policy, reports The Nation in its September 2, 2002, issue. [See link to the article on our Articles page - VTJP Ed.]

Israel agrees to start pulling back
Guardian, August 19, 2002
Israel and the Palestinians have agreed to start implementing a plan to ease the Israeli military hold on the Gaza Strip and the West Bank city of Bethlehem, the Israeli defence ministry said last night. 

Background: 'Gaza First': Labor's declaration of war on PM?
Ha'aretz, August 19, 2002
Islamic extremists have vowed to blow it to pieces, analysts give it long odds for success, but Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer's "Gaza First" gamble on a phased cease-fire with the Palestinians may be his last, best ammunition in a future election race to unseat Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

Palestinian-Israel Peace Coalition Calls For an End of Bloodshed
Palestine Media Center, August 19, 2002
The Israeli-Palestinian Peace Coalition convened on Sunday in the shadow of an Israeli army roadblock in Al-Ram town, near Occupied East Jerusalem, to call for an end to nearly two years of bloodshed. Mr. Yossi Beilin, head of the Israeli delegation and a former justice minister, told reporters that a growing number of people on both sides "are sick and tired of the situation."

Peace coalition meets; both sides urge return to talks
Ha'aretz, August 19, 2002
Labor leadership candidate Amram Mitzna's surging popularity signals to Palestinians that there are people in Israel who still believe in dialogue and peace, Palestinian Authority Culture and Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo declared Sunday.

Report: Israel Hands Over Bethlehem
Guardian, August 19, 2002
BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AP) - Israel began withdrawing from Bethlehem, ending its patrols there as part of an agreement to hand over the West Bank town to Palestinian security control, Israel Radio said.

Sources: Israeli forces re-deploy in Bethlehem area as part of ''Gaza, Bethlehem first'' plan
Al-Bawaba, August 19, 2002
Israel began withdrawing Monday night from Bethlehem, ending its patrols in this city as part of an agreement to hand it over to Palestinian security control, Israel Radio said. Residents said that the Israeli-imposed curfew was still in effect in the town, though Israel Radio and Israel Army radio both reported that Israeli forces were no longer on patrol there.

Report: small group of Israeli pilots trained for nuclear strikes
Al-Bawaba, August 19, 2002
Israel's fleet of F-16s, the backbone of its air force, are the most likely candidates to carry nuclear weapons, Monday's Israeli daily Haaretz cited a newsletter published by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists as saying.

Implementation of ‘Gaza First’ plan begins today
Arab News, August 19, 2002
TEL AVIV, 19 August — Israel and the Palestinians held their highest level security talks in two weeks last night, with discussions focusing on a possible Israeli withdrawal from re-occupied lands. The Defense Ministry said in a statement late last night that the implementation of the "Gaza First" security plan, which involves a phased Israeli withdrawal from reoccupied Palestinian areas, is to start from today in the Gaza Strip and in the West Bank town of Bethlehem.

Hamas Criticizes Israel’s Pullout Plan
Palestine Chronicle, August 19, 2002
GAZA – The Palestinian resistance group Hamas strongly criticized Israel’s intention to implement the "Gaza First" security plan. According to a Hamas spokesman, Israel’s real intention is to "destroy the resistance".

West Bank building plans to require environmental surveys 
Alternative Information Center, August 19, 2002 
Environmental surveys have been required in Israel since 1982:  A year after being signed, the Ministry of the Environment is distributing regulations requiring environmental surveys in the West Bank. Prior to these regulations, hundreds of settlements, infrastructure installations, industrial zones, roads, garbage dumps, quarries, power stations etc. were built throughout the West Bank, without any studies on their environmental impact. Many of the installations were built in highly sensitive areas in terms of vistas, and without their effect on aquifers.

Palestinian and Israel Security Teams Reach Agreement
Palestine Media Center, August 19, 2002
Israeli occupation army will withdraw from some parts of the Palestinian-controlled areas, which it occupied during the past months, as part of an agreement reached between Palestinian and Israeli security teams yesterday 18 August.

Update on imprisoned objectors 
Alternative Information Center, August 19, 2002 
To the best of our knowledge, there are 16 objectors currently held in the military prisons of Israel. Of these 16, many have unusual background. Five of the imprisoned objectors were involved in appeals to the Supreme Court against the army. Some of them are key activists in two of the objectors' groups. Some of the prisoners this time also have some interesting family lineage - two are the sons of prominent peace activists, one is the son of a controversial police chief and one is even related to a former Israeli Prime Minister.

PRESS RELEASE: Supreme Court Grants Injunction Preventing Israeli Army from Using Palestinian Civilians as Human Shields
Adalah, August 18, 2002
Today, Supreme Court Justice Strassberg-Cohen granted a temporary injunction preventing the Israeli army from using Palestinian civilians as human shields and/or hostages through the army's "neighbor procedure." Adalah, on behalf of six Israeli and Palestinian human rights organizations, and on its own behalf, filed the motion for the injunction as part of an existing petition submitted by the organizations ("petitioners") in May 2002 which raised the same concerns and requested the same relief. This motion and the previous petition were filed by Adalah Staff Attorney Marwan Dalal.

Money laundering scheme between France and Israel continues
Arab News, August 19, 2002
PARIS, 19 August — French magistrate Isabelle Prevost-Desprez has admitted in exasperation that the more indictments she issues with regard to a major money-laundering scheme between France and Israel that she is in charge of investigating, the more the scheme seems to continue practically unabated.

'Unfortunate incidents'
Al-Ahram Weekly On-line, August 15 - 21, 2002
Israel kept up its fight against "Palestinian terror" with killings of schoolchildren and the elderly, while illegally seizing more land in Tulkarm: Despite signals from various Palestinian resistance groups indicating willingness to reach a cease-fire in return for Israeli withdrawal from previously autonomous enclaves, the Israeli occupation army is stepping up what seems like a collective persecution of the Palestinian population.

Judge: the slogan 'no Arabs no attacks' is not necessarily violation of law 
Alternative Information Center, August 19, 2002 
Doubt if wearing a t-shirt with the slogan 'no Arabs no attacks' is a violation of the law. So determined Judge Moshe Drori of the Jerusalem Magistrate Court yesterday. The judge said this during the appeal of radical right wing activist Aaron Yirmihau, who was charged with rioting, attacking a police officer and inciting to racism during the funeral procession of the Israeli army solider Eliezer Leibovitz in Hebron.

Infiltration to Israel via Saudi- Jordanian borders
Arabic News, August 19, 2002
The Jordanian weekly Sheihan said Saturday that last week witnessed three infiltration operations through the Jordanian borders to Israel in order to carry out attacks, and that a fourth attempt was foiled whose members crossed the Saudi- Jordanian southern borders to implement an attack in Eilat.

Court postpones deportation hearing, says needs more judges
Ha'aretz, August 19, 2002
A High Court discussion on the deportation of three relatives of Palestinian terrorists to the Gaza Strip ended moments after it began Monday, after the court decided to expand the panel of judges hearing the case. Justice Shlomo Levin explained the need for an expanded panel saying that the questions surrounding the case are "not simple."

Ministry: Helping Ghussein escape was a humanitarian act
Jerusalem Post, August 19, 2002
The Foreign Ministry says it was performing a "humanitarian act" when it helped facilitate the departure from Israel of Jawad Ghussein, 73, who effectively acted as the PLO's finance minister from 1983-1996 and handled many of Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat's financial transactions.

Israel to Mentor US Police
Palestine Chronicle, August 19, 2002 
JERUSALEM: A group of US police are due to arrive in the Middle East, to discuss tactics used by Israel to deal with Palestinian resistance, and to discuss how to implement such tactics in the United States.