UK MPs call for talks with Hamas
Thursday, 24 July 2008 16:12 UK

By Haaretz Service and News Agencies

July 24, 2008

"A key panel of lawmakers on Thursday approved 20 new housing units at Maskiot in the West Bank, Israel Radio reported, despite a 2007 pledge to the United States to halt construction at the site. Jerusalem agreed to hold off on plans to build 180 new homes in the settlement, as part of a general freeze on Israeli construction in the West Bank.

But the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee has now given approval for the construction of the housing units and Defense Minister Ehud Barak is slated to grant authorization soon."  http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1005127.html

In Bbc News (United Kingdom)

July 23, 2008

"An Israeli policeman has died 12 days after being shot in an apparent militant attack in Jerusalem. David Shriki was hit in the head when an unidentified gunman opened fire as he was on patrol in the Old City, in mainly Arab East Jerusalem. Israeli police said they were treating it as a "terrorist" attack. Another officer was wounded by the gunfire and is recovering....."  http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7521592.stm

In The Associated Press

July 23, 2008

"Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas told supporters on Tuesday that he will withdraw his forces from West Bank cities unless Israel halts its army operations there.

Parallel to negotiations with Israel, Abbas has been trying to exert more control in the West Bank and to rein in terrorists. At the same time, the international community is training Abbas's forces, with hopes they will one day take over from Israel.

In recent months, Abbas has deployed forces in two of the unruliest towns, Nablus and Jenin, and residents once harassed by vigilante gunmen say they feel more secure.

However, the IDF argues that the Palestinian forces often co-opt former gunmen, instead of jailing them. Despite the presence of the Palestinian forces, IDF troops have continued operating in Palestinian cities, prompting complaints by Abbas that this is undermining him....."  http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1215331055174

In Kuwait News Agency (kuna) (Kuwait)

July 23, 2008

"Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is serious about withdrawing Palestinian forces from Nablus if Israel does not stop executing incursions into the city, a Palestinian official said Wednesday.

Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat told the Voice of Palestine radio station that the Palestinians would not allow the continuation of incursions into Palestinian cities, especially Nablus, adding that that was to the disdain of the Palestinian authority.

Israel Army forces have executed incursions into Nablus many times over the past two weeks. On Monday, it arrested 26 people, including Member of the Legislative Council Mona Mansour. Israeli forces broke into and damaged mosques, schools, shops, charity and humanitarian organizations, and a large number of homes...."  http://www.kuna.net.kw/newsagenciespublicsite/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=1926776&Language=en

By Mel Frykberg

In Middle East Times (Pan Arab)

July 23, 2008

I"n an unusual display of frustration, moderate Hamas official Ahmed Yousef, the adviser on foreign affairs to de-facto Gaza prime minister and Hamas leader Ismail Haniya, has told the Middle East Times that Hamas' patience with Israel is wearing thin. "I don't know what game the Israelis are playing but quite frankly if the siege isn't lifted and Gaza's borders remain closed, the ceasefire can go to hell, Yousef said by phone.

Although Israel has opened Gaza's borders intermittently, following the announcement of the ceasefire and allowed a trickle of goods through, the territory remains virtually sealed. This has exacerbated the chronic humanitarian conditions on the ground due to shortages of fuel, food, medicines and construction material.

Furthermore, vital spare parts for machinery needed to keep the strip's infrastructure working, such as water and waste management plants, are not able to be replaced or repaired.

Israel said it had re-closed the crossings following a number of missile attacks from Gaza in violation of the painstakingly negotiated ceasefire that involved a lot of patience on behalf of Egypt, which acted as an arbitrator between the Jewish state and the Islamic resistance movement.

The Qassam rocket attacks were themselves in response to Israeli violations which included a number of shootings at Gazan farmers and other Palestinian civilians, according to the United Nations, whom Israel claimed got too close to the border fence. These shootings resulted in the serious injury of several civilians and the death of a militant..."  http://www.metimes.com/International/2008/07/22/to_hell_with_the_ceasefire_if_israel_doesnt_let_up_h

By JPOST.COM STAFF, Jerusalem Post

Jul 22, 2008

"Several hours after the terror attack in Jerusalem, ultra-orthodox Jews attempted to lynch two Palestinians, Army Radio reported. The incident occurred in the Makor Baruch neighborhood, known for its unlikely mix of religious study institutions and orthodox residents, and stores selling construction materials and power tools, carpentries, and other such outlets which draw many Arab shoppers and employees.

According to eye witnesses, two battered and bleeding Palestinians barged into the yard of a family sitting Shiva [the Jewish week of mourning], followed by a raging mob. The family in the house protected the Palestinians and repelled the mob, which was comprised of furious yeshiva students. A member of the family said yeshiva students yelled at him from the balcony of the yeshiva, overlooking the house, calling to "kill Jews who protect Arabs."

The two east Jerusalem residents were taken to Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem for treatment..." http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1215331061642&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

By Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff

Haaretz, July 22, 2008

"The United States security coordinator for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, retired general James Jones, is preparing an extremely critical report of Israel's policies in the territories and its attitude toward the Palestinian Authority's security services.....

According to both Israeli and American sources, the envoy's conclusions about Israel are scathing. Israelis who met with Jones on his most recent visit here a few weeks ago, including Israel Defense Forces officers, said their impression was that the report would be "very harsh, and make Israel look very bad."

Jones is apparently critical of Israel on two key issues. One is its fairly broad definition of its security interests in the West Bank under any final-status agreement. The other is its attitude toward the PA security services."  http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1004143.html

By Barak Ravid, Haaretz
July 22, 2008

"Senior officials in the U.S. State Department, including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, have repeatedly complained to Israel recently over relatively minor Palestinian issues that it would have ignored until a few months ago, Israeli officials say.

Complaints about settlement construction or army operations that kill Palestinian civilians have always been the norm. But Israeli officials are worried by the State Department's new tendency to intervene in a much broader range of issues."  http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1004189.html

By Haaretz Service and News Agencies

"A Palestinian bulldozer driver went on a rampage in downtown Jerusalem on Tuesday, wounding at least 16 people, just weeks after a similar attack in the capital left three dead.

One of the wounded was in serious condition and the rest sustained light wounds. They were taken to Shaare Zedek Hospital in Jerusalem for treatment. The driver of the tractor struck a bus and at least five cars before being shot dead by security forces, Jerusalem police said......

On July 2, a Palestinian resident of East Jerusalem plowed a bulldozer down Jaffa Road, Jerusalem's main thoroughfare, killing three people. He was not known to be affiliated with any Palestinian militant group." http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1004437.html

By Mohammed Daraghmeh

In The Associated Press

July 21, 2008

BETHLEHEM, West Bank - "British Prime Minister Gordon Brown demanded yesterday that Israel cease settlement construction and promised more money to jump-start the battered Palestinian economy.

In his first trip to Israel and the Palestinian territories as Britain's leader, Brown repeatedly stressed that economics are key to Mideast peace, and said Israel should ease travel restrictions in the West Bank that have hindered commerce.

But his strongest comments were reserved for the settlements: "I think the whole European Union is very clear on this matter: We want to see a freeze on settlements."

"Settlement expansion has made peace harder to achieve. It erodes trust, it heightens Palestinian suffering, it makes the compromises Israel needs to make for peace more difficult," Brown said at a news conference with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank town of Bethlehem." http://serv01.siteground202.com/~atfp/news/article.php?id=1437077902

In Kuwait News Agency (kuna) (Kuwait)

July 21, 2008

RAMALLAH, July 21 (KUNA) -- The Israeli Army arrested, Sunday, around twenty Palestinians in Nablus City and its refugee camps. Security sources in the city said Hamas movement MP Mona Mansour was arrested after her house was besieged in Balatah Camp, east Nablus. A number of businessmen, owners of currency exchange shops, and workers at commercial establishments were also arrested, along with 8 university students who were arrested after their dorms at Al Najah University were raided. This is the second week of Israeli military operations in Nablus, and the forces closed a number of commercial shops and charitable organizations claiming they are associated with Hamas.  http://www.kuna.net.kw/newsagenciespublicsite/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=1926334&Langauge=en

By Amoss Harel

In Haaretz (Israel)

July 21, 2008

"A Gulf newspaper reported Monday that Israel is willing to include jailed Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti in a list of 300 Palestinian prisoners to be freed in exchange for abducted Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.

Shalit was seized in a cross-border raid in June 2006 and has been held in captivity in the Gaza Strip ever since. Unlike the soldiers who were snatched several weeks later by Hezbollah, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, several signs of life from Shalit have been released. Barghouti is serving five life sentences in Israel for his role in a series of deadly terrorist attacks during the second intifada."  http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1003802.html

By Shahar Ilan, Haaretz

July 21, 2008

MKs on Monday passed three votes of no-confidence in the government, dealing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert with apparently the first such parliamentary defeat suffered since he was elected premier in 2006. The votes were only, however, of symbolic significance since their initiators did not achieve the majority of 61 lawmakers needed in order to dissolve the Knesset.....

Likud whip Gideon Saar said after the three votes Monday: "Tonight's series of humiliating defeats proves that the faltering government has reached the end of its road." Saar added: "The government that had lost the public's confidence long ago has also lost the confidence of the Knesset."  http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1003748.html

Maan News
Jul 12, 2008

"Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said on Friday evening that he sent a letter to the US security coordinator in the region William Frerz complaining about Israeli incursions in the West Bank, specifically in Nablus in the northern West Bank.

Fayyad explained in an interview with the Associated Press that Israeli activity impeded his government's efforts to keep law and order. He added that he was fed up with Israel's claims about easing restrictions on the movement of Palestinians in the West Bank, since it is clearly not true.

The number of Israeli military operations in the West Bank, said Fayyad, rose by 50% during the first half of July compared to the same period in June."  http://imeu.net/news/article0013612.shtml

By Donald Macintyre in Hebron

Friday, 11 July 2008

"Veterans of the anti-apartheid struggle said last night that the restrictions endured by Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied territories was in some respects worse than that imposed on the black majority under white rule in South Africa.

Members of a 23-strong human-rights team of prominent South Africans cited the impact of the Israeli military's separation barrier, checkpoints, the permit system for Palestinian travel, and the extent to which Palestinians are barred from using roads in the West Bank."  http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/this-is-like-apartheid-anc-veterans-visit-west-bank-865063.html

In Agence France Presse (AFP) (France)

July 9, 2008

"An Israeli commission has approved the building of 920 new homes in occupied east Jerusalem, the municipality said on Wednesday, in a new blow to shaky peace talks with the Palestinians. "The district commission has approved for construction 920 housing units in Har Homa," a statement said, referring to a neighbourhood in east Jerusalem, known in Arabic as Jabel Abu Ghneim, that has more than 10,000 residents.

The Har Homa project is part of a plan to build some 40,000 new homes over the next decade in neighbourhoods in both east and west Jerusalem, that the housing minister approved in June, a ministry official told AFP. Until now specific aspects of this project were unknown.

Israel occupied and annexed the eastern half of the city after the 1967 war in a move not recognised by the international community or the Palestinians, who wish to make the Holy City the capital of their future state. A total of 245,000 Palestinians live in east Jerusalem alongside more than 200,000 Jewish settlers.

Israel pledged to halt all settlement activity in the occupied West Bank when peace talks were revived at a conference in the United States last year...."  http://serv01.siteground202.com/~atfp/news/article.php?id=1407345044

By Reuters
June 3, 2008

"Militants in the Gaza Strip fired a Qassam rocket the western Negev on Thursday, putting further strain on a fragile ceasefire deal in the Hamas-controlled territory.

An Israel Defense Forces spokesman said the rocket hit an open field near the Gaza border town of Sderot and caused no casualties.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the rocket fire, the sixth such attack since an Egyptian-brokered truce took effect on June 19.

Israel will close its border crossings with Gaza on Friday in response to the attack, an Israeli official said."  http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/998735.html

Maan News
July 3, 2008

Jerusalem – Ma'an - "Israeli soldiers demolished the home of Kameel As-Sa'u in the neighborhood of Beit Hanina north of East Jerusalem Thursday morning.

Clashes erupted between the Israeli special police forces in charge of demolishing the home and a large number of Biet Hanina residents. In an attempt to stay the demolition, dozens of individuals parked their cars around the home, while others formed a human barrier between the As-Sa'u home and the bulldozers of the Israeli municipality of Jerusalem. The structure was home to seven members of the As-Sa'u family."  http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=30290

In Kuwait News Agency (kuna) (Kuwait)

July 3, 2008

"European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana warned Wednesday that it will be extremely difficult to have negotiations on the final-status of Palestine if Israel does not stop its settlements in occupied Palestinian lands.

"Realities on the ground have to change. I want to say it very clearly that settlements have to stop. We cannot enter in a process which is part of the way to determine by the end of the year 2008 if there is no clear commitment on the settlements," Solana told a conference on Palestine in the European Parliament.

"I think it will be impossible, very difficult to have negotiations on final status while the final status is changing prior to the negotiations," he said...." 

In Kuwait News Agency (kuna) (Kuwait)

July 2, 2008

"Israeli settlers fired two rockets toward Boreen village near Nablus city north of the West Bank, Palestinian security sources said on Tuesday.

The source said two settlers from Baraka settlement near the village fired the two rockets targeting Palestinians, but caused no injuries.

The rockets dubbed (Sharon-1, Sharon-2) fell in a deserted area causing fire only, the sources said.

Couple of days ago, settlers fired a rocket without causing injuries, and Israeli military said an investigation into the incident was opened, noting that the rocket was locally made inside the Israeli settlement.

In response, a spokesman for the Palestinian authority blamed the rocket attacks on Israeli authority and military...." http://www.kuna.net.kw/NewsAgenciesPublicSite/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=1922257&Language=en

Ben-Eliezer sees additional nuclear plants as a last resort.

Lior Baron, Globes Online
July 2, 2008

" "I hope that the things we're doing to promote solar and wind energy will be enough so that we won't have to begin using nuclear power," said Minister of National Infrastructures Benjamin Ben-Eliezer at the Negev Conference yesterday.

Ben-Eliezer added, "In future, the world will primarily rely on renewable energy and nuclear energy. We already have two nuclear power stations in planning in the Negev, but this is the last resort, and I won't say any more." ..."  http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/

By STEVEN GUTKIN, AP

Posted: 2008-07-02 09:27:24

"JERUSALEM (July 2) -- A Palestinian man plowed an enormous construction vehicle into cars, buses and pedestrians on a busy street Wednesday, killing at least three people and wounding at least 45 before he was shot dead by security officers.

The violence, the first major attack in Jerusalem since March, wreaked havoc in the heart of downtown. Hundreds of people fled in panic through the streets as medics treated the wounded.

Three Palestinian militant groups took responsibility for the attack, but the claims could not be independently verified and Israeli police referred to the attacker as a "terrorist" acting on his own...."  http://news.aol.com/story/_a/bulldozer-rampage-kills-3-in-jerusalem/20080702063709990001

By Yossi Melman, Haaretz Correspondent

Haaretz, July 2, 2008

"Unofficial reports from Iran, supported by several Iranian legislators, suggest that Tehran is willing to suspend its nuclear program for at least six weeks as a goodwill gesture to the West.

According to the reports, released on various Iranian Web sites, Tehran would suspend the installation of new centrifuges at the Natanz nuclear facility in the first stage of the suspension, after which it would be willing to halt the enrichment of uranium for an undetermined amount of time.

The steps would be taken in exchange for the launching of new talks with the five representatives of the United Nations Security Council and Germany........."  http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/998287.html

Agence France Presse
July 2, 2008

JERUSALEM (AFP) — "The Israeli parliament passed a law on Monday banning any citizen who has visited an "enemy" country in the previous seven years from standing for election to the legislature, triggering the anger of Israeli Arab MPs.

Fifty-two members of the 120-seat parliament approved the law at a third and last reading while 24 MPs voted against it, parliamentary sources said.

The legislation states that anyone who has visited "an enemy country" over the past seven years cannot stand for parliament.

It is aimed particularly at MPs from Arab-led parties, some of whom have travelled to Lebanon and Syria, neighbouring countries officially at war with Israel."  http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gSZuuHzlHqh6yZGzWK1z8HiBqB7Q

BBC News
June 1, 2008

"Israeli human rights group B'Tselem says the West Bank is facing grave water shortages largely because Israel's "discriminatory" policies.

The group criticises the distribution of joint water resources and limits placed by Israel on the Palestinian Authority's ability to drill new wells.

"It will have serious repercussions on the economy and health," B'Tselem said.

West Bank per capita water use is about 66 litres a day - just two-thirds of the recommended international minimum.

The accumulated effects of a series of dry years would make matters worse in the months to come, the group added.

Per capita water consumption by Israeli settlers in the West Bank is 3.5 times that of Palestinians, B'Tselem says....."

"The shortage will have serious repercussions on the economy and the health of tens of thousands of Palestinians."

B'Tselem  http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7483172.stm

Maan News
July 1, 2008

 "Gaza – Ma'an – Israeli forces shot a Palestinian woman in the foot on Tuesday morning while she was tending her sheep south of the city Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip.

Medical sources at the European Hospital in the city of Rafah, also in the southern Gaza Strip, said that 36-year-old 'Aisha Abu 'Ataya was hit by a gunshot in her right foot. They said Israeli soldiers fired at Abu Ataya from a jeep near the town of Al-Fukhari.

The Israeli military has not yet commented on the shooting, which is an apparent violation of the ceasefire in place in the Gaza Strip."  http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=30220

Maan News

Maan News, June 29, 2008

"Residents of the northern West Bank town of Tubas buried 18-year-old Muhammad Nasser Sa’id Daraghmah on Sunday afternoon. Daraghmah was shot dead by Israeli troops 2am on Sunday morning.....

Israeli forces have now killed four Palestinians in the West Bank within a week. On Friday night, Israeli troops shot and killed a Palestinian teenager in the southern West Bank town of Beit Ummar, north of the city of Hebron. Last Tuesday, Israeli troops gunned down a Palestinian fighter and an unarmed student in the city of Nablus." http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=30172

BBC News
June 29, 2008

"Israel has reopened a key commercial crossing point to the Gaza Strip - one of two it closed last week - because of a lull in cross-border attacks.

The Sufa and Karni crossings were closed on Wednesday after Palestinian militants fired rockets into Israel. About 70 truckloads of goods would be allowed to enter Gaza on Sunday via the Sufa crossing, Israel's military said."  http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7479783.stm

Source: Reuters

26 Jun 2008 14:29:53 GMT

{"JERUSALEM, June 26 (Reuters) - Israel's Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) group accused Israeli doctors on Thursday of ignoring what it described as the torture of Palestinian detainees during interrogations.....

Last year, two groups, B'Tselem and HaMoked, said they had found Israeli security interrogators routinely mistreat and sometimes physically torture Palestinian detainees.....

The rights group said doctors working for the Shin Bet risked losing their jobs if they reported torture and urged the Health Ministry to protect them. (Writing by Joseph Nasr, Editing by Ibon Villelabeitia)"

IMEU
June 27, 2008

"ImageJerusalem / Maisa Abu Ghazaleh - As Israeli settlements continue to expand across occupied East Jerusalem, a legal battle is underway to prevent the destruction of 450 Palestinian homes in the district of Khallat Al ‘Ein.

In preparation for the confiscation of Palestinian land, the Israeli-controlled Jerusalem Municipality has sought to argue that the residents of Khallat Al ‘Ein possess no permanent license for the housing....." http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2984&Itemid=1

White House Weighs Striking Iran's Nuclear Complex, Which Could Trigger 3rd War In Region

Israel has made it clear it intends to end Iran's nuclear program with or without U.S. support ? and before President Bush leaves office.

CBS News
June 24, 2008

"(CBS) Joint Chiefs Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen leaves Tuesday night on an overseas trip that will take him to Israel, reports CBS News national security correspondent David Martin. The trip has been scheduled for some time but U.S. officials say it comes just as the Israelis are mounting a full court press to get the Bush administration to strike Iran's nuclear complex.

CBS consultant Michael Oren says Israel doesn't want to wait for a new administration.

"The Israelis have been assured by the Bush administration that the Bush administration will not allow Iran to nuclearize," Oren said. "Israelis are uncertain about what would be the policies of the next administration vis-à-vis Iran."

Israel's message is simple: If you don't, we will. Israel held a dress rehearsal for a strike earlier this month, but military analysts say Israel can not do it alone....."  http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/06/24/eveningnews/main4206201.shtml

Sun Jun 22, 2008 6:03am EDT

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - "An Israeli anti-torture watchdog said in a report on Sunday Israeli soldiers routinely abuse bound Palestinian detainees and it accused the military of "absolute indifference" towards such mistreatment.

The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) said its findings were based on 90 detailed accounts from Palestinians as well as from soldiers who witnessed the abuse and were concerned over the army's failure to stop it.

Soldiers, the report said, were frequently violent towards Palestinian detainees, including minors, in many cases after they had been handcuffed and no longer posed a threat." http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSL2258018920080622?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews

By Daniel Trotta, Reuters
June 20, 2008

"NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.N. children's fund UNICEF has severed ties with an Israeli billionaire and financial backer due to his suspected involvement in building settlements in the occupied West Bank, UNICEF said on Friday.

Lev Leviev, a real estate and diamond mogul who is one of the richest men in Israel, has supported UNICEF with direct contributions and indirectly by sponsoring at least one UNICEF fund-raiser.

He is chairman of Africa Israel Investments, a conglomerate whose units include Danya Cebus, which the Arab rights advocacy group Adalah-NY charges has carried out settlement construction, considered illegal by the United Nations.

UNICEF decided to review its relationship with Leviev after a campaign by Adalah-NY and found "at least a reasonable grounds for suspecting" that Leviev companies were building settlements in occupied territory, a UNICEF official said."  http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSN2047885820080620

by Sam Bahour
June 14, 2008

Israeli occupation caused doubling of poor families in country, negatively affected tourism industry.

"JERUSALEM - The occupation of the Palestinian territories is exacting a high price from Israel, a local think-tank said.

"The prolonged conflict with the Palestinians is a millstone around Israel's neck," Adva, a social justice NGO, said in a 4 June report, The cost of the occupation . Israel's poor carry much of the burden as inequality within the country grows. The percentage of families considered poor has doubled since the 1970s, the report said, noting this was due to the conflict and partially the result of immigrants from Ethiopia and the former Soviet Union being unable to integrate in Israeli society.

Government spending cuts in recent years have targeted social services. "[From] 2001 through 2005, child allowances were cut by 45 percent, unemployment compensation by 47 percent, and income maintenance by 25 percent," causing increased suffering for the poorest. .....More generally, the increases in the military budget amounted to 36 billion shekels (US$10.7 billion) between 1989 and 2008, Adva estimated, which is "more than the total spending for elementary, secondary and tertiary education in Israel in 2008". ..."  http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=26454

"A new German owner has purchased Haaretz and a "Putsch is being carried out among reporting staff," in the most important and liberal Zionist paper in Israel. According to inside sources, the new owner has carried out a rough, sittingroom survey that revealed that "the occupation doesn’t sell newspapers" and they are therefore concentrating on the business world (ie. The Marker). Twilight Zone, Gideon Levy’s regular Friday column, has been scrapped, Amira Hass has been degraded to freelance on half salary, Meron Rapaport has been fired and Akiva Eldar has lost at least one half page a week."  http://engforum.pravda.ru/showthread.php?t=217023

By Atef Saad

Tue Jun 24, 2008 5:23am EDT

"NABLUS, West Bank, June 24 (Reuters) - Israeli forces killed two Palestinians, including an Islamic Jihad commander, in the West Bank city of Nablus on Tuesday in the first fatal raid since a ceasefire took hold in the Gaza Strip last week.

Islamic Jihad threatened to launch attacks inside Israel to avenge the death of Tarek Juma Abu Ghali, whom the militant group described as one of its most senior commanders in the northern West Bank.

A second Palestinian, affiliated with the Islamist militant group Hamas, was also killed in the overnight raid, Palestinian security sources said.

The killings, which were confirmed by the Israeli army, could test the fragile ceasefire that took effect last Thursday between Israel and militants in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.

"Calm in Gaza does not mean that we will sit in our seats waiting to be slaughtered one by one," Islamic Jihad said in a statement. "This crime will not pass without punishment and the coming days will be a witness to that."......."  http://www.reuters.com/articlePrint?articleId=USL24735034

Herb Keinon and Yaakov Katz , THE JERUSALEM POST

Jun. 24, 2008

"The sixth day of the Gaza truce saw the first violations when three Kassam rockets slammed into Israel in response to the IDF killing of top Islamic Jihad operative Tarek Abu Ghally in Nablus on Tuesday. There was no immediate military response from the IDF.

The rockets struck in the western Negev without causing any casualties or damage. Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.

"We cannot keep our hands tied when this is happening to our brothers in the West Bank," the group said in a statement.

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said the rocket attack "came as result of Israeli provocation this morning." He added, however, that Hamas was "committed to the security calm." ....."  http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1214132667653&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter

By Kurt Bayer in Scotsman.com News

Sunday, 8th June 2008

"FOR 120 years, generations of Christian monks have peacefully cultivated the land surrounding the Cremisan monastery in the hills above Bethlehem – hewing terraces out of the rocky slopes to create Palestine's only vineyard. The monks have combined traditional Italian methods of wine-making with organic viticulture fitting the harsh conditions of the Holy Land, to create distinctive red and white wines and provide vital income for the families of those who labour in the vineyards. But this idyllic monastery will soon be swallowed up by Israel when the next phase of the controversial Israeli West Bank barrier is completed over the next three months.....

Bulldozers have already ripped out hundreds of pine trees surrounding the vineyards and, according to a spokesman for the Applied Research Institute of Jerusalem, which monitors Israeli settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, foundations have already been dug and the infrastructure is in place so that the wall can be completed within "two to three months".

Amer Kardosh, general manager of the vineyard, stressed: "We do not want to be in Israel. We are Palestinians, but we have no choice. The wall will separate us from Palestine and our people." .." http://news.scotsman.com/world/Bad-year-for-winemaking-monks.4163473.jp

June 6, 2008

"A top Israeli official has said that if Iran continues with its alleged nuclear arms programme, Israel will attack it. Speaking to Yediot Ahronot newspaper, Deputy Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz said sanctions on Iran were ineffective. Mr Mofaz is one of three deputy prime ministers and the transport minister. Earlier this week, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Iran's nuclear programme must be stopped by what he termed all possible means...."  http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/mpapps/pagetools/print/news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7440472.stm 

By Barak Ravid and Avi Issacharoff
 06/05/2008

lks, key issues still contested

"Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat has said that marked differences still remain over key issues in peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, despite reports of progress at a high-level meeting Monday.

"I cannot say that there was significant progress during the meeting. The issues are still contested," Erekat said, speaking after after Monday's peace talks between Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. "  http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/981062.html

by Nicki Bennett and the Oxfam Gaza team
June 3, 2008

".....“Now that the fuel is being rationed it is far too expensive for most people who live here. So they’re driving on cooking oil instead.” .... It’s not good for the environment — but for many people, it’s the only choice these days.”

One logical consequence of the fuel cuts is smell number two: sweaty horses and donkeys. With the number of cars on the road having dwindled dramatically, horse- or donkey-drawn carts have taken their place. The streets are virtually crawling with them, particularly near one of the UN warehouses where food distribution — 80% of people here are dependent on food aid — is going on today. With each cart that passes comes a whiff of musty animal sweat.

The third smell I recognize instantly: raw sewage. ....“Every day, I have to pump 50 or 60 million liters of raw sewage into the Mediterranean Sea. We would like to treat it of course, but the wastewater-treatment plant we have can’t cope with that much at the best of times. And like everything else it depends on fuel. Last month — throughout the whole month of April — I did not receive a single liter of fuel from the authorities because of this conflict. So what choice do I have?”

“We’re planning to build a new plant, the money from the World Bank is already there — but because of the Israeli blockade against Gaza, construction has stalled. It’s the same for all of the development projects — nothing can go ahead without parts and materials, and we’ve been waiting for almost a year for most of our parts to come in.” ..."  http://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/03/smells-of-gaza/index.html?ref=opinion

By Reuters

In The Jordan Times (Jordan)

June 2, 2008

"Hizbollah said on Sunday it had released the remains of Israeli soldiers killed in a 2006 war with Israel, which handed over a Lebanese man who had completed a jail term on charges of spying for the group. The exchange increased speculation of progress in indirect talks over a broader prisoner swap. Lebanese political sources said last Monday that the talks had made major progress."  http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=8313

In Kuwait News Agency (kuna) (Kuwait)

June 2, 2008

"Britain said Monday it considers that Israeli settlement building anywhere in the Occupied Palestinian Territories is illegal under international law. In a brief statement, the Foreign Office in London said "This includes settlements in both East Jerusalem and the West Bank". "The Roadmap was clear that Israel should freeze all settlement activity, including the so-called natural growth of existing settlements, and dismantle all outposts erected since March 2001", the statement pointed out. "This has been the UKs consistent position and it will continue to raise this with the Israeli government", it added.

The Foreign Office was commenting in the context of reports of plans for further Israeli settlement building in the West Bank, around Jerusalem....."  http://www.kuna.net.kw/NewsAgenciesPublicSite/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=1913392&Language=en

Ali Waked YNet News
May 5, 2008

Palestinians recount 'nightmarish' searches by troops during counterterrorism ops. 'The mental scars will remain for a long time. We have never experienced such brutality,' resident says

Gaza residents say they were subjected to inhuman treatment at the hands of IDF soldiers conducting searches in their homes as part of the army's recent efforts to combat Palestinian terror. http://www.ynetnews.com/Ext/Comp/ArticleLayout/CdaArticlePrintPreview/1,2506,L-3539931,00.html

Agence France Presse
June 1, 2008

"JERUSALEM (AFP) — Israel will build 884 more houses in east Jerusalem, the housing ministry said on Sunday, in a move that enraged the Palestinians who have demanded the area as the capital of their promised state. "We will invite tenders for the construction of 121 housing units in Har Homa and 763 others in Pisgat Zeev," ministry spokesman Eran Sidis told AFP, referring to two neighbourhoods in Arab east Jerusalem.

Israel occupied and annexed the eastern half of the city after the 1967 war in a move not recognised by the international community or the Palestinians, who have demanded it as their capital in recently revived peace talks...."  http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5h4zAakye_VlHeyANxTM68ZLKkvmQ

By Nadav Shragai, Haaretz Correspondent and News Agencies

Haaretz Daily News
June 1, 2008

"Israel announced plans on Sunday to build more than 800 hundred new homes in eastern parts of the Jerusalem municipality, despite U.S. and Palestinian calls to halt settlement expansion. The announcement was issued two days before Prime Minister Ehud Olmert embarks on a three-day visit to Washington.

The 2003 peace road map, reaffirmed by Israeli and Palestinian leaders at a conference hosted by U.S. President George W. Bush in November, requires a halt to all settlement activity on occupied land where Palestinians seek statehood...."  http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/989016.html

By Haaretz Service, June 1, 2008

"Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni served as a Paris agent for the Mossad overseas intelligence agency in the 1980s during a series of missions it ran to kill Palestinian terrorists across Europe, according to the Sunday Times. The report cites Livni's former colleagues as saying the Kadima frontrunner was on active duty in 1983, when senior Palestine Liberation Organization official Mamoun Meraish was shot dead by two Mossad agents in Athens......"  http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/989013.html

By Haaretz Service
June 1, 2008

"Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Saturday canceled a political-security cabinet meeting slated for Sunday, in which a vote was to be held on whether or not to agree to a cease-fire with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Olmert and Barak decided that due to the "vagueness" of Hamas' position in regard to the ceasefire, a cabinet vote on whether to accept it would be premature. The cabinet meeting will be postponed until the following Sunday...."  http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/988778.html

By The Associated Press and News Agencie
June 1, 2008

"The U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem is working to get seven Gaza students out of the blockaded territory to pursue their Fulbright scholarship studies, the human rights group Gisha said Sunday.

Gisha gave the Associated Press a copy of a message sent to all seven students by the consulate on Sunday. It said U.S. officials are trying to get exit permits for them, bring them to east Jerusalem and get them visas for the U.S. Then they could continue their studies.

"We are working very closely with the Government of Israel in order to secure its cooperation in this matter," the message read. Consulate officials had no immediate comment.

Gisha director Sari Bashi welcomed the pledge of the consulate to help. "Gisha calls on Israel to allow all students with scholarships trapped in Gaza to leave and study abroad," she said. On Thursday the students were informed that their scholarships would be canceled because the students couldn't get out of Gaza....."  http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/985362.html

By IBRAHIM BARZAK, Associated Press Writer

May 30, 2008

"GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Hadeel Abu Kawik was supposed to spend next year in the United States on the prestigious Fulbright scholarship program, but now it appears she will remain trapped in the Gaza Strip by an Israeli blockade. Word that the U.S. State Department was canceling her scholarship came after Abu Kawik, 23 and a computer engineering student, went through a lengthy process for the scholarship that included interviews, exams and an English test.

"I was building my hope on this scholarship," she said Friday.

Seven other Gaza students also lost their grants. The decision was made because they would not be able to get exit visas from Israel, according to State Department spokesman Tom Casey...." 

By Mazal Mualem, Haaretz Daily News
May 30, 2008

"General elections will be held by the end of the year, Labor leader and Defense Minister Ehud Barak said at a party meeting at Labor headquarters in Tel Aviv yesterday. "We are in favor of stability and are ready to help form a new government in the current Knesset, but I believe we are heading for elections by the end of the year," Barak said.

On Wednesday, Barak urged Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to step down and appoint a replacement, due to the suspicions of corruption surrounding him. However, Olmert publicly rejected the request...."  http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/988600.html

Ali Waked, YNet News
May 30, 2008

"Hamas would not be surprised to see Israel exploiting its domestic political crisis in order to evade Egyptian mediation efforts on a Gaza Strip truce, a senior Hamas figure told Ynet Friday. The group is still waiting for Egypt's response regarding clarifications it asked for, the source said.

"It's clear to us that Israel is not really interested in a lull, but rather, only wants to buy time," the source said. "Israel will attempt to divert attention away from the embarrassing affairs involving its leaders through escalation in the Gaza Strip. We are preparing for all scenarios, yet at this time we can say that the chances of lull efforts succeeding are slim because of Israel's evasive games...."  http://www.ynetnews.com/Ext/Comp/ArticleLayout/CdaArticlePrintPreview/1,2506,L-3549948,00.html

".....Dozens of boys arrived at the meeting place in the Pisgat Ze'ev shopping mall. They streamed in from all parts of the capital, some on foot, some by bus and some driven in by parents. Equipped with knives, sticks and clubs, they all had one purpose: to do harm to Arabs for being Arabs.

At the entrance, the gang encountered two boys from the Shuafat refugee camp, who had come to shop for clothes and didn't know the mall had closed early for Holocaust Day. The day's end saw the two battered, bleeding and stabbed, and at Hadassah University Hospital in Ein Karem....."  http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/988477.html

By Haaretz Correspondent and Agencies , By Assaf Uni
May 29, 2008

"Members of the University and College Union in England (UCU) passed a motion at their annual conference yesterday to consider severing ties with Israeli universities.

Tom Hickey, who teaches philosophy at the University of Brighton, says the motion highlighting the "humanitarian catastrophe imposed on Gaza by Israel" is just shy of a full boycott, The Telegraph said."  http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/988162.html

Associated Press , THE JERUSALEM POST
May. 27, 2008

"In the past seven years, Israel has denied 94 percent of Palestinian requests for building permits in West Bank areas under its full control, a UN agency said in a report Tuesday. During the same period, Israel demolished more than 1,600 Palestinian-owned structures in those areas, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

The report also stated that more than 3,000 Israeli demolition orders are pending against Palestinian-owned structures in those areas. Ten small communities are at risk of being almost entirely displaced by demolitions, the agency claimed...." http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1211872828552&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

By The Associated Press, May 20, 2008

"Orthodox Jews set fire to hundreds of copies of the New Testament in the latest act of violence against Christian missionaries in the Holy Land.

Or Yehuda Deputy Mayor Uzi Aharon said missionaries recently entered a neighborhood in the predominantly religious town of 34,000 in central Israel, distributing hundreds of New Testaments and missionary material.

After receiving complaints, Aharon said, he got into a loudspeaker car last Thursday and drove through the neighborhood, urging people to turn over the material to Jewish religious students who went door to door to collect it. "The books were dumped into a pile and set afire in a lot near a synagogue," he said......

Israeli authorities and Orthodox Jews frown on missionary activity aimed at Jews, though in most cases it is not illegal. Still, the concept of a Jew burning books is abhorrent to many in Israel because of the association with Nazis torching piles of Jewish books during the Holocaust of World War II.

Earlier this year, the teenage son of a prominent Christian missionary was seriously wounded when a package bomb delivered to the family's West Bank home went off in his hands. Last year, arsonists burst into a Jerusalem church used by Messianic Jews and set the building on fire, raising suspicions that Jewish extremists were behind the attack. No one claimed responsibility, but the same church was burned down 25 years ago by ultra-Orthodox Jewish extremists."   http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/985362.html

By Charles Levinson

In Usa Today

May 19, 2008

"President Bush wrapped up his five-day Mideast tour Sunday with little visible progress on either of the main issues he highlighted: rising oil prices and the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Instead, Bush was subjected to a wave of criticism as he delivered a lecture to the Arab world on the benefits of democracy.

"This trip was an exclamation point on the fact that the mystique about American power is no longer there," said Steve Clemons, an analyst at the New America Foundation, a think tank in Washington. On the final leg of his trip, Bush came to the Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheik, where Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak greeted him with a half-dozen soldiers and none of the pomp given Bush on other state visits. Instead, Egypt's state-controlled newspapers slammed the American president in stinging front-page editorials...."  http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2008-05-18-bush-mideast_N.htm?csp=34

By Haaretz Staff and Agencies, Haaretz Daily Newspaper
May 19 2008

"Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas warned yesterday that he would resign from his position if a peace settlement is not reached with Israel within six months....Earlier yesterday, Abbas said that the address given by U.S. President George W. Bush to the Knesset last week had angered the Palestinians...." http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/984654.html

Efrat Weiss, YNet News
May 19, 2008

"A new outpost has been built in the past few weeks on a hill near the community of Neguhot in South Mount Hebron, Ynet has learned, despite the recent cooperation between the settlers and the Defense Ministry in removing illegal caravans into communities. The outpost, which consists of a permanent structure where people are believed to be living, is located at the end of a vineyard.

There are three hills in the Neguhot area. The community itself is located on one of the hills, the Mitzpe Lachish outpost was built on a second hill, and the new building has now been located on the third one. Mitzpe Lachish and Neguhot were included in Attorney Talia Sasson's report on unauthorized outposts.....

The Peace Now movement said in a statement, "The settlers aren't wasting any time and continue to change reality. Every day which goes by distances Israel and the Palestinians from the possibility of implementing the two-state vision and makes reality impossible. "Instead of talking with the settlers' leadership, the defense minister must enforce the law and immediately evacuate the new outpost along with the dozens of additional outposts built in the territories illegally."  http://www.ynetnews.com/Ext/Comp/ArticleLayout/CdaArticlePrintPreview/1,2506,L-3545065,00.html

Ynet News
 05.16.08

"Palestinians bristle at terminology used by US president in support of Israel, say religious analogies hailing Israelis as 'chosen people' prove Washington bias. Meanwhile Bush's Knesset address causes furor among Democrats back home who view denunciation of appeasement as jibe against Obama "  http://www.ynetnews.com/home/0,7340,L-3089,00.html

In Agence France Presse (AFP) (France)

May 15, 2008

"Israel warned on Thursday that its forces were prepared to launch a major military operation in the Gaza Strip after a rocket attack that wounded at least 14 people while US President George W. Bush was in Israel. ‘The Israeli army has never been this ready to launch a large-scale operation in Gaza,’ said Infrastructure Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, a member of Israel's security cabinet. ‘It may be that we have no choice but to destroy all the nests of terror. Apparently we'll have no choice,’ he told public radio....."  http://www.unitedjerusalem.com/index2.asp?id=1067652

Maan News
May 15, 2008

"Two Palestinian activists, affiliated to Hamas' Al-Qassam Brigades, were killed on Wednesday at midnight and three others were injured when Israeli military tanks targeted a group of fighters in the Shuja'iyya neighborhood of Gaza City.

Palestinian medical sources named those killed as Ahmad Al-Malahi and Muhammad Harara, both in their thirties. The wounded activists were evacuated to Ash-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City and medics described their condition as serious. The dead bodies were also taken to the same hospital.

Israeli artillery fired another shell at an open agricultural area near the American school in the northern Gaza Strip. No casualties have been reported."  http://imeu.net/news/article008745.shtml

By The Associated Press
May 14, 2008

 "Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has promised to build about 600 housing units in contentious West Bank settlements, a political ally of the prime minister said Wednesday, adding new tensions to peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

The announcement came shortly before U.S. President George W. Bush arrived in Israel to take part in the Jewish state's 60th anniversary celebrations - and to try to nudge forward Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations....."  http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/983304.html

By Akiva Eldar, Haaretz Correspondent, Haaretz
May 14, 2008

"The Jerusalem municipality has begun the process of approving a plan for a new housing complex, including a synagogue, in the heart of the Arab neighborhood of Silwan south of the Old City. The plan, submitted by the right-wing Elad association, includes 10 apartments, kindergarten classrooms, a library and underground parking for 100 cars. Documents show the land the complex is to be built on belongs to the Israel Lands Administration (ILA); however, the ILA said it was unaware of the plan.

The municipal spokesman said Elad had leased the land, and therefore the plan does not require ILA approval. A municipal document dated January 21, 2008 notes that all necessary recommendations had been received in the planning file.

The area slated for the new project is located 200 meters from the Old City walls, in an area considered one of the most sensitive in the present negotiations with the Palestinians over the final-status agreement....."  http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/983289.html

By The Associated Press, Haaretz Newspaper

May 14, 2008

"The approval rating of the Palestinian government in the West Bank has dropped 13 percentage points since January and President Mahmoud Abbas would have trouble winning if elections were held now, according to a poll published Wednesday.

The poll was conducted at a time of growing Palestinian frustration over

stalled peace talks with Israel and a stagnant economy. Negotiations on the so-called core issues - the borders of a Palestinian state, a division of Jerusalem and the fate of Palestinian refugees - resumed earlier this year.

Abbas and his prime minister, Salam Fayyad, are being hurt by the lack of progress, according to pollster Nader Said. "This goes to illustrate that

Palestinians will always come back to the core issues," he said. "Not to make progress on these issues will harm the stakeholders trying to achieve a solution." .......

The poll indicated that Marwan Barghouti, an imprisoned militant leader, is by far the most popular Palestinian politician....." http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/983420.html

By Fadi Eyadat, Mijal Grinberg and Yuval Azoulay, Haaretz
May 14, 2008

"Some 40 families from Kibbutz Kfar Aza, near the Gaza Strip, have decided to leave the area.

"We decided to leave the kibbutz until things quiet down, and unfortunately, it will be with white flags," Dudi Doron, a member of Kibbutz Kfar Aza, said Tuesday. "Neither I nor my children will be Israel's hostages. We will come back when there is a solution to life," Doron said. Last night, like every night since Friday, when kibbutz member Jimmy Kedoshim was killed by mortar fire while standing in his garden, a number of kibbutz members met to discuss plans to leave en masse....."  http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/983206.html

By News Agencies, Haaretz
May 14, 2008

"The Israel Defense Forces killed two Hamas militants and two Palestinian civilians on Wednesday in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, medical workers said...."  http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/983296.html

Rory McCarthy in Beit Hanoun, The Guardian
May 14, 2008

"In the third part of our series on Gaza, Rory McCarthy talks to Ahmad Abu Me'tiq, who lost his wife and four of his children in an Israeli air strike......

Their deaths add to the growing and striking toll of children killed in the conflict in Gaza. This year alone at least 44 Palestinian children have been killed, according to a count at the end of April by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights. The UN has put the figure at 53 children dead and 177 children injured so far this year.

Despite talks about a ceasefire the death toll on both sides continues to rise. At least 312 Palestinians, more than half civilians, have been killed this year, according to the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights. On the Israeli side six soldiers and six civilians have died, the latest Shuli Katz, 70, who was killed on Monday by a rocket fired by Gazan militants into Yesha, a village in southern Israel....."  http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/may/14/gaza 

By Mijal Grinberg and Yuval Azoulay, Haaretz Correspondents

"An Israeli civilian was killed Friday by a mortar fired by Palestinians in Gaza which landed in the western Negev town of Kfar Aza. A Magen David Adom rescue crew which was summoned to the scene pronounced the man dead following unsuccessful attempts to resuscitate him. One person was moderately hurt and two were lightly injured by shrapnel while three others were treated for shock.

The radio of Gaza's ruling Hamas movement said the group was responsible for the mortar fire. "Hamas is clearly in control of the Gaza Strip and responsible for all hostile fire into Israel. We hold it accountable for today's attack and the murder of our civilians," said David Baker, an Israeli government spokesman.

Abu Obeida, a spokesman for Hamas' military wing, said militants had targeted a military position."  http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/982041.html

By Avi Issacharoff, Mijal Grinberg, Haaretz Correspondents

12/05/2008

"A 70-year-old woman was killed Monday in a rocket attack from the Gaza Strip, the rescue service said. The rocket hit a house in Moshav Yesha, 15 kilometers (9 miles) east of Gaza, farther away than the usual targets of rockets fired by Gaza militants. No one else was hurt, the rescue service said.

The attack came as the Egyptian chief of intelligence wrapped up talks with Israel about a truce with Hamas to end rocket attacks and Israeli reprisals.

Earlier Monday, two Qassam rockets hit Ashkelon. One of the rockets struck an area crowded with many schools and kindergartens at 7 A.M., only minutes before children normally flood the area......"  http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/982609.html

By Haaretz Correspondents and Agencies
By Avi Issacharoff and Yuval Azoulay

May 11, 2008

"Tree Palestinians were killed and more than 20 wounded in clashes with Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday and Thursday.

On Wednesday, Israel Defense Forces soldiers and Palestinian gunmen clashed in Abassan, along the Gaza-Israel border, and Israeli aircraft carried out at least four missile strikes.

One missile struck Palestinians who were using abandoned houses as cover, killing a gunman from Islamic Jihad and wounding 14 people, Palestinian sources said. Palestinians identified the dead man as Mahmoud Abu Muslam, 21.

An earlier strike wounded six members of Hamas, and three of them were in critical condition, according to Dr. Moaiya Hassanain of the Palestinian Health Ministry. Palestinian witnesses said a total of 25 tanks and armored bulldozers entered Abassan, an area east of Khan Yunis, setting off battles with local militants.

Several hours after the Israeli forces withdrew from Abassan, medics also found the body of a Palestinian woman in her home. According to the Palestinian Human Rights Center, the woman was killed when the IDF blew up her front door. The woman, Wafa al-Durma, 33, was mother to seven children...."  http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/981936.html

by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC News

Friday May 09, 2008

"Acording to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR)'s Weekly Report, during the week of 30 April- 07 May 2008, 9 Palestinians, including a woman, were killed by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip and West Bank. 3 of the victims were extra-judicially executed by Israeli forces. 35 Palestinians, including 6 children and a woman, were injured by Israeli forces.

Israeli forces conducted 43 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank, and five into the Gaza Strip. Israeli forces confiscated the contents of a sewing workshop of the Islamic Charity in Hebron and ordered its closure for 3 years. Israeli forces issued notices to six Palestinian civilians in Beit ‘Awa village, south of Hebron, that their houses will be demolished.

During the reporting period, Israeli forces conducted at least 43 military incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank. Israeli forces abducted 100 Palestinian civilians, including 15 children. The number of Palestinian civilians abducted by Israeli forces in the West Bank since the beginning of 2008 stands at 1,151...."  http://imemc.org/article/54737?print_page=true

By Wafa Amr
Sun May 11, 2008

JERUSALEM, May 11 (Reuters) - "Eighty-year-old Beatrice Habesch sobbed when she caught sight of her father's house in Jerusalem on Sunday and remembered how it was taken over by Jews in 1948.

"This is our house! This is my house!" she shouted as fellow Palestinians held her back from running towards the building.

Some 300 Palestinians marked 60 years since Israel's founding in May 1948 with a protest walk through affluent Jewish parts of west Jerusalem that were once home to many Arabs. They wore black T-shirts with "This is my House" printed on the back.

The Palestinians said their families had owned houses in Talbiyeh, German Colony and other districts until Israelis drove them away or they fled in the Arab-Jewish fighting that accompanied the creation of the state of Israel ....."  http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSL11222279

By The Associated Press
May 11, 2008

"VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI urged Israel on Monday to help the

dwindling Christian community in the Middle East by assuring them of a secure future in the region.

He has also asked that Israel resolve long-standing problems with the Holy See over church land and taxes and to ease visa restrictions for Catholic clergy.

Benedict raised the issues when he received Israel's new ambassador to the Holy See.

The problem of travel restrictions on Arab Christian clergy has been an irritant in relations. Israel has rescinded some travel privileges, citing security concerns."  http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/982671.html

By Yoav Stern and Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondents and Haaretz Service
May 11, 2008

 "Israel's defense establishment has raised its intelligence alert in case Hezbollah decides to exploit its hold on Lebanon to wage an armed conflict south of the Litani River, Army Radio reported on Monday.

Nevertheless, Israeli security officials are downplaying concerns of an imminent direct conflict with the Lebanon-based militant group, the radio said. Hezbollah guerillas seized west Beirut over the weekend and sectarian clashes have raged across Lebanon between the group and pro-government fighters for six consecutive days.

On Sunday, former IDF chief of staff Amnon Lipkin-Shahak said Hezbollah's persistent attempts to take over Lebanon could eventually benefit Israel in its struggle against the militant group. "If an armed conflict erupts it will be simpler to strike Lebanon when Hezbollah is the legitimate ruler," Shahak told the Army Radio......

Meanwhile Sunday, a Lebanese security official reported that Israel Air Force warplanes violated Lebanon's airspace and flew over the southern part of the country. "More than four Israeli jets flew over areas near the port city of Tyre," the official said. IAF jets regularly overfly Lebanon in violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701. The United Nations has called on Israel to stop doing so. The organization says the overflights undermine the credibility of UN peacekeepers stationed in southern Lebanon to observe a fragile ceasefire in the area."  http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/982346.html

By Reuters
11/05/2008

"A United Nations agency called on Israel on Sunday to investigate the death of a Palestinian teacher employed by the agency who was killed in her home during an Israeli raid last week in the Gaza Strip. "We're calling on the Israelis for an impartial investigation," said Christopher Gunness, spokesman for the U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), for which Wafa al-Daghma worked as a teacher at an elementary school for refugee children. "We want to see accountability."

A spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces said they were looking into the matter. Dozens of civilians have been killed in Gaza this year in air and ground attacks that Israel says are directed against militants who fire rockets into its territory....

Gunness said inquiries by UNRWA suggested Daghma was killed when troops blasted open the door of her home in order to take the building as an observation post. Daghma's 13-year-old daughter Samira told reporters last week that her mother had ordered her and a sister and brother aged under 5, into another room. The children then heard an explosion, she said. Soldiers then entered the house. Only some hours later, when the soldiers left, were the children able to leave the room where they had been held and neighbours and relatives were able to retrieve Daghma's body.

Human rights groups have called on Israel to mount independent investigations into several civilian deaths in the Gaza Strip recently. Among these was the killing of a mother and four of her children on April 28 and the killing of a Reuters television cameraman and several other civilians on April 16......" http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/982346.html

B'tselem (The Israeli Human Rights Organization)

April 28, 2008

“Despite its claims of removing physical obstructions to “ease” movement, Israel continues to impose sweeping restrictions on Palestinian movement in the West Bank

The government recently announced that at the end of March 2008, the army began removing 61 physical obstructions – dirt piles, boulders, and blocks – it had placed inside the West Bank. The obstructions were purportedly removed following Israel’s commitment, made in March to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, to reduce restrictions on Palestinian movement in the West Bank. However, B'Tselem’s investigation and investigations by other human rights organizations indicate that the government’s declaration was no more than sleight of hand.....”  http://www.btselem.org/english/Freedom_of_Movement/20080428_so_called_lifting_of_restritcions.asp

By Donald Macintyre in central Gaza, The Independent
Friday, 18 April 2008

 "..... two teenage boys from the Nusseirat refugee camp displayed half a dozen of the dull, black, inch-long darts which they said they had found among the cactus growing along the verge opposite where Mr Shana had parked his unarmoured SUV to film a tank on Wednesday afternoon.

According to doctors who examined the body of the 23 -year-old Palestinian Reuters cameraman at Gaza City's Shifa Hospital, it was controversial darts like those, flechettes, fired from an Israeli tank shell that explodes in the air, that caused his death. X-rays displayed to Reuters showed several of the flechettes embedded in the dead man's chest and legs, and more were found in his flak jacket, clearly emblazoned, like his vehicle, with "TV" and "Press" signs.

The military would only say that all its weapons "are legal under international law". Israel's Supreme Court rejected a 2003 petition arguing that the use of flechettes as an anti-personnel weapon contravened a 1980 UN convention, but the Israeli human rights group Btselem said last night that flechettes violated international law and demanded a criminal investigation.....

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/tank-shell-that-sprays-deadly-darts-killed-cameraman-in-gaza-say-doctors-811250.html

By The Associated Press
April 30, 2008

"An Israel Air Force aircraft attacked a metal workshop in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday, killing a militant and wounding three other people, Palestinian officials said.

The attack came as Palestinian militant groups agreed in principle to a cease-fire with Israel. Shortly before the air strike, Hamas' prime minister in the Gaza Strip, Ismail Haniyeh, had said the "ball is in the Israeli court" to keep to the terms of the truce.  The IDF confirmed the air strike in Rafah, a town located next to the Egyptian border."

http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/979472.html

By Amos Harel, Barak Ravid, and Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondents and Agencies

April 30, 2008

"The Islamic Jihad is willing to accept an Egyptian-mediated cease-fire in the Gaza Strip only if Israel agrees to end its siege on the coastal territory and reopen border crossings, the organization's deputy secretary-general said Wednesday.

All the Palestinian militant factions, in Egypt for talks on a cease-fire with Israel, agreed on Wednesday to the proposal put forth by Cairo, Egyptian sources told Al-Jazeera and the Egyptian state news agency MENA.

During surprise talks in Amman, Abdullah tells PM peace deal must be reached by year's end

By Reuters April 30, 2008

http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/979455.html

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert held talks in Jordan on Wednesday with Jordanian King Abdullah II on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. A palace statement said during the closed-door talks, Abdullah urged Olmert to work on improving the living conditions of Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip."  http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/979167.html

By Mijal Greenberg, Haaretz Correspondent, and Haaretz Service

April 30, 2008

"As the Qassam rocket barrage on Israel continued on Wednesday, a group of residents of the rocket-stricken town of Sderot called for a boycott of the Independence Day celebrations, scheduled for next week.

At least ten rockets and three mortar shells were fired on Wednesday at the western Negev from the Northern Gaza Strip.

There were no injuries reported in any of the incidents, but a woman and child were treated for shock when a rocket struck the Ashkelon regional council.

.... None of these rocket attacks caused casualties or property damage."  http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/979381.html

By Akiva Eldar, Haaretz
April 30, 2008

"Ten roadblocks that Israel set up in the West Bank have little security value and are needlessly disrupting trade in the Palestinian territories, according to a joint Israeli-Palestinian report recently submitted to security authorities.

The report, the first of its kind, was drawn up by a team that included U.S. experts, Palestinian officials and two Israel Defense Forces reserves officers serving in Civil Administration in the West Bank.

The team's recommendations, urging Israel to remove the roadblocks, were written under the auspices of the Peres Center for Peace, The Palestine Center for National Strategic Studies and the Danish government."  http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/objects/pages/PrintArticleEn.jhtml?itemNo=979136

IRIN
Apr 30, 2008

"Increased Israeli restrictions on the checkpoints around East Jerusalem have caused more delays and more lost man hours for UN staff in March 2008 than in all of 2007, the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has reported.

In the Humanitarian Monitor for March, released on 24 April, OCHA said "operations were significantly affected" and almost daily UN vehicles were delayed and even turned back by Israeli soldiers at checkpoints south of Jerusalem."  http://imeu.net/news/article008601.shtml

By Donald Macintyre, The Independent

30 April 2008

"Israel is coming under concerted international pressure to give swift agreement to specific measures to improve Palestinian life in the West Bank which senior diplomats believe could eventually make or break negotiations between the Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, and the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas."  http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/israel-told-to-tackle-west-bank-plight-818066.html

Middle East Children's Alliance

April 29, 2008

"The Israeli military is about to close down schools and orphanages run by the Islamic Charitable Society (ICS) in the West Bank city of Hebron. More than 240 boys and girls, aged 5-18 live at the orphanages, while thousands of other children, many of whom have lost at least one parent, receive schooling, food and clothing from the charity. The Israeli military has already seized $157,000 worth of goods - including rice, oil, sugar, clothing and first aid kits - from the ICS warehouse.

Israeli soldiers entered the Rahma Bakery, owned by the society, on April 14, destroyed the oven, and confiscated more than $43,000 of equipment, including all the display cases, refrigerators, fixtures, and most of the inventory. Upstairs, the soldiers destroyed heating ducts. This bakery provided bread for the orphanages.

The charity has appealed to the Israeli High Court of Justice. The Israeli army claims that ICS is supporting the Hamas movement, which started in 1987. The society, founded in 1962, argues that ICS is a Palestinian charitable organization, with no political agenda, which is monitored regularly by the Palestinian Authority.....

If the Israeli army shuts down the ICS and its projects in the city of Hebron, nearly 300 orphans will have no place other than the street to sleep."   http://www.mecaforpeace.org/article.php?id=327

Khaled Amayreh, Al-Ahram Weekly
Apr 28, 2008

"As 1.5 million Gazans are crying out to the world to pressure Israel to lift its scandalously callous blockade of the coastal territory, another 2.5 million Palestinians in the West Bank are struggling to cope with an unprecedented economic crisis that is further impoverishing and exhausting them.

The crisis, the harshest in recent memory, stems from a host of local and global factors, including soaring food and energy prices, sagging currency value, rampant joblessness and draconian Israeli restrictions on the movement of people, goods and services."

This article was originally published by Al-Ahram Weekly and is republished with permission by IMEU. http://imeu.net/news/article008566.shtml

Agence France Presse
April 28, 2008

"BEIT HANUN, Gaza Strip (AFP) — Four children, aged one to five, and their mother were among seven people killed by Israeli forces in Gaza Monday as Palestinian factions headed to Egypt for talks on a possible truce.

The four siblings -- aged one, three, four and five -- were killed when a missile hit their home in the town of Beit Hanun, and their mother died later of her wounds, doctors at the Kamal Radwan hospital said...."

 http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jhoF2jPEow37yCcAq3c10xuG1XDg

By Joshua Holland, AlterNet
April 21, 2008

What separates Carter from the neocons is his genuine desire to negotiate a Middle East peace settlement, and that means talking to everyone.

Former President Jimmy Carter, who won a Nobel Peace Prize for what the prize committee described as his "untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts," is touring the Middle East, as a private citizen, in a bid to revive interest in a moribund peace process between Israel and the Palestinians. He's doing so at a time when their decades-long conflict is growing in intensity and distrust on both sides is running high.

As a result, Carter is once again under fire from conservatives. Last week, Republican Rep. Sue Myrick (NC) went so far as to call for the former president's passport to be revoked on Fox News.

Carter's crime was to sit-down with leaders of Hamas last week to explore the possibility of waging peace in the Middle East. For many Israel-hawks, it wasn't a first offense; Carter is guilty of viewing the Palestinians as human beings and for condemning human rights abuses on both sides of the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. "Any side that kills innocent people is guilty of terrorism," he told an audience at Cairo's American University after his sit-down with members of Hamas.  http://www.alternet.org/audits/82936/

By Griff Witte

Washington Post Foreign Service

Saturday, April 19, 2008

"JERUSALEM, April 18 -- Former president Jimmy Carter followed through on a planned meeting with the exiled leader of Hamas on Friday, despite U.S. and Israeli protests that the session would give legitimacy to a group they consider a terrorist organization.

Khaled Meshal, who is accused of masterminding kidnappings and suicide bombings, met with Carter, a Nobel Peace laureate, in Damascus, Syria, where Meshal has lived for nearly a decade. The meeting was one of the most notable exchanges to date between Hamas, which won Palestinian elections in 2006, and a prominent Western political figure.

Israel and the United States have consistently opposed any direct contact with Hamas, an armed Islamist movement that has vowed to destroy the Jewish state. But a spokesman for Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Eli Yishai said Friday that Yishai had asked Carter to arrange for him to meet with Hamas to discuss a possible prisoner exchange. Yishai, a member of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, has said he believes it is his religious duty to try to win the release of Cpl. Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier who was kidnapped nearly two years ago and has been held in Gaza since.

Mark Regev, spokesman for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, said Yishai was speaking for himself. "It is not the position of the