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Israel orders Palestinian MPs out of Jerusalem

By Agence France Presse (AFP)

Saturday, July 01, 2006

JERUSALEM: Israel on Friday revoked the Jerusalem residency rights of a Palestinian Cabinet minister and three MPs, paving the way for their expulsion from the occupied eastern sector of the Holy City.

"The four are members of a terror organization dedicated to the destruction of the state of Israel. This contradicts the citizens' commitment toward the state," a senior Interior Ministry official said.

On May 29, Israel gave the four officials from Hamas 30 days to resign or face expulsion from occupied East Jerusalem.

The four affected by the decision are Jerusalem Affairs Minister, Khaled Abu Arafeh, and MPs Mohammad Abu Teir, Ahmad Attun and Mohammad Totah.

Housing Minister Meir Sheetrit said the four were now illegal residents, allowing Israel to expel them to the Palestinian Occupied Territories.

"Police now have the legal possibility to take them out of their houses into Palestinian territory. They cannot handle the stick from both ends - either they quit Hamas and the Palestinian Parliament, or leave Israel," he said.

They were detained as part of a massive Israeli operation on Thursday which landed 64 Palestinian politicians in jail.

Sheetrit said the detained politicians would be "brought to justice and sent to prison if nothing happens in the release efforts." But he was adamant that Israel was not using the politicians as bargaining chips for the release of an abducted soldier.

Israel bans all Palestinian political activity in East Jerusalem which was occupied and annexed in the 1967 war, a move not recognized by the international community.

The Palestinians want to establish the capital of their promised future state in East Jerusalem, where about 200,000 Palestinians  live, making up some 30 percent of the city's overall population.

Israel orders Palestinian MPs out of Jerusalem (http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=73602)

Fadlallah: Israel 'challenges the entire Arab world'


Daily Star staff
Saturday, July 01, 2006

BEIRUT: Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah denounced Israel's military assault on Gaza Friday, saying Israel is trying to eliminate "the Palestinian address." "The racist Jewish Army is still killing Palestinian youths, women, children and elderly for fear that they fight against the occupation force," the country's leading Shiite cleric said.

"The White House talks about the Zionist violence as a self-defense while it does not recognize that the Palestinian people have the right to defend their freedom and independence," Fadlallah said.

The Shiite cleric urged Arab and Islamic people to support Palestinians because the "Israeli plot," he said, "challen-ges the entire Arab world."

Fadlallah also addressed the state of Lebanese politics.

"We are witnessing in Lebanon two kinds of speeches, one that calls on accepting advice and taking others' positions into consideration and one that tackles political issues in a sectarian way," the cleric said.

Fadlallah called on Lebanese politicians to be "an example" to be followed and to resist "emotions" because they lead the country to the "abyss."

"Internal unity, national dialogue, state institutions and reform are all words used in political salons," he said. "It is for our Lebanese youth to work on creating the future of their country on the basis of their unity and away from sectarianism."

Meanwhile, the vice president of the Higher Shiite Council urged the Arab League to hold an "urgent" meeting to put an end to the Israeli assault.

"Why doesn't the Security Council meet?" Sheikh Abdel-Amir Qabalan asked.

"I call on Arabs and the United Nations to take a firm stand against the situation in Palestine," he added.

Qabalan said he congratulated participants in the Lebanese national dialogue for agreeing over rescuing the country.

He called on Lebanon's politicians to improve people's standard of living, limit unemployment and reduce taxes.

"We have to cooperate with Arab brothers, notably Syria," the sheikh said.

Fadlallah: Israel 'challenges the entire Arab world' (http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=73612)

UN won’t condemn Israel

Deputy head of Israeli delegation to UN Danny Carmon estimates Security Council will not accept resolution to condemn Israel for Gaza attacks at end of emergency discussion Friday night. Carmon to address Israel’s right to defend itself, while Palestinian observer says ‘Gaza is under siege’
Ronny Sofer and AP

Deputy head of the Israeli delegation to the United Nations Danny Carmon estimated that a decision condemning Israel will not be made Friday night at the UN Security Council.

The Council is set to convene for an emergency meeting at the request of some of its Arab members.

The discussion was summoned by Algeria, which heads the Arab bloc at the council, and was initiated by Iran in accordance with the Palestinian delegation to the UN. The proposal seeks to condemn Israel for its ongoing attacks on the Gaza Strip and for the series of arrests in the West Bank.

Riad Mansour, the Palestinian observer to the UN, said that the proposal will include a demand to release the senior Hamas members, including ministers and parliament members, arrested by Israel in recent days.

At this stage, it is unclear whether the Council members will indeed vote on a condemnation of Israel at the end of the emergency meeting.

Since learning about the discussion, which will begin at 1 a.m. Israel time, the Israeli delegation to the UN is working on minimizing the damage. Representatives of the 15 permanent members of the Council are expected during the meeting. Carmon and Mansour are also expected to address the Council, as well as representatives of other countries who may ask to speak.

Carmon, who is standing in for Ambassador Dan Gillerman, who is currently in Israel, is expected to address Israel’s right to defend itself and to mention the fact that Israel did not initiate the recent escalation.

He is also expected to describe the development of events, from the ongoing barrage of Qassam rockets at Sderot and Gaza vicinity communities, to the Palestinian guerilla operation at the Kerem Shalom post and the kidnapping of Corporal Gilad Shalit, who is being held hostage by Palestinians.

As for the arrests of Hamas ministers and parliament members, Israel’s key claim will be that it acted in accordance with the international Terror Prevention Act. According to the Act, Hamas is an illegal organization.

“From the moment Hamas claimed responsibility for the incident in which two Israeli soldiers were killed and another was kidnapped, inside the Green Line, all organization members must pay the price,” Israel is expected to claim at the Security Council Friday night.

'Crime against humanity'

Meanwhile, France called on Israel on Friday to free captured Palestinian ministers and said both sides must move to reduce escalating tensions.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Jean-Baptiste Mattei said France fears that the situation will "feed an escalation and strengthen the most extreme elements, which is doubtless not Israel's objective."

Palestinian observer Mansour accused Israel of trying to re-conquer the Gaza Strip, saying that the IDF operation in which bridges and water infrastructures were destroyed left many Palestinians without food and water.

“This is a crime against humanity, which is hurting 1.3 million Palestinians. The Gaza Strip is under siege, no one can enter or leave,” he said.

He added that “the Council must adopt an appropriate decision which will not allow aggressiveness.”

Foreign Ministry officials estimated that the addresses Friday night will be balanced in favor and against Israel.

Ronny Leshno Yaar, deputy director general for UN affairs at the Israeli Foreign Ministry, is concentrating the diplomatic efforts among Security Council members.

“We are preparing for a diplomatic curbing battle at the Council,” a Foreign Ministry official said, “further to the series of talks held by Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni in the past day with senior officials in the international community, including US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, whom she spoke to twice in the past 24 hours.”

Washington's UN Ambassador John Bolton estimated that the probability the Security Council will vote on condemning Israel at the end of the emergency meeting was small.

"Whenever the Security Council considers an issue, is to mind the Hippocratic oath provision, 'do no harm,' and in these circumstances, you have to see, if there's anything concrete the Security Council can do, rather than just blowing off steam," he said. "And, it's with that basis in mind, I said that considering a resolution today would be inadvisable."

UN won’t condemn Israel (http://www.ynetnews.com/Ext/Comp/ArticleLayout/CdaArticlePrintPreview/1,2506,L-3269559,00.html)

The UN making a smart decision??!!


 :o :o :o :o :o :o

UNSC to discuss renewed Gaza violence
JPost.com Staff, THE JERUSALEM POST    Jun. 30, 2006

The United Nations Security Council was scheduled to convene on Friday night (Israel time) to discuss the recent escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including the ongoing IDF incursion into the Gaza Strip and the massive arrests of 64 senior Hamas officials on Thursday.

Iran and Algeria requested the meeting, for the purpose of issuing a condemnation against Israel.

Senior Foreign Ministry officials were working with the United Nations delegation in order to prevent such a condemnation.

On Thursday night, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni called United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan and EU Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana, to discuss recent events in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

She related Israel's position on the continuing incursion into Gaza and the widespread arrests of 64 Hamas officials on Thursday morning. Livni emphasized Israel's right to self defense.

Earlier in the day, the G-8 foreign ministers' summit of developed countries that convened in St. Petersburg, expressed grave concern at the deterioration of the conflict. The diplomats meeting in Russia condemned the arrests and called upon Israel to show restraint.

UNSC to discuss renewed Gaza violence (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1150885888415&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)

Iran: Israel's actions should be viewed as government-sponsored terrorism
Friday, June 30, 2006 - 02:38 PM [Kods Time]
Iran's foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki called for intervention from the UN Security Council following Israel's military incursion into the Gaza Strip and its arrest of top Palestinian ministers.

Mottaki said at the United Nations that Israel's actions should be viewed as "government-sponsored terrorism." He said "this barbaric invasion is against all international laws and human principles,"

Mottaki said he had written to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan asking him to convene an emergency Security Council session that would agree a response to Israel's actions, which he called "a threat against international peace."


Mottaki was at the United Nations to attend a UN forum focused on preventing the illicit trade of small arms.

Venezuela
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez condemned Israel's assault saying Israel was emboldened to launch a new offensive against the Palestinians because of US backing.

Chavez called for respect for the Palestinians' sovereignty and said the attack came in defiance of the United Nations, and the international community. He said Israel's latest moves highlight the importance of countering what he called the dangers of US dominance in the world.

Iran: Israel's actions should be viewed as government-sponsored terrorism (http://www.almanar.com.lb/story.aspx?Language=en&DSNO=652099)

 Israeli attack leaves Arab neighbours in a quandary

ANGER flared across the Middle East yesterday over Israel’s assault on Gaza, and Arab governments faced the fallout, with opponents accusing them of impotence in helping the besieged Palestinians.

Fearing a flood of refugees, Egypt clamped a curfew on its Gaza border after Palestinians used a land mine to knock a hole in a border wall and tried to cross. Egyptian troops lined up as Palestinian security forces, firing shots in the air, blocked Palestinians trying to get through the opening.

Egypt also braced for a wave of pro-Palestinian protests called for by the government’s top rival, the Muslim Brotherhood, today, the day of weekly Islamic prayers.

Hoping to prevent the violence in Gaza from spinning out of control, Egyptian officials have been talking directly to the Damascus-based political leader of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, Khaled Mashaal, to push him to facilitate the release of an Israeli soldier abducted by militants at the centre of the crisis.

The Israeli offensive has put moderate Arab governments like Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia in a tight corner. They have been cold to the new Hamas government, trying to push it to moderate its positions to keep the Arab-Israeli peace process alive, and have done little to help it amid the West’s financial boycott of the Palestinians.

But now they face the perception among the Arab public that they are leaving the Palestinians in the lurch.

The leader of the Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood blasted Arab governments for their impotence and called for a wave of protests after today’s prayers.

The 22-member Arab League held an emergency session calling for “urgent support” for the Palestinians.

But Abdul Khaleq Abdulla, a political scientist at Emirates University, said, “There’s absolutely nothing the Arab world can do. The Palestinians are left alone to go through all this by themselves.”

 Israeli attack leaves Arab neighbours in a quandary (http://www.dispatch.co.za/2006/06/30/Foreign/bat3.html)

Thats what I though brother.  :o :o

Arab states keep Israel in U.N. human rights dock
30 Jun 2006 18:43:53 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Stephanie Nebehay

GENEVA, June 30 (Reuters) - Arab and Muslim states on Friday put the occupied Palestinian territories on the permanent agenda of the U.N. Human Rights Council, overcoming Israeli and Western objections to singling out alleged abuses by the Jewish state.

A resolution to re-examine the issue at future sessions, brought by the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), easily won passage at the 47-member forum.

A second OIC resolution, expressing deep concern at an "increasing trend of defamation of religions" and incitement to religious hatred, was also adopted along similar voting lines.

The two votes, on the final day of the Rights Council's inaugural two-week session, were seen as divisive.

Many states and rights activists had hoped all decisions would be taken by consensus to avoid the acrimony that marked the council's predecessor body, the U.N. Commission on Human Rights, which also debated Palestinian issues at each session.

Israel kept up an offensive in Gaza on Friday, where warplanes set ablaze the Interior Ministry offices on the third day of an operation aimed at recovering an army corporal seized in a cross-border raid on Sunday.

The vote to examine the situation in the Palestinian territories at future sessions passed with 29 countries in favour, 12 against, five abstentions and one delegation absent.

The resolution also called for existing U.N. human rights investigators, known as special rapporteurs, to report on the situation in the territories at the next session in September.

Regional powers including Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Syria were among the resolution's sponsors.

Western countries, including Britain, Canada, France, Germany, and Japan, voted against the text. The United States did not stand for election and only had observer status.

Itzkhak Levanon, Israel's ambassador, said in a speech before the vote that the OIC text was "imbalanced and intentionally one-sided".

"If this Council seeks to follow the discredited footsteps of the Commission, to encourage contention and selectivity rather than tolerance and objectivity, to lend itself to become a mere instrument of Israel bashing, politicised and subverted to propaganda, then it is clearly walking in that trail," he said.

Arab states keep Israel in U.N. human rights dock (http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L30350867.htm)

Exiled Hamas leaders under pressure
By Ian Pannell
BBC News, Damascus

It was just before 1200 in the Syrian capital and we were waiting for our contact.

We had been told to park our car at a crossroads in a middle-class suburb, not far from the city centre.

The sun was high and hot and we exchanged suspicious glances with the passengers of other cars.

Then a horn sounded behind us. An old Mercedes did a quick U-turn and sped off. This was our sign.

We were taken up into the hills that surround parts of Damascus, to a villa perched high above the city.

Our mobile phones were confiscated and all bags were thoroughly searched.

Anxiety

We had come to meet the deputy chairman of the militant Palestinian group, Hamas. Many of its members have been in exile in Syria for years.

The Israelis have killed leaders of the group before and few doubt that they will try again.

Indeed Khaled Meshaal, thought to be the group's political boss in Damascus, was once poisoned by agents posing as tourists when he was living in Jordan.

Now Israel has accused him of orchestrating the capture of Cpl Gilad Shalit. Security is always tight here but there is certainly apprehension if not anxiety in the air.

The deputy chairman of Hamas is Mousa Abu Marzook.

He shrugged off the threat against him and his colleagues as nothing new. "This has been Israeli policy for more than 50 years," he said.

He denied that the leadership in Damascus had ordered the capture of Cpl Shalit. This was the work of the group's military brigade, not the political leadership, he said.

Distinction

Mr Marzook compared his group to the Irish Republican movement, saying Hamas was one organisation but with two parts - an armed wing and a political wing.

It is an artificial distinction for some.

The Israelis, the Americans and many European countries think Hamas is essentially one organisation and that those who carry out attacks are following orders that emanate from the politicians, in particular those based here in Syria.

It is not just the Hamas leadership that is under pressure. Israeli warplanes flew over the Syrian president's summer residence this week.

The Israeli government accuses Syria of harbouring and supporting Palestinian militants.

Damascus denies the charge. The Syrian prime minister condemned the Israeli incursion and said the country would defend itself from any attack by Israel.

Some analysts believe that not only can Syria exert influence over Hamas but that it should.

Refugees

The country has been isolated internationally for some considerable time and the thinking goes that this would be a good time to try to improve its image by acting as a mediator.

Officially at least there is no sign of that although there have been some reports suggesting that President Assad has had a number of discussions with Hamas this week.

There are hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees in Syria. Many families fled during the 1948 and 1967 wars and they dream of one day being able to return.

They live in camps on the outskirts of the capital where large posters of Hamas figures and the former Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat are hung with pride.

There is plenty of support for the capture of the Israeli soldier here, and plenty of anger about the response.

But both Syrians and Palestinian refugees are apprehensive that the retaliation will be felt in Damascus.

Exiled Hamas leaders under pressure (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5134500.stm)

Israel’s performance ‘pretty good’ — U.S.
Israel’s performance in protecting innocents during its current strike on the Gaza Strip has been “pretty good,” the U.S. State Department said.

“Israel has taken actions it deems necessary for its defense,” spokesman Adam Ereli said Friday. “In terms of the protection of innocents, performance has been pretty good.” Ereli said, however, that Israel’s arrest of eight Palestinian Authority Cabinet members from Hamas and dozens of Hamas officials “raises particular concerns.”

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip since Wednesday, days after gunmen affiliated with the ruling Hamas party and other terrorist groups attacked an Israeli army base, killing two soldiers and kidnapping a third. A number of countries and the United Nations have slammed Israel for harming Gaza infrastructure during the operation.

Israel’s performance ‘pretty good’ — U.S. (http://jta.org/page_view_breaking_story.asp?intid=3374)

Israel defeated at UN Human Rights Council

With 29 countries in favor, 12 opposed, Arab countries pass decision according to which Council’s inspectors will prepare special report on human rights violations committed by Israel in territories, issue will be discussed in all Council meetings
Roee Nahmias

Diplomatic blow: The United Nations Human Rights Council on Friday accepted a resolution according to which human rights violations committed by Israel in the territories will be discussed on a permanent basis in all of the Council’s meetings.

Israel’s Ambassador to the UN in Geneva Yitzhak Levanon told Ynet in response: “I am very sorry that the Arab group took us back to the dark ages of the committee which passed away due to such behavior.”

Levanon was furious following the special discussion summoned by Arab and Muslim counties in the Council, which only began its work a week ago, replacing the Human Rights Committee – the UN’s previous human rights body, which was dissolved in a bid to establish a body in which countries violating human rights would not be able to serve.

Arab and Muslim countries succeeded in obtaining the signatures of one-third of the 47 Council members in order to hold a special discussion on “human rights violations by Israel in the territories” during the Council’s first session.

In the temperamental discussion, the Arab and Muslim bloc proposed a resolution according to which the Council’s inspectors would prepare a report on the Israeli violations of human rights in the territories for the Council’s next session scheduled for September.

In addition, the Israeli violations issue will also be discussed on a permanent basis every time the Council convenes. The next sessions are expected in December and in March, but one-third of the members will be able to summon special discussions, as they did Friday.

'How would you react?'

In a harsh address during the discussion, Levanon slammed the conduct of the Hamas-led government in particular and the Palestinians in general, who “kill children and women and fire Qassam rockets at Israel,” while Israel is doing all in its power to maintain restraint.

“If this would be happening in your country, how would you react?” Levanon asked the meeting attendees.

At the end of the discussion, Israel suffered a bitter but expected diplomatic defeat, with 29 countries voting in favor of the resolution proposed by the Arab bloc, which includes Algeria, Djibouti, Morocco, Tunisia, Bahrain, Indonesia, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.

Twelve countries opposed the resolution, including the European Union countries, Switzerland and Japan. The rest of the countries abstained. 

“I am happy that the European bloc showed its solidarity and supported us. Now the entire world knows which body is sabotaging the new council’s functioning,” Ambassador Levanon told Ynet at the end of the discussion.

The Arab countries also asked the Council members to hold a special session as soon as possible in order to discuss what is taking place in the territories and in Arab countries. The Syrian ambassador mentioned the Israel Air Force’s flight over President Bashar Assad’s palace this week.

According to estimations, the special discussion will be held next week.

Israel defeated at UN Human Rights Council  (http://www.ynetnews.com/Ext/Comp/ArticleLayout/CdaArticlePrintPreview/1,2506,L-3269531,00.html)

Amnesty slams Israeli policy in Territories

In Report on state of world's human rights, organization claims Israel behind repeated human rights violations in Palestinian territories. State accused of unlawful killings of Palestinians, injustice at courts, and of imposing restrictions that yield poverty
Ynetnews

In its annual 2006 report, Amnesty International harshly criticizes Israel's policy towards the Palestinians in the territories, branding some of the army's operations 'unlawful' and stating soldiers have often used "excessive force" in dealings with civilians.

Some 190 Palestinians, including around 50 children, were killed by Israeli forces, and 50 Israelis, including six children, were killed by Palestinian armed groups, the report stated.

"Israeli forces carried out unlawful attacks and routinely used excessive force against peaceful demonstrators protesting against the destruction of Palestinian agricultural land and the Israeli army's construction of the fence/wall," the report claimed.

According to Amnesty "Israeli soldiers and settlers responsible for unlawful killings and other abuses against Palestinians… generally had impunity."

The human rights organization further claimed that despite Israel's withdrawal from Gush Katif last summer, the country continued to build and expand illegal settlements, and the security fence itself.

"Military blockades and restrictions impose by Israel," the report stated, "continued to cause high unemployment and poverty among the Palestinian population."

Military courts slammed

The report also issued a scathing attack against the Israeli justice system in the Territories, claiming that trials before military courts "often did not meet international standards of fairness, with allegations of torture and ill-treatment of detainees inadequately investigated."

Meanwhile, Amnesty asserted, soldiers and settlers who committed offences against Palestinians were rarely prosecuted or convicted.

According to the group, while settlers "repeatedly attacked Palestinians and their property," the army in most cases "failed to intervene and often responded to settles' attacks by imposing further restrictions on the local Palestinian population."

Amnesty slams Israeli policy in Territories (http://www.ynetnews.com/Ext/Comp/ArticleLayout/CdaArticlePrintPreview/1,2506,L-3254175,00.html)

June 30, 2006
Jordan condemns Israeli Gaza offensive
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Jordan on Thursday condemned the ongoing Israeli massive ground offensive in the Gaza Strip.

Jordanian government spokesman Nasser Judeh said that Jordan was upset by the continuation of the Israeli military operation against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, slamming it as "a collective punishment."

Jordan also condemned the arrest campaign in the occupied West Bank, Judeh added, urging Israel to stop its operations in the Palestinian territories and calling on the two sides to exercise restraint to avoid escalation of violence.

The Jordanian government spokesman also urged Israel to "give a real chance" to efforts aimed to revive the long-stalled peace process.

He also called upon all the Palestinian factions to deal with the situation "in a way that serves the higher Palestinian interests and the Palestinian people."

The Israeli army started a broad ground operation into the Gaza Strip on early Wednesday in a bid to rescue an Israeli soldier kidnapped by Palestinian militants on Sunday.

Israeli troops also launched a large-scale arrest campaign in the West Bank on early Thursday, detaining eight ministers of the Hamas-led Palestinian government and over 20 Hamas legislators in a move to mount pressures on the Palestinian government over the abduction case.

Jordan condemns Israeli Gaza offensive (http://english.people.com.cn/200606/30/eng20060630_278622.html)

Amnesty International accuses Israel of war crimes in Gaza, urges UN action
POL-UN-HRW-GAZA
Amnesty International accuses Israel of war crimes in Gaza, urges UN action

UNITED NATIONS, June 30 (KUNA) -- Amnesty International on Friday accused Israel of war crimes in Gaza and the Palestinian militias of violation of fundamental principles of international law by kidnapping Corporal Gilad Shalit and killing settler Eliyahu Asheri, urging the international community to act.

"Deliberate attacks by Israeli forces against civilian property and infrastructure in the Gaza Strip violate international humanitarian law and constitute war crimes," Amnesty International said in a statement distributed here.

Israel "must now take urgent measures to remedy the long-term damage it has caused and immediately restore the supply -- at its own cost -- of electricity and water to the Palestinian population in the affected areas," the organization said.

"As the occupying power, Israel is bound under international law to protect and safeguard the basic human rights of the Palestinian population," it added.

The extensive damage caused by Israeli artillery and air strikes against these facilities in recent days is estimated at several millions of US dollars and will require months of work to repair.

"Unless alternative emergency measures are promptly put in place to restore electricity and water supply, the consequences could be dire for the health of the Palestinian population," it warned.

The organization also said that the hostage-taking of Corporal Gilad Shalit and the killing of Eliyahu Asheri, the 18 year old settler, by Palestinian militias "violate fundamental principles of international law," calling at the same time for the immediate release of Corporal Shalit "unharmed." "Both sides to this current stand-off should refrain from taking actions which violate international law and take steps to provide redress for the abuses they have committed," it said, urging the international community to act, as it has an obligation to do so under the Geneva Convention.

Amnesty International accuses Israel of war crimes in Gaza, urges UN action (http://www.kuna.net.kw/Home/print.aspx?Language=en&DSNO=882028)

Israel Cages Palestinian Dy PM with Several MPs
'Pakistan Times' Foreign Desk

GAZA: Amid the Gaza scenario fast escalating, Israeli forces rounded up dozens of Palestinian Cabinet ministers and lawmakers including Deputy Prime Minister Nasser al-Shaher of the Hamas-led government in an overnight raid, Palestinian security officials said Thursday.

Hamas accused Israel Thursday of launching an "open war" to destroy the Palestinian government after arresting a number of its ministers and lawmakers in the West Bank.

Witnesses said tanks moved into northern Gaza, widening Israel's largest military operation in the year since Israel pulled out of the seaside territory.

Palestinian officials said altogether, seven Cabinet ministers and 20 lawmakers were arrested.

Palestinian security officials said Israeli forces detained three Cabinet ministers, as well as four lawmakers in Ramallah.. Several others were arrested in the town of Jenin, they said.

Israeli media reported a roundup of Hamas lawmakers in Jerusalem and other locations. Also, the Hamas mayor of the West Bank town of Qalqiliya and his deputy were detained, security officials said.

Before daybreak on Thursday, witnesses said Israeli tanks and bulldozers moved into northern Gaza, stopping about 200 meters (yards) inside Palestinian territory across from the Jebaliya refugee camp.

No clashes were reported. However, the military denied its forces had moved into northern Gaza.

A body recovered overnight by Israeli troops in the West Bank belonged to an 18-year-old Jewish settler kidnapped by Palestinian militants, Israeli military sources said.

Troops on Red Alert

Israeli forces were put on red alert at Lebanon border after taking same measures at Syria border fearing possible retaliation from Lebanese militia Hezbollah as Israel had threatened to kill Hamas militants and flew warplanes over Syria's presidential palace.

The army said it was bracing for any strikes by the Lebanese Hezbollah militia.

"This measure has been taken due to concerns that the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah or other organizations will try to trigger an escalation of hostilities by launching border attacks," said the Israel’s military spokeswoman.

A meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas has also been postponed.

The Israeli army has detained 20 lawmakers including more than 10 ministers of the Hamas-led Palestinian government in an overnight raid.

Meanwhile, the Arab league has called an emergency meeting today due to escalating Middle East crisis.

Missiles hit Gaza

An earlier report said that Israeli aircraft fired missiles at the southern Gaza Strip on Thursday, with the military saying it aimed at open areas, and Palestinian medical officials saying a car was hit.

No injuries were reported. The strike took place near the town of Khan Younis.

'Total Collapse'

And in Jerusalem, the chief Palestinian negotiator Thursday urged the international community to help win the release of Hamas ministers and MPs arrested by Israel, warning of "total collapse" in the situation.

"We call upon the internatonal community to help us to obtain the immediate release of the MPs and ministers arrested by Israel early today," Saeb Erakat told media by telephone.

"I made contacts with the EU and United States and we warned against considering these ministers and MPs as hostages who are being used to obtain the release of the soldier because such a thing would lead to a total collapse," he added.

A teenage Israeli soldier was kidnapped on Sunday by Palestinian militants, including militants loyal to governing Islamist movement Hamas who infiltrated Israel from the Gaza Strip.

Israeli troops overnight arrested 64 members of governing Palestinian party Hamas, including eight ministers, 20 lawmakers, regional officials and city mayors in a massive operation in the occupied West Bank.

Israel has stepped up a military offensive in the Gaza Strip, seeking to tighten pressure against Palestinians to return the kidnapped soldier.

US on Scenario

A report from Washington says that Secretary of State Ms Condoleezza Rice spoke to Israel's Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni , as Washington said it was using "moral authority" to help defuse a showdown in Gaza over a kidnapped Israeli soldier.

The United States was working hard behind the scenes to bring about the "release of the captured soldier immediately and put an end to this crisis which has been provoked by terrorist hostage-taking," deputy State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said.

He declined to say whether the United States was aware in advance of Israel's military strategy in Gaza, or had advised the Israeli government not to take certain actions.

"We want to resolve that hostage-taking. That's what we all want to do and we want to protect innocent life in doing that," he said.

"I think the United States obviously has influence and moral authority on this and we are using that to try to do what we can to help bring this to a peaceful resolution."

Annan for Restraint

Reacting to the situation, the Secretary-General Annan spoke by telephone Wednesday with Israel's prime minister and the presidents of Syria and the Palestinian Authority to express concern about escalating Middle East tensions.

He said he Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had assured him that Israel would use maximum restraint as it attempts to free an Israeli soldier taken hostage by armed Palestinians.

"The Israeli government has a responsibility to protect its citizens, but it has to do so with restraint and, of course, it is understandable that they would want to go after those who [had] kidnapped the soldier," said Kofi Annan.

"But it has to be done in such a way that civilian populations are not made to suffer. I spoke to the prime minister, who indicated to me that he is exercising maximum restraint, but I think it is important that the two leaders work together to calm the situation."

Mr. Annan said he had urged Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to halt the recent spate of Katyusha rocket attacks on Israel.

"In my discussions with Abbas, he's working with all the Palestinian factions to bring the violence under control and ensure that these Katyusha attacks do not continue," he said.

"And I think it is important that we work very actively on this to get it done. But I hope they would also allow time for, what you described as diplomatic initiative, or to find a solution to the capture of the soldier."

When he heard about the Israeli warplanes flying low over Syria's presidential palace, Mr. Annan said "we need to be careful, not only not to escalate, but not to expand the area of conflict".

Syria described the flyover as "an aggressive act", and said its air defenses had fired on the planes.

Israel Cages Palestinian Dy PM with Several MPs  (http://www.pakistantimes.net/2006/06/30/top1.htm)

Hamas demands end to Gaza raids
Fri Jun 30, 2006 11:09 PM BST

By Nidal al-Mughrabi

GAZA (Reuters) - Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh on Friday demanded Israel halt a Gaza offensive if it wanted to free a captured soldier and said the Hamas-led government would not give way to force.

Late on Friday, Israel launched airstrikes against training camps for militants. Earlier, it pounded Gaza with missiles, setting ablaze the Interior Ministry offices in the operation aimed at bringing home Corporal Gilad Shalit.

Two militants were killed in attacks the army said were aimed at squads firing rockets into Israel.

The crisis has sent Israeli-Palestinian relations to new lows and piled more pressure on the Hamas Islamist government, already straining under a U.S.-led aid embargo to get it to renounce violence and drop its vow to destroy Israel.

Haniyeh, addressing the public for the first time since the abduction of Shalit, said at prayers in a Gaza mosque that Hamas would not be pressured by raids or the detention or killing of its leaders.

"The aggression must stop in order not to make the situation more complicated," he said, while adding that he was working with Egyptian mediators and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to end the hostage crisis.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said Hamas had given "conditional approval" for Shalit's release, without specifying the terms. Mohammed Dahlan, an aide to Abbas, said he hoped an agreement would be reached in the coming days.

Troops have massed near northern Gaza, but diplomatic sources said Israel had stood down an offensive into the territory to allow for mediation efforts to continue. The army has not commented on this.

European Union envoy Marc Otte said after a meeting with Abbas that they hoped "developments over the next few hours and days will allow for the lifting of the (Israeli) siege."

ISRAEL SAYS WON'T NEGOTIATE

Israeli officials said the Jewish state was not involved in mediation and would not bargain for Shalit.

"Make no mistake, we are not going to negotiate on the release of our soldier," said cabinet minister Meir Sheetrit.

The Jewish state has also rejected demands by militants to free Palestinians jailed by Israel for information on Shalit. The groups have not said whether he is dead or alive.

Lebanon's Hizbollah guerrilla group, which has swapped kidnapped Israelis for Arab prisoners in the past, urged militants to free Shalit only as part of a prisoner exchange.

Israel is under international pressure to avoid civilian casualties that could result from a larger assault into densely populated Gaza, home to 1.4 million Palestinians. Attacks against gunmen in early June killed more than a dozen civilians.

Air attacks late on Friday hit two empty militant training camps, causing no casualties.

Hamas cabinet ministers have been keeping under cover after Israeli threats of assassination. Hamas's armed wing was among the groups that grabbed Shalit, although the government said it had no foreknowledge of the raid.

Missile attacks earlier in the week knocked out bridges, water systems and a power substation, causing blackouts. Palestinian officials say a shortage in supplies and food may worsen conditions in already-impoverished Gaza.

A senior Israeli security source said the Jewish state, which supplies electricity to Gaza, had increased the flow of power into remaining lines and that Israel may open a border crossing next week to allow for supplies to be brought in.

Hamas demands end to Gaza raids (http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsarticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyid=2006-06-30T220934Z_01_L27594321_RTRUKOC_0_UK-MIDEAST.xml&src=rss)

Murderer Israel, Get out of Palestine, Chanted Thousands of Turks in Istanbul Friday

AP Headline: Thousands of Turks Protest Israeli Actions

By BENJAMIN HARVEY Associated Press Writer

Jun 30, 2006, 7:26 AM EDT

ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) --

Thousands of angry Turks burned an Israeli flag Friday and chanted "Murderer Israel, Get out of Palestine!" to protest Israel's offensive into the Gaza Strip.

Hundreds of women, wearing black chadors or covering their heads with Islamic-style head scarves, carried Palestinian flags and banners which read: "Israel is burning Palestine."

Police said about 5,000 people participated in the protest outside Istanbul's Bayazid Mosque.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he has contacted Palestinian authorities in an effort to help end the crisis over Israel's offensive, which was launched following the kidnapping of an Israeli soldier on Sunday. Turkey has friendly ties with both fellow Muslim Palestinians and Israel.

Israeli occupation terrorist air force has struck more than 30 targets in Gaza - including the Palestinian Interior Ministry - while thousands of Israeli soldiers backed by tanks have taken up positions in the southern part of the strip.

Murderer Israel, Get out of Palestine, Chanted Thousands of Turks in Istanbul Friday (http://www.aljazeerah.info/News%20archives/2006%20News%20Archives/June/30%20n/Murderer%20Israel,%20Get%20out%20of%20Palestine,%20Chanted%20Thousands%20of%20Turks%20in%20Istanbul%20Friday.htm)

With everything happening right now, it won't be long I pray.  Y'all notice that this is just todays news. 

Theres more, but I need to restart my computer.  :-\

Hamas demands Israel ends raids
Jun. 30 - Palestinian ministers call for a halt to Israel's Gaza offensive, but say ''no concessions will be made.''

The call for an end to Israel's military action came from the prime minister of the Palestinians' Hamas government, Ismail Haniyeh, who said the violence must stop in order ''not to make the situation more complicated.''

For its part, Israel appears to be holding off a threatened ground offensive in Gaza to give time to Egypt's attempt to secure the release of Corporal Gilad Shalit, whose abduction triggered the current crisis. However, Israel has also warned that it will not negotiate terms for the release of the soldier.

David Pollard reports.

SOUNDBITE: Israeli Cabinet Minister Me'ir Sheetrit Saying (English)

''We are not going to negotiate. If the Egyptians expect that we are going to pay any price for giving back our soldier that had been kidnapped by invading into the territory of Israel, they can forget it, we are not going to pay any price.''

 Hamas demands Israel ends raids (http://today.reuters.com/tv/videoStory.aspx?isSummitStory=false&storyId=9a208b523ff63b17f0b51e74d3caf685e701d764)

UN Schedules Emergency Debate On Israeli Gaza Offensive

UNITED NATIONS (AP)--The U.N. Security Council scheduled an emergency debate Friday afternoon on the Israeli offensive in Gaza and the Palestinians said they will press for adoption of a resolution condemning Israel's aggression and demanding a halt to all military operations.

The Palestinian U.N. Observer Riyad Mansour said a resolution would also demand the release of Palestinian Cabinet ministers and Hamas officials arrested by Israel on Thursday following the abduction of an Israeli soldier, which sparked the current crisis.

The council agreed to the open meeting after receiving a request from Algeria, the current head of the Arab Group at the United Nations. It was presented by Qatar, the only Arab member of the council.

Mansour accused Israel of trying to reoccupy parts of Gaza, bombarding it with artillery from the sea, dropping bombs from fighter jets, and preparing for additional ground attacks. The destruction of bridges and damage to water pipes has left many Palestinians without food or water, he said.

"The (Gaza) strip is completely besieged. Nobody is in, nobody is out," Mansour said. "It is a huge crime against humanity endangering 1.3 million Palestinians."

Mansour strongly criticized Israel for launching the Gaza offensive instead of allowing the Palestinian leadership under President Mahmoud Abbas to continue its efforts to find a political solution.

"The council has to send the correct signal to Israel by condemning this action and calling for cessation of Israeli aggression and immediate withdrawal to where they came from, and also immediate release of all elected officials," he said.

Mansour expressed hope that "the council would rise up to this occasion and adopt an appropriate resolution that does not allow aggression to take place."

But U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said he expected only a debate on the five- day-old crisis, noting that a resolution has not been circulated to council members. "It's not at all clear that anybody's prepared to present a draft text today," he said.

"At this particularly sensitive time, I don't think a resolution would be advisable," Bolton added.

The United States has vetoed many resolutions on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, arguing in most cases that they are not balanced and would not promote peace efforts.

Asked whether a resolution condemning Israel's offensive in Gaza would also call for the release of the kidnapped Israeli soldier and demand an end to Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel, Mansour said there would be negotiations and he did not know what would be in the final text.

He also insisted the Israeli soldier was not kidnapped.

"There was a battle and a soldier was taken prisoner," Mansour said. "There is no kidnapping."

UN Schedules Emergency Debate On Israeli Gaza Offensive (http://www.nasdaq.com/aspxcontent/NewsStory.aspx?cpath=20060630\ACQDJON200606301257DOWJONESDJONLINE000815.htm&selected=9999&selecteddisplaysymbol=9999&StoryTargetFrame=_top&mkt=WORLD&chk=unchecked&lang=&link=&headlinereturnpage=http://www.international.na)

Egypt warns Israel not to take peace treaty for granted


Compiled by Daily Star staff
Friday, June 30, 2006

An Israeli "war on all fronts" drew a rare warning from Egypt on Thursday that the military escalation jeopardizes a peace treaty with Israel as the Arab League held an emergency session to discuss the crisis. The threat of a regional conflagration rose Wednesday after Israeli warplanes overflew a palace of Syrian President Bashar Assad, whose country is host to several Palestinian militant groups. A defiant Syria on Thursday vowed to defend itself against Israeli attacks.

While Cairo has remained mum since the kidnapping of an Israeli soldier in Gaza, the head of the Egyptian Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee said Israel should not think the "peace reached with an Arab country can be guaranteed while it continues to perpetrate its crimes and aggressions."

Mustafa al-Fekki, a senior member of President Hosni Mubarak's ruling party, was referring to the peace treaty Egypt signed with Israel in 1979.

Fekki also voiced fears the flare-up could spill over into Egypt and threaten the country's security.

"The Egyptian Parliament has expressed its concern for Egypt's borders and its peace deal. We respect it but the threats are coming from Israel," said Fekki.

Mufid Shehab, secretary of state for parliamentary affairs, openly accused Israel on Wednesday of having threatened Egypt's stability.

Following an emergency meeting, Arab League ambassadors roundly condemned the Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip as "state terrorism," but failed to come up with an immediate diplomatic solution for the conflict.

Hoping to prevent the crisis from spinning out of control, Egyptian officials have been talking directly with Hamas' political leader, Khaled Meshaal, who is based in Damascus, to push him to facilitate the soldier's release.

An aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has said both Abbas and Egyptian officials called Assad to ask him to persuade Meshaal to release the soldier, with no results so far. Mubarak also spoke with Abbas and Assad on Thursday, the Egyptian state news agency said.

In talks with Arab leaders Thursday, Meshaal asked them to help put a stop to Israel's "massacres," a statement from his office said, according the Al-Jazeera news network.

"This situation demands Arab officials and the international community take a tough stance," Meshaal's top aide, Moussa Abu Marzouk, told Al-Jazeera. "They should pressure Israel to withdraw from the middle of cities and stop shelling civilians."

Israel has threatened to assassinate the exiled officials, including Meshaal, unless the abducted soldier is freed.

Syrian Premier Mohammad Naji Otri warned that "Syria is capable of defending itself against any aggression."

He also voiced "surprise at the silence of the international community toward all these Israeli acts and daily aggressions ... This is the result of the weakness of the Arabs."

He added that the Damascus-based Hamas leadership could not have had a hand in an abduction that took place in Gaza. Meshaal also denied any role.

"This aggression [the over-flight] represents Israeli piracy that aims at covering up the savage crimes the Israeli occupation forces are committing in the Gaza Strip and occupied Palestinian lands," Otri said.

Russia also criticized the overflight. "Violations of the borders and airspace of other states, in this case Syria, are completely unacceptable," Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin said in a statement.

Israel maintained its pressure on Syria Thursday, with Defense Minister Amir Peretz saying: "Regimes that support terrorism are the ones playing with the Palestinian people's destiny."

Egypt warns Israel not to take peace treaty for granted (http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=73592)

Israel's military offensive sparks outrage

By Mira Borji
Daily Star staff
Saturday, July 01, 2006

Israel's military offensive sparks outrage

BEIRUT: Israel's military offensive in the Palestinian Territories sparked outrage in Lebanon, where politicians and religious figures issued statements strongly condemning the Israeli incursion and calling on the international community to intervene.

Future Movement leader MP Saad Hariri warned against military escalation, saying Israel was using oppressive means to prevent the Palestinian Authority from assuming its responsibilities and undermining all peaceful attempts to establish an independent Palestinian state.

"Denouncing the attacks is no longer enough," Hariri said. "The situation requires an Arab move to halt Israel's assaults and prevent it from executing its expansionist plans."

He added that the "insane" offensive "threatens the entire region," and requires an "effective and quick" initiative from the international community.

The Allied Palestinian Forces held a march on Friday in Bourj al-Barajneh refugee camp to protest against Israeli attacks on the Palestinians, while refugees in North Lebanon's camps held a sit-in in front of UNRWA headquarters in Tripoli.

The sit-in was organized by Palestinian resistance factions in the North and attended by Hamas and Islamic Jihad movements, as well as national parties and Islamic committees.

"It seems that the United Nations is taking sides," said Hizbullah's political official in the North, Mohammad Salej.

Abu Rabih Bassem, Hamas representative, insisted on Palestinians' right to resist the occupation "by all means," until they reclaim their land.

Protesters released a statement urging UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to force Israel to halt its attacks on the Gaza Strip and the West Bank and to exert pressure on it to withdraw from the Palestinian territory.

Dozens of Lebanese and Palestinians demonstrated in Sidon's Martyrs' Square calling on Palestinian resistance leaders to keep the Israeli detainee until those detained in Israeli prisons are released.

Religious and political figures, as well as representatives of Lebanese and Palestinian parties took part in the sit-in.

One of the banners criticized the fact that the detention of one Israeli soldier has stimulated the whole world, while the international community remains tight-lipped about the thousands of Palestinians jailed in Israel.

The Third Force Party praised the Palestinian resistance, saying Israel's offensive "indicates that the United States is trying to quell the resistance as part of its project to dominate the region."

It also released a statement calling on Lebanese leaders to agree over a national unity government to face dangers that threaten the country.

"Let our political leaders act as true government officials. Are we asking too much?" it asked.

Omar Zein, the assistant secretary general of the Arab Lawyers Union, said the union called for an urgent meeting to discuss ways to face the "Zionist attacks."

The Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) "strongly condemned" Israel's offensive.

"Israel's assaults affect human beings, destroy material possessions and increase the Palestinians' suffering, preventing them from living in dignity and freedom like others," the council said in a statement.

"The MECC calls on Israel to immediately stop this operation as it calls on the international community to take immediate measures to protect civilians."

Israel's military offensive sparks outrage (http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=73616)

Haniyya: 'We are working to end this crisis'
Mubarak says deal near on soldier's conditional release as israel continues to pound gaza


Compiled by Daily Star staff
Saturday, July 01, 2006

Haniyya: 'We are working to end this crisis'

The Egyptian and Palestinian governments tried Friday to mediate a deal for the conditional release of an abducted Israeli soldier amid media reports that the corporal is alive and was visited by a doctor who treated his injuries. Amid back-channel talks, Israeli warplanes pounded Gaza, setting ablaze the Interior Ministry offices, on the third day of Israel's military operation.

A Palestinian doctor visited the 19-year-old conscript, Gilad Shalit, at his bedside in an undisclosed location in the Gaza Strip, Israeli public television's military correspondent said late Friday. An Israeli Army spokeswoman declined to comment on the report.

In his first public address since the start of the offensive, Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyya said his government was working toward the soldier's release but said that Israel's "barbaric aggression" must be halted.

"We are working to end this crisis but the aggression must stop and the siege has to be lifted," Haniyya said.

Voicing hope for mediation, President Hosni Mubarak said Hamas had agreed to secure the release of the soldier, but that Israel had not agreed to the so-far unspecified conditions.

In an interview published Friday with Al-Ahram, Mubarak said "Egyptian contacts with several Hamas leaders resulted in preliminary, positive results in the shape of a conditional agreement to hand over the Israeli soldier as soon as possible to avoid an escalation ... But agreement on this has not yet been reached with the Israeli side," Mubarak said.

The Arab daily Al-Hayat reported Friday that Egypt was pressing a compromise by which Palestinian militants would release Shalit in return for an Egyptian commitment that Israel would release Palestinian prisoners at a later date.

Israel has already rejected a demand by militants to free Palestinian prisoners for information on Shalit's fate.

"Make no mistake, we are not going to negotiate on the release of our soldier," said Cabinet minister Meir Sheetrit.

Mohammad Nazzal, a Damascus-based Hamas leader, said he personally did not have details of any Egyptian proposal.

"I believe he was referring to the original proposal whereby the prisoner would be exchanged for Palestinian prisoners," Nazzal told The Associated Press.

Nazzal also dismissed as rumors reports that said Hamas is sending a representative to Egypt soon.

"Israel is negotiating with fire," he said. "They're buying time until they can locate the soldier through intelligence and then try to free him."

Mubarak said Egypt "warned Hamas leaders of the dire consequences of adopting of tough positions."

In a sermon at a Gaza mosque, Haniyya implied his government would not trade the soldier for eight Palestinian Cabinet ministers arrested Thursday.

"When they abducted the ministers they meant to hijack the government's position, but we say no positions will be hijacked, no governments will fall," he said.

He also accused Israel of using the abduction as a pretext for launching a major offensive with the real aim of bringing down his government. "This total war is proof of a premeditated plan," he said.

The UN Security Council held an emergency session, in which the Palestinians were pressing for adoption of a resolution demanding a halt to all military operations.

Lebanon's Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, in a letter read to the Council by envoy Boutros Asaker, slammed the  operation as "state terrorism."

He called for "swift UN intervention to put an end to the attacks ... and hold Israel responsible for the safety of Palestinian detainees in Israeli jails and call for the release of the Palestinian cabinet ministers and MPs." Siniora called for calm and urged an immediate resumption of Palestinian-Israeli negotiations.

With negotiations appearing to bear no fruit, Israel continued its air assault in Gaza during the day Friday.

Israeli planes struck over 20 targets in the Gaza Strip. They included the office of the Hamas interior minister, a building used by Al-Aqsa Brigades militants, roads and zones used for firing rockets.

An Islamic Jihad militant was killed in what the army said was a strike on a rocket squad. One militant was hurt in a later attack. Troops killed two gunmen in a clash that erupted during an arrest raid in the West Bank.

Israel held back on an assault into northern Gaza, partly under diplomatic pressure to allow for further mediation. The White House said it saw reason for hope.

"We are encouraged by the fact that the Israelis are standing down in Gaza and that Hamas is talking openly about repatriating the soldier," spokesman Tony Snow said.

Mubarak said that Israeli Premier Ehud Olmert had promised him not to rush into the military offensive.

Haniyya: 'We are working to end this crisis' (http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=73618)

Hamas leader out of hiding to accuse Israel of hindering deal

Chris McGreal in Gaza City
Saturday July 1, 2006
The Guardian

The Palestinian prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh, emerged from hiding yesterday to accuse Israel of hindering efforts to win the release of a captive teenage soldier by arresting his cabinet ministers, blowing up important infrastructure and threatening a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip.

Mr Haniyeh, who went to ground after eight of his fellow Hamas ministers and 20 MPs were detained by the army in the West Bank on Thursday, told supporters at a Gaza City mosque he was working to free 19-year-old Corporal Gilad Shalit who was captured a week ago and is being held by Palestinian militias including Hamas.

Article continues
"This Israeli military escalation complicates matters and makes it more difficult," he said. "The aggression must stop in order not to make the situation more complicated." Mr Haniyeh says he does not have direct control over the members of Hamas's armed wing or other groups who are holding Cpl Shalit. He also said the arrest of a third of his cabinet would not bring down his administration.

"When they kidnapped the ministers they meant to hijack the government's position, but we say no positions will be hijacked, no governments will fall," he said. "There is an unholy alliance against the Palestinian people which wants to humiliate them and destroy the government. No concessions will be made.

"We believe the aggression on our people goes beyond the issue of the captured soldier," he said.

Earlier yesterday, an Israeli missile destroyed the offices of the Hamas interior minister in Gaza City, the latest of a series of targets that have included power plants, bridges and roads. The military described the ministry as "a meeting place to plan and direct terror activity". The army has fired hundreds of artillery shells into northern Gaza, some of them on the edge of towns such as Beit Hanoun.

Israel delayed a planned ground assault after appeals from the Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak, to allow more time for diplomatic efforts to be mounted to free the abducted corporal.

"Israeli leaders promised, and I hope they will stick to it, not to shed the blood of innocent Palestinian civilians in any hurried military operation," Mr Mubarak told a Cairo newspaper.

"At the same time, Egypt warned Hamas leaders of the dire consequences of adopting of tough positions and urged them to shoulder their responsibilities in view of the dangers and difficulties faced by the Palestinian people."

Tzahi Hanegbi, head of the Israeli parliament's foreign affairs and defence committee, said the government was prepared to give diplomatic efforts a short breathing space.

"The prime minister is managing the campaign while seeing all the balances, including the diplomatic one. He needs to see the big picture, and the big picture is that there is a meaning to sometimes waiting a half a day, or a day. You need to exhaust all options," she said.

But tanks and troops remain inside the south of the Gaza Strip, next to the Rafah and Khan Yunis refugee camps where Cpl Shalit is believed to be being held, and next to the border fence in the north of Gaza, ready for a ground offensive if the diplomatic efforts fail.

The United Nations has warned of a potential humanitarian disaster in the Gaza Strip if electricity is not rapidly restored following an Israeli strike against the plant that produces 60% of the territory's power. Among other things, the fresh water supply is expected to be badly affected.

Hamas leader out of hiding to accuse Israel of hindering deal (http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1810162,00.html)

June 30, 2006

Israel AG says arrested Hamas leaders won't be held as unlawful combatants
Joshua Pantesco at 11:44 AM ET

Israeli Attorney General Menachem Mazuz has said that a group of two dozen Hamas MPs and ministers who were detained Thursday will not be held in administrative detention under the Incarceration of Unlawful Combatants Law. Mazuz said he will instead use standard criminal warrants under the Prevention of Terror Ordinance. Mazuz said they will likely be charged with membership in or leadership of a terrorist organization. By using normal criminal procedures rather than the much-maligned Unlawful Combatants Law, any Hamas official arrested will be summoned before a judge within 96 hours of arrest, will be tried before a military tribunal, and will enjoy all normal criminal legal protections.

Meanwhile Israeli officials on Friday stripped a Hamas cabinet minister and three Hamas MPs of their East Jerusalem residency rights, saying the four were ordered to sever their alliance with Hamas in May. AP reports that lawyers for the four men, who were among those arrested Thursday, will appeal their detentions to Israel's Supreme Court. Also Friday, as protesters marched against the Israeli offensive into the Gaza strip, Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya said the arrests were "meant to hijack the government's position, but we say no positions will be hijacked, no governments will fall."

Responding to the worsening Middle East situation, the United Nations, the European Union, and the United States all urged Israel and the Palestinians to step back and use diplomacy instead.

Israel AG says arrested Hamas leaders won't be held as unlawful combatants (http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2006/06/israel-ag-says-arrested-hamas-leaders.php)

Muslim nations urged to create own world court
Habib Shaikh (From our correspondent)

29 June 2006


JEDDAH — Muslim nations have been urged to create their own world court under the auspices of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) that can try and condemn all those nations and individuals who have instigated or committed crimes against the Muslims.

"Since its creation, the United Nations (UN) has been nothing but a Western tool, which has harmed Muslims more than it has benefited them," wrote Reem Al Faisal, a Jeddah-based Saudi photographer, in yesterday’s issue of Arab News.

"(The UN has) given our enemies and all who wish to destroy us a legal cover to pillage and kill in Muslim lands at will from Palestine to Somalia to Afghanistan — the latest masquerade of boycotting the legally elected government of Hamas by the West and preventing all other nations from helping them is more proof that we can no longer get our rights from a Western organisation disguised as an international body built to protect the rights of all nations," she added.

Al Faisal said that it was time to liberate Muslim nations from the tyranny of Western institutions like the UN, the World Bank, and the IMF, "which have brought nothing but misery and pain to all of us."

"If we want our rights to be respected we have to impose them through our own international institutions and not look for justice from a source that only works to protect its national interests and which rarely conforms to our desires and even less to ideals as human rights or justice since justice is served only to those who demand it with strength," she added.

Al Faisal said that the West, which has conquered and destroyed two nations that have never attacked it, sees itself as the guardian of world peace. "Those who this very minute are directing or condoning some form of destructive behaviour towards innocent civilians either in Iraq, Afghanistan or Palestine have the effrontery to question Iran’s intentions," she said.

"One is in constant amazement when Western nations lecture on democracy and human rights and the desire for peace while right in front of our eyes Palestinians are mowed down like weeds on a beach. We hear no condemnation from the defenders of peace or see no action from the United Nations. Worse, they stop us from saving our own people from starvation in the name of peace," she stressed.

Muslim nations urged to create own world court (http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2006/June/middleeast_June587.xml&section=middleeast&col=)

Presiding Abbas Receives EU Special Envoy to Middle East

 
GAZA, June 30, 2006 (WAFA) -President Mahmoud Abbas received Friday the EU Special Envoy to the Middle East Marc Otté in Gaza.

During the meeting, they discussed the latest developments in the Palestinian territories in light of the Israeli escalation against the Palestinian people.

PLC member Mohammed Dahlan told a joint a press conference with Otté that meeting comes in follow up of the President Abbas' efforts made to end the crisis faced by the Palestinian people.

He added that the meeting also discussed a bunch of political issues as well as daily life issues regarding the control of the Palestinian National Authority, specially in the education and health sectors and the lack of food aid in Gaza and the West Bank.

Dalhan pointed out that Mr. Otté will reveal the messages to the EU, hoping that the EU's promises will be made.

He said that President Abbas' priorities are lifting the siege imposed on the Palestinian people and sparing them the aggressions of the Israeli occupation, which could be practiced during the next days.

Dahlan asserted that President Abbas has succeeded to convince the international community to press Israel not to attack the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, expressing hope that the Egyptian will reach a solution in the coming days.

For his part, Otté said "we are working together with friends to make sure that the crisis is solved as peaceful as possible and that we can work again to positive developments."

He added that he is working jointly to resuming a political fact where the parties can negotiate.

"We are concerned to help the Palestinian people to realise their ambitions," he said expressing hope for a climb down and that the language of weapons will stop and language of negotiations and mutual respect will resume.

Presiding Abbas Receives EU Special Envoy to Middle East (http://english.wafa.ps/cphotonews.asp?num=1388)

  ummm what ya hinting at Brother? (http://bestsmileys.com/happy/7.gif)
                                                  (http://bestsmileys.com/thumbs/7.gif)

Lieberman: Hamas talks are harmful
JPost.com Staff, THE JERUSALEM POST    Jun. 30, 2006

Israel Beiteinu Chairman Avigdor Lieberman accused Israel on Friday of negotiating with Hamas, including the organization's leader in Damascus Khaled Mashaal. Lieberman said that the talks were critically harming the Israel's ability to deter, as well as the security establishment's morale.

He stated that the security forces must stop firing at sand dunes and start doing what should be done. "They know better than me and all the ministers [what should be done]," Lieberman asserted

He said that the forces were ready and willing to operate, but that they were prevented from doing so.

In an interview to Israel Radio, the right-wing party leader asserted that there was no order or guiding hand in Israel's decision-making process.

Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chairman Tzahi Hanegbi (Kadima) responded that Lieberman's accusations amounted to demagoguery and excessive politics.

He reminded that this week, the IDF engaged in unprecedented steps against the Palestinians, including the continuing incursion into the Gaza Strip that began on Tuesday night, strikes against electrical infrastructure, and arrests of over 60 senior Hamas officials on Thursday morning.

He told Israel Radio that steps are being taken, but are done gradually so that kidnapped soldier Cpl. Gilad Shalit could be returned without further escalation, should the opportunity arise.

Hanegbi asserted that Israel must act with determination but also with restraint.

Lieberman: Hamas talks are harmful (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1150885886931&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)

I think you already know sister.  ;D 

Come Lord, may you call us home soon.

 Hamas Officials No Longer Israeli Citizens
Friday, June 30, 2006 / 4 Tammuz 5766

Four top Hamas officials living in eastern Jerusalem will no longer enjoy the benefits of Israeli citizenship. At least one of the four was arrested in an anti-terror security sweep this week.

A 30-day ultimatum to choose between terrorist membership and Israeli residency expired at midnight on Thursday for the four Hamas Palestinian Authority legislators. Interior Minister Ronny Bar-On immediately revoked their citizenship.

Israeli residency documents are no longer valid for Palestinian Authority Minister for Jerusalem Affairs Khaled Abu Arafa and PA legislators Muhammed Abu-Tir, Muhammed Tutah, and Ahmed Adun, announced Bar-On.

The four terrorist leaders were told to leave their positions in the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority government and parliament, or suffer the consequences.

“The right to hold permanent residency comes with the duty to show loyalty to the State of Israel,” Bar-On pointed out. “There should not be dual loyalties.” Israeli citizens in Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem enjoy a number of social services, including pension and health care benefits, as well as freedom of movement within the country.

Abu Arafa was also arrested in the Israeli security sweep that netted some 64 PA legislators and other officials on Thursday, including eight PA cabinet ministers. The operation was carried out against Hamas members on the orders of the Attorney General in accordance with the Terror Prevention Act.

In his first public address since the beginning of the IDF operation in Gaza this week, PA Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh told followers at a mosque on Friday, “When they kidnapped the ministers they meant to hijack the government’s position.” Haniyeh had harsh words for the sweep that took most of his new government.

“We say no positions will be hijacked,” Haniyeh said defiantly. “No governments will fall.” Former PA chief negotiator Saeb Erekat had a quite a different message, however.

Erekat said earlier in the week that Israel’s "Operation Summer Rains" destroyed much of the PA administration. “We have no government, we have nothing,” he said. “They have all been taken. This is absolutely unacceptable,” he added, demanding that Israel release the PA captives immediately.

“The Prime Minister said he has no intention of playing games with Hamas,” stated Bar-On. “Hamas is a hostile organization. People who have roles in the legislative council and the Hamas government have no place in the State of Israel.”

Requests by lawyers to delay by 30 days the cancellation of Israeli citizenship for the four Hamas officials were denied.

 Hamas Officials No Longer Israeli Citizens (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/print.php3?what=news&id=106360)

UN Security Council debate on Gaza ends without resolution
By News Agencies

The UN Security Council debate over the IDF incursion into the Gaza Strip ended Saturday without a resolution.

Palestinian and Israeli diplomats traded accusations Friday at an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council which Arab nations requested to demand that the UN's most powerful body order a halt to the Israel Defense Forces offensive in Gaza, which followed the abduction of an IDF soldier.

The Palestinians accused Israel of launching a premeditated military assault to sabotage Palestinian unity and collectively punish and terrorize hundreds of thousands of civilians. Israel countered that Gaza has become "a terror base" actively supported by the Hamas-led government.

Palestinian UN Observer Riyad Mansour said Israel's air and ground assault on Gaza using warplanes, tank artillery bombardment, and shelling from naval units was "collectively punishing and terrorizing the Palestinian civilian population... [which] is now under complete siege."

Israel's deputy UN ambassador Daniel Carmon disagreed, saying Israel responded to the capture of Corporal Gilad Shalit "after long weeks of Israeli restraint in the face of numerous attempted kidnappings and unceasing Qassam rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip that have targeted civilians, schools and homes" and traumatized children.

He said the IDF's presence is limited "to a very small area in southern Gaza," with the sole aim of preventing Shalit from being smuggled outside the Gaza Strip. "Its objective is not punishment or retaliation," Carmon stressed.

But Mansour accused Israel of planning "a major invasion" of Gaza and mobilizing troops before Shalit was captured on June 25 "to sabotage the recent agreement between President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah Party and the Hamas-led government.

Israel's goal, he said, is "to ultimately cause the complete collapse" of the Palestinian Authority so Israel can say it has no "partner for peace" and go ahead with unilateral measures.

Carmon countered that Israel completely withdrew from the Gaza Strip last August with the hope of "re-energizing the peace process."

"Instead, the response was ... an increase in terror attacks," he said. "Gaza is now a terror base, actively supported by the elected Hamas government. Israel is under attack day in and day out."

Mansour called on the council to condemn the Israeli aggression, to order an immediate cessation of hostilities, and demand the release of 64 Hamas officials, arrested by Israel.

But no resolution was circulated to council members Friday, apparently because of U.S. opposition to any council action.

Washington accuses Syria, Iran
U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said he did not think a resolution was advisable, cautioning the council "to avoid taking any steps that would unexpectedly exacerbate tensions in the region," given the complexity of the situation.

He called for the immediate and unconditional release of Shalit by Hamas, saying this was the best way to resolve the immediate crisis.

But to establish lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians, Bolton said Syria and Iran must "end their role as state sponsors of terror and unequivocally condemn the actions of Hamas, including this kidnapping."

He also called on Syrian President Bashar Assad to arrest Hamas' top political leader Khaled Meshal, who lives in Damascus, and close the militant group's office in the Syrian capital.

Carmon urged the international community to pressure the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, "including its members and sponsors in Damascus," to release Shalit "and to finally bring an end to the use of Palestinian territory as a base for terrorist operations."

Arab states put Palestinians on permanent agenda of new UN rights commission
Arab and Muslim states Friday put the Palestinian territories on the permanent agenda of the United Nations Human Rights Council, overcoming Israeli and Western objections to singling out alleged abuses by Israel.

A resolution to re-examine the issue at future sessions, brought by the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) easily won passage at the 47-member forum.

A second OIC resolution, expressing deep concern at an "increasing trend of defamation of religions" and incitement to religious hatred, was also adopted along similar voting lines.

The two votes, on the final day of the Rights Council's inaugural two-week session, were seen as divisive.

Many states and rights activists had hoped all decisions would be taken by consensus to avoid the acrimony that marked the council's predecessor body, the UN Commission on Human Rights, which also debated Palestinian issues at each session.

The vote to examine the situation in the Palestinian territories at future sessions passed with 29 countries in favor, 12 against, five abstentions and one delegation absent.

The resolution also called for existing UN human rights investigators, known as special rapporteurs, to report on the situation in the territories at the next session in September.

Regional powers including Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Syria were among the resolution's sponsors.

Western countries, including Britain, Canada, France, Germany, and Japan, voted against the text. The United States did not stand for election and only had observer status.

Israeli envoy Itzkhak Levanon said in a speech before the vote that the OIC text was "imbalanced and intentionally one-sided".

"If this Council seeks to follow the discredited footsteps of the Commission, to encourage contention and selectivity rather than tolerance and objectivity, to lend itself to become a mere instrument of Israel bashing, politicized and subverted to propaganda, then it is clearly walking in that trail," he said.

UN Security Council debate on Gaza ends without resolution (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/733366.html)

Rift grows between Hamas leaders in Gaza and those in Syria
By Dion Nissenbaum
McClatchy Newspapers

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Three months after Hamas assumed the leadership of the Palestinian Authority, the Hamas-led government is in danger of disintegrating. The fatal blow may have come from within.

Analysts say the kidnapping of an Israeli soldier last Sunday by Hamas-led militants and the subsequent Israeli retaliation have laid bare the rift, seen, in its simplest terms, as a fight between Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas leader in Gaza, and Khaled Mashaal, the exiled Hamas leader in Syria.

Mashaal is widely believed to have condoned, if not organized, the Sunday raid - an attack that appears to have taken Haniyeh and his allies by surprise.

Evidence of the rift rests largely in the timing of the attack and the subsequent reaction of Hamas leaders in Gaza and Syria.

At the time Palestinian commandoes abducted Cpl. Gilad Shalit, Haniyeh was working with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to form a unity government based on a pragmatic set of political principles, including language viewed by some as tacit recognition of Israel.

The raid appeared to be designed as much to send a message to Haniyeh as to Israel, analysts say.

"The outsiders are the decision-makers when it comes to the critical issues," said Jihad Hamad, director of the Independent Center for Strategic Studies and Polls in Gaza City.

Haniyeh was undeterred. The day after the attack, Hamas signed off on the compromise document, setting the stage for a coalition government. Even then, Mashaal tried to exert his influence, by telling reporters in Syria that the agreement wasn't a done deal.

Now the military and political wings of Hamas appear to be at odds over how to resolve the ongoing Gaza Strip hostage crisis. Hamas militants who claim to be holding Shalit say they won't release the soldier until Israel frees about 100 women and 300 Palestinians under the age of 18 in Israeli prisons.

Israel has rejected the idea and won't negotiate for Shalit's release.

According to one Palestinian leader close to the negotiations, Haniyeh has suggested that Hamas give up its demand that Israel release the young prisoners and allow Israel to free the women as part of expected talks later this year with Abbas.

But Hamas militants rebuffed the compromise.

"Some people in Hamas, especially our friends abroad, are insisting that there be an exchange of prisoners," said the politician who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive ongoing talks. "Haniyeh is trying his best to solve the question, but he doesn't have the means to convince or commit Hamas. The military branch has their own leadership that goes back out of the country."

If no deal can be worked out, it makes it more likely that Israel will press ahead with a military campaign to destabilize the Hamas-led government.

Israel has made it clear that Mashaal and his supporters aren't immune by sending fighter jets into Syria to buzz President Bashar Assad's northern palace.

"Israel knows the attack was planned by Khaled Mashaal in Damascus, and Israel is signaling Syria that this has to stop or Syria will have to pay a price," said Yoni Fighel, a researcher at The Institute for Counter-Terrorism in Israel.

In many ways, the Hamas power struggle mirrors ones faced by other revolutionary forces that evolved from fighters into politicians. For decades, Palestinian leaders who lived under Israeli occupation fought with those living abroad over strategy and tactics.

"Generally speaking, any outside leadership that is not in direct daily contact with the people can afford to be more hard-line and to take more purist positions and ideological positions, while any leadership that is in contact with the people and is more sensitive to their needs begins to understand the need for flexibility, pragmatism and compromise," said Hanan Ashrawi, a veteran Palestinian leader from the West Bank who often fought with the late Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat over these issues.

For now, Israel is exploiting the internal Hamas divisions to press ahead with its destabilization of the Palestinian government. On Thursday, it arrested a third of the Palestinian Cabinet and at least 20 Palestinian legislators.

But some analysts warned that the move could end up shoring up the more extreme Palestinian leaders Israel is trying to isolate.

"Do you think arresting the Hamas government will end the resistance?" asked Abdel Sattar Qassem, a political science professor at An-Najah University.

"No it won't. It will do the opposite. The government might have some authority over the militants, but now when the government is in jail, the militants will do anything they want."

Rift grows between Hamas leaders in Gaza and those in Syria (http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/world/14942504.htm)

 The Peace Process is a Bigger Danger Than Hamas
by Ted Belman
Jun 30, '06 / 4 Tammuz 5766


The biggest threat Israel faces today is the "peace process", with its insistence on the Saudi Peace Plan. It is aided and abetted by Israel's "We Are Tired" camp and its "Let's Make a Deal" camp.

With this in mind, I took the position during the Palestinian elections that a Hamas victory would be good for Israel because it would stop the "peace process". And so it has. The threat of rockets raining down on Israel from Gaza isn't nearly the threat that the peace process was and is. This is so even if the rockets start to rain down on Tel Aviv from the West Bank. Israel always has it in its power to stop the attacks at a time of its choosing. The more they rain down, the less support the Palestinians have in Europe.

Since the peace process has been stymied, the biggest threat facing Israel today is Ehud Olmert's "realignment" intentions (they don't yet amount to a "plan"). True, the US and the EU - to say nothing of the Arabs - have not supported the plan publicly; yet, it remains a threat.

Keep in mind that the US has micro-managed the location of the Judea and Samaria security fence from day one, and even enabled the financing for it.

US diplomacy is now focused on two things; namely, defeating Hamas with the aid of Mahmoud Abbas and encouraging negotiations between Olmert and Abbas. The purpose of these negotiations is to attempt to reach a deal in which the fence, or something close to it, becomes the border. Obviously, Abbas is not going to agree to more than George Bush has. It is not likely that Olmert can negotiate for more, either, despite his promises to the Israeli public. In addition, Israel has committed to Bush not to expand settlements. So, where does that leave "realignment"? And now, Olmert has capitulated to the European Union, which demanded that Jerusalem be divided.

The Roadmap was intended to end the terrorism, and obviously has failed miserably in that regard. Yet, Olmert has announced his intention to jump to Phase II of the Roadmap and negotiate anyway. Why is he in such a rush to capitulate?

At the moment, it appears that Israel is going in the direction of accommodation to the demands of the Quartet and the Arabs. To avoid this fate,the violence in the territories would have to continue at tolerable levels. But that doesn't solve the problem. It only avoids the peace process. My suggestion for study is that Israel should expand the boundaries around Jerusalem, build the fence and agree to uproot the settlements east of the fence in exchange for recognition of the new boundaries. Like it or lump it.

The world will refuse - and Israel will consolidate Jerusalem.

 The Peace Process is a Bigger Danger Than Hamas (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/article.php3?id=6345)

Israel pressure on Hamas risks boosting militants' stature

By Diaa Hadid
ASSOCIATED PRESS

1:04 p.m. June 30, 2006

RAFAH, Gaza Strip – Israel hopes displays of military might will pressure Palestinians into turning against the Hamas-linked militants who abducted an Israeli soldier.

But the tactic could backfire – many Palestinians rallied around Hamas on Friday as Israel continued to bombard the Gaza Strip with warplanes and ground artillery.

The primary goal of the strikes is to force Hamas to release Cpl. Gilad Shalit, who was captured Sunday when militants from Gaza attacked an Israeli outpost, killing two other soldiers.

The wider objective appears to be stirring popular dissent against Hamas, which won elections in January but has been widely snubbed politically and financially by the West for its refusal to reject its hard-line charter against Israel.

In Rafah – a once-bustling border crossing with Egypt – banners and graffiti celebrated Hamas as heroic for humbling Israel with the brazen assault, and for resisting the backlash.

“The more pressure Israel puts on us, the more it strengthens Hamas' position,” said Adel Abubeid, a 37-year-old father of six. “If Hamas, before the kidnapping, had 70 percent of the Palestinian street, now it has 300 percent.”

Abubeid voted for Hamas' rival, the long-governing Fatah party. His support began to switch as Israel and its Western allies tightened the screws on Hamas, including cutting back aid that left the Palestinian authorities nearly bankrupt.

Gaza was hit much harder by the aid cutoff than the larger and more developed West Bank.

Border controls on Gaza had been getting steadily more restrictive for years. The area was virtually sealed off from Israel after the withdrawal of troops and settlers last year. The euphoria of autonomy in Gaza quickly faded in the reality of a shattered economy and the loss of even menial jobs in Israel.

For Abubeid and others, Sunday's attack on Israel was a welcome distraction – even with the threat of more military action and hardships.

“Hamas would be disgraced in our eyes if it gave back this soldier without any concessions,” said Abubeid, who earned about $1,800 a month in Israel before losing his job. “The economic pain doesn't matter. We Palestinians can live on bread and salt.”

The International Committee of the Red Cross said its officials were in talks with Israeli authorities to try to get the military blockade of Gaza lifted for aid shipments.

Abu Kayed, a 50-year-old unemployed restaurant worker, tried to sell his camel to pay for food and rent. His family counts on help from Hamas-backed charities.

“Hamas is more popular now than it has ever been,” said Kayed, who has six children. “I don't understand why all the world is crying out for one soldier. We Palestinians are treated like dust.”

Some Gazans, however, blamed Hamas for their troubles.

“I was expecting my situation to be very good” after the Israeli withdrawal, said Ismail el-Shaikh, a 22-year-old who works in a pizza parlor. “I thought the beaches would be open. I thought I would travel, and I expected more economic projects to enter Gaza.”

“That didn't happen,” he added. “Hamas came instead and the situation is more difficult.”

Israel pressure on Hamas risks boosting militants' stature (http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/20060630-1304-israelsgamble.html)

 UN-sponsored meeting calls on Israel to pull out of Gaza, Palestinians to stop rockets

A United Nations-sponsored international meeting aimed at advancing Middle East peace wrapped up its sessions last night with a call to Israel to halt its invasion of Gaza, withdraw from the Strip and stop escalating the current crisis. It also called on the Palestinians to end their rocket attacks on Israel.

Such actions put civilians in serious danger and inflame and destabilize the already fragile situation, according to the final document adopted by the meeting, convened in Vienna by the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.

Participants, including UN representatives, internationally renowned experts from the region, parliamentarians, and members of the academic community and civil society, expressed particular concern at the recent upsurge in violence and its destructive effect on the hopes for peace.

The text condemned Israel’s intensified military strikes, incursions and extrajudicial assassinations.

Alarmed at the large number of Palestinian civilians killed in the last few weeks and believing that the escalation warranted an impartial international investigation, the meeting supported a request for Secretary-General Kofi Annan to facilitate such a probe.

 UN-sponsored meeting calls on Israel to pull out of Gaza, Palestinians to stop rockets (http://www.dpm.ae/doc_cont.asp?id=91796)

Israel 'will ensure Hamas govt toppled' if soldier slain
Jun 26 4:18 AM US/Eastern
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Israel will work to ensure the Hamas-led government falls if a soldier kidnapped by Palestinian militants is not released alive, a high-ranking security official said.

"We will make sure that the Hamas government ceases to operate if the kidnapped soldier is not returned to us alive," the source told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Yuval Diskin, the head of Israel's Shin Beth homeland security agency, made the threat in talks with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas late Sunday, the source said.

The Popular Resistance Committees, an armed Palestinian group, claimed Monday in a telephone call to AFP that it was holding the soldier, saying he was alive.

"We are holding the soldier. He is alive and in good health," said the representative of the group, speaking on condition of anonymity.

He gave no indications as to the whereabouts or the missing soldier, 20-year-old Gilad Shavit, who was abducted during a Palestinian attack on an army border post close to the Gaza Strip on Sunday that left two Israeli soldiers and two militants dead.

The Popular Resistance Committees, together with the armed wing of the govering Hamas movement and the previously unknown Army of Islam claimed joint responsibility for the attack.

Israel has vowed to avenge any harm done to the soldier who went missing after militants tunneled into Israel and launched the brazen attack, firing grenades and rockets at an army border post near southern Gaza.

It was the largest attack in the volatile border area since Israel pulled troops and settlers out of the impoverished coastal strip last summer, ending a 38-year presence.

Defence Minister Amir Peretz vowed Sunday a strong Israeli retaliation if the missing soldier were not released unharmed.

"We will take revenge against anyone who injures the soldier, including their leaders," Peretz told reporters.

The security cabinet later approved a series of reprisal operations against the Gaza Strip but agreed to put them off until the missing soldier had been brought home, the privately run Channel 10 television reported.

Shavit's bloodstained bulletproof was found not far from the scene of the attack and thousands of Israelis flocked to Jerusalem's Western Wall Sunday evening to pray for his safe return home.

In a joint statement, the militant groups said the dawn assault was revenge for the 22 civilians killed in an alleged Israeli shelling and botched air strikes since the start of June.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert blamed Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and the Hamas-led Palestinian government for the attack.

Israel tanks, troops and Apache combat helicopters stormed into southern Gaza in response to search for the missing soldier and investigate the tunnel used by the attackers.

Public radio reported that further forces were massing on the border.

"This attack was carried out and spearheaded by senior members of the Hamas and authorized by the party's leadership," an army spokesman told AFP.

"The IDF (Israel Defence Force) holds the Palestinian Authority and democratically elected Hamas government responsible for the attack and the fate of the missing soldier."

The deputy prime minister of the Hamas government Nasseredine al-Shaer, demanded the immediate release of the soldier.

"I demand that this Israel soldier be freed immediately," Shaer told a news conference in the West Bank political capital of Ramallah.

But Shaer's call for the release of a soldier believed held by militants loyal to his own movement drew condemnation from Israeli ambassador to the United Nations Danny Gillerman.

"Hamas has once again proved that it is the worst sort of terrorist organization," Gillerman told AFP in Jerusalem.

Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni urged the moderate Palestinian Authority president to act swiftly to release the soldier, by force if necessary.

"This is an opportunity for Abu Mazen (Abbas) to prove how serious his intentions are. Israel expects him to act immediately to return the kidnapped soldier to Israel and he has the necessary military means to do so," she said.

Abbas, who was locked in talks with Hamas aimed at ending deadly political feuding between the Islamic militant group and his mainstream Fatah faction, condemned the attack.

Israel 'will ensure Hamas govt toppled' if soldier slain (http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/06/26/060626081817.kfhkbz2g.html)

Lebanese leading Shiite cleric denounces Israeli Gaza offensive


Lebanese leading Shiite cleric Hussein Fadlallah on Friday denounced Israel's ongoing military ground offensive in the Gaza Strip, saying the Jewish state was trying to "eliminate the Palestinian address."

"The racist Jewish army is still killing Palestinian youths, women, children and elders for fear that they fight against the occupation force," Fadlallah said.

The Shiite cleric also criticized the United States for being partial to Israel concerning the current Gaza crisis.

"The White House talks about the Zionist violence as a self- defense while it does not recognize that the Palestinian people have the right to defend their freedom and independence," he added.

Fadlallah also urged Arab and Islamic countries to support the Palestinians against the "Israeli plot", which he said "challenges the entire Arab world."

Meanwhile, Sheikh Abdel-Amir Qabalan, Vice President of the Lebanese Higher Shiite Council, also urged the Arab League to hold an urgent meeting to put an end to the Israeli military move.

"I call on Arabs and the United Nations to take a firm stand against the situation in the Palestinian territories," he added.

The Israeli army started a broad ground operation into the Gaza Strip on early Wednesday in a bid to rescue an Israeli soldier kidnapped by Palestinian militants on Sunday.

Lebanese leading Shiite cleric denounces Israeli Gaza offensive (http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200607/01/eng20060701_278943.html)

EU envoy voices hope for solving Gaza standoff soon
   

EU Middle East envoy Marc Otte voiced hope on Friday for soon solving the current standoff in Gaza over the abduction of an Israeli soldier by Palestinian militants.

"We hope that the developments in the next few hours and days will allow a lifting of the (Israeli) siege and allow the two sides to talk without the language of weapons," Otte said after a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Gaza City.

The EU envoy described his talks with Abbas as "positive", adding that diplomatic efforts were under way in a bid to solve the Gaza crisis.

Mohamed Dahlan, Abbas' close ally who also attended the meeting, told reporters that he hoped a solution would be reached in coming days.

"Abbas has been seeking the help of the international community to pressure Israel to halt its offensive in Gaza," he added.

The Israeli army crossed the border and intruded into the southern Gaza Strip on early Wednesday in a broad ground operation to rescue the Israeli soldier kidnapped by Palestinian militants during a cross-border raid on Sunday.

It is the first massive Israeli ground offensive in Gaza since Israel withdrew troops and settlers from it last summer after 38 years of occupation.

The Israeli army has delayed entering the northern Gaza Strip, a move which analysts said is aimed to give more time for mediation.

EU envoy voices hope for solving Gaza standoff soon (http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200607/01/eng20060701_278949.html)

Venezuela condemns Israeli offensive in Gaza
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Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Thursday condemned Israeli offensive against the Gaza Strip and confirmed his solidarity with the Palestinian people.

"The state of Israel should respect the Palestinian people who have spent years fighting for their independence," he told a mass rally in Caracas.

"With all their military power and the support of the U.S. empire, Israel ... had started a new bombardment, invasion and incursion into the Palestinian territory," he said.

Chavez also condemned the kidnapping of an Israeli corporal, but said Israel had merely used the incident as a pretext to launch the raid.

On Wednesday, Israel sent thousands of troops, backed by warplanes and tanks, into Gaza after Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert vowed "extreme actions" to bring home the 19-year-old soldier who had been snatched by Palestinian militants during a cross-border raid on Sunday.

Israeli airstrikes knocked out bridges and electricity to much of Gaza, with sonic bombs rocking Gaza City and the Gaza Strip's borders being sealed, according to reports.

Palestinian Prime Minister and senior Hamas leader Ismail Haneya on Wednesday demanded Israel end its massive ground operation in the Gaza Strip. He also urged the UN Security Council to intervene to prevent an escalation of violence.

Venezuela condemns Israeli offensive in Gaza (http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200606/30/eng20060630_278753.html)

ICRC urges Israel to allow medicines into Gaza
Web posted at: 7/1/2006 7:35:28
Source ::: Reuters

GENEVA • The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), concerned about escalating Middle East violence, called yesterday for Israel to allow urgent medical supplies into Gaza.

Dorothea Krimitsas, ICRC spokeswoman, said Israel was obliged under international law—including the Geneva Conventions—to ensure that humanitarian supplies reach Palestinian civilians.

Israeli warplanes pounded Gaza yesterday, setting ablaze the Interior Ministry office of the Hamas-led Palestinian government in a widening military effort to secure the release of a soldier captured last Sunday.

“We are negotiating with Israel to allow in humanitarian aid. These are essential medicines and medical supplies for the Palestinian Red Crescent,” Krimitsas said.

“We are concerned at the humanitarian consequences of the escalation of violence and closure of crossing points to Gaza, especially the Karni crossing,” she added.

Karni is Gaza’s main commercial crossing, through which virtually all trade between Israel and the impoverished coastal strip must pass.

The ICRC is also anxious to deliver food packages and household items for Palestinian families, some of whom have had their homes destroyed, according to Krimitsas.

“Under international law, Israel has the obligation to allow humanitarian supplies into Gaza. It also has the duty to ensure that the vital supplies for the population, including food and medicine, are adequate,” she said.

Israeli strikes have knocked out bridges, water systems and a major power transformer in the densely populated Gaza Strip, home to 1.4 million Palestinians.

Hospitals, hard-hit by the loss of electricity, have to use generators for power, consuming precious fuel, Krimitsas said.

“We are worried about the fuel stocks. Palestinian authorities have estimated that they have enough for about 7 to 10 days,” she added.

ICRC urges Israel to allow medicines into Gaza  (http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=World_News&subsection=Gulf%2C+Middle+East+%26+Africa&month=July2006&file=World_News2006070173528.xml)

Arabs denounce world leaders' inaction over Israel offensive   

CAIRO: Israel's offensive in the Palestinian territories drew fierce criticism yesterday from Arab countries which also lambasted world leaders' inaction amid fears of a regional conflict.
"This crazy adventure will light more than one big fire instead of containing a small issue over the abduction of the Israeli soldier," read an editorial in Egypt's state-owned Al-Ahram daily.
Israel carried out dozens of air raids on the Gaza Strip overnight with 5,000 troops waiting to move in to the impoverished territory as part of a plan to free an Israeli soldier captured by Palestinian militants on Sunday.
"The government of (Israeli premier) Ehud Olmert insists on treading further than (his predecessor) Ariel Sharon, the symbol of Israeli heavy-handedness, because it is ready to fight its war against the Palestinians on other lands, Syria and Lebanon," Al-Ahram said.
Israel has also threatened to target Palestinian militant leaders in Syria and raised its state of alert along the Lebanese-Israeli border amid fears of an attack by Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah.
Egypt's state-owned Al-Gomhuria slammed Israel's detention of Hamas ministers and MPs as "proof that it is a state which (operates) outside the law ...
"The Israeli phenomenon has truly become a symbol of shame for the international community," it said in an editorial.
The head of the Egyptian parliament's foreign affairs committee warned on Thursday that his country's peace deal with the Jewish state might even be jeopardised by the offensive.
"Israel should not think that the peace reached with an Arab country can be guaranteed while it continues to perpetrate its crimes and aggressions," Mustafa al-Fekki told AFP.
Jordan, which along with Egypt is the only country in the region to have signed a peace deal with Israel, also warned of a broadening conflict after Israel threatened to target Hamas leaders in Syria.
"Jordan condemns the Israeli insistence on continuing its aggression against the Gaza Strip, its punitive actions and its arrest campaign and asks it to end this escalation," said government spokesman Nasser Jawdeh.
"We warn against increasing regional tension and we call on both parties to show restraint," Jawdeh was quoted as saying by the official Petra agency.
"True to form, Washington expressed support for the unleashing of the Israeli military machine against the Palestinian people under the usual pretext that 'Israel has the right to self-defence'," the Dubai-based Al-Bayan wrote in its leader.
Saudi daily Al-Watan blasted the US and the European Union, the former for "blaming Hamas for driving matters to the current situation" and the latter for "expressing deep concern about the deterioration of the security situation in the Middle East and calling for the release of the Israeli soldier."
Rather than secure the soldier's release, Israel's goal is "to drive the Hamas-led Palestinian government into a tight corner and force it to bow to its conditions", the paper added.
Qatar's Ash-Sharq called on Arab states to pressure Israel to stop its "barbaric aggression", withdraw its soldiers, "release the kidnapped and detainees from its prisons and rebuild the (Gaza) bridges and power stations it destroyed."
Lebanon's As-Safir newspaper said that "the Israeli military campaign on the Gaza Strip has failed, despite its savage attacks on vital targets in this isolated area ...
"With each new strike-even the arrest of Hamas ministers and MPs-the Palestinians showed a unified stand, despite the lack of support from Arab states ... Europeans, the United States, and the United Nations," it said.


Arabs denounce world leaders' inaction over Israel offensive   
 (http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=World_News&subsection=Gulf%2C+Middle+East+%26+Africa&month=July2006&file=World_News2006070173528.xml)

Russia urges Israelis, Palestinians to stop violence, negotiate

01.07.2006, 03.46

UNITED NATIONS, July 1 (Itar-Tass) -- Russia sees only one way out of the current situation following Israeli intrusion in the Gaza Strip – an end to armed confrontation and the parties’ return to the fold of political settlement, to the negotiating table, Russia’s deputy ambassador to the United Nations, Konstantin Dolgov, said on Friday.

“The sole alternative to this will be the further, extremely dangerous destabilization of the situation in the region and the incredible expansion of its geographic boundaries,” Dolgov told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council convened at the request of a group of Arab states for considering the situation in the Palestinian territories.

The Russian official warned that “a large-scale operation by Israeli military in Gaza may cause heavy civilian casualties and complicate to the extreme the chances of achieving an effective Israeli-Palestinian settlement.”

He called on the Palestinian leadership “to take urgent measures to curb the extremists, put an end to attacks by terrorists, violence against Israeli citizens and strikes by Kassam rockets against Israeli territory.”

“First and foremost, though, the Israeli military taken hostage must be set free,” Dolgov said.

Without calling in question “Israel’s right and duty to protect the life and security its citizens” the Russian official at the same time pointed out that “it is impossible to cope with such tasks through collective punishment of the people of Gaza and other parts of Palestine.”

He described as “absolutely impermissible violations of the air space of other countries, in this particular case, of Syria, on the pretext of putting pressure on extremists.”

The Russian diplomat expressed particular concern over Israel’s detention and arrest of Palestinian government ministers and members of the Palestinian legislative assembly who “received their mandates as a result of free and democratic elections.”

In view of the exacerbating humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territories Dolgov called for commissioning as soon as possible an interim international mechanism of assistance to the Palestinian people, approved by the quartet of international mediators, and in the first place to ensure stable supplies of fuel and medicines to Gaza.

Russia urges Israelis, Palestinians to stop violence, negotiate (http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=World_News&subsection=Gulf%2C+Middle+East+%26+Africa&month=July2006&file=World_News2006070173528.xml)

US: Israel has right to defend itself

UN Security Council does not discuss during emergency meeting demands made by Arab countries that it condemn Israel’s Gaza offensive, arrests of Hamas officials. Israel's deputy UN ambassador says ‘we’re doing all we can to minimize harm to Palestinian civilians, plan immediate steps to ease humanitarian situation. US Ambassador Bolton: United States believes prerequisite for ending conflict is that Syria, Iran end their role as state sponsors of terror

The UN Security Council did not discuss during Saturday’s emergency meeting demands made by several Arab countries that it condemn Israel’s Gaza offensive, which was launched in response to the kidnapping of Corporal Gilad Shalit, and the recent arrests of senior Hamas officials in the West Bank.

The discussion was summoned by Algeria, which heads the Arab bloc at the council, and was initiated by Iran in accordance with the Palestinian delegation to the UN.

Israel, for its part, insisted to an emergency session of the 15-nation council that its military presence was limited to a small part of southern Gaza and intended to prevent a kidnapped Israeli soldier from being smuggled out of the area.

Daniel Carmon, Israel's deputy UN ambassador said Israel was doing all it could to minimize harm to Palestinian civilians and planned immediate steps to ease the humanitarian situation on the ground.

Many Middle East leaders recognized that Khaled Mashaal was "the key to resolving this humanitarian crisis" through Shalit's safe return, he said, noting the many pleas for his release directed at the Syrian government.

Palestinian UN Observer Riyad Mansour painted a dire picture of conditions in Gaza, where Israeli forces have bombed water pipelines and the area's sole power plant and attacked the Interior Ministry with missiles.

“In the West Bank, Israel had kidnapped at least 64 Palestinians including eight Hamas Cabinet ministers and 24 members of the Palestinian Legislative Council,” he said.

"The council cannot continue to remain passive in the face of such a military aggression against a defenseless civilian population," Mansour said, calling for approval of a resolution condemning the incursion and urging the prompt withdrawal of Israeli forces and the release of detained officials.

Earlier Mansour accused Israel of trying to re-conquer the Gaza Strip, saying that the IDF operation in which bridges and water infrastructures were destroyed left many Palestinians without food and water.

'Best way to resolve crisis: Shalit's release

“This is a crime against humanity, which is hurting 1.3 million Palestinians. The Gaza Strip is under siege, no one can enter or leave,” he said.

He added that “the Council must adopt an appropriate decision which will not allow aggressiveness.”

US ambassador to the UN John Bolton called for caution. "We should not undermine the limited credibility of the council by engaging in debate and rhetoric merely for their own sake," he said.

The best way to resolve the crisis was for Hamas to quickly and unconditionally release the captured Israeli corporal, Gilad Shalit, he said.

"The United States is of the firm view that a prerequisite for ending this conflict is that the governments of Syria and Iran end their role as state sponsors of terror and unequivocally condemn the actions of Hamas, including Shalit's kidnapping,” Bolton said.

'Israel's performance has been pretty good'

Syria also should arrest Hamas leader and "known international terrorist" Mashaal, who lives in Damascus, and shut down Hamas offices on its territory, he added.

Bolton, however, noted the Group of Eight industrialized nations, including the United States, had on Thursday expressed concern about the Palestinian officials' detention.

"We call on all parties to avoid action that can escalate this situation or harm innocent civilians while acknowledging Israel's unequivocal right to defend itself and the lives of its citizens," the US envoy said.

France called on Israel on Friday to free captured Palestinian ministers and said both sides must move to reduce escalating tensions.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Jean-Baptiste Mattei said France fears that the situation will "feed an escalation and strengthen the most extreme elements, which is doubtless not Israel's objective."

Prior to the emergency meeting Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni spoke to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for the fourth time in the last three days. Following the conversation State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said, “Israel has taken actions it deems necessary for its defense. In terms of the protection of innocents, performance has been pretty good.”

He said that Israel’s arrest of the Palestinian Cabinet members from Hamas and dozens of Hamas officials “raises particular concerns.”

US: Israel has right to defend itself (http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=World_News&subsection=Gulf%2C+Middle+East+%26+Africa&month=July2006&file=World_News2006070173528.xml)

Efforts to free Israeli soldier 'hit impasse'

by Adel Zaanoun Sat Jul 1, 8:41 AM ET

GAZA CITY (AFP) - Efforts to free an Israeli soldier whose abduction has triggered a major Middle East crisis have hit an impasse, Palestinian officials warned after Israel rejected new militant demands.

Israel kept up the pressure on the Palestinians with a fourth straight night of air strikes on militant targets in the Gaza Strip and insisted it would not negotiate with the captors of 19-year-old corporal Gilad Shalit.

Israel, which has warned of "extreme measures" to secure the release of the serviceman, rejected new demands issued by the three Palestinian groups holding Shalit on Saturday.

The Popular Resistance Committees, the armed wing of the governing Islamist movement Hamas and the previously unknown Army of Islam said they were seeking the release of "1,000 Palestinian, Arab, Muslim and other prisoners".

The statement did not explicitly say the releases were conditions for securing the release of Shalit, who a Palestinian official said was suffering three bullet wounds but had received medical treatment.

It said all detained Palestinian militant leaders as well as elderly and sick detainees should be freed, and reiterated an earlier demand for the release of women and juvenile prisoners.

The statement also urged Israel to end its military reprisals in the Palestinian territories, which have raised international fears of an escalation in the Middle East conflict that could spread through the region.

But Israel rejected the militant demands.

"Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has been clear on this point. There will be no negotiations with the kidnappers. If Gilad Shalit is not freed, Israel will do what it necessary," said foreign ministry spokesman Mark Regev.

Palestinian officials said that the negotiations had reached an impasse.

"The situation is dangerous and we can say that things are stalled. Israel does not want to free any prisoner, which is the main claim of the groups holding the soldier," an official from Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas's office said.

"After a whole week of intensive contacts with all the Palestinian and Arab parties, notably Egypt, president Abu Mazen (Abbas), is pursuing his efforts to bring the Israeli aggression to an end," a statement from his office added.

A senior Palestinian official said the life of Hamas prime minister Ismael Haniya -- whose government has already faced Israel's wrath with the detention of eight ministers -- could be at risk if Shalit is not returned home alive.

Overnight, fresh air strikes targeted Hamas and Fatah training camps and potential escape routes in a bid to prevent militants moving the soldier from southern Gaza where he is currently believed to be held.

Gunboats and ground forces also fired a barrage of around 350 artillery rounds on Gaza, although Israel has held off from a threatened ground offensive from the north to allow for the continuation of diplomatic efforts.

About 5,000 troops and columns of Israeli tanks are poised on the Gaza border in the largest Israeli military operation since it pulled out of the tiny coastal territory last September, ending a 38-year-occupation.

Egypt, which is trying to broker a way out of the crisis, said Friday that Hamas had agreed to secure his release but that Israel had not agreed to the conditions, which it did not specify.

Israeli public radio quoted a Palestinian official as saying a doctor who had visited Shalit described the conscript's condition as "good" and that he had been lightly wounded in the abdomen and shoulder.

As the international community appealed to both sides to show restraint, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni was preparing to visit Moscow on Monday for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The UN Security Council also debated the crisis Friday after Arab nations called for the UN to adopt of a resolution condemning the Israeli intervention.

But the United States, Israel's closest ally, pointed the finger of blame at Syria, where several top Hamas militants are based

"We would not be where we are right now if it were not for Syria's support and harboring of terrorists," US ambassador John Bolton said.

Bolton pressed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to turn over for prosecution Khaled Meshaal, Hamas's exiled political leader who lives in Damascus and who famously escaped a Mossad attempt on his life in 1997.

"In addition, we call upon Syria to stop financing the terrorists and stop cooperating with other states, such as Iran, which finance terrorists," Bolton said.

Hamas, blacklisted as a terror group by Israel and the West, has vowed that the "barbaric aggression" by Israel would not topple its administration, which took office in March after shock electin win.

"We are working to end this crisis but the aggression must stop and the siege has to be lifted," Haniya said Friday.

A fighter from the hardline Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement was killed in an air strike overnight Thursday, while another militant from the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, linked to Abbas's Fatah party, was shot dead in the West Bank.

Israel had further ratcheted up the pressure on the Palestinian leadership Friday by revoking the Jerusalem residency rights of a Hamas minister and three MPs, meaning their likely expulsion from the occupied east of the Holy City.

Israeli troops rounded up scores of Hamas members in a massive West Bank sweep the day before, including eight ministers -- a third of the Palestinian cabinet -- and 24 MPs.

"If the kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit does not return alive, there is no more Hamas government. Israel will erase this concept from the Middle Eastern political map," warned Israel's biggest selling daily Yediot Aharonot.

Many parts of Gaza, already facing a dire humanitarian crisis because of a cut in Western aid since Hamas took office, are without electricity and water because of the Israeli strikes.

Israel's offensive -- and a perceived lack of action by world leaders -- has drawn fierce criticism in the Arab world.

Efforts to free Israeli soldier 'hit impasse' (http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=World_News&subsection=Gulf%2C+Middle+East+%26+Africa&month=July2006&file=World_News2006070173528.xml)

Anyone who knows history, knows that WW1 was over the death of Archduke Franz Ferdinand.  History tends to repeat itself if you look.

Italian party leader urges gov. to condemn Israeli aggression on Gaza
POL-ITALY-GAZA
Italian party leader urges gov. to condemn Israeli aggression on Gaza

ROME, July 1 (KUNA) -- Chief of one the ruling coalition parties urged his government on Saturday to condemn the Israeli incessant aggression against the Palestinians that are suffering from a siege imposed on Gaza adding that there should be no leniency on the arrest of the Palestinian Ministers by Israel.

Secretary General of the Italian communist part Oliviero Diliberto said in a remark on the tight-lipped international community concerning the crimes committed against the Palestinians "I am waiting for my government's condemnation of at the European forums even independently what Israel did recently." He said there is leniency on Israel's incursion of territory of a state and arrest of its cabinet members.

The party chief reiterated his traditional solidarity with the Palestinian rights and voiced surprise on the calls for annexing Israel to the NATO despite the position against the Palestinian government elected through a democratic process.

Italian party leader urges gov. to condemn Israeli aggression on Gaza (http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=World_News&subsection=Gulf%2C+Middle+East+%26+Africa&month=July2006&file=World_News2006070173528.xml)

Gaza offensive earns shrugs in Israel

By BRIAN MURPHY, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 47 minutes ago

JERUSALEM - Military planners dubbed their Gaza attack plan "Summer Rain." It's a fitting image for how many Israelis have followed the operations to shake Hamas: watching closely as the storm gathered, then losing interest as it rolled on.
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Creating much noise but few casualties, the offensive to free a kidnapped teenage soldier has not come close to stirring
Israel's collective spirit like the Lebanon invasion in the 1980s, or the wave of Palestinian suicide bombings that tailed off last year.

There is little sense of a looming crisis that will tear into Israeli's lives like the suicide blasts or major call-ups of army reserves. Outside a synagogue, the talk Saturday was all about new bank credit laws that just took effect. Along the Mediterranean coast, beaches and restaurants were full.

The hyper-competitive Israeli television channels have stuck with regular programs rather than the blanket coverage used for big events, including the Israeli pullout from the Gaza Strip last year. Even Army Radio, a barometer of the military, has had as much talk about the World Cup as the pressure tactics in Gaza.

A few campaigners have proposed displaying blue ribbons in a sign of public support for Cpl. Gilad Shalit. (Blue is one of the colors of the Israeli flag.) But the appeal has had little result; it is nearly impossible to find an Israeli home displaying a ribbon.

In the latest violence, Israeli soldiers and Palestinian militants exchanged fire for several hours Saturday when Israeli tanks and bulldozers crossed the border with Gaza and began razing farmland.

A 25-year-old man walking his dog in a Jerusalem park said Israelis have been through too much in recent years to dwell on the skirmishes.

"I wouldn't call this a crisis," said Mier Ben Amin. "I guess we could call it a crisis in progress. My worry is that it could eventually spin out of control. Don't forget: The Trojan War started over one person."

Explanations for Israelis' muted reaction include a general weariness of conflict, the fading of the Jewish state's sense of common purpose and questions over whether there's too much firepower and not enough diplomatic imagination.

There's also the irony of Gaza itself.

Last year, Israel endured a painful and divisive withdrawal of troops and soldiers from Gaza meant as a step toward peace. Now, tanks and artillery are back on the border and warplanes are blasting sites including former Israeli outposts believed used as militant camps.

"Expectations for anything positive are very, very low these days," said Yosi Sarid, a well-known commentator on Israeli affairs. "There's indifference to the current situation because people are not very sure what is the right track to follow."

The only real consensus is that the 19-year-old captive cannot be left to his fate. The pledge to never abandon a soldier, dead or alive, is deeply ingrained in Israel's military creed and spills over into a society where nearly everyone has had some days in uniform.

Israeli authorities have rejected any possible deal with Hamas, which won Palestinian elections in January but has refused to significantly soften its anti-Israeli views. Hamas' military wing claimed it kidnapped Shalit on June 25 in an ambush that also killed two soldiers.

The wisdom of a major retaliation has come under scrutiny. Critics are asking, in essence, whether Israel also is being held hostage by its military instincts.

"Experience has taught that such military measures have not been successful," said an editorial in the respected Haaretz newspaper. "It is best not to rely too much on a broad, sustained military operation, and to give the option of negotiation another look."

The religious newspaper Hatzofeh accused the government of lacking "clear goals" in Gaza, such as how far it is willing to go against Hamas.

Despite Israel's public rejection of any deals for Shalit's release, it's been done in the past.

In January 2004, Israel freed 400 prisoners and returned the remains of 59 others to Lebanon in exchange for the bodies of three Israeli soldiers and businessman Elhanan Tannenbaum, who was captured in October 2000. Partly because of the disproportionate numbers, the swap provoked considerable criticism in Israel.

Gaza offensive earns shrugs in Israel (http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=World_News&subsection=Gulf%2C+Middle+East+%26+Africa&month=July2006&file=World_News2006070173528.xml)

Rival Gaza factions close ranks to fight Israel
(AFP)

1 July 2006


ABASSAN, Gaza Strip - In this unassuming farming village east of Khan Yunis, Palestinian militants stood in the olive orchard Saturday hoping for a shot at the Israeli armour digging in 300 metres away.

When an Apache helicopter swooped in overhead and fired a burst at the militants, gunmen in headbands -- some black, some green and others yellow -- hunkered down shoulder to shoulder behind a weathered stucco water tower.

“Who’s fighting now, Hamas or Fatah?”, one observer asked.

A balding middle-aged gunman turned around.

“There is no Hamas or Fatah now,” he said.

Abassan, a usually sleepy community of olive, tomato and fig growers, witnessed some of the most violent infighting between Palestinian factions when the governing Hamas movement and the ousted Fatah met head-to-head in a bitter struggle for power.

But now the slowly building Israeli military operation to release a soldier captured by militants in the Gaza Strip has given the one-time enemies a common rallying cry.

Israeli armoured vehicles responded to Palestinian shots with automatic gunfire before the gunships were called in, and the militants also saw reinforcements rush to the scene of the fighting with rocket launchers and mines.

According to Israeli military sources, armoured vehicles had been combing the area for explosive devices.

“All the fighters are in one trench together now,” said Abu Al Abed, toting an ammo vest and a Kalashnikov assault rifle, surrounded by fellow gunmen from his Ezzedine Al Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamist Hamas movement.

“Past differences have been forgotten in front of the Israeli aggression.”

He stood just metres (yards) away from a squad of national security fighters, the Fatah-dominated force Hamas once accused of trying to bring down its government.

“Now we are one,” said Abu Mohammed, who sported yellow officer’s stars on his olive fatigues. “Defending the homeland is more important than all the titles, names and factions,” added the Fatah fighter.

Israel has launched a massive military operation in the war-torn territory following the June 25 abduction of an Israeli soldier. The 19-year-old corporal is believed to be alive but his location is unknown.

His capture by a coalition of Islamist factions has boosted the morale of radical militants who complain that Israel has continued to take out targets in Gaza since its pullout from the territory nine months ago.

Hamas’s routing of the long-ruling Fatah party of Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas in January enflamed rivalries among the countless armed factions in the Gaza Strip.

The internecine violence reached a pitch on May 8 in Abassan during a pitched battle between Hamas and Fatah fighters firing rocket-propelled grenades at each other.

The clashes left three gunmen dead and 11 wounded, and prompted Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniya to urge a truce and call for ”Palestinian blood to be spared”.

While differences remained obvious between Hamas and Fatah on the means of solving the political crisis engendered by the soldier’s capture, the various armed factions appeared to have closed ranks Saturday in the face of a common foe.

Rival Gaza factions close ranks to fight Israel (http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2006/July/middleeast_July22.xml&section=middleeast&col=)

 Mubarak Demands Syria Expel Mashaal
11:46 Jun 30, '06 / 4 Tammuz 5766

(IsraelNN.com) Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak has demanded from Syrian President Bashar Assad the expulsion of Hamas head Khaled Mashaal unless Hamas frees kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.

The demand comes in the context of a deal that Mubarak is attempting to broker in which Israel would free prisoners whose terms expire within the year in exchange for the release of Shalit.

Gidon Meir, a senior Israeli foreign Ministry official, said that Israel has rejected the offer. "In general Israel's stance is, as the prime minister said earlier, that the soldier will only be released unconditionally and there will be no negotiations with a gang of terrorists and criminals who abducted a soldier from Israeli territory," said Meir.

However Arab sources say that Israel has not officially rejected the offer.

 Mubarak Demands Syria Expel Mashaal  (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=106357)

Syrian president must use influence on Hamas to free soldier.

Defense Minister Amir Peretz spoke with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Saturday and asked her to pressure Syria regarding the kidnapped soldier Cpl. Gilad Shalit.

Peretz said: “Syria cannot evade responsibility. Syrian President Bashar Assad must use his influence on Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal to gain the soldier’s release.”

Syrian president must use influence on Hamas to free soldier (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3269731,00.html)

Israel rejects demand for release of 1,000 prisoners
By Avi Issacharoff and Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondents, Haaretz Service and Agencies

Defense Minister Amir Peretz told U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Saturday that Syrian President Bashar Assad to influence Hamas political bureau chief Khaled Meshal to bring about the release of abducted Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit.

Peretz met with senior IDF and Shin Bet security service officials on Saturday evening regarding Shalit.

Shalit was abducted Sunday morning in an attack on his IDF post near the Gaza border. Two IDF soldiers were killed in the attack.

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A statement released by the office of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas earlier Saturday said mediation efforts by Egypt and other countries to resolve the crisis over Shalit had yet to bear fruit mainly because it was unclear who in Hamas - the militants or the group's leadership abroad - was authorized to make decisions about Shalit's fate. Abbas later said that the statement should not be attributed to him.

Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, a Hamas leader, apparently has no say in the matter, according to a statement from Abbas' office.

"The next hours are critical, sensitive and serious. And though the efforts are still ongoing, we have not reached an acceptable solution until now," Abbas' office said in a separate statement.

"After a week of continuous and long contacts with all parties, Palestinian, Arab, international and particularly Egyptian, the [Abbas] ... is still exerting efforts to stop the Israeli aggression and avoid more disasters for the Palestinian people," the statement said.

Abbas also appealed to all parties to work to find "an acceptable solution" to the crisis.

Israel said Saturday that it rejects a demand by the three Palestinian militant groups holding Shalit to free 1,000 security prisoners being held in its jails and end the IDF offensive launched in Gaza in the wake of his kidnap.

Meanwhile, a Palestinian deputy minister said Saturday that Shalit has received medical treatment for wounds sustained during his abduction and that he is in stable condition.

Speaking at a news conference in Ramallah, Deputy Minister for Prisoner Affairs Ziad Abu Ein cited unidentified "mediators" as telling him that Shalit had been wounded during his abduction.

"He has three wounds," Abu Ein said. "I guess shrapnel wounds." He did not give further details.

But Abu Ein told Haaretz later Saturday that he had simply been quoting media reports and had not received any new information.

Channel 1 television, citing a senior Israeli security official, reported Friday night that a Palestinian doctor treated Shalit for minor shoulder and stomach wounds, and that the soldier was in good condition. Israel Radio said the doctor's visit took place Thursday.

A statement released overnight Friday by the three groups did not say explicitly that the soldier would be freed should their demands be met. But a spokesman for the military wing of the governing Hamas party, one of the three factions involved in the kidnapping, said the demands specified in the statement were in fact conditions for releasing Shalit.

Repeating Israel's refusal to bargain for Shalit's release, Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said in response to the statement that "Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has reiterated that there will be no deals, that either Shalit will be released or we will act to bring about his release."

IDF troops entered the southern Gaza Strip in the early hours of Wednesday, in a bid to pressure the Palestinians to release Shalit.

The militants' demand Saturday for the release prisoners was the second statement by the groups since Shalit's abduction. "We are declaring to the public our just and humanitarian demands," the statement said.

The statement repeated an earlier demand for the release of women prisoners and minors in exchange for information on Shalit, but made the added request for Israel to free 1,000 "Palestinian, Arab and Muslim prisoners."

It said these would have to include all Palestinian faction leaders as well as humanitarian cases.

The statement cast doubt on hopes voiced by mediators that Shalit could be freed soon.

"In spite of the good efforts of the mediators who tried in silence to speed up the treatment of this humanitarian matter, the enemy and their political leadership are still under the pressure of the security and military command," it said.

"The escalation and arrogance mean the enemy will be responsible for the bad consequences," it said.

Strikes across Gaza
Meanwhile, the Israel Air Force attacked several sites late Friday and early Saturday in the latest round of raids across the Gaza Strip. There were no casualties in any of the incidents, Palestinian medical workers said. (Click here for a map of Gaza)

The attacks were on what the IDF called a "terrorist training facility" in the south of the Strip, and on a building in Gaza City which Palestinians said was used by Hamas militants.

The military confirmed attacking a Hamas facility in Gaza and a former Israeli settlement near Rafah, close to the Egyptian border, which was abandoned in last year's Israeli withdrawal and taken over by militants.

Palestinians said the new occupants, activists of the Abu Rish Brigades,
loosely affiliated with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah, recently evacuated the complex, fearing just such a strike.

The military could not confirm reports of a missile landing on open ground near the southern town of Khan Yunis.

Also early Saturday, IAF aircraft reportedly hit a Hamas training facility in central Gaza. There were no injuries, but the building was set on fire, Palestinian officials said. The IDF said it was looking into the claim.

Earlier Friday evening, three Palestinians were hurt in an IAF strike in the northern Gaza Strip, Palestinian security sources said. According to witnesses, an IAF missile was fired and landed adjacent to a vehicle in Gaza City.

The IDF said the strike targeted an Islamic Jihad Qassam rocket-launching cell. Palestinian sources said four militants were in the vehicle at the time of the strike. Three managed to flee.

Qassam lands hundreds of meters from Ashkelon
Also Friday, a Qassam rocket fired from the Gaza Strip landed within hundreds of meters of Ashkelon, in what police said was the closest a Qassam strike has come to the southern city.

Police confirmed that the rocket was an improved version of the Qassam. No injuries were reported in the incident.

Early Friday, the IAF struck the Palestinian Interior Ministry in downtown Gaza City, Palestinian witnesses said, setting it on fire. There was no word of casualties.

The Interior Ministry is nominally in charge of Palestinian security forces, though Abbas removed most of its authority.

The IDF confirmed its planes hit the office of Interior Minister Saeed Siyam, which it called "a meeting place to plan and direct terror activity."

A Palestinian militant injured in the strike died of his wounds early Friday, the first fatality in the IDF incursion in Gaza, hospital officials said. The local leader of Islamic Jihad, Mohammed Abdel Al, 25, had been seriously wounded in an air strike in Rafah in southern Gaza.

Three Fatah militants said they were wounded early Friday in a gun battle with IDF forces in northern Gaza, while the army denied troops had entered or fired into the territory, where forces have been massing.

Palestinian hospital officials said a 5-year-old girl was wounded in an air strike in northern Gaza early Friday. Doctors said her condition was not serious.

On Thursday night, IDF artillery shells hit the electricity distribution network in the northern Gaza Strip, plunging parts of the area into darkness.

Palestinian officials said two power transformers were struck, and two security officers were wounded by shrapnel. Dr. Ali Mousa, director of the Abu Yousef al-Najar Hospital in Rafah, also said a 15-year-old boy was moderately wounded by shrapnel in the blast.

The strike came two days after IAF aircraft attacked a major Gaza City power station, reportedly leaving roughly two-thirds of Gaza's 1.3 million residents without electricity.

The IDF confirmed it had been firing artillery at open spaces in the area at the time of Thursday's incident. The army said it has a report of an electrical pole being hit and was checking if the artillery fire was in any way related.

According to information gleaned by the PA, Shalit is being held in the Khan Yunis refugee camp in southern Gaza. Peretz said Thursday afternoon that the IDF would sustain its blockade on the Gaza Strip until Shalit is brought home safely.

Militants killed in Nablus
In the West Bank, IDF troops Friday shot and killed two Palestinian militants during a fierce gunbattle in a Nablus cemetery, Palestinian security officials said.

The soldiers surrounded the cemetery, trapping four militants inside. Initially, two of the militants were arrested, one fled and one was killed, the security officials said. The militants belong to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, which is tied to Fatah.

A military source said shooting broke out when troops entered Nablus on a raid to arrest militants. The troops fired back, killing the first militant, the IDF said. The second militant was killed in a exchange of fire which pursued after he had already been arrested by troops.

Israel rejects demand for release of 1,000 prisoners (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/733349.html)

CPI asks Israel to pull out of Gaza

By Our Special Correspondent

New Delhi, July 1: The CPI on Saturday sought immediate release of all Palestinian ministers and MPs arrested by the Israeli security forces and demanded Israel’s pullout from the Gaza Strip.

In a letter to Israeli ambassador David Danieli, a group of CPI MPs, led by Mr Gurudas Dasgupta, said, "We are shocked and aghast at the latest massive military offensive launched by the armed forces of Israel in the Gaza Strip. During the raids, almost one-third of the Palestinian council of ministers and a large number of MPs have been arrested by the invading Israeli forces."

The CPI leaders said, "It was obvious that the Israeli forces are bent upon destroying the elected government of Palestine. sThe arrest of ministers and MPs is a blatant violation of all international laws and norms."

The CPI(M) had earlier condemned the kidnapping and the latest spate of Israeli military violence against the Palestinian people.

It said, "It is clear that Israel is spinning out of control as it sees targeted assassinations, reprisals against civilian population and serial bombardment of its occupied territories as business as usual."

CPI asks Israel to pull out of Gaza  (http://www.asianage.com/main.asp?layout=2&cat1=5&cat2=154&newsid=233584&RF=DefaultMain)

Edited for those of you who don't know what  CPI is,  Communist Party of India

Turkish PM slams Israel's Gaza operation, arrest of Palestinian politicians
Published: 7/1/2006

   
ANKARA - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday denounced Israel's offensive in the Palestinian territories and the arrest of dozens of Palestinian politicians as a disproportionate and mistaken response to the kidnapping of an Israeli soldier.

"I find it hard to understand the abduction of (Palestinian politicans) and cannot see it as a contribution to Middle East peace," Erdogan told reporters in Ankara, the Anatolia news agency reported.

"It is a very, very mistaken attitude," he added.

Following the capture of the Israeli soldier in a Palestinian raid on an army post near Gaza last Sunday, Israel hit back with a massive ground and massive offensive in the Gaza Strip, an area it evacuated only nine months ago.

On Thursday, the Israeli army rounded up 64 politicians from the governing Islamist movement Hamas, among them eight cabinet ministers and 24 Islamist MPs, in a massive sweep in the occupied West Bank.

"It is not right to kidnap a soldier, but should the price of that be the abduction, capture of parliamentarians and local administrators?" Erdogan said.

He also criticised Israel's air strikes in Gaza, which has knocked out bridges and a power station.

"It is not possible to say, as people who believe in peace, that the bombing of civilian areas is positive," the Turkish leader said.

Erdogan added that he had telephone conversations with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Palestinian prime minister Ismail Haniya and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on Friday to heldp defuse the crisis, and said he would speak to US President George W. Bush later Saturday.

Turkey, a non-Arab Muslim nation with a secular system, has been Israel's main regional ally since the two signed a military cooperation deal in 1996, but relations have gone through cooler periods since the Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party came to power in Ankara in 2002.

Turkey angered Israel in February by hosting a delegation from Hamas after its stunning victory in the Palestinian elections.

Erdogan's Islamist-rooted government defended the talks as an effort to put pressure on Hamas to renounce violence while Israel warned that bilateral ties might suffer.

Ankara also enjoys close ties with the Palestinians and supports their claim for statehood.

Turkish PM slams Israel's Gaza operation, arrest of Palestinian politicians (http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=131436)

Talks falter as Israel rejects militant demands
Sat Jul 1, 2006 8:31 PM BST

By Nidal al-Mughrabi

GAZA (Reuters) - Israel on Saturday rejected demands from Gaza Strip gunmen who abducted an Israeli soldier to free 1,000 Palestinian prisoners from its jails as Egyptian-led mediation efforts to free the captive appeared to founder.

A Palestinian official said mediators had reported the soldier was alive and stable after being treated for wounds.

With Israel having sent troops and tanks into southern Gaza and threatening to broaden the offensive unless Corporal Gilad Shalit is freed, moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has been in around-the-clock talks with the Hamas government.

Israeli troops and Hamas gunmen clashed inside southern Gaza in one of the worst exchanges of fire since the assault to free Shalit began, but there were no immediate reports of casualties.

"Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has reiterated that there will be no deals, that either Shalit will be released or we will act to bring about his release," said Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev, responding to the fresh demands.

Shalit's seizure in a raid across Gaza's frontier last Sunday sparked a crisis that has pushed Israeli-Palestinian ties to new lows and dashed any chance peace talks might be revived.

U.S. President George W. Bush said freeing Shalit was key to ending the crisis in Gaza and should be the initial goal, the White House said.

A statement from the militants did not specify that freeing the 1,000 "Palestinian, Arab and Muslim prisoners" and ending Israel's Gaza assault would be in exchange for Shalit's freedom.

But a spokesman for the Hamas armed wing, one of the three groups that captured Shalit, said that was what it meant.

The government of the Hamas Islamists, already straining under a U.S.-led economic embargo to get it to recognise Israel, has said it had no prior knowledge of the militants' raid.

While militants have not said if Shalit was dead or alive, a Palestinian official said mediators had said he was fine.

"He is in a stable condition according to mediators," Ziad Abu Ein, a senior official with the Fatah movement of Abbas, said in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

ABBAS HOPEFUL

The United Nations said its Middle East special envoy, Alvero de Soto, would go to Gaza on Sunday for talks with Abbas.

Abbas voiced hope for a negotiated solution in which Shalit would be freed and at least some Palestinian demands met.

"Things are not deadlocked," he told reporters. "People are looking for a satisfactory solution and hopefully we will get that solution."

Israeli tanks entered the southern Gaza Strip this week in the biggest push into the territory since Israel pulled out troops and settlers last year after 38 years of occupation.

Aircraft fired missiles on Saturday at training camps and access routes used by militants to fire rockets at Israel.

Diplomats had said Israel wanted to give the Egyptian-led mediation efforts more of a chance before broadening its operations, expected with a push into northern Gaza.

But talks were foundering partly because the militants were insisting on prisoners being freed in return for the 19-year-old tank gunner, the diplomats and Palestinian officials said.

One Hamas leader said the militants had rejected an Egyptian proposal that Israel free a group of prisoners because it gave no number or timeframe.

Diplomats said Egypt was trying to get Syria to lean on Damascus-based Hamas leaders with greater sway over the armed wing than political leaders based in Gaza.

Israel has said it was playing no part in the mediation.

Its air strikes have targeted roads, bridges, power plants and areas used to fire rockets. Two militants have died and many Palestinians are complaining of a looming humanitarian crisis.

Piling on further pressure, Israel has detained dozens of Hamas cabinet ministers and lawmakers in the West Bank.

Talks falter as Israel rejects militant demands (http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsarticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyid=2006-07-01T193110Z_01_L27594321_RTRUKOC_0_UK-MIDEAST.xml&src=rss)

Israel pullout from Gaza a mistake, ambassador tells UN
Irish Sun
Saturday 1st July, 2006 

Israel has continued its extraordinary attack on the Palestinian population, which followed the capture of an Israeli soldier last Sunday.

Since the abduction Israel has bombed more than forty targets including government buildings and two power stations, extending the aerial campaign into Saturday. Much of the Palestinian territories are without power, and will be for up to nine months, according to a UN agency.

Israel's continuing offensive has come despite calls from the United States, the UN, the World Council of Churches, and several nations, to exercise restraint, and seek a resolution through negotiations. Israel has ruled out negotiations.

Meantime the Israeli ambassador to the UN has told the world body his country's withdrawal from Gaza was a mistake, while the U.S. ambassador John Bolton has broadened the blame for the conflict to Iran, Syria, and Lebanon.

The UN Security Council held an emergency meeting Friday night to hear criticism of the military onslaught in the Gaza Strip. Describing the escalating violence of the past few days as a "grave crisis," a senior United Nations official warned the Security Council another full-scale conflict between Israelis and Palestinians could easily be set off, and urged all sides in the region to "step back from the brink."

Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Angela Kane called on the Palestinian Authority to stop holding hostages and end indiscriminate rocket attacks, saying "nothing justifies" such actions. She also called on Israel to stop destroying civilian infrastructure, ensure civilians are protected, and allow for humanitarian assistance to get through. In addition, she expressed concern at the arrest of large numbers of the elected Palestinian Government.

"This is a grave crisis. The slightest turn of events could easily set off another full-scale conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, bringing greater dangers to civilians, and with serious regional repercussions. All parties must recognise this, and act with wisdom and care, and in full conformity with international humanitarian law," she said.

"All concerned parties must step back from the brink, and give dialogue a chance to avert a full-scale confrontation that will only lock Israelis and Palestinians in deeper and deadlier conflict."

Ms. Kane gave a detailed account to the 15-member body of how the crisis has developed over the past five days, highlighting in particular the capture last Sunday of Israeli Corporal Gilad Shalit, now being held by Palestinian militants in Gaza who have said he will not be set free before Israel releases all Palestinian female and under-age detainees.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has ruled out negotiations over any exchange of prisoners and Ms. Kane went on to highlight the military operation to obtain the release of the Corporal. She also covered the Israeli forces detention of 64 Palestinian Authority officials - including eight ministers and 21 Palestinian Legislative Council members - along with 23 suspected militants.

Riyad Mansour, the Permanent Observer of Palestine, said Israel's recent military aggression was "clearly premeditated and planned" well prior to the capture of the Israeli military solider on 25 June, he said, adding that Israel had been issuing threats about launching a major invasion of the Gaza Strip. Then, on 28 June, after amassing thousands of troops along the southern border of the Gaza Strip, Israel launched an air and ground military assault by warplanes and tank artillery bombardment, punishing and terrorizing the civilian population. Israel then expanded its aggression into the West Bank, carrying out kidnappings and detention of at least 64 Palestinians, the majority of them high-ranking, democratically-elected officials and holding them, along with 9,000 Palestinians, in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention.

He said it was the duty of the Security Council to address the crisis situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory by condemning Israeli aggression and calling for the immediate cessation of hostilities, compliance with international law, the withdrawal of Israeli occupying forces from within the Gaza Strip, and the release of Palestinian officials being detained. A failure to do so would only serve to bolster the occupying power's impunity. It was not too late for the Security Council to asserts its rightful role and use its authority to bring an end to the breaches being committed and salvaging the prospects for reaching peace on the basis on international law, UN resolutions, the Quartet's Road Map and the Arab Peace Initiative.

Israel's representative, Daniel Carmon, said Gaza was now a terror base actively supported by the elected Hamas Government. The aggressive terrorist provocations had persisted only because they were supported by the official Palestinian Government, a terrorist regime with a sworn intent to deny Israelis their most fundamental human rights. But Hamas was not alone in its campaign of terror. The dangerous realities in the Middle East were further inflamed by the active and direct collaboration between Syria, Iran, Hizbollah and Palestinian terror groups, comprising an "axis of terror."

Israel, like any other responsible Government, could not tolerate a situation in which its citizens were being held hostage by members of a terrorist group, he said. The military operation now taking place was specific in nature and limited in scope, and Israel was taking every effort to minimize any harm to Palestinian civilians. In light of the escalation of Palestinian terrorism, Israel had decided to intensify its efforts to arrest those operatives responsible for terrorist attacks, so they could be tried and brought to justice. He urged the international community to continue applying all possible political pressure on the Palestinian Authority and on the Hamas terrorist organization, including its members and sponsors in Damascus, so as to ensure the immediate and safe release of Gilad Shalit, and to bring to an end the use of Palestinian territory as a base for terrorist operations.

Other participants in the Council debate decried Israel's military operations as punitive to the civilian population and called for urgent humanitarian assistance to address a dire and worsening situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. They also underscored the importance of a formal response by the Security Council to the situation.

Washington's UN Ambassador John Bolton suggested the best way to end the offensive would be to immediately release the captured Israeli soldier. He charged Syria and Lebanon with stoking regional tensions, and called on Syrian President Bashir al Assad to help resolve the crisis.

"The United States is of the firm view that a prerequisite for ending this conflict is that the governments of Syria and Iran end their role as state sponsors of terror and unequivocally condemn the actions of Hamas, including this kidnapping," he said.

Arab nations had requested the late Friday Council session, and more than 25 countries joined in criticizing the Israeli offensive. But the Palestinian representative offered no resolution, and the meeting ended inconclusively.

The United States has in the past vetoed draft Council resolutions on Israel, arguing they were not balanced.

Israel pullout from Gaza a mistake, ambassador tells UN (http://story.irishsun.com/p.x/ct/9/id/60d73ba1315e42ff/cid/2411cd3571b4f088/)

U.S. to pay $48 million to cover damages to Gaza power station
By Akiva Eldar, Haaretz Correspondent and Haaretz Service

United States officials said they expect that U.S. funds will be used to pay for the damages caused by an Israel Air Force strike Tuesday on a Palestinian power station in the Gaza Strip. The power station was insured by a U.S. government agency, according to The Boston Globe.

The Foreign and Defense Ministry departments that oversee foreign relations were unaware of the decision to target civilian facilities in the Strip, or the decision to attack the power station. Because of this, officials did not know that the station was insured by a U.S. government agency. Israel did not inform the U.S. prior to attacking the power station.

The power station in Gaza was built over a period of five years, at a cost of $150 million. In 1999, the Enron Corporation, along with Palestinian businessman Said Khoury, began working on the project. In 2000, Khoury's Morganti Group purchased Enron's share of the project.

   Advertisement

The power station began operating in 2002, reaching full commercial capacity in 2004. The owners of the power station insured it, through the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, for a sum of $48 million due to "political risks." OPIC is a U.S. government authority that insures U.S. investments in developing markets.

A spokesman for the agency said the insurance purchased by the Morganti Group covers instances of political violence, which include wars and acts of terror.

The plant supplies electricity to some 860,000 people.

U.S. to pay $48 million to cover damages to Gaza power station (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/733394.html)

 PGCC condemns Zionist atrocities in Gaza
Riyadh, July 1, IRNA

PGCC-Israel-Condemnation
The six-nation Persian Gulf Cooperation Council on Saturday condemned Israel's air and ground raids on Palestinian lands, saying occupiers' brazen crimes are clear instances of the rule of jungle.

The PGCC Secretary General Abdulrahman Bin Hamad al-Attiyah said in a statement, a copy of which was made available to IRNA, that Israeli regime's arrest of Palestinian cabinet officials and members of the Palestinian Legislation Council (PLC) is also in breach of all the global laws, including the fourth Geneva Convention.

The PGCC statement calls on global communities to intervene in the case and halt Israel's brutal measure in attacking Palestinians.

It said Israel's crimes prove falsehood of opinions that the measures are for self-defense.

The statement also referred to recent Zionist jet fighters' violation of Syrian airspace as an affront to regional peace and stability.

Israel has since last week been conducting air and ground bombardment in Gaza, killing a number of Palestinians and seriously damaging the region's infrastructural facilities.

The occupying troops have also kidnapped number of the Hamas-led government members and PLC members, taking them to an undisclosed location.

PGCC condemns Zionist atrocities in Gaza (http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-234/0607011710200952.htm)

Iranian Jews do not officially recognize Israel
Moscow, July 1, IRNA

Iran-Israel-Yashai
The Iranian government and nation do not officially recognize Israel and Jews share the same position, according to an Iranian Jewish figure.

Head of the Committee of Tehrani Jews Haroun Yashai told Russian Gazetta daily, "We are citizens of the Islamic Republic of Iran." He ruled out allegations that religious minorities are deprived of their rights in Iran, saying, "Foreign journalists usually think that our comments on good condition of religious minorities in Iran are false; foreign journalists wrongly believe that we express everything on the call and under pressure of Iranian officials."
He said Jews are free to react to some of the policies of government and even write to government officials on the issues.

He went on to say that Jews are free to perform their religious duties and say their prayers in the Jewish language.

He added that Jews follow their customs and have been living in Iran since 2,500 years ago, when Cyrus the Great ruled the country.

Currently, maintained the Jewish figure, there are 40 synagogues in Iran, 23 of which are active, and the Jewish population are mostly scattered in Tehran, Shiraz and Isfahan.

There are 25,000 Jews living in Iran.

Iranian Jews do not officially recognize Israel (http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-234/0607011546181212.htm)

Israel army clashes with militants

July 1, 2006

Israeli troops and Hamas gunmen clashed inside southern Gaza in one of the worst exchanges of fire since Israeli forces launched an assault to free a soldier abducted by Palestinian militants.

Gunmen from the armed wing of the ruling Hamas movement said they hit an Israeli tank with two rocket-propelled grenades near the town of Khan Younis.

An Israeli army spokeswoman said: "An anti-tank missile was fired at a bulldozer. The force responded with gunfire."

The spokeswoman said exchanges of fire with gunmen continued, adding there were no reports of casualties.

She said there were a number of Israeli tanks in the area to back up troops.

Soldiers backed by tanks had earlier skirmished with gunmen in the area, wounding one Palestinian, witnesses said. An Israeli military source said the soldiers were looking for mines and other explosives.

Israeli forces entered the southern Gaza Strip this week as part of efforts to free Corporal Gilad Shalit, who was seized in a cross-border raid last Sunday.

The crisis has piled more pressure on the Hamas Islamist government, already straining under a US-led aid embargo to get it to renounce violence and drop its vow to destroy Israel.

Israel army clashes with militants (http://www.theage.com.au/news/World/Israel-army-clashes-with-militants/2006/07/01/1151174429183.html)

Russia Urges Palestinians to Stop Violence

Created: 14.06.2006 09:38 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 14:01 MSK

MosNews

Russia on Tuesday called on feuding Palestinians factions to stop the violence that has raised fears of imminent civil war, The Associated Press reported.

The statement by the Foreign Ministry came a day after hundreds of Palestinian police loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas went on a rampage against the Hamas government.

Spokesman Mikhail Kamynin said in a statement posted on the ministry web-site that Russia was concerned about increasing instability in the Palestinian territories. “All political forces should return to legal solutions, stop civil strife and unite around the central idea of forming an independent Palestinian state in accordance with the existing solutions of the international community,” Kamynin said.

The rampage on Monday, which saw police riddling the parliament building and cabinet offices with bullets before setting them ablaze in retaliation for an attack by Hamas gunmen in the Gaza Strip, raised new fears the Palestinians were headed toward civil war.

Along with the United States, the United Nations and the European Union, Russia is a member of the so-called Quartet of Mideast mediators, which has drafted a roadmap for peace in the troubled region.

Russia, which is seeking to boost its international clout and its role in the Middle East peace process, hosted a high-level Hamas delegation in March. The Moscow visit made no visible headway in persuading Hamas to soften its militant, anti-Israel stance.

Russia Urges Palestinians to Stop Violence (http://www.mosnews.com/news/2006/06/14/russiatopalestine.shtml)

Israel Squeezes, and Gaza Strip Adapts to a Vise
By IAN FISHER

GAZA, July 1 — Omar Areny's wife had left their 11th-floor apartment here only once in three days. When the power is out — which is often since the Israeli military knocked out nearly half of Gaza's power supply on Wednesday — that means a long climb up the stairs.

"It's a prison but there are no guards," said Mr. Areny, 40, waiting for the power to return as Israeli artillery shells thudded nearby on Friday. "You are obliged to stay in your house."

No electricity means not only no elevators, but also less water, refrigeration and air-conditioning in the middle of summer. The Israeli military campaign in Gaza — aimed at forcing the release of a captured Israeli soldier — has come with other problems: the closed borders have locked out fuel, which has nearly run dry, and food. The sonic booms set off by Israeli jets in the night terrify the Arenys' four children.

Even after so many years of fighting, Mr. Areny said, Israel had again misunderstood the Palestinian mind.

He and others here believe the military campaign is aimed less at fighters than at making Palestinians' lives so miserable that they turn against their government, which is now run by the militant group Hamas. Hamas's military wing led the attack into Israel last Sunday in which the soldier was captured.

"I don't like the government, but in these circumstances I will support it," said Mr. Areny, a member of Fatah, Hamas's rival. "I cannot stand with the Israelis against our people."

Nearly a week after the attack in which the Israeli soldier was taken, the Israeli military operation has not yet created a full-blown crisis for the 1.3 million people who live in the already poor and violent Gaza Strip.

But aid groups worry that one could come more quickly now than it might have under other circumstances. Gaza has already been squeezed financially — and civil servants like Mr. Areny not paid for four months — since Hamas, classified by the United States and the European Union as a terrorist group, took power in January elections and the West cut off financial aid.

"They are heading for the abyss unless they get electricity and fuel restored," Jan Egeland, the United Nations emergency coordinator, told reporters in New York on Thursday.

In recent days, the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross have been negotiating with Israel to allow into Gaza emergency stores of food, fuel and medical supplies. No decision had been made as of late Saturday, and it remained unclear how long the current crisis would last.

On Wednesday, Israeli missiles destroyed all six transformers in Gaza's only power plant, which supplied nearly half of the strip's electricity. Gaza is now completely reliant on Israel for power, which is being rationed around the strip, in an erratic schedule that gives residents only a few hours of power a day.

Meantime, with the borders completely shut since Sunday, officials estimate at most a few days' worth of fuel remains — and many gasoline stations have already run out.

On Friday afternoon, Mahmoud Saleh, 33, a taxi driver, pushed his empty car into a gas station near the beach, only to find the last drops had been sold the day before.

"It's a disaster," said the station's accountant, Akram Majid, 29, as the employees, with nothing else to do, worked on lighting up fragrant sheesha tobacco in a big water pipe to pass the time. "Everything will stop. We will go back thousands of years."

Water is also quickly becoming a problem: without electricity to work water pumps — and with a shortage of diesel to run generators — 130,000 Gazans, mostly in rural areas, have been left without a regular supply, according to the United Nations.

And the problems compound: some 160,000 Gazans, half of them widows, the disabled and blind, are dependent on the United Nations World Food Program for food, which comes in rations of chick peas, flour, oil and salt.

But Kirstie Campbell, a spokeswoman for the World Food Program, said the concern was that people would not be able to cook without adequate water and fuel.

"You can't eat flour," she said. "You can't eat dry chick peas."

Some of the problems of the last few days seem more like inconveniences, although they go down as badly here as they would anywhere. People have been unable to check their e-mail messages regularly, because the power cuts have also affected Internet network computer servers. Beaches, normally crowded on hot days, are nearly empty for fear of an Israeli artillery shell, from the regular artillery rounds or from the Israeli gunboats off the coast.

At his grocery store in Gaza, Osama Abu Hamdah, 25, opened his refrigerator, which had been on only two hours that day, so a visitor could smell the rotting meat and cheese. He slid open the ice cream freezer to reveal a pile of soggy, flat wrappers.

"It's not fair," he said. "It's collective punishment."

In a place where seafood is a major part of the diet, fishermen have been warned by Israeli gunboat patrols not to go beyond the coast all week. Al Shifa Hospital, the largest in Gaza, has been almost entirely reliant on its generator this week. The hospital has stored up two weeks' worth of fuel, which officials hope is enough.

But worries persist about the generator itself — "which is a machine which may at any time stop," said Dr. Jumaa Saqqa, the hospital's spokesman.

Many are worried too about the longer-term effects of the violence on their children. Violence here is caused not only by Israelis but also by fighting among Palestinians factions, but residents here say that in the last week Israeli sonic booms — which cause houses to shudder and sound like massive bombs exploding overhead — have been especially terrifying.

Mahmoud Bahador, 30, a car mechanic, said that one night this week, his 3-year-old son, Moamin, bolted out of bed after one of the booms in search of his toy gun to defend himself.

"I told him, 'Don't be afraid. They aren't here,' " he said. "But he didn't understand."

On Friday afternoon, as if on cue, an Israeli F-16 shattered the sound barrier over a double wedding here, already noisy with drums, a tambourine, a traditional flute and, as is custom in many Arab countries, rounds of celebratory gunfire in the air.

"What should we do?" asked one of the grooms, Ayman Arichy, 25. "This is my wedding, and Israeli bombers are scaring us. Life goes on."

Israel Squeezes, and Gaza Strip Adapts to a Vise (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/02/world/middleeast/02gaza.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print)

'Give BD10m to help Palestine'

By TARIQ KHONJI

A BAHRAINI political society is calling for Bahrain and other GCC governments to each give BD10 million from oil revenues to Palestinian cause.It comes along with a call to support a demonstration outside UN House today against Israel's latest brutalities.

Oil prices are currently so high that the region could easily afford to give away this amount of money, says National Democratic Action Society (Wa'ad) secretary general Ibrahim Sharif.

"Bahrain's budget is drawn up based on a $40 per barrel price but oil prices have skyrocketed to between $60 and $70 per barrel and all this is surplus income," he said.

"We would not have made such a suggestion if we felt that the region didn't have enough money for itself, but this is clearly not the case and BD10 million represents about 0.5 per cent of the Bahrain government's estimated revenue for this year.

"Since oil prices are expected to remain high, it will be a similar story next year too."

Meanwhile, Wa'ad and several other political societies are joining hands to demonstrate outside UN House in Hoora, to denounce Israel's recent raids on Palestinian territory after one of its soldiers was kidnapped and shot.

The demonstration will be held from 5.30pm to 6.30pm.

Mr Sharif said that the demonstration was being organised after a distressed Palestinian resident in Bahrain, who did not want to be named, called some of the societies asking why they were not doing anything.

"We rallied the societies together to voice our condemnation of Israel's actions, which are entirely devoid of logic and reason," he continued.

"How can the life of one Israeli soldier justify the slaughter of dozens of civilians?"

Mr Sharif said that the international community was allowing Israel to "get away with murder".

"They are also destroying bridges and other infrastructure, which the international community paid to build. And yet, ironically, they are not doing anything to stop them."

Mr Sharif also proposed that Bahrain and other Arab countries set aside 100 scholarships a year to give to Palestinians.

"Getting an education is very difficult in Palestine. They have to walk miles just to get to a university," he said.

"In addition, they suffer from shortage of medicine, lack of hospitals and other problems which we need to help them with."

'Give BD10m to help Palestine' (http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Story.asp?Article=148105&Sn=BNEW&IssueID=29104)

Palestinian militants issue new demands

Fri Jun 30, 7:55 PM ET

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - The Palestinian militants holding an abducted Israeli soldier issued a new demands Saturday, calling for a halt in Israel's military offensive in Gaza and the release of 1,000 prisoners from Israeli jails.

The demands were laid out in a joint statement by the militant wing of the ruling Hamas party, and two smaller militant groups, the Popular Resistance Committees and the Army of Islam. The three groups have claimed responsibility for Sunday's abduction of Cpl. Gilad Shalit in a cross-border raid.

The statement also repeated an earlier demand for the release of all Palestinian women and minors held in Israeli prisons in exchange for information about Shalit.

As with its earlier demand, Saturday's statement did not promise to release the soldier. Israel has ruled out any prisoner swap.

Palestinian militants issue new demands (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060630/ap_on_re_mi_ea/palestinians_militants;_ylt=ArypRR.DooHwpdQXQgAZaeALewgF;_ylu=X3oDMTBjMHVqMTQ4BHNlYwN5bnN1YmNhdA--)

PAL: OK you release 1,000 prisoners and stop Gaza offensive.
Israel : No deal!

PAL : OK, YOU stop Gaza offensive and then release 1,000 prisoners!
Israel : ummm NO!

PAL: OKOK YOU release 1,000 prisoners, AND THEN stop Gaza offensive
Israel : (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v605/DreamWeaver000/Animated/MUNCHKINATOR.gif)

PAL to UN, we cannot reach an agreement with Israel because they reject our repeated efforts to reach a deal!

If only people's lives weren't being lost over it, it'd be really funny.

Hamas: Kidnappings to increase
01/07/2006 22:37  - (SA) 
   
Oslo - The representative of Hamas in Lebanon said on Saturday that the number of kidnappings of Israelis would increase unless Israel freed Palestinian prisoners.

"Palestinians will do everything to get their sons, daughters, brothers and women freed from Israeli prisons," Osama Hamdan was quoted as saying in the internet edition of the Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten.

He said the current Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip would not deter the kidnappers.

"Kidnappings will increase as long as Palestinians are not freed, whatever the outcome of the Israeli invasion in the Gaza Strip," he said, because "Israel has never freed Palestinian prisoners for any other reason".

The comments come days after the seizing by Palestinian militants of Israeli army corporal Gilad Shalit, which prompted the Israeli offensive.

Following the capture of the 19-year-old corporal on Sunday, militant factions affiliated to the armed wing of Fatah have sent several statements to the media claiming the abduction of other Israeli soldiers in the West Bank.

The Israeli government has launched a massive operation against the Gaza Strip in a bid to free the soldier.

More than a dozen Palestinian cabinet members belonging to the Hamas faction have been detained.

Hamas: Kidnappings to increase (http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,,2-10-1462_1961301,00.html)

Erdogan Slams Israel Over Detentions
Published: 7/1/2006

ANKARA- Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan denounced Israel's offensive in the Palestinian territories and the arrest of dozens of Palestinian politicians as a disproportionate and mistaken response to the kidnapping of an Israeli soldier.

"I'm having a hard time understanding now that eight Palestinian ministers and more than 50 parliament members and local directors were kidnapped, and I don't see this as ever adding to peace in the Middle East," he said.

"The kidnapping of a soldier is not right -- it's wrong. OK, is the price of this eight ministers, does the price of this mean kidnapping parliament members and local directors over there, taking them prisoner?" Erdoðan told a "Glocalization" conference hosted by Ankara Mayor Melih Gökcek and attended by some 400 guests from mostly Islamic countries.

"These developments have greatly saddened us, but we have not given up hope. We will do all we can (to help resolve the crisis)," he said. Meanwhile, Israel on Saturday rejected demands from Palestinian militants who captured an Israeli soldier to free 1,000 prisoners from its jails and kept up air strikes on Gaza aimed at winning his release.

A Palestinian official said Corporal Gilad Shalit was alive and stable after being treated for wounds. The soldier's seizure in a raid across the Gaza Strip's frontier last Sunday sparked a crisis that has sent Israeli-Palestinian relations to new lows and dashed any chance peace talks might be revived.

Erdogan Slams Israel Over Detentions (http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=131470)

Hamas responds to Israeli threats by declaring resilience

RI Urges UNSC To Stop Israel's Campaign Against Palestine

Indonesian House Commission Demands Release Of Palestinian Officials
Gaza (ANTARA News) - A senior Hamas leader and politician responded Saturday to recent Israeli threats to target movement officials in declaring the resilience of the Palestinian cause.

"Our flag would never fall down, though our leaders may be killed imprisoned," Mushir al-Masri responded reports that Israel threatened to target Prime Minister Haneya and other ministers and lawmakers in the Hamas-led government if the captive Israeli soldier is killed.

Al-Masri also said the Hamas movement, which together with two other Popular Resistance Committee (PRC) militants, abducted the 19 year-old Corporal Gilad Shalit last Sunday, "will not reduce its demands for the release of Palestinian imprisoned in Israel jails."

He reiterated a statement issued by the militant captors earlier in the day Saturday saying that "the release of a 1,000 prisoners spending high sentences in Israeli jails, is a clear condition for the release of the abducted soldier Gil`ad Shalit."

Three militant groups, led by Hamas armed wing al-Qassam Brigades killed two Israeli soldiers and kidnapped Shalit in an attack they carried out against an Israeli army base into Israel, south-east of the Gaza Strip on June 25, DPA reported.

"The abduction of the soldier is a step in the right direction in order to release imprisoned Palestinians, Arabs and Moslems from the Israeli jails," said al-Masri, expecting that Israel "sooner or later would give up and accept the conditions."

Jul 02 04:42

Hamas responds to Israeli threats by declaring resilience (http://news.antara.co.id/en/seenws/?id=15529)

Israel to ease trade blockade, keep up offensive

By Nidal al-Mughrabi 1 hour, 1 minute ago

GAZA (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was widely expected on Sunday to ease an economic blockade on the Gaza Strip but to keep up a military offensive designed to force Palestinian militants to free a kidnapped soldier.

Israel sent troops and tanks into southern Gaza in a clampdown on the coastal territory after the militants seized the soldier in a cross-border raid last Sunday, but the standoff has triggered a looming Palestinian humanitarian crisis.

Israeli political sources said Olmert would seek cabinet approval to reopen the main commercial crossing into Gaza so the Palestinians could import food, emergency electricity generators and other vital items.

"We expect Karni (crossing) to be opened by Monday," one source said on condition of anonymity. "But the military operations are going ahead."

Even before the standoff, the Palestinian government -- run by the Hamas Islamist group -- was already straining under a U.S.-led economic embargo imposed to get it to recognize Israel.

The militants holding Corporal Gilad Shalit, including Hamas members, have demanded Israel release hundreds of Palestinians from its jails before they will free him.

Israel has ruled this out and threatened to step up its military offensive in Gaza, which it quit last year after 38 years of occupation.

DASHED HOPES

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Egyptian mediators have been involved in round-the-clock negotiations with Hamas in an attempt to defuse a standoff that has plunged relations with Israel to new lows and dashed hopes of renewed peace talks.

"Things are not deadlocked. People are looking for a satisfactory solution and hopefully we will get that solution," said Abbas, a moderate whose Fatah group is a rival to Hamas.

Abbas told reporters he still hoped some Palestinian demands would be met as part of any diplomatic breakthrough.

A Palestinian official quoted mediators as saying 19-year-old Shalit was alive after being treated for wounds.

President Bush and other Western leaders have said freeing Shalit was key to ending the standoff and should be a first goal.

But Israel has faced Western censure for its initial response to the abduction. The Jewish state launched air strikes against the main Gaza power plant and road bridges as well as a round-up of senior Hamas politicians in the occupied West Bank.

Serious casualties have so far been limited to two dead militants.

The United Nations said its Middle East special envoy, Alvero de Soto, would go to Gaza on Sunday for talks with Abbas.

Diplomats said Egypt was trying to get Syria to lean on Damascus-based Hamas leaders who have greater sway over the group's armed wing than political leaders based in Gaza.

Israel has said it was playing no part in the mediation.

Israel to ease trade blockade, keep up offensive (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060701/ts_nm/mideast_dc;_ylt=A0SOwlqg9aZEoWQBJgBZ.3QA;_ylu=X3oDMTA5aHJvMDdwBHNlYwN5bmNhdA--)

Israel targets Palestinian PM's office

8 minutes ago

GAZA (Reuters) - An Israeli helicopter gunship fired a missile at the Gaza City office of Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh early on Sunday, setting it alight, witnesses said.

They said Haniyeh, a top official of the ruling Islamist militant party Hamas, was not believed to be in the office at the time.

An Israeli military spokeswoman confirmed the air force targeted Haniyeh's office.

Minutes later, another Israeli missile hit a Al-Arqam School in Gaza, which was founded by the late Hamas founder, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, witnesses said.

There were no reports of casualties in either air strikes.

Israel sent troops and tanks into the Gaza Strip after Palestinian gunmen snatched one of its soldiers in a cross-border raid last Sunday. Civilian infrastructure and facilities used by the Palestinian government have also be targeted in air strikes.

Israel targets Palestinian PM's office (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060701/ts_nm/mideast_airstrike_dc_4;_ylt=AihERwfpjIrL.KuT9K4AE0lg.3QA;_ylu=X3oDMTA2ZGZwam4yBHNlYwNmYw--)

'We will halt tanks with human mines'
By Harry De Quetteville in Khan Younis
(Filed: 02/07/2006)

Palestinian militants preparing for an expected Israeli armoured assault on Gaza have vowed to deploy suicide bombers against advancing tanks and armoured personnel carriers.

Militant leaders are activating volunteers who have lain dormant because security measures make it all but impossible for Palestinian bombers to attack Israel from fenced-off Gaza. Only a handful of suicide bombers have emerged from Gaza, including a British national who exploded a bomb outside a bar in Tel Aviv in April 2003, killing three.

But in the warren of streets just off the main north-south road through Gaza, a squad of young men once willing to die as "human bombs" are now preparing to die as human anti-tank mines.

"We had a queue of volunteers so long we could not use them," said a leader of al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, who goes by his nom de guerre, Abu Jendal. "Now we are planning to attack tanks with our bodies. It is an effective means of resistance."

The suicide corps is from Gaza's second biggest city, Khan Younis, where, Israeli intelligence believes, Corporal Gilad Shalit, the soldier kidnapped last weekend, is being held by an alliance of Palestinian groups. Cpl Shalit, himself a tank gunner, was captured on Sunday morning in a well-planned raid that killed two other Israeli soldiers and humiliated an army used to enjoying total military supremacy in the conflict with the Palestinians. Yesterday, it emerged that he had been treated by a Palestinian doctor for three wounds sustained in the raid.

Abu Jendal is al-Aqsa's commander in Khan Younis and, though he says he knows nothing of the whereabouts of Cpl Shalit, mobile phones and radios used by him and his associates buzz with reports from fellow militants.

Unstrapping his pistol and throwing it on a pile of camouflaged uniforms in an upstairs room in Khan Younis, he recalled dispatching a woman who blew herself up at a border checkpoint between Israel and Gaza in 2004, killing four. Suicide belts and improvised rocket-propelled grenades were close at hand, he said.

Three times, he said, he had escaped Israeli assassination attempts, including an airstrike this year on an al-Aqsa's "control room". "I stepped out to get a glass of tea," he said. "Then the missiles hit. I was saved by tea."

But while militants such as Abu Jendal have been buoyed by their success in last -Sunday's raid into Israel, few have any illusions about the battle that they assume is just days, if not hours, away.

"We are not fools," he said. "We know they are strong. But they know that if they leave their tanks they will be shot. So we will strike the weak points of tank on foot, wearing suicide belts, and with explosives buried in the sand, to force them out."

Their favoured battlefield will be the twisting alleyways of refugee camps across Gaza, where Israeli tanks have little room for manoeuvre. Until yesterday, however, those tanks remained stationed at either end of Gaza, awaiting orders to roll in, as rumours abounded that Egyptian mediators had made a breakthrough and that Cpl Shalit was to be freed.
    
Middle East factfile

But then those holding him announced the terms of any deal - including the release of women and children and 1,000 other Arab prisoners.

Israel, which has vowed not to barter for Cpl Shalit's release, dismissed the offer, raising expectations that it would begin its armoured push at the end of the Jewish Sabbath yesterday evening.

Even before the land campaign, Gazans have been feeling the pinch from -Israel's air and artillery assault. A missile strike on Gaza's power station has proved a critical blow on a territory where electricity is key to basic needs.

While Gaza can get by -without air-conditioning, it cannot live without water, which is supplied from wells that rely on electric pumps.

Fuel to run emergency generators is also running low, as Israel imposes a total blockade on Gaza. It has refused to allow the Red Cross to deliver emergency shipments of fuel and medical supplies.

While Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, has repeatedly stated this week that his government has "no interest to harm the Palestinian people", few in Gaza see what military benefit Israel derives from inflicting power shortages or ear-splitting sonic booms upon them.

But for Mr Olmert, a leader without strong army credentials, those considerations are outweighed by the need to appear tough and to end the barrage of home-made missiles launched at southern Israeli towns.

Nor are they the principal worry of Abu Jendal.

"It's not easy choosing a suicide bomber," he said. "We don't want those who are angry or desperate but those who are convinced of the principle of sacrificing themselves. If I just followed the emotions of young men, I would be sending in dozens. We want an effective result."

'We will halt tanks with human mines' (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/07/02/wgaza02.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/07/02/ixnews.html)

Palestine 'ready to trade' captured Israeli soldier

Secret talks over prisoners are 'close to deal' as negotiators race against time to prevent bloodbath

Conal Urquhart in Gaza City
Sunday July 2, 2006
The Observer

Palestinian militant sources claimed last night that they were close to reaching an agreement in negotiations over the release of an Israeli soldier. They want a guarantee that Israel will free prisoners at a future date in return for the release of Corporal Gilad Shalit. Palestinians say they accept that Israel will not free any prisoners immediately, but insist they will give up the 19-year-old soldier only in return for a commitment for a future release. Because they have no confidence in Israeli assurances, they stipulate that it must make a commitment to a third party such as Egypt. Israel would also be expected to end its attacks on the Gaza Strip.

It came as the Palestinian Deputy Minister of Prisoner Affairs said Shalit had minor injuries but was in a stable condition. Speaking at a news conference in Ramallah, Ziad Abu Aen cited 'mediators' as telling him that Shalit, captured during a raid into Israel by militants last Sunday, had three wounds: 'I guess shrapnel wounds.'

The tone of the secret negotiations is very different from the public utterances of both parties. Yesterday the three groups holding Shalit said they would free him if Israel released 1,000 Palestinian women, children and humanitarian cases from prison. Mark Regev, of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, rejected the demand, saying that Israel would make no deals. There has been energetic diplomacy to prevent the situation descending into a bloodbath. Ghazi Hamed, spokesman for the Hamas government, said Egypt, Turkey and other governments were mediating and making progress.

'Israel says it will not agree to a simultaneous release, but it will agree to release prisoners in the future. We are looking for a third party, possibly Egypt, to accept a guarantee from Israel that it will respect that they will release prisoners at a later date,' he said. However, Walid Awad, a spokesman for Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian President, said 'immense Egyptian efforts' to resolve the crisis were being thwarted by Israeli intransigence and the inability of the Hamas government to exercise any influence on its military wing. 'Ismail Haniyeh, the current Prime Minister, appears not to have any say in what is going on in this regard,' he said.

But there was no relief for Gaza yesterday as the sonic booms of Israeli attacks from sea and air could be heard every hour. An airstrike on an electricity plant left homes and hospitals without essential power while the World Food Programme, which helps feed about 600,000 people in the occupied territories, says that many Palestinians are now living on one meal a day, and there has a been a rise in anaemia and kidney problems due to the poor nutrition.

Karen Koning AbuZayd, the head of the UN's relief agency, said there was a humanitarian crisis growing for Gaza's 1.4 million people. 'Gaza is an urban environment but urban life is not functioning. Water is not getting to people in apartment buildings and there is very little power. The situation can better be compared to Sarajevo, although it's not that sort of siege,' she said.

After leaving Gaza ten months ago, Israeli troops are now dug in around southern Gaza and massed in the north. Israel's re-engagement with Gaza began before dawn last Sunday when eight men from Hamas, the Popular Resistance Committees, and the hitherto unknown Islamic Army crawled through a tunnel from Gaza to attack Israeli positions from the rear.

They destroyed an armoured personnel carrier and a tank, killing two Israelis and abducting Corporal Shilat. Bedouin trackers, who volunteer for the Israeli army, found the footprints and believe that Shilat was wounded but able to walk unaided.

The Islamic Army appears to be a part of the Popular Resistance Committees, but some Gazans believe it is a new group which draws its inspiration from Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida rather than the quest for Palestinian liberation. For years, Fatah splinter groups have operated independently of its mainstream leadership, but this time it was Hamas that was to be embarrassed by its lack of control of its cadres.

Previously Hamas was a disciplined group which kept disputes internal and spoke with one voice. It decided to enter the elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council in January after a lengthy period of consultation.

However, six months in office have left many activists disillusioned by the inability of Hamas to take control of events and the perceived hypocrisy of the Western governments in rejecting the democratic choice of the Palestinian electorate. 'People are very angry and frustrated,' said Yehiyeh Musa, a Hamas member of the Palestinian Legislative Council. 'People have been calling us cowards.' In spite of the fragmentation of the Palestinian factions, Israel decided to hold Hamas and the Palestinians responsible for the captive soldier. Israel blew up roads and a power station in Gaza and arrested 64 Hamas officials in the West Bank, including cabinet ministers and members of the Palestinian Legislative Council.

For some in the Israeli government, the abduction of Shilat provided an opportunity to settle scores with Hamas. 'There is a school of thought that believes that an armed conflict with Hamas would be inevitable and this would have happened without the abduction,' said Yossi Alpher, an Israeli strategic analyst.

Palestine 'ready to trade' captured Israeli soldier (http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,1810843,00.html)

Keep in mind this is coming from the Palestinians...

Israel’s Reluctant Journey from Hostage Crisis to War Confrontation in Gaza

DEBKAfile Special Report

July 2, 2006, 12:45 AM (GMT+02:00)
   
The ball landed squarely in the Israeli court Saturday night, July 1, after Cairo admitted its bid to negotiate an end to the Gideon Shalit hostage crisis had ended in fiasco six days after his capture. The IDF, whose armored forces are standing 3 km inside the southern Gaza Strip since Wednesday, June 28, and camped on the fringes of its northern sector, are awaiting their next orders. It is up to prime minister Ehud Olmert to tell the troops how to complete their incursion of the territory and approach their confrontation with Hamas.

He is holding emergency conferences with security and military chiefs Saturday night on whether to approach the inevitable clash at once, or in stages; incrementally, or by a blitz operation entailing the reoccupation of all or most of the Gaza Strip.

Casualties on both sides are unavoidable.

Hamas is gearing up for action. Seven Fatah-al Aqsa Brigades factions have rallied to Hamas and are pledged to fight – not with RPGs or roadside bombs but by hurling themselves bodily against incoming Israeli tanks as martyrs.

The signal for war came Saturday night from Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas. He was urged by the Egyptians to state that diplomacy had run out of steam in the absence of a Hamas partner for dialogue on the fate of Gideon Shalit.

DEBKAfile’s sources disclose that Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and his aides derailed their own mediation effort out of hubris, while Mahmoud Abbas is picking up the pieces in the hope of maneuvering Israel into doing his dirty work and toppling the Hamas regime.

In an interview Friday, June 30, to the Cairo daily al Ahram, Hosni Mubarak boasted he had brokered a deal with Hamas leaders on terms for the Israeli hostage’s release, but accused Israel of rejecting them. This was the reverse of the real situation. Mubarak had no clearance from Hamas before he went public, but Olmert was willing to listen. Egypt’s intelligence chief Omar Suleiman was supposed to travel to Jerusalem Saturday, July 1, to present the deal in detail.

DEBKAfile disclosed those terms that same day:

1. Gilead Shalit will be freed and handed to the IDF.

2. Israel will then pull its troops back from the Gaza Strip.

3. The 87 Hamas leaders Israel detained on the West Bank last Thursday, June 29, will be released.

4. Olmert will give Mubarak his personal guarantee to free groups of Palestinian prisoners at a suitable future opportunity as a gesture of goodwill.

After reading Mubarak’s al Ahram interview, Hamas leaders in Damascus and Gaza blew up. The Damascus-based Hamas leader, Khaled Meshaal, ordered the special emissary he sent to Cairo last week (as reported earlier by DEBKAfile) to notify the Egyptian president that Hamas utterly disowns his proposals for a hostage deal.

The Israeli corporal’s captors, a coalition of three terrorist groups, thereupon posted their new demand for the release of another 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, on top of the 450 demanded earlier. There was no offer to free Gilead Shalit. This reverse thoroughly confused the situation as presented in the media.

Olmert and Mubarak then found out from their intelligence agencies that Hamas had not let the grass grow under its feet. Taking advantage of the time gained by the hold-up in Israel’s advance into Gaza and Egypt’s mediation bid, Hamas used last week to recruit the seven armed Fatah suicide squads in the Gaza Strip and build a new alliance called “The National General Command of Asifa Palestine.”

The new grouping passed two resolutions.

1. Its members no longer recognize Mahmoud Abbas’s authority.

2. A concerted effort by all the allied factions will be mounted to fight Israeli forces if they deepen their incursion of the Gaza Strip.

Saturday night, July 1, the NGCAP announced its principle weapon would be suicide fighters. Israel military sources believe Fatah will have no difficulty in rounding up large numbers of recruits for a mass suicide assault.

In an effort to save his face, the Egyptian president made Abbas publicly state that night that the failure of Cairo’s mediation bid to free the Israeli hostage was not the fault of Egypt or Israel, but the lack of a responsible Hamas party to address.

DEBKAfile’s Palestinian sources report that Abu Mazen has calculated cynically that Olmert is in a fix: he can hardly keep on dragging out Operation Summer Rain any longer, and he will end up destroying the Hamas government on behalf of the Palestinian leader. This will not of course prevent Abbas from calling on the world to intervene and rescue the innocent Palestinian people from the Israeli armed forces.

Our political sources note that Israel’s leaders fell into the disastrous error of putting their trust in the Egyptian ruler instead of entrusting the IDF with a swift, comprehensive offensive to vanquish Hamas. The result of their dilly-dallying is that Israel is being dragged against its will into a far broader and more costly conflict whose outcome is incalculable against an enemy which has used the time gained to prepare for the fray.

Saturday too the Lebanese Hizballah placed its forces on the ready. Hassan Nasrallah, the terrorist group’s leader, explained that when the IDF attacks Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian organizations in Lebanon will be set loose against Israel’s northern border.

Israel’s Reluctant Journey from Hostage Crisis to War Confrontation in Gaza (http://www.debka.com/article_print.php?aid=1179)

Abbas: Hamas indecision obstacle to ending hostage crisis

Egyptian efforts to diplomatically resolve crisis over abducted soldier are being set back by confusion about who has decision-making power on Palestinian side - Hamas government or militants holding the captive

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Saturday that Egyptian efforts to diplomatically resolve a crisis with Israel over an abducted soldier are being set back by confusion about who has the decision-making power on the Palestinian side: The Hamas government or the militants holding the captive.

IDF soldier Cpl. Gilad Shalit, 19, was abducted by Palestinian gunmen during an attack on an IDF position overlooking the fence on the southern Gaza border.

"The efforts by the Egyptians are facing difficulties due to the absence of an address on the Hamas side capable of taking decisions," said Abbas, the moderate leader of the mainstream Fatah movement.

"Hamas political leadership outside are saying the decision is in the hands of its military wing inside Gaza, while the military wing is saying the decision is in the hands of the political leadership outside. Ismail Haniyeh, the current prime minister of Hamas government, appears not to have any say in what is going on in this regard," Abbas said in a statement issued by his office.

"If things do not change, all indications are leading into one direction, more bloodshed, more chaos and poverty, more catastrophes, and worse instability in our region," Abbas said of the hostage crisis.

"Cool heads particularly in Israel should prevail. Military force of any kind did not work in the past, and will not work, now or in the future. In the short run, the solution is to give more time to diplomacy, and in the long run is a negotiated peaceful settlement," he said.

Egypt’s plan to dispatch the Intelligence Chief Omar Suleiman to the area to mediate talks has not yet been carried out owing to the obstacles. Egyptian elements holding negotiations with Hamas representatives in Gaza and Hamas leaders in Damascus reached the conclusion that the organization was leaning towards the decision not to release Shalit except in a hostage exchange deal.

Palestinian sources familiar with the talks said that Egypt is frustrated with both sides – with Israel for its inflexibility and insistence that the only solution is the soldier’s release with no conditions, and with Hamas for their refusal to agree to anything that does not include the immediate release of security prisoners.

Palestinians officials said that one of Egypt's suggestions was that the soldier be released immediately, and later Israel would free Palestinian security prisoners as a goodwill gesture in advance of the upcoming diplomatic meeting between President Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. But this plan also ran aground. Sources in the Palestinian Authority said that the next few hours would be decisive, although estimates are that no breakthroughs will be made. In the PA, concerns are high that a breakthrough will not be reached until another round of bloodshed on both sides.

The factions who captured Shalit demanded earlier Saturday that Israel free 1,000 prisoners from its jails and end an assault on Gaza launched to win the soldier’s release.

The second statement from the groups since Shalit’s abduction, appeared to cast doubt on the hopes of mediators that diplomacy could soon get him free.

“We are declaring to the public our just and humanitarian demands,” said the statement faxed to news agencies by the armed wing of the governing Hamas Islamist group, the Popular Resistance Committees and Army of Islam.

Earlier Saturday an initial report on Shalit’s condition was received, seven days after his abduction.

Palestinian sources said an examination of the soldier by a Palestinian physician a few days after the kidnapping found that he is suffering from a light stomach injury caused by shrapnel.

Hamas indecision obstacle to ending hostage crisis (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3269703,00.html)

Hamas official decrease importance of targeting Haneya cabinet 

A senior Hamas official and a member in the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) decreased on Saturday the importance of targeting ministers in the Hamas-led government, saying that the ministers and the lawmakers will be facing their destiny.

"The flag would never fall down, but leaders can become martyrs or prisoners," Mushier al-Masri told Xinhua in comment to the reports that Israel threatened to target Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haneya if the captive Israeli soldier gets killed.

Meanwhile, the official also said that the three groups abducting an Israeli soldier last Sunday would not reduce its demands to Palestinian prisoners imprisoned in Israel jails.

"The militant groups would never minimize its demands to reduce its conditions towards the issue of the abducted soldier," al- Masri noted.

He added that the release of a 1,000 prisoners of those spending high sentences as well as Arab, Moslem and sick prisoners in Israeli jails, is a clear condition in order to free the abducted soldier Gilad Shalit.

Last Sunday, Israeli Corporal Shalit was seized in a deadly attack carried out by militants from Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades, the Popular Resistance Committees and its offshoot Islamic Army on an Israeli army post near a southern Gaza border crossing.

"The abduction of the soldier is a step in the right direction in order to release imprisoned Palestinians in the Israeli jails," said al-Masri, expecting that Israel sooner or later would give up and accept the conditions.

However, the request was rejected by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Saturday.

The Israeli army has launched an operation dubbed "Summer Rain" against the Gaza Strip to secure the return of Shalit.

Hamas official decrease importance of targeting Haneya cabinet (http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200607/02/eng20060702_279128.html)

Israel urges U.S. to pressure Syria on release of kidnapped soldier

Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz urged the United States on Saturday to pressure Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to help secure the release of an Israeli soldier kidnapped by Palestinian militants.

Leading Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported on its website that Peretz made the urge in a phone conversation with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Saturday evening.

Peretz asked Washington to step up pressure on Syrian President Assad to use his influence on Hamas politburo chief Khaled Mashaal, who lives in Damascus in exile, to work for the release of the abducted soldier, according to the report.

The Israeli defense minister also said that Syria "cannot evade responsibility in the matter", the report said.

In addition, Peretz told Rice that the failure of the kidnappers to release the Israeli soldier was weighing heavily on the Palestinians, pledging that Israel would take care of humanitarian issues in the Gaza Strip.

Earlier, Peretz gave a green light to the reopening of a key Gaza goods crossing as of Sunday for urgent humanitarian aid.

U.S. President George W. Bush said earlier on Saturday that freeing the Israeli soldier was the first step and the key to ending the Gaza crisis.

As Israeli troops launched a broad ground offensive into Gaza to rescue the abducted soldier on early Wednesday, Israeli military planes flew low over a residence of Syrian President Assad in northern Syria in a bid to up pressure to secure the soldier's freedom.

Assad was there at the time of the overflight.

Syria said that its air defense forces opened fire at the Israeli aircraft and forced them to leave.

Israel has accused Syria of linking with the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), which calls for Israel's destruct and now runs the Palestinian government.

Israeli Justice Minister Haim Ramon warned that Mashaal was a target of assassination, accusing him of ordering the abduction of the Israeli soldier.

Three Palestinian militant groups including Hamas' armed wing launched a deadly attack on the Israeli army border post on June 25,snatching the 19-year-old Gilad Shalit and killing two other Israeli soldiers.

The massive Israeli ground offensive in Gaza entered a fourth day on Saturday and is likely to be further widened as Israeli forces are ready to enter northern Gaza, a move postponed to allow more time for mediation.

Israel urges U.S. to pressure Syria on release of kidnapped soldier (http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200607/02/eng20060702_279230.html)

Key Gaza goods crossing to be reopened on Sunday for urgent aid

Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz decided on Saturday to reopen the Karni goods crossing on the Gaza-Israel border as of Sunday in order to facilitate the transfer of urgent humanitarian aid.

Peretz also decided to allow 150 trucks carrying staple foodstuff and medicine to pass through Karni every day for the next four days starting from Sunday.

In addition, the minister ordered to open a key gas depot to ease the severe fuel shortage in the Gaza Strip since the Israeli army launched a broad ground offensive into the desert coastal strip on early Wednesday to free a soldier kidnapped by Palestinian militants.

The Karni crossing, Gaza's main cargo terminal, has been closed along with other crossings since June 25 when Palestinian militants mounted a deadly attack on an Israeli army post near the Gaza border, killing two Israeli soldiers and kidnapping a third.

Humanitarian agencies have warned that daily necessities and fuel are running out in the Gaza Strip as the Israeli army continues its operation and shuts down Gaza border terminals.

The only power plant in the Gaza Strip and main water and electricity supply lines were destroyed in Israeli air raids during the past few days, leaving many Gazans without electricity and water supply.

The operation is the first major Israeli ground offensive in the Gaza Strip since Israel pulled out troops and settlers from it last summer after 38 years of occupation.

Key Gaza goods crossing to be reopened on Sunday for urgent aid (http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200607/02/eng20060702_279229.html)

Palestinian spokesman says no deal reached on kidnapped Israeli soldier yet

A spokesman for the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) said on Saturday that no satisfactory deal had been reached yet to solve the Gaza crisis triggered by the abduction of an Israeli soldier by Palestinian militants.

The spokesman, who did not reveal his name, said in a written statement, "All concerned parties are exerting efforts to end the crisis without disasters, but till now, no satisfactory solution has been reached."

"The coming few hours are crucial, sensitive and dangerous," the statement added.

"Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is still exerting utmost efforts to end the Israeli aggression and avoid the Palestinians more dangers and disasters," it said.

Israeli troops crossed the border and entered the southern Gaza Strip on early Wednesday in a bid to rescue the kidnapped soldier.

It is the first major Israeli ground offensive into the Gaza Strip since Israel pulled out forces and settlers from it last summer after 38 years of occupation.

But the Israeli army has delayed entering the northern Gaza Strip in order to give more time for mediation.

Earlier, Palestinian militants who held the Israeli soldier hostage demanded Israel release 1,000 Arab and Muslim prisoners jailed by Israel in exchange for information on the soldier, which was rejected by Israel.

Palestinian spokesman says no deal reached on kidnapped Israeli soldier yet (http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200607/02/eng20060702_279180.html)

Al-Awda Tells Israel to End Siege of Palestinian Areas
Arab News
 

NEW YORK, 2 July 2006 — Al-Awda, the Palestinian Right to Return Coalition, has strongly condemned the Israeli war crimes that are presently being committed against Palestinians, in the on-going siege of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

In a statement issued yesterday, Al-Awda said, “We call upon the international community to take up their responsibility in protecting the Palestinian people from this aggression, and terminating the continuing Israeli policy of collective punishment.” Since military operations began on June 27, Israel has destroyed bridges, roads and water and electricity plants in the occupied territories.

“More than two-thirds of the people have been denied access to water and electricity. Children, the sick and elderly are the first to be affected. Israel, the US and European Union governments have put the Palestinian people under siege for the past few months as collective punishment because these countries did not approve of the results of the democratic elections held by the Palestinian Authority,” continued the statement.

The statement added that the Palestinians felt that the Israel’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip last year was a means of turning the area into the largest open prison with the largest population of prisoners in the world.

The acquiescence of world governments to this indicates complicity in these war crimes.“Nothing justifies the Israeli savagery, including the destruction of water and electricity plants. Racist media coverage in North America has been trying to minimize the importance of these war crimes,” Al-Awda said. Al-Awda has called on supporters of the Palestinian struggle, the international community, activists and Arab organizations to demand an end to the siege.

The organization also called for the release of all political prisoners, including all elected representatives of the Palestinians, and an end to the Zionist occupation, apartheid policies and all other war crimes. Finally the statement also urged the US to stop all aid to Israel.

Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition, is a broad-based, non-partisan, democratic and charitable organization of activists and students committed to comprehensive public education on the rights of all Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and lands of origin.

Al-Awda Tells Israel to End Siege of Palestinian Areas (http://arabnews.com/?page=4&section=0&article=84691&d=2&m=7&y=2006&pix=world.jpg&category=World)

 Egypt to Hamas: Sunday Morning Deadline
05:00 Jul 02, '06 / 6 Tammuz 5766
by Hana Levi Julian

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak gave Hamas terrorists until Sunday morning to decide whether to accept his proposal for the release of their hostage, IDF Corporal Gilad Shalit.


“The proposal is that the Israeli soldier will be freed immediately and in return, Israel will release prisoners in the near future,” said Palestinian Authority sources quoted by the Haaretz news service.

Mubarek has reportedly pushed Syrian President Bashar Assad to pressure exiled Hamas leader, Khaled Mashaal, whose headquarters are based in Damascus.

“At first, the Hamas leadership rejected the proposal, saying it could not rely on Israel to release prisoners. The Egyptians informed them that they would receive a personal guarantee from Mubarak for the future release of the prisoners,” said the PA source.

Hizbullah secretary general Hassan Nasrallah, meanwhile, urged the terrorists not to release Shalit unless something is offered in return. By Saturday night, Egyptian patience was waning and the terrorists were informed that their response was expected by Sunday morning.

At that time, Egyptian said, it would end its participation in the negotiations and the IDF would step up its military action in Gaza.

Shalit’s captors demanded that Israel release 1,000 prisoners and stop all military action in Gaza – however, they have not committed themselves to freeing Shalit in return. The demand was signed by the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), the Army of Islam and the military wing of Hamas.

Complicating the picture is the uncertainty as to who exactly is calling the shots within Hamas. Sources close to PA President Mahmoud Abbas said Saturday that there is a power struggle developing between Hamas Chairman and PA Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and the terrorists who are holding Shalit. The kidnappers are apparently operating under Mashaal’s orders from Damascus.

“Hamas political leaders outside are saying the decision is in the hands of its military wing inside Gaza, while the military wing is saying the decision is in the hands of the political leadership outside. Ismail Haniyeh,,,. appears not to have any say in what is going on in this regard,” said sources in Abbas’ office.

Israeli officials have repeated that they will not negotiate with terrorist organizations.

 Egypt to Hamas: Sunday Morning Deadline  (http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=106376)

Factions call on Arab, Islamic countries to boycott Israel
font size  ZoomIn ZoomOut   

The Palestinian Following-up Committee comprising national and Islamic factions on Saturday called on Arab and Islamic countries to sever diplomatic ties with Israel and boycott it.

The committee, grouping 13 factions and political powers, said in a statement that Arab and Islamic nations are demanded to act as soon as possible to support the Palestinian position.

The statement called on Arabs and Muslims around the world "to condemn the ongoing Israeli aggression on the Palestinians, which is supported by the United States."

Three armed groups, namely the Popular Resistance Committees, the Islamic Army and Hamas' armed wing Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades, jointly carried out an attack on an Israeli army post southeast of the Gaza Strip last Sunday, killing two Israeli soldiers and kidnapping a third one.

The militants conditioned the return of the abducted Israeli soldier on the release of women and children Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails.

Israel refused to negotiate with Palestinian militants and launched a large-scale military operation, dubbed "Summer Rain," against the Gaza Strip on Wednesday in an effort to rescue the abducted soldier.

Factions call on Arab, Islamic countries to boycott Israel (http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200607/02/eng20060702_279132.html)

EU president calls on Israel to free Palestinian officials
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Israel should release detained Palestinian officials and the Palestinian side should free immediately an Israeli soldier, said Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen on Saturday, whose country has just assumed the European Union (EU)'s rotating presidency.

In an interview with Germany's Die Welt newspaper, Vanhanen urged the Palestinian militants to immediately release the Israeli solider captured during a predawn attack on an Israeli outpost near Gaza border on Sunday.

Israel retaliated by sending troops into the Gaza region, launching airstrikes and arresting Palestinian officials.

Vanhanen said Israel must halt its military operations, free the Palestinian ministers and members of parliament and stop destroying civilian infrastructure in the Palestinian territories.

He stressed that negotiation is the only way to solve the problem.

Finland took over from Austria the rotating presidency of the 25-member EU on Saturday.

EU president calls on Israel to free Palestinian officials (http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200607/02/eng20060702_279174.html)

Haniyeh urges action on Israeli strikes

Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh has urged the international community to end Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip as he visited the site of an air strike that hit his office.

The Israeli air strike hit Mr Haniyeh's office early today causing a fire but no casualties.

"It's an attack against a Palestinian symbol," he said.

"We ask the international community and the Arab League to take its responsibilities towards our people and intervene to bring an end to this aggression."

In an almost simultaneous air strike in the northern Gaza Strip town of Jabaliya, a Hamas militant was killed and another wounded.

The strikes are part of an operation launched by Israel in the Gaza Strip in a bid to force the release of one of its soldiers, Corporal Gilad Shalit.

The 19-year-old was captured on June 25 by a group of three militants, including the armed wing of Mr Haniyeh's Hamas movement.
Strikes confirmed

The Israeli Military, which has confirmed it carried out an air strike on Mr Haniyeh's office, says the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) will use "all means" to secure the soldier's release.

"The IDF holds the Palestinian Authority and the Hamas Government responsible for the recent attack on the soldier and his fate," a spokeswoman said.

"The IDF will continue to employ all means at its disposal against Palestinian terrorist infrastructure in the Gaza Strip to allow the unconditional return of Corporal Gilad Shalit."

Mr Haniyeh describes the Israeli attacks as "an insane policy".

Mediation efforts led by Egypt and Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas to secure the release of the soldier have so far failed.

Israel is refusing to meet the demands of the captors, who say they want the Jewish state to free 1,000 prisoners.

Haniyeh urges action on Israeli strikes (http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200607/s1676678.htm)

Iran slams US for violating Palestinians' rights

Sunday, July 02, 2006 - ©2005 IranMania.com
     Related Pictures
 
Archived Picture - According to an IRNA report, Deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs Seyed Abbas Araqchi strongly criticized the US and deplored that as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, US fails to comply with its commitment and constantly violates Palestinian rights by misusing its right of veto.

LONDON, July 2 (IranMania) - According to an IRNA report, Deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs Seyed Abbas Araqchi strongly criticized the US and deplored that as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, US fails to comply with its commitment and constantly violates Palestinian rights by misusing its right of veto.

The Iranian deputy foreign minister made the remark at the UNSC urgent meeting on the latest crime committed by the 'Zionist' regime in Gaza Strip, which was held in response to a call by Iran and a number of Arab states.

He said that the 'Zionists' escaping punishment for their acts undoubtedly accounts for the continued trend of such crimes.

Araqchi appreciated the UNSC meeting held to discuss such a critical issue threatening global security and peace and said that the international community once more witnessed another military attack launched by the 'Zionists' against the innocent people of Palestine, in complete violation of the basic principles of international rules.

He referred to the major cases of recent crimes of the 'Zionist' regime in their attack on Gaza Strip, during which they hit civilian infrastructures, including bridges as well as its only power plant, and dismissed the Zionists pretext as baseless, given the disastrous condition in the occupied territories.

"No excuse can justify the acts of the 'Zionist' forces, which blatantly violate basic international laws," he said.

Then he pointed to the fate of thousands of Palestinians, including women and children and asked, "How long have they been in 'Zionists' prisons?"

Elsewhere in his speech, he regretted the failure of the occupying forces and their supporters to learn a lesson from their historical blunders, adding that now after 50 years, they still hope to make the Palestinians yield to them by suppressing them.

"This is while only promotion of justice can put an end to the sufferings in the region and establish peace once more," he added.

Araqchi expressed concern over the possible extension of crisis to the whole region, given the violation of Syria's air space and said, "We strongly condemn the 'Zionists' recent criminal act and consider it as a mass punishment and violation of international rights.

"We believe that the international community should mediate effectively and prevent such terrorist actions against the Palestinian people."

The deputy minister stressed the significance of UNSC role in ending the 'Zionist' regime's disregard for the will of the
international community.

He urged that they should be underlined properly in resolutions of the UN, Non-Aligned Movement and the Organization of the Islamic Conference.

Turning to the threats facing the international peace and security on account of such violations against Palestinians, he stressed the great responsibility of the UNSC in this respect within the framework of the UN Charter.

The foreign ministry official hoped that all members of the UN Security Council will fulfill their tasks and tackle the situation properly, given the latest violation of the occupied territories.

Iran slams US for violating Palestinians' rights (http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=44067&NewsKind=Current%20Affairs)

 Protests Continue Over Israeli Offensive

WORLD CAPITALS — Massive demonstrations are planned in a number of European and Arab countries to protest the ongoing Israeli offensive against the Palestinians in Gaza.

Rallies are scheduled in a number of French cities on Saturday, July 1, to protest the incessant Israeli onslaughts, which entered its fourth day in a row.

Two marches are also planned for Sunday, July 2, in central Paris and before the Israeli embassy to protest the Israeli aggressions.

A series of rallies are also planned in Morocco to protest the ongoing Israeli offensive.

Two rallies are scheduled in front of the Moroccan parliament and the Palestinian embassy on Sunday and Tuesday respectively.

A major demonstration is also planned in the capital Rabat on Saturday, July 8.

"The rallies are a message to the international community and Arab governments that the Moroccan people reject world silence on the Israeli crimes," said organizers.

The Tawhid and Islah movement also called for "supporting the Palestinian resistance against the Israeli occupation and rejecting normalization with the Zionist entity".

A special session of the Moroccan parliament was also called to express solidarity with the Palestinian people.

Earlier on Friday, hundreds of Austrians rallied in the capital Vienna to denounce the Israeli attacks.

"We want to show that the Europeans are for the right of the Palestinian people to live in peace and dignity," said Mohamed Abdul-Ghani, one of the participants in the rally.

A petition was also submitted by the protestors to the representative of the Vienna-based European Commission calling for a "fair European stance on the Palestinian people and stop the EU indifference to the daily Israeli crimes".

Muslims around the world took to the streets on Friday, June 30, following the weekly Muslim prayers to protest the ongoing onslaughts, chanting anti-Israel slogans and urging their governments to kick out the Israeli ambassadors.

Israel pounded Gaza with 30 air raids overnight as part of a wide-scale assault, the biggest offensive since pulling out of the territory in September.

Israel claims that it operation is aimed at setting free an Israeli soldier taken prisoner by resistance fighters, but the Palestinians say that Tel Aviv is set to topple the Hamas-led government.

Mistaken

The ongoing Israeli offensive against Gaza and abduction of Palestinian ministers and lawmakers have also drawn rebuke from many world countries.

"I find it hard to understand the abduction of (Palestinian politicians) and cannot see it as a contribution to Middle East peace," Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was quoted as saying by Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Saturday.

"It is a very, very mistaken attitude," he added.

On Thursday, the Israeli occupation army rounded up 64 Palestinian officials, including eight ministers, 24 lawmakers, in a massive swoops across the occupied West Bank.

"It is not right to kidnap a soldier, but should the price of that be the abduction, capture of parliamentarians and local administrators?" Erdogan said.

Early on Saturday, Finland, the new EU president, also called on Israel to release the abducted Palestinian officials.

"I call on the Palestinians to immediately release the Israeli soldier they took hostage. At the same time, Israel must halt its military operations, free the Palestinian ministers and members of parliament and stop destroying civilian infrastructure in the Palestinian territories," Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen said in an interview with Germany's Die Welt newspaper.

Malaysia, the current chair of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), the world's biggest Muslim grouping, also condemned the Israeli offensive in Gaza.

"What Israel has done could disrupt the peace process and threaten the safety of the Palestinians," Foreign Minister Syed Hamid told Malaysia's news agency Bernama late Friday during a visit to Amman, Jordan.

He said the attacks were violation of international law.

OIC Resolution

Meanwhile, Arab and Muslim countries have won support for a resolution to put the issue of the occupied Palestinian lands on the permanent agenda of the UN Human Rights Council.

The OIC resolution was adopted by 29 countries of the 47-member council with 12 against, five abstentions and one delegation absent, Reuters reported.

Regional powers, including Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Syria were among the resolution's sponsors.

Western countries, including Britain, Canada, France and Germany, as well as Japan, voted against the text.

The United States did not stand for election and only had observer status in the newly formed council.

The Arab and Muslim countries also secured support to hold a special session of the council next week to discuss the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories.

 Protests Continue Over Israeli Offensive (http://www.dpm.ae/doc_cont.asp?id=91949)

Abbas confident Shalit can be freed
Khaled Abu Toameh and AP, THE JERUSALEM POST    Jul. 1, 2006

Palestinian Chairman Mahmoud Abbas said late Saturday he was confident an agreement could be reached to end the crisis with Israel and free IDF Cpl. Gilad Shalit, who was abducted by Palestinian operatives last Sunday.

For a Jerusalem Online video of events click here (http://info.jpost.com/C005/Channel2/)

"Regarding the soldier, we will surely reach an agreement. It is not a dead end. People want an acceptable solution," Abbas told reporters.

"Israel as a matter of principal does not accept reciprocity. Maybe there will be another formula that won't be turned back," Abbas continued.

"I am afraid that what is to come is going to be dangerous because we can't bear another serious aggression and another occupation. What is to come may be more difficult," he said. "What is important is to protect national unity. To protect our people and to avoid bringing danger and disaster to the nation."

Palestinian Authority officials in Ramallah said that divisions inside Hamas were preventing progress in talks aimed at releasing Shalit.

"Hamas doesn't know what it wants," a PA official told The Jerusalem Post. "The movement's leaders are saying different things and we don't know who's in charge there. The rivalry within Hamas makes it difficult to reach an agreement."

The official was speaking shortly after Abbas's office issued a statement saying it was not clear who in Hamas was making decisions about the soldier.

According to the statement, mediation efforts by Egypt and other countries have yet to bear fruit because it was unclear who was authorized to take decisions - the military wing of Hamas, which is believed to be holding Shalit, or Hamas's political leaders abroad.

PA Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, who has been negotiating with Abbas for the past week, apparently has no say in the matter, the statement added.

"The next hours are critical, sensitive and serious. And though the efforts are still continuing, we have not reached a satisfactory solution until now," a spokesman for Abbas said.

"After a week of continuous and lengthy contacts with all parties - Palestinian, Arab, international and particularly Egyptian - the president [Abbas] is still exerting efforts to stop the Israeli incursions, assassinations and detentions, and avoid more disasters for the Palestinian people," he said.

Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, who was supposed to visit the Gaza Strip over the weekend to negotiate with Hamas, postponed his trip, apparently after learning that the kidnappers had not softened their position.

Mashaal was scheduled to visit Cairo over the weekend for talks with Suleiman on ways of ending the crisis. It was not clear on Saturday whether Mashaal had arrived in Egypt.

The kidnappers are demanding the release of at least 1,000 Palestinians from Israeli jails in return for information about the condition of Shalit. On Friday, Egyptian security officials based in the Gaza Strip sounded much more optimistic about the prospects of reaching a deal.

Abdullah Abdullah, chairman of the Palestinian Legislative Council's Political Committee, said on Friday that the two sides were close to reaching an agreement on a prisoner swap. He said that the under the terms of the agreement, which was being brokered by Egypt, Shalit would be exchanged for several hundred Palestinian prisoners, including all the female inmates.

He said the deal would also call for Israel and the PA to return to the negotiating table and for Israel to halt all its military activities in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Hamas spokesman Mushir al-Masri said on Saturday that his movement wanted a prisoner swap similar to the one that was reached in January 2004, when Israel released senior Hizbullah members and 400 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for kidnapped Elhanan Tannenbaum and the bodies of three Israeli soldiers.

"There will be no solution for this case without the release of Palestinian prisoners," he said. "We want a prisoner exchange like Hizbullah, which swapped the bodies of three Israeli soldiers for hundreds of Arab prisoners held in Israel."

Also on Saturday, PA Deputy Minister of Prisoners Affairs Ziad Abu Ein announced that Shalit has received treatment for wounds sustained during his abduction and that he is in stable condition.

Speaking at a news conference in Ramallah, Abu Ein cited unidentified "mediators" as telling him that Shalit had been wounded during his abduction.

"He has three wounds," he said. "I guess shrapnel wounds."

Abu Ein, who is a senior Fatah leader, later claimed that he was only quoting media reports and that he did not have independent information regarding Shalit's condition or whereabouts.

In his first public appearance since Shalit's abduction a week ago, Haniyeh said on Friday that his government would not cave in to Israeli demands. He added that he was working hard to resolve the crisis peacefully.

Referring to the IDF's detention of Hamas ministers, legislators and mayors, Haniyeh told worshipers at a mosque: "When they kidnapped the ministers, they meant to hijack the government's position, but we say no positions will be hijacked, no governments will fall.

"This comprehensive aggression shows there is a premeditated plan against the people and the legitimate government and the elected PLC. How can we explain the arrest of the ministers and the PLC members? The threats don't scare us. This is an old/new policy, because we believe that lives are controlled by God," he said.

Also on Saturday, Hamas condemned US President George W. Bush as the "leader of evil and the number one sponsor of terrorism in the world."

The attack on Bush came in response to statements made by US Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton, who described Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal as a "known international terrorist."

Abbas confident Shalit can be freed (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1150885892820&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)

1,000 protest IDF activity at Jakarta US embassy
Associated Press, THE JERUSALEM POST    Jul. 2, 2006

Around 1,000 Indonesian men, women and children rallied Sunday at the US Embassy against Israel's military operations, as Middle East violence escalated over the capture of IDF Cpl. Gilad Shalit.

The protest was organized by the Islamist Justice and Prosperity Party whose members shouted anti-American slogans and denounced Israel and accused its troops of human rights violations.

Around 500 police officers with water canons protected the American complex, often the staging point for anti-Western demonstrations.

1,000 protest IDF activity at Jakarta US embassy (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1150885897793&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)
===========================================

As if we have anything to do with the attacks in Gaza.

Israel will Continue Strikes Against Hamas Until Release of Kidnapped Soldier

 2 July 2006 | 08:48 | FOCUS News Agency

Tel Aviv. Israel will continue the strikes against Hamas until the Israeli soldier is not released and the launching of rockets from Palestine territory doesn’t cease, AFP announced citing a statement by the Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Roni Bar-On on the national radio. Minister’s statement was made several hours after the air strike against Prime Minister’s office of the Palestine Autonomy Ismail Hanya in the town of Gaza.

Israel will Continue Strikes Against Hamas Until Release of Kidnapped Soldier (http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=138&newsid=91435&ch=0&datte=2006-07-02)
=====================================================

The wording in the article is wrong because it's translated to English, and it's not their primary language...

COLORADO SPRINGS AIR FORCE INSTALLATION ON HEIGHTENED ALERT

Four Installations Across The Country Are Affected By Order From U.S. Space Command
by Baaron Pittenger

6/29/2006
 
An Air Force installation in Colorado Springs and one near Denver are operating with heightened security.

The Cheyenne Mountain Air Station, which houses NORAD, is now at "Bravo-Plus".

There are five levels of alert: normal, Alpha (low), Bravo (medium), Charlie (high) and Delta (critical). “Bravo-Plus” is slightly higher than a medium threat level.

The Cheyenne Mountain Air Station And Buckley Air Force Base are among four installations in the country at the higher alert level ordered last week by then- Acting-Commander of Air Force Space Command, General Fred Klotz.

Space Command would not comment on the reason for the security increase.

The order also affects Vandenberg Air Force Base in California and Patrick air force base in Florida.

COLORADO SPRINGS AIR FORCE INSTALLATION ON HEIGHTENED ALERT (http://www.krdotv.com/displaystory.asp?id=11449)
======================================================

About time I think, come Lord Jesus soon.

President Exchanges Phone Calls with World Leaders and Officials

 
GAZA - President Mahmoud Abbas exchanged phone calls with world leaders and officials to put them in the image of the situation in the Palestinian territories in light of Israel's military escalation.
.
The President phoned the Libyan Leader Muammar Gaddafi, the Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and Yemeni President, Ali Abdullah Saleh. He received phone calls from the Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabr al-Thani, the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Massimo D'Alema and from the Japanese special envoy in charge of peace in the Middle East, Mr. Tatsuo Arima who conveyed to the President a message from the Japanese Prime Minister, Mr. Juinchiro Koizumi.
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Yesterday, President Abbas phoned the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Saudi King, Abdullah Al Saud, King Abdullah II of Jordan, the President of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Khalifa al Nahyan and the Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad.
.
He also discussed the issue over phone calls with the US Secretary of States Condoleezza Rice, the EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, Javier Solana, the Spanish Foreign Minister, Miguel Angel Moratinos, the German Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store, the Danish Minister for Foreign Affairs Per Stig Moller and the British Foreign Secretary, Margaret Beckett.

sorry I can't post the link

As if they really needed to.    ::) ::) ::) ::)


We were on a higher alert level than that for many years during the Cold War.

I know brother, I also understand why we are on a higher alert level.  But it doesn't need to be said here, in the open. We never know who may be reading these messages. 

I hope you know what I mean. :D

If one reads the newspapers then they already know the reason.

You mean this??

NORAD Prepared If North Korea Launches Missile

Rick Sallinger
Reporting

(CBS4) COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. The Bush administration has urged North Korea to abandon its plans to test a long range missile. The Pentagon believes the missile is capable of reaching the United States.

NORAD and the U.S. Northern Command in Colorado would play a big role in both detecting and responding to a missile launch if it ever occurred.

Operators at NORAD, deep inside Cheyenne Mountain, have prepared for years for a missile launch from North Korea.

"We want to make the President make a smart decision, we don't want to start World War III," said Lt. Col. Ed Maitland, NORAD. "So we have to make sure, without a doubt, that this information is accurate."

If a launch should occur, satellites would detect heat and will immediately contact NORAD with a "quick alert."

During a test run, an animation showed the would-be "missile" going into radar coverage where NORAD could predict the impact point. The decision to retaliate is then made by the president.

One option would be to intercept the missile before it reaches North American soil.

"This is a weapon system that is under development," said Colonel Hugh Bell from NORTHCOM. "We have a limited defensive capability and if necessary, we will use that capability to defend the United States."

The U.S. missile defense system is only a few years old, but could be tested if North Korea chooses to act.

NORAD commanders said they've been practicing for such an event since the facility was created about 50 years ago.

NORAD Prepared If North Korea Launches Missile (http://cbs4denver.com/topstories/local_story_173215256.html)

Two Hamas operatives killed in further air strikes
By Avi Issacharoff and Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondents, Haaretz Service and Agencies

An Israel Air Force attack helicopter launched a missile before dawn Sunday striking the office of Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh in Gaza City. Neither Haniyeh nor any of his aides were in the vicinity at the time of the bombing, but the building itself was damaged.

Haniyeh arrived quickly to survey the damage done to his Gaza offices and to condemn the attack.

"This is the policy of the jungle and arrogance," Haniyeh told Reuters, adding that the strike "targeted a symbol of the Palestinian people."

"Nothing will affect our spirit and nothing will affect our steadfastness," said Haniyeh.

Israel Radio reported that the structure burst into flames, and firefighters rushed to the scene shortly after the attack to extinguish the fire.

The attack was similar to Israel's strike against the Palestinian public security minister - who, like Haniyeh, is a member of Hamas - two days earlier.

The strike on Haniyeh's office indicates a desire by Israel to heighten pressure on Hamas in order to yield the release of abducted Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit.

Also before dawn Sunday, the IAF struck the headquarters of a Palestinian Authority security organization founded by Hamas in Gaza, killing one of the group's operatives and injuring another, Israel Radio reported.

The air force also targeted and killed one Hamas operative in the northern Gaza town of Jabalya, according to Israel Radio.

The IAF attacked several sites late Friday and early Saturday in an earlier round of raids across the Gaza Strip. There were no casualties in any of the incidents, Palestinian medical workers said. (Click here for a map of Gaza)

The attacks were on what the IDF called a "terrorist training facility" in the south of the Strip, and on a building in Gaza City which Palestinians said was used by Hamas militants.

The military confirmed attacking a Hamas facility in Gaza, and in a former Israeli settlement near the town of Rafah near the Egyptian border which was abandoned in last year's Israeli withdrawal and then taken over by Palestinian militants.

Palestinians said the new occupants, activists of the Abu Rish Brigades,
loosely affiliated with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah, recently evacuated the complex, fearing such a strike.

The military could not confirm reports of a missile landing on open ground near the southern town of Khan Yunis.

Also early Saturday, IAF aircraft reportedly hit a Hamas training facility in central Gaza. There were no injuries, but the building was set on fire, Palestinian officials said. The IDF said it was looking into the claim.

Earlier Friday evening, three Palestinians were hurt in an IAF strike in the northern Gaza Strip, Palestinian security sources said. According to witnesses, an IAF missile was fired and landed adjacent to a vehicle in Gaza City.

The IDF said the strike targeted an Islamic Jihad Qassam rocket-launching cell. Palestinian sources said four militants were in the vehicle at the time of the strike. Three managed to flee.

Peretz to Rice: Pressure Damascus, Hamas over kidnapped soldier
Defense Minister Amir Peretz told U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Saturday that Washington should pressure Syrian President Bashar Assad to influence Hamas political bureau chief Khaled Meshal to bring about Shalit's release.

Peretz met with senior IDF and Shin Bet security service officials on Saturday evening regarding Shalit.

Shalit was abducted Sunday morning in an attack on his IDF post near the Gaza border. Two IDF soldiers were killed in the attack.

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas said Saturday he was confident an agreement could be reached to end the crisis with Israel and free Shalit.

"Regarding the soldier, we will surely reach an agreement. It is not a dead end. People want an acceptable solution," Abbas told reporters.

"Israel as a matter of principal does not accept reciprocity. Maybe there will be another formula that won't be turned back," Abbas said.

Abbas said he is worried that Israel will proceed with its threats for a more extensive offensive in Gaza.

"I am afraid that what is to come is going to be dangerous because we can't bear another serious aggression and another occupation. What is to come may be more difficult," he said. "What is important is to protect national unity. To protect our people and to avoid bringing danger and disaster to the nation."

A statement released by Abbas' office earlier Saturday said mediation efforts by Egypt and other countries to resolve the crisis over Shalit had yet to bear fruit mainly because it was unclear who in Hamas - the militants or the group's leadership abroad - was authorized to make decisions about Shalit's fate. Abbas later said that the statement should not be attributed to him.

Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, a Hamas leader, apparently has no say in the matter, according to a statement from Abbas' office.

cont'd next post

"The next hours are critical, sensitive and serious. And though the efforts are still ongoing, we have not reached an acceptable solution until now," Abbas' office said in a separate statement.

"After a week of continuous and long contacts with all parties, Palestinian, Arab, international and particularly Egyptian, the [Abbas] ... is still exerting efforts to stop the Israeli aggression and avoid more disasters for the Palestinian people," the statement said.

Abbas also appealed to all parties to work to find "an acceptable solution" to the crisis.

Israel said Saturday that it rejects a demand by the three Palestinian militant groups holding Shalit to free 1,000 security prisoners being held in its jails and end the IDF offensive launched in Gaza in the wake of his kidnap.

Meanwhile, a Palestinian deputy minister said Saturday that Shalit has received medical treatment for wounds sustained during his abduction and that he is in stable condition.

Speaking at a news conference in Ramallah, Deputy Minister for Prisoner Affairs Ziad Abu Ein cited unidentified "mediators" as telling him that Shalit had been wounded during his abduction.

"He has three wounds," Abu Ein said. "I guess shrapnel wounds." He did not give further details.

But Abu Ein told Haaretz later Saturday that he had simply been quoting media reports and had not received any new information.

Channel 1 television, citing a senior Israeli security official, reported Friday night that a Palestinian doctor treated Shalit for minor shoulder and stomach wounds, and that the soldier was in good condition. Israel Radio said the doctor's visit took place Thursday.

A statement released overnight Friday by the three groups did not say explicitly that the soldier would be freed should their demands be met. But a spokesman for the military wing of the governing Hamas party, one of the three factions involved in the kidnapping, said the demands specified in the statement were in fact conditions for releasing Shalit.

Repeating Israel's refusal to bargain for Shalit's release, Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said in response to the statement that "Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has reiterated that there will be no deals, that either Shalit will be released or we will act to bring about his release."

IDF troops entered the southern Gaza Strip in the early hours of Wednesday, in a bid to pressure the Palestinians to release Shalit.

The militants' demand Saturday for the release prisoners was the second statement by the groups since Shalit's abduction. "We are declaring to the public our just and humanitarian demands," the statement said.

The statement repeated an earlier demand for the release of women prisoners and minors in exchange for information on Shalit, but made the added request for Israel to free 1,000 "Palestinian, Arab and Muslim prisoners."

It said these would have to include all Palestinian faction leaders as well as humanitarian cases.

The statement cast doubt on hopes voiced by mediators that Shalit could be freed soon.

"In spite of the good efforts of the mediators who tried in silence to speed up the treatment of this humanitarian matter, the enemy and their political leadership are still under the pressure of the security and military command," it said.

"The escalation and arrogance mean the enemy will be responsible for the bad consequences," it said.

Qassam lands hundreds of meters from Ashkelon
Also Friday, a Qassam rocket fired from the Gaza Strip landed within hundreds of meters of Ashkelon, in what police said was the closest a Qassam strike has come to the southern city.

Police confirmed that the rocket was an improved version of the Qassam. No injuries were reported in the incident.

Early Friday, the IAF struck the Palestinian Interior Ministry in downtown Gaza City, Palestinian witnesses said, setting it on fire. There was no word of casualties.

The Interior Ministry is nominally in charge of Palestinian security forces, though Abbas removed most of its authority.

The IDF confirmed its planes hit the office of Interior Minister Saeed Siyam, which it called "a meeting place to plan and direct terror activity."

A Palestinian militant injured in the strike died of his wounds early Friday, the first fatality in the IDF incursion in Gaza, hospital officials said. The local leader of Islamic Jihad, Mohammed Abdel Al, 25, had been seriously wounded in an air strike in Rafah in southern Gaza.

Three Fatah militants said they were wounded early Friday in a gun battle with IDF forces in northern Gaza, while the army denied troops had entered or fired into the territory, where forces have been massing.

Palestinian hospital officials said a 5-year-old girl was wounded in an air strike in northern Gaza early Friday. Doctors said her condition was not serious.

On Thursday night, IDF artillery shells hit the electricity distribution network in the northern Gaza Strip, plunging parts of the area into darkness.

Palestinian officials said two power transformers were struck, and two security officers were wounded by shrapnel. Dr. Ali Mousa, director of the Abu Yousef al-Najar Hospital in Rafah, also said a 15-year-old boy was moderately wounded by shrapnel in the blast.

The strike came two days after IAF aircraft attacked a major Gaza City power station, reportedly leaving roughly two-thirds of Gaza's 1.3 million residents without electricity.

The IDF confirmed it had been firing artillery at open spaces in the area at the time of Thursday's incident. The army said it has a report of an electrical pole being hit and was checking if the artillery fire was in any way related.

According to information gleaned by the PA, Shalit is being held in the Khan Yunis refugee camp in southern Gaza. Peretz said Thursday afternoon that the IDF would sustain its blockade on the Gaza Strip until Shalit is brought home safely.

Militants killed in Nablus
In the West Bank, IDF troops Friday shot and killed two Palestinian militants during a fierce gunbattle in a Nablus cemetery, Palestinian security officials said.

The soldiers surrounded the cemetery, trapping four militants inside. Initially, two of the militants were arrested, one fled and one was killed, the security officials said. The militants belong to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, which is tied to Fatah.

A military source said shooting broke out when troops entered Nablus on a raid to arrest militants. The troops fired back, killing the first militant, the IDF said. The second militant was killed in a exchange of fire which pursued after he had already been arrested by troops.

Two Hamas operatives killed in further air strikes (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/733634.html)
===================================

Well this is what happens when a terrorist goverment is elected.

Al-Aqsa Brigades publish details of ‘kidnapped soldier’

 Militant group insists it kidnapped another IDF soldier, publishes his photo, identification card on Al-Jazeera; Israeli investigation finds no basis to claims, reveals details published those of reserves soldier currently abroad
Ali Waked

The al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, Fatah’s armed wing, insisted early Saturday that it had kidnapped another Israel soldier in the past two days.

Al- Jazeera published details of the soldier allegedly abducted by the militants, including a photo of the “kidnapped” soldier, his name,
date of birth, identification number and city of residence. However, an IDF and Israel Police investigation found no basis to the claims, saying the details published by Al-Jazeera were those of a reserves soldier who is currently abroad.

On Friday the Brigades published a statement saying the group had kidnapped a soldier, but provided no identifying details.

The group published a list of demands for the soldier’s release, including the release of Palestinian prisoners and an end to the ‘siege imposed by Israel on the Palestinians since Hamas won the general elections in January.’

In addition, the al-Aqsa Brigades called on Israel to release the Hamas officials recently detained in the West Bank and demanded the transfer of Yasser Arafat’s body to the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem.

On Friday a senior al-Aqsa members told Ynet that they were unaware of a soldier being abducted by the organization and that the report was apparently false.

Senior al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades members estimated that the report was false, saying that it may have been part of the internal competition between Palestinian organization.

'Our people are frustrated'

A senior al-Aqsa commander said: “There are people here who are unable to digest the success of the Hamas movement and the Popular Resistance Committees, which carried out the abduction in Kerem Shalom, and feel a sort of organizational envy that they are not part of this success.”

The senior commander added that al-Aqsa members recently claimed responsibility for mock kidnappings due to frustration among the activists following the abduction and murder of teen settler Eliyahu Asheri.

He explained that one of the kidnappers was an al-Aqsa member who collaborated with the PRC after realizing that his organization is afraid of carrying out such an operation due to the expected pressures by security organizations following its implementation.

“Our people are frustrated because organizations constraints and the affiliation to Fatah have prevented them from taking part in the abduction. This is the only reason for the recent reports, which are aimed at bringing al-Aqsa back to business in terms of the public opinion, as well as creating confusion among the Israelis,” the commander explained.

The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades also claimed it had kidnapped missing Rishon Letzion resident Noach Moskowitz, but the 62-year-old’s body was found in a cemetery in the city. Police officials estimated that he died of natural causes.

Al-Aqsa Brigades publish details of ‘kidnapped soldier’ (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3269600,00.html)

Abbas warns of worse times ahead

The Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has warned that the worst is yet to come, in the current upsurge of violence in the Gaza Strip.

Israel sent troops and tanks into southern Gaza on Wednesday in a clampdown after Palestinian gunmen, some from the armed wing of Hamas, seized Corporal Gilad Shalit in a cross-border raid a week ago.

In the latest attack, Israeli helicopter gunships struck the office of the Palestinian Prime Minister, Ismail Haniyeh.

Mr Haniyeh has accused Israel of trying to destroy his elected Government and has called for foreign intervention to halt the Israeli intervention into Gaza.

President Abbas is preparing for talks with the UN Middle East envoy, Alvero de Soto, as part of diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict.

But he has warned of worse times ahead.

"I am afraid that what is to come is going to be dangerous because we can't bear another serious aggression and another occupation," he said.

"What is to come may be more difficult.

"Our people are living in harsh ways under the shelling and the air strike and the bombs. But what is to come may be more difficult."

The military offensive in the Gaza Strip has been coupled with statements from Israeli leaders that no members of the Hamas-led government should believe they are immune from attack.

"We are tightening the pressure and we will continue to do what is necessary to ensure Hamas is made to pay the price," Israeli Interior Minister Roni Bar-On told Army Radio after the night-time helicopter assault.

The air strike on Mr Haniyeh's office, he said, was part of an effort aimed at "threatening Hamas's ability to rule".

Israel assassinated Hamas leaders Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi in 2004.

Mr Haniyeh was not in the office at the time of the strike, witnesses said. He arrived quickly to survey the damage.

"This is the policy of the jungle and arrogance," Mr Haniyeh told Reuters. "Nothing will affect our spirit and nothing will affect our steadfastness."

One Hamas member was killed in a second attack on an office used by forces loyal to the Islamic militant group, whose charter calls for Israel's destruction. A third strike hit a Hamas school, but there were no casualties.

Abbas warns of worse times ahead (http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200607/s1676723.htm)
======================================================

I don't think he knows, of how hard times are going to get..... :D

Yep, that's half of it.

Course we know, where the other half is.........................  ;D

Haniyeh: PA will not cave in to demands
Associated Press, THE JERUSALEM POST    Jun. 30, 2006

In his first public address since Israel began its offensive into the Gaza Strip, Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas on Friday said his government would not cave into Israeli demands but said he was working hard to end a five-day-old crisis with Israel.

Though Haniyeh did not directly address Israel's demand that Palestinian terrorists hand over abducted IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, he implied that the government would not trade him for eight Cabinet ministers and 56 other Hamas officials arrested on Thursday.

"When they kidnapped the ministers they meant to hijack the government's position, but we say no positions will be hijacked, no governments will fall," he said.

A few hours before Haniyeh spoke, Israel's Air Force destroyed the offices of his interior ministry in Gaza, intensifying an air invasion while delaying a broad ground offensive in hopes that pressure on the Hamas government will secure the release of the kidnapped soldier.

Israeli officials said they did not know of such an agreement. But a senior government official, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the secrecy of the diplomacy, said the planned ground offensive had been delayed due to a request by Egypt that mediators be given a chance to resolve the crisis.

However, other officials denied the delay was due to Egypt, saying it reflected Israel's overall management of the crisis, which they said required both military pressure and withholding force when necessary.

Haniyeh said Friday that he was in contact with Arab, Muslim and European leaders to try to resolve the crisis, "but this Israeli military escalation complicates matters and makes it more difficult." He also accused Israel of using Shalit's abduction as a pretext for launching a major offensive aimed at bringing down his government.

"This total war is proof of a premeditated plan," he said.

Mohammed Nazal, a Damascus-based member of the Hamas politburo, told The Associated Press on Friday that Israel is not serious about negotiating Shalit's release.

"Israel is negotiating by fire," he said. "They're buying time until they can locate the soldier through intelligence and then try to free him."

Haniyeh: PA will not cave in to demands (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1150885888938&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)
=======================================

As usual, they have this kind of backwards don't they?

 Israel to 'intensify' Gaza action
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has ordered the military to intensify its actions in Gaza to secure the release of a captured Israeli soldier.

Mr Olmert said he had instructed Israel's forces "to do everything" to free 19-year-old Cpl Gilad Shalit.

Hamas's armed wing said it would resume attacks against civilian targets inside Israel if its raids on Gaza continued.

The Palestinian prime minister has called for international intervention to help end Israel's offensive.

Ismail Haniya urged the "international community and the Arab League to take its responsibilities towards our people and intervene" to end what he called Israel's "insane policy", AFP quoted him as saying.

Mr Haniya was speaking hours after an Israeli air strike destroyed his offices in Gaza City.

Fresh threat

At a weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday morning, Mr Olmert said Israel would intensify pressure on the Hamas-led Palestinian government to release Cpl Shalit, believed held by three militant groups in Gaza since his capture one week ago.

"I have instructed the security establishment and the IDF [army] to increase the strength of their actions in order to pursue these terrorists, those who dispatch them, their ideologues and those who sponsor them," he was quoted as saying by AFP.

The BBC's Nick Thorpe in Jerusalem says it is not clear what "intensify" might mean in this context.

Egypt has been in talks with Palestinian militants for days to try to obtain Cpl Shalit's release but has so far yielded no apparent results.

However in a counter-statement the armed wing of Hamas threatened to resume attacks inside Israel.

It condemned the Israeli air raids, which have included strikes on targets such as bridges, a school and a university campus. The Israelis have also hit Gaza's only power plant.

   
GAZA CRISIS TIMELINE
Sun 25 June: Cpl Gilad Shalit captured in cross-border attack
Mon 26 June: Palestinian Popular Resistance Committees demand prisoner releases in exchange for Shalit
Weds 28 June: Israeli military enters southern strip after launching air strikes on Gaza
Thurs 29 June: Israel detains dozens of Hamas officials
Sat 1 July: Groups believed to be holding Cpl Shalit demand 1,000 prisoners be released

"If [Israel] continue with these attacks [on Gaza] we will strike similar targets in the Zionist Occupation which we have not targeted until now," Abu Ubaida, a spokesman for Hamas's Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, was quoted by Reuters news agency as saying.

In the past Hamas suicide bombers have struck many times in cities like Tel Aviv, but these kind of attacks inside Israel ended nearly two years ago.

The BBC's Alan Johnston in Gaza says the threat to resume them now might turn out to be no more than rhetoric but it will be taken as another sign of a further hardening of the mood here as the crisis surrounding the captured soldier escalates.

'Symbolic' target

In an overnight attack, Israeli helicopters fired two missiles into the Palestinian prime minister's office, setting it ablaze, witnesses said.

In a gesture of defiance, Mr Haniya, who inspected the damage with Mr Abbas, held a cabinet meeting in what was left of the site.

Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said the office was attacked as a warning to the Hamas leadership.

"It was a symbolic move because it was done at night and the office was vacant and no-one was hurt," he told the BBC.

"I think we wanted to send a message. [Ismail Haniya] is one of the leaders of Hamas, and we believe that he is responsible for what his organisation does and that when he says he knows nothing about this, I'm afraid we think it's being disingenuous."

In a separate strike, Palestinian officials said a 34-year-old militant died when Israel targeted Hamas facilities in northern Gaza, marking the second such fatality since Israel began its campaign on Tuesday night.

On Sunday Israel temporarily re-opened its main cargo crossing into Gaza, allowing food, fuel and medical supplies to be sent in.

Israeli troops remain entrenched in south-east Gaza, where they entered last Wednesday in the first such offensive there since Israel pulled its troops and settlers out last September.

Israel has built up a large force on the border of the northern Gaza Strip but has yet to order its advance.

 Israel to 'intensify' Gaza action (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5138616.stm)

Israeli Military Told To ' Do All It Can'

(AP) GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip Israeli aircraft sent missiles tearing through the office of Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh on Sunday in an unmistakable message to his ruling Hamas group to free an Israeli soldier.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told his Cabinet that the military had been ordered to "do all it can" to return the captured 19-year-old corporal, and cautioned that arrests of senior Hamas officials could spread to Gaza, the Islamic militant group's power base, a government official close to the prime minister said.

Defense Minister Amir Peretz told the Cabinet meeting that Israel would go after "higher-caliber targets" in the future — a reference to senior Hamas officials inside and outside the Palestinian territories, a high-ranking political official said.

Israeli aircraft, tanks and naval gunboats have been pounding Gaza for the past week in an effort to win the freedom of Cpl. Gilad Shalit, who was seized June 25 in a cross-border raid that left two comrades dead. Thousands of troops also were sent into the coastal strip for Israel's first ground invasion since quitting Gaza nine months ago.

Late last week, Olmert called off plans to broaden the incursion in deference to intense diplomatic efforts involving Egypt and other regional players.

There has been no direct evidence of the soldier's condition since he was seized by Hamas-linked militant groups.

So far, the ground invasion has been focused on southern Gaza, where Israel believes Shalit was taken. On Sunday, officials decided to invade northern Gaza if rocket fire on southern Israel resumes from that area, security officials said.

There has been no rocket fire since Saturday night, the military said.

Palestinians said two missiles fired by attack helicopters set Haniyeh's office ablaze, but it was empty because of the early hour — 1:45 a.m., witnesses said. One bystander was injured slightly, hospital officials said.

Haniyeh, inspecting the burning office building, called the Israeli attack senseless.

"They have targeted a symbol for the Palestinian people," he said.

Later, before meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Haniyeh vowed, "This will not break the will of the Palestinian people."

After the meeting, the two men surveyed Haniyeh's damaged office together, waving through a hole in the wall.

"The world must understand that this is a dirty, criminal act," Abbas said.

Israeli Cabinet minister Roni Bar-On said the objective of the attack on Haniyeh's office was to "compromise the Hamas government's ability to rule."

"We will strike and will continue to strike at (Hamas') institutions," said Bar-On, an Olmert ally. "They have to understand that we will not continue to let them run amok."

Hamas, whose charter calls for Israel's destruction, took power after winning January parliamentary elections. The group has a military wing and a political wing, and its political leadership is divided between more moderate elements in the West Bank and Gaza, and the more radical top leadership based in Syria.

The gunmen holding Shalit are believed to take their orders from Hamas' Damascus-based political chief, Khaled Mashaal.

In other airstrikes after midnight, Israeli aircraft hit a school in Gaza city and Hamas facilities in northern Gaza, where a Hamas militant was killed and another wounded, Palestinian officials said. The military said they were "planning terror attacks against Israel."

The 34-year-old Hamas gunman, Shaaban Manoun, was the second militant killed in the five-day Israeli operation.

Israeli artillery also fired at open spaces near the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, the military said. It denied Palestinian radio reports that Hamas training camps were the target. No injuries were reported.

Exerting pressure on Hamas from various directions, Israel continued to hold 64 Hamas leaders, including eight Cabinet ministers, rounded up in the West Bank on Thursday night.

Hamas' roots are in Gaza, and that is where Haniyeh and most other Cabinet ministers live.

"I don't promise that the arrests of senior Hamas officials will be limited to Judea and Samaria," the official close to the prime minister quoted Olmert as saying, using the biblical names for the West Bank. "Wherever there is a proven terror infrastructure, there will be arrests. There will be immunity for no one."

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the Cabinet session was confidential.

Military officials said the government would bring the detainees before a court this week to seek permission to extend their detention.

Israel, meanwhile, reopened its main cargo crossing with Gaza to allow food, medical supplies and fuel to be sent in to the impoverished area from Israel, Israeli officials said.

While food shortages have not been reported, human rights groups have cautioned that Gaza could face a humanitarian crisis because about 43 percent of the territory's electricity supply was knocked out after Israeli missiles struck Gaza's only power station. Israel has increased its supply of electricity to Gaza, the Israeli army said Saturday, but fuel for generators has been scarce.

On Saturday, Hamas demanded the release of more than 1,000 prisoners held by Israel, but Israel rejected that out of hand.

Olmert again said Sunday that Israel would not yield to Hamas' demands.

"Israel doesn't intend to give into blackmail of any sort," Olmert told his Cabinet. "Giving in today would be an invitation to the next act of terror."

Hamas government spokesman Ghazi Hamad urged Israel to be more flexible.

"I think that if the Israeli government will understand that it's possible to release prisoners, things will end OK," Hamad told Army Radio. "If not, I think the situation will be very difficult for us and for you, too. ... Maybe there will be a (military) escalation and people will die."

Peretz met with senior security officials Saturday night and then called Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to urge the Bush administration to step up pressure on Syria to work for Shalit's release, Israeli officials said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to make a formal statement.

Israeli Military Told To ' Do All It Can' (http://cbs2chicago.com/topstories/topstories_story_182163555.html)

Hamas vows revenge after Israel hits PM's office

by Sakher Abu El Oun 1 hour, 29 minutes ago

GAZA CITY (AFP) - Israel struck at the heart of the Palestinian government, hitting the Gaza office of the Hamas prime minister in a new wave of air raids and warning it would use all its power to free a soldier captured by militants a week ago.

The armed wing of Hamas threatened to retaliate by resuming attacks inside Israel, predicting the region would sink in a "sea of blood" if the Israeli offensive continued.

"The Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades warn the Zionist enemy: if its operations continue, we will hit the occupation targets we were previously reluctant to strike," said a statement received by AFP in Gaza City.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert vowed his government would not bow to "blackmail" as Palestinians cautioned that Egyptian-led mediation efforts under way to free the captured 19-year-old corporal, Gilad Shalit, were faltering.

"Efforts continue but so far in vain. We are near an impasse," Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas's spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina told reporters.

Israel has launched its biggest military operation in a year over the captured soldier, sending troops back into the Gaza Strip last week and launching wave after wave of air raids after nightfall.

And in a dramatic new warning to the embattled Palestinian administration, helicopter gunships fired on the office in Gaza overnight of Hamas premier Ismail Haniya, setting the building ablaze.

"It's an attack against a Palestinian symbol," said Haniya, who was not in the office at the time.

"We ask the international community and the Arab League to take its responsibilities towards our people and intervene" to end what he called Israel's "insane policy."

Abbas, inspecting the damage done to the prime minister's office, lashed out at Israel.

"Destroying institutions for the Palestinian people, targeting a power plant or the office of prime minister Haniya are truly criminal operations," he said of Israel's five-day aerial campaign against Gaza.

Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres insisted the raid on Haniya's office was a shot across the government's bows rather than an assassination bid.

"It was not an attempt on his life, but it was a clear warning to stop this double behaviour," Peres told CNN.

"We didn't disturb the elections, but once we see the way they behave, we cannot consider them a government," he said of the administration Hamas formed after its upset January election win..

Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erakat warned that Israeli air strikes were only escalating the crisis.

"I don't want to sound pessimistic, but I'm really afraid that every hour that passes ... we're going to lose the ability to solve the crisis, diplomatically and politically," he told CNN.

Israel has rejected outright the demands of militant groups which seized Shalit in a deadly attack on an army post on the Gaza border on June 25 and are now seeking the release of Palestinian prisoners.

It has also threatened to strike at Hamas leaders, including those based in Damascus, raising fears of a regional escalation of the worst crisis in the Middle East since Hamas came to power and Olmert took the helm in Israel.

"My government has instructed the IDF (army) and the security establishment to do everything in order to bring Gilad back home... and when I say everything, I mean everything," Olmert told the weekly cabinet meeting.

The international community has issued urgent appeals for restraint on both sides to ensure the standoff does not spread across the region, while US President George W. Bush said the release of the soldier was "key" to ending the crisis.

Witnesses said at least one Israeli missile fired from a helicopter gunship struck Haniya's office shortly before 2:00 am (2300 GMT Saturday), sparking a blaze swiftly doused by a team of Palestinian firefighters.

A second air strike in the northern Gaza Strip town of Jabaliya killed a member of the Hamas armed wing and wounded another.

The Ezzedine Brigades were responsible for the most spectacular suicide bombings in Israel over the last decade although it has not carried out any such attacks for more than a year.

A Palestinian security official said one of the attacks targeted a school run by the Islamist movement, which operates a social welfare wing in the impoverished Gaza Strip. The Israeli military denied a school was hit.

A senior official from Abbas's office had warned Saturday that Haniya's life could be on the line if a solution were not reached soon.

Israel last week hit the Hamas-run interior ministry in Gaza, detained scores of Hamas members in the occupied West Bank including eight ministers and more than 20 lawmakers, and revoked the Jerusalem residency of four others.

Haniya carried out an emergency cabinet reshuffle Sunday to replace the detained ministers.

Israel has also issued warnings to archfoe Syria over its harbouring of Hamas leaders, including political supremo Khaled Meshaal, and in a show of force last week its warplanes buzzed a Mediterranean residence of President Bashar al-Assad.

With the threat of a fullscale Israeli ground offensive looming, already impoverished residents of Gaza, one of the most densely populated areas on the planet with a population of 1.4 million, are grappling with shortages of food, fuel and electricity.

But Israel temporarily opened a border crossing to allow in supplies of humanitarian supplies including food, and it resumed pumping fuel.

About 5,000 troops and columns of Israeli tanks are poised on the Gaza border in the largest Israeli military operation since it pulled out of the tiny coastal territory last September, ending a 38-year presence. But it has held off so far from sending in more troops from the north.

Hamas vows revenge after Israel hits PM's office (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060702/ts_afp/mideast)

Syria won't pressure Hamas to free IDF soldier

Syria will lean on Hamas to find a solution to a crisis sparked by the capture of an Israeli soldier only if Israel stops its attacks on Gaza, Syrian and Palestinian politicians said on Sunday.

The government has told visiting Arab officials that it will not put pressure on Hamas' exiled leadership to help free the soldier as long as Israeli raids on civilian and military targets in Gaza continue, they told Reuters. "The world has turned upside down for one Israeli prisoner of war, but Syria will not move unless the Israelis stop their aggression," said Suleiman Haddad, a member of parliament's Foreign Relations Committee.

Syria won't pressure Hamas to free IDF soldier (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3270140,00.html)

Gaza operation to "intensify"

Sun Jul 2, 1:23 PM ET

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Sunday he had ordered the army to "intensify" action in the Gaza Strip aimed at forcing Palestinian militants to free a captured soldier.

Olmert was speaking after an Israeli helicopter carried out a pre-dawn attack on the empty office of Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas.

"I have given instructions to intensify the strength of action by the army and security services, to hunt down these terrorists, those who send them ... and those who harbor them," Olmert said at a cabinet meeting according to a government statement.

"I have said, and will repeat, nobody will be immune."

Olmert did not elaborate but he also reiterated that Israel would not negotiate with Hamas about freeing Palestinian prisoners jailed in Israel in return for Corporal Gilad Shalit.

Israel has kept on hold a threatened push into northern Gaza after troops rolled into the south last Wednesday where they have largely stuck to Gaza's disused international airport.

Aircraft have carried out daily strikes on Palestinian militant and other targets.

Militants from Gaza, including members of the Hamas armed wing, seized Shalit in a cross-border raid last week on an Israeli army post.

Gaza operation to "intensify" (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060702/wl_nm/mideast_olmert_dc;_ylt=A0SOwk7TAahEkBAA8BFm.3QA;_ylu=X3oDMTA5aHJvMDdwBHNlYwN5bmNhdA--)

Yemeni CPS appeals Intel community to put Israeli leaders under trial

     SANA'A July 01(Saba)- The Yemeni Council for Peace and Solidarity (YCPS)demanded the international community to present the Israeli Zionist leadersto the International War Crimes Court due to their crimes against the Palestinian people.

In statement, copy of which obtained by Saba, the YCPS called upon the United Nations and the Security Council to perform its legal and humanitarian duties through protecting the Palestinian people.

The statement appealed the United Nations, the organizations of human rights, the Arab League, the Organization of the Islamic Conference, nonaligned movement states, all the Arab organizations and leaders of states to stop the aggression being acted by Israeli forces against the Palestinian.

The YCPS expressed worries over the Israeli escalation and massacres that make the situation and peace process in Middle East more complicated.

Yemeni CPS appeals Intel community to put Israeli leaders under trial  (http://www.sabanews.net/view.php?scope=f9129&dr=&ir=&id=116070)
=====================================================

Finally another mid-eastern country heard from.

Syria's Hamas Leaders Deny Role in Israeli Soldier's Abduction

Sunday , July 02, 2006

Hamas' leaders in Syria insist they have nothing to do with the kidnapping of an Israeli soldier and have no influence over his Palestinian captors.

But the leaders have been putting in 20-hour days since the soldier's capture a week ago, and fielding requests for help from several countries trying to win the soldier's release, as Israel has increasingly blamed them for the attack.

They also have changed homes, abandoned the use of their mobile phones and resorted to basic modes of communication — missives carried by trusted messengers — to communicate with each other, because of Israeli threats to target them.

Israel has accused the group's top leader, Khaled Mashaal who is in exile in Damascus, of being the brains behind the June 25 kidnapping and indicated he is a possible target for assassination.

"We take the Israeli threats seriously, and we know the occupation will not pass up the opportunity to get the movement's leadership," Osama Hamdan, Hamas' Lebanon representative, told The Associated Press in Damascus on Sunday.

"We have taken precautions that won't get in the way of our performing our duties," he added.

Since militants close to Hamas claimed 19-year-old Cpl. Gilad Shalit's abduction, attention has focused on what role the Damascus-based political leadership of Hamas has played in the kidnapping and its aftermath. What has added to the confusion is that Hamas now controls the Palestinian government.

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, has called on Syrian President Bashar Assad to arrest Mashaal and close the militant group's office in the Syrian capital.

Hamas' political leaders have denied any role, saying such attacks are planned on the ground by the group's military wing, and they have no influence or contact with its members.

It's an argument Hamas has used since it began suicide attacks against Israel in the 1990s.

Yet Hamas officials admit several countries have contacted them as part of diplomatic efforts — spearheaded by Egypt — to win the soldier's release.

"We have a role because international parties get in touch with us," said Hamdan. "But we refer those parties to the people on the ground. We have no contact with those holding the prisoner."

A Palestinian official in Lebanon, who declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the issue, said the political leadership lays broad guidelines — such as agreeing to a deal to defuse the crisis — but the captors set the details for what the acceptable conditions for a deal are.

But Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has said that Egyptian efforts to diplomatically resolve the crisis are being set back by confusion about who really has the decision-making power on the Palestinian side.

Hamdan rejected that, reflecting the tension among the Palestinian factions.

"Instead of wasting his time talking about who's in charge (of Hamas), Abu Mazen (Abbas) should say he stands by the Palestinian resistance and by the Palestinian people in their fight to free Palestinian prisoners," said Hamdan.

Either way, the crisis has kept Hamas leaders in Syria quite busy, said the Palestinian official in Lebanon, with members of the politburo — whose number Hamas refuses to disclose — barely getting four hours of sleep a day. The official said the members rarely meet together for security reasons.

But, he insisted, morale is high, and Mashaal is taking the Israeli discussion of targeting him with calm and a sense of humor.

Hamdan said the negotiations have not borne any fruit and blamed Israel for not agreeing to a deal set out by the kidnappers in which Shalit would be exchanged for 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in addition to female and teenage Palestinians jailed by Israel.

Egypt and Jordan have also contacted Syria to use its influence with Hamas to help win Shalit's release. But Syria, according to Arab officials, has said it cannot do so while the Israeli offensive against Gaza continues.

Another top leader of Hamas in Syria, Mohammed Nazal, said Sunday that no deadlines have been set in the talks with the Egyptian mediators, despite Israeli newspaper reports that Egypt had given Hamas a Sunday deadline to resolve the crisis.

In Cairo, an Egyptian official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensivity of the issue, said Egypt would continue its diplomatic efforts. He said Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was talking to Assad, soliciting his support to persuade Hamas leaders to release the soldier, while Egypt's chief of intelligence was talking with Mashaal directly.

Egypt has proposed that the Israeli soldier be freed immediately and that in return, Israel release unspecified prisoners in the near future.

But Hamdan said the militants want more than just promises.

"The Palestinians have for years gotten guarantees that prisoners would be released but nothing would happen," he said. "That's why the resistance fighters are more determined than ever not to stop only at promises that will not be kept. They want something on the ground."

Syria's Hamas Leaders Deny Role in Israeli Soldier's Abduction (http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,201852,00.html)

 Hamas threatens attacks in Israel
The military wing of the governing Palestinian party, Hamas, has said it will attack targets inside Israel if Israel does not end its Gaza offensive.

However, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has ordered his military to intensify its action there.

Israel launched its assault on Tuesday night, to try to free a 19-year-old soldier captured a week ago.

Israel has targeted Palestinian government buildings, bridges, a school, a university and a power plant.

"I have given instructions to intensify the strength of action by the army and security services, to hunt down these terrorists, those who send them... and those who harbour them," Mr Olmert was quoted by Reuters news agency as telling his cabinet.

But if the soldier is released "the military activity that began with the kidnapping will stop", an unnamed Israeli official quoted Mr Olmert as saying, the Associated Press news agency reported.

On Sunday night, three Palestinian gunmen were shot dead by Israeli troops stationed near Dahaniya airport in south-east Gaza.

Earlier, a Hamas militant was killed in an Israeli missile strike in northern Gaza. The latest deaths bring to five the number of militants killed since Israel began its offensive.

Israel warned

Continuing its assault on Sunday, Israeli missiles struck the Gaza City office of Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya, setting it ablaze.

Palestinian officials said other targets included a school in Gaza City and Hamas facilities in northern Gaza.

In a statement, Hamas' military wing, Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, threatened like-for-like attacks in Israel.

If [Israel] continue with these attacks [on Gaza] we will strike similar targets in the Zionist Occupation which we have not targeted until now," it said.

In the past, Hamas suicide bombers have struck many times in Israeli cities, the last time in Beersheba in August 2004, when 16 people died.

The last suicide bombing in Israel, which killed 11 people in Tel Aviv in April this year, was claimed by the smaller Islamic Jihad group.

The BBC's Alan Johnston in Gaza says the threat to resume attacks might turn out to be no more than rhetoric, but it will be taken as another sign of a hardening of the mood as the crisis surrounding the captured soldier escalates.

Cpl Gilad Shalit, a tank gunner, was captured in a cross-border attack claimed by three Palestinian militant groups last Sunday.

'Symbolic' target

In an act of defiance, Mr Haniya held a cabinet meeting in the remains of his office, hours after it was damaged by two missiles.

 The prime minister urged the "international community and the Arab League to take its responsibilities towards our people and intervene" to end what he called Israel's "insane policy", AFP news agency quoted him as saying.

Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said Mr Haniya's office was attacked as a warning to the Hamas leadership.

"It was a symbolic move because it was done at night and the office was vacant and no-one was hurt," he told the BBC.

"I think we wanted to send a message. [Ismail Haniya] is one of the leaders of Hamas, and we believe that he is responsible for what his organisation does and that when he says he knows nothing about this, I'm afraid we think it's being disingenuous."

On Sunday, Israel temporarily re-opened its main Karni cargo crossing into Gaza, allowing food, fuel and medical supplies to be sent in.

Israeli troops remain entrenched in south-east Gaza, where they entered on Wednesday in the first such offensive there since Israel pulled its troops and settlers out last September.

Israel has built up a large force on the border of the northern Gaza Strip but has yet to order its advance.

Hamas threatens attacks in Israel (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5139108.stm)
==============================

Really seems all out war is inevitable.  But remember Matthew 24:6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not frightened or troubled, for this must take place, but the end is not yet.

Israel's Gaza balancing act
Israel weighs pressuring Hamas leaders against sparking a humanitarian crisis.
By Ilene R. Prusher | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
JERUSALEM – A top United Nations official in Gaza said Sunday that he expects the threat of a humanitarian crisis to subside as Israel allows essential supplies into Gaza - at least for the next four days - while continuing its military offensive to gain the release of a kidnapped soldier, Cpl. Gilad Shalit.

"People, including me, are very nervous about what will happen if they don't get the soldier back - or even if they get him back - what else they might do to punish the Palestinian people," says Chris Nordahl, the deputy director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.

Israel says it does not aim to punish the Palestinians as a whole, according to an army spokesman, but to turn up the heat on militants and the Hamas-led government.

The result is an Israeli army juggling act: It wants to make life intolerable enough for someone in the Palestinian leadership to yield, but not so intolerable that international censure will come down on Israel for sparking a humanitarian disaster in Gaza.

"We are interested in putting pressure in various ways on terrorists groups which are responsible directly and indirectly for the abduction, and in so doing, to bring about the release of the soldier," says Capt. Jacob Dallal. "We expect the soldier back, and we won't stop until he's returned. We need to send that message and yet try to prevent civilians from being harmed - it's a difficult balance."

Palestinians and foreign observers say the attacks and the cutoff in supplies amount to collective punishment. The UN estimates that as many as 25,000 Palestinians could be displaced from northern Gaza if Israel were to undertake a full-scale offensive.

But Captain Dallal argues that Israel's strikes are aimed at crippling a very specific infrastructure.

"Part of the idea is to ... impair their ability to move the soldier and to impair their ability to shoot Kassam rockets into our territory," he says. "Our strategy is to do things that pressure these terror groups and the Hamas hierarchy, which is essential. We have to back up our words with some action. Unfortunately, the civilian population also ends up being involved. But we're quite happy to say that seven days into this operation, and it is quite an intense one, not one civilian has been killed or seriously injured."

Following Shalit's kidnapping from inside Israel just over a week ago, Israel began a military campaign Wednesday dubbed Operation Summer Rains - almost a tease of a term, since the long months of summer and fall are parched here. One of the army's first strikes was knocking out a power station; the loss has wiped out about 65 percent of Gaza's power, according to the UN. Many neighborhoods are now getting only six to eight hours of power a day. Those who can have been operating on generators, which are dependent on fuel. But most fuel comes in from Israel through the Nahal Oz Crossing.

Israel turned off the tap after the kidnapping, but Sunday decided to let fuel in again: The army said it allowed in half a million liters of diesel fuel, 40,000 liters of benzene, and 150 tons of cooking gas.

The biggest danger of the fuel and electricity shortages, the UN says, is the possibility of worsening water quality if waste treatment plants do not have enough power.

"What is affected is the water supply, because the water pumps work on electricity," says Mr. Nordahl. "The water supply has been very much reduced. Most of the pumps have backup generators, but we didn't have fuel to power them. Until Sunday, everyone, including myself, thought we were heading towards a humanitarian crisis, but that crisis has been averted."

While Karni, the commercial crossing with Israel, has been shut since last week, the Gaza-Egypt border has also been closed since the kidnapping.

"Food, medicines, and other humanitarian supplies are starting to come through Karni, and we hope it will continue," Nordahl says.

Early Sunday, an Israeli helicopter fired a missile into the unoccupied office of Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, ripping a gaping hole through the building. Also Sunday, in another attack, Israeli aircraft struck a school in Gaza City and Hamas facilities in northern Gaza, where a Hamas-affiliated militant was killed.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who has been trying to play intermediary between Israel and the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority (PA), decried the attack on Mr. Haniyeh's office as "criminal," and said that it could encumber efforts to free the kidnapped soldier.

Israel's Interior Minister, Roni Bar-On, said the Palestinians "must learn that they have to return the soldier and stop the Kassam rocket attacks." At least one more Kassam - improvised rockets which tend to have poor aim - landed next to an Israeli town in the Negev Desert Sunday.

The electricity and fuel shortages have had a palpable impact on many small business throughout Gaza. Farmers dependent on fuel-run irrigation systems, for example, are concerned about seeing their crops go dry.

"My irrigation system depends on a diesel engine, and I only have enough fuel for one more day," says Hashem Ghadin, who grows cucumbers, potatoes, tomatoes, and peppers on a patch of land in Beit Lahiya, in northern Gaza.

"If I don't get the fuel I need, I'll have to turn the system off and go home, and the whole harvest will die," he says. "It will mean losing $8,000 that I should make this year, and everything that I paid to start my business."

"We could survive with the Israeli shelling of our land," says the father of five, "but we cannot convince the harvest to grow without water."

The situation is similar at the Al-Khouli Bakery in the Rimal neighborhood. Despite being one of Gaza's more affluent addresses, it is getting only about six hours a day, making it tough for baker Adel al-Khouli to put out his usual batch of bread.

"I have a generator to keep us in business," he says, "but without fuel and electricity, we cannot make it work, and we won't be able to make enough bread."

Palestinian PM's plea
July 03, 2006

PALESTINIAN Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh has pleaded for the world to help stop the slide towards war in the Holy Land as the deadline expired for the release of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.

Israel tightened its grip on Gaza yesterday, pounding the northern strip with artillery shells and destroying Mr Haniyeh's city offices in an early-morning bombing raid ahead of a full-scale invasion of the Palestinian territory that a cabinet meeting was expected to authorise last night.

Before the meeting, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert continued his uncompromising stance in the face of Palestinian and Egyptian attempts to broker a peace deal, which included the release of prisoners in return for Corporal Shalit's freedom.

Arab media last night reported that the deal involved the release of prisoners who had served more than 20 years in Israeli jails.

"We have no intention of capitulating to any kind of extortion," Mr Olmert said.

"Capitulation means inviting the next act of terror.

"I instructed the Israel Defence Forces and the security establishment to hurt anyone who bears responsibility for acts of terror.

"No one will get away. Gilad is being held by a bloodthirsty gang, which is also hurting the Palestinian population."

Earlier, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak had demanded the Hamas-led Government of Mr Haniyeh respond to a deadline he had set for midday, Gaza time, to free Corporal Shalit in return for Israeli promises to release prisoners at a later point.

Mr Haniyeh, a marked man since an Israeli death threat against him last Friday, privately urged Hamas militants to hand over the captive they have held since seizing him during a daring tunnel incursion into Israel on June 25.

He described the destruction of his office as "a policy of jungle arrogance" and later released a statement, after consulting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, which urged the world to stop the Israeli offensive.

"The international community must shoulder its responsibility," he said.

Israel is holding Mr Haniyeh responsible for the kidnapping as elected head of the Palestinian people. But security officials in the Palestinian Authority insist he had no knowledge of the operation and are instead pointing to the Damascus-based head of the Hamas politburo, Khalid Meshaal, as a likely instigator.

Mr Haniyeh claims the Israeli offensive was a premeditated plan to bring down his Government.

The arrest of up to 32 Hamas legislators, including eight cabinet ministers, in the West Bank last week removed what little authority he retained after a five-month blockade. The office of the Gaza-based Interior Minister was also destroyed in an Israeli air raid last week.

Israeli analysts have speculated the Hamas MPs could be used as a bargaining chip to free Corporal Shalit, who Palestinian officials say was visited by a doctor last week and is in good health.

Mr Abbas, who has been prevented from leaving Gaza, has blamed factional fighting for the delay in Corporal Shalit's release, saying he remained hopeful of a diplomatic outcome.

The trucks slowly entered the restive strip under an arc of renewed shell fire into the north, which was pounded for the sixth consecutive day by artillery.
Jerusalem officials also authorised Israeli power companies to increase the supply of electricity into Gaza after jet fighters bombed the main transformers on Tuesday night, cutting power to almost 70 per cent of the strip.

Condemnation of the Israeli operation, dubbed "Summer Rains", mounted in Muslim nations, with pro-Palestinian rallies in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, as well as Jordan, Morocco and Algeria.

Both the UN and US have said Israel has a right to defend itself, but have urged Mr Olmert to prevent the conflict from descending into outright war.

Canberra has strongly backed the Israeli operation and condemned the killing by West Bank militants last week of a second kidnap victim, Eliyahu Asheri, the son of an Australian-born convert to Judaism.

Up to 200 tanks have taken positions in northern and eastern Gaza, while several columns more remain confined to the abandoned airport in the south of the strip.

Palestinian PM's plea (http://www.couriermail.news.com.au/story/0,20797,19663287-954,00.html)

Palestinians fire at bus near Hebron; no injured

 
Police received a report from a bus driver that Palestinian gunmen opened fire on his bus near Bet Hagai in the Hebron area.

No one was injured in the attack but police and army forces are on their way to the scene.

Palestinians fire at bus near Hebron; no injured (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3270224,00.html)

Olmert instructs IDF: no one sleeps in Gaza

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in a cabinet meeting, Sunday morning, "We are deploying in order to provide a comprehensive response to Qassam attacks. They are an unacceptable occurrence that harm and paralyze the lives of civilians in southern Israel."

 
According to Olmert, "I instructed the IDF that I don't want anyone to sleep tonight in Gaza."

Olmert instructs IDF: no one sleeps in Gaza (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3270003,00.html)
===========================================

Olmert is getting smarter, that no one sleeps in Gaza.

Mass Demonstration in Damascus in Solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza

Sunday, July 02, 2006 - 09:55 PM
      

DAMASCUS , (SANA)- A huge mass demonstration was staged in Yarmouk camp, Damascus on Sunday evening protesting Israeli hostile  and terrorist practices against the Palestinian people in Gaza Strip and the Palestinian territories.

The protestors chanted slogans condemning the barbarian Zionist aggression which destroyed humans, trees and stones in the Gaza and other Palestinian cities.

The demonstrators also carried banners hailing the Syrian solidarity with the Palestinian struggle, demanding the international community to put an end to Israel's dangerous violations against the Palestinian people without any consideration of the international legitimacy or minimum human rights.

Mass Demonstration in Damascus in Solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza (http://www.sana.org/eng/21/2006/07/02/44623.htm)

Sit-in staged in solidarity with Palestinians

The Palestinian groups and the Lebanese national organizations and commissions staged yesterday a sit-in to stress their support for the Palestinian peopleصs struggle and to denounce Israelصs savage aggression against the occupied Palestinian lands.

SyriaTimes ‏‏

2-7-2006 ‏

summary: The Palestinian groups and the Lebanese national organizations and commissions staged yesterday a sit-in to stress their support for the Palestinian peopleصs struggle and to denounce Israelصs savage aggression against the occupied Palestinian lands. ‏

The participants condemned the international licence towards Israelصs massacres against the Palestinians. ‏

They stressed adherence to resistance and its weapons as a strategic choice to defend the holy shrines. ‏

The participants called for launching a solidarity campaign with the Palestinian people and their struggle. ‏

زPressures should be put on Israel to force it to release the Palestinian detainees,س the speakers said. ‏

The speeches appealed to all forces which reject the US-Israeli hegemony to boost the Arab steadfastness forces in Syria, Lebanon and Palestine.

Sit-in staged in solidarity with Palestinians  (http://syriatimes.tishreen.info/_default.asp?FileName=100086636620060702224724)
========================================

I love how these countries blame the USA.

Israeli violation of Syrian airspace condemned, UN called upon to shoulder responsibility

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has condemned the Israeli war planesص violation of the Syrian air space and the Israeli aggression on the Palestinian people.

SyriaTimes ‏
2-7-2006 ‏

summary: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has condemned the Israeli war planesص violation of the Syrian air space and the Israeli aggression on the Palestinian people. ‏

President Chavez demanded Israel on Friday evening to respect the sovereignty of countries of the region and the Palestinian peopleصs rights and to work for realizing a just and comprehensive peace in the Middle East. ‏

He expressed the Venezuelan peopleصs total rejection of the Israeli acts of aggression on the Palestinian territories, and the solidarity of the Venezuelan government and people with the Palestinian people. ‏

زIsrael exploits the US support to it in order to violate UN laws and attack world peace,س he said. ‏

Iranian Foreign Minister for International Affairs Abbas Araqji has strongly condemned the violation of Syrian airspace by Israeli warplanes and called on the UN Security Council members to shoulder their responsibilities to end the Zionist crimes against the Palestinians in Gaza Strip. ‏

The Central News Unit quoted Araqji as saying, in a speech made at the UN Security Councilصs emergency meeting held to discuss the Zionist aggression on Gaza Strip, that US support has resulted in Israel avoiding the international sanctions for its persistent aggression in the occupied territories. ‏

He also lashed out at the US use of their regarding the Palestinian cause as to undermine the Palestinian peopleصs rights. ‏

He denounced the Israeli onslaught on Gaza, the devastation of installations and civil infrastructure and the detention of women, children and Palestinian government officials. ‏

He described these crimes as a flagrant violation of international rights and a threat to the security of the entire region. ‏

He also made clear that Israelصs pretext regarding the attack of the Palestinian territories are null and void and cannot justify its crimes against the Palestinians. ‏

On the other hand, the Arab Labor Organization strongly condemned the Zionist atrocities assassinations and Siege perpetrated against the unarmed Palestinian people. ‏

In a statement issued yesterday, the Organization condemned the policy adapted by Israeli regarding the occupation of Palestinian territories, the intensive air and a sea bombardment against the Palestinian people that resulted in the heinous killing of scores of women and children. ‏

In a statement the Organization called on international, regional and national organizations to exert the efforts required to end the frequent Israeli attacks on the Palestinian people and to lift the unjust siege imposed on them. ‏

The statement also called for condemning the aggressive and terrorist Israeli acts, to force Israel to withdraw from the occupied Arab territories, recognize the Palestinian peopleصs legitimate national rights to establish an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital. ‏

Meanwhile, the Tunisian زal-Sarechس daily yesterday condemned the violation of Syrian airspace by Israeli warplanes. ‏

In a commentary, the daily said that the pressure on Syria has not stopped for years because it is a steadfast Arab fortress against US and Israeli schemes in the region. ‏

The daily reaffirmed that the threats and pressure put on Syria will not affect her firm stances regarding the confrontation of the conspiracies plotted against the Arab nation. ‏

On Friday Arab and international circles containued condemning the Israeli violation of Syrian coastal airspace, considering it as an aggression and violation of national sovereignty. ‏

Iranian Foreign Minister Monashaher Muttaki condemned the violation of the sanctity of Syrian airspace and threatening to strike targets inside Syrian territories by aircraft of the Zionist entity. ‏

Iranian Central News Agency quieted Muttaki as saying in a message sent on Friday to the UN Secretary General Kofi Anan that if the aggressions didn`t stop then struggle will spread in the whole region. ‏

IN a decision adopted uninamously. the Venezuelan Legislative Notional Council voiced support to and solidarity with Syrian people, calling on the international legitimacy to put pressure on Israel in order to consider international law, the UN charter and the UN Security Council resolution, and to withdraw from the occupied Arab territories. ‏

Chief of the Arab-French Solidarity Society Losian Peterlan called, in a statement, France, Europe and all international forces to force Israel to stop aggression and to release Palestinian personalities from jails. ‏

The Tunisian Socialist Democratic Movement renewed Support to Syria in the face of Israeli provocation. ‏

In a statement issued on Friday, the Movment stressed that Israeli aircraft flying over Syrian coasts is a violation of the international law. ‏

The Tunisian Popular Unity Party also condemned the Israeli provocation. ‏

Concerning the Palestinian issue, the Movement and the Party expressed solidarity with the Palestinian people to overcome the ordeal they face due to the Israeli aggression, calling on the Palestinian forces to resume dialogue for setting up national unity government that represents all Palestinian people. ‏

Executive Commission of the National Unity Forum in Lebanon denounced the Israeli aircraft violation of Syrian airspace. ‏

Chaired by Former Lebanese Prime Minister Saleem al-Hoss, the Commission meeting on Friday denounced Israeli invasion of Gaza strip and detaining legal representatives of the palestinian people.

Israeli violation of Syrian airspace condemned, UN called upon to shoulder responsibility (http://syriatimes.tishreen.info/_default.asp?FileName=100086636620060702224656)

 PM: Palestinian people paying for terror groups' act
By Aluf Benn, Gideon Alon, Amos Harel, Avi Issacharoff (in Ramallah), Haaretz Correspondents, and Haaretz Service

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rica on Sunday that the key to resolving the kidnapping affair lies in Damascus.

"The directive to carry out operations and the orders to carry out terror attacks all come from there and the Syrian leadership must dismantle the terror groups' headquarters in its territories," Olmert said.

.....Israel "will make use of all means available" to secure the rapid release of Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit, kidnapped by Palestinian militants last week in a cross-border raid and now held in Gaza.

Olmert told Rice the Palestinians have not halted Qassam rocket attacks on Israel and the shellings "cause serious suffering to thousands of Israel and this is a situation that cannot continue? Israel will do everything in order to prevent Qassam fire and will continue to foil all terror acts aimed at Israeli citizens."

Olmert also expressed his deep appreciation for efforts made by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to bring about the release of Shalit.

"These regimes are playing with the fate of the Palestinian people who are paying the price of distress, poverty and hopelessness," Peretz said.

Olmert hints at Gaza arrests

Olmert said earlier Sunday that Israel will continue to arrest senior Hamas officials and even hinted that such operations are liable to be carried out not just in the West Bank but also in Gaza.

"I do not promise that the arrests of senior Hamas figures will take place only in Judea and Samaria [West Bank]," Olmert said at the conclusion of a security affairs review during Sunday's cabinet meeting.

"In any case, when there is a factual basis for terror - there will be arrests. This is an accepted legal procedure. We have here the aggressive involvement of elected officials directly causing terrorism," Olmert said.

Attorney General Menachem Mazuz told the cabinet Sunday that Hamas activists of all ranks would be questioned, and that those deemed worthy of trial would be tried in military courts in the West Bank.

Mazuz reiterated that the arrests had not been not carried out in the interest of obtaining bargaining chips for Shalit, but rather on the basis of their participation in illegal activity.

None of the detained has immunity, he said.

PM: Palestinian people paying for terror groups' act (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/733592.html)
=========================================

Well when you elect a terrorist goverment, this is what happens. For weeks, months even, I thought Olmert was a weak kneeded functionary flung into the spotlight by a twist of fate. Now I wonder, could he be stupid like a fox....just sitting back and waiting for the absolute perfect set of circumstances and then jumping in with a bold and unpredictable response?

They Bomb at Night, We Rebuild and Work During the Day,  Says Palestinian Government Spokesperson Hamad

PNN, (Gaza City) Wisam Afifeh 2 July 06

Mohamad Awad, Secretary to the Prime Mininster, Dr. Ghazi Hamad, the Government Spokesperson, and several government ministers are at work today despite the destruction of their Gaza City offices.

Israeli forces fired missiles at a school, the Prime Minister’s office, and the Council of Ministers’ building, where these men work, throughout the night. Despite the Israeli government’s attempt to shut down the Palestinian government – arrests in the West Bank, assassination threats and building blasts in the Gaza Strip – the government keeps working.

The Prime Minister may be underground due to assassination threats, surfacing only to give a sermon at Friday prayers in Gaza City, but several government officials are keeping their heads noticeable in order to take calls from the press and the public so that the community understands what is happening.

Standing amid the ruins of the Cabinet of Ministers headquarters after last night’s bombings, Dr. Ghazi Hamad says that today is powerful for resisting the occupation because the government will not stop working, no matter what the Israelis do. He said, “They bomb at night, we rebuild and work in the day.”

They Bomb at Night, We Rebuild and Work During the Day (http://www.aljazeerah.info/News%20archives/2006%20News%20Archives/July/2%20n/They%20Bomb%20at%20Night,%20We%20Rebuild%20and%20Work%20During%20the%20Day,%20%20Says%20Palestinian%20Government%20Spokesperson%20Hamad.htm)

Hamas' Armed Wing Threatens to Hit Israeli Infrastructure If Israeli Terror Attacks on Palestinian Infrastructure Continue

7/2/2006 8:23:00 AM

Hamas' armed wing threatened Israel to hit its infrastructure

Gaza, July 2, 2006 (RNA) –

Hamas movement's armed wing, Ezzuddeen al-Qassam threatened Sunday it would attack the infrastructure inside Israel if the Israeli army pursued targeting the Palestinian main infrastructure in Gaza Strip.

Al-Qassam threat is considered the first of its kind since this group had announced halting any kind of attacks against the Israeli vital constructions.

Abu Obaida, spokesman for Al-Qassam, threatened Israel to attack similar targets to what Israel had been attacking during its continuous military operation on the Gaza Strip for a week.

In this Israeli terrorist military operation, the Israeli missiles destroyed the power station and another missile which targeted at the Islamic University playground.

Moreover, many Palestinian serviceable buildings and schools were damaged due to the repetitive and delusive airstrikes on the Gaza Strip.

At a press statement, a copy of was sent to RNA, Abu Obaida didn't exclude the idea of not targeting Israeli universities, schools and constructions as a response to the Israeli shelling at the station for electricity generating and to targeting the playground of the Islamic University.

"Under this Zionist war against the Palestinians through targeting the bridges, electricity generators, schools, universities, ministry of interior, and the Palestinian Prime Minister office, we warn Israel of continuing its aggression upon the Palestinians."

Abu Obaida continued his warning by saying "Otherwise, we will attack and hit similar targets which we didn't want to hit before."

Hamas' Armed Wing Threatens to Hit Israeli Infrastructure If Israeli Terror Attacks on Palestinian Infrastructure Continue (http://www.aljazeerah.info/News%20archives/2006%20News%20Archives/July/2%20n/Hamas'%20Armed%20Wing%20Threatens%20to%20Hit%20Israeli%20Infrastructure%20If%20Israeli%20Terror%20Attacks%20on%20Palestinian%20Infrastructure%20Continue.htm)

I would also add, that warnings to Syria are much tougher and more frequent both by US and Israel.  I think we have about had enough of them, and their time just might be getting shorter.

Unlike our military action, the rules are completely different in Israel and subject to change (as is world opinion) on a dime with no notice.

For Hamas leaders in Syria, new security despite claims of no role in Israeli's abduction

DONNA ABU-NASR, Associated Press Writer

July 2, 2006 1:39 PM

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) - Hamas' leaders in Syria insist they have nothing to do with the kidnapping of an Israeli soldier and hold no influence over his captors. Still, they have been changing homes and stopped using cell phones because of Israeli threats to target them.

Israel has accused the Islamic militant group's top leader, Khaled Mashaal, of being the brains behind the June 25 kidnapping and indicated he was a possible target for assassination.

''We take the Israeli threats seriously, and we know the occupation will not pass up the opportunity to get the movement's leadership,'' Osama Hamdan, Hamas' representative in Lebanon, told The Associated Press on Sunday. ''We have taken precautions.''

Since militants close to Hamas claimed responsibility for abducting 19-year-old Cpl. Gilad Shalit, attention has focused on what role was played by the Damascus-based political leadership of Hamas. What has added to the confusion is that Hamas now controls the Palestinian government.

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, has called on Syrian President Bashar Assad to arrest Mashaal and close the militant group's office in the Syrian capital.

Hamas' political leaders have denied any role, saying that such attacks are planned by the group's military wing and that they have no influence or contact with its members. It's an argument Hamas has used since it began suicide attacks against Israel in the 1990s.

Yet Hamas officials admit several countries have contacted them as part of diplomatic efforts spearheaded by Egypt to win the soldier's release.

''We have a role because international parties get in touch with us,'' said Hamdan. ''But we refer those parties to the people on the ground. We have no contact with those holding the prisoner.''

A Palestinian official in Lebanon, who declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the issue, said Hamas' political leadership lays broad guidelines - such as agreeing to a deal to defuse a crisis - but Shalit's captors would set the details for a settlement.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, a political foe of Hamas, has said Egypt's efforts to mediate an end to the crisis were being hampered by confusion about who really has decision-making power on the Hamas side.

Hamdan disputed that assessment. He said negotiations had not borne any fruit because Israel rejected a deal in which Shalit would be exchanged for Palestinian prisoners in Israel.

Egypt and Jordan urged Syria to use its influence with Hamas to help win Shalit's release. But Syria, according to Arab officials, said it could not do so while the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip continued.

In Cairo, an Egyptian official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was talking to Assad, hoping he would persuade Hamas leaders to release the soldier. The officials said Egypt's chief of intelligence was talking directly to Mashaal.

Egypt proposed that the Israeli soldier be freed immediately and that in return Israel agree to release unspecified prisoners in the near future. But Hamdan said the militants wanted more than promises.

''The Palestinians have for years gotten guarantees that prisoners would be released but nothing would happen,'' he said.

For Hamas leaders in Syria, new security despite claims of no role in Israeli's abduction (http://www.newspress.com/Top/Article/article.jsp?Section=WORLD&ID=564763396256695242)

Persson: Israel's Gaza raids are "indefensible"

Published: 2nd July 2006 21:51 CET

Swedish Prime Minister Göran Persson branded as "indefensible" raids by Israel on Palestinian targets in Gaza launched to free a kidnapped Israeli soldier, the TT news agency reported on Sunday.

"Israel has committed an indefensible act," the agency quoted Persson as saying, after Israel's biggest military operation in a year continued overnight with helicopter gunships firing on the Gaza office of Hamas premier Ismail Haniya.

"It is disproportionate in terms of what the Palestinians have done," Persson said.

"To go like that and remove part of a government and members of parliament is incompatible with international law."

Israel has arrested 64 Hamas members including ministers and other officials since the soldier, 19-year-old Gilad Shalit, was kidnapped on June 25 during a Palestinian attack.

The Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the armed branch of Hamas, has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping along with two other militant groups.

The groups have demanded that Israel free other prisoners it is holding, without explicitly saying whether this would entail a handover of Shalit in return.

Persson cast doubt on the possibility of an exchange of prisoners.

The situation "keeps getting worse and the dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians has now become virtually impossible. It is ominous," he said.

The Hamas party took office in March but is dismissed as a terror group by Israel and the West.

A minister of the Hamas-led Palestinian government met with Swedish lawmakers in May, despite a European Union policy of no contact with the movement.

Persson: Israel's Gaza raids are "indefensible" (http://www.thelocal.se/article.php?ID=4233&date=20060702)
======================================================

Has anyone else noticed that Russia, and Iran has been fairly quite about this...........

Fighting the virtual battle

When Israel attacked the Palestinians in Gaza last week, a resistance gang in Morocco responded. The group, with perhaps half a dozen core members, managed to shut, delay or deface about 700 Internet websites in Israel. Their cyberspace attack was largely symbolic, because the websites are merely the exterior face of the businesses and a hospital known to have been involved. Some business was lost, and the ''Team-Evil Arab hackers'' gained publicity and a minor propaganda coup. Their attack highlighted the changing world, and the increasing use, abuse and misuse of the Internet demands a response against those who oppose a decent society. Some groups and nations are acting, including one of our closest neighbours, and Thailand must be involved. The common regional threat is terrorism. The various groups in Southeast Asia claim to be fighting for a return to a glorious past, but they have been quick to adapt, adopt and misapply cutting-edge technology for their misguided purposes. In southern Thailand, violent gangs have tuned into Internet chat rooms and websites to learn both the jargon and tactics of the terrorists' war. In the South, one hears casual talk of ''IEDs'', the improvised explosive devices used to bomb restaurants, government offices and _ at the roadside _ passing teachers' convoys. The terrorist tactic of the 19 beheadings so far conducted in the three southernmost provinces over the past 30 months is straight from the Iraq of the late al-Qaeda leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

Zarqawi brilliantly if perversely exploited the Internet for propaganda, recruiting and teaching. His videos of beheadings were meant to intimidate and to exaggerate the savagery of his group. Instant money transfers via the Internet finance terrorist gangs around the world. Last week, controversial news reports revealed that the Jemaah Islamiyah operations chief Hambali was captured in Ayutthaya by monitoring such financial transfers. This served to show how important technology is to today's terrorists.

Some experts believe that cyber-terrorism is a serious threat. Former US president Bill Clinton even appointed a senior anti-terrorism expert, Richard Clarke, to guard against such a possibility. Cyber-terrorism would mean a virtual attack on vital targets by means of high technology. Hospitals could be stopped, power plants shut down, dams opened and aircraft led into mid-air crashes by such an attack. Many knowledgeable officials warn that the death toll of a concentrated cyber-terrorist attack could surpass those of a major attack, even one as horrible as the Sept 11 attacks on America.

Singapore, the most developed nation in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, last year announced a three-year programme to establish the Cyber-Threat Monitoring Centre. It is to monitor and develop anti-terrorist strategies. But Malaysia has now taken a far bigger and more significant step. Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi recently announced plans for an international centre, entirely dedicated to warning and responding to cyber-terrorism. He announced the centre at the concluding session of the World Congress on Information Technology in Texas. It is to be set up in Cyberjaya, the ''technology city'' at the centre of the Malaysian Multimedia Super Corridor, where high technology is encouraged and subsidised.

The Malaysian centre is international. Mr Abdullah has already recruited several top private-sector firms from the United States, Japan and Russia. This International Multilateral Partnership Against Cyber-Terrorism, as he called it, aims to be to computer crime and terrorism outbreaks what the US Centres for Disease Control is to medical infections. The Malaysia-based centre will track and trace attacks to their source, attempt to snuff them out, and apprehend those responsible for starting them.

A potential cyber-attack on a major city or nation would cause serious fallout. If attackers concentrated on financial houses in an assault, there could be ''a nationwide blackout, collapse of trading systems or the crippling of a central bank's cheque-clearing system,'' said Mr Abdullah. And the more the world is globalised, the greater is the potential to wreak havoc and cause disruption. It is thus encouraging to see an immediate neighbour of Thailand step up and take a leading role in trying to stop such attacks before they begin. Thailand should be an early and enthusiastic member of this Malaysian project.

Fighting the virtual battle (http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/03Jul2006_news13.php)

Abduction Upsets a Plan
Peter Hirschberg

JERUSALEM, Jun 30 (IPS) - Heckled by hardline parliamentarians, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert tried to strike a defiant pose. Despite the spiralling violence in the Gaza Strip, from where Israel withdrew unilaterally last year, he insisted he would press ahead with his plan for a unilateral pullback in the West Bank.

He had no regrets, he said, over his strong support for Israel's exit from Gaza, which it had occupied for 38 years.. "I have not backed down or changed my mind about the enormous historical importance of the (Gaza) disengagement plan," he told parliament Tuesday, just hours before Israel launched a ground offensive in the coastal strip. "I am convinced that in the coming years the State of Israel will realign into new borders which will obligate us to redeploy significantly."

But the kidnapping this week of an Israeli soldier by Palestinian militants and the ground invasion of Gaza it has triggered have undercut the plan the Prime Minister placed at the centre of his election campaign and which he has now made his main policy goal. For months, Olmert deflected calls within the defence establishment for a more vigorous response to the hundreds of rockets that Palestinian militants have been firing from Gaza into Israel. With the makeshift rockets causing more psychological than physical damage, he could afford to ignore growing public pressure for him to respond.

But that all changed in the pre-dawn hours of Jun. 24, when Palestinian militants belonging to Hamas and two other small armed groups crawled through a 300-metre tunnel they had dug under the Gaza border, exited on the Israeli side and opened fire on soldiers at an army post. After attacking a tank with rockets and killing two soldiers, militants blew a hole in the border fence and disappeared back into Gaza with 19-year-old Israeli Corporal Gilad Shalit.

For the first 72 hours, Olmert worked the diplomatic channels, hoping that international pressure on the Palestinians would secure Shalit's release. When it did not, he ordered the first major Israeli ground operation in Gaza since the pullout 10 months ago.

In the early hours of Wednesday morning, Israeli warplanes targeted the main power station in Gaza, knocking out electricity in the southern part of the strip. The pilots then turned their attention on several bridges in southern Gaza, rendering them impassable in an attempt to prevent the soldier's captors from moving him around the strip.

A short while later, thousands of Israeli troops and armoured vehicles poured into Gaza, taking over the airport and setting up positions about two kilometres inside the strip, around the town of Rafah. At the northern tip of Gaza, thousands more Israeli troops sat waiting for the order to move. Their mission: to stop the firing of rockets by militants into Israel.

In the West Bank, troops swooped overnight Wednesday on dozens of Hamas officials, arresting a total of eight ministers and 20 lawmakers, for what Israel said was their involvement in a "terrorist organisation."

But matters got worse for Olmert that night when the body of a teenage settler was found buried near Ramallah with a gunshot wound to the head. Eliyahu Asheri, 18, from the West Bank settlement of Itamar near Nablus, had been missing since Sunday. The Popular Resistance Committees, a small armed group that also participated in the raid on the Israel-Gaza border, said it had kidnapped him. After the body was found, Israeli officials said Asheri had been killed shortly after being snatched.

The re-invasion of a part of Gaza has not brought international opprobrium, possibly because with Israel no longer in the strip, the attack on the army post was seen as a violation of Israel's sovereignty rather than a legitimate act of resistance to occupation. For now, that will provide Olmert with some diplomatic leeway.. But the longer Israel remains in Gaza, the louder international criticism will become.

At home, some defence commentators are already beginning to ask why Israel went into Gaza at all. Was it out of a sense of impotence and frustration? Or out of a need to restore wounded pride, having been humiliated by Palestinian militants? And does the Israeli leader have an effective exit strategy?

The stated goal of the military operation is to pressure the Palestinian population with the hope this will turn up the heat on the militant groups holding the soldier, and force them to release him. Based on past experience, especially in Lebanon where Israel launched two large offensives in the 1990s aimed at pressuring the local population into stopping Hezbollah from carrying out attacks, this strategy is unlikely to result in the release of the kidnapped soldier.

Olmert has repeatedly refused to negotiate with Shalit's captors, who have demanded the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails in exchange for his release.

While Israel has negotiated the release of soldiers and citizens who were held captive in Lebanon, it has tended not to negotiate with Hamas militants who have kidnapped Israeli soldiers. In the most well-known kidnapping case, Nachshon Waxman, a young soldier, was killed in October 1994 by his captors as Israeli commandos stormed the West Bank house where he was being held.

But Olmert's biggest headache could come once the military operation winds down and he returns to his plan for a unilateral withdrawal. According to the plan, Israel will dismantle isolated settlements in the West Bank and withdraw from some 90 percent of the territory, while holding onto large settlement blocs. The massive separation barrier under construction in the West Bank will serve as the temporary border between Israel and the Palestinians.

What drives the plan is the belief prevalent among many Israelis that there is no viable negotiating partner on the Palestinian side, and a demographic logic positing that if Israel does not relinquish the occupied territories, Jews will ultimately become a minority and Arabs a majority because of their higher growth rate. If Israel reaches the demographic tipping point, Olmert has said, it will ultimately mean the end of the state as Jewish and democratic.

But the roar of the rockets and Hamas threats of more kidnappings are a far more immediate threat for Israelis than the distant spectre of demographic oblivion.

Hardline lawmakers who opposed the pullout from Gaza, but have struggled to counter the demographic argument, have been pointing to the almost daily volleys of rockets being launched into Israel as evidence of the folly of unilateral withdrawal. The ground offensive launched by Olmert will further bolster their claims among the public that Israel cannot counter Palestinian attacks if it is not located inside the territories from where they are being launched.

The Israeli leader also appears to be losing the public. A poll published on Jun. 9 showed 56 percent of Israelis opposed his West Bank pullout plan, while only 37 percent supported it. The ongoing rocket fire, the attack on the army post and the abduction of a soldier will not help turn those figures around.

Rather, it will plant more doubt in the minds of Israelis over the wisdom of a go-it-alone pullout plan that leaves armed Palestinian militants at the doorstep of Israel's major population centres

Abduction Upsets a Plan (http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=33822)

Shaer assures the people: We are OK and working vigorously
By
Jul 2, 2006, 21:39

Occupied Jerusalem - PA premier and education minister Dr. Nasser Al-Dein Al-Shaer has assured the Palestinian people that he and his remaining colleagues were in good health and vigorously working to serve the Palestinian people despite the difficult situation.

In a brief telephone interview with the PIC correspondent, Shaer asserted that he and his comrade ministers were following up affairs of their ministries with all possible and available means, announcing that results of the secondary level exams will be promulgated mid of this month.

Shaer opted to disappear in the aftermath of the unprecedented Israeli arrest of a number of Palestinian ministers, and elected parliamentarian and municipal officials from Hamas Thursday, vowing to continue activities under any circumstances.

First deputy PLC speaker Dr. Ahmed Bahar of Hamas, meanwhile, reaffirmed that the captured IOF serviceman Corporal Gilad Shalit will never be handed over unless Israeli occupation government heeds the Palestinian demands and free Palestinian captives in its jails.

The Israeli occupation government has two options, either to accept the Palestinian demands of prisoners' swapping, which is the rational step, or it may continue gathering information on the whereabouts of their captured man, and resort to forcibly free him, and thus jeopardize his life.

Commenting on the "shameful" Arab stand vis-à-vis what is happening in Palestine, Bahar affirmed that Arab governments don’t own their decision as they attached their fate to America, and were rendered unable to decide for themselves away from the American hegemony.

Mohammed Nazzal from the Hamas' political bureau abroad seconded Bahar's remarks as he asserted that the captured soldier couldn’t just be set free for nothing as "our demands in this regard are clear, just, and legitimate".

He expressed surprise at the heated efforts world-wide to solve the captured soldier's issue and the tremendous pressures on the PA to set him free, while thousands of Palestinian inmates, including children and women were left unattended to in Israeli jails for many years.

PFLP says America and Israeli practice the rule of jungle in the region:

For its part, the PFLP condemned that US stand during the UNSC session over the Israeli invasion of Gaza Strip that aborted the issuance of any resolution in condemnation of the IOF troops' atrocities in the Palestinian lands.

In a press statement he issued, PFLP political leader Tayseer Khaled described American threats to Syria, and its objection to any UNSC resolution to deprecate the non-stop Israeli bombarding of Palestinian civil installations and infrastructure, and the blessing of the IOF troops' arrest of Palestinian lawmakers and cabinet members as clear signs of the American law of the jungle, and a clear American attempt to paralyze and preempt functions of the international community.

In a new development, the Arab member in the Israeli Knesset (parliament) Ahmed Al-Taibi addressed an urgent message to the Israeli attorney-general Menahem Mazuz, urging him to order the Israeli premier, the IOF chief of staff, and the Israeli interior minister to stop rocking electricity installations, bridges and vital public buildings in the Gaza Strip.

"The bombing of vital civil installations flagrantly violates international laws, and thus, you are urged to play your role in your capacity as a legal person to stop this mass punishment to the Palestinian people", the message read. Other Palestinian political, religious, and civil leaders voiced the same demand as that of Taibi.

Shaer assures the people: We are OK and working vigorously (http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/am/publish/article_18982.shtml)

 Late Imam Khomeini's grandson condemns Zionists crimes in Gaza
Damascus, July 2, IRNA

Syria-Zionists-Khomeini
The grandson of the late Imam Khomeini, Seyed Hassan Khomeini, currently visiting Damascus, in a meeting with the Secretary General of Lebanese Hezbollah Party Seyed Hassan Nasrollah here Sunday condemned the horrible Zionists actions against the defenseless residents of Gaza Strip in Palestine.

Hassan Khomeini called for unity of world Muslims and free thinkers in support of the oppressed Palestinian nation.

At the meeting, held at the Iranian Embassy premises in Damascus, both sides agreed that given the crimes of the Zionists committed on the oppressed Palestinians, the silence of those claiming to advocate human rights, freedom and democracy -- who resort to such attractive terms to attack the region's Muslim nations -- should be condemned.

Hassan Khomeini and Nasrollah underlined the right of nations to resist foreign troops and pointed to occupation of lands as despotism and a shame for governments claiming to be civilized.

Meanwhile, they urged for unity among regional states, in particular various groups in Lebanon, continued resistance leading to victory over the Zionist enemy and liberation of southern Lebanon.

They reiterated that the withdrawal of foreign forces from Iraq, Palestine, Afghanistan, Lebanon and Syria was the only way to restore tranquility, peace and stability in the region.

Nasrollah and Khomeini condemned the violation of Syria's air space by the Zionist regime and reiterated the need for solidarity with Damascus in facing such violations.

Seyed Hassan Khomeini is scheduled to visit holy sites in Damascus as well as the historical and religious monuments in the Syrian cities of Latakia and Halab on Sunday and Monday.

Hassan Khomeini arrived in Damascus on Friday night and will leave for Jordanian capital of Amman on Tuesday.

Late Imam Khomeini's grandson condemns Zionists crimes in Gaza (http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-234/0607027237194636.htm)

 Iran denies cruise missile purchase from Ukraine
Tehran, July 2, IRNA

Iran-Asefi-Missile
Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi here Sunday said that he is amazed by the remarks of the Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov about Iran's purchase of X-55 cruise missile from Ukraine and denied it.

Asefi made the remark while talking to domestic and foreign reporters in his weekly briefing in response to Ivanov's claim that Ukraine has sold air-to-surface X-55 cruise missile to Iran and China.

The claim had also been denied earlier by Ukraine's Foreign Ministry spokesman.

Asefi underlined that Iran has not illegally purchased any weapons.

In response to a question about the verdict of a US court concerning the auction held on Iran's archaeological artifacts, he termed it as bizarre and said that the heritages belong not to one country but to the world and human community.

Asefi said that cultural heritage is not subject to executive measures and underlined that the verdict of this court is contrary to the UNESCO's 1970 Convention.

Turning to Iran's legal and diplomatic attempts to pursue the blunder made by the American district court, he said that the University of Chicago has also dismissed the verdict.

"Meanwhile, the Iranian expatriates residing overseas will react to the verdict, just as they did in case of the National Geography which had forged the name of the Persian Gulf," he added.

He said that the verdict issued by the US court is against international conventions and disrupts cultural and scientific cooperation among the world countries.

Asefi said that Iran holds the US administration responsible for the consequences of such a measure and said that Iran's representative office in New York will definitely pursue the matter.

Concerning removal of any limitation on the terrorist MKO group, he said that the move shows the West's dual approach to terrorism.

He said that the West has two definition of terrorism, namely a bad and a good terrorism, adding that when terrorism is in their interest it is good and once it is detrimental to them it is bad.

Stressing that there is no good and bad terrorism, he called on the West to change its approach to the issue.

About the attempts of the US and some Western states to monopolize the fuel cycle, he said that given the limitations imposed on other countries by the US, in fact the Americans wish to monopolize the nuclear fuel.

In reply to another question about the remarks of the German defense minister on the rights of world countries to fuel cycle, he said that many Western officials have the same view, adding that Iran should certainly gain its right to fuel cycle.

Asefi referred to the visit of the speaker of Iraq's National Assembly to Iran and underlined that given the common concerns of both countries, mutual relations should be expanded.

He condemned the terrorist acts in Iraq and blamed the foreign troops in this country for it.

The Foreign Ministry spokesman said that the harsh measures in Iraq are rooted in the US violent approach in this country.

Iran denies cruise missile purchase from Ukraine (http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-234/0607020638183343.htm)

 Pakistan tells UNSC it Concerns on use of force by Israel against Palestinians
'Pakistan Times' UN Bureau

UNITED NATIONS: Expressing "regrets" at the massive use of force by Israel against the Palestinians and their infrastructure, Pakistan has called on the international community to help resolve the Middle East crisis peacefully.

"We are concerned over the escalation of hostilities between Israel and Palestine, which would further impede the international effort to stop the cycle of violence and restart the negotiations," Pakistan's Acting Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry, told the the Security Council.

The Council met at the requests of Qatar, the only Arab member in the 15-member body, and the Arab League on Friday night to discuss the growing crisis between Israel and the Palestinians. After listening to some 40 speakers, the council adjourned without specifying the date for the next meeting.

Ambassador Chaudhry said that, since the last public meeting of the Council on the Middle East, definitive changes had taken place in the region.

The massive operation by the Israeli army, however, had undermined the atmosphere of hope for peace following the elections in Palestine.

He regretted the Israeli incursion into Gaza, including the destruction of Palestinian infrastructure, saying the increased hostilities would further impede international efforts to jumpstart negotiations.

The Pakistan representative said the current challenge facing the international community was finding ways to halt the massive human suffering resulting from Israel's military operations; how to encourage the resumption of negotiations on the Middle East peace process; and how to prevent acts by Israel that could unilaterally make a negotiated settlement based on the principle of "land for peace" impossible.

Here, the United Nations, including the Security Council and the Secretary-General, must play a more central role in calling upon the two Governments to heed the call of their people for peace.

Regarding the situation on the ground, there should be an immediate cessation of hostilities, Ambassador Chaudhry said. Also, efforts should be made to resolve the humanitarian crisis in Palestinian areas.

In the medium term, Israel should stop its construction of the wall and halt attempts to change the demographics in certain areas. The two parties must deepen their dialogue towards final status issues.

The implementation of the Road Map, envisaging a two-state solution, was the best hope of settling the Israel-Palestine dispute, and it was the collective obligation of the international community to help facilitate its implementation.

Palestine's Observer

Earlier Riyad Mansour, the Permanent Observer of Palestine, said Israel's recent military aggression was "clearly premeditated and planned" well prior to the capture of the Israeli military solider on 25 June. hat Israel, he said, had been issuing threats about launching a major invasion of the Gaza Strip.

Then, on 28 June, after amassing thousands of troops along the southern border of the Gaza Strip, Israel launched an air and ground military assault by warplanes and tank artillery bombardment, punishing and terrorizing the civilian population. Israel then expanded its aggression into the West Bank, carrying out kidnappings and detention of at least 64 Palestinians, the majority of them high-ranking, democratically-elected officials and holding them, along with 9,000 Palestinians, in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention.

Mansour said it was the duty of the Security Council to address the crisis situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory by condemning Israeli aggression and calling for the immediate cessation of hostilities, compliance with international law, the withdrawal of Israeli occupying forces from within the Gaza Strip, and the release of Palestinian officials being detained.

A failure to do so would only serve to bolster the occupying power's impunity. It was not too late for the Security Council to asserts its rightful role and use its authority to bring an end to the breaches being committed and salvaging the prospects for reaching peace on the basis on international law, UN resolutions, the Quarter Road Map and the Arab Peace Initiative.

Israel's representative, Daniel Carmon, claimed Gaza was now a terror base actively supported by the elected Hamas Government. The aggressive terrorist provocations had persisted only because they were supported by the official Palestinian Government that he called "a terrorist regime with a sworn intent to deny Israelis their most fundamental human rights".

Israel, like any other responsible Government, could not tolerate a situation in which its citizens were being held hostage by members of a terrorist group, he said. The military operation now taking place was specific in nature and limited in scope, and Israel was taking every effort to minimize any harm to Palestinian civilians. In light of the escalation of Palestinian terrorism, Israel had decided to intensify its efforts to arrest those operatives responsible for terrorist attacks, so they could be tried and brought to justice.

A senior UN official warned the Council that another full-scale conflict between Israelis and Palestinians could easily be set off, and urged all sides in the region to "step back from the brink."

Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Angela Kane called on the Palestinian Authority to stop holding hostages and end indiscriminate rocket attacks, saying "nothing justifies" such actions. She also called on Israel to stop destroying civilian infrastructure, ensure civilians are protected, and allow for humanitarian assistance to get through. In addition, she expressed concern at the arrest of large numbers of the elected Palestinian Government.

"This is a grave crisis. The slightest turn of events could easily set off another full-scale conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, bringing greater dangers to civilians, and with serious regional repercussions. All parties must recognise this, and act with wisdom and care, and in full conformity with international humanitarian law," she said.

Other participants in the Council debate decried Israel's military operations as punitive to the civilian population and called for urgent humanitarian assistance to address a dire and worsening situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. They also underscored the importance of a formal response by the Security Council to the situation.

Pakistan tells UNSC it Concerns on use of force by Israel against Palestinians (http://www.pakistantimes.net/2006/07/03/top1.htm)

Molotov cocktail thrown at vehicle near Hebron
JPost.com Staff, THE JERUSALEM POST    Jul. 2, 2006

The Judea and Samaria District Police Department was investigating reports of a Molotov cocktail thrown at an army vehicle at the El Fawar Junction near Hebron Sunday evening.

No injuries were reported.

Molotov cocktail thrown at vehicle near Hebron (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1150885904728&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)

Iran: Israel will burn in the fire it started

From Iran’s official news agency IRNA:

Asefi: Zionist regime will burn in the fire started by itself

Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi here Sunday said that the Zionist regime will eventually burn in the flame of the fire started by itself.

Asefi made the remark while speaking to domestic and foreign reporters in this week’s briefing session as he pointed to the recent attacks launched by the Zionists on the Gaza Strip, during which they kidnapped a number of Palestinian officials.

Turning to the extremely bitter incidents in the occupied lands, he said that the inefficient and wrong policies of the Zionist regime accounted for them.

The Foreign Ministry spokesman said that the Zionist regime is enraged seeing `the free elections in Palestine and taking charge of affairs by the popular government-elect’, after which it has taken `insane measures’.

He said that the new crisis started after innocent individuals were kidnapped and taken hostage by the Zionist regime.

Stressing that `the moves of the Zionist regime are against any international criterion’, he dismissed the pretext for such measures and said that the regime itself took inhuman measures.

He referred to `the growing isolation of the Zionist regime on the international scene’ and `the continuity of resistance of the Palestinian people as other reasons for their fury.

Asefi said that given the Zionists intend to damage the economy and infrastructure of Gaza Strip, the international community should pressurize them to avoid disrupting the flow of relief aid to the Palestinian people, including food, medicine and fuel.

The official pointed to the discussion of the issue by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki with the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and said, "Iran seeks mediation of the UN Security Council and Annan himself in this respect." Asefi also called on the Human Rights Council to approach the issue and violation of the human rights by the Zionist regime.

He pointed to the Zionist regime’s continuous abuse of the silence of international bodies towards Zionist measures and called on these bodies and Islamic states not to let them take such moves any more.

The Foreign Ministry official said that Iran has discussed the issue with Islamic countries and that the matter will be on the agenda of the next meeting of the countries neighboring Iraq, adding that Majlis has also been working on it.

Addressing reporters, he welcomed formation of the Foreign Relations Strategic Council last week according to the decree of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who appointed Kamal Kharrazi as the council head.

Based on the decree, Ali Akbar Velayati, Ali Shamkhani, Mohammad Shariatmadari and Mohammad-Hossein Taromi were appointed to serve as council members for a five-year term.

Asefi pointed to establishment of the Foreign Relations Strategic Council as a step in favor of the foreign policy system.

Iran: Israel will burn in the fire it startedIran: Israel will burn in the fire it started (http://www.judeoscope.ca/breve.php3?id_breve=1837)

Peres: Attack on Haniyeh office a 'clear warning'
Associated Press, THE JERUSALEM POST    Jul. 2, 2006

Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres on Sunday called an IDF missile attack on Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh's office in Gaza City overnight Saturday a "clear warning" to free kidnapped IDF soldier Cpl. Gilad Shalit.

Peres said the attack on Haniyeh's office came "in the middle of the night," when Israeli officials knew Haniyeh would not be present.

"It was a clear warning that he has to stop this double behavior," Peres told CNN's Late Edition. "Either it's a government with all the responsibilities of a government, or it's a terrorist organization, with all the consequences that stem from it."

Peres: Attack on Haniyeh office a 'clear warning' (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1150885902492&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)

Africa invites top anti-Americans to summit

Jul 2, 2:04 PM (ET)

By Barry Moody

BANJUL (Reuters) - Two of the world's most anti-American leaders, Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, attended this weekend's Africa summit in Gambia to the consternation of Western diplomats.

Both lived up to their billing with Chavez railing against U.S. "hegemony" and Ahmadinejad blaming Western greed for "poverty, backwardness, regional conflicts, corruption, illicit drugs."

The role of West-baiting once fell at AU summits to Libya's colourful leader Muammar Gaddafi but he has now been welcomed into the Western fold and Libya is soon to be taken off the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism.

So why were outsiders Chavez and Ahmadinejad invited?

The striking presence of such anti-Western figures, particularly the Iranian leader, raised eyebrows among the large number of foreign envoys observing the summit, diplomats said.

One non-aligned ambassador who asked not to be identified said the invitation to Chavez was more understandable than that to Ahmadinejad since Venezuela has AU observer status.

He said the Ahmadinejad invitation was apparently extended unilaterally by Gambian President Yahya Jammeh, and provoked criticism from some countries in the 53-member AU.

But Western diplomats suggested the two invitations may also have been intended to underline Africa's breakaway from the influence of former colonial powers in Europe.

"At one time the links with Europe were still strong. But in the 21st century Africa wants to show that these links have finally been broken," one European ambassador said.

AFRICA NOT ANTI-WESTERN

Professor Shadrack Gutto, director of African Renaissance Studies at the University of South Africa, said the presence of Chavez and Ahmadinejad should not be seen as anti-Western.

"The AU is not suddenly turning against the West. These visits were not ideologically decided and there isn't necessarily an anti-Western aspect to it," he said.

But he added that it was easier for Africa to assert its independence from the West when meeting in the AU than as individual countries, many dependent on Western funding.

"It does indicate that collectively, as the 53 members of the AU, when they come together the West will not choose for them who they invite or who their friends are," he said.

"They are saying Africa can have a position that differs with that of the West."

Gutto suggested that whereas there were strong and logical reasons to invite Venezuela, Ahmadinejad had probably pushed for an invitation to lobby for African support in Tehran's nuclear standoff with the West.

He said African countries were eager to hear about Chavez's policies toward Western oil companies.

"Chavez has taken quite a radical line with regard to claiming national sovereignty over natural resources and that resonates with a lot of African countries emerging as substantial producers," Gutto said.

He said African producers were anxious to ensure they maximised the benefits of their resources and were not being short-changed in contracts with Western oil companies.

In his speech to the summit on Saturday, Chavez urged Africa to seize greater control of its energy resources, describing the low royalties paid by some oil giants as robbery. Chavez has hiked taxes on U.S. oil companies, which he dubbed "Count Dracula."

Africa invites top anti-Americans to summit (http://reuters.myway.com/article/20060702/2006-07-02T180445Z_01_L02516572_RTRIDST_0_NEWS-AFRICA-OUTSIDERS-DC.html)

UN rebukes Israel after air attacks on civilian buildings
From Stephen Farrell, in Gaza
   
ISRAEL and Hamas have both threatened to escalate attacks on each other amid Israeli preparations for a protracted air and land strike on Gaza.

As the stand-off between Israeli troops and Palestinian militants entered its second week, the UN special envoy to the Middle East rebuked Israel for destroying civilian buildings in Gaza and urged it to abide by international law.

Days after Israeli jets crippled Gaza’s only power station, Álvaro de Soto inspected the still-smoking ruins to hear that the plant would be shut for at least six months, leaving hundreds of thousands of Palestinians without power.

Israel yesterday restarted fuel supplies and partially reopened the Karni cargo crossing for food and medical supplies into Gaza, after warnings of a humanitarian crisis. But its artillery batteries and warplanes continued to strike the otherwise sealed-off coastal strip, with helicopter gunships firing missiles into the office of Ismail Haniya, the Palestinian Prime Minister.

Ehud Olmert, the Israeli Prime Minister, is losing patience with attempts to free Corporal Gilad Shalit, who was captured by the Islamists’ armed wing eight days ago. He told his Cabinet that he had instructed the military “to do everything in order to bring Gilad back home . . . and when I say everything, I mean everything”.

Mr Olmert had put a large-scale military offensive on hold to give Egyptian-led negotiations a chance. Hamas’s armed wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, threatened yesterday to answer Israel’s “dirty war” — the destruction of the power plant, university buildings and the Interior Ministry — with its own strikes on civilian targets.

“If its operations continue, we will hit the occupation targets we were previously reluctant to strike,” Abu Ubaida, a Hamas military spokesman, said. Continued Israeli attacks would, he said, plunge the region into a sea of blood.

Señor de Soto called on Corporal Shalit’s kidnappers to release him as soon as possible, saying: “It does not serve any Palestinian interest to continue to hold this hostage.” However, he said that the UN was “very alarmed at the situation, particularly the humanitarian one”. He reminded Israel of its obligations under international law not to punish civilians and to ensure that it did not react with undue harshness.

“We are fervently hoping that Israel will show restraint and observe international law and particularly the rules regarding proportionality,” Señor de Soto said after visiting Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian President, in Gaza City.

“For instance, we find it difficult to understand that the power plant was struck and certain other measures taken as well. There have been several actions of this nature, including the arrest, the detention of ministers and legislators.”

Both Señor de Soto and Mr Abbas visited Gaza’s stricken power station. They were told by engineers that it would take six to eight months to get the 140 megawatt plant working again. The strike will leave Gazans suffering lengthy power cuts and entirely dependent on electricity from Israel.

Señor de Soto said that any long-term political solution would need functioning Palestinian ministries and infrastructure. He said: “If you are going to have a two-state solution, you need a viable Palestinian state.”

Mr Olmert told his Cabinet that Israel “has no interest in harming the Palestinian population”, but said: “We are responsible for the peace of the state of Israel and its citizens. It is out of this responsibility that we will strike at anyone who tries to hurt us. Nobody will be exempt.”

Israeli newspapers have reported that Yuval Diskin, the country’s internal security chief, told the Cabinet that the Shalit crisis might be prolonged. “We have to take a deep breath,” he said. “This could take weeks or months. There is no magic solution.”

Nabil Abu Rudeineh, Mr Abbas’s spokesman, said that the negotiation efforts were continuing but “near a dead end”.

Last night the Israeli Army said it had killed three Palestinian gunmen during a confrontation at Gaza’s disused airport.

UN rebukes Israel after air attacks on civilian buildings (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,251-2253799,00.html)

Pope calls for peace talks between Israel and Palestinians
By Reuters

Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday called for peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians and an end to spiraling violence in Iraq.

Speaking to thousands of pilgrims in St Peter's Square, Benedict for the second time this week warned a spiral of "atrocious carnage" in the Holy Land and Iraq risked being aggravated if all sides failed to negotiate.

"In the face, on one side, of blind violence and atrocious carnage, and on the other, of the threat of aggravating the crisis in the last dramatic few days, there is a need for justice and a serious and credible peace plan: that unfortunately there is no sign of," Benedict said.

Israel Air Force helicopters stepped up a military offensive on the Gaza Strip on Sunday after the kidnapping of an IDF soldier in a cross-border raid a week ago.

In Iraq, a car bomb on Saturday killed more than 60 people, while Osama bin Laden appeared to warn the country's majority Shi'ites they were not safe from attack by Sunni militants.

"All must remember that every man, from whatever population, is a brother," Benedict said.

Escalating violence in the Middle East and the rise of terrorism has seen the Vatican seeking allies, in particular the Russian Orthodox Church, which has been split from the Catholic Church after a nearly 1,000-year-old schism.

Benedict, on Sunday, welcomed the meeting of Russian Orthodox and Catholic delegations in Moscow this month.

"This important meeting reveals the shared wish to promote the dialogue among civilizations and the search for a more just and peaceful world order," Benedict said.

Pope calls for peace talks between Israel and Palestinians (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/733695.html)

 Suicide Bombers Prepared For Invasion
by UPI Wire
Jul 2, 2006

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza - July 2, 2006 (UPI) -- Militants in Gaza say they are preparing volunteers to serve as human anti-tank weapons against the Israelis.

A leader of the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade who uses the name Abu Jendal told The Sunday Telegraph the group had more volunteers for suicide-bombing missions than it could use.

"Now we are planning to attack tanks with our bodies," he said. "It is an effective means of resistance."

Israeli forces have massed on the Gaza border or just across the border since the kidnapping of Corporal Gilad Shalit. They have avoided direct confrontation with the Palestinians, who are bracing for an invasion.

Abu Jendal said he knows the Palestinians cannot match Israel's military equipment.

"We are not fools. We know they are strong," he said. "But they know that if they leave their tanks they will be shot. So we will strike the weak points of tank on foot, wearing suicide belts, and with explosives buried in the sand, to force them out."

Palestine seeks Nigeria's help over Israeli military onslaught
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Palestine appealed to Nigeria at the weekend to exert pressure on Israel to halt its military onslaught on Palestinians.

In a statement issued in the Nigerian capital Abuja, the Embassy of the State of Palestine described the Israeli attacks as "military aggression and violations against the Palestinian people. "

The statement appealed to the "loving people of Nigeria" to demand that Israel halt its aggressions and violations and comply with its obligations under international law, including international humanitarian and human right laws.

A few days ago, Israel launched an attack in Gaza, saying this was aimed at recovering one of its soldiers captured by a Palestinian group that attacked an Israel military unit operating in the south of Gaza Strip.

"The Gaza Strip is now facing further incursion which represent a very dangerous military escalation and threatening the Palestinian civilian population," said the statement.

In the past few days, the main power plant, major bridges, some militants' posts as well as Prime Minister Ismail Haneya and Interior Minister Said Siam's offices in Gaza have been targeted and destroyed in Israeli military operation.

Palestine seeks Nigeria's help over Israeli military onslaught (http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200607/03/eng20060703_279462.html)

Israel to try captured Palestinian officials
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Israel's Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres, in an interview with the CNN on Sunday, said that Israel will prosecute the captured Palestinian government ministers and lawmakers suspected of participating in the kidnapping of an Israeli soldier.

"They will be put to trial, and they will be accused of participating, supporting terroristic acts against the civilian government," Peres said.

As Israeli helicopters struck the Gaza office of the Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniya early Sunday morning, Peres said this was not an attempt on his life but "a clear warning."

Peres also said that Israel is not trying to topple the Hamas government.

"We are trying to topple down the policies of this so-called government, which are policies of terror," Peres said.

After the kidnapping of an Israeli soldier by Palestinian militants on June 25, Israel has detained scores of Hamas members in the West Bank, including eight ministers and more than 20 lawmakers.

Israel to try captured Palestinian officials (http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200607/03/eng20060703_279461.html)

EU president calls on Israel to free Palestinian officials
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Israel should release detained Palestinian officials and the Palestinian side should free immediately an Israeli soldier, said Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen on Saturday, whose country has just assumed the European Union (EU)'s rotating presidency.

In an interview with Germany's Die Welt newspaper, Vanhanen urged the Palestinian militants to immediately release the Israeli solider captured during a predawn attack on an Israeli outpost near Gaza border on Sunday.

Israel retaliated by sending troops into the Gaza region, launching airstrikes and arresting Palestinian officials.

Vanhanen said Israel must halt its military operations, free the Palestinian ministers and members of parliament and stop destroying civilian infrastructure in the Palestinian territories.

He stressed that negotiation is the only way to solve the problem.

Finland took over from Austria the rotating presidency of the 25-member EU on Saturday.

EU president calls on Israel to free Palestinian officials (http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200607/02/eng20060702_279174.html)

 Yishai Calling for a Security Zone in Northern Gaza
14:40 Jul 02, '06 / 6 Tammuz 5766

(IsraelNN.com) Industry & Trade Minister (Shas) Eli Yishai stated at the Sunday morning weekly cabinet meeting that a security zone must be established between northern Gaza and the western Negev communities. This area he explained would be manned by IDF soldiers in order to place Kassam rockets out of range.

Yishai stated creating such an area, which would be free of Palestinian Authority (PA) residents, would significantly strengthen Israel’s deterrence abilities.

 Yishai Calling for a Security Zone in Northern Gaza  (http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=106406)

Security increased for Hamas heads
Associated Press, THE JERUSALEM POST    Jul. 2, 2006

Hamas leaders in Syria insist they have nothing to do with the kidnapping of an Israeli soldier and have no influence over his Palestinian captors.

But the leaders have been putting in 20-hour days since the soldier's capture a week ago, and fielding requests for help from several countries trying to win the soldier's release, as Israel has increasingly blamed them for the attack.

They also have changed homes, abandoned the use of their mobile phones and resorted to basic modes of communication - missives carried by trusted messengers - to communicate with each other, because of Israeli threats to target them.

Israel has accused the group's top leader, Khaled Mashaal, who is in exile in Damascus, of being the brains behind the June 25 kidnapping and indicated he is a possible target for assassination.

"We take the Israeli threats seriously, and we know the occupation will not pass up the opportunity to get the movement's leadership," Osama Hamdan, Hamas' Lebanon representative, told The Associated Press in Damascus on Sunday.

"We have taken precautions that won't get in the way of our performing our duties," he added.

Since operatives close to Hamas claimed 19-year-old Cpl. Gilad Shalit's abduction, attention has focused on what role the Damascus-based political leadership of Hamas has played in the kidnapping and its aftermath. The fact that Hamas now controls the Palestinian government has only added to the confusion.

US ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton has called on Syrian President Bashar Assad to arrest Mashaal and close the Hamas office in Damascus.

Hamas' political leaders have denied any role, saying such attacks are planned on the ground by the group's military wing, and they have no influence or contact with its members.

It's an argument Hamas has used since it began suicide attacks against Israel in the 1990s.

Yet Hamas officials admit several countries have contacted them as part of diplomatic efforts - spearheaded by Egypt - to win the soldier's release.

"We have a role because international parties get in touch with us," said Hamdan. "But we refer those parties to the people on the ground. We have no contact with those holding the prisoner."

A Palestinian official in Lebanon, who declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the issue, said the political leadership lays broad guidelines - such as agreeing to a deal to defuse the crisis - but the captors set the details for what the acceptable conditions for a deal are.

But Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has said that Egyptian efforts to diplomatically resolve the crisis are being set back by confusion about who really has the decision-making power on the Palestinian side.

Hamdan rejected that, reflecting the tension among the Palestinian factions.

"Instead of wasting his time talking about who's in charge (of Hamas), Abu Mazen (Abbas) should say he stands by the Palestinian resistance and by the Palestinian people in their fight to free Palestinian prisoners," said Hamdan.

Either way, the crisis has kept Hamas leaders in Syria quite busy, said the Palestinian official in Lebanon, with members of the politburo - whose number Hamas refuses to disclose - barely getting four hours of sleep a day. The official said the members rarely meet together for security reasons.

But, he insisted, morale is high, and Mashaal is taking the Israeli discussion of targeting him with calm and a sense of humor.

Hamdan said the negotiations have not borne any fruit and blamed Israel for not agreeing to a deal set out by the kidnappers in which Shalit would be exchanged for 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in addition to female and teenage Palestinians jailed by Israel.

Egypt and Jordan have also contacted Syria to use its influence with Hamas to help win Shalit's release. But Syria, according to Arab officials, has said it cannot do so while the Israeli offensive against Gaza continues.

Another top leader of Hamas in Syria, Mohammed Nazal, said Sunday that no deadlines have been set in the talks with the Egyptian mediators, despite Israeli newspaper reports that Egypt had given Hamas a Sunday deadline to resolve the crisis.

In Cairo, an Egyptian official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said Egypt would continue its diplomatic efforts. He said Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was talking to Assad, soliciting his support to persuade Hamas leaders to release the soldier, while Egypt's chief of intelligence was talking with Mashaal directly.

Egypt has proposed that the Israeli soldier be freed immediately and that in return, Israel release unspecified prisoners in the near future.

But Hamdan said Hamas wanted more than just promises.

"The Palestinians have for years gotten guarantees that prisoners would be released but nothing would happen," he said. "That's why the resistance fighters are more determined than ever not to stop only at promises that will not be kept. They want something on the ground."

Security increased for Hamas heads (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1150885902001&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)

Israel blasts Palestinian PM's office to pressure Hamas
by Ibrahim Barzak
Indiana Daily Student

Published Monday, July 3, 2006

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- Israeli aircraft sent missiles tearing through the office of Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh on Sunday in an unmistakable message to his ruling Hamas group to free an Israeli soldier.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told his Cabinet that the military had been ordered to "do all it can" to return the captured 19-year-old corporal, and cautioned that arrests of senior Hamas officials could spread to Gaza, the Islamic militant group's power base, a government official close to the prime minister said.

Defense Minister Amir Peretz told the Cabinet meeting that Israel would go after "higher-caliber targets" in the future -- a reference to senior Hamas officials inside and outside the Palestinian territories, a high-ranking political official said.

Israeli aircraft, tanks and naval gunboats have been pounding Gaza for the past week in an effort to win the freedom of Cpl. Gilad Shalit, who was seized June 25 in a cross-border raid that left two comrades dead. Thousands of troops also were sent into the coastal strip for Israel's first ground invasion since quitting Gaza nine months ago.

Late last week, Olmert called off plans to broaden the incursion in deference to intense diplomatic efforts involving Egypt and other regional players.

There has been no direct evidence of the soldier's condition since he was seized by Hamas-linked militant groups.

So far, the ground invasion has been focused on southern Gaza, where Israel believes Shalit was taken. On Sunday, officials decided to invade northern Gaza if rocket fire on southern Israel resumes from that area, security officials said.

There has been no rocket fire since Saturday night, the military said.

Palestinians said two missiles fired by attack helicopters set Haniyeh's office ablaze, but it was empty because of the early hour -- 1:45 a.m., witnesses said. One bystander was injured slightly, hospital officials said.

Haniyeh, inspecting the burning office building, called the Israeli attack senseless.

"They have targeted a symbol for the Palestinian people," he said.

Later, before meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Haniyeh vowed, "This will not break the will of the Palestinian people."

After the meeting, the two men surveyed Haniyeh's damaged office together, waving through a hole in the wall.

"The world must understand that this is a dirty, criminal act," Abbas said.

Israeli Cabinet minister Roni Bar-On said the objective of the attack on Haniyeh's office was to "compromise the Hamas government's ability to rule."

"We will strike and will continue to strike at (Hamas') institutions," said Bar-On, an Olmert ally. "They have to understand that we will not continue to let them run amok."

Hamas, whose charter calls for Israel's destruction, took power after winning January parliamentary elections. The group has a military wing and a political wing, and its political leadership is divided between more moderate elements in the West Bank and Gaza, and the more radical top leadership based in Syria.

The gunmen holding Shalit are believed to take their orders from Hamas' Damascus-based political chief, Khaled Mashaal.

In other airstrikes after midnight, Israeli aircraft hit a school in Gaza city and Hamas facilities in northern Gaza, where a Hamas militant was killed and another wounded, Palestinian officials said. The military said they were "planning terror attacks against Israel."

The 34-year-old Hamas gunman, Shaaban Manoun, was the second militant killed in the five-day Israeli operation.

Israeli artillery also fired at open spaces near the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, the military said. It denied Palestinian radio reports that Hamas training camps were the target. No injuries were reported.

Exerting pressure on Hamas from various directions, Israel continued to hold 64 Hamas leaders, including eight Cabinet ministers, rounded up in the West Bank on Thursday night.

Hamas' roots are in Gaza, and that is where Haniyeh and most other Cabinet ministers live.

"I don't promise that the arrests of senior Hamas officials will be limited to Judea and Samaria," the official close to the prime minister quoted Olmert as saying, using the biblical names for the West Bank. "Wherever there is a proven terror infrastructure, there will be arrests. There will be immunity for no one."

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the Cabinet session was confidential.

Military officials said the government would bring the detainees before a court this week to seek permission to extend their detention.

Israel, meanwhile, reopened its main cargo crossing with Gaza to allow food, medical supplies and fuel to be sent in to the impoverished area from Israel, Israeli officials said.

While food shortages have not been reported, human rights groups have cautioned that Gaza could face a humanitarian crisis because about 43 percent of the territory's electricity supply was knocked out after Israeli missiles struck Gaza's only power station. Israel has increased its supply of electricity to Gaza, the Israeli army said Saturday, but fuel for generators has been scarce.

On Saturday, Hamas demanded the release of more than 1,000 prisoners held by Israel, but Israel rejected that out of hand.

Olmert again said Sunday that Israel would not yield to Hamas' demands.

"Israel doesn't intend to give into blackmail of any sort," Olmert told his Cabinet. "Giving in today would be an invitation to the next act of terror."

Hamas government spokesman Ghazi Hamad urged Israel to be more flexible.

"I think that if the Israeli government will understand that it's possible to release prisoners, things will end OK," Hamad told Army Radio. "If not, I think the situation will be very difficult for us and for you, too. ... Maybe there will be a (military) escalation and people will die."

Peretz met with senior security officials Saturday night and then called Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to urge the Bush administration to step up pressure on Syria to work for Shalit's release, Israeli officials said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to make a formal statement.

Israel blasts Palestinian PM's office to pressure Hamas (http://www.idsnews.com/news/print.php?id=36447)

Fatah official: Hamas brought violence
Associated Press and JPost.com Staff, THE JERUSALEM POST    Jun. 29, 2006

A senior Fatah member said on Thursday that although Israel should be condemned for its incursion into the Gaza Strip and the arrest of senior Hamas officials, it was Hamas who brought these actions upon the Palestinian people.

He blamed Hamas' uncompromising, extremist approach - especially that of Hamas leader in Damascus Khaled Mashaal - for turning the whole world against the Palestinians.

The official, an associate of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, told Israel Radio said that Mashaal interfered with any attempt at moderation or mitigation of the economic embargo on the Palestinians.

Other officials throughout the Arab world reacted with concern to the escalation of the Israeli-Palestiniain crisis, criticizing Israel for causing suffering to Gaza residents and citing Israeli warplanes' buzzing of the Syrian president's home as especially troubling.

Qatar's foreign minister called the crisis "a critical situation."

"We might not agree with Syria on everything, but the least we could do in these circumstances, is to take a clear stance, not [just] talk," the foreign minister, Sheik Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabr Al Thani, said on al-Jazeera television.

In Jordan, the Muslim Brotherhood Movement, the kingdom's largest and most powerful opposition group, said Israel had launched its offensive into Gaza and "reached the door of Syria for the sake of one [captured Israeli] soldier, while Arabs, Muslims and the free world remain silent on the arrest of 10,000 Palestinians, including women and children." It called on the United Nations to press the Israelis to stop.

Despite their criticism, Arab governments also have worked ferociously behind the scenes to try to get the Palestinians to free the Israeli soldier - worried that the crisis will spin out of control and result in new violence across the region.

Egypt has been talking directly with the supreme leader of Hamas, Khaled Mashaal - in exile in Syria - to push him to facilitate the release, Egyptian officials have said. An aide to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has said both Abbas and Egyptian officials also had called Syrian President Bashar Assad to ask him to persuade Mashaal, with no results so far.

Egypt in particular worries that Gaza refugees might flood across its border if the Israelis increase their offensive in Gaza.

Mashaal's aides have denied he had a direct role in the capture, but Israel has accused him of masterminding the kidnapping. Late Wednesday, it sent warplanes to buzz the summer home of Assad, who it accuses of protecting Mashaal.

Early Thursday, Israeli forces also arrested nearly one-third of the Hamas-led Palestinian Cabinet and 20 lawmakers. Army Radio said the arrested Hamas leaders might be used to trade for the captured soldier. Israel had refused earlier to trade Palestinian prisoners for the soldier's release.

A Hamas official close to the Islamic movement's exiled leader refused to comment on how Hamas would respond if Israel proposed exchanging Palestinian politicians for the soldier.

The official, Osama Hamdan, who is Hamas' Lebanon representative and close to Mashaal, asserted that Hamas' leaders and the Syrian government would not be intimidated by the Israeli warplanes buzzing of Syria. He called past similar actions ineffective.

Meanwhile, commentators across the region seemed focused on the Syrian flyover and the looming humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Abdel-Bari Atwan, editor-in-chief of the London-based Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper, called the Israeli incursion and the buzzing of Assad's house an "unprecedented blackmailing threat."

Noting that Gaza residents were now without electricity because of Israeli bombing of the main power plant, he asked in a front-page editorial, posted on the Internet: "Is the life of the captive soldier worth the suffering of all of those people?"

In Kuwait, Abdul-Rahman al-Awadi, a former health and planning minister, told The Associated Press he worried that the violence, if it continued, "will spread to the whole area."

The English-language Jordan Times warned in an editorial that a "tragedy" awaits the Palestinian people. It accused the United States and the European Union of losing "vigor to intercede" in the Mideast conflict, while "Israel is free to act as it pleases."

"It is a sick situation," declared the daily.

Fatah official: Hamas brought violence (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1150885880731&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull)
===========================================================

God promises a safe landing, not a calm passage.

PA television airs clip encouraging children to become shaheeds
By Nadav Shragai, Haaretz Correspondent

This week, Palestinian television reprised, after a three-year absence, a clip featuring Palestinian child Mohammed a-Dura, calling to other children to join him in a shaheed heaven for children.

The dramatic heart-wrenching footage of a-Dura, shot dead in crossfire in a clash between Israeli and Palestinian forces in the Gaza Strip in the beginning of the intifada in September 2000, was broadcast around the world.

"Palestinian Media Watch" reported on the television clip on Saturday, and announced, "The Palestinian Authority is once again airing video clips designed to influence the behavior of young children and to make them seek deaths as shaheeds."

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The clip, which caused much controversy when it first aired, was taken off the air in the fall of 2003, after Palestinian Media Watch director Itamar Marcus, presented the clip at a U.S. Senate hearing.

Following the hearing, senators slammed the clip and criticized it as "horrifying abuse of children."

In the clip, a child portraying a-Dura is peacefully playing in heaven, and calls to other children, "follow me." The popular singer Aida performs the song in the clip, which describes how the earth longs for the deaths of children, saying, "How pleasant is the smell of the earth whose thirst is quenched by blood pouring out of young bodies."

Another clip that aired this week after a long absence depicts a young girl witnessing her mother's murder and then singing about how she misses her mother. She sings, "If you can't come to me, I can come to you."

Palestinian Media Watch reported that the 2000-2003 Palestinian television campaign to recruit young children was so effective, that 70 to 80 percent of Palestinian children during that time wanted to die as shaheeds, according to three separate polls.

Marcus fears that the "sudden and surprising reprisal of the a-Dura clip, calling upon children to join him in a playground in shaheed children's heaven, may be only the first of many steps in a wide campaign designed to recruit children for the cause."

PA television airs clip encouraging children to become shaheeds (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/733742.html)

IDF says would not free prisoners involved in terror attacks
By Amir Oren, Haaretz Correspondent

The security establishment is prepared to release Palestinian prisoners who have not been convicted of hostile terror activity, if a deal is reached with Hamas on the release of Corporal Gilad Shalit and instituting calm on the Gaza-Israel border.

The Israel Defense Forces said it will not support a deal that would release terrorists "with blood on their hands," but only those who have not been involved in planning or carrying out terror attacks. The army would be willing to release individuals who are being held under the Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance, such as Hamas ministers and members of the Palestinian Legislative Council, as well as security prisoners jailed for relatively minor offenses, such as belonging to terrorist organizations.

The number of prisoners released is less important to the IDF than the type of prisoners, and there are no plans to repeat the actions of former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who freed ordinary Palestinian criminals to fulfill his part of the Wye Accords.

Decisions on the type of prisoners whose release the IDF would support came up in security discussions held over the last few days, led by Defense Minister Amir Peretz and IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz, in which defense officials have formulated a draft deal for the release of Shalit.

However, military officials said they do not think the sides are close to reaching such a deal. Top IDF officials said the crisis over Shalit's abduction is liable to last "days, weeks, months and even years." As of Sunday night, the most updated information available to security officials indicated that Shalit was alive and that his captors planned to keep him healthy as long as they don't think the army is planning a military operation to secure his release.

The conditions for such an operation are far from ready, according to senior military officials. They said the negotiations for his release will require a lot of patience. Such patience is also likely to characterize the IDF approach to ground operations in Gaza, which are not planned for the short term.

The IDF's draft deal is meant to show the Olmert government the limits of the Israeli concessions that the army considers tolerable. In the eyes of the IDF, more significant concessions to Shalit's captors and Hamas would encourage extremist Arab and Muslim groups and would critically damage the position of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.

Defense officials warned against ending the crisis in a way that would show Palestinians and others in the region that Hamas and extremist groups have succeeded where moderates like Abbas have failed.

The draft deal calls for a total halt to the firing of steep-trajectory weapons, whether by Hamas or other organizations; a halt to attacks on Israeli citizens and IDF troops, wherever they are located; and a ban on abductions. There were four abductions and attempted abductions over the last month, three of them in the West Bank.

In exchange for a Palestinian commitment to stop these activities, the deal calls for the IDF to stop operating in Gaza, while reserving the right of defense and the right to foil terror attacks. The IDF also wants a "sleep balance" between Sderot and Gaza: If the children of Sderot can't sleep due to fear of Qassam rockets, Israel will disrupt the sleep of Gaza children.

The IDF assessment is that Hamas leaders in Gaza recognize that their rule would be seriously threatened if an attack on the Negev leads to a harsh Israeli reprisal. The army also said that flying over the summer palace of Syrian President Bashar Assad undercut the position of Hamas lead Khaled Meshal in Damascus.

Senior IDF officials in charge of Gaza think Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh will choose to maintain power, at the cost of suspending terrorism.

IDF says would not free prisoners involved in terror attacks (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/733789.html)

SAUDIS HELP AL QAIDA REGIME IN SOMALIA

WASHINGTON [MENL] -- The Bush administration has acknowledged that Saudi Arabia was financing the Al Qaida-aligned regime in Somalia.

Officials said Saudi Arabia has become a leading financier of the Islamic takeover of Somalia. The so-called Islamic Courts Union, headed by an Al Qaida commander wanted by the United States, has garnered most of its foreign support from Saudi Arabia and Yemen.

"I don't want to say the Saudi government is supporting any particular [Islamic] court," Assistant Secretary of State Jendayi Frazer said. "But I do know that there is money coming in from Saudi Arabia."

On June 29, Ms. Frazer told the House International Relations Committee that despite U.S. opposition Saudi funding was reaching the Al Qaida-aligned movement in Somalia. She said another U.S. ally, Yemen, has sent weapons to the new Islamic regime in Mogadishu.

SAUDIS HELP AL QAIDA REGIME IN SOMALIA (http://www.menewsline.com/stories/2006/july/07_03_3.html)

 Iran's ambassador calls for halt to Zionist attacks on Gaza
Beirut, July 3, IRNA

Iran-Zionist-Gaza
Iran's Ambassador in Lebanon Mohammad Reza Sheibani here Monday said that it is urgent for Islamic and Arab countries to take action to stop Zionist attacks on Gaza Strip.

He made the remarks after his meeting with the Lebanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Fawzi Salloukh.

Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki in a telephone conversation with his Lebanese counterpart a few days ago discussed the latest development along with crimes committed by the Zionists in Palestine.

In his meeting with the Lebanese foreign minister, the Iranian ambassador called for implementation of the previous agreements inked between the two countries.

He also underlined the need for exchange of visit by officials of the two sides to help bolster mutual ties.

Briefing the Lebanese minister on the latest status of Iranian diplomats kidnapped in Lebanon, he called on the Lebanese minister to seriously pursue the case.

Four Iranian diplomats were kidnapped in 1982 by the Zionists in Lebanon and to date there is no news about their fate.

Iran's ambassador calls for halt to Zionist attacks on Gaza (http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/line-17/0607039984190005.htm)

Arab governments brace for pro-Palestinian outrage

Thursday, June 29, 2006; Posted: 1:26 p.m. EDT (17:26 GMT)

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) -- Anger flared across the Middle East on Thursday over Israel's raids in Gaza to save a kidnapped soldier, as Arab governments braced for pro-Palestinian demonstrations.

Fearing a flood of refugees, Egypt clamped a curfew on its Gaza border after Palestinians used a land mine to knock a hole in a border wall and tried to cross. Egyptian troops lined up nearby as Palestinian security forces, firing shots in the air, blocked Palestinians trying to get through the opening.

Egypt also braced for a wave of pro-Palestinian protests called for by the government's top rival, the Muslim Brotherhood, on Friday, the day of weekly Islamic prayers. (Watch more Israeli strikes on Gaza -- 2:08)

Hoping to prevent the violence in Gaza from spinning out of control, Egyptian officials have been talking directly with the Damascus-based political leader of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, Khalid Meshaal, to push him to facilitate the release of the Israeli soldier who was abducted by Palestinian militants. (Full story)

An aide to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has said both Abbas and Egyptian officials called Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to ask him to persuade Meshaal to release the soldier, with no results so far. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak spoke with Abbas on Thursday, the Egyptian state news agency said.

In talks with Arab leaders Thursday, Meshaal asked them to help put a stop to Israel's "massacres," a statement from his office said, according the the Al-Jazeera news network.

"This situation demands that Arab officials and the international community take a tough stance," Meshaal's top aide Moussa Abu Marzouk told Al-Jazeera. "They should pressure Israel to withdraw from the middle of cities and stop shelling civilians."

The Israeli offensive has put moderate Arab governments like Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia in a tight corner. They have been cold to the new Hamas government, trying to push it to moderate its positions to keep the Arab-Israeli peace process alive, and have done little to help it amid the West's financial boycott of the Palestinians.

But now they face the perception among the Arab public that they are leaving the Palestinians in the lurch.

Israeli warplanes, tanks and thousands of troops swept into Gaza since Tuesday in an operation aimed at freeing the soldier. Dozens of Hamas government ministers and lawmakers have been seized, and Israeli forces knocked out Gaza's only power station and sealed the territory, raising fears of a humanitarian crisis among its 1.5 million residents.

The leader of the Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood blasted Arab governments.

"We haven't heard even a whisper from you," Mohammed Mahdi Akef said in a statement Thursday. "You can't provide medicine and milk and the necessities of life to our besieged people in Palestine ... You take a hesitant stance toward their freely elected government, fearing the spread of the virus of freedom to your own fertile pastures."

"If that's your situation, then what hope is there in supporting you?" he said. "Your nations, which have long been patient and swallowed their anger over your oppression, won't be patient forever."

Akef called on Arabs and Muslims to "express your anger over what is happening, make the thunder of your voices heard ... using the peaceful means that are at your disposal."

The Brotherhood has called for a wave of protests in Cairo and other Egyptian cities after Friday prayers. Past protests by the group have erupted into clashes with security forces.

In the Jordanian capital Amman, around 50 people held a sit-in protest, carrying banners reading, "Wake up Arab nation! Save the babies, the old men, the land and our honor."

Jordanian columnist Taher Adwan accused the Israelis of being "criminals and killers."

"What is frustrating is that the world, under U.S. pressures and bribes, has put them above the law," he wrote in the independent Al-Arab Al-Yawm daily.

Gulf Arab officials were discussing the possibility of sending aid to the Palestinians, but one said there was little chance to move supplies through the Israeli blockade.

The head of an alliance of Gulf countries -- some of whom have taken quiet steps toward economic ties with Israel -- called the Israeli offensive "barbaric."

"This dangerous escalation against the Palestinian people is a war against innocent civilians, women, children, and the elderly that has left Gaza without water and electricity," said Abdel Rahman Attiye, secretary general of the Gulf Cooperation Council, in a statement issued on behalf of all six Gulf countries.

The 22-member Arab League held an emergency session in Cairo calling for "urgent support" for the Palestinians.

But Abdul Khaleq Abdulla, a political scientist at Emirates University, said, "There's absolutely nothing the Arab world can do. The Palestinians are left alone to go through all this by themselves."

 Arab governments brace for pro-Palestinian outrage (http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/06/29/israel.arab.reax.ap/)

09:02     IDF shelling open areas in northern Gaza (Israel Radio)
09:01    Assad: Syria stands beside Palestinian people facing Israel`s oppression (Itim)
08:17    Dahlan: Ultimatum was negotiating tactic, efforts to broker compromise continue (AP)
08:10    IDF troops kill Palestinian planting bomb in Jenin (Haaretz)
07:37    Israel says nothing changes in its position after militants` deadline passed (Reuters)
07:36    Palestinians fire three Qassams at western Negev; no casualties (Haaretz)
07:08    Islamic Army spokesman in Gaza: `Discussion is closed` on Shalit (Reuters)

Haaretz news Flash (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/ShTickers.html)

Group claims Islamic law guides them not to kill Shalit
herb keinon and jpost.com staff, THE JERUSALEM POST    Jul. 3, 2006

"We will not kill the soldier since the principles of Islam command us to treat prisoners with respect," a spokesman for one of the groups that kidnapped Gilad Shalit said on Tuesday, three hours after the ultimatum to release Palestinian prisoners, which was rejected by Israel, expired.

Earlier, the group vowed not to release any new information about Shalit.

Abu Muthana, the spokesman of "the Army of Islam" announced shortly after the 6 a.m. deadline expired. He would not say whether the soldier is dead or alive. "We will not give any information that will give the occupation good news or reassurance," he told The Associated Press.

The Army of Islam was unheard of before the soldier was captured on June 25.

Group claims Islamic law guides them not to kill Shalit (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1150885905086&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)

IDF kills al-Aqsa commander in Jenin

IDF confirms it shot at Palestinians planting explosives in Jenin, but Palestinian sources claim plain-clothes soldiers ambushed Fatah armed wing leader Fida Abu Qandil, who also serves in PA national security force, on his way to work
Ali Waked

Palestinians in Jenin reported Monday morning that a speical IDF force shot to death Fida Abu Qandil, a commander in Fatah’s armed wing, the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, in Jenin. The IDF confirmed that they shot armed Palestinians who were caught planting an explosive device in Jenin. Sappers were called to the scene to examine the device.

Palestinians sources, however, related a different version of the incident: Sources told Ynet that Abu Qandil, who serves as a police officer in the Palestinian national security forces, was heading towards his workplace shortly after 5:00 a.m. along with an Islamic Jihad activist whom he works with.

According to Palestinians, two IDF soldiers dressed in civilian clothing and sitting in a Mazda car ambushed Abu Qandil on the way to his workplace. When Abu Qandil approached, the soldiers opened fire, killing Abu Qandil and wounding the Islamic Jihad activist, whom they then arrested. Palestinian sources said that recently, special IDF forces have been operating extensively in Jenin. A senior member of the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades said that they would not accept the assassination of Abu Qandil in silence, and threatened a harsh response against Israel.

Armed Palestinians hurled stones and Molotov cocktails at IDF soldiers in Jericho. No one was wounded and no damage was caused. Soldiers responded with means for crowd dispersal.

Overnight IDF forces arrested nine Palestinian fugitives in the West Bank, including three Islamic Jihad operatives suspected of involvement in the kidnapping an murder of Eliyahu Asheri. In addition, a Tanzim operative was arrested in Nablus, two Islamic Jihad suspects were detained in Bethlehem, a Tanzim operative and Islamic Jihad operative were arrested in Hebron, and an Islamic Jihad suspect was arrested west of Ramallah.

IDF kills al-Aqsa commander in Jenin  (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3270836,00.html)

 Iran asks for inter-religion cooperation to solve int'l crises
Moscow, July 4, IRNA

Iran-Religions Conference-Moscow
Head of Iran's Global Assembly for Proximity of Islamic Schools of Thought, Ayatollah Mohammad-Ali Taskhiri, said here at International Conference of Heads of Monotheist Religions that cooperation among leaders and followers of all faiths is needed to solve international crises.

Taskhiri who was the second speaker at the international event and spoke on behalf of the Islamic World after the host and keynote speaker, President Vladimir Putin, also stressed that such cooperation would be the cornerstone for rationalism, and added that the means for solving those problems would be holding dialogues.

He added, "Cooperation, mutual respect, and lenience are the major elements required for holding meaningful dialogues, and such dialogues and interactions can strengthen the foundations of faith, justice, and spirituality, that are also the objectives of all true religions."
The Head of Proximity Assembly reiterated, "Islam considers rationalism, cooperation, and holding dialogues, as models for religious conduct, and those were the points stressed in late founder f the Islamic Republic of Iran, Imam Khomeini's famous letter to the former leader of the former Soviet Union."
Taskhiri as the representative of the Islamic delegations at the conferences appreciated the Russian President for his country's sponsoring of the international religious event, particularly stressing, "We appreciate the chance to get closer with our Christian brethren."
The Moscow International Conference of Heads of Monotheist religions began its activities on Monday in the presence of the Russian President and 150 religious leaders from 140 countries around the globe, including Muslims, Christians, Judaists, Buddhists, Zoroastrians, and Shinto leaders.

President Putin said in his address, "The main objective of all monotheist religions has been the establishment of peace and justice in the world, but ethnic, religious and tribal crises are among the major threats against global peace and stability today."
He considered dialogue among religions and the existing spirit of brotherhood among them as the best manifestation of the ideals of the monotheist faiths, adding, "leading the international campaign against terrorism, and hoisting the flag for global peace and stability should be the major slogans of the monotheist faiths today."
Islamic Republic of Iran's Ambassador to Moscow, Gholam-Reza Ansari and the Cultural Attache of our country there, Mahdi Imanipour were among the guests at the three day international event on the eve of the G8 Summit there.

Iran asks for inter-religion cooperation to solve int'l crises (http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-234/0607042593005353.htm)

UNSC must compel Israel to stop Gaza offensive: Palestine
From India

United Nations, July 4 (AP): The UN Security Council must do its part to avoid a major crisis in the Middle East by compelling Israel to stop its offensive in Gaza, the Palestinians' UN observer has said.

Riyad Mansour yesterday called the standoff over a kidnapped Israeli soldier in Gaza "critical," and urged the international community to help keep Israel and the Palestinians - as well as the entire Middle East - from "plunging into an irrevocable cycle of violence."

The council cannot abandon its responsibility "in the face of this rising threat to the already too fragile, tense and instable security situation in the Middle East," Mansour wrote in a letter to France's ambassador, who holds the rotating Security Council presidency for July.

Mansour did not say how he believes the council should act, but there is little it can do besides pass a resolution that would condemn Israel for its offensive.

The letter was delivered as the Arab League, the pan-Arab organisation, held a closed-door meeting at the UN to discuss whether to seek just such a Security Council resolution.

If the crisis becomes urgent enough, the lone Arab nation on the council, Qatar, could demand Security Council consultations immediately - possibly even today when the United Nations will be closed for the US Independence Day holiday.

The letter came as Israel pressed ahead with its offensive in Gaza Monday, part of efforts to force Palestinian militants to release Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, seized on June 25 in a raid on an Israeli army post.

UNSC must compel Israel to stop Gaza offensive: Palestine (http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/001200607041067.htm)

 Iran arab-parast president slams UN
Jul 4, 2006

Iranian arab-parast president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad slammed the United Nations for its slowness to act against violence in the Palestinian territories that followed the abduction of an Israeli soldier by Palestinian arab terrorists.

"If the international organizations forget their duties in utmost irresponsibility, world nations will lose their hope in them," the state television quoted him as he beating his chest for arabs' cause as usual.

Iran's mullahs arch-foe Israel has ruled out negotiations with the captors of Gilad Shalit, 19, as well as the release of prisoners in exchange for his freedom.

According to the report, Israel sent troops and tanks into northern Gaza Monday and carried out a sixth night of air raids after warning it would use all its power to free the soldier captured on the Israel-Gaza border June 25.

Iran arab-parast president slams UN (http://www.iranian.ws/iran_news/publish/article_16499.shtml)

July 3, 2006 · Last updated 11:36 p.m. PT

Switzerland: Israel violating law in Gaza

By BRADLEY S. KLAPPER
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

GENEVA -- Switzerland accused Israel of violating international law in its Gaza offensive by inflicting heavy destruction and endangering civilians in acts of collective punishment banned under the Geneva Conventions.

Switzerland said Monday that Israel's destruction last week of the main Gaza electricity power station and its attack on the office of the Palestinian prime minister were unjustified.

It also urged Israel to free dozens of arrested officials of the ruling Hamas group, including Cabinet ministers and lawmakers.

Israel has used tanks, troops, gunboats and aircraft to attack the Gaza area over the past week to press militants to free a captured Israeli soldier.

"A number of actions by the Israeli defense forces in their offensive against the Gaza Strip have violated the principle of proportionality and are to be seen as forms of collective punishment, which is forbidden," the Swiss Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

"The arbitrary arrests of a large number of democratically elected representatives of the people and ministers ... cannot be justified," the ministry added.

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Switzerland also called for the "rapid release" of the captive Israeli soldier, Cpl. Gilad Shalit. But it said Israel had an obligation "to respect international humanitarian law in the measures it undertakes to liberate the captured soldier."

Israel's ambassador to Bern said Switzerland's criticism was unfair, noting that Israel was supplying Gaza's people with electricity, water, fresh food and medicine even though the ruling Palestinian Hamas group is sworn to the Jewish state's destruction.

"They have criticized us even though we are showing restraint," Aviv Shir-On told The Associated Press. "We are disappointed that the Swiss government did not issue such statements when Israel's civilian population was constantly under attack from the Gaza Strip."

The Swiss statement did not name the Geneva Conventions but referred to provisions of the 1949 treaty, which is regarded as the cornerstone of international law on the obligations of warring and occupying powers.

Switzerland, as the depositary of the conventions, has a responsibility to call meetings if it finds problems with the treaty's implementation, but it does not have special powers to interpret the document.

Both the principle of proportionality and the ban on collective punishment are found in the Fourth Geneva Convention, which spells out the obligations of occupying powers toward the civilian population under their control.

Switzerland said it had earmarked an additional $820,000 to provide medical supplies to civilians in Gaza.

Switzerland: Israel violating law in Gaza (http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1103AP_Switzerland_Israel.html)

Rockets fired at Israel; army to expand Gaza operation

Three Qassams land in Negev area, causing no injuries or damage. Meanwhile, defense establishment agrees to step up military operation in Strip in near future
Shmulik Hadad

Palestinian gunmen fired three Qassam rockets into Israel from the northern Gaza Strip Tuesday morning. A rocket landed near kibbutz Yad Mordechai and two other in open fields near kibbutz Nahal Oz. No one was injured and no damage was caused.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz decided Tuesday that the IDF will step up its operations in northern Gaza, but the timing for a large-scale operation has not been determined yet.

Meanwhile, the army continues to fire shells at Gaza from batteries positioned near the border, and the IAF occasionally carries out actions over the area.

Sderot residents said that ever since the army entered Gaza, the number of Qassams fired at the town decreased drastically. The Sderot Municipality claimed that rocket fire dropped by 90- percent compared to the two weeks prior to the operation.

"It appears that the very presence of the IDF in the Gaza Strip dramatically influences the other side. Therefore, the town of Sderot obviously hopes and expects that the army continue to pressure all terror infrastructure in order to give a solution to the Qassam problem."

"Regardless of the operation, we pray for the wellbeing of the abducted soldier, Gilad Shalit," Municipality officials said.

Rockets fired at Israel; army to expand Gaza operation (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3270866,00.html)

Deadlines and demands

Originally published July 4, 2006

Israel doesn't respond to ultimatums from terrorists, even when the life of one of its soldiers is at stake. That's been a given in the decades-long conflict between Israel and Palestinians, whether the terrorists were loyal to the Palestine Liberation Organization or the Islamic militant group Hamas. So when Hamas' military wing yesterday conditioned the freedom of a kidnapped Israeli soldier on the release of a thousand Palestinian prisoners, the demand was a phony pretext. It was a setup for potentially stronger Israeli strikes against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip than those endured during the current spate of retaliatory blows.

Hamas leaders in Syria, the patrons of its suicide squads, are to blame for this latest confrontation, which began with a June 25 attack on an Israeli military outpost in which two soldiers were killed and a 19-year-old corporal captured. This provocation has served one real aim - to enhance the political standing of Hamas' exiled leaders while marginalizing elected Hamas moderates in Gaza who were left running for cover. Israel had to respond - it rightly recognized the June 25 strike and kidnapping as a resumption of Hamas' campaign of violence.

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But its strikes in Gaza have rattled Palestinian civilians more than they have Hamas operatives. And they have united Palestinians behind their beleaguered, ineffective government.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's imperative to the army to "do all it can" to rescue Cpl. Gilad Shalit is understandable; Israelis are like the Marines in that they won't abandon one of their own. But the danger is that the two sides will be driven into ever more violent and irreconcilable positions.

Considering the history of this conflict - and the two sides' penchant for repeating history - the necessity for a third party to intervene should have been apparent from the outset. Attempts by Egypt to mediate a settlement were unsuccessful. But the job shouldn't have been Egypt's alone. The problem is that the United States and its European allies have isolated the new Palestinian leadership, politically and economically. Both have withheld aid to the Hamas-led government for its refusal to recognize Israel's right to exist or renounce violence. The Bush administration's demonization of Syria, a patron of the Hamas military leadership in Damascus, hasn't helped matters, either.

The White House should persuade other leaders in the Arab world, including Saudi Arabia, to intervene here. Leaving matters as they are would threaten a return to the violence that engulfed Israelis and Palestinians in 2000 and led to thousands of deaths over five years.

Deadlines and demands (http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/bal-ed.mideast04jul04,0,730249.story?track=rss)

Peres rejects claim that Shalit kidnapping dented Israeli deterrence

Vice Premier Shimon Peres rejected claims by the Likud-led opposition that the kidnapping of Corporal Gilad Shalit has dented Israel's deterrence against Palestinian groups operating in the Gaza Strip.

"They say that what happened to Gilad Shalit endangers Israel's deterrence. I dispute that," Peres said.

Peres rejects claim that Shalit kidnapping dented Israeli deterrence (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3270899,00.html)

 Peres: Arabs Should Negotiate With Themselves
10:53 Jul 04, '06 / 8 Tammuz 5766

(IsraelNN.com) Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres said Tuesday that the Palestinians should conduct negotiations among themselves for the release of IDF Cpl. Gilad Shalit - not with Israel - in order to come to an agreement on the matter.

Peres added that the terrorists' behavior, in his opinion, not only does not lead to the realization of the actualization of their political goals, but is causing fragmentation within the citizens of the Palestinian Authority.

The Vice PM, a major proponent of past and future withdrawals, spoke at a Knesset session on the development of the Negev. He refered to the terror attacks, Kassam missiles and kidnappings, as well as the tears in the nation due to the Disengagement as "the price of withdrawal from Gaza."

 Peres: Arabs Should Negotiate With Themselves  (http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=106557)

Gul Expresses Concern Over Palestinian - Israeli Tension
Published: 7/4/2006

   
ANKARA - ''Turkey is eager to contribute to stop the escalation of Palestinian-Israeli tension,'' said Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah, prior to his departure for the United States on Tuesday.

''Tension between Israel and Palestine is rising. Turkey, like all other countries, is uneasy because of that,'' added Gul.

He recalled that both Israeli and Palestinian prime ministers, as well as Palestinian leader, asked Turkey to do its best to calm down the situation.

Gul added, ''Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan talked (on the phone) to U.S. President George Bush and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, and then sent his advisor Ahmet Davutoglu to Damascus to meet Syrian President. What we are trying to do is to prevent escalation. I hope we will get some results.''

Upon a question, Gul said that 'common vision document' is on common positions of Turkey and the United States, and it shows that the two countries will work together. He stressed that such a written document will be issued for the first time between the two strategic partners.

Regarding the meetings of UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Ibrahim Gambari in Turkey, Gul said, ''UN Secretary General Kofi Annan exerts great efforts with goodwill (to solve the Cyprus problem). He is preparing a report which will reflect the current situation. We support all efforts of Annan. Also Gambari brought very positive messages. We have conveyed views of Turkey to Gambari. Realities on the island must certainly be taken into account.''

''Turkey is eager to contribute to stop the escalation of Palestinian-Israeli tension,'' (http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=131932)

‘And Israel shall be safe again’
By Ramzy Baroud

The June 25 Palestinian fighters’ raid on an Israeli military post near the Gaza-Egypt border has sent Israel “scrambling to defend itself”, the voice of a BBC news reporter declared on the evening news.

The report was followed by an unchallenging interview with a spokesman for the Israeli foreign ministry, then another with an Israeli daily newspaper reporter in Washington. No Palestinian voice was heard for days. The two Israelis communicated the same tired, ominous discourse that seems to understand, thus convey, any event based on the misguided assumption that only Israeli lives matter.

There was hardly any international news source in English — including those originating from Middle Eastern Arab countries — that accepted the Palestinian predawn attack on the Israeli military base as a clear act of retaliation and a dignified one at that. After all, Israel murdered scores of Palestinian civilians in the few weeks preceding the June 25 attack, while Palestinians have refrained from following the same course, instead targeting the same Israeli soldiers who have inflicted untold hurt on the residents of Gaza.

Could it be possible that Middle Eastern arms of major news media have mistakenly overlooked what has been happening in the Gaza Strip since the supposed Israeli withdrawal in September 2005?

It all started with extremely loud sonic booms, mock bombardments and Israeli fighter jets flying low over the overpopulated and impoverished Gaza Strip. Palestinians called on the international community to interfere to stop Israeli provocations. Their calls, as usual, fell on deaf ears.

With such scare tactics, Israel wished to convey to Palestinians a loud and clear message: there is nothing for them to celebrate; Israel is still the masters of their destiny, and unlike the 2000 withdrawal from South Lebanon, Israel is leaving Gaza triumphantly, and possibly just temporarily.

Soon Israel’s mock attacks became more genuine, while the international community continued to turn a blind eye to what would soon become another routine in “liberated” Gaza. As far the media were concerned, there was hardly much to report, since Hamas, along with other Palestinian factions, refused to respond to the provocations with violent retaliation, confining themselves to a unilateral ceasefire they’d reached with PA President Mahmoud Abbas in Cairo earlier.

Fed up the with the Palestinian response — or lack thereof — Israeli officials coupled their scare tactics with menacing, specific threats, making clear that no Palestinian was immune from Israeli targeted assassinations. Indeed, they lived up to their words.

In an interesting turn of events, Hamas won the parliamentary elections in January 2006 in an astounding display of transparency and democratic process. John Hughes of the Christian Science Monitor echoed the mainstream media line that something went horribly wrong in the Middle East and that the “Hamas victory is a setback” to whatever imaginary peace process Hughes knew of.

Comforted by the unconditional support of the US government, Israel’s violent intimidation and scare tactics became much more abundant. This time, however, the Israeli war on the Palestinians became an extension of the international one led by the United States along with the ever-compliant United Nations and European Union.

While Western donors held back their aid to the point of creating a humanitarian catastrophe in the occupied territories, the US led a campaign of political coercion — in a rare display of unity between Democrats and Republicans and all “Israel’s friends” in the media.

Western media quickly coined various mantras to justify why ordinary Palestinians must suffer for choosing a parliament in a democratic election: because Hamas refuses to recognise Israel and renounce violence, among other pretexts that seem to fit so well in Israel’s political agenda. Top Israeli government adviser Dov Weissglas, optimistic as always, wished to see the humour in starving Palestinians. (The economic siege) “is like an appointment with a dietician. The Palestinians will get a lot thinner, but they won’t starve to death”.

Apparently Israel was enjoying the show: getting the world to punish an occupied nation while completely losing sight of Israel’s colonial expansion in the West Bank and East Jerusalem is the most fitting manifestation of the proverbial dream come true. Of course, Israel can never be content with such limited roles. It was time to turn up the heat one more notch; the sporadic violence was about to be upgraded to intense violence, reaching Palestinian civilians of all ages. In the matter of seven weeks, ending on June 21 with the killing of a pregnant woman, her unborn child and her brother, and the injuring of 14 of the same family — Israel had killed 90 Palestinians, the great majority of whom civilians. This includes the killing of seven members of the same family while picnicking on a beach near the small Gaza town of Beit Lahia on June 9.

Israeli Defence Minister Amir Peretz justified the wanton killing of civilians, along with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, as an unintended mistake, vowing to continue to fight “terrorists” who fire homemade rockets against the neighbouring Israeli town of Sderot. In the same period in which 90 Palestinians were killed and hundreds more maimed and wounded, Israeli army radio reported one injury resulting from rocket fire. No other source has confirmed the lone injury claim. However, Western media, including the BBC, is incessantly determined to equate blowing up Palestinian families with Israeli allegations of Palestinian rocket attacks: it’s a tit for tat, or so it seems. It’s equally valid, according to ignorant media dictates, to starve a nation because its government refuses to recognise a military occupier.

The US administration defended the June 9 murder of a Gaza family as an Israeli right to defend itself. BBC International refused to see the Palestinian attack on an Israeli military installation on June 25 as a Palestinian right to self-defence. To the contrary, it was Israel who once again went “scrambling to defend itself”.

It’s unclear how many Palestinians must die before Israel delivers a convincing “blow” to its unruly neighbours and before life goes back to the way it was intended to be: Palestinians being starved, humiliated and slaughtered at the hands of Israel in their dissolute Gaza ghettos. Only then, shall Israel be safe once more.

‘And Israel shall be safe again’ (http://www.jordantimes.com/wed/opinion/opinion3.htm)

Olmert turns heat on Syria

Israel has stepped up the pressure on arch-foe Syria, accusing it of supporting Palestinian militants behind the capture of an Israeli soldier that has sparked a new crisis in the Middle East.

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

Israel has stepped up the pressure on arch-foe Syria, accusing it of supporting Palestinian militants behind the capture of an Israeli soldier that has sparked a new crisis in the Middle East.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert ordered security forces to pursue operations against the militants and those who command and shelter them in a reference to Damascus.

"We will hit all terrorists," he told a meeting of business leaders in the southern city of Beersheva.

"No one who attempts to harm the state of Israel will be spared."

Israel has threatened to kill Hamas leaders in Damascus and demanded Syria take responsibility for sheltering militants in the wake of the June 25 capture of Corporal Gilad Shalit on the Gaza border.

The crisis threatened to boil over Tuesday as a deadline set by Shalit's captors for Israel to release Palestinian prisoners passed and Egyptian-led mediation appeared to have fallen flat.

"We do not negotiate with terrorists," Olmert said. "We act with all the necessary force, but we do not give in to blackmail."

Defense Minister Amir Peretz had Monday warned Syria's President Bashar al-Assad that "all the responsibility falls on him." His words were echoed by Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who said after talks in Moscow that "Syria, which protects [Hamas] and grants asylum to its chiefs, must understand that it cannot escape responsibility for that."

Olmert has called for Syria to expel Palestinian militant leaders.

"The key to resolving the crisis is in Damascus since the directives and orders for terrorist actions originate there," he said earlier this week in a telephone conversation with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Home to exiled Hamas political leader Khaled Meshaal, Syria has shrugged off Israeli and US accusations as well as an Israeli jet flyover of a Syrian presidential palace last week.

Assad Monday pledged support for the Palestinians amid "Israel's aggressive stand and unjust accusations" but made no attempt to enter the fray over the captured soldier. United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan telephoned Assad to discuss the mounting crisis, and Turkey sent an envoy to meet the Syrian leader.

"What we are trying to do is to contribute to efforts to prevent further escalation in this problem," Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said.

Before sending the envoy to Damascus, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke by phone with US President George W Bush, Annan and Israeli and Palestinian leaders.

According to Israeli daily Maariv, Egyptian and Palestinian mediators are "furious with the Syrians in general over their behavior and with President Bashar al-Assad in particular," for Damascus' refusal to help.

The crisis was sparked after Palestinian fighters tunneled under the Gaza border and raided an Israeli army post, snatching Shalit, 19, and killing two. Two Palestinians were also killed.

In Gaza, meanwhile, Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas called Tuesday for an extension of negotiations over Shalit and urged militants not to kill him.

"The government ... is still calling for preserving the life of the captured Israeli soldier and for him to receive good treatment," he said.

 Olmert turns heat on Syria (http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?we_cat=6&art_id=22179&sid=8706732&con_type=1&d_str=20060705)

 Security Cabinet to Meet Wednesday
02:18 Jul 05, '06 / 9 Tammuz 5766

(IsraelNN.com) Israel’s security cabinet is expected to meet Wednesday to discuss the latest developments in the Gaza Strip. The unprecedented rocket attack on the heart of Ashkelon will likely be high on the agenda.

The ministers are expected to discuss continuing military operations against terrorist targets and are likely to decide on a new serious of military actions in the Gaza Strip.

 Security Cabinet to Meet Wednesday  (http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=106600)

Crisis could be tough for both sides to compromise

tel aviv (AP)
No one doubts what will happen if Israeli intelligence finds Cpl. Gilad Shalit in the maze of densely populated Gaza.
Special forces will take any action needed to free the captured Israeli soldier, with the same determination they showed 30 years ago yesterday against tremendous odds in a rescue operation that amazed the world. Israeli forces secretly flew to Uganda to free more than 100 hostages being held at Entebbe International Airport after their Air France flight was hijacked by commandos demanding the release of Palestinian prisoners being held by Israel.
Though today’s crisis involves only one captive who is being held much closer to Israel, solving it could prove even more daunting than July 4, 1976, the day of the Entebbe rescue. For one, Israel doesn’t know where Shalit is, and the current brinkmanship is being played out against the backdrop of a complex Israeli military offensive and a looming humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Still, once again an Israeli is being held captive by Palestinian fighters and they are again demanding a prisoner swap. Conditions on the ground bode poorly for a deal. Israel fears caving in would encourage more kidnappings, and the Hamas rulers fear a loss of street credibility if they give up the 19-year-old corporal without anything in return.
Israel is keeping the military option alive, bombarding Gaza with missiles and artillery shells and targeting resistance strongholds.
However, Egypt is trying to mediate a peaceful solution, and Israeli officials say they will greet Egyptian overtures with an open mind. Despite defiant public statements about not dealing with “terrorists”, Israel has negotiated prisoner swaps in the past. One possible deal could involve the fighters freeing Shalit in return for the promise of an Israeli-Palestinian summit and the release of some Palestinian prisoners in the future, according to Palestinian officials.
Haaretz, a top Israeli newspaper, also reported that Israeli military commanders would support freeing Palestinian prisoners who have not been involved attacks, if Shalit is freed and Hamas and its resistance allies agree to halt all attacks against Israeli civilians and forces.
But the Hamas and Israeli governments have each made statements that appear to preclude compromise. “The problem that the leaders on both sides are facing is the public opinion that they created themselves,ª said Baoz Ganor, a counterterrorism expert in Israel.

Crisis could be tough for both sides to compromise (http://www.bahraintribune.com/ArticleDetail.asp?ArticleId=113166&CategoryId=2)

Palestinians Attempt Mass Murder

A Palestinian rocket hit a school in the city of Ashkelon today, the deepest a Qassam rocket has ever penetrated into Israel, in a deadly serious attack intended to murder random civilians.

In retaliation, Israel struck the empty Palestinian Interior Ministry for the second time.

    GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Palestinian militants hit an Israeli city with a rocket from Gaza for the first time on Tuesday, causing no casualties but drawing a pledge of harsh retaliation from Israel while it was already in the midst of a military offensive.

    Prime Minister Ehud Olmert called the rocket fire on the coastal city of Ashkelon a “major escalation,” coming just hours after a deadline set by the militants holding an Israeli soldier passed with Israel rejecting demands to release about 1,500 Palestinian prisoners. The militants said they would not harm 19-year-old Cpl. Gilad Shalit — if he is still alive. But they warned they would provide no further information about him, leaving his condition unclear.

    Early Wednesday, Israeli aircraft struck the Palestinian Interior Ministry in Gaza for the second time in a week, the military said. Witnesses said missiles hit the main structure again and damaged a building next to the ministry which has been used since the first attack. Rescue workers said two people were wounded.

    The rocket flew 7 miles through the air and exploded in the courtyard of a school in Ashkelon, a city of 110,000 on Israel’s coast north of Gaza. The school was empty at the time and no one was hurt. School security cameras showed a large cloud of white dust rising from the point of impact.

Palestinians Attempt Mass Murder  (http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=21374&only&rss)

Hamas Leader Mashal meets Iranians

04/07/06 - 12:55
Jerusalem

Just a few hours before the Shalit ultimatum expired, Khaled Mashal leader of Hamas' Syrian branch came out of hiding to appear before Arab television cameras with Iranian leaders. Mashal had gone underground since the kidnapping of Cpl. Gilad Shalit.

The Iranian delegation reportedly came to Damascus in order, "To encourage the determined opposition to freeing the kidnapped solider without a deal on releasing [Palestinian] prisoners." Syrian President, Bashar Assad confirmed yesterday that he supported the Hamas demands for a prisoner swap.

Members of the Iranian delegation, who arrived in Damascus two days after the kidnapping, recommended Mashal not to visit Egypt as he had originally planned, and to avoid telephone calls from leaders of the Egyptian intelligence services. Mashal fears an Israeli assassination attempt after Israeli leaders declared that they held him accountable for the attack. Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres said in an interview yesterday, “The directives for this action came from Khaled Mashal in Damascus. There sits a man determined to destroy any chance for peace.”

Hamas Leader Mashal meets Iranians (http://www.infolive.tv/index.php?id=82)

Iran urges int'l pressure on Israel over Gaza

Tuesday, July 04, 2006 - ©2005 IranMania.com

 
Archived Picture -Iran on Tuesday called for international pressure on arch-foe Israel to halt the violence in the Palestinian territories following the capture of an Israeli soldier by militants, said AFP. "We believe international pressure should be applied from all sides against these (Israeli) assaults in order to stop them and lead to the release of Palestinian officials," Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told reporters.

LONDON, July 4 (IranMania) - Iran on Tuesday called for international pressure on arch-foe Israel to halt the violence in the Palestinian territories following the capture of an Israeli soldier by militants, said AFP.

"We believe international pressure should be applied from all sides against these (Israeli) assaults in order to stop them and lead to the release of Palestinian officials," Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told reporters.

He urged Islamic countries to show a "serious response" in order to stop the violence in the Gaza Strip after Israel's military bid to free the teenage conscript captured in a June 25 militant raid on a border post.

Israel has detained scores of Hamas members in the occupied West Bank -- including a third of the Palestinian cabinet -- since its military incursion into the Gaza Strip began on June 27 with air raids on targets that included a power station.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has ruled out any negotiations with militants to free the serviceman in the face of the miltants' demands for the release of 1,000 prisoners, as well as Palestinian women and minors detained in Israel.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad slammed the United Nations on Monday for its slowness to act against the "Zionist regime's crimes".

 Terrorists Refuse to Accept Egyptian Proposal
10:10 Jul 05, '06 / 9 Tammuz 5766

(IsraelNN.com) According to a report appearing in the London-based Arabic el-Shark el-Awsat newspaper, quoting a senior Palestinian Authority (PA) official, Egyptian officials are continuing efforts to persuade terrorists to release IDF Corporal Gilad Shalit. This despite messages released on Tuesday morning that the expired ultimatum marks the end of all talks towards the soldier’s release.

According to the report, the terrorists refused to release the soldier despite assurances from Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak that Israel would release imprisoned terrorists.

 Terrorists Refuse to Accept Egyptian Proposal  (http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=106620)

 Arab States Continue to Pressure UN to Condemn Israel
11:37 Jul 05, '06 / 9 Tammuz 5766

(IsraelNN.com) Arab nations will on Wednesday appeal to United Nations human rights officials, seeking a condemnation of ongoing Israeli military activities in Gaza. The Arab nations are calling on the international body to condemn Israel and order an immediate halt of IDF operations in Gaza.

Earlier this week, the Security Council met in an urgent session, also prompted by Arab nations, but the council did not vote on a resolution to condemn Israel, realizing that such a move would be vetoed by the United States.

 Arab States Continue to Pressure UN to Condemn Israel  (http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=106625)

 High Alert in Sharon region Lowered – Attack Blocked
11:55 Jul 05, '06 / 9 Tammuz 5766

(IsraelNN.com) Government officials released for publication the news that security forces have blocked an attack planned by terrorists for the center of the country.

The high alert in force for the Sharon region was lowered after the cause of the terror threat was eliminated.

Security personnel had screened all vehicles in Samaria at roadblocks set up throughout the region in order to prevent the attack.

 High Alert in Sharon region Lowered – Attack Blocked  (http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=106630)

Israel tanks forge deeper into Gaza as crisis spirals

14 minutes ago

GAZA CITY (AFP) - Israeli tanks moved deeper into the northern Gaza Strip after Islamist militants launched a second rocket attack on the southern Israeli town of Ashkelon.

The move came after Israel's security cabinet authorised the army to advance farther and to step up attacks on the Hamas-led government.

Witnesses told AFP up to 15 Israeli tanks pushed into an industrial zone in the north of the strip, advancing several hundred metres.

They entered the sites of the two former Israeli settlements of Elei Sinai and Nissanit near the Erez border crossing point, the sources said.

An AFP photographer at the scene reported heavy machinegun and mortar fire.

Earlier, a rocket crashed into an open area of Ashkelon without causing damage or casualties, military sources said.

It was the second Palestinian rocket attack on the Israeli town in two days.

In Washington, meanwhile, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said it was "high time" for Hamas to return an Israeli soldier whose capture sparked the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip.

She called on both the Israelis and the Palestinians to exercise restraint.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's security cabinet ordered the military to intensify air raids against Hamas as well as so-called targeted killing operations against militants who launch or order rocket attacks.

The army was also given the go-ahead to surround two key towns in northern Gaza and enlarge an interdiction zone to be enforced by aircraft and artillery in a bid to stave off rocket attacks.

The decisions followed the most spectacular operation against Israel since a soldier was captured 10 days ago, plunging the Middle East into fresh crisis, when Hamas militants fired a new type of rocket Tuesday into the heart of Ashkelon.

The first Palestinian rocket ever to hit the centre of the southern coastal town ploughed into a school, causing no injuries but drawing furious calls for retribution from members of the Israeli government.

"The goals we have set forth remain: releasing the kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit and stopping projectile fire," a security cabinet statement said.

As a result, the cabinet instructed the defence establishment to prepare "for prolonged and graduated security activity".

The goals of the campaign were described as "damaging Hamas in the West Bank and Gaza, with an emphasis on institutions and terror infrastructure," and "reducing terrorists' freedom of movement by continuing to section off the Gaza Strip and striking at infrastructures that serve terrorism".

Olmert himself branded the first rocket attack on Ashkelon an "unprecedented and severe escalation in the terrorist war being waged by Hamas" which he warned would have "far-reaching consequences".

Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erakat said Israel's plans to enlarge an interdiction zone in northern Gaza would only make matters worse.

"Israel is using the recent developments as a pretext to impose faits accomplis. A security zone will not solve the problem, but on the contrary, help further the escalation and complications," Erekat said.

The EU cautioned that the army's operations had delayed efforts to get much-needed funding to the Palestinian people, as 1.4 million people living in impoverished Gaza Strip grapple with food, fuel and power cuts.

But repeated international calls for restraint have largely fallen on deaf ears in what has become the worst Middle East crisis since Hamas came to power in March and Olmert formally took the Israeli helm in May.

Overnight Tuesday, Israeli warplanes attacked the Hamas-run interior ministry in Gaza City for the second time in a week, causing heavy damage and wounding four Palestinians, local medical sources said.

Israeli aircraft also pounded other targets in Gaza for the eighth consecutive night.

The return of ground troops to what is one of the most densely populated areas on earth comes less than 10 months after Israel withdrew from the territory last September following a 38-year occupation.

Infrastructure Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, a member of Israel's security cabinet, said "systematic operations to liquidate terrorist chiefs" were the only possible response unless Palestinians halted their rocket attacks.

But claiming responsibility for Tuesday's rocket strike, the armed wing of Hamas vowed to step up its attacks after Israel rejected a prisoner swap and pressed on with its Gaza offensive.

The Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades said it used a "new type of rocket" with a longer range than those fired daily at Israel in recent days, promising "a new era of violence" if the Jewish state did not stop its military operation.

Rice said Hamas carried more blame for the upsurge of tensions and pressed for the captured Israeli soldier's release.

"Their government, Hamas government, needs to respond to the root cause of this problem, and the root cause of this problem was the attack that took place and the Israeli soldier that was abducted," she said.

"It is high time for Hamas to return that soldier. It is high time then for everybody who has any influence on Hamas to make sure that that happens, and then we can get back on track."

In the occupied West Bank, Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian militant of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a rival faction to the Qassam Brigades, and who was wanted for killing two Israelis in 2000.

Following the expiry Tuesday of an ultimatum set the Palestinian captors of 19-year-old Israeli soldier Gilad Shalid, Olmert again ruled out negotiations with militants and promised to strike anyone linked to them, in a thinly veiled reference to Syria.

Israel said Shalit remained alive after being seized and wounded 10 days ago in a Palestinian raid.

The shadowy Army of Islam, one of three groups that claims to be holding Shalit in the Gaza Strip, said Tuesday he would not be killed.

The group, together with the armed wing of the governing Hamas movement and the Popular Resistance Committees, snatched him in a raid on an army post on June 25 in which two other soldiers and two militants were killed.

The prime minister of the Hamas-led government, Ismail Haniya, said his administration continued to appeal for the soldier's life and good treatment.

Israel tanks forge deeper into Gaza as crisis spirals (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060705/wl_mideast_afp/mideast)

India backs OIC, flays Israel on GazaAdd to Clippings
Indrani Bagchi
[ Thursday, July 06, 2006 12:51:08 amTIMES NEWS NETWORK ]
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NEW DELHI: On most days, the Organisation for Islamic Countries (OIC) and India are at daggers drawn. Yet, India last week signed on to an OIC petition for a special session of the newly-constituted Human Rights Council of the UN held on Wednesday - to give Israel a hollering for its activities in Gaza.

The vote to keep the situation in the occupied territories on the Council's agenda was passed with 29 countries in favour, 12 against and 5 abstentions, while one country was absent. India voted along with Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Syria, while UK, Canada, France, Germany and Japan voted against.

The Indian action comes amid a perception among the UPA government's political managers that New Delhi's stance against its traditional Muslim allies, like Iran, at the behest of its newest strategic partner, US, was having its repercussions in the Congress'Muslim vote, not least in the recent state assembly elections.

This unease has been compounded in the Congress party, starting from India's Iran vote at the IAEA in 2005 to a much reviled clause in the US Congress' nuclear Bill asking India to "isolate and sanction" Iran for its nuclear weapons activities - and being seen as detrimental to the Congress party's chances to trawl in the Muslim vote in the forthcoming UP elections.

The Indian action at the UN is also designed to keep carping Communist allies at bay, by indicating that India was capable of taking "independent" foreign policy decisions. In recent days, South Block has tried to accomplish some delicate balancing on its Middle East policies. On June 27, it openly condemned Hamas' capture of an Israeli soldier.

But three days later, secretary in the MEA, Rajiv Sikri, called in the Israeli ambassador to protest against the resultant Israeli military offensive in Gaza, citing humanitarian concerns.

India backs OIC, flays Israel on Gaza (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1709147.cms)

Russia worried by degrading relations between Israel, Palestine

05.07.2006, 20.53


GENEVA, July 5 (Itar-Tass) -- Russia is “deeply worried” by the degradation of relations between Israel and Palestine and an escalation of confrontation between them, Russian Permanent Representative to the U.N. in Geneva Valery Loshchinin said on Wednesday.

“We are taking all necessary steps in order to facilitate the normalisation of the situation and resumption of the peace process both on the bilateral basis and in the format of mediators,” he said at a special session of the U.N. Human Rights Council.

He stressed, “Russia’s position remains unchanged.”

“Israel must refrain from indiscriminate use of force, and Palestine, in turn, should take real measures to stop terrorist acts, show restraint and to prevent an escalation of tensions,” the diplomat said.

He stressed the need to release the captured Israeli soldier. “We also believe it absolutely necessary to release without delay elected members of the government and legislative bodies of Palestine who have been captured by Israel,” he said.

“The Russian side urges both states to refrain from violence and honour their commitments and agreements on peaceful settlement in order to reach lasting and just peace in the Middle East,” Loshchinin said.

He expressed serious concern about the social, economic, and humanitarian situation in Palestine, which has deteriorated after the start of the Israeli military operation.

“We think using force against the civilian population is inadmissible and urge [Israel] not to exacerbate its suffering. Collective punishment of the Palestinian people is inadmissible and contrary to the norms and principles of international humanitarian law,” the diplomat said.

Russia worried by degrading relations between Israel, Palestine (http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=10597321&PageNum=0)


If you check, Russia has a history of doing this.

July 06, 2006

New militant rocket ignites fury
By Stephen Farrell
Israel said that it would shift the focus of its Gaza offensive on to Hamas after the Islamist group fired rockets farther than before into Israel, striking a main town..

An urgent Security Cabinet meeting approved a series of measures, including more airstrikes against Hamas institutions and infrastructure, stepping up its incursion to secure the release of a captured soldier, and halt rockets. In what appeared to be part of a new offensive, Israeli tanks in northern Gaza advanced towards an abandoned Jewish settlement.

The first of the extended Qassam rockets launched by Hamas’s military wing from Gaza struck Ashkelon 7½ miles (12km) away on Tuesday, damaging a school but causing no injury. A second Qassam landed in an orchard in Ashkelon yesterday, but no one was hurt.

New militant rocket ignites fury (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,251-2257623,00.html)

Hamas militant wing: We will use 'firm hand' if attacked

Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the Hamas military wing stated that if Israel resumes its attacks in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, it will respond "firmly".

"We are telling the enemy that if it continues to carry out its crimes in the Gaza Strip and West Bank we will respond in a firm hand," said the statement.

Hamas militant wing: We will use 'firm hand' if attacked (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3271459,00.html)

Israeli blood will not be spared -- Hamas

GAZA, July 5 (KUNA) -- Hamas warned Israel Wednesday, if Palestinian people lose their sense of security then so will the Israelis.

In a statement today, Hamas said, if blood is spilled in Gaza, then blood in Israeli malls will not be spared.

Israel will not be allowed to bring down the Palestinian government, Hamas added. If Israel attempts to tamper with Palestinian security, Hamas will retaliate in unexpected ways.

About a week ago, Israel had detained over 60 Palestinian ministers, members of Parliament, and Hamas officials in the West Bank in response to the abduction of a soldier.

The statement added, all the Palestinian factions stand behind the demands of those holding the soldier.

The captors demanded that Israel release 1,000 Palestinian prisoners including children and women in exchange for information about the prisoner.

Ehud Olmert, Israeli Prime Minister, had refused those demands and escalated violence in Gaza to pressure the captors to release the soldier.

The statement called on "reasonable people in this world" to intervene quickly, and work to resolve the detained soldier issue.

Olmert's plans carry catastrophic consequences that will affect the whole region, the statement added.

It also commented on the "double standards" of the world, as governments work to save one Israeli soldier, yet forget about thousands of Palestinian prisoners left to die.

Israeli blood will not be spared -- Hamas (http://www.kuna.net.kw/Home/Story.aspx?Language=en&DSNO=883456)

Hamas must be brought to Justice for causing the kidnap and murder of a Jewish teenager in their evil terrorist act.

Israel have every right to defend itself against a murderous organisation Hamas and steps must be taken to ensure that the responsible persons be brought to justice - all Hamas political leaders are responsible for the wickedness and no end to these incursions.

Before there were more than 200 rockets fired by Hamas and militant groups into the Jewish cities from Gaza!

This time the Gazians need to choose to have Hamas or face the consequences of war.

Hamas is inciting a warzone and they deserve to be attacked and brought to justice.

Today Syria still choose not to recognise Israel and harbours Hamas and many terrorists organisations. Their interference with Lebanon also showed the devastations they left behind. When PLO was ultimately removed from Syria they wandered back to Gaza and West Bank. Many are exiled due to their criminal and terrorist records (in accordance to UN and Interpol). That's facts for you.

Hamas agenda is same as Iran!

They both wants to see the destruction of Israel and are arch-enemy as both have a long history of hatred influenced by extremism and false religious fervour. The sad news, they will not want to have Peace in this world.

High time for soldier's release: US
From: Agence France-Presse
From correspondents in Washington

July 06, 2006
 

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said overnight that it was "high time" for Hamas to return an Israeli soldier whose abduction sparked an Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip.
Her spokesman meanwhile declined to condemn Israeli airstrikes on Palestinian government buildings, saying that Israel had the right to defend itself in the face of rocket attacks launched from Gaza.

Ms Rice said she was calling on both Israelis and the Palestinians to exercise restraint as a new wave of Palestinian rockets rained down on Israeli territory, prompting return air and artillery fire from the Israeli side.

But she said Hamas carried more blame for the upsurge of tensions and pressed for release of the soldier, 19-year-old Gilad Shalit,

"Their government, Hamas government, needs to respond to the root cause of this problem, and the root cause of this problem was the attack that took place and the Israeli soldier that was abducted," Ms Rice said.

"It is high time for Hamas to return that soldier. It is high time then for everybody who has any influence on Hamas to make sure that that happens, and then we can get back on track."

Later, Ms Rice's spokesman Sean McCormack declined to condemn Israeli air-strikes on Palestinian government buildings.

Asked whether Israeli "attacks" on Palestinian government buildings could be justified, Mr McCormack replied: "you're using the words 'attack' in this sort of what Israel needs to do."

"Let's talk about what the root cause of this is," he said, referring to Palestinian rocket attacks on southern Israel launched from Gaza and the soldier's capture.

High time for soldier's release: US (http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,19701405-38198,00.html)

Erdogan Receives Ambassadors Of Palestine, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Libya & Egypt
Published: 7/6/2006

   
ANKARA - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan received ambassadors of Palestine, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Libya and Egypt in Ankara on Wednesday.

The ambassadors paid the visit to thank Erdogan for his efforts to ease tension between Israel and Palestine as well as to restore permanent peace in the Middle East.

Erdogan Receives Ambassadors Of Palestine, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Libya & Egypt (http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=132252)
===============================================

A few of the countries mentioned in the Bible, are right there.

EU Tones Down Criticism of Israel
July 6th, 2006 @ 4:13am

By SLOBODAN LEKIC
Associated Press Writer

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) - The shift is subtle but unmistakable. European governments _ long accused of being pro-Arab _ have toned down criticism of Israel, left in shock by the rise to power of Islamic Hamas which they consider a terrorist outfit.

The rise of Hamas and the subsequent deterioration of peace prospects have left the European Union in a quandary. The election of the Hamas government has pulled the rug from under its $626.5-million-a-year aid package that feeds, clothes and educates many Palestinians and distanced the EU from them.

After the Hamas government was sworn in, the EU strongly condemned it on April 10 for refusing to recognize Israel in a one-page statement whose brevity contrasted with the bloc's usually long Mideast declarations that take pains to show balance.

The EU's tilt toward the Jewish state was highlighted after Israel's attacks last week on infrastructure targets in the Gaza Strip. Normally such strikes elicit stinging rebukes, but this time they brought only limp appeals to both sides to resolve the crisis through diplomacy.

The EU formally denies any policy shift.

Yet analysts see a more nuanced approach to the Mideast conflict caused mainly by the unexpected Hamas victory in January. They also believe the Europeans are seeking to move closer to the U.S. position to maintain some say in the region, and that means not being automatically critical of Israel's actions.

Last week, after Israeli tanks and troops mounted their offensive in a bid to free a soldier captured by Palestinian militants, EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner simply urged the two sides "to consider their responsibilities extremely carefully."

She demanded the militants release the soldier but stayed silent on the destruction of bridges and the Gaza Strip's only power plant, as well as the unprecedented arrest of 64 top Hamas officials, including eight Cabinet members and 26 lawmakers.

The United States, Russia and other countries also have appealed to the militants to release the soldier.

In the past, the EU has demanded that Israel repay the EU for damage caused to infrastructure that is often financed with European money, but there was no mention of that this time.

"The European Union's lukewarm reaction is shocking when even infrastructure built through the EU's own investments is being destroyed," said Marwan Bishara, a lecturer in international affairs in France. "It is also contrary to the very foundations of the EU in terms of the civil and humanitarian principles."

Bishara attributed the EU's attitude to Hamas' victory and a growing conviction in European capitals that the trans-Atlantic rift over the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 can only be bridged by coordinating Mideast policy more closely with Washington.

"Europe is now following the U.S. policy of being passive toward Israeli actions," said Bishara.

Others echoed his comments.

"The election of Hamas has obviously changed the dynamics of the problem and ended the almost automatic solidarity with the Palestinians," said Mark Leonard, a foreign policy analyst at London's Centre for European Reform.

Declining support for the Palestinian cause in Europe was another factor, said Dominique Moisi of the French Institute for International Relations.

"They have disappointed Europeans by their divisions, their lack of organization, the spectacle of violence in Gaza" between various Palestinian factions, he said. "By refusing to recognize Israel's right to exist, Hamas has weakened the Palestinians' position considerably."

This has meshed with Israel's efforts to persuade the international community that Hamas is too radical to negotiate with and should be isolated despite the fact that it came to power in a legitimate fashion.

Moisi also sees Europe trying to mend fences with Washington and agreeing with Washington on stifling Iran's nuclear ambitions. "We don't want to jeopardize this agreement by being divided over the Palestinians," said Moisi.

Yossi Alpher, an adviser to Israel's former Prime Minister Ehud Barak, noted that a few years ago the Europeans would have criticized Israel much more explicitly for an attack like the one in Gaza.

"What has changed is the advent of a radical Palestinian Islamist terrorist movement and government (and) a greater sense of realism in the EU on what can and what can't be done in the Middle East."

Alpher warned this may change quickly if Israel's heavy-handed actions result in civilian casualties or a humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

The EU is not alone in toning down its criticisms of Israel.

Most non-Muslim members of the 105-member Nonaligned Movement _ loyal supporters of the Arabs in their wars with Israel in past decades _ have gone softer on the Jewish state. Also, Russia _ long a key source of support for Arab countries _ has cultivated economic, political and other ties with Israel, as has China.

Individual European countries have been more critical of Israel, although they, too, have shied away from publicly denouncing the latest offensive. It was only neutral Switzerland _ not an EU member _ that issued a strongly worded condemnation of the Gaza action, including the destruction of the local power plant and arrest of dozens of Hamas officials.

"A number of actions by the Israeli defense forces in their offensive against the Gaza Strip have violated the principle of proportionality and are to be seen as forms of collective punishment, which is forbidden," the Swiss Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

EU Tones Down Criticism of Israel (http://www.620ktar.com/?nid=46&sid=193939)

IDF officials: Terror cells using civilians as human shields

 
IDF officials said Thursday, “Terror cells in Gaza have been using civilians as human shields in the last few hours to protect against firing.”

 
According to officials, “The terrorists are shooting from inside populated areas and are endangering the lives of Palestinian civilians.”

IDF officials: Terror cells using civilians as human shields (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3272045,00.html)

Israel Presses for Oil From Shale

With the help of homegrown technology, an Israeli company's proposed energy plant could help the country vastly reduce oil imports

With oil prices hovering around $70 a barrel, Israel is looking for ways to reduce its near-total dependence on energy imports. It's pondering the use of the nation's huge reserves of oil shale—a dark, crumbly rock loaded with hydrocarbons—located in the central and southern parts of the country. Thanks to a technical breakthrough, it should be possible to extract fuel oil from the shale for less than $20 a barrel. That could allow Israel eventually to cut its crude imports by up to one-third.

Israel Presses for Oil From Shale (http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/jul2006/gb20060705_516609.htm)

Hamas orders Palestinian forces to fight Israel
Up to 23 Palestinians, 1 Israeli killed as Gaza offensive intensifies

GAZA CITY (CNN) -- The Hamas-led Palestinian government ordered its security forces Thursday to fight back against the Israelis who have been hammering Gaza with airstrikes and artillery since one of their soldiers was kidnapped last month.

As many as 25 Palestinians may have died in Thursday's fighting, though there were conflicting death tolls. One Israeli soldier was killed near Beit Lahya, according to Israel Defense Forces.

Palestinian Interior Minister Saeed Siyyam told security forces to rise up and "confront this incursion and cowardly Zionist aggression," Reuters reported.

But it was unclear how many would heed his call and join the resistance.

Most of those forces in Gaza are loyal to the Fatah Party and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, not to Hamas or Siyyam. In the past, battling with the Israeli military has been left to militants, while security forces have been largely sidelined.

Abbas was not involved in the order to security forces to join the fray, said Palestinian legislator Saeb Erekat.

Israeli troops encountered intense fighting as they staged military operations in northern and southern Gaza, which Israel says are designed to stop Palestinian rocket attacks in the area and to find kidnapped army Cpl. Gilad Shalit, who was abducted June 25 by Palestinian militants during a raid into southern Israel. Israel launched its Gaza offensive June 28.

Israel insists it has no intention to reoccupy Gaza, from which it withdrew its settlers and dismantled its military facilities in September 2005.

"The purpose of Israel's limited incursion into the northern Gaza Strip is to halt the barrage of rockets and missiles that have been hitting Israeli population centers and Israeli cities and terrorizing the population," said Mark Regev, an Israel Foreign Ministry spokesman. "We will be there to reduce the threat. We have no intention of re-occupying Gaza, but it is our obligation to safeguard the lives of our citizens."
Two dozen dead

Thursday's operations included two airstrikes in or near Beit Lahya. Palestinian security and medical sources said six Palestinians were killed in the first strike and four in the second. An IDF spokesperson said four were killed in the first, and the second targeted four militants in the Al Atatra area, northwest of Beit Lahya.

Israeli helicopters and tanks took positions among tightly packed Palestinian homes Thursday in Beit Lahya, as black-masked militants -- some openly carrying bombs with dangling electric cables -- crept through alleyways to get better shots with their AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenades, according to The Associated Press.

Ali Ajrami, a tailor living in Beit Lahya, told the AP that he and his nine children were trapped in their farmhouse after an Israeli tank parked in a garden behind his home and special forces took rooftop positions on neighboring buildings.

"We are trapped. I don't know what to do," he said, adding that he had stocked up on food and diesel fuel before the offensive but he was having a hard time keeping his children indoors.

Another seven Palestinians were killed in the West Bank and eight more in Gaza as Israel strengthened its position in the northern part of the region, Palestinian sources said.

Palestinians have fired three rockets into Israel over the last two days, at least one of which reached Ashkelon, which marks the deepest point in Israel that any of the crude Qassam rockets have reached. There were no reports of casualties.
A call for negotiations

As the fighting became fiercer Thursday, the father of the kidnapped soldier called on both sides to show some restraint.

Speaking in Mitzpeh Hilla in northern Israel, Noam Shalit, whose son has been in captivity for 11 days, told reporters that Israel and the Palestinians need to work out their differences -- including the kidnapping of his son -- civilly.

"Everything has a price," Noam Shalit said to reporters when asked if Israel should talk with Hamas about its demand that Israel release some Palestinian prisoners. "I don't believe there can be any process to gain Gilad's release that won't cost a price. That's now how things work in the Middle East. The question is only -- why are they still waiting? I want to believe that negotiations are being held, in some secret channel, that we just haven't been told about."

Noam Shalit also asked his son's captors to give a serious offer to Egypt, which has been trying to broker a solution to the impasse, but has been rebuffed because Israel sees a prisoner swap as catering to terrorists.

It was unclear if Egyptian mediators had been able to resume talks with the three militant groups claiming to hold Shalit -- Hamas' military wing, the Popular Resistance Committees and the Army of Islam.

The elder Shalit said the proposal must be "a serious offer that the state of Israel can deal on this basis and can live with this offer."

This, Noam Shalit said, would be the only way to extinguish the agony his family is experiencing and the only way to save "thousands of innocent Palestinians that are suffering from this issue and feel it every day."

 Hamas orders Palestinian forces to fight Israel (http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/07/06/israel.soldier/index.html)

Jordan strongly condemns Israeli military operations   

TEHRAN:  Iran's hard line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned yesterday that continued Israeli strikes against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip could lead to an "explosion" in the Islamic world that would target Israel and its supporters in the West. Again, Ahmadinejad questioned Israel's right to exist.  "This is a fake regime, it won't be able to survive. I think the only way (forward) is that those who created it (the West) take it away themselves," the president told a rally in Tehran in support of Palestinians.  Twenty-four Palestinians and one Israeli soldier have been killed in fighting since the Israeli army began invading northern Gaza on Thursday. Ahmadinejad, who last year called for Israel to be "wiped off the map," has repeatedly voiced fiery rhetoric against the Jewish state.

The Islamic republic's president joined thousands of demonstrators in the capital yesterday to condemn the Israeli strikes, and said Israel's Western supporters could be the target of revenge by Muslims.  "They should not let things reach a point where an explosion occurs in the Islamic world," he said.  "If an explosion occurs, then it won't be limited to geographical boundaries. It will also burn all those who created (Israel) over the past 60 years," he said, implicitly referring to the United States and other Western nations who support Israel.

The Israeli offensive in Gaza aims at freeing of soldier captured by Palestinian militants on June 25, and destroy the increasingly powerful rockets that militants are firing at Israel. After sunrise yesterday, Israel renewed its assault in northern Gaza with two airstrikes, killing one militant from the ruling Hamas Party, and wounding three, Hamas and hospital officials said. The representative for Hamas in Iran, Abu Osamah Abdulmota, said the Israeli soldier would only be set free in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.  "They (Israel) should know that Palestinian combatants won't release this Israeli prisoner (unless) Palestinian prisoners are freed from Zionist jails," he said in a pre-sermon speech before the weekly Friday prayers in Tehran.

In another development, Jordan's King Abdullah strongly condemned Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip, a royal palace statement said yesterday.  Israeli forces have killed 24 Palestinians since invading the northern part of the strip Thursday with the declared objective of winning freedom for a captured soldier and lifting the threat of near-daily Palestinian rocket fire on southern Israel. Yesterday, it stepped up its assault with air strikes. Abdullah stressed that ending the cycle of violence and a return to the negotiating table was the only way to achieve peace in the region and resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Abdullah told Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas in a telephone conversation that he will do his utmost to urge both sides to revive the peace process and spare the region from additional tension and instability.  The statement said that the monarch instructed his government to intensify its contacts with the international community with the aim of ending the Israeli attacks so as to contain the situation and end the suffering of the Palestinian people.

 Jordan strongly condemns Israeli military operations (http://www.kuwaittimes.net/regional.asp?dismode=article&artid=75456880)

Iran president criticizes Israeli offensive
ALI AKBAR DAREINI
Associated Press

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran's hard-line president warned Friday that Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip could set off an "explosion" in the Islamic world against Israel and its supporters.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told thousands of demonstrators gathered in the capital, Tehran, to condemn the strikes in the Gaza Strip that Israel's backers could be the target of revenge by Muslims.

"They should not let things reach a point where an explosion occurs in the Islamic world," he said. "If an explosion occurs, then it won't be limited to geographical boundaries. It will also burn all those who created (Israel) over the past 60 years."

Ahmadinejad once again questioned Israel's right to exist as he did last year.

"This is a fake regime ... it won't be able to survive. I think the only way (forward) is that those who created it (the West) take it away themselves," the president said.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center condemned the remarks by the Iranian president, saying the human rights group takes "Ahmadinejad's threat very seriously."

Arabs have staged only small and sporadic demonstrations and their governments have made few complaints since Israel invaded Gaza last week in a bid to force the release of the Israeli soldier held by Palestinian militants.

Egypt, the biggest Arab nation, has not formally criticized Israel's incursion. Instead it has tried to broker a deal between the militants and Israel.

Lebanon, Jordan, Syria and the Gulf states have condemned Israel's military offensive, particularly when Israeli aircraft buzzed the Syrian president's summer residence last week. But most of the criticisms sounded routine.

There has been little pressure from the Arab street.

Twenty-four Palestinians and one Israeli soldier were killed Thursday in fighting in Gaza. But on Friday, the usual day for demonstrations in the Middle East, there were no protests in Egypt or Lebanon. In Amman, Jordan, several hundred people gathered at a mosque.

Jordanian political analyst Labib Kamhawi said Arabs were not demonstrating because "they do not want to confront the security apparatuses of the Arab regimes."

People have found "that protesting in the streets does not have an effect anymore," he added.

Iranian analysts described Ahmadinejad's diatribe against Israel as populist bluster.

"Ahmadinejad is simply trying to attract global attention and create controversy. He likes it," said Yadollah Eslami, an analyst.

Iran president criticizes Israeli offensive (http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/world/14991039.htm)

 Syrian FM arrives in Tehran for Iraq conference
Tehran, July 7, IRNA

Iran-Syria-Moallem
Syria's Minister of Foreign Affairs Valid al-Moallem arrived in Tehran on Friday evening to take part at the Ninth Ministerial Conference of Iraq's Neighbors, and was received by Manouchehr Mottaki.

According to IRNA reporter at the airport, the Syrian top diplomat upon arrival in Tehran, in a brief talk with the reporters, condemned the Israeli inhumane atrocities against the Palestinian nation.

Al-Moallem said, "The Islamic countries have already asked the UN Security Council to intervene to end the problems with which the Palestinians are entangled."
He reiterated, "Syria and Iran have shared stands in that respect."
Referring to the possible outcomes of Tehran Conference, he said, "Syria is ready to cooperate with Iraq in all political, economic, and social fields and to have broad presence in the course of that country's reconstruction."
He also asked for restoration of peace and stability in Iraq.

The Iranian Minster of Foreign Affairs Manouchehr Mottaki, too, said during the official reception, "Tehran Conference on Iraq would be aimed at surveying the internal and security conditions in that country, keeping in mind that the permanent government has now taken charge there.

Syrian FM arrives in Tehran for Iraq conference (http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-234/0607070033201906.htm)

Iran: IDF strikes will bring Islamic 'explosion'
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
TEHERAN, Iran


Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned on Friday that continued Israeli strikes against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip could lead to an "explosion" in the Islamic world that would target Israel and its supporters in the West.

Again, Ahmadinejad questioned Israel's right to exist. "This is a fake regime ... it won't be able to survive. I think the only way (forward) is that those who created it (the West) take it away themselves," the president told a rally in Teheran in support of Palestinians.

Iran: IDF strikes will bring Islamic 'explosion' (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1150885941573&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull)

 Turkish FM arrives in Tehran
Tehran, July 8, IRNA

Iran-Mottaki-Turkey
Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul heading a political delegation arrived in Tehran on Saturday.

Upon arrival at Tehran's Mehrabad International Airport, he was welcomed by his Iranian counterpart, Manouchehr Mottaki.

Turkey's foreign minister will attend the 9th meeting of foreign ministers of Iraqi neighboring states plus Egypt and Bahrain. It is scheduled to open today.

Participants in the two-day meeting will discuss ongoing developments in Iraq and problems facing Islamic states.

The foreign ministers of Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Egypt will be the main participants in the Tehran meeting.

Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa and United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan's special representative for Iraq, Ashraf Qazi, will also participate in the event.

Observers following up regional developments attach special importance to the Tehran meeting as it comes in the wake of the establishment of the first popular government in Iraq under Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and efforts to achieve national reconciliation in the war-torn country.

The foreign ministerial meeting of the countries neighboring Iraq will be held at the Foreign Ministry building on Saturday and Sunday.

Turkish FM arrives in Tehran (http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-234/0607080302153233.htm)

 Saudi FM arrives in Tehran to attend Iraq meeting
Tehran, July 8, IRNA

Iran-Iraq-S Arabia
Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal arrived in Tehran earlier Saturday to attend the 9th meeting of foreign ministers of Iraqi neighboring states plus Egypt scheduled to open here today.

Participants in the two-day meeting will discuss ongoing developments in Iraq and problems of Islamic states.

The Saudi foreign minister's visit to Tehran is his second this year. He was also a guest here in June.

Al-Faisal, during his visit on June 12, held meetings with senior Iranian officials including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei.

Foreign ministers of Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Egypt will be the main participants in the Tehran meeting over the weekend.

Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa and United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan's special representative for Iraq, Ashraf Qazi, are among the meeting's participants.

Observers of regional developments attach special importance to the Tehran meeting as it comes in the wake of the establishment of the first popular Iraqi government under Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and efforts to achieve national reconciliation in the war-torn country.

Saudi FM arrives in Tehran to attend Iraq meeting (http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-234/0607087585144925.htm)
==========================================

If y'all look at post #183, y'all will see Jordan is already there.

 Iran sees bright horizons for cooperation with Iraq: Haddad-Adel
Tehran, July 8, IRNA

Iran-Iraq-Speaker
Majlis Speaker Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel said here Saturday that Iran saw a very bright horizon for bilateral cooperation with Iraq.

Haddad-Adel made the remarks while speaking to reporters at Tehran's Mehrabad International Airport during a ceremony held for departing Iraqi Parliament Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani who had just conclued a six-day official visit to Iran.

"The visit of the Iraqi parliament speaker was very successful.

We held good talks with al-Mashhadani and his entourage," he said.

He added that the Iranian and Iraqi parliaments enjoy very close stances on many issues have agreed on a technical cooperation for the near future.

He said that the Iranian side had made known its desire to the Iraqi speaker for establishment of an Iran-Iraq Parliamentary Friendship Group.

Haddad-Adel, describing the situation in Iraq as "very omplicated," said the rules of engagement since the fall of Saddam Hussein have been changed.

"But the situation has not changed as desired by the occupiers because the Iraqi people managed to change the plans of the occupiers in their favor through wisdom."
Haddad-Adel expressed his regret over Thursday's terrorist attack in the Iraqi city of Kufa, saying "such terrorist acts should be prevented in Iraq so the situation will not as so desired by the occupiers."
According to reports, a car bomb exploded at 7:15 (local time) Thursday morning close to a Shiite shrine in Kufa, 160 kilometers south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad.

The bomb exploded in a car stationed between two buses while Iranian pilgrims were trying to board the buses.

Pointing to the goals behind such terrorist acts, the Iranian Majlis speaker said the acts are aimed at discouraging Iranian pilgrims from visiting holy sites in Iraq.

"Terrorists seek to cause discord among the two nations and fan the flames of war between Shiites and Sunnis," he said.

"Such terrorist acts will neither prevent the new Iraqi government from achieving independence in administering its affairs nor create a wedge between the two nations," he added.

Haddad-Adel said a two-day meeting of foreign ministers of Iraqi neighboring states plus Egypt due to start in Tehran today would provide an excellent opportunity for participants to support the united Iraqi government, adding that no effort should be spared in helping this new government achieve stability and security for the country.

"All countries and not only the Iraqi people will sustain damage if the united Iraqi government cannot sustain itself," he said.

Al-Mashhadani, for his part, assessed the outcome of his visit to Iran as positive and successful.

He expressed his sympathy with the Iranian nation and government over martyrdom of Iranian pilgrims in Kufa.

He said the Iraqi government and parliament have approved special measures to deal with insecurity in the country.

For as long as Iraq remains in the grip of occupiers, terrorist acts will continue in Iraq, he said, adding that he has called on Iranian officials to help Iraq implement its security measures.

He called on foreign ministers of neighboring states to take part in the Tehran meeting to reach vital agreements for peace and security in Iraq.

The Iraqi parliament speaker, during his six-day stay in the country accompanied by a parliamentary delegation, held separate meetings with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Majlis Speaker Haddad-Adel, Judiciary Chief Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, Expediency Council Chairman Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Larijani and Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki.

In the meetings, the two sides discussed latest regional developments as well as avenues for bolstering bilateral relations.

Al-Mashhadani also paid a visit to the holy city of Mashhad in the northeastern province of Khorassan Razavi.

His visit to Iran took place upon an invitation of his Iranian counterpart.

The visit was his first since his election in April and shows the significance Iraq attaches to its ties with Iran.

Iran sees bright horizons for cooperation with Iraq: Haddad-Adel (http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-234/0607086706144310.htm)

 Gul heads for Tehran to attend Iraq meet
Ankara, July 8, IRNA

Turkey-Iran-FM
Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul left here for Tehran to attend a meeting of foreign ministers of Iraqi neighboring states plus Egypt.

Foreign ministers of Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt are scheduled to hold their 9th meeting here today.

Secretary-General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa and United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan's special representative for Iraq, Ashraf Qazi, are among the participants in this meeting.

The two-day meeting will discuss ongoing developments in Iraq and problems of Islamic states.

Talking to reporters ahead of his departure, Gul said this Tehran meeting of foreign ministers of Iraqi neighboring states would be the first after the establishment of the Iraqi government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

Participants are expected to once again declare their support for Iraq's territorial integrity and political unity which is crucial to the success of the ongoing political process in the country, he said.

He added that Turkey has always endeavored to help establish democracy, peace and stability in Iraq, and expressed his country's readiness to help Iraq defend its territorial integrity and political unity and achieve reconciliation among all groups.

The Turkish minister further deplored ongoing developments in Palestine, describing them as "horrible," and called on the international community to put an end to the Zionists' air and ground attacks on Palestinians.

Gul heads for Tehran to attend Iraq meet (http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-234/0607087365134808.htm)

 Israel's threats to assassinate Palestinian officials to be taken seriously
Beirut, July 8, IRNA

Iran-Israel-Assassination
Official in charge of the Political Department of Palestine Islamic Jihad Movement in Lebanon, Ali Abu Shahin, said here Saturday that Israel's threat to assassinate Palestinian officials, specially Prime Minister Ismael Haniya should be approached as a serious issue.

He told IRNA that many Palestinian officials including Yasser Arafat, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and Fathi Shaqaqi have been so far assassinated by Zionist forces.

Abu Shahin underlined that once Israel decides to target Palestinian political or military leaders, it neither pays attention to being condemned by the world community, nor to ethics.

"The Zionist regime may assassinate the Palestinian state officials and members of parliament in the coming days and months, which proves that the Tel Aviv officials are facing psychological and security crisis," he added.

He said that the terrorist operations, air raids and ground attacks of the Zionist regime on Gaza aim to undermine the will of Palestinian nation , topple the Hamas government and make it reconcile, adding that prior to the kidnapping of a Zionist soldier in Gaza Strip the regime was prepared to attack the area.

"Given that the Zionist regime was not officially recognized by Hamas, the Zionists exerted more economic and financial pressure on the Palestinian people to turn them away from the Hamas government-elect and launch a civil war in Palestine.

"However, the Palestinian people did not give Israel such an opportunity through dialogue and agreement with Hamas, Fatah and other groups. That is why the Zionist regime attacked Gaza Strip," he said.

Turning to the agreement reached between member of Hamas and Fatah movements with other Palestinian groups, he said that based on it, a nationally unified government was formed to represent the majority of Palestinian political factions, in particular Fatah movement, as well as People's and Democratic Fronts for the Freedom of Palestine.

"The US is determined to uproot the Hamas government in July.

That is why Palestinian groups have decided to postpone revision of the government structure until next month," he said.

The Palestinian official said that the Islamic Jihad Movement will not participate in formation of government and election.

Israel's threats to assassinate Palestinian officials to be taken seriously (http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-234/0607088041153630.htm)

 Hamas calls for cease-fire; Olmert rejects offer until soldier freed

IBRAHIM BARZAK, Associated Press Writer

July 8, 2006 6:37 AM

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - The Hamas-led Palestinian government called for a cease-fire in its violent two-week standoff with Israel but stopped short Saturday of offering to release an Israeli soldier held by Hamas militants.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert rejected the proposal by Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh. Olmert will not agree to a truce until Hamas releases the soldier, officials in Olmert's office said.

Earlier, an Israeli Cabinet minister said Israel hopes the fighting, which has killed more than 40 Palestinians and an Israeli soldier, eventually will lead to a broader cease-fire deal.

In fighting Saturday, Israeli troops exchanged fire with Palestinian gunmen, and army bulldozers searched for militants' tunnels near Gaza City. In northern Gaza, tanks pulled out of the town of Beit Lahiya, leaving a wide swath of destruction after trying to carve out a buffer zone against rockets there.

Israel's two-week military campaign, prompted by the abduction of Cpl. Gilad Shalit has put the Hamas government under growing pressure. Israel has arrested several Palestinian Cabinet ministers and Hamas lawmakers.

On Saturday, Haniyeh issued a five-point cease-fire proposal, calling on Israel to halt its offensive and release prisoners but saying little about what Hamas is prepared to do in return.

''If we want to get out of the current crisis, it is necessary to return to calm, on the basis of a mutual halt to all military operations,'' said a statement issued by Cabinet spokesman Ghazi Hamad in Haniyeh's name.

Hamas also urged Israel to open negotiations over the fate of Shalit, 19.

However, Hamas often sends out conflicting signals, partly because of divisions between a more militant leadership in Syria and more pragmatic politicians in Gaza. Israel has largely held the Hamas political chief, Syrian-based Khaled Mashaal, responsible for the soldier's kidnapping.

Israel has said it would not engage in direct negotiations with the Islamic militant group, but Israeli officials said they were open to an Egyptian compromise proposal that would free Shalit without conditions and have Israel free some Palestinian prisoners later as a goodwill gesture.

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said Hamas must release the soldier and halt rocket attacks on Israel as a first step.

''Anyone who ignores these two fundamental issues cannot hope to solve this crisis,'' he said.

Cabinet minister Ofir Pines-Paz said Israel hopes to go beyond those two immediate objectives and eventually negotiate a comprehensive truce.

''We have a great interest in changing the rules of the game,'' Pines-Paz, a member of the moderate Labor Party and of Israel's Security Cabinet, told Israel Radio.

''If we reach a situation in which there are no kidnappings, no rockets, no tunnels, no raids into our territory, certainly Israel will have to reciprocate.''

The latest round of fighting, which claimed the lives of 35 Palestinians and an Israeli soldier over the past three days, began two weeks ago with a cross-border raid in which Hamas-allied militants seized the Israeli soldier and killed two of his comrades after sneaking through a tunnel.

Troops initially entered southern Gaza where Shalit is being held. Hamas said Friday he is being treated well, and a senior Israeli defense official, Amos Gilad, said Saturday that Israel also believes the soldier is alive.

On Saturday morning, dozens of tanks drove toward Gaza City, taking up positions about 500 yards from the outlying neighborhoods of Shajaiyeh and Zeitun. The army said forces were sent to the area to search for tunnels being dug by militants for possible attacks on soldiers.

The air force fired missiles at militants gathered at the outskirts of Shajaiyeh. Two Hamas gunmen were killed in the area, hospital officials said. Also, a Palestinian died of wounds sustained in earlier fighting.

The majority of the Palestinians killed since Thursday were gunmen, but one of the civilians killed was an 11-year-old boy.

Also, 65 U.S. citizens, many of Palestinian origin, left Gaza in a convoy escorted by U.S. consular officials. The visitors had asked to leave Gaza because of the fighting.

In northern Gaza, troops pulled back from Beit Lahiya on Saturday. Tanks driving through narrow streets had shorn off outer walls of buildings, torn down electricity polls, carved up asphalt. Facades of buildings were marked by bullet holes.

Bulldozers had torn up fields near homes, knocking down trees and greenhouses. As Palestinians picked through the wreckage Saturday, removing a dead goat from one heavily damaged dwelling, a U.N. truck arrived with drinking water.

Palestinian farmer Aref Sultan, 45, used the brief lull to move his wife and seven children, ages 2-16, to a relative's home further away from the fighting. Sultan said he and his family had been pinned down in their Beit Lahiya home during the past day.

''We went through 24 hours of terror,'' he said as the family loaded food and clothing into a pickup truck. ''Shots were coming from all directions ... and the tanks were approaching our house. The children, and especially my 2-year-old son Samir, were screaming all the time.''

Israeli military commentators have said it would be difficult for Israel to extract the soldier in a military operation. However, Israel also does not want to be seen as cutting a deal with Hamas.

 Hamas calls for cease-fire; Olmert rejects offer until soldier freed (http://www.newspress.com/Top/Article/article.jsp?Section=WORLD&ID=564766574532494496)

Biblical names of modern countries.

Many people place little value in the old Biblical names, but they are still in effect today. You can't find most modern country names in the Bible like Brazil, Mexico, United States, Canada or Britain. Many countries have no Biblical name but their outcome goes back to the founding nation. This makes it difficult to see the outcome in some cases. When Israel became a nation it should have called itself by its proper name, Judah. This would have made it easier to follow events in the Bible.

So to help y’all out, I have compiled a list of these countries.…

Russia (Gog, Meshech, Rosh and Tubal)

Iran/Afghanistan/Iraq (parts of Iraq) (Elam)

Ethiopia (Cush) but also may refer to the black nations in that area including southern Sudan, Ethiopia, and Somalia.

Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Croatia, and Ukraine are all a possibility, as are Bulgaria, Romania, and Serbia (Gomer)

Georgia and Armenia (Beth-togarmah) The many peoples from the north in Ezekiel 38:6 are, I believe, the Muslim nations of the former Soviet Union like Kazakhstan, Tadjikistan, Chechnya, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, & Kirgizistan

Libya (Cub)

Egypt is called the king of the South in Daniel 11:40-43

Jordan is the modern nation which encompasses the ancient people of (Edom, Moab, and Ammon)

Syria (Assyria)

Jordan  (Edom)

Lebanon (Sidonians)

northern Africa (Lud)

Hamas Rejects ‘Prisoner Offer’

Hisham Abu Taha, Arab News

GAZA CITY, 8 July 2006 — Israeli troops killed seven Palestinians in the Gaza Strip yesterday, a day after killing 24 over a soldier’s capture. But in a possible attempt to find a way out of the crisis, an Israeli Cabinet minister suggested that Palestinian prisoners might be released as a “goodwill gesture” if the captured soldier, Gilad Shalit, is freed and rocket attacks on Israel are halted.

Previously, Israeli officials had flatly rejected Palestinian demands for a prisoner swap, insisting on unconditional freedom for Cpl. Shalit, who was seized nearly two weeks ago in a cross-border raid led by Hamas gunmen. But Israel has negotiated the release of captured Israelis in the past — usually in deals that free far more Palestinians than Israelis — and privately, Israeli officials have said they did not rule out talks in Shalit’s case either.

Avi Dichter, Israel’s minister of public security, alluded to that history when he said that once Shalit is freed and Palestinians stop rocket attacks from Gaza, Israel could release Palestinian prisoners as a goodwill gesture.

“The release of the soldier, Gilad Shalit, is a must,” Dichter said in a speech to Israeli business people.

If the Palestinians halt attacks, “Israel will need to, after some time, release prisoners as a reciprocal gesture,” Dichter said. “Israel knows how to do this. Israel has done this more than once in the past.”

Dichter also said Shalit is alive.

Hamas rejected the apparent overture, warning that Israel’s offensive had hurt efforts to free Shalit and said the Jewish state would “pay the price for every drop of blood.” “Our people have no faith in goodwill gestures,” Hamas lawmaker Mushir Al-Masri said. “There is no talk at the moment about the missing soldier. We are talking about 30 Palestinian martyrs and 100 wounded in an Israeli military aggression against our people.”

Earlier, the group said in a statement: “The issue of the captured soldier has become more complicated than before. The government of the occupation is wrong to think the Zionist massacres it is committing against our people will serve its goals of applying pressure to regain the captured soldier.”

Yesterday, Israeli aircraft struck Palestinian fighters in northern Gaza while ground troops backed by tanks pursued them in crowded towns. Six people were killed in the air assaults and heavy artillery barrages.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert ordered tanks into Gaza after Hamas activists fired rockets into a major Israeli city for the first time. The offensive began last week with the main goal of freeing Shalit, captured in a raid on June 25. “The terrorists have paid a heavy price so far,” Israeli military chief Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz said.

Hamas accuses Israel of using Shalit’s abduction as a pretext to topple its elected administration. Israel has detained more than a third of the Cabinet and hinted it could assassinate Hamas leaders if Shalit is killed.

Despite Israel’s push into Gaza, Palestinians fired at least five homemade rockets into the Israeli border town of Sderot yesterday, with one strike wounding three people, medics said.

The casualties came when one of the makeshift rockets hit a potato processing plant in the town. Another rocket hit a school without causing any damage or injury.

The European Union accused Israel of disproportionate use of force. “The EU condemns the loss of lives caused by disproportionate use of force,” a statement by the Finnish EU presidency said. The fighting has compounded the misery of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. International sanctions imposed to pressure Hamas to recognize Israel have resulted in nonpayment of government salaries. But yesterday, Palestinian officials said about one-fifth of the 165,000 civil servants would receive a small down payment.

The source of the money was in dispute. The Hamas government said it used internal revenues and brought funds through the land border to make the payments. Other officials said President Mahmoud Abbas drew on the first foreign aid transfer the Palestinians have received in months.

Hamas Rejects ‘Prisoner Offer’ (http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4&section=0&article=85011&d=8&m=7&y=2006)
=============================================================

Yet Hamas, calls for a cease-fire, go figure.................. ::)

Pray or Die, Somali Sheikh Tells Muslims
Guled Mohamed & Mohamed Ali Bile, Reuters
 

MOGADISHU, 8 July 2006 — A leading Mogadishu sheikh said yesterday Muslims who do not pray five times a day should be put to death — the latest sign of a fast-emerging hard-line face to Somalia’s newly-powerful Islamists.

The sheikh’s statement — which he confirmed after it was broadcast on local media — caused consternation among residents and will fuel foreign fears the Islamists are planning a hard-line Taleban-style rule.

“He who does not perform prayer will be considered as infidel and our Shariah law orders that person to be killed,” said Sheikh Abdalla Ali, who runs a Shariah court in the Somali capital which the Islamists took last month.

After kicking out the US-backed warlords from Mogadishu on June 5, the Islamists took a large swathe of southern Somalia from the coastal capital to near the border with Ethiopia.

The Islamists initially sought to project a moderate face.

But in recent weeks, a hard-line cleric on international terrorism lists has risen to their most senior position, strict Shariah law such as whipping has been increasingly applied to criminals, and zealous militia have broken up World Cup viewing.

An elder in the Gubta area of Mogadishu, which is the base of the sheikh who pronounced on the prayers, said he did not approve of the strict Shariah punishments, “We are very sorry at these kinds of activities,” said Aw Ahmed Jilacow.

The Islamists’ hard-line leader, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, said a video purportedly showing foreigners fighting alongside local militants was fabricated to discredit his movement, published reports yesterday said.

The potentially explosive tape circulating in Mogadishu this week appears to show foreign radicals alongside local Islamist militiamen during the recent battles against warlords.

If true, that would puncture the Islamists’ claim to be an entirely home-grown movement, and fuel fears in Washington and elsewhere that their rise could make the Horn of Africa nation a magnet for Muslim extremists.

“This tape is fabricated and fraudulent and aims to harm the reputation of the Islamic Courts,” Aweys, who is on a UN and US terrorism list, told London-based Asharq al-Awsat daily.

Separately, Islamist militiamen faced off with a group vowing to fight Mogadishu’s new rulers on Friday as residents feared another flare-up after a month of relative peace.

Manning checkpoints and driving pick-ups mounted with heavy guns, rival militias stood just 150 meters (yards) apart in the Kilometer Four area of Mogadishu.

Seeking to cling to an enclave in Kilometer Four, the warlord-linked Sa’ad sub-clan has boosted its defenses and refused to hand over weapons, as well as briefly seizing a vehicle from the pro-Islamist Ayr sub-clan.

“There are fears of fighting in Kilometer Four between Islamic Courts Union and the Sa’ad resident Abdikarim Ahmed said. “The Sa’ad took over a vehicle owned by the Ayr and held it for several hours. They took several guns from the vehicle and later released it.”

Warlord fighters linked to the Sa’ad last month vowed to regain territory they lost to the Isain the fight for Mogadishu, which killed 350 people in close range artillery duels.

Pray or Die, Somali Sheikh Tells Muslims (http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4&section=0&article=85002&d=8&m=7&y=2006&pix=world.jpg&category=World)

Islam a Religion of Peace: Rajapakse
Mohammed Rasooldeen, Arab News
 

COLOMBO, 8 July 2006 — Islam has taught peace, justice and peaceful coexistence with members of the other faiths, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse told local and foreign delegates while inaugurating the international symposium on “Justice, World Peace and Peaceful Coexistence in a Pluralistic Society “ yesterday at the Colombo Hilton Hotel here.

Due to security concerns, the president was addressing a fully packed audience of local and international delegates through a satellite screen.

The three-day meeting is sponsored by Makkah-based Muslim World League (MWL) in cooperation with the Islamic Center here. The Leader of the House and Minister of Health Care, Nutrition and Uva Wellassa Development Nimal Siripala De Silva, was the chief guest, while several present and former ministers and religious dignitaries were present at the inauguration. Clergymen from Buddhist, Hindu and Christian communities were also present at the meeting.

“Islam is a religion that taught human values to the people,” President Rajapakse said, adding that Muslims had come to Sri Lanka as traders and not invaders during the early centuries.

“Muslims in the island form a compromising community which likes a peaceful lifestyle respecting their religion as well as the others. History had shown that Muslim leaders have contributed a great deal to the nation’s development in several important areas such as the island’s economy, education, development of infrastructure and trade.”

“Saudi Arabia is concerned about the unity of the world Muslim community and its peaceful coexistence with other world communities,” MWL Secretary-General Abdullah Al-Turki said.

“This symposium will also highlight the problems of Muslims in non-Muslim countries and it will discuss peaceful solutions,” he added. Turki said Islam is a beautiful religion and a panacea for all human ills.

He pointed out that the Kingdom, under the able leadership of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, will endeavor to help world Muslim community when its services are needed.

Mohamed Haniffa Mohamed, president of the Islamic Center and former speaker of Sri Lanka’s Parliament who was chairing the inaugural session, said: “The seminar is being held at a time when everything Islamic is viewed with suspicion. It is important to remind the world of the true nature of Islam which is meant for peace, justice and peaceful coexistence.”

He stressed that there is a strong need for these universal values to be highlighted in the current context. “In Sri Lanka, we have lost the character of coexistence. This has resulted in mistrust and misunderstanding which have led to a breakdown of justice and peace. Even the peace process has come to a standstill due to this lapse,” he added.

In his speech, Siripala De Silva described Muslims as members of a tolerant society. Speaking about peace in Sri Lanka, he said it is an expensive commodity which cannot be achieved easily in the island.

He commended the MWL for the initiative which propagates peace not only in Sri Lanka but in all the countries that are represented at the conference.

De Silva, who leads the peace talks with the Tamil rebels, pointed out that the Sri Lankan Muslim community should be an integral part of the peace talks.

“Muslim have always got their rightful place because they are a peace-loving community in the island,” he said.

While congratulating Saudi Arabia’s endeavors to promote peace throughout the world, the minister pledged his government’s support in its efforts.

Islam a Religion of Peace: Rajapakse (http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4&section=0&article=85004&d=8&m=7&y=2006&pix=world.jpg&category=World)
===================================================

Right, I guess these islamic idoits don't read the newspaper.  Or they don't see the trouble that their brothers, (I use that term loosely) cause.

The blind leading the blind right over the edge of the precipice.

This events concerns me.

When Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait and Egypt, publicly join hands, it's time to look out.

Those countries would be, Elam, Assyria, Cilicia, Edom, Moab, and Ammon

Of course they already are working closely together in terrorism already...but the public show signals a united front to the world. It may mean they are ready to physically join forces against Israel.

I was going to post this under politics because it deals with Sharia Law, religion and freedoms (or rather lack of it) but I thought it a nice post to amplify the one above, "Islam a Religion of Peace: Rajapakse", to show just how peaceful and tolerant that islam really is.

______________________


Somali Islamist militiamen
raid wedding, beat woman
20 gunmen enforcing Sharia law confiscate
instruments from band playing 'satanic' music
Posted: July 8, 2006
6:50 p.m. Eastern


© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com

Days after a leading Somali cleric declared the death penalty for Muslims who failed to pray five times a day, militiamen loyal to the Islamic court cracked down on band music by raiding a wedding party in Mogadishu, confiscating instruments and beating a woman.

Twenty heavily armed men fired shots in the air and took musical instruments from the band performing in a home in Somalia's capital city yesterday. According to the Brisbane Courier-Mail, the band entertaining guests at the wedding party was told by the gunmen it was performing "satanic" music contrary to the Quran.

Mogadishu was taken over in June by militia – now called the Conservative Council of Islamic Courts – that routed a U.S.-backed alliance of warlords after four months of fighting. The U.S. wanted to stem what officials call "creeping Talibanization" of Somalia by the courts and harboring of terrorists, including al-Qaida members.

"We were ordered to stop the music and empty the house which we all complied with immediately," said Hayir Ali Roble, one of the musicians performing at the party. "We followed their orders and kept our musical instruments in a room but they forcefully entered the house and took the instruments, and in the process broke some of them."

Roble said he did not know why the militiamen struck one of the women at the party with sticks.

The Islamic court denied that a woman was beaten.

Khadijo Weheliye, who organized the wedding party for her son, said she had sought and received permission from the Islamic court to have music at the celebration.

"We didn't know what their aim was because we had asked the Islamic court for permission to hold the party," she said. "They gave us a permission letter this morning, but attacked our home in the afternoon."

The raid was confirmed by the Islamic courts.

"We have told them to stop evil acts that derail the practice of Sharia law and it is our duty to enforce the ban on band music," said Ali Salad, the head of Ridwan Islamic courts in Weheliye's neighborhood. "We confiscated musical instruments that are satanic simply because we have previously told party organizers not to bring bands with music at the party."

On Tuesday, militiamen fired on a crowd protesting a ban on watching television, killing two who were viewing the World Cup at a local movie theater.

Earlier this week, WorldNetDaily reported that Muslims who fail to pray five times daily will be sentenced to death under the rule of Islamic clerics who have taken over the Somali capital Mogadishu.

"He who does not perform prayers will be considered as infidel, and Sharia law orders that that person be killed," said Sheikh Abdalla Ali, a founder and high-ranking official in the Supreme Islamic Council of Somalia.

Today, 11 teens were publicly given 40 lashes each after confessing to "un-Islamic behavior," including smoking marijuana, pretending to be Islamic militia in order to extort the public, violence and looting.

"This is the start of a new era and we will continue to carry out the Sharia ... . We do not have any reverse gear," said Sheikh Mohamoud Jiliale, an official serving on the tribunal. "It is our responsibility to make sure Sharia laws are respected."

 Iran, Turkey stress boosting of mutual cooperation
Ankara, July 8, IRNA

Iran-Turkey-Transportation
Iranian Minister of Road and Transportation Mohammad Rahmati met with Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan late on Friday when he stressed the need for strengthening of bilateral ties.

Rahmati said that the foreign policy of President Mahmoud hmadinejad is to consolidate ties with neighboring countries particularly Turkey.

Turning to transportation ties between the two countries, Rahmati expressed Iran's readiness to cooperate with Turkey in finalizing the construction of a railway over Van Lake.

Erdogan for his part hailed President Ahmadinejad, saying that Ankara is interested in developing ties with Tehran in all sectors while bilateral transportation cooperation can play an important role in enhancing ties.

He added cooperation should continue in rail transportation sector, underlining the role of the private sector in facilitating bilateral ties.

In another development, Rahmati signed a protocol on
transportation cooperation with Turkey's Minister of Transportation Binali Yildirim late on Friday.

Yildirim said bilateral talks between the two countries have been "positive and constructive".

"I hope the fifth session of Iran-Turkey joint commission on transportation cooperation will pave the way for improvement of commercial relations between the two states," he said.

He added rail transportation is a major part of mutual transportation relations.

Referring to air and marine transportation, he said the two sides stressed expansion of cooperation in this regard.

Rahmati, for his part, said transportation cooperation is necessary for boosting of bilateral ties in the economic sector.

Citing the assertion of the Turkish prime minister about the importance of foreign trade between the two countries, he said given the potentials of the two sides, the 4.5-billion-dollar foreign trade seemed meager.

Iran, Turkey stress boosting of mutual cooperation (http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-234/0607081905190551.htm)

 Enemies of Islam oppose expansion of ties between Iran, Syria, Iraq: President
Tehran, July 9, IRNA

Iran-Syria-President
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the enemies of Islam do not want to witness the expansion of brotherly relations between Iran, Syria and Iraq.

According to the report of Presidential Office Media Department, President Ahmadinejad on the sidelines of the 9th meeting of foreign ministers of Iraqi neighboring states here on Saturday received Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem.

In the meeting, Ahmadinejad by referring to deep and sustainable relations between Iran and Syria emphasized the necessity of both countries' support of Iraqi popular government to create security, stability and prosperity for Iraqi nation.

Expressing pleasure with expanding ties between the two countries, President Ahmadinejad said, "We will always stay with Syria and defend its independence, progress and authority."
Referring to the recent crimes of the Zionist regime, Ahmadinejad said the nature and essence of this fake regime is upon invasion, threat and conspiracy adding, "Fortunately by awakening of Muslims all around the world this regime will be weaker day by day and those who created it in the region as a constant threat against the Muslim countries must remove this threat from the region."
Syrian foreign minister, for his part, expressed his appreciation for 'courageous speech' of Iranian president in inauguration ceremony and added the address will strengthen the Muslims' morale.

Criticizing international organizations and countries which claim support for human rights, Walid Muallem said all these countries have kept silent before the Zionist crimes in occupied territory and are imposing pressure against popular government of Hamas there.

The Syrian foreign minister also expressed his country's readiness for security cooperation with Iraqi government to provide security and stability for Iraqi nation.

The Syrian official is here to attend the 9th meeting of foreign ministers of Iraqi neighboring states plus Egypt and Bahrain.

Enemies of Islam oppose expansion of ties between Iran, Syria, Iraq: President (http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-234/0607092765010932.htm)

Georgian, Moldovan Breakaway Provinces Pledge Cooperation

Created: 15.06.2006 09:04 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 09:04 MSK

MosNews

The separatist leaders of Georgia’s breakaway republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia andMoldova’s Transdniester vowed to support each other’s independence aspirations.

In a joint declaration at the end of a two-day meeting in the Abkhaz capital of Sukhum (Sukhumi), Abkhazia’s Sergei Bagapsh, South Ossetia’s Eduard Kokoity, and Transdniester’s Igor Smirnov said peoples’ right to self-determination is universal and should not be upheld selectively, RFE/RL reported.

In an apparent reference to last month’s referendum in which Montenegro voted to break away from a union with Serbia, Bagapsh told RFE/RL on June 13 that the international community should not apply double standards when it comes to self-determination.

“I think that in an international legal sense, Abkhazia and all the republics that are represented here have a much stronger case for international recognition,” he said. “There’s just one thing I don’t understand — the double standard, when somebody is allowed [to choose independence] and somebody is not. Take a look at our history and it will be clear that [independence] is a completely feasible thing.”

They also called for the continued deployment of Russian troops on their territory. They said stability in the regions depends on the presence of Russian-led peacekeepers.

The three internationally unrecognized regions broke away from Georgia and Moldova in civil wars after the 1991 Soviet collapse. All three maintain close ties with Russia.

Georgian, Moldovan Breakaway Provinces Pledge Cooperation (http://www.mosnews.com/news/2006/06/15/separatistdeclaration.shtml)

Arab Maghreb Union condemns Israeli military operations in GAZA

The consultative committee of the Arab Maghreb Union (UMA) issued a statement on Saturday condemning Israel's incursions into Palestinian territory and its "inhumane actions" against Palestinians.

The deteriorating situation is a result of Israel's flagrant violation of the fundamental norms of international law and relevant agreements with the Palestinian side, the statement said.

Israel's military operations in the Gaza Strip are a dangerous escalation of the country's state terrorism, the statement said.

It urged the international community to act promptly to stop the Israeli operations and provide security guarantees to the Palestinians within the framework of relevant UN resolutions, so as to realize lasting peace and justice in the region.

Israeli forces launched a massive ground offensive in the Gaza Strip on June 28 in a bid to rescue an Israeli soldier kidnapped by Palestinian militants.

UMA was founded in 1989 by Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia.

Arab Maghreb Union condemns Israeli military operations in GAZA (http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200607/09/eng20060709_281380.html)
==================================================

Well there are some more countries, out of the Bible.

Terrorists Attempted to Fire Rocket into Israel from Samaria
22:48 Jul 09, '06 / 13 Tammuz 5766

(IsraelNN.com) Sources in the Palestinian Authority say that terrorists belonging to Al Mag’ad Brigades have attempted to fire a rocket over the security barrier into Israel’s pre-1967 borders from Samaria.

According to PA sources, the terrorists attempted to fire the missile near Tulkarem, a city governed by the PA located on the outskirts of Samaria along Israel’s densely populated coastal plain. The rocket blew up as it was being fired.

Terrorists Attempted to Fire Rocket into Israel from Samaria  (http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=106910)

General Board for Palestinian Refugees in Syria Demands Annan to Stop Zionist Terrorism
Sunday, July 09, 2006 - 10:00 PM
Syrian Arab News Agency

DAMASCUS, (SANA)- The General Board for Palestinian Refugees in Syria demanded Sunday UNRWA General Commissioner Karen Abuzayed to immediately ask the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and the international organizations to take all required procedures to stop the Israeli terrorist barbaric aggression against the Palestinian people in the occupied Palestinian territories.

            In a letter sent to Mrs. Abuzayed, the Board noted that Israeli occupation authorities have been targeting students in schools, parents and the Palestinian infrastructures, underlining the necessity of making a quick intervention to stop the Israeli series of murders, destructions and terrorism.

            The letter called upon the UN Secretary General and all international bodies  to exert more efforts to force Israel to implement the international legitimacy resolutions which call for full Israeli withdrawal from the occupied Arab territories of Palestine and the Syrian Golan to the June 4th 1967 line and all other occupied Lebanese lands.

            The Board also demanded the establishment of a Palestinian sovereign state with Jerusalem as capital and guarantee the Palestinian people's right of return.

General Board for Palestinian Refugees in Syria Demands Annan to Stop Zionist Terrorism (http://www.sana.org/eng/21/2006/07/09/46027.htm)

Israel to pay for rejecting ceasefire

Organization's military wing threatens casualties among settlers following Israel's rejection of Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh's ceasefire proposal, promises more attacks on soldiers
Ali Waked

Hamas' military wing on Sunday evening threatened to hit Israel hard in response to its rejection of Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh's ceasefire proposal.

"We promise the Israeli army and the settlers that we will strike them defeats and losses which they never even imagined," the group said in a statement, threatening to carry out further kidnapping operations, like the one in which Corporal Gilad Shalit was kidnapped.

The Hamas statement added: "We promise to continue to humiliate the Israeli forces on the Gaza land. The enemy's decision is like a declaration of war which will burn the Zionists themselves. The confused enemy's leaders must wait in tension for other attacks like the 'disappearing illusion' operation (the name of the Kerem Shalom attack, in which IDF soldier Gilad Shalit was kidnapped.)"

Hamas' military wing threatened: "In the face of the Israeli army's great terrorist operation in the Strip and in the face of the firmness of the gang of Zionist ministers to shed Palestinian blood, we commit in front of Allah and in front of our people and craft to humiliate the enemy's army."

"We promise the Palestinian people that Israel's decisions are decisions of a defeated side that are made by leaders who failed in achieving even one small accomplishment of weakening the Palestinian resistance. They are trying, in a move of desperation, to present themselves to their army as those who are operating to restore the Israelis' security," the statement said.

Hamas: For how long will Nazism continue?

The statement added that "the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades are aware of the fact that the enemy's options are minimal and it has utilized all the tools in its disposal and has nothing left but to fail once again.

"A senior member of the brigades expressed his amazement over the silence in the world in light of Israel's operation and was wondering about the importance of what is defined as human rights in the UN charter: 'For how long will this aggressive policy continue to be above any law? For how long will Nazism continue to hit humanity without any consideration?'"

Meanwhile, in Israel, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert rejected calls by ministers who demanded an escalation of the military operation.

Speaking during the cabinet meeting , Olmert said: "We can carry out an operation like in James Bond movies and lose the international community's support. In order to maintain this support we have to act with patience and self-control."

According to Olmert, "the easiest thing is to come here and hit the table and demand an operation, but there is an international community. The dosage must be right and measured."

The remarks were made in response to ministers' claims and questions regarding the military operation aimed at freeing the kidnapped soldier and halting the Qassam fire in the Gaza Strip.

But in spite of the moderate declarations, the Israel Defense Forces' operation in Gaza continued Sunday. Sources in the Strip reported that a passerby was killed and several Palestinians were injured in an Israel Air Force strike in Rafah. A missile was fired at a car carrying members of Hamas' military wing, who apparently managed to escape, while a civilian was killed.

The IDF Spokesperson's Office said that "in a joint operation of the Southern Command and the Air Force, the IDF launched an air strike on a car carrying a group of terrorists."

Israel to pay for rejecting ceasefire (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3273113,00.html)

Rejecting criticism, Israel vows to press forward with Gaza offensive

By Josef Federman
ASSOCIATED PRESS

9:35 a.m. July 9, 2006

JERUSALEM – Israel will push forward with its offensive in the Gaza Strip until Palestinian militants release a captured Israeli soldier and halt rocket attacks, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Sunday.

Speaking at a Cabinet meeting, he dismissed international criticism that the army has used excessive force during a nearly two-week operation in the coastal area.

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The meeting came a day after Olmert rejected a call by the Palestinian prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh, for a cease-fire. The Israeli offensive, launched in response to the soldier's capture, has caused widespread destruction in Gaza and left 51 Palestinians dead.

“We're talking about a war that will continue for a long time and it is complicated,” Olmert was quoted as saying by meeting participants. “This is a war for which we cannot set down a timetable and we can't say how long it will continue.”

The ministers expressed unanimous support for Olmert's refusal to negotiate with the militants, his rejection of the truce offer and his decision to continue the Gaza offensive, the participants said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the meeting was closed.

Israeli ground troops entered Gaza on June 28, three days after Palestinian militants crossed into southern Israel and captured Cpl. Gilad Shalit, 19. While the army's initial aim was to free the soldier, the mission was expanded to halt continuing rocket attacks from northern Gaza.

Israeli forces have battered the coastal strip with heavy artillery barrages and airstrikes in the army's largest operation in Gaza since withdrawing all troops and settlers from the area last year.

Yet Shalit has not been freed, and the rocket fire has continued. Early Sunday, two rockets landed in the southern Israeli town of Sderot, wounding one person and damaging a house, the army said.

Later Sunday an Israeli airstrike missed a car carrying members of a Hamas rocket squad and killed a bystander instead, Palestinian health officials said. The army confirmed an airstrike.

The Hamas-linked militants holding Shalit have demanded a large-scale prisoner release, a condition Olmert rejects.

Olmert told his ministers Sunday he had been planning a prisoner release as a goodwill gesture to the moderate Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, before Shalit was captured. But now, he said, a release appears out of the question.

“It's not a secret before the kidnapping that we would free prisoners. But we intended to release them to moderate elements and not to terrorist elements,” Olmert said. “The release of prisoners means destroying the moderates in the Palestinian Authority, and would signal to the world that Israel can only talk to extremists.”

Palestinian hospital officials say the offensive has killed 51 Palestinians and wounded more than 180. One Israeli soldier was killed last week. Military officials said Sunday he most likely was shot accidentally by Israeli forces.

Most of Palestinians casualties have been gunmen, but civilians have also been killed, including a mother and two children in a blast that hit their home Saturday. Four other family members were wounded.

Palestinians blamed Israel, but Israeli military officials said they weren't responsible. They said the only military activity in the area was a successful airstrike on a cell firing anti-tank missiles.

“There was no tank or artillery fire in the area at the time,” said Capt. Jacob Dallal, an army spokesman. “Based on the initial investigation, we have eliminated our involvement.”

In Gaza City, hundreds of people joined a funeral procession for the family. The body of 6-year-old Rawan Hajaj was carried on a bloodstained stretcher, her face exposed and body covered with a flag of the Islamic Jihad militant group. In a show of unity, gunmen from rival Palestinian factions fired into the air.

Late Saturday, the United Nations blamed Israel for widespread human rights violations and hardship to civilians. It said the operations “have seen innocent civilians, including children, killed, brought increased misery to hundreds of thousands of people and ... will wreak far-reaching harm on Palestinian society.”

Olmert said Sunday he is not overly concerned about the international reaction; other ministers also rejected the criticism.

“Anybody who calls this operation disproportionate has no clue about the facts on the ground. We have been attacked and bombarded for months and weeks,” Cabinet minister Yitzhak Herzog said Sunday. “With all due respect to all those who criticize us, if anything of this nature would have happened in their homeland, they would have acted much worse.”

Maj. Gen. Yoav Galant, commander of Israel's southern region, said Israel would not let up, though it planned to shift the focus of operations from place to place.

“We are prepared to continue the operation a month, two months and, if need be, even more,” he told Channel 2 TV late Saturday. “The Palestinians will do their reckoning. They will count hundreds of dead terrorists, they will count the damaged infrastructure, the destroyed offices, the damaged factories.”

Rejecting criticism, Israel vows to press forward with Gaza offensive (http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/20060709-0935-israel-palestinians.html)

Yeah right .....  Israel is supposed to cease fire while their opponents keep on firing.

Gaza Offensive Is Open-Ended, Olmert Says
Hisham Abu Taha, Arab News
 

GAZA CITY, 10 July 2006 — Israel said yesterday that its Gaza offensive to free a captured soldier is open-ended as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas sent emissaries to Damascus to discuss the soldier’s fate with exiled leaders of Hamas.

“This is a war that cannot be on a timetable,” a senior government official quoted Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as telling his Cabinet, a day after Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas raised the prospect of a cease-fire.

“There is no intention to reoccupy Gaza in order to stay there, but if certain operations are needed they will be carried out. We will operate, enter and pull out as needed,” the official quoted Olmert as saying.

Israeli forces launched their offensive, the first such push into Gaza since troops and settlers withdrew from the territory last year, after Palestinians abducted Cpl. Gilad Shalit in a raid into Israel on June 25.

Olmert, the official said, also rejected calls by the three factions that seized the tank gunner, including the governing Hamas group’s armed wing, to release Palestinian prisoners in exchange for information about him.

Such a move, Olmert was quoted as saying, would only strengthen Hamas at the expense of “moderate elements” in the Palestinian Authority.

Israel also threatened to expand its military operations unless the Palestinian groups freed the soldier and halted rocket attacks on Israeli towns. “The operation will go on until someone on the other side sobers up,” Israeli Justice Minister Haim Ramon told Israel Radio.

Abbas yesterday sent two envoys to Hamas’ exiled political leader and Syrian authorities to discuss the fate of Shalit and the crisis in the Gaza Strip. The president instructed members of the Palestine Liberation Organization executive committee, Taysir Khalid and Abdullah Horani, to meet Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal, the Syrian leadership and Palestinian factions in Damascus, Palestinian source said.

Israel has repeatedly accused archfoe Damascus of supporting Palestinian fighters and threatened to kill Hamas leaders based in Damascus. Israeli news reports have suggested that Meshaal has blocked mediation efforts to secure the soldier’s release.

Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat urged international aid organizations to help avert a “human catastrophe” in Gaza. Israeli forces have destroyed a main power station there and killed at least 50 people, residents said. The offensive has been criticized by the European Union and United Nations, but those organizations wield far less influence on Israel than its main ally, the United States, which has led an international aid boycott of the Hamas-led government.

“Let’s remember who started this,” US Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns told CNN. “It was the outrageous actions of Hamas in violating Israel’s sovereignty, in taking the soldier hostage.”

In the latest violence, an Israeli aircraft fired missiles at a car carrying two fighters near the southern Gaza town of Rafah, killing a bystander and wounding one of the gunmen as well as four civilians, Palestinian security officials said.

At least three fighters were wounded in an early morning Israeli airstrike near the Karni commercial crossing between Gaza and Israel, Palestinian medics and police said.

Gaza Offensive Is Open-Ended, Olmert Says (http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4&section=0&article=85100&d=10&m=7&y=2006)

Speaking of which........................................

Palestinian rockets attack 25 miles from Tel Aviv
Israel reluctant to release information highlighting northern Samaria missile threat

By Aaron Klein
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com


Aaron Klein

TEL AVIV – With Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert last week reluctantly sending large ground troop forces into the northern Gaza Strip to counter Palestinian missile fire from the territory, three rockets yesterday were launched by Palestinian terrorists on the other side of the country aimed at Jewish communities about 25 miles from Tel Aviv, the Galil Report has learned.

Israeli news agencies have not yet published a story on the rocket attack, which took place in northern Samaria and opens a whole new front of missile targets in Judea and Samaria, territories Olmert is looking to evacuate in the near future.

Judea and Samaria is also commonly referred to as the West Bank.

Leader of the Al Aqsa Martrys Brigades, an offshoot of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party, contacted the Galil Report to take credit for three Qassam rockets they said they fired yesterday from the north Samaria town of Tulkarem toward Kibbutz Avnei Chesed, a small Jewish community about 6 miles from the coastal city of Netanya.

Netanya is about 19 miles from Tel Aviv.

The terror leaders said the rockets fell short of their intended target, landing in Palestinian territory. But they vowed more rocket fire from the area.

Israeli Defense Forces officials said they were investigating but could not confirm whether the three rockets were fired.

Al Aqsa has previously claimed to WND several Samaria rocket attacks. The IDF has denied for several months rockets were launched from northern Samaria, only to later release selected information stating some rockets had indeed been fired from the area.

Security analysts maintain publicity about terror groups' current missile capabilities in the territories could generate criticism of Olmert's plan to withdraw from most of Judea and Samaria.

But much to the Israeli government's chagrin, Palestinian security forces today passed rocket fragments to the IDF they said were collected from yesterday's north Samaria rocket attack.

Israel fires on weapons depot
From: Agence France-Presse

July 10, 2006
 

AN Israeli helicopter fired a missile at an Islamic Jihad militant group weapons depot in Gaza City today, mostly destroying the site but causing no casualties, the Israeli army and Palestinian witnesses said.
An Israeli military spokeswoman said the aircraft had targeted a weapons production facility in a pre dawn airstrike. Palestinian witnesses said the site was used for storage.

The attack came hours after five Palestinians were wounded in an airstrike yesterday in the same area on a van transporting weapons for Hamas militants.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert vowed yesterday to continue an offensive in Gaza without any time limit. He rejected a bid by the Palestinians' Hamas-led government for a ceasefire, demanding first the release of an Israeli soldier abducted on June 25.

Switzerland is Iran's major partner: Larijani

Monday, July 10, 2006 - ©2005 IranMania.com
 
Archived Picture - Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Larijani said in Bern that Switzerland, as an impartial country, is considered as a major partner for Iran, IRNA reported.

LONDON, July 10 (IranMania) - Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Larijani said in Bern  that Switzerland, as an impartial country, is considered as a major partner for Iran, IRNA reported.

Talking to reporters following his meeting with Swiss Chief Federal Department of Foreign Affairs Micheline Calmy-Rey, he expressed the hope that an appropriate solution would be found for the regional problems.

Switzerland has repeatedly proved that it supports a correct and fair position regarding various regional and international developments, Larijani added.

On Iran's nuclear case, he stressed that he is optimistic about negotiations on Iran's nuclear activities, adding that Tehran is in need of more time to make decision on West's proposals.

"There is no need for being pessimistic," Larijani said when asked whether Iran was optimistic with regard to the new European offer.

Switzerland is Iran's major partner: Larijani (http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=44241&NewsKind=Current%20Affairs)

Iraq neighbours slam 'inhumane' Israeli attacks

Monday, July 10, 2006 - ©2005 IranMania.com
 
Foreign Ministers from Iraq and its neighbours jointly condemned what they said were "inhumane" Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip and called for an immediate end to the violence, AFP reported.
According to an AFP report, opening the conference, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Saturday called on Islamic countries to mobilise against Israel and "remove" the "Zionist regime".

LONDON, July 10 (IranMania) - Foreign Ministers from Iraq and its neighbours jointly condemned what they said were "inhumane" Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip and called for an immediate end to the violence, AFP reported.

Attending a security conference on Iraq in Tehran, the ministers "strongly condemned the recent inhumane Israeli acts, including its extensive military attacks against innocent Palestinian people and their elected government".

"(We) call for an immediate end to such attacks, which openly threaten international peace and security," ministers from Arab nations neighboring Iraq as well as Egypt, Iran and Turkey said in a statement.

Two weeks ago Israel launched a massive incursion into the Gaza Strip after Palestinian militants from three groups, including Hamas's armed wing, captured an Israeli soldier in a deadly raid on a border outpost.

The ministers branded the recent Israeli offensive a "gross violation of human rights and international humanitarian law, the principles and purposes of UN charters".

Opening the conference, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Saturday called on Islamic countries to mobilise against Israel and "remove" the "Zionist regime".

Iraq neighbours slam 'inhumane' Israeli attacks (http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=44246&NewsKind=Current%20Affairs)

Israel vows to press Gaza offensive for a ‘long time’
By Ravi Nessman The Associated Press

JERUSALEM— Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Sunday he would push ahead with the army’s widescale offensive in the Gaza Strip, saying the fight to free an abducted soldier and stop militant rocket fire would last for a "long time."

The 12-day-old operation has caused widespread destruction in Gaza, left 51 Palestinians dead and led to international complaints that Israel was using excessive force.

Despite the offensive, militants launched three rockets into Israel on Sunday, wounding one person in the town of Sderot and damaging a house. Also, militants linked to the Palestinians’ ruling Hamas Party maintained their refusal to free Cpl. Gilad Shalit, who was captured in a June 25 raid, or even reveal his condition.

Speaking to the Israeli Cabinet, Olmert counseled patience.

"We’re talking about a war that will continue for a long time, and it is complicated," Olmert said, according to a participant in the meeting. "This is a war for which we cannot set down a timetable, and we can’t say how long it will continue."

The Cabinet expressed unanimous support for the military action in Gaza and Olmert’s refusal to negotiate with the militants, who demanded the release of 1,500 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for information about Shalit, 19. Israeli security officials told the Cabinet that the offensive, the army’s largest operation in Gaza since Israel withdrew from the territory last summer, was likely to force the militants to scale back their demands, according to the participant in the meeting, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the meeting was closed to the media.

But Palestinians were widely supportive of the militants’ actions. A poll released Sunday showed that 77 percent of those questioned backed Shalit’s kidnapping, and 67 percent said they supported further abductions. Sixty-nine percent said the soldier should be released only in exchange for prisoners. The survey of 1,197 Palestinians by the Jerusalem Media and Communication Center had a margin of error of 3 percentage points.

Olmert told the Cabinet that before Shalit was captured, he had been planning a prisoner release as a goodwill gesture to moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, but now a release appears out of the question.

"It’s not a secret before the kidnapping that we would free prisoners. But we intended to release them to moderate elements and not to terrorist elements," Olmert said.

"The release of prisoners means destroying the moderates in the Palestinian Authority, and would signal to the world that Israel can only talk to extremists," he said.

Since the offensive began June 28, Israeli forces have battered Gaza with artillery barrages and airstrikes. One airstrike Sunday missed a car carrying members of a Hamas rocket squad and killed a bystander instead, Palestinian health officials said. The army confirmed it carried out an airstrike.

Israel vows to press Gaza offensive for a ‘long time’ (http://www.tfponline.com/QuickHeadlines.asp?sec=n&URL=http%3A%2F%2Fepaper%2Ewehco%2Ecom%2FWebChannel%2FShowStory%2Easp%3FPath%3DChatTFPress%2F2006%2F07%2F10%26ID%3DAr00400)

Islamist Turks protest Israel's Gaza offensive

ISTANBUL:  About 20,000 pro-Islamic Turks chanted "Down with Israel" to protest Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip yesterday, a day after the Turkish foreign minister called the offensive in response to the abduction of an Israeli soldier "horrifying."  Israel yesterday said it will continue its offensive in the Gaza Strip until Palestinian militants release the Israeli soldier and halt their rocket attacks, rejecting international criticism that the army has used excessive force during a nearly two-week operation in the coastal area. An estimated 20,000 angry protesters gathered on Istanbul's Caglayan square, where banners read: "Don't remain a spectator to oppression." The demonstrators, including hundreds of people who travelled to Istanbul from other cities, shouted anti-Israeli slogans.  Israeli ground troops entered Gaza on June 28, three days after Palestinian militants crossed into southern Israel and captured an Israeli soldier. Israeli forces have battered the coastal strip with heavy artillery barrages and air strikes in the army's largest operation in Gaza since withdrawing all troops and settlers from the area last year.

Palestinian hospital officials say 44 Palestinians have been killed in the offensive and more than 160 wounded. One Israeli soldier was killed last week. Military officials said yesterday he most likely was shot accidentally by Israeli forces. Turkey's Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul strongly criticised Israel Saturday before leaving for Iran, where he attended a meeting of countries that neighbour Iraq.  "The killing of this many Palestinians before the world's eyes is really horrifying," Gul said.  Turkey, a predominantly Muslim country usually torn between its historically close ties with Israel and its cultural and religious affinities with the Palestinians, has planted itself firmly in the Palestinian corner over the ongoing conflict in Gaza. Turkey repeatedly has called on Israel to stop its offensive in Gaza, and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has spoken by telephone with US President George W Bush and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to try and elicit their support to that end.

Islamist Turks protest Israel's Gaza offensive (http://www.kuwaittimes.net/regional.asp?dismode=article&artid=164780095)

EU mulls redirecting aid amid worsening Gaza plight

Mon Jul 10, 11:30 AM ET

BRUSSELS (AFP) - The European Commission is considering how to redirect EU aid to Palestinians in light of the worsening situation there, a spokeswoman has said, renewing criticism of a massive Israeli offensive.

The Commission, the European Union's executive arm, also reiterated the need for Palestinian militants to free an Israeli soldier whose seizure triggered Israel's massive armed intervention.

"The situation is clearly extremely tense and getting worse," said a spokeswoman for EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner on Monday. "Those who are holding the Israel hostage should release him without delay.

"At the same time we have urged Israel repeatedly to assume its responsiblities to avoid actions that would make the situation worse for the civilian population," said the spokeswoman, Emma Udwin.

At least 44 Palestinians and an Israeli soldier have been killed since Israel poured tanks and troops into the Gaza Strip last week in a bid to stop Palestinian rocket attacks and secure the release of Corporal Gilad Shalit.

Shortly before the offensive the EU, the biggest provider of aid to the Palestinians, had finalized plans for a funding mechanism allowing aid to reach the Palestinian people without going through their Hamas-led government.

"We are trying to see how to help the population," she added. "Our team there ... is looking into how we can redirect our efforts to help in the current situation," said the EU spokeswoman.

She said the most urgent problem was electricity supplies, hit notably by destruction or serious damage sustained by the Gaza Strip's sole power plant by an Israeli attack on June 28.

The EU commission released some 105 million euros for delivery via the mechanism on June 23, but Ferrero-Waldner said last week that recent events had "seriously complicated" efforts to establish the funding arrangements.

EU mulls redirecting aid amid worsening Gaza plight (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060710/wl_mideast_afp/mideasteupalestiniansaid_060710153054)

 Abu Mazen in Jordan to Meet King Abdullah
00:33 Jul 11, '06 / 15 Tammuz 5766

(IsraelNN.com) Palestinian Authority (PA) leader Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) left for Jordan on Monday night to meet with King Abdullah II.

Palestinian Authority (PA) officials reported Abu Mazen discussed the ongoing IDF counter-terror operation in Gaza with the Jordanian leader, adding Abu Mazen was not scheduled to make the trip, which was prompted by a phone conversation with the king. He is expected to return to Ramallah during the night.

 Abu Mazen in Jordan to Meet King Abdullah (http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=106979)

Palestinian Hamas leader insists on prisoner swap, criticizes U.S.
By Donna Abu-Nasr
ASSOCIATED PRESS

6:32 a.m. July 10, 2006

DAMASCUS, Syria – Hamas political leader Khaled Mashaal on Monday insisted that Israel must free Palestinian prisoners to win the release of an Israeli soldier captured by Hamas-linked Palestinian militants.

Mashaal, whom Israel has threatened to kill, spoke in his first public appearance since the crisis erupted following the June 25 capture of Cpl. Gilad Shalit.

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“The Palestinian people are united on insisting the that the (Israeli) prisoner soldier be traded for (Palestinian) prisoners in Israeli jails,” he told a news conference, reiterating what his aides have said since the soldier was taken.

Mashaal blamed Israel for the collapse of Egyptian, Qatari and European mediation efforts to solve the crisis over the captured Israeli soldier.

“These efforts hit snags over Israel's insistence on the release of the Israeli soldier and its refusal to release Palestinian prisoners,” he said.

“This is not a solution ... We don't want escalation. We are for a peaceful, quiet resolution,” he said. “The solution is simple: an exchange. But Israel refuses that.”

The Hamas-linked militants holding the soldier, as well as top Hamas leaders, have called on Israel to release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners to help end the standoff. An estimated 9,000 Palestinians are currently jailed by Israel.

But Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Monday said freeing Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Shalit would be a “major mistake” and said there can be no negotiations with the “bloody organization,” referring to Hamas.

Hours earlier, tens of thousands of demonstrators marched in the Syrian capital in a government-sanctioned protest against Israel's ground offensive in the Gaza Strip. Israeli's nearly two-week-old assault on Gaza has caused widespread destruction, left 54 Palestinians dead and led to international complaints that Israel was using excessive force.

Olmert defended his army's offensive, saying Israel had “no choice” but to launch it in order to win Shalit's freedom and halt a barrage of militant fire into Israel.

Mashaal distanced himself from the negotiations, saying the militants holding the soldier were handling it themselves. Shalit was captured during a cross-border raid by Hamas' military wing and two allied groups, the Popular Resistance Committees and the Army of Islam.

“They know how to deal with this case,” he said, describing them as “more aware and understanding than to be remote-controlled ... They know their duties and assessing the military situation is up to the mujahedeen (holy warriors) on the ground.”

Mashaal blamed Olmert for prolonging the crisis, saying Olmert was bent on destroying the elected Palestinian government, which Hamas leads.

“I do not exaggerate when I say that Olmert and his hostile policies are holding Gilad Shalit. He shoulders the responsibility for what is happening to him.”

Olmert said Monday that Israel is not trying to topple the Palestinian government, although he said Hamas leaders are “directly involved in terror.”

“We have no particular desire to topple the Hamas government as a policy. We have a desire to stop terrorists from inflicting terror on the Israeli people,” he said, declining to give a timetable for the operation.

Mashaal also accused Israel and the United States of providing the “ugliest example of terrorism” in their dealings with the Palestinians, saying that Israel was breaking international law. He criticized the West for keeping silent on the Israeli offensive in Gaza.

“Today, Israel is really terrorizing our people ... Israel and America, which talked too much about this terrorism in past are the worst, severest and ugliest examples of terrorism,” he said.

The militant leader also praised Syria, its president and leadership for “bearing the pressure because it knows it is right.”

“The accusations against Syria are ready ... It is an honor for Syria that it is being accused, because it is standing fast,” Mashaal said.

Syria is a staunch supporter of the Palestinians and is home to the political leadership of Hamas. Israeli warplanes have buzzed the residence of Assad to pressure the Syrian leader to intercede with Hamas to gain the release of the soldier.

Palestinian Hamas leader insists on prisoner swap, criticizes U.S. (http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/20060710-0632-syria-palestinians.html)

Disproportionate force
Jordan Times

Gwynne Dyer

The Europeans have rediscovered their backbones. “The EU condemns the loss of lives caused by disproportionate use of force by the Israeli Defence Forces and the humanitarian crisis it has aggravated,” said Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen, whose country holds the EU’s rotating presidency, on Friday.

The Swiss were even blunter, condemning what Israel is doing in the Gaza Strip as “collective punishment”, which is contrary to the Geneva conventions.

It won’t change anything on the ground, and both the EU and Switzerland can expect the usual torrent of abuse from American sources for daring to criticise Israel. But Israel’s actions in the past two weeks, since an attack on a military outpost left two Israeli soldiers dead and one a prisoner in the hands of Palestinian militants, have clearly “violated the principle of proportionality”, as the Swiss put it. On Thursday, for example, the death toll was one Israeli soldier and 23 Palestinians, close to half of whom appear to have been unarmed civilians.

Corporal Gilad Shalit, the soldier who was taken hostage, is no more to blame for the mess he inherited than any other 19-year-old Israeli or Palestinian, and he certainly does not deserve to die. But it is hard to see how blowing up the Gaza Strip’s main power generating station, or arresting eight Cabinet ministers and 34 legislators of the democratically elected government of the occupied Palestinian territories in simultaneous night raids on their homes  furthers the cause of Cpl. Shalit’s freedom. There is no sense of proportion here.

Israeli columnist Gideon Levy, writing in the newspaper “Haaretz”, put it best: “It is not legitimate to cut off 750,000 people from electricity. It is not legitimate to call on 20,000 people to run from their homes and turn their towns into ghost towns. It is not legitimate to kidnap half a government and a quarter of a parliament. A state that takes such steps is no longer distinguishable from a terror organisation.”

I am quoting Levy because, in large parts of the Western press, only Israelis are allowed to say such things (and even Israelis holding such views are quoted only rarely). For a non-Israeli non-Jew to say them brings instant accusations of anti-Semitism and, in the case of newspaper columns, corporate banning orders. But what the hell. Let’s take Levy’s argument a step further.

The Israeli government has not accidentally stumbled into the plot of a stupidly sentimental Hollywood movie called “Saving Corporal Shalit”. It is run by men and women with decades of experience at navigating the shoal waters of Middle Eastern politics — people who think strategically, and who fully understand the complex relationship between an elected Palestinian government that doesn’t carry out terrorist attacks and related but semi-autonomous militant organisations that do. They understand it because it was part of Israeli history, too.

Sixty years ago, when the Jews of British-ruled Palestine were an unrecognised proto-state under foreign military occupation, they had respectable political and military organisations like the Jewish Agency and the Haganah (the militia self-defence force that ultimately became the Israeli Defence Forces). They also had brutal terrorist organisations like Irgun and the Stern Gang, who killed both British soldiers and the Palestinians who had a rival claim to the land without compunction. The legitimate organisations did not control the illegitimate ones, but there were constant contacts between them.

The Palestinian Authority’s relations with the current crop of terrorist outfits is very similar. Hamas, the militant Islamic party that won the Palestinian elections last January and subsequently formed a government, has observed a self-imposed ceasefire with Israel for more than a year. Its “military wing”, a largely separate organisation, has not, nor have various other radical groups whose main goal is to discredit mainstream Palestinian organisations that want a negotiated settlement with Israel.

Israel’s past offers enough parallels that its government should and probably does understand that it has a choice: to ignore the extremists and talk about some kind of peace deal with the mainstream — or to use the extremists as an excuse not to talk to the mainstream either. It has chosen the latter option, and the current, vastly disproportionate Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip are the evidence for it.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has big plans for imposing a “peace settlement” and new frontiers on the Palestinians — frontiers that will keep all the bigger Jewish settlement blocks (plus all of Jerusalem, of course) within Israel. International political correctness requires that he negotiate this with the Palestinians, but he knows perfectly well that they could never agree to such a terrible deal. Why should they? So he must find a way of demonstrating that negotiations are impossible.

That is what this is really about. Corporal Shalit is a convenient casus belli, but if it hadn’t been him, it would have been something else. The first objective of the Israeli attacks is to destroy the elected Palestinian government led by Hamas. As President George W. Bush said, “we support democracy, but that doesn’t mean we have to support governments elected as a result of democracy.”

Olmert knows (even if Washington doesn’t) that destroying the Hamas government will not bring the “moderates” back to power. It will just create a power vacuum in the occupied territories that will be filled by all kinds of crazies with guns. Ideal circumstances for carrying out Olmert’s plans, wouldn’t you say?

Disproportionate force (http://www.jordantimes.com/tue/opinion/opinion3.htm)

Don’t Play Into Israel’s Hands, Cabinet Cautions Palestinians
Arab News
 

JEDDAH, 11 July 2006 — Saudi Arabia yesterday emphasized the need for drawing international attention to the importance of establishing peace and stability in the Middle East to ensure global security.

“Everyone should realize that the security, stability and the future of the region are important to protect the interests of all. The present political maneuvers aimed at serving selfish interests of some will not benefit anyone,” the Council of Ministers said in a statement after its weekly meeting at Al-Salam Palace in Jeddah.

The meeting, chaired by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, also stressed that unanimity of opinion was essential to achieve Palestinian national goals, Culture and Information Minister Iyad Madani told Saudi Press Agency quoting the Cabinet statement.

“Apart from making their own decisions they should follow a method that would guarantee the achievement of their legitimate national rights, including the liberation of the holy city of Jerusalem and the implementation of all international resolutions,” Madani said.

The Council cautioned the Palestinians against playing into the hands of Israel, which seeks to impose its hegemony in the region with unilateral solutions, Madani said.

The meeting expressed satisfaction over the decision at a conference in Iran on Saturday by foreign ministers of Iraq’s neighbors to support Baghdad’s bid to make all Iraqis participate in the process of redrafting the constitution.

The Iraqi government’s move aims at achieving national unity and security by ending violence besides bringing all the factions into the political process, Madani said.

On the domestic front, the Cabinet approved the draft regulations governing the import and management of chemical substances. The regulations stipulate that no import would be allowed without permission from competent authorities and the Interior Ministry. The licensed importers and handlers of chemicals have to observe instructions of the concerned authorities.

Meanwhile, King Abdullah and Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who is on a brief visit to the Kingdom, held talks in Jeddah yesterday. They discussed regional developments and ways to enhance cooperation between the two countries.

The meeting was attended by Crown Prince Sultan, Yemeni Ambassador Mohammad Ali Al-Ahwal and senior officials.

The Council authorized the minister of higher education or his deputy to discuss a draft memorandum of cooperation with the Australian Ministry of Education.

The Council authorized the finance minister to discuss with the French Finance Ministry the addition of a clause to the agreement on exchange of information required to avoid double taxation on income from inheritance and legacies.

Don’t Play Into Israel’s Hands, Cabinet Cautions Palestinians (http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1&section=0&article=85176&d=11&m=7&y=2006)

Pakistan calls for end to Israeli "military aggression" in Palestine
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Pakistan on Monday called for an end to what it called an Israeli aggression in Palestine, saying Israel's policy of collective punishment has created difficult situation.

"Israeli aggression in Gaza is a matter of deep concern for us, and Pakistan has deplored it in strongest term as we want the aggression to come to an end to reduce hardships of the Palestinian people," Foreign Office spokesperson Tasneem Aslam told her weekly briefing in Islamabad.

Also during the briefing, responding to a question regarding F- 16 deal with the United States, the spokesperson said the U.S. administration had assured Pakistan it is committed to providing these aircraft as agreed, which will cost 3 billion U.S. dollars.

She said Pakistan will not provide the F-16 technology to any other country.

Pakistan calls for end to Israeli "military aggression" in Palestine (http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200607/11/eng20060711_281771.html)

 Israel, Hamas in stalemate over soldier

Joel Greenberg

July 10, 2006 6:19 PM

Chicago Tribune

(MCT)

JERUSALEM - Khaled Mashaal, the exiled political leader of Hamas, and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel staked out sharply opposing positions Monday on resolving the crisis created by the abduction of an Israeli soldier, suggesting that diplomatic efforts to secure his release remain deadlocked.

Mashaal insisted that the soldier, Cpl. Gilad Shalit, 19, would not be freed without the release of Palestinian prisoners, and Olmert emphatically rejected any prisoner exchange.

Shalit was seized by militants from Hamas and two other groups in an attack on an Israeli border outpost near the Gaza Strip on June 25. The abduction has triggered an Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip that has left about 60 Palestinians dead and also claimed the life of an Israeli soldier.

In a series of Israeli air and ground strikes on militants in the Gaza Strip on Monday, nine Palestinians were killed, the army and Palestinian health officials said.

Mashaal spoke at a news conference held under tight security in Damascus, Syria, his first public appearance since the start of the abduction crisis and warnings by Israeli officials that he could be targeted.

''There will be no release of the captive soldier without the mutual release of our prisoners and children in the enemy's jails,'' Mashaal said. ''Because 10,000 prisoners is a concern that troubles every Palestinian.''

The soldier's captors from the armed wing of Hamas and two allied groups, the Popular Resistance Committees and the Army of Islam, have demanded the release of 1,000 Palestinian and other Arab prisoners in exchange for the soldier, and the preliminary release of about 500 women and minors held in Israeli jails in return for information on the serviceman. Israel holds more than 9,000 Palestinians in its prisons.

Mashaal said that there was a ''national consensus'' on a prisoner exchange, which has broad public support among Palestinians.

''I ask you, do you see anyone in the Palestinian arena who talks about freeing the soldier without something in return? No one,'' Mashaal said. ''Because that would mean contempt for the pain and suffering of our people's 10,000 heroic prisoners.''

Mashaal said Shalit was being treated as a prisoner of war. ''Our morality obliges us to protect the life of the soldier and not to mistreat him, and contrary to news reports you hear, he is receiving medical care,'' Mashaal said. Israeli military officials said they believed Shalit had been lightly wounded before he was captured.

Egyptian, Qatari and European mediation efforts to release the soldier have been thwarted by Israel's refusal to release Palestinian prisoners, Mashaal asserted.

Israel has traded Arab prisoners for captured servicemen in the past in deals with the Palestinian factions and the Lebanese guerrilla group Hezbollah, but Olmert was adamant Monday that there would be no exchange to secure the release of Shalit.

''Trading prisoners with a terrorist bloody organization such as Hamas is a major mistake that will cause a lot of damage to the future of the State of Israel,'' Olmert said at a news conference with foreign reporters.

''Khaled Mashaal is a terrorist with blood on his hands; he is not a legitimate partner for anything,'' Olmert added. ''He is the head of an organization that openly, publicly and officially calls for the liquidation of the State of Israel, and, therefore, he is not a partner and he will not be a partner and I will not negotiate with Hamas. ... I will not release prisoners to trade off Cpl. Gilad Shalit to Hamas.''

Olmert, who told a Cabinet meeting Sunday that he had been prepared to release prisoners as a goodwill gesture to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, known as Abu Mazen, said such a release is not possible now.

''To negotiate with Hamas today, to surrender to their demands, means that you don't need more moderate guys like Abu Mazen, who is opposed to terror, because at the end of the day the upper hand will always be that of the terrorists and the killers and those who support violence,'' Olmert said.

Olmert said Israel's military offensive, which has included airstrikes on government buildings in the Gaza Strip and the arrest of Palestinian Cabinet ministers and legislators from Hamas in the West Bank, was not aimed at toppling the Hamas-led Palestinian government.

''We have no particular desire to topple the Hamas government as a policy,'' Olmert said. ''We have a desire to stop terrorists from inflicting terror on Israeli people.''

Olmert added that the officials arrested were suspected of involvement in ''terrorist actions,'' but he did not elaborate.

With no signs of a break in the impasse over the release of the captive soldier, Israel pressed ahead with its military operations in Gaza.

Three militants were hit from the air as they tried to plant explosives near the Gaza border fence east of Khan Yunis, the army said. Palestinians said two were killed.

Four other militants were killed in Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip after they fired two rockets at Israel, the army said.

Airborne strikes also killed three militants near the Karni cargo crossing east of Gaza City, Palestinians said. The army said it hit a squad preparing to fire an anti-tank rocket and a gunman in two separate attacks.

 Israel, Hamas in stalemate over soldier (http://www.newspress.com/Top/Article/article.jsp?Section=WORLD&ID=564768017642553374)

Aksa Brigades announce female suicide bomber unit
Khaled Abu Toameh, THE JERUSALEM POST    Jul. 10, 2006

A group belonging to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party announced on Monday that it had recruited 100 Palestinian women to launch suicide attacks against Israel.

A woman who identified herself as Um al-Abed told reporters in Gaza City that so far about 100 women had expressed their desire to carry out suicide attacks against Israel. She claimed she was a spokeswoman for the Aksa Martyrs Brigades, the armed wing of Fatah.

The brigades, she added, recently established a secret military unit for female suicide bombers from the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Jerusalem. "We have so far recruited 100 women for the new unit," Abed said as she sat next to several masked women who identified themselves as members of Fatah. "We are expecting more female suicide bombers. The new unit is now preparing to launch attacks against Israel in response to the Israeli aggression and crimes against our people in the Gaza Strip."

Since September 2000, Palestinian women have carried out seven suicide bombings inside Israel, in which 37 people were killed and more than 250 were wounded. The most serious attack was launched in October 2003 by Hanadi Jaradat, an Islamic Jihad woman from Jenin, who detonated herself at the Maxim Restaurant in Haifa. The bomb left 21 civilians dead and 48 wounded.

Four of the female suicide bombers belonged to Fatah, two belonged to Islamic Jihad and only one belonged to Hamas.

Abed also hinted that the group was planning to target Hamas members who were responsible for attacks on Fatah activists. She pointed out that a senior Fatah militiaman, Haitham Rai, was killed over the weekend in Gaza City, apparently by Hamas gunmen.

"We know the identity of the murderers and we urge the Palestinian government to take immediate action against them," she said. "If the government fails, the Aksa Martyrs Brigades will punish the Hamas culprits in our own way."

Rai, one of the leaders of the Aksa Martyrs Brigades in the Gaza Strip, was kidnapped by some 30 masked gunmen, who took him to the local cemetery and sprayed him with bullets.

The killing came in response to the assassination last Friday of Dr. Hussein Ajweh, one of the most prominent political leaders of Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Ajweh was shot to death outside his Gaza City home by unidentified gunmen. Hamas officials accused Fatah and its supporters in the PA security forces of standing behind the assassination.

Tensions between Hamas and Fatah intensified over the past 24 hours following Abbas's decision to appoint Tunis-based PLO official Farouk Kaddoumi as PA foreign minister.

Kaddoumi, one of the veteran PLO leaders who is strongly opposed to the Oslo Accords, refused to enter the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 1994 in protest of the agreement between the PLO and Israel.

Hamas officials condemned Abbas's decision as "illegal" and called for its rescission. Abbas's move is seen as part of his efforts to undermine the powers of the Hamas cabinet, which already has a foreign minister, Mahmoud Zahar. Abbas has already confiscated most of the powers of the Hamas cabinet, including control over the security, finances and the media.

"Why do we need two foreign ministers for Palestine?" asked Muhammad Awad, secretary-general of the Hamas cabinet. "Kaddoumi has always been involved in power struggles with Palestinian foreign ministers. Abbas's decision will only complicate matters."

Aksa Brigades announce female suicide bomber unit (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1150885963162&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)

 High Court Calls for a Solution for PA Residents Locked Out of Gaza
18:18 Jul 10, '06 / 14 Tammuz 5766

(IsraelNN.com) The High Court of Justice on Monday instructed the IDF to find a solution to the thousands of Palestinian Authority (PA) residents of Gaza stranded on the Egyptian side of the Rafiah border. The instruction was in response to a petition filed by human rights organizations.

The High Court rejected the state’s position that the Gaza residents can cross back into Israel via the Kerem Shalom crossing, instructing the military to find a solution within 48 hours.

 High Court Calls for a Solution for PA Residents Locked Out of Gaza  (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=106953)

Sunday, July 9, 2006
JMCC Poll: 77.2% support abduction of soldier, 60.4% support continuing firing rockets
Jerusalem Media &Communication Center - JMCC Public Opinion Poll Unit

Poll Result On Palestinian Attitudes Towards The Abduction of the Israeli
Soldier & Firing of Rockets


Methodology :
A random sample of 1197 people over the age of 18 was interviewed
face-to-face throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip between 21st and 22nd
of June 2006. The margin of error is 3 percent, with a confidence level of
95.


Results:

Q.1 what do you think about the military operation that included the
abduction of The Israeli soldier?Would you say that you support, oppose, or
no answer?
77.2 support
21.7 Oppose
1.1 No answer \ Don' t Know

Q.2 Do you support the resumption of the military operations that aim to
abduct Israeli Soldiers as a suitable response within the current political
conditions, or do you reject them and find them harfmful to the Palestinian
national interests?
66.8 Suitable response within the current political conditions
30.7 I reject them and find them harmful to Palestinian national interests
2.5 No answer \ I don't know


Q. 3 In light of the current crisis resulting from the abduction of the
Israeli soldier, in your opinion what is the most suitable option for
dealing with the crisis?
17.6 To release the abducted soldier to avoid an incursion in Gaza
68.8 No release of the abducted soldier until the release of Palestinian
prisoners
10.9 To try the Israeli soldier and put him in a Palestinian prison
2.7 No answer \ I don't know

Q4. Do you expect the crisis of the Israeli soldier to end with gains
achieved by the Palestinian side or losses incurred by the Palestinian side
or do you think the end of this crisis will not affect the Palestinian
situation?
36.9 The Palestinian side will achieve gins
46.7 The Palestinian side will incur losses
13.9 It will not affect the Palestinian situation
2.5 No answer \ don't know


Q5. Do you support that the Palestinian side continues firing rockets
against targets as a suitable response within the current political
conditions, or do you reject them and find them harmful to the Palestinian
national interests?

60.4 Suitable response within the current political conditions
36.0 I reject them and find them harmful to Palestinian National Interests
3.6 No answer \ Don't know


Q 29 If the elections happened another time today, which list would you vote
for?
Alternative list ( DFLP, PPP, Fida, and independents coalition) 3.5
Independent Palestine list ( Mustafa Barghouthi and the independents) 3.2
Martyr Abu Ali Mustafa List 4.4
Martyr Abu Abbas List 1.0
Freedom and Social Justice list 0.8
Change and reform list 33.1
The National Coalition for
Democratic Justice 0.6
The Third Road List 2.8
Freedom and Independence List 1.1
Palestine Justice List 0.5
Fateh List 32.2
Won't vote 13.8
No answer 3.0

JMCC Poll: 77.2% support abduction of soldier, 60.4% support continuing firing rocket (http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=29983)

One thing I do want to make clear, I think (this is my opinion only) this is the war, and rumor of war, in Matthew 24:6

Matthew 24:6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not frightened or troubled, for this must take place, but the end is not yet.

The reason I think this is because, the mid-east hasn't attacked Israel. Instead, Israel has gone in after her kidnapped soldier. Which I would expect any nation of worth, would do.

Resting in the hands, of the Lord.
Bob

 17 Arrested in Counter-Terror Operations
07:30 Jul 11, '06 / 15 Tammuz 5766

(IsraelNN.com) IDF soldiers involved in counter-terror operations throughout Judea and Samaria during the night arrested 17 terrorists. Arrests were made in Tulkarem, Hevron and in the Ramallah area.

Suspects in custody include Hamas, Popular Resistance and Fatah Tanzim terrorists. No injuries were reported.

 17 Arrested in Counter-Terror Operations  (http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=106992)

 Terror War Against Israel Continues to Escalate
09:03 Jul 11, '06 / 15 Tammuz 5766

(IsraelNN.com) Islamic Jihad leaders released a statement confirming Monday night’s attempted launch of a rocket from the Jenin area towards the community of Ram-On, in the Tanachim area, south of Afula.

The rocket landed in an area under Palestinian Authority (PA) autonomous control.

Military intelligence has been warning that tenacious efforts to begin firing rockets from PA areas in Samaria continue -- rockets that could also strike communities in the Sharon area, communities such as Kfar Saba and Petach Tikvah, which border PA areas in Samaria.

 Terror War Against Israel Continues to Escalate  (http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=106991)

 Japanese PM Heading to Israel
08:08 Jul 11, '06 / 15 Tammuz 5766

(IsraelNN.com) Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is on his way to Israel where he will meet with Israeli and Palestinian Authority (PA) officials. Koizumi is expected to urge the sides to enter into negotiations towards resolving the ongoing conflict.

 Japanese PM Heading to Israel (http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=106993)

Finnish expert meets with Mashaal regarding kidnapped soldier

The Saudi Arabian al-Watan newspaper reported that a Finnish expert in hostage negotiations is making covert efforts to mediate between Israel and Hamas' politburo chief Khaled Mashaal, in an effort to solve the crisis surrounding the kidnapping of Cpl. Gilad Shalit.

According to the report, the Israeli government asked for the expert's involvement and he recently met with Mashaal in Damascus.

Finnish expert meets with Mashaal regarding kidnapped soldier (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3273755,00.html)