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Israel Set For Operation In Gaza
AP and Jpost.com staff
THE JERUSALEM POST
Sep. 26, 2007

At least eight Palestinians were reported killed and barrages of Kassam rockets and mortar shells continued to rain down on the western Negev as violence in the Gaza Strip heated up Wednesday.

A group of four Hamas-affiliated terrorists were killed late Wednesday afternoon in an IAF missile strike on their jeep in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City, Hamas reported.

The army confirmed the strike and said that the vehicle's occupants numbered five, not four, and had been on their way to launch Kassam rockets at Israel. According to the army, all five were killed.

Government spokesman David Baker said the air strike was part of a "continuous policy of preventing terrorist activity against our civilians, including our taking pre-emptive measures as needed to thwart these attacks."

Hamas identified them as members of the Army of Islam, a splinter group involved in the March kidnapping of BBC journalist Alan Johnston, who has since been released. The group is also believed to be among those holding kidnapped IDF Cpl. Gilad Schalit, seized in a cross-border raid in June 2006.

Palestinian sources also reported that elsewhere in Gaza, four civilians were killed after an IDF tank shell hit a residential building in Beit Hanun. Witnesses said the shell fell between two houses and that soldiers also fired from tank-mounted machine guns.

In all, four were killed and 25 wounded by army fire, including five critically, Palestinian hospital doctors said. The army said it was looking into the report.

Early Wednesday evening, a Kassam rocket fired from Gaza hit a home in one of the kibbutzim in the Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council. No one was reported wounded, but the house was damaged. The attack brought to 10 the number of rockets fired at Israel Wednesday, most of which landed in open territory near Sderot, causing no wounded or damage.

Earlier, The IAF fired at Palestinians responsible for launching Kassam rockets into Israel ftom the Gaza Strip. The army said that no one was wounded in the strikes, but that two rocket launchers were destroyed.

The army said Palestinians also lobbed at least 20 mortar shells into Israel from the southern part of the strip, but no casualties were reported. The Popular Resistance Committees claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Earlier Wednesday, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said that Israel was moving closer to carrying out a large-scale military operation in Gaza in order to put a stop to cross-border rocket and mortar barrages into Israel.

It was his first public hint of plans to combat the fire coming from the Hamas-ruled coastal strip, which Israel last week declared "hostile territory" as a prelude to possible punitive cuts of utilities.

Barak told Army Radio that a large-scale military operation would not be a simple undertaking.

"We are moving closer to a broad and complex operation in Gaza," Barak said.

"It (such an operation) hasn't happened in recent weeks for many reasons .... We're getting closer to this and it should be realized that such an operation is not simple, not from the point of view of the forces taking part, not from the aspect of the length of time we'll have to spend there and not from the aspect of the operational challenges the forces will meet."

Meanwhile, IDF tanks and bulldozers, escorted by attack helicopters, moved into the northern Gaza Strip, staking out open ground from where Palestinians had earlier fired rockets into neighboring Israel, witnesses said. The military had no immediate comment.

Residents of the town of Beit Hanun said about 20 armored vehicles were involved in the operation. The Islamic Jihad said it fired 10 rockets at Israel Wednesday.

Earlier, the IDF announced an open-ended closure on the West Bank and Gaza Strip Wednesday, ahead of the weeklong holiday of Succot, which begins at sunset.

Israel Set For Operation In Gaza (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1189411493932&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)

Abbas urges Security Council to 'stop Israel'

Palestinian president condemns IDF strikes in Gaza Strip which left 11 Palestinians dead, asks Security Council members in New York to intervene. Abbas expected to meet with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

Ali Waked
09.27.07, 17:43
Israel News

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday harshly condemned Israel's operations in Gaza Strip, which left 11 Palestinians dead.

Abbas, who was in New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly, held a series of talks with elements in the Security Council, asking them to bring about a halt in Israel's activities in the Strip.

Yasser Abed Rabbo, secretary-general of the PLO Executive Committee, said that Abbas would meet with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in order to brief him on the developments in Gaza and ask him to help halt Israel's operations there.

Abbas' condemnation came on the backdrop of harsh criticism from Hamas directed at the Palestinian government in Ramallah.

Criticizing the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah for not responding to recent incidents in the Strip, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said earlier, "It is as good as cooperating with the occupation. The PA's silence proves that it is cooperating in order to eliminate Hamas in the Strip."

The spokesman continued to urge the international community to put an end to the Israeli aggression and said Israel "does not give much importance to the November peace conference".

"Israel will pay a hefty price for its aggression in Gaza," Abu Zuhri said, adding that Palestinian organizations would do everything in their power to resist Israeli attacks in the Strip.

Series of incidents

The most recent IDF airstrike took place around 2 am Thursday, when IAF jets attacked gunmen who were spotted near Beit Hanoun at a site from which Qassam rockets have been launched into Israel.

Palestinians reported that two Hamas gunmen were killed in the attack and that five others were injured.

On Wednesday afternoon, sources reported that five members of a small terror group linked to the kidnapping of an Israeli soldier last year were killed in an Israeli airstrike in the Strip.

Missiles fired by an Israeli aircraft slammed into a jeep as it traveled in the Zeitun neighborhood carrying members of the Army of Islam, the terror group implicated in the kidnapping of Corporal Gilad Shalit and BBC journalist Alan Johnston.

Palestinian sources said one of the gunmen killed in the blast was Khatab Al-Makdisi, the group's spokesperson, whom Israel accuses of links to al-Qaeda.

In a seperate incident, four Palestinians, including a child, were killed and 20 others were injured when a tank shell hit a house in the Beit Hanoun neighborhood in northern Gaza.

Eyewitnesses said 20 IDF tanks and bulldozers entered the northern Gaza Strip on Wednesday afternoon. The incursion appears to be in response to rocket from the area earlier Wednesday.

Abbas urges Security Council to 'stop Israel' (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3454052,00.html)

No peace for Israelis

By STEVEN GUTKIN, Associated Press Writer Thu Oct 11, 3:06 PM ET

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip - The militant known as Abu Hamza is constantly on the run from Israel, and his hideout today is a dank room at the back of a nondescript house filled with adults and frolicking children.

The room is barren except for a computer hooked up to the Internet, which the Islamic Jihad commander said is used to plan rocket attacks on southern Israel. He pledged to keep up the violence despite the growing likelihood of a major Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip.

"We must create a balance of terror with the enemy," he told The Associated Press in a rare interview.

Abu Hamza is a small, soft-spoken man with a wide smile, but the rockets that Islamic Jihad fires into Israel almost daily serve as constant reminders that renewed talk of Mideast peace remains a distant dream in the violence-torn Gaza Strip.

Israel's military says Gaza militants have fired some 980 rockets into Israel since June, when Hamas seized power in the coastal territory. That compares to 440 in the preceding four months. In all, thousands of crude rockets fired over the past seven years have killed 12 Israelis, wounded dozens and disrupted life for thousands.

Israeli troops and settlers withdrew from Gaza more than two years ago — and Israel has begun a fledgling peace process with the moderate Palestinian forces now in control of the West Bank. So why is Islamic Jihad still raining missiles on Israeli towns, provoking fierce retaliation and a new Israeli threat to cut off Gaza's electricity?

This is the Palestinians' way of offsetting Israel's sophisticated military machine, Abu Hamza said. Israel's decision to seal Gaza's borders after Hamas militants took control is another reason the rockets are justified, he said.

"Our rockets go over those borders," he said.

Islamic Jihad, a virulently anti-Israel group backed by Iran and Syria, has killed dozens of Israelis in suicide bombings and is believed to have about 2,000 militants armed with M-16 and AK-47 automatic rifles, grenades and anti-tank weapons.

It operates independently of the much larger Hamas, whose tolerance and sometimes encouragement of rocket attacks have increased Gaza's isolation. Hamas' blind eye to Islamic Jihad rockets — along with mortar fire by its own militants — has helped burnish its credentials among Gazans as a "government of resistance." But it is also endangering Hamas' rule in Gaza by contributing to the economic decline.

Contacts known by AP journalists to be Islamic Jihad members arranged the meeting with Abu Hamza, his nom de guerre that is well known in Gaza even if his face is not. He spoke to AP reporters without donning the black ski mask usually worn by senior militants in press interviews, but he refused to allow himself to be filmed, photographed or recorded.

During the session, he wore a loose-fitting shirt instead of the military fatigues associated with Islamic Jihad. Though he carried no weapon, some of the men around him did — sitting nearby on ragged floor mats in the paint-chipped room. No food or drink was served in observance of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Getting to the interview required a long, labyrinthine car drive through the back alleys of the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis — stopping every few blocks to wait for phone instructions on how to proceed. At times, men popped their heads out of doorways along the street to give the all-clear signal.

Abu Hamza spoke softly and methodically, making frequent eye contact with an American reporter. But there was no mistaking the bitterness of his words.

"Resistance must continue until we uproot the occupation from all the land of Palestine ... from the sea to the river," he said, outlining Islamic Jihad's position that a future Palestinian state must replace Israel, not live alongside it.

He bragged about an Islamic Jihad rocket attack last month that injured dozens of Israeli soldiers as they slept in tents at an army base near Gaza, saying the installation was targeted through studying Israeli military Web sites. There was no way to independently confirm his claim.

He said that Palestinian rocket fire forced Israel out of Gaza in 2005 and that he expected the same result in southern Israeli towns like Sderot and Ashkelon.

At one point, Abu Hamza said his group would consider a temporary halt to rocket fire if Israel stopped pursuing militants and opened Gaza's borders. But that statement was rendered meaningless by his subsequent assertion that other forms of "resistance" — such as suicide attacks and roadside bombs — would continue during any rocket truce.

Israeli intelligence officials declined to discuss Abu Hamza, saying they prefer not to divulge information about wanted militants who are still on the run.

But a top architect of Israel's military policy in Gaza was quoted Thursday in the Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronot as saying the rocket attacks will have to be confronted with a major display of armed force.

"A ground operation is a question of timing," said Maj. Gen. Moshe Kaplinsky, the Israeli army's recently reassigned deputy chief of staff.

Israel's frequent and lethal retaliation has prompted innovations by Gazan rocket launchers, including using trees as cover and timers to set off rockets.

To evade Israeli troops and aircraft, Abu Hamza said he and his fighters move frequently from place to place, change vehicles often and avoid using cell phones in open areas.

The interview with the AP took place in a house where toddlers laughed and played. Islamic Jihad has often been criticized for operating among civilians, exposing them to the risk of Israeli fire.

Abu Hamza denied the assertion by Israel and much of the world that Islamic Jihad gets money and other backing from Iran and Syria, calling it "completely ridiculous."

But Mkhaimar Abusada, a political scientist at Gaza's Al Azhar University, said there is no doubt Syria and Iran are involved.

"There are outsiders giving orders from outside the Gaza Strip, whether from Damascus or Tehran, for their own reasons," Abusada said. "They (Gaza militants) are doing this because they're getting paid for it."

No peace for Israelis (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071011/ap_on_re_mi_ea/palestinian_rocket_mastermind;_ylt=AvAfgJslrZ51gYCyqd1gQkULewgF)

Now is time for Palestinian state

By MATTHEW LEE, Associated Press Writer 48 minutes ago

RAMALLAH, West Bank - Saying the time is now for a Palestinian state, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Monday prodded Israel and the Palestinians to agree at a U.S.-sponsored conference this fall on how and when to start formal peace talks.

In one of her strongest statements yet on the issue, Rice declared that creation of a Palestinian state is a key U.S. interest and urged the two sides to drop contentious demands and reach consensus on a substantive joint statement ahead of the international conference.

"Frankly, it's time for the establishment of a Palestinian state," Rice told a news conference with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who she saw on the second of a four-day intense Middle East shuttle diplomacy mission.

"The United States sees the establishment of a Palestinian state and a two-state solution as absolutely essential for the future, not just of Palestinians and Israelis but also for the Middle East and indeed to American interests," she said.

"That's really a message that I think only I can deliver," Rice said, explaining her mission to prepare for the conference to be held in Annapolis, Md. as early as late November.

The secretary is facing daunting challenges in trying to bring the two sides close enough to make the conference worthwhile.

Rice, who expects to return to the region at least once before the conference takes place, played down the chances for any breakthroughs before she traveled here.

Rice met with Israeli officials on Sunday and will see both sides again on Wednesday after visiting Egypt on Tuesday and finally traveling to London to meet Jordan's King Abdullah II in a bid to build support for the meeting among skeptical Arab nations.

In her talks in Jerusalem and the West Bank, she is seeking to bridge wide gaps between Israel and the Palestinians over the declaration to be endorsed in Annapolis that President Bush hopes will lead to negotiations for a final settlement of the long-running conflict.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said he does not see the document as a prerequisite for the conference. He wants it as vague as possible on critical so-called "final status issues" like the borders of a Palestinian state, the status of disputed Jerusalem, Israeli settlements and Palestinian refugees.

The Palestinians, meanwhile, have said they will not attend the conference without a document that contains details on these matters as well as a specific timeline for their resolution. Arab states share the Palestinian concerns.

"No doubt that before we go to (the conference), the document will be ready," said Abbas, whose authority has been limited to the West Bank since the militant Hamas movement seized control of the Gaza Strip in June.

"The negotiations should not be open-ended, but subject to a certain time period," he added.

Standing next to Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Rice insisted the conference will be "serious and substantive."

"We frankly have better things to do than invite people to Annapolis for a photo op," she said in the first public confirmation from a U.S. official that Washington has chosen the Maryland capital as the venue for the meeting.

Speaking to reporters at her Jerusalem hotel after seeing Abbas, Rice declined to reveal her private discussions with Israeli and Palestinian officials but suggested that neither side would get its way in their demands for the joint statement.

"I am not certain that a timetable that says we have to complete X by Y time is where we want to go," she said when asked about the Palestinian demand for deadlines.

"We're talking about ways to demonstrate continued momentum if and when they begin formal negotiations but we haven't come to any conclusions at this point," Rice said.

She also said the joint statement "does not have to be detailed in order to be serious (or) substantive."

At the same time, she said that despite Israeli reservations, the document would have to include references to the final status issues.

"If it's going to address the establishment of a Palestinian state, then it has to address core issues," Rice said. "You do have to have enough that is concrete so that people know that we're not just starting out with the general principle that everyone would like to have a Palestinian state."

She also defended the plan for the conference, which some critics believe Bush called prematurely when he announced in July that it would be held in the fall — a year before the next presidential elections.

"I understand as well as anybody that there are risks to announcing a meeting and then doing the hard work to get it prepared," Rice said. But the other side of that ... something had to spark their active and intensive engagement, something had to spark the region to take advantage of what was a slowly opening historic opportunity."

Palestinian officials had expressed disappointment with Rice's less-than-optimistic comments on Sunday and in her meeting with Abbas she sought to reassure the Palestinians of the U.S. commitment to peace.

"We have come a long way," she said. "We have got quite a long way to go, but we are not going to tire until I have given it my last ounce of energy and my last moment in office."

Also Monday, the Israeli and Palestinian teams charged with drafting the pre-conference document were to meet in Jerusalem, Qureia's office said. The teams had met only once before.

At the same time, Olmert hinted Monday that he is ready to share control of Jerusalem, saying for the first time that Israel could do without controlling some of the holy city's outlying Arab neighborhoods.

Now is time for Palestinian state (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071015/ap_on_re_mi_ea/mideast_rice)

Joint Israel-PA statement to address 'all core issues'
By Barak Ravid and Avi Issacharoff, Haaretz correspondents and news agencies

Israel is prepared to make a joint declaration with the Palestinians at the international peace conference scheduled to take place next month in Annapolis that will address the core issues of Jerusalem, refugees and permanent borders, a senior government official told Haaretz Wednesday. Palestinian officials demanded Israel commit to a timetable for negotiations.

The senior source in Jerusalem said that U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who is currently visiting the region, had reached an agreement with the Palestinians stating that "the declaration will address all core issues and point to certain avenues to be pursued through negotiation." The official added, however, that the declaration will not offer solutions to any of the aforementioned core issues.

But Rice's dealings with the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah seems to have hit a bump, after she reportedly told the Palestinians that Israel will not commit to a timetable for negotiations. Palestinians sources also said that Israel will not have the so-called Right of Return - the Palestinian demand that they be allowed to return to Israel proper - mentioned in the document.

Palestinian officials told Haaretz Wednesday that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had canceled a joint press conference with Rice. The officials added that Abbas said the Palestinians "will not attend the conference at any cost." The Israeli and Palestinian negotiation team will meet again Thursday or Friday to resume talks on the joint declaration.

Rice reportedly told the Palestinians that Israel was prepared to commit to what the Palestinians called "a vague mention" of the issue of permanent borders. Israel is not prepared to commit to the 1967 borders, the Palestinian sources reported.

Wrapping up four days of shuttle diplomacy, Rice said Wednesday that while the sides are only beginning the process of negotiations, she is optimistic about success.

"We are showing the parties that there is a basis for moving forward," she said. "It is a stop in a process aimed at achieving a Palestinian state living in peace alongside Israel." Rice also said that the current talks are the most serious the two sides have had about core issues in some time.

U.S. President George W. Bush said Wednesday that it was important for Rice to help Israelis and Palestinians make progress leading into the upcoming conference.

"We believe that now is the time to push ahead with a meeting at which the Israelis and Palestinians will lay out a vision of what a state could look like," Bush said t a White House news conference.

"And the reason why there needs to be a vision of what a state could look like is because the Palestinians that have been made promises all these years need to see there's a serious, focused effort to step up a state," he said.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said Wednesday that the goal of current talks with Palestinians is to reach as wide as possible an understanding in the time available ahead of an upcoming U.S.-sponsored Middle East peace conference set to take place before the end of the year.

Joint Israel-PA statement to address 'all core issues' (http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/914119.html)

On PA TV, All of Israel to be Replaced by 'Palestine'

by Hillel Fendel

(IsraelNN.com) Even as Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas declares his demand for "only" all 6,205 kilometers of Judea, Samaria and Gaza, his official TV station shows a PA flag covering all of Israel.

Palestinian Media Watch (PMW), a media watchdog group that monitors the media in the Palestinian Authority, reports on a clip broadcast by Fatah-controlled Palestinian television this week. The clip shows a map in which Israel, in its entirety, is painted in the colors of the Palestinian flag - black, white, red and green. The message is that the PA strives to replace all of Israel, and not just Judea, Samaria and Gaza.

Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook of PMW write that the broadcast of the map at this particular time renders the matter of even greater concern. "As preparations for the American peace conference continue," they write, "the leaders of the Palestinian Authority have announced their demands for a future Palestinian state with an area of 6205 square kilometers. This would include the Gaza Strip, the West Bank [Judea and Samaria - ed.] and [eastern] Jerusalem. However, the message they have conveyed to their people for years, and continue to convey on the eve of the conference, is that 'Palestine' exists and it replaces all of Israel."

As documented by PMW for many years, the idea of turning Israel into an Arab-Palestinian state is part of a formal educational approach throughout the Palestinian Authority. "The picture painted for the Palestinian population, both verbally and visually, is of a world without Israel," PMW writes. "This uniform message of a world without Israel is repeated in school books, children's programs, crossword puzzles, video clips, formal symbols, school and street names, etc."

Street names in the PA have been changed to memorialize terrorists, for instance, and PA textbooks regularly include references to the "Israel is Palestine" canard. For instance, a 12th-grade literature book states, “Palestine’s war ended with a catastrophe that is unprecedented in history, when the Zionist gangs stole Palestine and expelled its people from their cities, their villages, their lands and their houses, and established the State of Israel.” [Arabic Language, Analysis, Literature and Criticism, grade 12, p. 104

Crossword puzzles in the official PA newspaper, Al Hayat al Jadida, have included clues such as “A Palestinian city” - with the proper answer being, in various places, Haifa, Lod, and Ashkelon; all three, of course, are present-day Israeli cities within the pre-1967 borders. Another clue calls Yad Vashem Holocaust Center a "Jewish Center for eternalizing the Holocaust and the lies." Other crossword puzzle examples can be Seen here. (http://www.pmw.org.il/specrep-34.html)

On PA TV, All of Israel to be Replaced by 'Palestine' (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/123967)

'Hamas establishing bunker system along Gaza fence'

Yaakov Katz
THE JERUSALEM POST
Oct. 29, 2007

Hamas is trying to establish a bunker system as well as fortified rocket-launching and surveillance positions along the security fence with the Gaza Strip, Brig.-Gen. Moshe (Chico) Tamir, head of the Gaza Division, said Monday.

Tamir said that Hamas was "building an army" in the Gaza Strip and had obtained unprecedented capabilities through smuggling tunnels between Gaza and Egypt. On Monday, head of the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) Yuval Diskin said that since Israel's withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, the Palestinians have smuggled over 112 tons of explosives into the Strip.

"They are trying to dig tunnels, build surveillance positions and mortar-fire stations along the fence," Tamir told reporters during a briefing concerning the death of IDF reservist Ehud Efrati during clashes with Hamas gunmen early Monday morning. "They are trying to build this up and we are trying to stop them."

Tamir said that Hamas was studying Israeli tactics during the IDF's daily operations along the fence and was trying to use this knowledge in its fighting methods.

"This is ongoing warfare and as such there is also a simultaneous brain war taking place," he said. "We are always studying what we do and modifying our tactics. They are trying to study us and to be wise with that knowledge."

Tamir said that for the IDF's current purposes there was no point in expanding the operations deeper into Gaza. He also said that while the IDF was working to reduce the Kassam fire from Gaza there was no perfect solution.

"They can fire Kassams from one edge of Gaza all the way to the other and farther," he explained. "We are operating close to the fence since that is where they fire mortar shells, anti-tank missiles and dig tunnels."

'Hamas establishing bunker system along Gaza fence' (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1192380683478&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)

Fatah Promises 'Hundreds of Rockets' in Further Escalation

by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz

(IsraelNN.com) A wing of the Fatah organization, headed by Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, stated Thursday that it has begun an escalation in attacks on Israeli towns in the Negev. The terrorist group already claimed it was behind a barrage of rockets from Gaza that struck Sderot and its environs earlier in the day.

Fatah, through its Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades arm, said that the Thursday rocket fire was part of an planned series of hundreds of rocket attacks the group has dubbed "Gaza Autumn." In their announcement of the operation, Brigades spokesmen called upon the residents of the city of Sderot to leave their homes and warned that Fatah will continue to bombard Israeli communities in the Negev.

The group said the attacks would be a response to "the evil Balfour declaration," which was issued 90 years ago this Friday. The Balfour Declaration paved the way for the creation of a Jewish state in the Land of Israel. Spokesmen for Fatah in Gaza boasted that their organization has carried out dozens of attacks on nearby Jewish towns.

Meanwhile, Hamas, the Islamist terrorist organization running the PA in Gaza, called upon all the competing PA armed factions to prepare for an Israeli incursion into Gaza in the near future. Hamas spokesmen suggested that all the factions declare a state of emergency and set up a joint command center in Gaza. The organization went on to promise victory against Israel in any imminent conflict.

An apparent would-be suicide terrorist attack was thwarted on Thursday near Shechem, despite the presence of women from the left-wing MachsomWatch organizations. MKs visiting the area were unhurt.

IDF Operations Disrupt Gaza Smuggling
Israeli soldiers and General Security Services (GSS) agents uncovered seven weapons smuggling tunnels in 36 hours, an IDF spokesperson said Thursday. The tunnels were found in the southern city of Dahania during operations to stop rocket and mortar shell attacks from the area.

The mouths of the tunnels, part of the Hamas' weapons supply mechanism, were located approximately 1.5 meters from the Egyptian border. Officials say the tunnels were used recently by Hamas operatives to smuggle terrorists to and from Egypt.

The forces also discovered three explosive devices, planted and ready for deployment against IDF soldiers. The tunnels and the explosive devices were disposed of in controlled explosions by IDF sappers.

During the operation in the southern stretch of the Gaza region, IDF forces arrested an Arab resident of the PA who is suspected of terrorist activity. He was taken for questioning by security forces.

Fatah Promises 'Hundreds of Rockets' in Further Escalation (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/124122)

'US okays IDF wide-scale Gaza op'

jpost staff and Yaakov Katz
THE JERUSALEM POST
Nov. 3, 2007

The United States has given a "green light" to an IDF operation in the Gaza Strip, the Lebanese newspaper, Al-Akhbar reported Saturday morning.

The report cites "credible diplomatic sources" as saying that American approval came after Israeli intelligence impressed on US officials the importance of a wide-scale operation as an answer to the unprecedented arms smuggling within Gaza.

According to the newspaper report, the intelligence was shared during Defense Minister Ehud Barak's last visit to Washington. Sources told Al-Akhbar that the intelligence depicted a worrying picture of an "arms race" between Hamas and the Islamic Jihad. In addition, Israel presented details of money transfers between the Islamic Jihad and the Al-Aksa's Martyrs Brigades.

In the past few days, Barak met a number of times with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to decide definitively on the timing of a wide-scale operation, Al-Akhbar cited the sources as saying. Further, the sources stated that despite the "green light," Israel was hesitating to launch an operation out of concerns that it would complicate preparations for the upcoming US-sponsored Mideast peace summit in Annapolis.

Until the timing of the operation is decided, IDF forces stationed on the Gaza border will continue training for a massive military operation in the Strip, the report said.

Meanwhile, IDF forces discovered seven weapons-smuggling tunnels in the southern Strip along the Egyptian border on Thursday.

The kilometer-long tunnels were discovered near Dahiniye by an elite Engineering Corps unit and troops from the Golani infantry's Battalion 51. The tunnels were found within two kilometers of the border with Israel and, according to the IDF, had been used intensively in recent months to smuggle weapons and explosives from Egypt into Gaza.

The troops destroyed the tunnels in controlled explosions. IDF sources said they had been large enough for people to pass through and were most probably used by terrorists to leave Gaza on their way to Iran or Syria for training.

'US okays IDF wide-scale Gaza op' (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1192380723804&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)

PA agrees to disband terrorist groups before statehood

The headline should read......

PA agrees to put all terrorists on PA payroll before statehood?

Mark Weiss , THE JERUSALEM POST Nov. 8, 2007

Israeli negotiators on Friday reported significant progress in talks with Palestinians Friday; a development which could pave the way to agreement on a joint statement to be issued ahead of the US-sponsored Middle East conference in Annapolis later this month.

Late Wednesday, Israeli sources said, Palestinian negotiators accepted Israeli security demands. These assert that progress following the conference will depend on the Palestinians fulfilling obligations set down in the first stage of the road map peace plan, namely the disarming and disbanding of all terror groups.

The breakthrough was reportedly achieved during a late-night meeting between chief Israeli and Palestinian negotiators Tzipi Livni and Ahmed Qurei.

In response to the reports of progress in the talks, a member of the Palestinian negotiating team who claimed he had attended the said meeting between Qurei and Livni, told Israel radio that the "breakthrough" was being trumpeted for more than it was worth.

"I did not sense that there was any progress in the talks with the Israeli side," the negotiator said. He then laughed and further retorted, "What's new about the principle stating that the implementation of commitments depends upon [the Palestinians] fighting terror? Indeed, it appears in the road map, and we of course agreed to the road map."

Israeli sources also reported progress on Thursday, with Palestinian negotiators easing their demands that the peace conference lay out a specific timetable for statehood.

Israel expected to receive a formal confirmation from the US on Friday as to the date of the Annapolis peace conference. Reports Thursday night suggested President George W. Bush would host an opening evening for the delegations on November 25, with two or three days of summit talks to follow.

Israel will be represented at Annapolis by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and a negotiating team made up of officials from the Prime Minister's Office and the Foreign and Defense ministries. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will head the Palestinian delegation, which will include former PA Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei (Abu Ala).

Israeli sources confirmed Thursday night that the prime minister was considering a settlement freeze ahead of Annapolis. According to some Israeli officials, a de facto settlement freeze has already been in place for the last five years.

But in a report issued Wednesday, Peace Now said that despite the government's pledge to stop settlement expansion, dozens of new buildings had been erected inside existing settlements in the past year, and settlements were growing at a rate over three times faster than the average community growth in Israel.

Israeli and US sources said another visit to the region by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was expected before the Maryland gathering.

PA officials said Thursday they were pleased with Israeli pledges to resume peace talks after the conference and were now less concerned about the statement of principles that had bogged down earlier negotiations. Israeli, Palestinian and US officials have all indicated in recent days that sticking points are slowly being resolved.

The Palestinians had insisted the document outline the general principles of a peace agreement and provide a timeline for granting them independence. The Israelis sought a vaguer, nonbinding agreement.

With negotiators making little progress on these issues, Palestinian officials said they were turning their focus away from the document and toward post-summit talks after receiving Israeli and US assurances that peace efforts would move into high gear after the conference.

"We were hoping for a document that would include defined limits and guiding resolutions for every difficult point," said Rafiq Husseini, a top aide to Abbas. "I'm not sure we'll get it."

He said he was pleased that there is now talk of reviving the road map.

Other Palestinian officials said Abbas was especially encouraged by Olmert's speech Sunday night, in which the Israeli leader suggested that a deal could be reached by the end of Bush's term in January 2009.

Olmert described the Annapolis summit as a "starting point" for talks on Palestinian statehood, including the core issues that have scuttled past peace efforts: the final borders between Israel and a future Palestine, the status of Jerusalem and the fate of Palestinian refugees.

Olmert also said he is ready to carry out Israel's initial obligations under the road map - a freeze in Jewish settlement activity in the West Bank - and said he expected the Palestinians to meet their road map commitment of thwarting terrorism.

A US diplomat said Washington was encouraged by the latest Palestinian position, which appears to be in line with Israeli and American thinking.

"We've never envisioned Annapolis as a meeting that hammers out core issues, but rather sets the stage for parties to work on the core issues in an atmosphere of confidence," the diplomat said.

PA agrees to put all terrorists on PA payroll before statehood? (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1192380772098&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)

Palestinians will not accept Israel as 'Jewish state'
By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent and Haaretz Service
tags: Saeb Erekat, peace talks

Saeb Erekat, chief negotiator for the Palestine Liberation Organization, rejected on Monday the government's demand that the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state.

In an interview with Israel Radio, Erekat said that "no state in the world connects its national identity to a religious identity."

Also Monday, dozens of prominent Palestinian residents of Jerusalem published an appeal to the Abbas, asking him not to make concessions to Israel over the holy city in the upcoming talks.

The full-page newspaper ad, signed by 108 prominent Jerusalemites, including top Christian and Muslim leaders, did not make specific demands. However, the signatories asked Abbas not to negotiate a deal that would "violate our national rights."

"Israel should return all of east Jerusalem, the area it captured in the 1967 Mideast War and annexed to its capital," said signatory gotcha98 Hussein, an adviser to Abbas on Jerusalem affairs.

Earlier Monday, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said that the starting point for all negotiations with the Palestinians will be the "recognition of Israel as a state for the Jewish people,

This recognition is meant to bolster Israel's position that rejects the return of Palestinian refugees to areas inside the Green Line - the border before the 1967 Six-Day War.

"We won't hold negotiations on our existence as a Jewish state, this is a launching point for all negotiations," Olmert said.

"We won't have an argument with anyone in the world over the fact that Israel is a state of the Jewish people. Whoever does not accept this cannot hold any negotiations with me. This has been made clear to the Palestinians and the Americans. I have no doubt that Abu Mazen [Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas] and [PA premier Salam] Fayad are committed to prior agreements and want to make peace with Israel as a Jewish state," Olmert continued.

Olmert also stated this position at a meeting on Sunday to discuss the peace summit scheduled for the end of the month in Annapolis and the negotiations toward a final-settlement agreement. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi and the heads of the intelligence services attended the meeting.

Olmert told the gathering that immediately at the start of negotiations following the summit, Israel will set a precondition that the Palestinians recognize Israel as "a Jewish state."

"I do not intend to compromise in any way over the issue of the Jewish state," Olmert said, thereby accepting the position of Livni and Barak. "This will be a condition for our recognition of a Palestinian state."

Olmert said he raised the importance of this issue during his talks with European and American officials, and their response had been positive.

However, during talks in recent weeks between the Israeli and Palestinian negotiating teams, the Palestinians refused to include the recognition of Israel as a Jewish state in the shared declaration the teams are preparing, which will be made at Annapolis. Erekat's statement to Israel Radio on Monday did not seem to imply that refusal would waver ahead of the summit.

Olmert also confirmed at Monday's meeting that talks with the Palestinians were proceeding in a new direction, toward negotiations over a final-status deal, despite the fact that the first stage of the U.S.-backed road map had not been implemented.

The first stage of the road map calls on the Palestinians to dismantle terror groups. The sides had agreed recently that talks would proceed according to the document.

In recent weeks, politicians from the right, especially MK Yisrael Katz (Likud), have taken to accusing the government of holding negotiations outside of road map dictates.

Olmert essentially confirmed those accusations. "There is a new outline," he said. "The traditional position has been that there will be no road map implementation without the first phase. I came to the conclusion that we are somewhat able to change the tradition."

Meanwhile, despite Palestinian claims that there is a crisis in the talks, Livni and Qureia exchanged drafts of the joint declaration that Israel and the Palestinians are to present at the Annapolis summit.

Government officials did not deny reports in recent days that Israel had surprisingly softened its stance on the core issues - particularly on borders and Jerusalem.

The prime minister was scheduled to appear before the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Monday morning to present the principles that will guide Israel in the negotiations with the Palestinians.

Palestinians will not accept Israel as 'Jewish state' (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/923076.html)

Knesset give preliminary okay to bill requiring 80 MKs to divide J'lem
By Shahar Ilan, Haaretz Correspondent
tags: Jerusalem, Israel

The Knesset plenum passed in a preliminary vote Wednesday a bill that would make it far more difficult to divide Jerusalem in the context of a peace agreement with the Palestinians.

54 MKs voted in favor of the bill, with 24 against. The Knesset holds preliminary votes on private bills, presented by individual MKs. Before being enacted into law, however, the bill must still be approved in committee and then pass three more plenum votes.

The bill, which was authored by Likud faction whip Gideon Sa'ar and 25 other rightist and religious MKs, would require the support of 80 MKs for any changes to the Basic Law: Jerusalem.

An absolute majority of 61 MKs is currently needed to change the basic law, and raising the bar to 80 MKs would make it nearly impossible to gain Knesset approval for concessions on Jerusalem.

The timing of the bill is also significant, and is designed to warn the government that it cannot make concessions on the capital a few weeks before the U.S.-sponsored Middle East peace conference in Annapolis, Maryland.

The coalition apparently does not intend to try to scuttle the bill at this time, due to the fact that it has strong support in the right wing.

The government's liaison to the Knesset, MK Ruhama Avraham, also appears to be against trying to prevent the bill from passing, despite the fact that it was not discussed in the Ministerial Committee on Legislation. Avraham's position is a result of the fact that she opposes discussing Jerusalem at such an early stage in the negotiations.

Knesset give preliminary okay to bill requiring 80 MKs to divide J'lem (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/924023.html)

Quote

Dreamweaver Said:

Joel 3:2 I will gather all nations and will bring them down into the Valley of Jehoshaphat, and there will I deal with and execute judgment upon them for [their treatment of] My people and of My heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations and [because] they have divided My land.

Brother Bob,

All Christians should read this verse carefully and know what it means. The land belongs to GOD and no other entity has any power or control over it. Mankind will one day learn to respect what GOD says, but most will learn it the hard way and too late. GOD will keep all of HIS Promises perfectly, and many Promises involve HIS Righteous Wrath. GOD'S Warnings were given thousands of years ago, and much of mankind has completely ignored them. They have also ignored ALMIGHTY GOD!

Love In Christ,
Tom

Ezekiel 7:14-20 NASB
'They have blown the trumpet and made everything ready, but no one is going to the battle, for My wrath is against all their multitude. 'The sword is outside and the plague and the famine are within. He who is in the field will die by the sword; famine and the plague will also consume those in the city. 'Even when their survivors escape, they will be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them mourning, each over his own iniquity. 'All hands will hang limp and all knees will become like water. 'They will gird themselves with sackcloth and shuddering will overwhelm them; and shame will be on all faces and baldness on all their heads. 'They will fling their silver into the streets and their gold will become an abhorrent thing; their silver and their gold will not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD. They cannot satisfy their appetite nor can they fill their stomachs, for their iniquity has become an occasion of stumbling. 'They transformed the beauty of His ornaments into pride, and they made the images of their abominations and their detestable things with it; therefore I will make it an abhorrent thing to them.

Palestinian President wants Hamas ousted on road to peace with Israel

by Nasser Abu Bakr 31 minutes ago

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AFP) - Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on Thursday called for the people of Gaza to oust his Islamist rivals who seized control there five months ago as he seeks a lasting peace with Israel.

"We must get rid of this clique that took control of the Gaza Strip by force and which is exploiting the suffering and tragedies of our people," he said in a televised speech from his Ramallah office to mark the 19th anniversary of the symbolic declaration of a Palestinian state.

Hamas ousted secular Fatah security forces loyal to Abbas in mid-June after a week of deadly violence, resulting in the fall of the Hamas-dominated Palestinian government and a new government being formed in the West Bank.

The ongoing factional feuding has now split the Palestinians into two separate entities, with the Islamist Hamas ruling the roost in Gaza and Fatah administering the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Abbas denounced what he called "criminal acts by lawless gangs in Gaza where they opened fire in cold blood on crowds commemorating the third anniversary of the death of the martyr Yasser Arafat."

Eight people were killed in Gaza City on Monday when Hamas police shot at demonstrators dispersing after a mass rally to remember the late Palestinian leader who died in a Paris hospital on November 11, 2004.

The Palestinian president, Arafat's successor, denounced mass arrests by Hamas after the demonstration, saying they showed "the confusion and isolation of the Islamists in the Gaza Strip."

He also used Thursday's speech, delivered hours before he flies to Saudi Arabia for talks ahead of a peace meeting in the United States later this month, to reach out to Israel.

"I address the Israeli people and government directly and say that we are determined to agree a real peace with them in the interests of both our future generations," he said.

"The occupation brings security to nobody. Peace and good neighbourly relations based on equality and respect will bring an end to decades of war, suffering and the spilling of blood," Abbas added.

He said the planned peace meeting at Annapolis in Maryland must mark "a serious and decisive departure point to arrive at a just settlement that would guarantee the rights of our people, who aspire to liberty and independence.

"Our people are determined to create their own state which, with the grace of God, will one day see our territory with Jerusalem as its capital."

He said colonisation of the West Bank by Jewish settlers "must cease completely, the siege must be lifted, prisoners must be allowed home and the cycle of violence and assassinations must become a thing of the past.

"We are capable of building our state alongside Israel for it to become a haven of peace and stability," Abbas said.

An senior Israeli official signalled on Thursday that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert would announce a freeze in West Bank settlement expansion as a gesture towards the Palestinians at the US-sponsored peace meeting.

"The prime minister will declare a freeze to settlement expansion at Annapolis. In reality, we haven't touched the settlements for over 18 months," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The US talks are aimed at offering the backing of the international community -- pro-Western Arab states in particular -- to a hoped-for revival in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

In addition to freezing settlements, Olmert is also to announce the release of "hundreds" of Palestinian prisoners, but only those who have not been involved in killing Israelis, the official said.

The prime minister is also likely to authorise the transport of goods out of the impoverished Gaza Strip.

"We will try to strengthen Gaza's economy in a way that will clearly give the credit to Abbas," the official said.

Palestinian President wants Hamas ousted on road to peace with Israel (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071115/wl_afp/mideastunrestpalestinian)

Israel approves armored vehicles for Abbas
The Associated Press
Published: November 20, 2007

JERUSALEM: Israel has agreed to let Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' security forces receive 25 armored personnel carriers from Russia as well as 1,000 rifles to fight West Bank militants, Israeli and Palestinian officials said Wednesday, in an effort to bolster the moderate leader ahead of a Mideast conference in the United States next week.

In another gesture to the Palestinians, Israel will begin allowing strawberry and flower exports from the Gaza Strip in an effort to improve the economic situation for the 1.5 million Palestinians living there, Israeli Agriculture Minister Shalom Simchon said.

Israel and the Palestinians on Tuesday received long-awaited invitations to the U.S. conference, where they are expected to relaunch formal negotiations on a final peace agreement. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Tuesday that a peace deal with the Palestinians was possible as early as next year.

Israeli security officials said Israel authorized the shipment of the Russian armored vehicles, 1,000 rifles and 2 million rounds of ammunition, and Palestinian Interior Minister Abdel Razak Yehiye confirmed that Israeli approval had been secured.

Israeli security officials said the delivery was approved over the objections of Israel's army and internal Shin Bet security service, which fears the vehicles and weapons will fall into the hands of the Hamas militant group. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of security concerns.

Vastly outnumbered Hamas fighters routed Abbas security forces in Gaza fighting in June, and took control of the territory. In the course of the clashes, the Islamic group captured large quantities of weapons supplied to Fatah by the United States and others with Israeli approval.

A Hamas spokesman, Sami Au Zuhri, said the Israeli decision proved Abbas was working "hand in hand with the occupation against (Palestinian) resistance."

"Hamas will remain committed to fight against the occupation and will not give up," Abu Zuhri said.

Since losing Gaza, Abbas and Fatah have been locked in a low-level struggle with Hamas over control of the West Bank. Because Israel still has large numbers of troops in the West Bank, siding with Fatah, Abbas has the upper hand.

Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005.

Russia proposed shipping the armored vehicles to Palestinian security forces two years ago, but the deal was stalled because of Israeli opposition. No time frame was given for the vehicles' arrival.

Israel will approve the shipment of 25 more armored vehicles to Abbas' forces once they take control of other areas of the West Bank, the Israeli government officials said. Palestinian police are deployed in large numbers in the towns of Ramallah and Nablus.

The leader of the opposition Likud Party, Benjamin Netanyahu, said Abbas was not strong enough to receive weapons. "We will one day see Hamas sitting on the armored vehicles, firing at us," Netanyahu told Army Radio.

Since Hamas took control of Gaza, Israel has blocked almost all exports from the area, severely hurting the Gazan economy. All exports from Gaza must travel through Israel.

Gaza's 40,000 farmers have repeatedly pushed for the renewal of exports. Simchon's announcement that the Palestinians will be able to export all of their flower and strawberry crops will be worth at least $14 million (€9.5 million)to farmers, the Palestinian Chamber of Commerce said.

On Tuesday, farmers fed flowers to their cattle rather than let them go to waste.

Since the Hamas takeover, Israel has allowed only imports of food and humanitarian goods into Gaza, and it has reduced the amount of fuel it supplies to the territory. Israel will in the near future ease trade with Gaza further, Simchon said.

The international aid group Oxfam warned Wednesday of an increasing risk to public health in Gaza due to reduction in fuel supplies. About 225,000 people in Gaza do not receive adequate amounts of drinking water because water pumps are not operating at full capacity, Oxfam said in a release.

Abbas has asked Israel to ease its restrictions on impoverished Gaza. Abbas still claims to rule Gaza, though he has little influence there.

The Israeli decisions were meant to improve trust ahead of next week's conference, where the sides are expected to renew peace talks for the first time in seven years.

After a meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Tuesday in the resort of Sharm el-Sheik, Olmert pledged to follow the peace conference in Annapolis with serious negotiations on all outstanding issues. These include final borders, sovereignty over disputed Jerusalem and the fate of Palestinian refugees.

The U.S. has been pushing the sides to endorse a joint document laying out their vision for peace ahead of the conference.

Negotiators say they have made little progress, casting a cloud over the summit. But Olmert on Tuesday offered an optimistic view of peace prospects with the Palestinians.

"I very much hope we can reach this agreement in the course of 2008," Olmert said in a press conference with Mubarak. However, Olmert also signaled that carrying out any peace deal would have to wait until Abbas regains control of the Gaza Strip from Hamas.

Olmert's one-day trip to Egypt came ahead of a meeting in Cairo Friday of the Arab League, where Arab governments will decide whether to attend the conference.

Arab participation is considered critical for the summit's success, but Arab states have been reluctant to commit for fear Israel is not serious about addressing the core issues of its conflict with the Palestinians.

Israel approves armored vehicles for Abbas (http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/11/21/africa/ME-GEN-Israel-Palestinians.php)

Israel: Jews to be uprooted at Abraham's resting place
Planned evacuation part of deals for upcoming Annapolis summit

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office informed the Palestinians that Israel would uproot Jews from a building in the oldest Jewish city as part of agreements to be announced at next week's U.S.-sponsored Mideast summit in Annapolis, senior Palestinian negotiators told WND.

The building in question, purchased by Jews with the approval of the Israel Defense Forces, is situated at a strategic, elevated area that afford Jews in Hebron a lookout post to protect their vulnerable community from Palestinian attacks.

Hebron is home to the Tomb of the Patriarchs, the second holiest site in Judaism. The tomb is believed to be the resting place of the biblical patriarchs and matriarchs Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca and Leah.

In March, Hebron's Jewish community purchased a 37,600-square-foot building it later titled Beit HaShalom, or House of Peace, from local Arabs for $700,000 in cash, according to documentation. Eight families moved in to the structure, which the Jews heavily renovated.

The building's purchase papers were immediately transferred to the Israeli police and IDF. The police confirmed during an initial investigation the purchase was legitimate. Israel heavily restricts the expansion of Hebron's Jewish community, located in the West Bank, for fear of upsetting the Palestinians, who control most of the biblical territory.

A few weeks after the purchase went through, the former Arab owners of the Hebron house were arrested by the Palestinian Authority and Jordan, since selling land to Jews violates Palestinian law.

Upon interrogation, the former owners claimed the sale did not take place in spite of a video recorded by Hebron Jewish leaders and provided to Israeli police showing one of the former Arab owners counting $700,000 in cash handed to him purportedly for the purchase of Beit Hashalom.

Last month, the former Arab owners, released from PA and Jordanian detention, filed a complaint with Israel's Supreme Court claiming their property was stolen. The court ordered the Israeli police to investigate, but the police have not yet released the results of any investigation.

Earlier this month, Israel's attorney general, Menachem Mazuz, ordered the police to evacuate Beit Hashalom's Jewish residents, taking advantage of a law that allows the Israeli court system to evict any occupant of a building within 30 days of a dispute in the structure's ownership. The occupants cannot return until the dispute is resolved.

David Wilder, a spokesperson for Hebron's Jewish community, told WND he was "confident" once the court reviews the case, it would determine the purchase of Beit Hashalom was "completely legitimate and legal."

"We spent a substantial amount of money to purchase and fix up the building. We only do these things carefully, with every stage scrutinized by lawyers and coordinated with the proper Israeli authorities," said Wilder.

But senior Palestinian negotiators told WND they received a list of what they termed "illegal Jewish outposts" in the West Bank that Olmert pledged to evacuate, including the Beit Hashalom building.

The Palestinian negotiators said they were told by Olmert's office that Beit Hashalom was on the top of Olmert's list of pending evacuations.

Olmert's pledges were part of negotiations leading up to next week's Annapolis summit at which the Israeli prime minister is widely expected to outline a Palestinian state in most of the West Bank, ultimately handing the strategic territory to the Palestinians.

Wilder speculated any planned evictions from Hebron would "demonstrate this area [and all of the West Bank] is on the chopping block and might be given up by Israel. This is not about the building itself."

Jews have lived in Hebron almost continuously for over 2,500 years. There are accounts of the trials of the city's Jewish community throughout the Byzantine, Arab, Mameluke and Ottoman periods.

In 1929, as a result of an Arab pogrom in which 67 Jews were murdered, the entire Jewish community fled the city, with Hebron becoming temporarily devoid of Jews. The Jewish community returned when Israel recaptured the area in 1967, after the Jewish state won a war launched by Egypt, Syria and Jordan.

Arms encourage peace talks to bear fruit
November 22, 2007

Israel stepped up efforts to bolster Mahmoud Abbas yesterday before next week’s Annapolis peace summit, approving the transfer of 25 armoured personal carriers to Palestinian territory.

The Russian-made vehicles, 1,000 rifles and two million rounds of ammunition will be transferred to the Palestinian President’s forces in the West Bank, where his Fatah party is dominant.

In another gesture of support, Israel, which controls the Gaza Strip’s borders, announced that strawberry and flower exports from the territory could resume. The decision follows an appeal by Palestinian farmers to save the £12 million industry.

An Israeli government spokeswoman said that the moves were a show of “goodwill” before the summit in Annapolis, Maryland, on November 27. She added that Israel would deliver an additional 25 vehicles if Mr Abbas succeeded in curbing militant groups in the West Bank.

A spokesman for the Islamist Hamas party, Sami Au Zuhri, said the Israeli decision proved that Mr Abbas was working “hand in hand with the occupation against [Palestinian] resistance.” He said: “Hamas will remain committed to the fight against the occupation.”

Members of the Israeli Security Council and right-wing MPs criticised Ehud Olmert, the Israeli Prime Minister, for approving the weapons transfer, and expressed fear that the vehicles would, once again, fall into the hands of militants.

When Hamas overran the Gaza Strip in June, routing Fatah forces loyal to Mr Abbas, the Islamic group captured large quantities of weapons supplied to Fatah by the United States and others with Israeli approval.

Binyamin Netanyahu, the opposition leader, said: “It is inconceivable that we are considering delivering these [vehicles]. As soon as we do, we will see the terrorists of Hamas firing at our troops. The concessions being made by the Olmert Government are endangering the country.”

The peace talks are intended to mark an end to the seven-year freeze after the collapse of the Camp David talks in 2000. President Mubarak of Egypt was the first Arab leader to announce his country’s participation in the summit. He met Tony Blair, the Quartet envoy, yesterday to discuss “ways of reviving the peace process”.

The leaders agreed to meet King Abdullah of Jordan and Mr Abbas in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh before a meeting of the Arab League in Cairo. There has been suspicion about the Annapolis conference in the Arab world, with many questioning the ability of the Bush Administration to forge peace between two leaders.The two sides remain far apart on how to deal with the most intractable issues of the conflict, including borders, Jerusalem and the right of return for refugees.

Arms encourage peace talks to bear fruit (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article2917581.ece)

Is this the plan that brings peace to the Mideast?

Palestinians to become citizens of Jordan?
New plan calls for dismantlement of 'refugee camps,' termination of Abbas' rule

As the international community gears up for next week's U.S.-sponsored Annapolis summit aimed at outlining a Palestinian state, a new diplomatic initiative that proposes Jordanian citizenship for the Palestinians has been gaining some support here from across the political spectrum.

Named the Israeli Initiative, the alternative plan seeks to end widespread backing for the Palestinian Authority, dismantle what are termed Palestinian refugee camps, and have Jordan grant citizenship to Arabs remaining in the West Bank while the Jews there maintain their Israeli citizenship. Israel would extend its sovereignty over the entire West Bank.

"The actions of Israeli governments to establish a Palestinian state have not brought about peace but rather a whirlpool of blood," said Knesset member Benny Elon, the Initiative's founder.

"It is time for new thinking, for learning from our mistakes, and for re-reading the regional map toward a revitalized and genuine quest to achieve peace," said Elon, who is chairman of the National Union party and is a member of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.

Elon's plan calls for millions of Palestinians living in 59 U.N.-maintained camps to be given rehabilitation packages and the option of moving to outside participating countries, where agencies would work to help with resettlement, employment and housing solutions.

The Palestinians who wish to remain in the West Bank would become Jordanian citizens who could remain in the territory - controlled by Israel - while the Jordanian Kingdom would serve as their representative body.

Jordan has yet to officially react to the plan. The country previously occupied the West Bank and eastern sections of Jerusalem for almost twenty years until the area was recaptured by Israel during the 1967 Six Day War. The Jordanian monarchy continued to grant citizenship status to West Bank Palestinians until the late 1980's when the Palestinians launched their first intifada.

The Israeli Initiative cites multiple recent independent Israeli and Palestinian surveys showing many Palestinians living in U.N. camps would accept compensation and emigration to outside countries.

According to a 2004 poll, about fifty percent of Palestinian society would not rule out the option of permanently moving to another country if they had the ability and means to relocate. That survey was conducted by Ma'agar Mochot, a leading Israeli polling agency, in cooperation with the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion

Two other polls this year conducted by Palestinian universities also showed strong Palestinian support for rebuilding their lives in another country.

Elon said rehabilitation packages would be paid for by the international community.

States the plan: "Billions of dollars are expended every year on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This includes American dollars poured into the regional arms race and immense sums of European money transferred to the accounts of the Palestinian Authority ... The U.S., Europe, and Israel, together with the Arab oil-producing countries, can directly finance a program that would provide full and generous rehabilitation for the refugees."

The Israeli Initiative calls for the disintegration of the Palestinian Authority with weapons being collected or taken from armed militias and for U.N. refugee camps to be progressively dismantled.

The plan is in stark contrast to the initiatives slated to be announced at next week's Annapolis summit at which Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is widely expected to outline a Palestinian state in most of the West Bank, ultimately handing the strategic territory to PA President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah organization.

Earlier this week, WND quoted senior Palestinian negotiators stating Olmert agreed in principle to allow a number of Palestinian Arabs living in U.N. camps to enter Israel as part of an Israeli-Palestinian accord.

Palestinians have long demanded the "right of return" for millions of "refugees," a formula Israeli officials across the political spectrum warn is code for Israel's destruction by flooding the Jewish state with millions of Arabs, thereby changing its demographics.

Allowing any number of so-called Palestinian refugees to enter Israel would serve as an admission on Israel's part that millions of Palestinians living in U.N.-maintained camps are indeed refugees and have a legitimate right to live in Israel.

When Arab countries attacked the Jewish state after its creation in 1948, some 725,000 Arabs living within Israel's borders fled or were expelled from the area that became Israel. Also at that time, about 820,000 Jews were expelled from Arab countries or fled following rampant persecution.

While most Jewish refugees were absorbed by Israel and other countries, the majority of Palestinian Arabs have been maintained in 59 U.N.-run camps that do not seek to settle those Arabs elsewhere.

There are currently about 4 million Arabs who claim Palestinian refugee status with the U.N., including children and grandchildren of the original fleeing Arabs, Arabs living full-time in Jordan, and Arabs who long ago emigrated throughout the Middle East and to the West.

Other cases of worldwide refugees aided by the U.N. are handled through the international body's High Commission for Refugees, which seeks to settle the refugees quickly, usually in countries other than those from which they fled.

The U.N. created a special agency – the United Nations Relief and Works Agency – specifically to handle registered Palestinian refugees. It's the only refugee case handled by the U.N. in which the declared refugees are housed and maintained in camps for generations instead of facilitating the refugees' resettlement elsewhere.

The U.N. officially restricts the definition of refugee status worldwide for nationalities outside the Palestinian arena to those who fled a country of nationality or habitual residence due to persecution, who are unable to return to their place of residence and who have not yet been resettled. Future generations of original refugees are not included in the U.N.'s definition of refugees.

But the U.N. uses a different set of criteria only when defining a Palestinian refugee – allowing future generations to be considered refugees; terming as refugees those Arabs who have been resettled in other countries, such as hundreds of thousands in Jordan; removing the clause requiring persecution; and removing the clause requiring a refugee to be fleeing his or her "country of nationality or habitual residence" – allowing for transient Arabs who didn't normally reside within Israel to be defined as Palestinian refugees.

cont'd

Palestinian leaders, including Abbas, routinely refer to the "right of return," claiming the declared right is mandated by the U.N. But the two U.N. resolutions dealing with the refugee issue recommend that Israel "achieve a just settlement" for the "refugee problem." The resolutions, which are not binding, do not speak of any "right of return," and leave open the possibility of monetary compensation or other kinds of settlements.

Israeli initiative gains broad backing

Unveiled only recently, Elon's Initiative has already gained broad backing, including from some leftist lawmakers and U.S. politicians.

Marina Solodkin, a member of Olmert's Kadima party, said she would endorse part of the Initiative.

"Benny was right to emphasize the refugee issue in his plan," Solodkin said.

Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu, chairman of the Likud party, read from the plan this week at the Knesset plenum in a show of solidarity.

Elon said he received support on Capital Hill during a visit to Washington this week, including what he called "positive meetings" with House of Representatives whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) and Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-Nev.).

'Heart of the land of Israel'

Elon explains the West Bank, also known as the biblical territories of Judea and Samaria, "represents the heart of the land of Israel."

"Here Abraham walked with his son Isaac, here Jacob pitched his tents, here our forefathers drove out the Canaanite nations under the leadership of Joshua Bin Nun. In the hills of Judea and Samaria, there are tens of sanctified sites of historical and religious significance."

About 200,000 Jews live in the West Bank, which borders Jerusalem and is within rocket range of Tel Aviv and Israel's international airport.

Many villages in the West Bank are mentioned throughout the Torah.

The Book of Genesis says Abraham entered Israel at Shechem (Nablus) and received God's promise of land for his offspring. He later was buried in Hebron at the city's Tomb of the Patriarchs, the second holiest site in Judaism. Hebron is the oldest Jewish city in the world.

The nearby town of Beit El, anciently called Bethel meaning "house of God," is where Scripture says the patriarch Jacob slept on a stone pillow and dreamed of angels ascending and descending a stairway to heaven. In that dream, God spoke directly to Jacob and reaffirmed the promise of territory.

And in Exodus, the holy tabernacle rested in Shilo, believed to be the first area the ancient Israelites settled after fleeing Egypt.

Elon said Israeli forfeiture of biblical territories would "expresses the Jewish people's rejection of its roots and lead to a loss of awareness of our rights to the country."

His plan calls PA control over the West Bank "dangerous" for Israel and for regional stability.

"This would be a strategic catastrophe of the first magnitude. After the northern region of Israel was paralyzed following the presence of Hezbollah on our border, and after the Western Negev is absorbing a rain of Qassam rockets [following Israel's withdrawal from Gaza], it is not difficult to imagine what the central region – including Jerusalem – will look like when dominated by enemy forces."

Palestinian state
by '08, says Bush
Tells PA president in private meeting
U.S. committed to Israeli withdrawal

President Bush told Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas during a private meeting today the U.S. will ensure the Palestinians will have a state on the ground before Bush leaves office, a senior Palestinian negotiator told WND.

"Bush and the U.S. administration gave us a commitment there will be a Palestinian state before he leaves office, and not just an outline of a state on paper but contiguous territory on the ground," said the Palestinian negotiator, who spoke on condition his name be withheld because he was revealing the contents of a private meeting.

"Bush said he is committed to seeing an Israeli withdrawal from most of the West Bank," the negotiator said.

Bush met separately today with Abbas and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert ahead of tomorrow's U.S.-sponsored Annapolis summit at which the Israeli and Palestinian teams are slated to present a joint declaration widely expected to outline a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and eastern sections of Jerusalem.

After holding private meetings with the Israeli and Palestinian leaders, Bush told reporters at a press conference he was "optimistic" tomorrow's summit would be successful.

"We want to help [Abbas]. We want there to be peace. We want the people in the Palestinian territories to have hope," said Bush after his meeting with the Palestinian leader.

Abbas later told a news conference he has "a great deal of hope that this conference will produce permanent status negotiations, expanded negotiations, over all permanent status issues that would lead to a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinian people."

"This is a great initiative and we need [Bush's] continuing effort to achieve this objective," said Abbas.

In what has been described by some media outlets as a diplomatic coup for Bush, the governments of Syria, Saudi Arabia and dozens of other Arab states are sending senior representatives to tomorrow's summit.

WND reported yesterday that according to top diplomatic sources in Jerusalem, in exchange for Saudi Arabia attending the Annapolis conference, the Israeli government agreed to recognize the importance of a Saudi-sponsored "peace initiative" in which the Jewish state is called upon to evacuate the strategic Golan Heights, the entire West Bank and eastern sections of Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount and the Western Wall.

While Israel doesn't commit itself to the Saudi-backed Arab Peace Initiative's requirements, a clause in the current draft of the Israeli-Palestinian declaration slated for the Annapolis conference and obtained by WND reads: "We recognize the critical supporting role of Arab and Muslim states and the importance of the Arab Peace Initiative."

As well, Syria reportedly agreed to attend Annapolis after Damascus received American and Israeli commitments the Golan Heights would be put on the table at the Israeli-Palestinian conference.

The Golan Heights is strategic mountainous territory that looks down on Israeli population centers and twice was used by Syria to launch ground invasions into the Jewish state.

While Israel is not expected to commit itself to evacuating the Golan Heights at Annapolis, the mere mentioning of the strategic territory at the international summit could serve to put the issue back on the bargaining table.

Syria is in a military alliance with Iran and is accused by the U.S. of supporting the insurgency in Iraq and generating instability in Lebanon. Israel says Syria regularly ships Iranian rockets and weaponry to the Lebanese Hezbollah militia. The chiefs of the Hamas and Islamic Jihad Palestinian terror groups are based in Damascus. Syria is also accused by Israel of holding Israeli soldiers missing in action, including Brooklyn-born Zachary Baumel, who was captured by Syrian forces 23 years ago.

Syria was invited to the summit without any preconditions or pledges to cease its purported backing of terrorism or its alleged meddling in Lebanese affairs.

Israel marks 60 years since Palestine split
Decision to partition Holy land between Jews, Arabs still heart of conflict

Nov. 30, 2007

JERUSALEM - It was one of the most dramatic moments in the modern history of the Middle East — the world’s nations voting one by one in the U.N. General Assembly to partition the Holy Land into separate Jewish and Arab states.

Exactly 60 years later, the concept remains at the heart of renewed attempts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. At this week’s U.S.-sponsored peace conference outside Washington, Israel and the Palestinians again pledged efforts to wrap up a peace treaty that would set up the two states envisioned in 1947.

Three full-scale wars and two bloody Palestinian uprisings have failed either to change the two-state formula or bring it much closer to reality.
Story continues below ↓advertisement

Violence has marked the process from the outset. When the General Assembly voted to partition the land on Nov. 29, 1947, it was clear it would set off a war between Jews and Arabs.

The day of the vote is legendary in Israel. Its 600,000 Jewish inhabitants huddled around their radios to listen to the live broadcast from the United Nations. Many kept score nervously in “yes” and “no” columns as the representatives called out their votes on the partition resolution.

It was no done deal, participants recalled in an Israel TV documentary that aired Wednesday. Israeli delegates scampered from room to room trying to garner enough support, while avoiding the British, who considered their very presence in the building illegal as long as they ruled Palestine under a U.N. mandate.

Suzy Eban, widow of legendary Israeli diplomat Abba Eban, Israel’s first ambassador to the U.N., described the tension. With a two-thirds vote required, the key, she said, was persuading France to back the partition — swaying the votes of its allies in Africa and elsewhere.

In the end, the partition was approved, 33 to 13, with 10 abstentions.

Celebrations ahead of war preparations
That set off wild Jewish celebrations in the streets of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, though their leaders were preparing for the war they knew would follow. With the end of the British mandate on May 14, 1948, Israel declared its independence, and Arab armies invaded from three directions.

The two-year war that followed cost Israel 10 percent of its population in war dead, but its ragtag forces beat back the invaders, expanding the territory allotted to it under the U.N. partition plan. The 1949 cease-fire lines held until the 1967 Middle East war, when Israel captured additional territory — the West Bank, Gaza Strip, east Jerusalem, the Golan Heights and Sinai desert, which was returned to Egypt under a 1979 peace treaty.

Local Arabs, charging that the Zionists stole their land, responded to the 1947 vote with violence, launching a series of attacks that left dozens of Jews dead. Nov. 29 is considered a day of sadness by Palestinians, and they mark May 14 as the “day of catastrophe,” because about 700,000 Palestinians fled or were driven from their homes during the war that followed.

Today, some regret the Arab rejection of the partition.

“If they had accepted the partition plan, it seems to me that long ago there would have been two states for two peoples,” an unidentified resident of the Israeli Arab town of Um el-Fahm told Israel Army Radio. “We would have been spared all the wars and the mess since then.”

Today about 1 million Arabs are Israeli citizens, another 4 million live under Israeli control in the West Bank and Gaza, and hundreds of thousands still languish in refugee camps in neighboring countries.

Painfully slow progress
Political progress over the decades has been painfully slow. Forty years passed before the main Palestinian organization, the PLO, recognized Israel and abandoned its stated goal of destroying the Jewish state. In 1993, Israel and the Palestinians signed their first interim accord, setting out a formula for peace talks to resolve the conflict.

But since then, mediation efforts by the United States, Europe, United Nations and others have failed to nudge the two sides toward a solution of their key disagreements: borders, Jerusalem and refugees.

Even so, Israeli historian Tom Segev said the process is moving glacially in the direction of a settlement.

Once Palestinians refused to talk to Israelis, Israel refused to consider a Palestinian state and Palestinians rejected Israel, Segev wrote in the Haaretz daily. “All that is behind us. Most Israelis and most Palestinians agree in principle to dividing the country between them.”

Israel marks 60 years since Palestine split (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22030535/)

Hamas threatens to strike inside Israel
2007-12-01 20:32:09

GAZA, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) --The military wing of Hamas pledged on Saturday to strike in the depth of Israel in response to the killing of five of its militants in pre-dawn air strikes in southern Gaza Strip.

"The Israeli army's happiness after killing the resistance men would not last long and the time of account is imminent," Abu Obaida, the spokesman of the Ezz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades said at the funeral of the fighters in Khan Younis city.

"The enemy must be ready for black funerals. Al-Qassam Brigades will turn everything on the head of the Zionists, destroy all their expectations and attack them unexpectedly," warned the spokesman.

Ezz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, have the capability to recruit 100 fighters at any time to succeed anyone killed by the Israeli troops, Abu Obaida said.

He slammed the U.S-hosted peace conference held in Annapolis onNov. 27 as "a cover for the Israeli army's aggression" and attacked the acting Palestinian government in the West Bank for implementing the U.S.-sponsored security plans.

Hamas movement has said the Israeli military escalation was a natural result of Annapolis conference. "Waging the war against the resistance is the only clear result of the ominous meeting."

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert launched at the U.S.-sponsored peace conference in Annapolis, Maryland their first formal peace talks in seven years with the goal of forging a deal by the end of 2008 to create a Palestinian state.

Hamas and other allied militant groups have strongly opposed the resumption of peace talks with Israel, saying Abbas does not have political legitimacy to speak on behalf of Palestinians.

They also oppose the U.S.-sponsored "road map" which calls for the renouncement of force in the first place.

The Islamic Jihad movement, meanwhile, called on Palestinian factions to unite and put their differences aside in the face of what it called a looming Israeli incursion.

The Israeli aerial attacks in Khan Younis killed five militants from Hamas and wounded three others.

The killed militants had been positioned not far from the border, monitoring the security fence that separates Israel and the Gaza Strip in the east of Khan Younis to encounter Israeli undercover and special forces that often infiltrate the border areas by night.

Hamas threatens to strike inside Israel (http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-12/01/content_7181335.htm)

Kabbalist Blesses Jones: Now´s the Time to Find Holy Lost Ark
December 5, '07

(IsraelNN.com) The famed archaeologist, the inspiration for the “Indiana Jones” movie series, has spent most of his life searching for the Ark of the Covenant. The ark was the resting place of the Ten Commandments, given to the Jewish people at Mount Sinai, and was hidden just before the destruction of the First Temple.

The Talmud says the Ark is hidden in a secret passage under the Temple Mount. Jones says that the tunnel actually continues 18 miles southward, and that the Ark was brought through the tunnel to its current resting place in the Judean Desert.

Throughout the many years of his quest, Jones has been in close contact and under the tutelage of numerous Rabbis and Kabbalists. Extremely knowledgeable in Torah, Talmud and Kabbalah sources dealing with Holy Temple issues, Jones has now received permission from both known and secret Kabbalists to finally uncover the lost ark.

Dr. Jones, who divides his time between Texas and Israel, has been here since March 9th ready to finally reveal the Ark. However, he has been waiting for both permission from the mysterious Kabbalist and for project funding to come through.

As recently as last month, the rabbi, who only communicates via messenger, told Jones that the time was not yet right to discover the Temple vessels.

Last Thursday, however, Dr. Jones received a communication from the rabbi reading, “The time is right.”

Armed with this and other blessings, Jones is now excited to uncover his life's pursuit. He believes the ark will be discovered by Tisha B'Av (Aug. 14), a day of repeated tragedy in Jewish history. Most notably, it is the anniversary of the destruction of both the First and Second Holy Temples.

Noahide guru Jones says that the State of Israel is passing through the same biblical straights as the generation that first entered Israel after the exodus from Egypt. “If history repeats itself, the history itself is prophecy,” Jones says.

“Israel is different from all other nations in a lot of ways, but more than anything else, Israel is the only nation whose history was written before it happened.”

Once a Christian pastor, Jones left his post to become a leader of the growing Noahide movement. Noahides are G-d fearing non-Jews who observe the seven laws of Noah, which are obligatory upon all of humanity.

The explorer and teacher published a book in 1959 predicting the precise outbreak of the Six Day War, based on his analysis of the period from the Exodus from Egypt up until the First Temple Period. He says that applying biblical analysis to modern times points to major events that will “turn the world right-side-up.”

Jones calculated the war in 1967 by analyzing the sequence of events in the First Temple Period and transposing them onto the "Third Temple Period” – the period beginning with the Jews’ foundation of an independent State in the Land of Israel in 1948.

“It fits just like tongue in groove,” he says.

Jones analyzed the following passage from the book of Bamidbar (Numbers): “Every man from 20 years old and upward, all that are able to go to war...". He said it could be read this way, "So from 20 years old and upward, all that are able to go, went to war in Israel.”

“Well, ’67 was the 20th year,” said Jones, who received acclaim for fighting as a non-listed soldier in the Six Day War. He was the only non-Jewish American to take part in the combat.

“Two years at Mt. Sinai, and then the Jewish people went to Kadesh Barnea,” he says, referring to the time immediately following the Exodus. Transposing the Jewish people’s first entry into Israel via the Jericho region and the re-entry to those areas in 1967, one can find striking similarities.

“At Kadesh Barnea, [the Jewish Nation] sent in those [twelve] spies who gave the evil report, and because they believed the evil report, they were sentenced to wander for 38 years before they could come into Gilgal” – an ancient city near Jericho.

“1967 was a repetition of Kadesh Barnea,” Jones says. “If Israel had come in and taken this place, the Arabs would have fled like they did in 1948. But no, because of the evil report of Golda Meir and Motta Gur and Moshe Dayan, who said ‘We cannot do that, world opinion will be against us.’ So Israel was sentenced to 38 years more – and June the 7th [2005], Jerusalem Day, will be the 38th year.

Jones believes that the Jewish prophecies regarding the greatly anticipated redemption are occuring in front of our eyes.

Jones' escapades and explorations were the inspiration for the blockbuster movie 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' of the 'Indiana Jones' trilogy. The man who wrote the first draft of the film, Randolph Fillmore, was one of the volunteers who worked with Jones in 1977.

“I agreed to help him write the movie,” Jones said, “as long as – number one – he wouldn’t set it here (in Israel). Some people believe the ark is in Ethiopia or Egypt, some believe its in Constantinople or Rome. I just didn’t want it to be portrayed as being here. The second thing was, 'Don’t use my name.' So he didn’t. My name is Vendyl – V-E-N-D-Y-L. So he just dropped the first and last letters and it ended up Endy Jones.”

Although at the time of the film, Jones was far from pinpointing the location of the Ark, he has come a long way since then. With the help of an ancient document found in Qumran together with the Dead Sea Scrolls, known as the “Copper Scroll”, Dr. Jones is convinced he has pinpointed the location of the Ark of the Covenant.

“In the copper scroll, the first five lines say, 'In the desolations of the Valley of Achur, in the opening under the ascent, which is a mountain facing eastward, covered by forty placed boulders – here is a tabernacle and all the golden fixtures,'” Jones says.

"This is what we have been looking for all these years, and I’ve walked over those boulders thousands of times without really stepping back and looking – realizing ‘hey, those boulders have been brought in here, they’ve been placed in here, they didn’t come off a mountain. And they’re huge.’”

Jones recounts his early explorations into the tunnels which lead from the ancient Old City of Jerusalem, near Jaffa Gate, to the foot of the Dead Sea. “My son and I went an hour and 20 minutes into the tunnel. There were so many branches and we didn’t have anything to mark the route, so I said, ‘We better get out of here and come back with a roll of string.’ Then I made the mistake of asking permission to do it. That was before I learned that Israel is a lot like heaven - it is a lot easier to get forgiveness than it is permission.”

Dr. Jones, wearing an orange anti-disengagement bracelet, dismisses the current Israeli government's plan to uproot the Jews of Gaza and northern Samaria from their homes. "There will not be any disengagement, nor will there be any Palestinian State,” he says.

Jones, who has a photographic memory, quotes: “Chapter One in Isaiah: 'How has the holy city become a harlot? Righteousness filled the street, but now murderers. The ruler is a friend of thieves and the ministers desire bribes.'”

“The prophet wasn’t talking about his day – he was talking about now. ‘Therefore, says the L-rd, I will restore them to their beginnings. I will set judges up as at first, and counselors as in the beginning.’”

The Sharon government will soon be history, Jones asserts, and the Sanhedrin (the Jewish High Court of 71 judges) will take its place and lead the Jewish people. “The Sanhedrin was established October the 13th of last year. Now all we have to do is have an election to elect counselors. The Sanhedrin is like a Senate and the elected counselors are like a House of Representatives.”

Dr. Jones says the discovery of the lost ark will “flip the whole world right-side-up.”

“I just gotta drill a bore-hole into the chamber, drop a pin-camera in and there it is. And everything is gonna change, believe me. The Jewish people are gonna come back.”

Kabbalist Blesses Jones: Now´s the Time to Find Holy Lost Ark (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/82226)

Fatah 'ready to unite with Hamas'

Top minister in Abbas' government says Fatah would join ranks with Islamist group if it agrees to share power in Gaza Strip or if Israel launches major attack there. 'We must stand together to fight the occupation,' he says
Aaron Klein, WND

JERUSALEM – Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah organization would join ranks with the Hamas terror group if it agreed to share power in the Gaza Strip or if Israel launched a major attack in Gaza, a member of Abbas' government told WND on Thursday during an exclusive interview.

"If Hamas agrees to stop their coup in Gaza then why shouldn't we (Fatah) be together with them? We are open for dialogue and reconciliation," said Qadura Fares, a member of the PA parliament and a top minister in Abbas' government.

Fares' remarks come one week after Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert committed at last week's US-sponsored Annapolis summit to aim at concluding an agreement with Abbas by next year in which the Jewish state is widely expected to evacuate swaths of the strategic West Bank and eastern sections of Jerusalem, handing the territories to Abbas.

Fares' statements also come as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice yesterday asked Congress to approve a $400 million aid package, stating the massive new proposed funding was meant to boost Abbas against Hamas.

Fares told WND today if Israel launched an attack on Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Fatah should come to Hamas' aid even if the group doesn't agree to a power share in Gaza.

"Fatah will try to defend Gaza if Hamas is attacked there by Israel. We must stand together to fight the occupation," said Fares.

'Begin non-conditional dialogue'

Hamas last year won a majority of Palestinian parliamentary seats and forged a national unity government with Abbas' Fatah party which was maintained until Hamas took complete control of the Gaza Strip this past summer, seizing all US-backed Fatah security compounds in the territory in less than seven days.

Since then, the US reportedly has provided emergency aid, including funds and weapons shipments, to bolster Abbas against Hamas in the West Bank.

But there have been reports Hamas and Fatah might reconcile.

According to Fatah political sources speaking to WND, the Egyptian and Saudi Arabian governments have been moderating between their party and Hamas in an attempt to reform a Palestinian unity government. The sources said Abbas set as a precondition for reconciliation Hamas giving up its seizure of Gaza and has expressed willingness to allow Egyptian forces to control Fatah's former compounds in Gaza instead of Fatah forces immediately entering the territory.

The Fatah sources said Abbas did not ask Hamas to recognize Israel or agree to commitments expressed at last week's Annapolis as a precondition for any reconciliation.

Meanwhile some Fatah officials are reportedly urging Abbas to rejoin Hamas without any preconditions. Yesterday, members of Fatah's revolutionary voted for Abbas to hold unconditional and immediate talks with Hamas aimed at a new unity government.

In response, Hamas leader in Gaza and deposed Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh today renewed his previous calls for dialogue with Abbas.

"We believe it is necessary to immediately begin a non-conditional dialogue that will work to heal the Palestinian wounds," said Haniyeh.

Fatah 'ready to unite with Hamas' (http://www.ynetnews.com/Ext/Comp/ArticleLayout/CdaArticlePrintPreview/1,2506,L-3479747,00.html)

Israel livid as pilgrims cross Rafah
Yaakov Katz
THE JERUSALEM POST
Dec. 6, 2007

Amid concerns that terrorists were allowed to leave Gaza and travel abroad for training in Iran, Israel has filed a complaint with Cairo after Egypt allowed 1,700 Palestinians to pass through the Rafah Crossing to make the haj pilgrimage to Mecca.

On Monday, for the first time since Hamas's violent takeover of Gaza in June, Egypt unilaterally opened the Rafah border terminal and allowed 700 Palestinians, who claimed to be religious pilgrims on their way to Mecca, to pass through. On Tuesday, another 1,000 crossed through the terminal.

"This is a clear breach of agreements we have made with the Egyptians," a senior diplomatic official said Wednesday, in reference to the November 2005 agreement under which the Rafah Crossing was opened. The official said the unilateral opening of the border had been preceded by another breach of agreements in October, when Egypt allowed 85 Hamas operatives to cross back into Gaza after cutting a hole in the border fence.

IDF intelligence estimates released Wednesday indicated that up to a couple of dozen Hamas terrorists were among the so-called pilgrims Egypt allowed out of the Gaza Strip. In recent years, hundreds of Hamas terrorists have traveled abroad to Iran and Lebanon for military training, and officials said it was possible that these terrorists would do the same.

Once the 1,700 Palestinians return to the border to reenter Gaza, they will join another 2,000 Palestinians who have been waiting near the border crossing since Hamas seized control of the Strip in June. Military Intelligence believes there are a number of wanted terrorists within that group as well.

In response to the increasing number of violations, the Foreign Ministry filed a harsh complaint with Cairo, and senior defense officials are scheduled to travel to Egypt in the coming week for talks about the recent events.

In addition to allowing Palestinians to pass through the Rafah Crossing, Israel is also upset with the Egyptians' continued failure to curb the smuggling of weapons and explosives via tunnels into the Gaza Strip. According to recent assessments, since Hamas's takeover, the terror group has smuggled into Gaza 100 tons of explosives, millions of bullets, hundreds of anti-tank missiles and even a small number of Katyusha rockets.

A delegation of American military engineers recently toured the Egyptian side of the Philadelphi Corridor and was shown a number of tunnels that the Egyptians tried to portray as being too small for weapons-smuggling. According to Israeli officials, the delegation was not convinced and demanded that Cairo take more decisive action against the smuggling industry.

"We have no doubt that if they only wanted to, they are capable of curbing the smuggling," a defense official said.

Israel livid as pilgrims cross Rafah (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1196847263033&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)

PLC passes law to make any concessions on J'lem illegal
Khaled Abu Toameh , THE JERUSALEM POST Dec. 6, 2007

The Hamas-dominated Palestinian Legislative Council is pushing through a bill that would make it illegal to make any concessions on Jerusalem.

The bill, which passed its first reading on Thursday, also defines such concessions as a crime of high treason.

Presented by Hamas legislator Ahmed Abu Halbiyeh on behalf of two parliamentary committees - the judicial committee and the committee for Jerusalem affairs - the bill is expected to pass in second and third readings in the coming days.

The PLC session was boycotted by many members of the rival Fatah faction in protest of Hamas's violent takeover of the Gaza Strip last June.

However, many Fatah legislators have made it known that they too support the law, which states that Jerusalem is a Palestinian, Arab and Islamic city and that it is totally forbidden to give up or conduct negotiations about any part of the city.

According to the proposed law, anyone who violates these prohibitions would be prosecuted as a traitor.

The bill still requires the approval of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, said Ahmed Bahar, acting speaker of the PLC. He said the law would be presented to Abbas after it passed second and third readings.

The law is intended to embarrass Abbas and ties his hands on the eve of the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations on core issues, including the future status of Jerusalem. Hamas officials said Abbas would have no other option but to endorse the law.

Tayeb Abdel Rahim, a top aide to Abbas, said in response that, as far as the PA was concerned, Jerusalem was a "red line" that cannot be crossed.

Abbas told supporters in Ramallah Thursday that he did not go to Annapolis to make concessions. "There are some people who are trying to distort the truth," he said. "They are saying that we went to Annapolis to sell our cause, negotiate and sign agreements. But we went there to convey our principle and fixed positions."

Abbas said the Palestinian delegation to Annapolis faced many "obstacles." These included demands to recognize Israel as a Jewish state and to relinquish the rights of the Palestinian refugees, he added.

Abbas also revealed that he and his team rejected the idea of establishing a Palestinian state with temporary borders for fear that the borders would one day become permanent.

"The Palestinian people want a state in the 1967 borders, including Jerusalem," he stressed. "We also want a solution to the problem of the refugees in accordance with the Arab peace initiative and United Nations resolution 194."

Abbas reiterated his readiness to talk to Hamas, but only after the Islamist movement relinquishes control over the Gaza Strip.

"What Hamas did [in the Gaza Strip] was a disaster for the Palestinians," he said. "This was an evil coup that was carried out by the prime minister and interior minister in the deposed [Hamas] government. But we are not opposed to dialogue with Hamas. Hamas is an integral part of the Palestinian people."

PLC passes law to make any concessions on J'lem illegal (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1196847272927&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)

Hitler a Hero on Palestinian Authority Radio

by Ezra HaLevi

(IsraelNN.com) A Palestinian Authority radio contest featured a laudatory biography of Adolf Hitler replete with his military victories, heroism and no mention of the Holocaust.

"His golden year was 1940, when his armies invaded Denmark, Norway, Luxembourg, Holland, and Belgium and defeated France…By mid 1942, his country controlled the largest land area in Europe…He refused to surrender and continued to fight for two more years, but, his bitter end came in the spring of 1945 when he took his own life…Who is he?" was the question broadcast as a Voice of Palestine radio contest on November 27.

The question was part of the official Palestinian Authority-run radio’s Ramadan quiz - rebroadcast this past week, and documented by Palestinian Media Watch (PMW).

The broadcast presents Hitler heroically, detailing his two Medals of Honor in World War I, his rise to power, his launching of World War II and specifies country after country that he conquered.

“Not surprisingly, though citing his victories and 'bitter' fall in great detail, the Holocaust is not mentioned,” the latest PMW report states. “This is consistent with Palestinian education in general which erases the Holocaust from history." A recent PMW report on the new 12th grade PA history schoolbook showed that many pages were dedicated to the history of World War II and even to Nazi racism, but neither Jews nor the Holocaust were mentioned.

According to the PMW report, “t is important to understand that the revulsion of Hitler expected in the West is not true in Palestinian society. Palestinians can be found who are named "Hitler" as a first name: Hitler Salah [Al Hayat Al Jadida (Fatah), Sept. 28, 2005], Hitler Abu-Alrab [Al Hayat Al Jadida (Fatah), Jan. 27, 2005], Hitler Mahmud Abu-Libda [Al Hayat Al Jadida (Fatah), Dec.18, 2000.] Articles have appeared in both Fatah and Hamas newspapers which demonstrate Hitler's admired status.”

The Voice of Palestine contest offered a prize of 600 shekels to the person who guessed Hitler's name.

Long History of PA Adulation of Hitler
Admiration of Hitler in PA newspapers is nothing new. A PA newspaper which proudly listed the ways in which different foreign leaders singled out the Arabs of Israel as examples of ideal revolutionaries proudly began the article with a quote from Adolf Hitler:

"Adolf Hitler, while exciting the Germans of the Sudetenland - the Sudetenland is a German province that the Allies had annexed to Czechoslovakia after the First World War - told them in his broadcasts: Look at what the Palestinian revolutionaries are doing to Great Britain!!"
[Al-Rissala (Hamas Weekly), May 18, 2006]

The phenomenon of PA Arabs being named after Hitler was explained in an article in the official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida (Fatah) on April 13, 2000:

"Even Adolf Hitler, who after the fall of Nazi Germany turned into a political horror for most of the writers and artists, during the last decades has started to return himself to his part of the picture. There are some in Britain who defended Hitler and tried to do justice for him. There are elderly people, among them Arabs, who still carry the name Hitler since their fathers, who were charmed by him, linked them [their children] with his name."

The admiration for Hitler is consistent with the status of Mein Kampf, which a PA daily cited as a best-seller in PA-controlled areas [Al Hayat Al Jadida (Fatah), Sept. 2, 1999].

Historic Nazi Ties
The Hitler - Arab alliance during World War II is a factor in the continued admiration for Hitler apparent in PA society. Mufti Haj Amin al-Husseini, the Arab leader in pre-state Israel under the British Mandate, was a staunch ally of Hitler. The meetings between the Mufti and Hitler are well documented.

“Those Were the Days”
The PMW report closes with the translation of an interview from a PA daily of Sheikh Ali Hussein Abu-Ibrahim, a Palestinian resident of Lebanon who claims he is 116 years old and describing his professed friendship with Hitler, as well as his pride in fighting for the Nazi leader. “Whereas this is a personal account whose historical accuracy is not important, what is significant is the positive, even proud attitude about his friendship with Hitler, that is being expressed so routinely,” the report states:

"Question: What are the important events in your life that left the biggest impression?”

“Answer: The first was the Hitler event. I met him in Jerusalem in one of the Turkish Army camps, and the friendship between us was very tight. At the time, I was a sergeant while Hitler was a simple private. The relationship between us tightened even more once Turkey entered the war together with Germany. The second event was when I participated [with the Nazi army] in entering France and conquering it. I was in charge of the cannon that shelled Paris, which had an active influence on the fall of the French capital and its conquest without any notable resistance. Hitler congratulated me on this shelling and its consequences… As an artillery officer, I took part in many operations against the English and France, until the end of the Second World-War …"

Hitler a Hero on Palestinian Authority Radio (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/124485)

Go west - or become Palestinian
By Lily Gal ili
December 06, 2007 Kislev 26, 5768

In the next few weeks, about 80,000 Jewish settlers in the West Bank, who have remained imprisoned on the eastern side of the separation barrier, will receive a surprising envelope. In it they will find a Palestinian passport issued by the One Home movement, which is promoting the idea of their returning to inside the Green Line (the pre-1967 Six-Day War border). More precisely, the letter originates in the consulting firm of Motti Morel and Ronen Tzur, who are in charge of One Home's campaign. Presumably many of the addressees will see the letter as a provocation. For others the passport will concretize their feeling that their country has left them on the wrong side of the fence.

In recent days the "evacuation-compensation" idea, which has been boiling beneath the surface ever since the law was first formulated by MKs Avshalom Vilan (Meretz) and Colette Avital (Labor), has erupted into public discourse. This fact in and of itself does not ensure the success or failure of the move. The fact that the initiative has now been adopted by Defense Minister Ehud Barak does afford it another dimension. Even if he did embrace the law in his role as a Labor Party chairman looking for an agenda, his position and status as defense minister accord more importance to the fate of 80,000 people.

"It isn't by chance that Barak has come out with this now of all times," says MK Vilan. "It's worth it to him. Instead of being pushed to evacuate settlements by force, here he has a plan for a larger voluntary evacuation. According to our measures, there are currently about 40,000 people who are prepared - and even want - to evacuate willingly. It is also possible to bear the price: It is a matter of a first stage amounting to $2 billion spread out over five years. There are already foreign donors for our movement, who are prepared to provide financial help for such a move."
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Incognito inquiry

In the shadow of the disengagement and the Second Lebanon War, the evacuation-compensation initiative dropped from the public agenda. But quiet activity continued behind the scenes. Vilan and Avital met with groups of settlers, and were sometimes subjected to curses. Presumably the 2005 disengagement from Gush Katif (the settlement bloc in the Gaza Strip), and afterward from Amona (in the West Bank) served as a catalyst: The state proved that not only was it capable of evacuating, but that it knows how to do so violently. The experience furthermore conveyed, and not only to the evacuees, that those who once were the state's darlings can become a nuisance to it in the blink of an eye. There was a quiet increase in the queries to the public movement One Home, which was established in 2005 in the wake of the legislation. Recently, the organization has received up to 2,000 queries - some letters, some e-mails - from people who want to learn more about the conditions for evacuation-compensation.

Michal Steinman, who has collected the applications and replied to them, has noticed two prominent phenomena: The majority of these queries have been unsigned, most likely because the writers are afraid of hostile or violent reactions from their neighbors, as has happened in the past to those who identified themselves. The other commonality concerns terminology: "We are being abandoned," "We are hostages," "They have turned us into bargaining chips." There is also a feeling of "living on packing crates," even if this is still metaphoric. Some describe at length the isolation to which the new reality condemns them, the friends who no longer come over and the alienation of being cut off from grandchildren who don't come to visit any more.

The Annapolis conference has brought this subject back to the center of the public arena. During the preparatory stages for the conference, when it was clear that Israel had to come up with "something," evacuation-compensation was pulled out as a worthy initiative that could be proposed. Vilan presented the law to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who promised to have a look at it; Vice Premier Haim Ramon, who had joined the initiative at the start of the One Home activity, spoke about it with Olmert. Minister Without Portfolio Ami Ayalon thought that bringing it up at Annapolis would have significance both for the Israeli public and for the international community. He made similar comments to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. "It is better that you evaluate me according to the number of Israelis who move from east to west than according to the amount of force invested into an operation to evacuate three settlers from one illegal outpost," he told her. He also thinks that this kind of matter cannot come as a private members' bill, but should rather be in the form of a law proposed by the government.

Since embarking on his activity in One Home, Ayalon has become a Knesset member and now also serves as government minister. Yet he is not at all disturbed by the fact that instead of formulating a policy and acting in accordance with it, both the Knesset and the government are in fact tempting citizens. "I don't see what the problem is," he says, rejecting the accusation. "We tempted the settlers to go there and now the appropriate thing to do is to avoid forced evacuation. A country enforces its laws as a last resort. When we arrive at a diplomatic agreement, we will have to enforce. In the meantime, it is best to be 'wise' rather than 'justified.' Such a move also sends a message to Palestinian society - the Israelis are moving westward and not eastward."

Crisis of confidence

On Sunday of this week, a working meeting of the One Home team was convened at the Morel-Tzur offices. On the agenda was the continuation of the campaign. During the course of the discussion, an employee came in and put a piece of paper on the table. It was only after several minutes that someone took a look at the paper and identified the unexpected asset that had come into their hands: The paper was a printout from the government meeting that had occurred at the same time, during the course of which Barak had declared his support for a voluntary evacuation-compensation arrangement.

cont'd next post

At first the strategic advisors were a bit scornful of Barak's uncharacteristic haste in adopting an agenda that the Labor Party had so lacked; then they were already imagining the settlers' requests for evacuation-compensation arriving at the defense minister's bureau, as part of a campaign they were now formulating. "Barak took an idea around which he can gather a consensus of left and center, and even parts of the right," says strategic advisor Tzur. "A form requesting compensation is being added to the Palestinian passport sent to the settlers in those areas. We will pass the completed forms on to the Defense Minister's Bureau."

However, the initiative is being promoted at a time of a profound crisis of confidence between the public and its government. The continuing neglect in finding housing solutions for the Gush Katif evacuees is proving corrosive, and not only at the level of the evacuees' trust. The crisis of confidence, which has grown more profound since the Second Lebanon War, comprises far larger public sectors. This atmosphere could deter even those settlers who do want to evacuate.

Vilan is not worried. According to him, the law he proposed together with Avital is much simpler than the evacuation-compensation that applied to Gush Katif and is not expected to cause problems of that sort. Morel sums up the difference with undisguised irony: "Precisely the opposite," he says. "The government has indeed proven that it is incapable of doing anything, apart from writing a check. And this is exactly what will be required of it in the evacuation-compensation law. A person will bring a note from the government, saying that he is evacuating a home and he will receive a check in retun. This process is so simple that even the present government can implement it."

This view is not shared by Lior Kalfa, the former chairman of the Gush Katif Settlers Committee and currently the chairman of the settlers' lobby. To this day he is living in the transit station at Nitzan and only now are they beginning to prepare the plot on which his home will be built. He is advising the settlers not to move, both because of his ideological perspective as well as from accumulated experience. "They should look at us," he says, "at families that are collapsing, at the psychological breakage. No money in the world can compensate for all of that."

He is advising the settlers on the other side of the separation fence not to hasten to be evacuated, for completely practical reasons, too: "The current reality as well as all the research studies show that even in a situation of expulsion, the struggle up until the last moment pays off psychologically. The settlers who fought until the bitter end are in better psychological shape than those who wanted to arrive at an arrangement with the state at an early stage." The argument is not limited to the realm of the psyche: "Settlements that insisted on staying until the last moment received more."

The Palestinian passport that will be sent to the settlers along with the evacuation-compensation application form will also be accompanied by a letter that will outline the emerging reality: evacuation-compensation or life under Palestinian rule. It will also contain a warning about the inability of the separation fence to protect the inhabitants on the other side of it. "If the Israel Defense Forces did not succeed in protecting Netzarim, are they going to defend 80,000 people?" the letter will ask.

What should have been the government's job is being handled by a public movement, which is basing its proposal on the government's inability to protect its citizens.

Go west - or become Palestinian (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/932091.html)

Israel allows return of Bethlehem 'Nativity terrorists'
Jihadists took over believed birthplace of Jesus, accused of Christian persecution
Posted: December 6, 2007
12:49 p.m. Eastern

By Aaron Klein
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

JERUSALEM – Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has agreed to a Palestinian request for senior terrorist leaders expelled to Europe after seizing Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity in 2002 to return to Bethlehem, a top Palestinian negotiator told WND.

The terrorists, members of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah militias, long have been accused of engaging in campaigns against Bethlehem's Christian population. The terrorists are accused of carrying out and planning multiple attacks, including suicide bombings and deadly shootings.

Olmert is strongly considering allowing the terrorists to return as a gesture toward Abbas following last month's U.S.-backed Annapolis summit, the Palestinian negotiator said. At Annapolis, Olmert committed to aim at concluding an agreement with the Palestinians by the end of next year in which Israel is widely expected to evacuate the West Bank and eastern sections of Jerusalem.

Mark Regev, Olmert's spokesman, said he could not confirm the report the Nativity terrorists could return, but he also refused to deny the information.

In 2002, members of Jaara's group and other terror organizations holed up inside the Church of the Nativity while fleeing a massive Israeli anti-terror operation. Israel surrounded the church area but refused to storm the structure. Gunmen inside included wanted senior Hamas, Tanzim and Brigades terrorists reportedly involved in suicide bombings and shooting attacks. More than 200 nuns and priests were trapped in the church after Israeli hostage negotiators failed to secure their release.

The siege ended after 39 days when mediators agreed the 13 most senior terrorists would be deported to European countries, 26 more junior terrorists would be transported to the Gaza Strip and the remaining gunmen would be freed.

The Nativity church, one of the most sacred sites in Christianity, is the believed birthplace of Jesus.

In August, Israeli media and WND reported Olmert agreed to eventually allow the 26 terrorists in Gaza to return to the West Bank.

According to the senior Palestinian negotiator speaking to WND today, Olmert has also agreed to allow the 13 senior terror leaders in Europe to return to the Palestinian areas; first the terrorists will reside in the Gaza Strip and eventually be allowed to reintegrate into the West Bank, the negotiator said.

One of the 13 exiled terrorists, speaking to WND on condition of anonymity, confirmed he received a call from the PA informing him he would soon be allowed to return to Gaza.

According to media reports, the terrorists holed up inside the Nativity church left the holy site in shambles.

Four Greek monks told the Washington Times the Palestinian gunmen holed up with them seized church stockpiles of food and "ate like greedy monsters" until the food ran out, while the trapped civilians went hungry. The terrorists also were accused of guzzling beer, wine and Johnny Walker scotch that they found in the priests' quarters.

A Roman Catholic priest told the Times some Bibles were torn up and used as toilet paper, and many valuable sacramental objects were removed.

The senior Nativity terrorists exiled to Europe who may return include:

Jihad Jaara: Served as chief of the Al Aqsa martyrs Brigades terror group in Bethlehem. The Brigades, Fatah's declared military wing, took responsibility for scores of suicide bombings, shootings and rocket attacks. Jaara is accused of planning multiple bombings and has boasted to WND about sending a suicide bomber to Jerusalem's Malcha Mall, the city's largest shopping center. That bombing was foiled when the bomber's explosive belt detonated prematurely.

Ibrahim Moussa Salem Abayat: Abayat was born in 1973 and served as the chief of the Fatah Tanzim terrorist organization in Bethlehem. He boasted about orchestrating and participating in shooting and mortar attacks on the Jerusalem neighborhood of Gilo and on Jewish-used Bethlehem bypass roads.

According to Israeli security officials, Abayat was involved in the following deadly terror attacks: Sept. 20, 2001, shooting attack on an Israeli vehicle near Tekoa in which Israeli Sarit Amrani was murdered; July 16, 2001, detonation of an explosive charge on the Beit Safafa-Talpiot bridge inside Jerusalem; Jan. 15, 2002, abduction and murder of Avi Boaz, a U.S. citizen residing in Israel. Feb, 18, 2002, detonation of a car bomb at the Zaim checkpoint, resulting in the death of an Israeli policeman; Feb. 25, 2002, shooting attack at an Israeli vehicle close to the Tekoa junction in which Israelis Avraham Fisch and Aharon Gorov of Nokdim were killed and Tamar Lipschitz, in an advanced stage of pregnancy, was wounded; March 2, 2002, shooting attack at a vehicle south of Jerusalem, in which dental technician Devorah Friedman, mother of four, was murdered; June 14, 2002, murder of Israeli intelligence officer Yehuda Edri.

Ibrahim Mohammed Salem Abayat: Abayat, born in 1961, was an operative of both the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and Hamas. Israeli security officials tell WND Abayat's apartment was used to make bombs. They said he financed terrorist shootings and planned attacks against civilians in Jerusalem. Abayat also was personally involved in shooting at Gilo and at the IDF in Bethlehem.

Abdullah Daoud Mohammed Abdullah Khader: Daoud, born in 1962, served as the head of the Palestinian Authority's General Intelligence apparatus in the West Bank city of Nablus and as a senior Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades leader. He is accused of providing assistance and instructions to senior Fatah Tanzim operatives. He operated a terrorist cell in Nablus and took part in several attacks, including a Feb. 25, 2002, attack in which two men were murdered and a pregnant woman was severely wounded.

Mohammed Said Atallah Salem: Salem, born in 1979, was a senior Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades commander. Israel says he was directly involved in the following attacks: January 26, 2002, dispatch of a suicide bomber to the Talpiot neighborhood in Jerusalem; Feb.18, 2002, detonation of a car bomb by a suicide bomber on a Maale Adumim road, killing an Israeli policeman; March 2, 2002, suicide bombing in the Beit Yisrael neighborhood of Jerusalem killing 11 Israelis, among them four children, and wounding dozens more; and the March 29, 2002, suicide bombing of a supermarket in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Kiryat Yovel in which an Israeli security guard and a teenage Israeli girl were killed in the attack and about 12 more were wounded.

Mohammed Fouzi Mohammed Muhaneh: Muhaneh, born in 1980, was an Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade terrorist. He served as a member of Fatah's Special Forces and received U.S. training. Muhaneh has been involved in numerous attempts to carry out terrorist attacks in the Bethlehem area, which have included shooting and mortar attacks at military and civilian targets. Israel says Muhaneh used his U.S. training to provide members of his terrorist cell with personal training and instruction in the use of firearms and taught them how to produce and use pipe bomb attacks.

Rami Kamel Eid Kamel: Kamel, a resident of Bethlehem, was born in 1980, and, according to Israel, was one of the primary Al Aqsa Brigades terrorists behind shooting attacks and mortar fire directed against civilian residents of southern Jerusalem. He carried out systematic sniper and mortar attacks against Gilo as well as shooting attacks against Israeli civilian and military vehicles on the Bethlehem bypass roads. Kamel took part in the murder of an IDF truck driver, Sgt. Max Hazan, Oct.2, 2000, at point-blank range and was personally involved in a Feb. 11, 2001, shooting attack against an Israeli civilian vehicle south of Gilo in which Israeli civilian Tzachi Sasson was murdered.

Khaled Mohammed Abd el Hamid Abu Najimeh: Abu Najimeh, born in 1968, was a Brigades leader based in Bethlehem responsible for a number of fatal terrorist attacks, including a Jerusalem suicide bombing that killed an Israeli woman. He dispatched two suicide bombers to attack an Israeli soccer game, but the terrorists detonated their charged before reaching their objective.

Annan Mohammed Hamis Tanjeh: Tanjeh, born in 1978, was a Bethlehem-based Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades leader responsible for carrying out shooting attacks against a Jerusalem tunnel route, against Gilo and IDF forces around Bethlehem.

New PA Law: Negotiating Jerusalem is an Act of Treason

by Hillel Fendel

(IsraelNN.com) The PA legislature has passed the first reading of a law forbidding any concessions in, or even negotiations regarding, Jerusalem.

Ahmed Bahar, a leading Hamas member and the Deputy Speaker of the Palestinian Authority parliament, announced Thursday that the body had passed a first reading of a "Jerusalem bill." The legislation, proposed by Hamas parliament member Ahmed Abu Hilbiya, absolutely bans giving up any part of Jerusalem.

The bill states that Jerusalem, according to its "borders recognized during the period of the Islamic Khalifate," is "Palestinian, Arab, Islamic land." It further avers that all of Jerusalem, "including its archaeological sites and the sites that are holy to Islam and Christianity, are waqf (dedicated in sanctity) for Palestinian, Arab and Islamic generations." This would appear to include not only the Temple Mount, but also the Western Wall, the Jewish Quarter, and the City of David.

The new PA bill also states that it is forbidden to discuss, cede, or negotiate over any part of Jerusalem, or hold a referendum on this matter - and that if such negotiations or votes are held, they are null and void in advance. Anyone who violates the above provisions on behalf of the PA will be considered guilty of treason, the bill states, and will be liable to the relevant punishments.

The PA legislature will convene "soon," Bahar said, to pass the law's second reading, after which it will be passed on to PA chairman and Fatah chief Mahmoud Abbas for his signature.

Jewish People and Jerusalem
The Jewish People have taken a similar stance regarding Jerusalem, even if Israel's government has lagged somewhat behind. In July 1980, the Knesset approved the Jerusalem Law, determining that "complete and united Jerusalem is Israel's capital." However, current Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said last week that "the Government of Israel has a sovereign right to negotiate anything on behalf of Israel." He made his position clear that Jews outside Israel had no right to participate in decisions about the future of Jerusalem.

At a prayer vigil in Chicago just prior to the Annapolis conference last week, religious Jews of all stripes stood together in prayer for Jerusalem. The message, as stated by Young Israel's Rabbi Pesach Lerner, was clear: "Yerushalayim [Jerusalem] is not for discussion, Yerushalayim is not for sale, Yerushalayim must remain undivided forever."

Agudath Israel of America adopted a blunt resolution at its 85th national convention the day stating, "Israel must not relinquish parts of Jerusalem to Palestinian sovereignty, and the American government must not pressure the Israeli government into doing so."

The Orthodox Union (OU) declared it had no intention of dictating policy to Israel, but expressed its "resolute stand" that all Jews in the world have a share in "the holy city of Jerusalem."

The Coordinating Council on Jerusalem stated unequivocally, "World Jewry opposes Israeli negotiations which would include any discussion of ceding sovereignty over part or all of Jerusalem."

Before news of the new PA law was learned, Transportation Minister Sha'ul Mofaz - somewhat of a hawk within Kadima - stated at a Kadima Party Chanukah candle lighting ceremony Thursday evening, "Jerusalem must remain united as Israel's capital forever."

Opposition Leader Binyamin Netanyahu of the Likud said on Thursday, "The People of Israel has spilled blood and tears; it did not sacrifice its most precious sons in ancient times, nor now, just so the current government could give up Jerusalem. We will not let such a thing happen. The Temple Mount is in our hands, and must remain in our hands."

New PA Law: Negotiating Jerusalem is an Act of Treason (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/124500)
~~~~~~~

God has His own way of dealing with the likes of this hamas leader, and his terrorist allies!!

Israeli Arab leader to PA: Don't recognize Israel as Jewish state

Israeli Arabs, Palestinian Authority representatives gather in Nazareth Friday for Hadash party annual convention. Head of Higher Arab Monitoring Committee says Arabs in Israel pay heavy price for country's definition as Jewish state

Sharon Roffe-Ofir
Published: 12.07.07, 22:32
Israel News

The Palestinian Authority must not recognize Israel as a Jewish state, head of the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee Shawki Khatib said Friday during a Hadash party annual convention in Nazareth.

Hundreds of the party's supporters, including PLO and Palestinian Authority representatives, attended the gathering, which marked 30 years since the movement's establishment.

According to Khatib, Israeli Arabs in Israel have been pushed to the margins due to the country's definition as Jewish state, and are paying a heavy price for this. He urged PA envoys who attended the event not to comply with Israel's demand for such recognition.

Responding to Khatib's statement, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, who spoke at the event's opening ceremony, said that he would not "apply for membership in the Zionist movement."

"When Livni presented this demand," Erekat said, "I asked her, 'Why do you ask for such a thing when you can do this on your own using basic laws?' But some say that Israel is trying to get rid of the refugees issue before it is even discussed."

Erekat referred to the situation in Gaza and the West Bank, saying that "the Hamas revolution will end once a Palestinian state is established, but if no such state is founded, the situation in the West Bank may become worrying."

Erekat also claimed that any recognition in Israel would be motivated by "pragmatic reasons" alone.

Abbas: Palestinians must unite

One of the PA's representatives read out a message from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, in which the leader stressed that the Palestinian people would not be able to regain their rights without first achieving internal unity.

"Hamas will realize that in order to renew negotiations, the Palestinian people had better be united again," Abbas wrote. Referring to Hadash, the president stated that the party was home to "the true and most prominent leadership of Palestinians in Israel. We trust you to continue influencing the political discourse in Israel, as you have done in the past."

Jailed Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti also sent a message to the convention's participants. According to Barghouti, "This convention takes place against the backdrop of an ongoing attack on the Arab population in Israel, and some believe that you are a strategic threat that must be eradicated.

"Your remaining in the homeland is the greatest and most important national treasure for you and the Palestinian people. Your struggle for national rights and your effort, alongside the progressive Israeli camp, to end the occupation is beyond measure," he added.

Israeli Arab leader to PA: Don't recognize Israel as Jewish state (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3480152,00.html)

Hamas ready to cede control

jpost staff and Khaled Abu Toameh
THE JERUSALEM POST
Dec. 11, 2007

Damascus-based Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal confirmed that the Islamic group would return control of security and government institutions in Gaza to the Palestinian Authority, Asharq Alawsat reported on Tuesday.

"The head of the Hamas political-bureau Khalad Mashaal agreed to transfer control of the Gaza Strip to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas," Hassan Abu Qwaik, a senior Hamas member in Ramallah, told the London-based newspaper.

On Monday, PA officials in Ramallah expressed outrage with Saudi Arabia for hosting a senior Hamas delegation headed by Mashaal.

Earlier this week, PA officials strongly criticized Egypt for temporarily reopening the Rafah border crossing to allow Muslims to perform the ubgone86, the pilgrimage to Mecca. The Egyptian decision is seen as a sign of increased rapprochement between Cairo and Hamas.

Meanwhile, sources close to Hamas and Fatah confirmed that representatives of the two parties had been holding secret talks in the Gaza Strip, Damascus and Beirut in a bid to resolve their differences.

According to the sources, the two sides discussed the possibility of holding new presidential and parliamentary elections as a first step toward ending their power struggle.

They also discussed the possibility of handing control over the border crossings in the Gaza Strip to Fatah loyalists, the sources said.

The Saudi invitation to the Hamas delegation was a "severe blow" to the PA's efforts to end the Hamas reign over the Gaza Strip, the PA officials had told The Jerusalem Post.

The officials were particularly enraged by the red-carpet welcome that Mashaal and his colleagues received upon their arrival in Saudi Arabia over the weekend. The Hamas delegation has met with several top Saudi officials and members of the royal family, including Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal.

"Saudi Arabia has made a huge mistake by inviting Mashaal and his friends," said an official close to Abbas. "The Arab states should boycott Hamas because of its violent coup in the Gaza Strip."

The official said the PA leadership had been "shocked" when it learned that Mashaal and senior Hamas officials had been invited to Saudi Arabia.

"Hamas is doing its utmost to undermine the authority of President Mahmoud Abbas," he said. "The timing of the visit - two weeks after the Annapolis peace conference - is also interesting. Hamas was strongly opposed to the conference and continues to issue threats to torpedo any peace process with Israel."

Saudi Arabia and Egypt have been exerting pressure on Hamas and Fatah to patch up their differences and establish a new unity government.

Apart from Mashaal, the Hamas delegation included Musa Abu Marzuk, the No. 2 man in Hamas, as well as Muhammad Naser and Sami Khater, members of the Hamas politburo.

Naser said Monday the Saudis had invited him and his colleagues to brief them on the outcome of the Annapolis conference and to discuss ways of ending the power struggle between Hamas and Fatah.

"We discussed with our Saudi brothers the issue of national unity and reconciliation," he said. "We also discussed the ongoing Israeli aggression against our people and the measures that the Palestinian leadership has been taking against Hamas."

In addition to Saudi Arabia, Naser said, several other Arab countries were acting as mediators between Hamas and Fatah. He reiterated his movement's readiness to launch unconditional talks with Fatah. But he accused the Fatah leadership of placing obstacles on the path to reconciliation.

Ahmed Abdel Rahman, a senior aide to Abbas, expressed support for the idea of holding new elections in the Palestinian territories. He said a public opinion poll published last week showed that some 74 percent of Palestinians supported the idea. But, he added, the elections would be held only after Hamas relinquished control over the Gaza Strip.

"The only solution to the current crisis lies in ending the Hamas crime - the violent coup that they carried out against our institutions," Abdel Rahman said. "Only then will we be able to talk about reconciliation and harmony between all the Palestinian factions, a move that would be followed by elections."

The Fatah central committee, a key decision-making body headed by Abbas, also voiced its opposition to the resumption of talks with Hamas before it ends its rule in Gaza. The committee, which held a meeting in Ramallah late Sunday to discuss the outcome of the Annapolis conference and preparations to resume final-status talks with Israel this week, said Hamas's "black and bloody coup had caused grave damage to the Palestinian cause because it was being used by Israel as an excuse not to withdraw from any area" in the West Bank.

Hamas ready to cede control (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1196847305632&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)

Adolph Hitler of Nazi Germany is now a Hero on Palestinian Radio

A Palestinian Authority radio contest featured a biography of Adolph Hitler, complete with his military victories and his heroism during World War I & War World II and the broadcast never mentioned the Holocaust and the death of six million Jews.

This Palestinian Authority radio contest is consistent with Palestinian education in general which erases the Holocaust from history, according to a recent report from the Palestinian Media Watch, which revealed that the new 12th grade Palestinian Authority history school books showed that many pages were dedicated to the history of World War II and even to Nazi racism, but neither the Jews nor the Holocaust is ever mentioned.

The fascination with Adolph Hitler among Palestinians and the Palestinian Authority radio broadcast that characterizes Hitler as a hero, and never mentions the Holocaust, is a precursor to a dreadful end time scenario that can be found in Bible prophecy.

During the days of the Holocaust in Nazi Germany, the Palestinian leader, the Haj Amin al Husseini was used by Hitler to rally the Moslem world to join his final solution for the Jews, death in the ovens and gas chambers.

From the times of the Holocaust, during World War II, there has been an unholy fascination of Hitler by the Palestinian people, evidenced by the fact that they have named their children, Hitler.

These developments are preparing the world for a coming Holocaust of the Jews that will be more horrific than the Holocaust of Hitler. The ancient Jewish prophet, Zechariah, revealed that two out of every three Jews will be killed during the coming Holocaust in the seven year Tribulation Period, Zechariah 13:8.

Daniel, another Jewish prophet, wrote in chapter 12 verse 1 of his prophecy that this time would be the worst time the Jews have ever faced in all of their history. Revelation 12:13-17 says that Satan and his evil forces will endeavor to eliminate the Jews from the earth.

The Palestinian Authority radio broadcast honoring Hitler is indeed a precursor to the end times scenario of Bible prophecy. Bible prophecy that will be fulfilled.

Children on Hamas TV Children's Show: 'Liberate' Al-Aqsa by Force, 'Wipe Out' Zionists to the Last One

The following are excerpts from a children's show which aired on Hamas Al-Aqsa TV on December 3, 2007.

To view the clip, visit: http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1625.htm. To view the MEMRI TV page devoted to Al-Aqsa TV clips, visit:http://memritv.org/content/en/tv_channel_indiv.htm?id=175

Boy: "My beloved brothers, as you know, today the Al-Aqsa Mosque is crying out: 'Where are the people of the frontline, the Palestinian people?' Yes, my dear brothers, that is the Al-Aqsa Mosque. The subject of our lesson today is Jerusalem, to where your Prophet made his nocturnal journey - the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

"Yes, my beloved brothers, as you know today, and as you knew yesterday and the day before, the Al-Aqsa Mosque has fallen into oppressing and malicious hands, the hands of those who know nothing but injustice. But let me tell you how the Al-Aqsa Mosque will be returned, how we shall rescue it from the shackles of the occupation, from the shackles of the Zionist entity.

"Will it be through conferences? No, not through conferences, but by means of force, because the Zionist entity, your enemy, the enemy of Allah, the enemy of Islam, knows nothing but injustice and the killing of Palestinians, the persevering people on the frontline. Indeed, the [mosque] will be returned only by means of force.

"In 1917, the Balfour Declaration was issued. Balfour decided on the cleansing of the Al-Aqsa Mosque. But look what the Zionist enemy has done, look what Israel and America have done. Look what the allies of Israel and America have done. They have dug tunnels underneath the Al-Aqsa Mosque, but the sheikhs and mujahideen of the Al-Aqsa Mosque have exposed these tunnels and called upon the Palestinian people: 'Look what has happened, look what has happened.'

"These calls have gone unheeded, my beloved brothers. But is it too late? No, it is not too late. If we all unite, the Al-Aqsa Mosque will not remain in the hands of the Zionist enemy, it will not remain in the hands of your enemy, despite all their conspiracies against the Palestinian people."

[...]

Girl: "To Al-Aqsa, to Al-Aqsa - we shall unite our ranks. We will wipe out the people of Zion, and will not leave a single one of them."

Children on Hamas TV Children's Show: 'Liberate' Al-Aqsa by Force, 'Wipe Out' Zionists to the Last One (http://memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD178307)

Hamas: We'll never recognize Israel

Khaled Abu Toameh
THE JERUSALEM POST
Dec. 15, 2007

Hamas on Saturday marked its 20th anniversary by vowing to continue the "jihad" against Israel and never recognize its right to exist.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians participated in a main rally organized by Hamas in the center of Gaza City in what was seen as one of the movement's biggest shows of force.

Shouting, "We won't recognize Israel," the Hamas supporters burned Israeli flags and chanted slogans against the US.

The rally was held in the same square where thousands of Fatah supporters attended a memorial for Yasser Arafat last month. Hamas officials estimated that nearly 250,000 Palestinians participated in the rally as opposed to less than 50,000 who showed up for the Arafat event.

Fatah representatives claimed that the Hamas rally was a "failure" because of the "small" number of participants.

"This is Hamas's poorest performance since 1997," said Fatah spokesman Jamal Nazzal. "Hamas threatened to cut off the salary [of] and beat any activist who does not bring his family members to the rally. Despite that, they were unable to fill the square, and there were many empty chairs."

The rally came amid increased tensions between Hamas and Fatah following the arrest of two senior Fatah figures in the Gaza Strip.

One of them, Omar Ghul, is a special adviser to PA Prime Minister Salaam Fayad. He was arrested shortly after returning to the Gaza Strip from Ramallah to participate in the funeral of his mother-in-law.

Hamas said Ghul was arrested after he entered the Gaza Strip through the Erez border crossing in disguise. The second man who was arrested was Ismail Abu Naja, a former deputy speaker of the Palestinian parliament. Abu Naja was arrested after holding a press conference in Gaza City at which he accused Hamas of killing three Palestinians during a funeral on Friday.

The three were killed by an explosive device that apparently went off accidentally during the funeral of Islamic Jihad members who had been killed a day earlier in an Israeli attack.

Abu Naja and many Fatah officials in Ramallah were quick to blame Hamas for the explosion, saying it was a deliberate attack on civilians.

The Palestinian security forces in the West Bank banned Hamas celebrations by deploying hundreds of policemen in main cities and removing all Hamas-affiliated graffiti and flags.

Several Hamas figures were summoned to the Palestinian security forces and warned not to hold any events marking the Hamas anniversary. Hamas said 26 of its followers were arrested over the weekend in the West Bank by Fatah-controlled forces.

"The IDF's withdrawal from Gaza will be nothing like its invasion, the Strip will become a graveyard for its troops," Hamas legislator Mushir al-Masri warned Saturday in his chilling opening address at the Gaza rally.

"Jews... we have already dug your graves," exclaimed Masri.

Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said his movement would pursue the "resistance" as the only option to "liberate Palestine." He said the large turnout was an indication of the increased number of Palestinians who believed in Hamas and didn't accept Israel's right to exist.

Haniyeh pointed out that those who believe in the "resistance" and the concept that "Islam is the solution" have scored a number of victories over the past few years: the Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000, the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in 2005, the abduction of IDF Cpl. Gilad Schalit in 2006 and the beginning of the "defeat" of the Americans in Iraq and Afghanistan this year.

Haniyeh said that "Whoever insists on not recognizing Israel, clings to Allah and doesn't surrender in the face of the Israeli and US blockade, his popularity grows despite American hostility." "As long as the Israeli oppression grows, so will his popularity."

Top Hamas official Osama al-Mazini told the crowd that Israel was afraid to invade the Gaza Strip to stop the rocket and mortar attacks on its cities.

"Had they not been afraid of your resistance, the Israelis would have invaded the Gaza Strip a long time ago," he said. "But the Israeli enemy are cowards and the only language they understand is the language of force." He said Hamas had chosen jihad (holy war) as its strategy and would not change its policy under any circumstances.

Referring to the case of Gilad Schalit, the Hamas official said the soldier would "never see the light until all Palestinian prisoners are released from Israeli jails." Mazini said Hamas would never recognize Israel or give up Palestinian rights, including the "right of return" for Palestinian refugees.

The Hamas official launched a scathing attack on Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah faction, accusing them of "selling themselves to the Americans and agreeing to serve as guards for Israeli occupation." However, he reiterated Hamas's readiness to engage in dialogue with Fatah to solve the current crisis. Hamas, he added, "never thought of opening fire at Fatah." He said that, in any case, Hamas would not allow Fatah to bring anarchy and lawlessness back to the Gaza Strip.

Syria-based Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal threatened during a televised speech to launch a "third and fourth intifada" against Israel. He added that his movement had a lot of patience "despite the ongoing conspiracies and the blockade against the Gaza Strip." He, too, said one of Hamas's biggest achievements was to "expel" Israel from the Gaza Strip in 2005.

Mashaal claimed that Israel was using the recent peace conference in Annapolis as a cover for launching a "massive aggression" against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. He also claimed that the US-sponsored conference had given Abbas a green light to "dismantle resistance groups in the West Bank."

Hamas: We'll never recognize Israel (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1196847343673&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)

Countries promise $7.4 billion for Palestinians

The world rallied to the support of the Palestinian government Monday, pledging $7.4 billion in aid over the next three years at a donors' conference - a sum that tops the Palestinians' own expectations.

"The real winner today is the Palestinian state," French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner told a news conference after the gathering of nearly 90 countries and international organizations.

"We wanted $5.6 billion, we have $7.4 billion - not bad," he said.

World leaders at the conference also urged Israel to ease restrictions on movement in the West Bank and Gaza to make a recovery of the Palestinian economy possible.

"Our feeling is great, this is generous. It is a vote of confidence for the program, and a sign of solidarity on the Palestinian question," Palestinian Planning Minister Samir Abdullah told The Associated Press.

He confirmed the overall figure and said the pledges include $2.9 billion for 2008.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice pledged $555 million for 2008. However, the money includes about $400 million that the White House announced but has not been approved by Congress.

For renewed peace efforts to succeed, she said, "the continued and unwavering support of the international community is absolutely vital. That is why we are here today, and not a moment too soon."

Rice called the U.S. pledge "a significant increase" from earlier pledges.

"The Palestinian Authority is experiencing a serious budgetary crisis," Rice said. "This conference is literally the government's last hope to avoid bankruptcy."

Referring to renewed Middle East peace efforts stemming from the U.S.-sponsored conference in Annapolis, Md., last month, Rice said, "This is the most promising opportunity to seek peace that we have had in nearly seven years. And we need to seize it."

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said the pledges amounted to "an endorsement."

He called it part of the process for "establishing an independent Palestine."

The sum raised Monday was substantial even compared to the more than $10 billion that donor countries have given to the Palestinians in the past decade, according to the World Bank. Officials have said the Palestinians have received more international aid on a per capita basis than any other nation or group of people in the postwar period.

From international Mideast envoy Tony Blair to French President Nicolas Sarkozy, participants called for urgent action, saying a new chance for an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal must not be missed. Peace talks resumed last week after seven years of diplomatic deadlock, and international aid is seen as key to making the process work.

"We will not rest until we have that two-state solution a reality in this region of the world," Blair, a co-sponsor of the conference, told the conference.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the donors must "invest now, invest generously, and remain steadfast in their financial commitments over the next 36 months."

European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana said the conference was "very constructive" and had "created a momentum to continue the good start we had in Annapolis."

The EU said it would give $650 million in 2008 and Norway pledged $140 million a year for three years. Britain, France and Germany announced a combined $1.08 billion for three years.

Western donors have urged Arab states to do more. Since 2002, Arab League members have been promising the Palestinians $55 million a month but have not always paid in full.

Two key issues dominated the conference: the need for Israel to ease restrictions on Palestinians while not compromising on its security, and the fate of Gaza, which has been virtually cut off from the world since the Islamic militant Hamas seized control by force in June.

In Gaza, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri called the Paris conference "a declaration of war against the Hamas movement." Last weekend, Hamas leaders told tens of thousands of supporters at a rally that Hamas will not recognize Israel or renounce violence.

Peres: No ‘peace until Qassams cease

Hamas offers ceasefire but Israel declines. Israeli President Peres explains: 'We don’t need negotiations, we need to stop rocket attacks'

Aviram Zino
Published: 12.21.07, 15:15
Israel News

On a Friday visit to the Arab-Israeli village of Kfar Kassem, President Shimon Peres said that “there will be no peace talks with the Palestinians until Qassam attacks on Israel cease.”

Referring to Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, Peres said: “Once the incessant Qassam attacks stop, we might be inclined to negotiate with him.”

In keeping with the political line delineated by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Peres reiterated that “negotiations with Hamas will only take place once they meet the three conditions set by the Quartet (UN, Britain, Russia and the US): That is cessation of Qassam fire, official recognition of Israel’s right to exist, and abiding by existing peace accords.”

Israel’s president furthermore noted that: “All Middle-Eastern countries want peace. No one wants Iranian hegemony in the region.”

Referencing the Gaza pullout, Peres noted that “there isn’t a single Israeli soldier or civilian left in Gaza, so why is there still rocket fire? It is imperative that the Qassam fire cease before all else.

“We are not (the Palestinians’ ) enemy. We do not want to conquer Gaza. We are merely acting in self-defense. Before there is even talk of a ‘hudna’ the Qassams must cease,” said Peres.

'No formal peace talks necessary'

Several new agencies reported Thursday that Israel was considering a formal ceasefire with Hamas. Prime Minister Olmert categorically denied these reports.

Talk of a ceasefire has been circulating the entire week. President Peres commented on these rumors Wednesday saying : “This is a pathetic attempt to toss sand in the worlds’ eyes and distract them from the heinous crimes perpetrated by Hamas as well as Islamic Jihad."

Others within the government have cautiously contemplated a ceasefire with Hamas.

Transportation Minister and former IDF chief of staff Shaul Mofaz said Wednesday: “Once Hamas and Islamic Jihad stop bombarding our citizens, our women and children, then Israel will immediately ceasefire. In essence, then, no formal peace negotiations are necessary.”

Peres: No ‘peace’ until Qassams cease (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3485270,00.html)

Numbskulls at the Wall Street Journal

Earlier this week I pointed out the annual Christmas tradition of distortions by my "colleagues" in the media, who descend upon Bethlehem to ignore rampant Muslim intimidation of Christians and instead blast Israel – often with completely inaccurate information – for ruining Bethlehem's Christmas and for the drastic decline of Christianity in one of the holiest cities for that religion.

I highlighted well-circulated articles the past few days that paint misleading pictures of life in Bethlehem, disseminate discredited anti-Israel Palestinian propaganda as fact and fail to tell readers one of the main reasons Christians are fleeing.

Now an opinion piece published yesterday in the Wall Street Journal has taken the cake as the most defamatory piece of disinformation written about Bethlehem this season.

Titled "The Plight of Bethlehem: Why Christians can't visit the holy shrines in Jerusalem," Newsweek editor and contributing Journal writer Kenneth L. Woodward starts off by stating Israel has been barring Bethlehem's Palestinian Christians from visiting holy shrines in neighboring Jerusalem during this month's holiday.

"Israel's security wall, its restrictive exit permit system, roadblocks and military checkpoints now make it impossible for most Holy Land Christians to visit the shrines that, for all Christians, make the Holy Land holy," begins Woodward.

"Temporary exit visas to go from one to the other to worship – or see a doctor or even visit relatives – are hard to come by, of brief duration even when granted, and always subject to the whims of Israeli soldiers," Woodward states.

This is false.

As was widely reported last week, the Israeli government granted 8,000 Christian Palestinians from Bethlehem special travel permits to visit family or nearby holy shrines over the holiday – amounting to Israeli permits for the vast majority of Bethlehem's Christians. Israel also gave 42 Palestinian tour guides special permission to lead groups of Palestinian Christians from Bethlehem on religious pilgrimage tours, including to Jerusalem churches.

Woodward continues by admitting he hasn't visited Bethlehem in seven years so I don't know why the Journal deems him qualified to publish such a piece.

He states Israeli isolation of Bethlehem strangled the cities economy and laments foreign tourists visiting Bethlehem are afraid to walk around but doesn't tell us why.

"When buses do arrive, tourists are routinely whisked in and out without time to shop," he states.

As someone who travels to Bethlehem regularly, including twice this week alone, I can attest to the poor security situation there which is prompting most tourists to get in and out as quickly as possible.

What Woodward fails to tell readers is that Israel doesn't control Bethlehem. Palestinians security forces do. They are responsible for the current state of anarchy in the holy city.

The Jewish state evacuated Bethlehem in 1995 as part of the U.S.-brokered Oslo Accords which handed strategic territory to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. As soon as Arafat got his grimy hands on it, terrorist groups, including Fatah's Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and Hamas, set up shop in Bethlehem and formed one of the most active terror infrastructures in the West Bank.

Muslim terrorists roam freely in Bethlehem under Palestinian control. Last year I visited Bethlehem's main shopping area with U.S. radio host Rusty Humphries when suddenly hundreds of armed, mostly masked Fatah gunmen stormed the streets outside the Church of the Nativity, the believed birthplace of Jesus, firing their rifles in the air after the city's Al Aqsa Brigades leader, Raid Abiat, was killed when he shot at Israeli soldiers.

Later that day, Humphries and I conducted a radio interview with the newly appointed Brigades commander in Bethlehem, Abu Philistine, who also walked around the city quite openly.

Woodward soon gets to the crux of his article, blasting Israel for a "concrete wall" he claims has devastated Bethlehem's Christian population.

"For example, the wall is being completed around Beit Jala, separating this Christian village from 70% of its lands, which are mostly owned by Christian families. ... In Bethlehem itself, the wall severs the city from nearly three-fourths of its western villages' remaining agricultural lands, as well as water resources that have served the region since Roman times."

If Woodward had bothered to actually visit Bethlehem since construction began on Israel's barrier in 2002 he would know he is completely wrong about the information he presented to Journal readers.

No wall encircles Bethlehem or Beit Jala. Israel started building a fence five years ago in the area where northern Bethlehem interfaces with Jerusalem. A tiny segment of that barrier, facing a major Israeli roadway, is a concrete wall that Israel says is meant to prevent gunmen from shooting at Israeli motorists.

The fence was constructed after the outbreak of the Palestinian intifada, or terror war, launched after Arafat in 2000 turned down an Israeli offer of a Palestinian state, returning to the Middle East to liberate Palestine with violence.

Scores of deadly suicide bombings and shooting attacks against Israelis were planned in Bethlehem and carried out by Bethlehem-area terrorists.

At one point during the period of just 30 days in 2002, at least 14 shootings were perpetuated by Bethlehem cells of Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terrorists, killing two Israelis and wounding six.

Many times Muslim gunmen in the Bethlehem area reportedly took positions in civilian homes in the hilltops of Christian Beit Jala, which straddles Bethlehem. Beit Jala afforded the terrorists a clear firing line at southern sections of Jerusalem and at a major Israeli highway down below, drawing Israeli military raids and the eventual building of the security barrier there which Woodward now laments. Again, contrary to his claims, only the portion of the barrier that borders a highway is a concrete wall.

Is this barrier prompting Bethlehem Christians to flee?

Simple demographic facts will answer this question. Israel built the barrier five years ago. But Bethlehem's Christian population started to decline drastically in 1995, the very year Arafat's Palestinian Authority took over the holy Christian city in line with the U.S.-backed Oslo Accords.

Bethlehem consisted of upwards of 80 percent Christians when Israel was founded in 1948, but since Arafat took over, the city's Christian population plummeted to its current 23 percent. And that statistic is considered generous since it includes the satellite towns of Beit Sahour and Beit Jala. Some estimates place Bethlehem's actual Christian population as low as 12 percent, with hundreds of Christians emigrating per year.

As soon as he took over Bethlehem, Arafat unilaterally fired the city's Christian politicians and replaced them with Muslim cronies. He appointed a Muslim governor, Muhammed Rashad A-Jabar and changed Bethlehem's city council, which had nine Christians and two Muslims, reducing the number of Christians councilors to an almost 50-50 split.

cont'd

Arafat then converted a Greek Orthodox monastery next to the Church of Nativity, the believed birthplace of Jesus, into his official Bethlehem residence.

Suddenly, after the Palestinians gained the territory, reports of Christian intimidation by Muslims began to surface.

Christian leaders and residents told me they regularly face an atmosphere of hostility. They said Palestinian armed groups stir tension by holding militant demonstrations and marches in the streets. They spokes of instances in which Christian shopkeepers' stores were ransacked and Christian homes attacked.

They said in the past, Palestinian gunmen fired at Israelis from Christian hilltop communities, drawing Israeli anti-terror raids to their towns.

In 2002, dozens of terrorists holed up inside the Church of the Nativity for 39 days while fleeing a massive Israeli anti-terror operation. Israel surrounded the church area but refused to storm the structure. Gunmen inside included wanted senior Hamas, Tanzim and Brigades terrorists reportedly involved in suicide bombings and shooting attacks. More than 200 nuns and priests were trapped in the church after Israeli hostage negotiators failed to secure their release.

But Woodward failed to address any of this in his piece. Incredibly, he even states, "Bethlehem has historically been one place where Muslim-Christian relations have been remarkably friendly."

Meanwhile Christian leaders tell me the most significant problem facing Christians in Bethlehem is the rampant confiscation of land by Muslim gangs.

"There are many cases where Christians have their land stolen by the [Muslim] mafia," said Samir Qumsiyeh, a Bethlehem Christian leader and owner of the Beit Sahour-based private Al-Mahd (Nativity) TV station.

"It is a regular phenomenon in Bethlehem. They go to a poor Christian person with a forged power of attorney document, then they say we have papers proving you're living on our land. If you confront them, many times the Christian is beaten. You can't do anything about it. The Christian loses, and he runs away," Qumsiyeh told me, speaking from his hilltop television station during a recent interview.

Qumsiyeh himself said he was targeted by Islamic gangs. He said his home was firebombed after he returned from a trip abroad during which he gave public speeches outlining the plight of Bethlehem's Christian population.

One Christian Bethlehem resident said her friend recently fled Bethlehem after being accused by Muslims of selling property to Jews, a crime punishable by death in some Palestinian cities. The resident said a good deal of the intimidation comes from gunmen associated with PA President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah organization.

A February Jerusalem Post article cited the case of Faud and Georgette Lama, Christian residents of Bethlehem who said their land was stolen by local Muslims and when they tried to do something about it, Faud was beaten by gunmen.

In a complete reversal, though, Woodward outrageously says it is Israel that is stealing Christian land!

Repeating Palestinian propaganda as fact, Woodward tells readers Israel has been confiscating Christian properties to build its "wall" in Beit Jala.

"Some of the families are attempting to contest the confiscations in court, but construction – -and the confiscation – goes on," he states.

Once again, wrong. Israel does not unilaterally confiscate Christian land. If a proposed route of the security fence impacts Palestinian land, the Palestinian family can and usually does contest the proposed route in court.

Either the family agrees to compensation or the fence changes course. Israel's Supreme Court has dozens of times altered the route of the barrier in the West Bank so as not to affect Palestinian land, many times changing the fence in a way that compromises Israel's security, according to Israel Defense Forces estimates.

But Woodward writes, "many Christians in the Holy Land have no legal recourse to this absorption of their lands and property."

After blasting Israel for most of the piece, Woodward finally in one sentence allows that the Jewish state "must protect its security," but he fails to mention the Palestinian terrorism that prompted the security barrier in the first place.

The Journal should be ashamed of itself for allowing such defamatory information to be printed on its well-respected pages. It should be compelled to issue an immediate retraction and an apology to the Israeli government and to the persecuted Christians of Bethlehem whose true plight Woodward failed to address.

The Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America is calling on readers to write letters to the Journal or comment by clicking on the "respond to this article" icon on the upper right of Woodward's shoddy piece.

IAF missile strike kills senior Islamic Jihad member

Mohammad Abu Murshud, head of organization's armed wing in central Strip, killed by missile launched from Israeli aircraft. At least eight Hamas, Islamic Jihad members killed in IDF strikes throughout the day

Ali Waked
Published: 12.27.07, 22:35
Israel News

A series of attacks launched by the IDF in Gaza Thursday has claimed the lives of at least eight militants, including Mohammad Abu Murshud, head of Islamic Jihad's armed wing in the central Gaza Strip.

According to Palestinian sources, Murshud was killed when the car he was traveling in north of al-Mugarka (near the former Israeli settlement of Netzarim) was struck by a missile fired by Israeli aircraft. Two other Jihad members were killed and a number of others were injured in the attack, which was the IDF's third of the evening.

Five Palestinians were killed in two attacks in Gaza earlier in the day: Two Hamas members and two Islamic Jihad gunmen were shot dead by Israeli soldiers operating south of Khan Younis in the southern Strip, while two more Jihad gunmen were killed near the al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza.

Meanwhile, Hamas has announced that one of its members was killed in a training accident.

Last week the IDF killed a number of Hamas and Islamic Jihad members, including Majed Harazin, who headed Jihad's Qassam rocket-launching unit.

Thursday night, Palestinian sources reported that one Hamas member was killed and several others injured after an Israeli aircraft fired on a Hamas look-out cell near Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. However, about an hour later Palestinian sources said the Hamas man was only was only injured in the strike.

IAF missile strike kills senior Islamic Jihad member (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3487632,00.html)

PA premier Fayyad says suspects in killings of 2 Israelis caught by PA
By Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondent, The Associated Press and Haaretz Service
29/12/2007

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said Saturday that his security forces had arrested an unspecified number of suspects in Friday's killing of two Israeli hikers in the West Bank, and had passed to Israel weapons taken from the dead men by their Palestinian attackers.

"We have suspects in custody already," he said. "We are cooperating and coordinating with the Israeli security services, weapons have already been returned to Israeli security in connection with this particular incident."

Sharing a podium with President Shimon Peres at an economic conference in Herzliya, Fayyad also expressed condolences to the families of the two off-duty soldiers killed while hiking near Hebron in the West Bank.
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Fayyad did not give further details and the Israel Defense Forces had no immediate confirmation of his comments.

Fayyad said Saturday the arrests were proof of his government's determination to rein in Palestinian militant groups and impose law and order in the areas under its control and investigation of Friday's gunfight in which the Israelis killed a Palestinian gunman before they were fatally wounded would be thorough.

"It will be pursued to the fullest extent of the law, he said. So it's not only strong words of condemnation," it's action.

Earlier, in Nablus, Fayyad acknowledged that the shooting attack near Hebron took place on territory for which the Palestinian Authority is responsible. He said that the PA would fulfill all of its security commitments, according to Ma'an, an independent Palestinian news agency.

On Friday, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki on Friday vowed a "harsh" response to the attack, in which one of the militants responsible for the shooting was killed in ensuing gunfire.

"As we condemn all Israeli assassination operations... in Gaza and West Bank, we cannot accept such operations carried out by armed groups," said al-Malki.

He said the aim of the group who carried out the attack was to disrupt peace talks and Palestinian security plans, and promised "to take harsh measures" against them.

The victims of the drive-by shooting attack, named as David Rubin and Ahikam Amihai, both in their 20s, were hiking in the area of the West Bank settlements of Talam and Adura with a female resident of Kiryat Arba when a group of four Palestinian terrorists opened fire on them from a Jeep.

The IDF Central Command said that the three Israelis entered Area B of the West Bank, which is under Palestinian civilian control, despite warnings not to do so.

Rubin and Amihai, who were soldiers on leave from the Israel Defense Forces, managed to return fire and reportedly killed one of the terrorists.

They later died from their wounds, while the woman who accompanied them managed to hide and was not harmed.

IDF troops arrested early Saturday six Palestinians from Hebron in connection with the attack.

On Friday, Palestinian sources stated that IDF troops raided a hospital in Hebron searching for a gunman believed to have been wounded in the attack. The IDF has not confirmed the report.

Meanwhile, Israel sent a letter of protest over the attack to United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and to the president of the Security Council, Israel Radio reported Saturday.

Both Islamic Jihad and an armed wing of Fatah claimed responsibility for the shooting. The top Palestinian security official said on Saturday the Palestinian Authority was dismantling militant groups, including Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade.

Israel has recently killed several of Islamic Jihad's militants in the Gaza Strip, including some senior commanders.

Israeli envoy to the United Nations Dan Gillerman emphasized that the Palestinian Authority has still not proven its desire to fight terror, and that Islamic Jihad receives finance and cover from UN member states.

Both Rubin and Amihai were in elite units of the IDF, with Rubin serving as a sergeant in the Israeli Naval commandos and Amihai as a corporal in the Israel Air Force's equivalent unit.

The terrorists then escaped and the woman called the emergency center in Kiryat Arba. However, the rescue team had trouble locating her because she did not know their whereabouts.

Israel Defense Forces and paramedics were called in to help with the search, and managed to reach the bodies of the two men. The woman, who suffered from shock, was taken to a Kiryat Arba clinic nearby.

The group had threatened to retaliate for the Gaza attacks, saying the Israeli actions would "not go unpunished".

An Israel police spokesman called Friday's shooting a "terrorist attack" and said police and the army had searched the area for the attackers.

The shooting attack came hours after IDF troops killed a bodyguard of the Palestinian Authority's chief negotiatator, Ahmed Qureia,in Ramallah.

Also Friday, Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip fired a Qassam rocket at the western Negev. No injuries or damages were reported.

Amihai and Reuben were laid to rest on Saturday evening. Their funeral procession passed from Kiryat Arba to the military cemetery of Mount Herzl in Jerusalem.

Rubin is the son of Rabbi Mishael Rubin of Hebron and his brother is the acting rabbi of "Shavei Hebron" yeshiva in Beit Romano.

Amihai, who served in the elite Shayetet 13 Naval commandos unit, is the son of Rabbi Yehuda Amihai, head of the Land and Torah center that was formerly based in Kfar Darom in Gush Katif and was moved to Ashkelon after the disengagement in 2005.

Ahikam's mother Esther is the daughter of Rabbi Moshe Tzvi Nariya, known to many as "the father of the kippot srugot," referring to the knit skullcaps popular with the settler movement.

The Kiryat Arba council severely criticized the government following the attack. Zvi Katzover, head of the local council, said in response that "whoever lets off terrorists and supplies them with guns does not have to push the trigger in order to become an accomplice."

MK Uri Ariel (National Union-National Religious Party) added that the murder is "further proof of intensified terrorist attacks by Arabs, who take advantage of Israel's weakness and lenience." He stressed that the prime minister's recent declarations regarding the release of Palestinian prisoners and the freezing of building permits in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, were a "tail wind for terrorism."

The Almagor Terror Victims Association requested this week that the cabinet cancel its planned discussion on the easing of criteria for the release of prisoners. Instead, the association said in response to the murder that the cabinet should schedule a security discussion on replacing removed roadblocks and restrictions for Palestinian vehicles on central routes.

The chairman of the association, Meir Indor, said that the proposed discussion would "send out a clear message to the terrorist organizations that renewing terrorist attacks comes with a heavy price: in refusing to release prisoners and in hardening Israel's line regarding the Palestinians."

Last month, an Israeli resident of the Shavei Shomron community in the West Bank was shot and killed while driving to a nearby settlement by three Palestinians, members of the PA's security force.

The Fatah-affiliated Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade took responsibility for that attack. A statement from the group said the shooting came in protest of the upcoming Annapolis peace summit and the "crimes of Israel against the Palestinians."

In a separate incident on Friday, a number of casualties were reported in clashes between Palestinian clans in the same area.

PA premier Fayyad says suspects in killings of 2 Israelis caught by PA (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/939443.html)

Stranded Palestinians set fire to camps

By ASHRAF SWEILAM, Associated Press Writer 25 minutes ago

EL-ARISH, Egypt - Palestinian pilgrims broke windows and set mattresses ablaze at temporary camps in Egypt Monday as relatives rallied across the border in Gaza, demanding their kin be allowed to return through a crossing controlled by Hamas.

The pilgrims, who are returning from the ubgone86 pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia and include some Hamas militants, have rejected Egypt's demands that they enter Gaza through the Israeli-controlled Aouja border crossing.

They want to return through Rafah, a direct crossing between Gaza and Egypt where Israel has no control.

The standoff is the latest conflict over efforts by Egypt, Israel and the Palestinian Authority to isolate the Gaza Strip, which Hamas took over in June. Israel fears that if the pilgrims return through Rafah, Hamas members and smuggled cash could slip through.

Thousands of Hamas supporters and relatives of the pilgrims gathered at the Gaza-Egypt border in support of their family members. Youngsters threw stones at Egyptian soldiers on the other side, while other protesters chanted, "Open the borders, we want our families back!"

Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said the pilgrims' case "should be resolved immediately" and appealed to Egypt to let them through the Rafah terminal.

Most of the pilgrims are believed to be ordinary citizens, but there are at least 10 well-known Hamas figures among them.

Since Saturday, Egypt has put more than 1,100 pilgrims into camps set up around the Mediterranean coastal city of el-Arish.

In el-Arish's stadium, pilgrims set fire to mattresses and blankets in rooms set up for them, while in another camp in the city, protesters smashed windows. The pilgrims shouted angry slogans against Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and his government. Hundreds of riot police surrounded the protesters as the fires were extinguished.

A 67-year-old Palestinian woman, Khadra Mahmoud Mohammed Massoud, died of a heart attack during the turmoil. Several elderly Palestinians fainted from smoke inhalation and were taken to el-Arish hospital, said medical officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

As the violence ebbed, some pilgrims continued to protest by refusing to accept government-provided meals. But some agreed to return to Gaza through the Aouja crossing, known in Israel as Kerem Shalom, and Egypt is organizing their journey, said Palestinian officials in el-Arish, also speaking on condition of anonymity.

Under a U.S.-brokered agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, the Rafah crossing was operated by Egypt and the Palestinians, with EU monitors deployed on the Palestinian side. In the wake of Hamas' takeover in June, the Europeans fled and Hamas militiamen took over the terminal.

Stranded Palestinians set fire to camps (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071231/ap_on_re_mi_ea/egypt_gaza_pilgrims)
~!~~~~~~
They should be grateful, for what they have. You live in a glass house, don't be the first to throw rocks.

Five killed, scores wounded in Fatah-Hamas clashes in Gaza
KHALED ABU TOAMEH and ap , THE JERUSALEM POST Dec. 31, 2007

At least five Palestinians were killed and dozens wounded late Monday in armed clashes between Hamas policemen and Fatah supporters in the Gaza Strip.

The clashes erupted when thousands of Fatah supporters took to the streets to celebrate the 43rd anniversary of their faction.

The Hamas government had banned the Fatah celebrations in the Gaza Strip.

Among those killed in the fighting were an elderly man, a child and a Hamas police officer.

The violence erupted less than two hours after Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas called for a "new page" in relations between the bitter enemies.

"There is no way for any party here to be an alternative to the other, and there is no room for terms like coup or military takeover, but only for dialogue, dialogue, dialogue," Abbas said during a major policy speech, referring to Hamas' violent rout of his Fatah forces and takeover of the Gaza Strip in June.

Speaking to a crowd in the West Bank at a rally marking the 43rd anniversary of Fatah, Abbas called for "a new page, writing in its lines a credible agreement based on partnership, on life, on our homeland and our struggle to liberate it."

After nightfall Monday, Fatah backers fired rifles in the air all over Gaza to mark the anniversary. Hamas banned the traditional Jan. 1 Fatah parades in Gaza, and it was not known if there would be attempts to defy the order.

Abbas expelled Hamas from government after its victory in Gaza and set up a Western-backed government in the West Bank that is seeking peace with Israel.

In his speech on Monday, Abbas maintained his position that Hamas must restore power in Gaza to an elected government. But he urged reconciliation and called for new elections in an effort to end the suffering the Palestinian people have endured as a result of the takeover.

Israel, citing security concerns, sealed its border with Gaza after Hamas wrested power, letting in only humanitarian aid. Ensuing shortages have deepened poverty and unemployment in the already impoverished territory.

"I renew my offer for early elections here, as a way out of the hell that was imposed on us," Abbas said Monday.

Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum rejected Abbas' speech. "It is full of incitement and words calling for divisions. There is no new initiative or practical step in this speech that can pave the road to start an immediate dialogue," he said.

Abbas spoke very differently as recently as November, when he called for the overthrow of Hamas in Gaza after Hamas forces fired on a huge Fatah rally in Gaza City, killing eight civilians and wounding dozens.

"We have to bring down this bunch, which took over Gaza with armed force, and is abusing the sufferings and pains of our people," Abbas said at the time.

The two rival Palestinian groups have been at odds since Hamas won parliamentary elections in January 2006. Those differences boiled over into open warfare that peaked with Hamas' June victory in Gaza.

Abbas directed some of his comments Monday at Israel. He called on the Israeli government to cease settlement construction and dismantle its separation barrier in the West Bank, saying they "undermine the basis of the independent Palestinian state and block the two-state solution."

He also complained about Israeli army checkpoints in the West Bank. "There are 640 Israeli checkpoints and roadblocks in the West Bank and Israel did not lift or remove any of them," he said.

Five killed, scores wounded in Fatah-Hamas clashes in Gaza (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1198517256173&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)

Israeli Arabs: Count us out of Palestinian state
Majority would rather remain under Jewish leadership

If given the option of living in a future Palestinian state, most Israeli Arabs would prefer to remain citizens of Israel, according to a new survey released this week.

Arabs make up about 20 percent of Israel's population, with a large concentration living in eastern Jerusalem, including in peripheral neighborhoods Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's government has stated could be given to the Palestinians for a future state.

Last month, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni hinted Israeli Arabs living in eastern Jerusalem could remain there and be ruled by a new Palestinian state.

"The future Palestinian state would serve as a national solution for the Palestinians of the West Bank, those living in the refugee camps and those who are citizens with equal rights in the Jewish state," stated Livni at a November press conference with France's foreign minister.

But a new poll conducted by Keevoon, an Israeli research and strategic communications company, found the majority of Israeli Arabs – 62 percent – don't want to live under Palestinian rule.

Only 14 percent of respondents said they would prefer to live in a Palestinian state and not Israel if given the choice, while 24 percent did not express an opinion or refused to answer.

Mitchell Barak, managing director of Keevoon, told WND, "The survey challenges the widely held claim that Israeli Arabs have national aspirations for statehood. Most expressed a desire to remain Israeli when given a choice."

Barak said the results "also demonstrated a gap between policies articulated by the Israeli government and the citizens it would affect most – Israeli Arabs."

"While senior members of the government here, including Livni, have spoken openly about a future Palestinian state possibly including Israeli Arabs who live in Israel, most Israeli Arabs prefer to remain Israeli citizens," Barak said.

Keevoon's survey found the strongest support for remaining citizens of Israel was exhibited by members of the Druze Arab community, 84 percent of whom rejected the notion of living in a Palestinian state. Lower-income Arab households also showed strong support, with 71 percent choosing Israel.

The strongest support for becoming citizens of a future Palestinian state was demonstrated by Arab students, with 21 percent, compared to the overall average of 14 percent, according to the poll.

The survey was conducted about a month after Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert committed at November's U.S.-sponsored Annapolis summit to aim at concluding an agreement with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas by next year. The Jewish state is widely expected to evacuate swaths of the strategic West Bank and eastern sections of Jerusalem, handing the territories to Abbas for a Palestinian state.

Israeli officials in recent months listed specific eastern Jerusalem neighborhoods Israel may evacuate.

In a speech in early November, Olmert asked whether it was "really necessary" to retain certain Arab neighborhoods in the eastern parts of Judaism's capital city.

"Was it necessary to also add the Shuafat refugee camp, Sawakra, Walaje and other villages and define them as part of Jerusalem? On that, I must confess, I am not convinced," stated Olmert, speaking at a special Knesset session.

Just this week, Olmert indicated Jerusalem could be split, stating in an interview with the Jerusalem Post that the world that is "friendly" to Israel insists on dividing the city.

Previous Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, including U.S.-mediated talks at Camp David in 2000, agreed to sections of Jerusalem being split according to population demographics, with Israeli Arab neighborhoods becoming part of a Palestinian state.

After Annapolis, Israeli Vice Premier Haim Ramon stated any future division of Jerusalem would be mapped out along the same lines.

"We must come today and say, friends, the Jewish neighborhoods [of Jerusalem], including Har Homa, will remain under Israeli sovereignty, and the Arab neighborhoods will be the Palestinian capital, which they will call Jerusalem or whatever they want," Ramon said.

Since Annapolis, Israeli media reports marked an increase in Israeli Arab clients enlisting Jerusalem real estate companies to relocate to Jewish sections of Jerusalem.

Israel, PA negotiating teams to start talks on core issues Monday
By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent, and The Associated Press
13/01/2008

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and chief Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qureia will meet Monday to begin talks on the core issues of the conflict, including Jerusalem, Palestinian refugees, and the final borders between Israel and the future Palestinian state.

During a speech in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the sides negotiating teams, headed by Livni and Qureia, would begin discussion of six issues: Jerusalem, settlements, refugees, borders, security and water resources.

"If we reach an agreement on all these issues, then we can say that we have reached a final agreement," Abbas said, adding that a peace treaty must resolve disputes over all the issues.

Prime Minister's Office spokesman Mark Regev confirmed that the negotiating teams would meet Monday, and that they received a mandate to begin discussions on the core issues.

Abbas also criticized the Hamas-led Gaza regime for allowing rockets to be fired into Israel but said the rocket fire hurts the Palestinians more than the Israelis, who keep demanding that Abbas take action to stop it.

A Hamas statement denounced Abbas' speech as full of lies and fabrications.

The Palestinian president said if Hamas relinquishes power in Gaza, he will begin talks with the Islamic militants, even if the Americans reject that.

Dichter: Agreements with PA should go through Kadima first

Public Security Minister Avi Dichter called on Sunday for agreements under discussion with the Palestinians to go through internal Kadima hearings before going into effect.

"An orderly discussion should be held in Kadima institutions before reaching any framework agreement with the Palestinians," Dichter told the party's ministers.

Dichter added that "it is forbidden to reach such an agreement before the implementation of stage one of the road map. We must demand that the Palestinians establish a chain of law enforcement in West Bank territory."

In additional to Israel's road map commitment to halt settlement construction and dismantle outposts, the Palestinians are required in the first stage to boost their security forces to fight terror.

Olmert said at the outset of the cabinet meeting on Sunday that U.S. President George Bush, who visited Israel and the West Bank last week, accepts that "no agreement will be implemented in the field without the fulfillment of Palestinian commitments, both in the West Bank and in Gaza."

Olmert also said that Bush said that "though there is one year left in the president's term, I think that even in his last year, he has enormous and extraordinary weight."

Israel, PA negotiating teams to start talks on core issues Monday (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=944255&contrassID=1&subContrassID=1)

Bomb-Making Chemicals Disguised as Humanitarian Aid to PA, Again

by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz

(IsraelNN.com) Security agents of the Israel Airport Authority (IAA) discovered two tons of material used to manufacture explosives on a truck supposedly delivering humanitarian aid for residents of the Palestinian Authority. The discovery was made Monday afternoon at the IDF checkpoint at the Kerem Shalom Crossing into southern Gaza, a transit point for goods from Egypt destined for the PA.

The bomb-making ingredient was found by IAA officials during routine and random inspections of vehicles supposedly carrying humanitarian supplies into southern Gaza. According to security sources, the chemical compound, made from fertilizer, is used as fuel for PA rockets and in the manufacture of incendiary devices. The quantity of material discovered was sufficient for hundreds of rockets.

Security officials have yet to determine the source and destination of the explosives supplies. The investigation continues.

The smuggling incident was the second of its kind in less than a month. In late December, IDF soldiers discovered 6.5 tons of potassium nitrate hidden in sacks marked "sugar" and earmarked for needy Arabs in Gaza. Potassium nitrate is a banned substance in Gaza, Judea and Samaria due to its use by terrorists for the manufacturing of explosives and Kassam rockets. The bags were marked as humanitarian aid from the European Union, Gaza's biggest source of assistance.

While security officials investigating the December case do not assume that the potassium nitrate was sent by the European Union, they have noted that terrorist groups have learned to take advantage of such shipments. An IDF source said at the time, "This is another example of how the terror organizations exploit the humanitarian aid that is delivered to the Palestinian population in Gaza with Israel's approval."

PM Olmert Opposes Gaza Incursion
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Monday that Israel was at "war" with Arab terrorists in Gaza, but said he opposed a full-scale invasion of the area "right now."

The prime minister explained his position: "Hundreds of fatalities amongst terror organizations in Gaza in the last year are a heavy price for the terror groups to have paid. I highly recommend that we do not get involved in operations and costs out of all proportion to the issues we are dealing with."

At the same time, Olmert stressed that he did not underestimate the severity of Kassam attacks on Sderot and other Jewish communities located near Gaza.

Israel Lifting Fuel Sanctions
The random discovery of the bomb-making material last month and on Monday did not change Defense Minister Ehud Barak's decision to drop fuel sanctions imposed on Gaza by the government last month.

The cutbacks in fuel supplies were implemented as part of the effort to isolate and pressure the Hamas government in Gaza. The High Court of Justice heard several petitions against the move. On Thursday, the state submitted a motion in which it announced the suspension of the punitive measures.

Canada to Provide Aid
In addition to the assistance from the EU for the PA, Canadian Foreign Minister Maxime Bernier announced that his government would allocate $300 million for the PA over the course of the next five years. The money will be used to reform the PA and to fund its security forces, Bernier said.

The PA security forces have begun patrolling Shechem and Bethlehem in an effort to prove that the PA is able to fight terrorism and control crime. Terrorists who are caught by PA forces serve up to three months in prison and then become members of the force, provided with weapons and a salary from the PA.

Bomb-Making Chemicals Disguised as Humanitarian Aid to PA, Again (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/124919)

International aid for Palestinians increases to $7.6 billion

PA minister of planning laments difficulty of fulfilling development plans in Hamas-controlled Gaza, despite willingness to allocate some 40% of new development budget to impoverished coastal territory

News Agencies
Published: 01.17.08
Israel News

Total donations from a Paris aid conference for the Palestinians last month have increased to at least $7.6 billion after countries fine-tuned their contributions, officials said Thursday.

Overall international pledges from the Dec. 17 conference - which originally totaled $7.4 billion - have risen to $7.6 billion, a French Foreign Ministry official said. The Palestinian minister of planning, Samir Abdullah, put the figure at $7.7 billion.

The French official said he could not immediately explain the discrepancy, but both he and Abdullah said donors had clarified their pledges in recent weeks, and that the final figure could still change.

Abdullah said the Palestinian Authority has already begun receiving aid. The European Union transferred $44 million, France some $35.2 million, the United Arab Emirates paid $42 million, and Saudi Arabia paid $30 million, he said.

The minister, speaking to reporters in the West Bank city of Ramallah, said the money has allowed his government to pay salaries to some 170,000 employees for January and part of February.

Abdullah said some 40% of the development budget would normally go to Gaza, but said his government would face tremendous hurdles in fulfilling its plans because of the closure of Gaza and Hamas' control of the Strip.

France has not specified how much money each donor gave at the conference, though the United States and many Arab League and EU member states - the biggest donors - individually announced their pledges.

The pledges, made over three years, topped the Palestinian Authority's own appeal for $5.6 billion and were seen by many as an endorsement of the authority and its push for an independent state. The funds are for budgetary support, development projects and humanitarian assistance by aid agencies.

International aid for Palestinians increases to $7.6 billion (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3495681,00.html)

PA president: Israeli air strikes in Gaza Strip are 'brutal'
jpost staff and AP
THE JERUSALEM POST
Jan. 18, 2008

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday denounced Israel's ongoing military strikes in the Gaza Strip as "brutal," but also accused Gaza's Hamas rulers of trying to destroy the Palestinian dream of statehood.

"In these days, we can only condemn gravely what happens in our cherished Gaza, this brutal attack on this cherished part of our land, every hour, which targets women, children and elderly," Abbas during Christmas celebrations of Armenian Christians in Bethlehem.

Abbas also reiterated his demand that Hamas relinquish control of Gaza, saying that since it took over the area last June, the Islamic group has "destroyed and tries to destroy our dreams, future and national aspirations."

Meanwhile, with the intensified Kassam rocket barrage from the Gaza Strip continuing to pound Negev communities for the fourth consecutive day, the IDF has responded in kind, striking an abandoned building which had once served as the Hamas-run interior ministry.

According to Palestinian witnesses and hospital officials, one woman was killed in air strike, and at least 48 people were injured. The building, which was situated in a residential district of the Gaza Strip, sustained severe damage, the witnesses said.

An IDF spokeswoman confirmed the strike, and said it targeted "a Hamas headquarters", and was part of Israel's campaign against the constant firing of rockets from Gaza into Israel.

Friday evening's air strike was the second for the day. Hours earlier, the IAF targeted a cell of rocket launchers, killing one civilian and wounding three Hamas operatives.

Also on Friday, Israeli troops from the elite under-cover "Duvdevan" unit killed a top Palestinian terror chief in the West Bank who was affiliated with the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, group with ties to the Fatah movement headed by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Ahmad Sanakra, a commander in Tanzim, was killed in the Balata refugee camp in Nablus. The PA has in recent months been unable, or at least claims to have been unable, to rein in the renegade group.

Sanakra had been on Israel's wanted list for several years but repeatedly eluded capture. However, on Friday he was shot and killed by troops in what the IDF calls the "pressure cooker" tactic: a house where refugees hide is surrounded and the troops call for those hiding inside to give themselves up.

Sanakra refused to surrender, however, and an exchange of fire ensued. He was killed and four of his men, also Tanzim members, were taken into custody.

A commander in the Judea and Samaria Division, Brig. -Gen. Noam Tivon, praised the soldiers of Duvdevan for their achievements over the last few days.

Kassam rockets have continued to rain down on Sderot and other Negev communities throughout Friday.

Eight rockets were fired towards Sderot, two of which landed in open fields.

Two rockets fired Friday afternoon landed near Havat Hashikmim, a farm owned by hospitalized prime minister Ariel Sharon. The two rockets caused no casualties or damage.

Of the four rockets that reached Sderot, one landed near a WIZO center, damaging several cars in the area.

PA president: Israeli air strikes in Gaza Strip are 'brutal' (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1200572484820&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)

Israel closes vital Gaza crossings

By IBRAHIM BARZAK, Associated Press Writer 56 minutes ago

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Israel sought to put an end to a surge in rocket attacks from Gaza, sending its air force Friday against a symbol of Hamas power in the heart of Gaza City and simultaneously choking off shipments of fuel and food across its border with the strip.

An Israeli warplane attacked the downtown offices of the Palestinian Interior Ministry, flattening one wing of the empty building, killing a woman at a wedding party next door and wounding at least 46 other civilians, some of them children playing soccer in the street, hospital staff and witnesses said.

"It was more like an earthquake ... smoke covered the area for a few minutes, we didn't know what was hit at first," said resident Yehia Rabbah.

The attack was the first on a ministry building since Hamas seized control of Gaza last June. An Israeli military commentator said it was meant to send a message to the violent Islamic group that further rocket attacks could cause the conflict to spiral.

The building, in a residential neighborhood flanked by the apartments of well-to-do residents, had been empty since it was severely damaged in a July 2006 airstrike. But even though it was unoccupied, it was seen as a symbol of Hamas authority.

In a parallel move, Israel sealed all border crossings with the Gaza Strip on Friday, cutting the flow of vital supplies in an attempt to pressure Hamas to halt the rocket fire. But the attacks continued, with 16 rockets falling in southern Israel, including one that damaged a day care center in the town of Sderot. Children were inside the building at the time, but no one was hurt, the prime minister's office said.

Violence has grown since Tuesday, when an Israeli ground and air offensive against rocket squads claimed the lives of 19 Palestinians, including the militant son of a prominent Hamas leader. By Friday night, the Gaza death toll stood at 34, including at least 10 civilians.

In northern Gaza, an Israel airstrike on Friday killed one member of a rocket launch squad and a civilian bystander, Hamas said. The air force also attacked a base of Hamas security forces in central Gaza, but it was not in use and there were no casualties.

Since Tuesday, Hamas has joined other militant groups lobbing crude rockets and mortar shells across the border, and by nightfall Friday over 160 projectiles had fallen, according to the Israeli military. They caused no serious injuries.

Military analyst Yoav Limor, speaking on Israel's Channel One television, said the Israelis had expected a violent response to Tuesday's killing of the son of Hamas strongman, Mahmoud Zahar. But when rockets rained down on southern Israel for a fourth day Friday, the Israeli military sent the radical Islamic movement a message.

"It's to signal Hamas that this is what we can do and it will hurt you," Limor said, adding that Israel sought to avoid a large-scale ground offensive against the rocket launchers.

An escalation of the Gaza fighting could complicate President Bush's efforts to prod the sides toward a final peace deal by year's end and sour newly revived talks between Israel and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' West Bank government.

The International Committee of the Red Cross called on Israel and the Palestinians to respect international law and stop harming civilians.

Christoph Harnisch, head of the organization's delegation to Israel and the Palestinian territories, said in a statement he was "in daily contact with the Israeli army and Palestinian armed factions in an effort to persuade them to respect the civilian population."

Abbas denounced Israel's strikes in Gaza, but also accused Hamas of trying to destroy the Palestinian dream of statehood.

"We can only condemn gravely what happens in our cherished Gaza, this brutal attack on this cherished part of our land, every hour, which targets women, children and elderly," Abbas said.

Israeli Defense Ministry spokesman Shlomo Dror said crossings into Gaza were not opened Friday, preventing the scheduled passage of about 20 truckloads of food. The crossings, which normally work only a half-day on Fridays and are routinely closed Saturdays, may not open Sunday if rocket fire continues, he said.

He said Gazans had sufficient stocks of food so that no one would go hungry, adding that about 9,000 cows were allowed into the strip in the past two months.

"There is a government decision that there will not be a humanitarian crisis in Gaza," Dror said.

John Ging, the Gaza-based head of UNRWA, the U.N. agency responsible for Palestinian refugees, said the most immediate concern was the halt in delivery of fuel, of which there are no stockpiles.

"The supplies that are in most desperate need is the fuel," he said. "This is a very precarious situation." He said Israeli officials told him they would meet early next week to evaluate the situation and decide whether to reopen the passages.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon implored Israel to reverse its decision to seal the border crossings, warning that the violence and cutoff of supplies was provoking a humanitarian crisis.

"If this situation endures, the closure will also cause further shortages of food, medical and relief items," he said in New York.

Ban said he was concerned that the situation "will undermine the hopes for peace" that have come out of the U.S.-sponsored Mideast peace conference in Annapolis, Md.

Since Hamas wrested control of Gaza from Abbas loyalists, Israel has isolated the territory, although it generally allowed food, fuel and humanitarian shipments to pass.

In recent months, however, Israel has reduced fuel supplies in the hope that Gaza's population would pressure the militants to stop the rocket fire.

The Israeli human rights group Gisha wrote to Israel's attorney general this week, saying that due to fuel shortages the Gaza power plant had been forced to halve its output from 80 to 40 megawatts and asking him to order the immediate lifting of sanctions.

For weeks Gaza has been subjected to blackouts of up to 12 hours a day, and aid workers said the situation would turn critical if the closure lasted into next week.

Hamas warned of suicide attacks in Israel if it did not end the sanctions and military operations.

"If the bloodshed in Gaza and the West Bank does not stop, there will be similar bloodshed in ... Tel Aviv," Hamas spokesman Hamad al-Rukeb said in a statement.

The last suicide attack claimed by Hamas was in August 2005, when a suicide bomber severely wounded two security guards outside the bus station in the southern city of Beersheba. The last Hamas bombing to claim Israeli lives was in the same city a year earlier, when two bombers on separate city buses blew themselves up, killing 16 people and wounding 100.

Israel closes vital Gaza crossings (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080119/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_palestinians;_ylt=AnFEqEzh8MwVKEgf_OXldX1n.3QA)

Dichter: We must stop attacks from Gaza at all cost

Internal security minister warns that 'Sderot might collapse if there is no deterence in Gaza’. Barak: This is panic-driven talk

Roni Sofer
Published: 01.20.08
Israel News

Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter expressed a harsh reality to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert Sunday, warning that “without military deterrence in Gaza, Sderot could very well collapse.”

Dichter furthermore noted that conditions in Qassam-weary Sderot are grim indeed, and praised the prime minister for his visit to the town last week. “Your visit was a positive event in a town whose morale is exceedingly low,” he told Olmert.

The internal security minister, who also visited Sderot last week, made these statements at a Kadima ministers' meeting, which was held right before the weekly cabinet meeting Sunday.

During the actual cabinet meeting, Dichter spoke in an even more resolute fashion. He praised IDF operations in Gaza, but noted that they "were not quite enough to change the outlook for Sderot, which is beyond bleak.”

Dichter added that “the government must instruct the IDF to eliminate the rocket fire from Gaza entirely. These attacks need not be minimized or managed, but stopped completely irrespective of the cost to the Palestinians.”

The internal security minister noted that 180 Qassam Rocket have been fired at Gaza vicinity communities since the start of 2008. Referencing his recent visit to Sdeort he stated that “the weekend was absolutely terrible on them. After a draining week like that I would expect the IDF chief of staff to address the government as well.”

Ashkelon-resident Dichter lashed out at Prime Minister Olmert and his fellow government ministers, noting that “the government is entirely obtuse to the goings-on in Sderot”.

Olmert: We must be sensitive to repercussions

Responding to Dichter’s scathing criticism, Defense Minister Ehud Barak replied that Israel must uphold its current policy vis a vie Gaza. To this Dichter replied “I respectfully disagree with the defense minister. Israel’s policy in Gaza must not continue, as the military must reestablish deterrence in the Strip.”

Barak also refered to Dichter's statments as "panic-driven talk the likes of which I had never heard in the government before," and assured the cabinet ministers that "we are taking the right action in Gaza. We will resolve the Qassam situation just as we have dealt with suicide bombings in the past."

"We are impacting the overall quality of life in Gaza and destroying the terror infrastructure," said Barak.
As the cabinet meeting opened, Olmert praised IDF and Shin-Bet operations in the Gaza Strip, and noted that such strikes will continue.

“We must be sensitive to the very real repercussions that these attacks have for residents of Sderot and other Gaza vicinity communities”, said Olmert. “They live in constant fear and are threatened by persistent attacks that cause damage far beyond that which can be assessed in casualties alone.”

The prime minister also assured his cabinet that the government will address all civilian concerns in these communities, as well as addressing nagging security concerns. “We will address the needs of the residents of Sderot and other Gaza vicinity communities in the upcoming weeks,” he stated.

Housing Minister: No humanitarian crisis in Gaza

Also during the cabinet meeting, Housing Minister Ze'ev Boim addressed the crisis in Gaza, precipitated by the blockade imposed on the Strip by the defense minister Thursday. This in light of persistent rocket attacks originating from the region.

“We should not manufacture a humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Its residents are hostages of a deranged regime, but there is no real humanitarian crisis there,” said Boim.

The housing minister also attacked the UN, which condemned Israel following the Gaza closure. “I don’t hear the UN speak out for residents of Gaza vicinity communities which have been living in the shadow of rocket salvos for weeks, months and even years,” he said.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called for an end to Qassam rocket and sniper attacks on the western Negev during the weekend, but also called on Israel to show restraint in wake of these attacks, warning of a looming humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Dichter: We must stop attacks from Gaza at all cost (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3496472,00.html)

Fatah TV Broadcasts Daily Call For Ethnic Cleansing of Jews
21 Shevat 5768, January 28, '08
by Ezra HaLevi

(IsraelNN.com) Fatah chief and PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's PA television has been repeatedly broadcasting a hate-filled music video calling for the ethnic cleansing of the Jewish people from Israel.

There is video on the news page.

"My enemy, oh snake! Around the land, you are coiled. You have no choice, oh enemy, but to leave my country," is the refrain in the video, which has been broadcast on a daily basis for the past several months, according to Palestinian Media Watch (PMW).

"The song's refrain, 'My enemy, oh enemy,' is repeated over and over throughout the song. Israel is not even given the courtesy of a name, but is tagged with such labels as 'treacherous,' 'imperialism' and a 'coiled snake,'" PMW Director Itamar Marcus points out. "The Palestinian is portrayed as a heroic victim who courageously confronts the evil 'enemy' Israel."

The song incites Arabs living under Fatah's rule in Judea and Samaria to fight to the death to rid the land of Jews, assuring them that, through this, they will ultimately prevail: "You have no choice, oh enemy, but to leave my country," it says.

"The goal of this music video clip is to inculcate loathing of Israel and anticipation of its destruction," Marcus explains. "The repeated broadcast over recent months by Fatah-controlled television is consistent with other Arabic-language hate messages currently being disseminated - in spite of the peace talks."

PA TV first aired the music video in 2004 and resumed its broadcast in October, 2007. It was broadcast throughout the Annapolis conference as well as during US President George W. Bush's visit to Israel, PMW reports. It continues to be aired on almost a daily basis.

The following is the text of the hate video:

"My enemy. Oh, my enemy.
Stop your crimes.
Treaty breaker! Treacherous!...
If you pull out my eyes,
My heart will see. (x2)
If you cut off my hands,
My chest is knives and swords.
My enemy! Oh imperialism!
This homeland is ours. (x2)
This land will be tilled
only by our hoes. (x2)
Whenever the tension rises,
Whenever this land weeps, (x2)
the flower will return
to grow in our house.
My enemy. Oh, my enemy.
Stop your crimes.
Treaty breaker! Treacherous!...
My enemy! Oh snake!
Around the land, you are coiled. (x2)
We, noble, courageous,
on the day of ruin [battle], shall stand.
You have no choice, Oh enemy,
but to leave my country.
And my children will return.

Fatah TV Broadcasts Daily Call For Ethnic Cleansing of Jews (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/125046)

Rocket attacks from Gaza continue, Israel strikes back
JPost.com Staff
THE JERUSALEM POST
Feb. 8, 2008

After a turbulent day on which some 40 Kassams and mortar shells slammed into the western Negev, the attacks continued Saturday morning as two rockets fired from Gaza hit the Sha'ar Hanegev region.

One of the rockets landed next to a kibbutz, while the other fell near a junction. No one was wounded and no damage was reported.

The IAF hit back, striking a Popular Resistance Committees rocket launching cell in the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanun. The army said that the terrorists were standing next to rocket launchers. Two of the terrorists were wounded in the air strike, including one seriously, Palestinian medics reported.

The air force also destroyed four other rocket launchers in the area.

Late Friday, two Sderot homes suffered direct hits from Kassams, sending six people into shock - four of whom were eating their Shabbat dinner when the rockets struck.

One man was evacuated to a hospital, suffering from chest pains and two other residents of the beleaguered town were lightly wounded after falling down while scampering for shelter from the rockets.

Following Friday's rocket barrage, Israel's UN ambassador Dan Gillerman issued a harsh complaint to the UN secretary-general and the UNSC president. Gillerman cited the severe and worrying terror activities which have been perpetrated against Israel over the last few days.

In his formal letter of complaint, the UN envoy highlighted the two young girls wounded in a Kassam rocket attack on Kibbutz Be'eri on Wednesday.

He wrote that the rocket attacks were part of a campaign by the Hamas leadership, the principal aim of which is to kill Israelis.

Due to the incessant rocket attacks, some 30 people blocked traffic in both directions at the southern entrance to Sderot on Friday night, protesting the government's "neglect" of the town's residents.

Meanwhile, Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said that the rocket attacks were a justified response to Israel's attacks on Gaza.

Haniyeh also said that there was no progress in negotiations to secure the release of captured IDF soldier Gilad Schalit.

Nevertheless, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhari proposed a truce saying that rocket attacks would be stopped if the IDF halts all its operations against Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.

In an interview with a Saudi newspaper, Zuhari said that "the ball is in Israel's court."

Hamas said Friday that it would not be deterred by Israel's cutback of the power supply.

"The Zionist enemy must understand that the policy of assassinations, of attacks, of embargo, of cutting electricity and fuel will not halt the resistance and will not break the back of the Palestinians," said senior Hamas official Ismail Radwan. "We warn them of a large volcano that will erupt if their aggression increases."

Meanwhile, Yasser Abed Rabbo, a member of the PLO executive committee and a senior adviser to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, condemned the rocket attacks, calling them a "worthless" tactic which was being used by Israel as an excuse to "continue its acts of aggression," Army Radio reported.

Rocket attacks from Gaza continue, Israel strikes back (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1202246350119&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)

Extremists poured into Gaza
Khaled Abu Toameh , THE JERUSALEM POST Feb. 6, 2008

Thousands of Arab men have flocked into the Gaza Strip from Egypt in the past two weeks, offering to join in the fight against Israel, sources close to Hamas said Wednesday.

The men, who came from Egypt and several other Arab countries, entered the Gaza Strip after the border with Egypt was torn down, the sources said, adding that they had offered to join Hamas and other armed groups.

Egyptian sources said the men had toured a number of training bases and security installations belonging to Hamas and other groups and expressed their desire to remain in the Gaza Strip and launch attacks against Israel.

The sources said some of the men had recently fled from Iraq, where they had been carrying out attacks against US troops.

The Bethlehem-based Maan news agency quoted Hamas sources as estimating the number of Arab men who had entered the Gaza Strip at 2,000. According to the sources, the Palestinian groups expressed their gratitude for the show of solidarity, but said they already had enough men to fight against Israel.

Palestinian Authority security officials told The Jerusalem Post that many of the men were Muslim fundamentalists who were eager to launch terror attacks on Israel.

"Hamas has turned the Gaza Strip into an international center for global jihad," said one official. "Most of the men who entered the Gaza Strip through the breached border are now being trained in Hamas's camps and schools."

Another PA security official said that according to his information, dozens of al-Qaida operatives have managed to enter the Gaza Strip in the past two weeks. He said some of them had already been recruited to Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

"They brought with them tons of explosives and various types of weapons, including anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles," the official said. "What's happening in the Gaza Strip is very dangerous not only for Israel, but for many Palestinians as well."

He added that a number of Iranian security experts had also entered the Gaza Strip to help train members of Hamas and other armed groups.

Earlier this week, PA officials told the Post that Iran and Syria were behind Monday's suicide bombing in Dimona.

Hamas's representative in Teheran, Abu Osama Abdel Mu'ti, announced Wednesday that his movement was planning more suicide attacks against Israel.

"The armed wing of Hamas has decided to resume martyrdom [suicide] operations against Israel after a one-year lull," he said. "The enemy should expect more attacks."

He said the fact that Hamas suicide bombers had managed to carry out an attack in Dimona, "one of the most sensitive areas," was a major victory. "This operation shows that the Palestinian resistance groups won't succumb to the pressure from the Zionists, Americans and their allies in Ramallah," he stressed.

In another development, the family of Luai al-Aghwani, a 21- year-old man from Gaza City initially believed to be one of the Dimona suicide bombers, demanded on Wednesday to know whether he was still alive or not.

Fatah's armed wing, the Aksa Martyrs Brigades, claimed shortly after the bombing that Aghwani had been one of the two suicide bombers who died in the attack. The group even released a videotape showing the would-be suicide bomber reading out his will before the attack.

However, the Fatah claim later turned out to be false as Hamas took credit for the Dimona attack, saying the terrorists were from Hebron.

Following the Hamas claim of responsibility, Aghwani's family, who have been sitting in mourning since Monday, said they had not ruled out the possibility that he had been arrested by the Egyptian authorities after crossing through the breached border.

"I want to know what happened to my son," his mother, Ibtisam, told reporters at her home in the Sabra neighborhood of Gaza City. "If he didn't carry out the attack in Dimona, then where is he? It's possible that he's being held by the Egyptians after he crossed the border."

The mother said she had last seen her son five days before the Dimona bombing. "He woke up one morning, wore two coats on top of each other, and walked out of the house," she recounted. "When I asked him why he was wearing two coats, he just smiled and walked away."

Extremists poured into Gaza (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1202246336431&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)

Abbas and Livni Say Jerusalem Being Negotiated, Shas Denies
4 Adar 5768, February 10, '08
by Ezra HaLevi

(IsraelNN.com) Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas insists that negotiations taking place between Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and former PA Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei (Abu Allah) are dealing with the status of Jerusalem. Livni confirmed the claim in a closed meeting with diplomats.

If true, it runs contrary to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s promise to the Shas Party that such talks are not taking place. Shas has declared that it will bolt the coalition and bring down the government the moment talks over Jerusalem ensue.

Abbas made the statements before meeting with European Parliament members in Ramallah Thursday. FM Livni herself confirmed the negotiations in a meeting with foreign diplomats a few days ago.

Arutz Sheva's Haggai Huberman reported that FM Livni explicitly confirmed that in negotiations with Qurei they are dealing with “all core-issues, including Jerusalem.” She acknowledged that the negotiations contradict commitments given to Shas by the prime minister, Huberman's diplomatic sources said.

Shas Spokesman Roi Lachmanovitch dismissed the report. “Nobody is talking about Jerusalem,” he told Arutz Sheva. “The moment Jerusalem is being discussed Shas will leave the government – period.”

Asked if he is saying that Foreign Minister Livni is lying, he said: “I am not saying she is lying – but I am saying that absolutely nobody is negotiating over Jerusalem.”

Shas Party Chairman Eli Yishai seemed to be heralding his party’s eventual exit from the government Thursday, telling party activists in Tiberias that he expects new national elections to take place before the local municipal elections in November.

Abbas and Livni Say Jerusalem Being Negotiated, Shas Denies (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/125199)

Militants smuggled advanced arms into Gaza Strip
By Avi Issacharoff, Yuval Azoulay and Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondents and News Agencies

Shin Bet security services chief Yuval Diskin told government ministers on Sunday that large quantities of advanced weapons have been smuggled into the Gaza Strip since the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip was breached 12 days ago.

Diskin listed long-range rockets, anti-tank missiles, anti-aircraft missiles and materials used for rocket production as some of the arms brought into the coastal territory.

Security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, also said that dozens of Palestinian militants trained in Iran managed to return to Gaza, after months of being refused entry.

Diskin also said that terror organizations had strategically relocted dozens of militants and that the Shin Bet has located 30 points where it is possible to penetrate the border between Sinai and the Negev. He said intelligence shows that 20 of those points are in use by terrorists. Israeli security has been reinforced along the border with Egypt for fear of terrorist infiltration.

During the weekly cabinet meeting, Defense Minister Ehud Barak also called for the immediate construction of a fence along Israel's border with Egypt.

"The construction of a fence on the border with Egypt is an urgent need," the defense minister said. "We must immediately begin the prelimary stage [of construction], which would include two sections near Nitzana and in the Eilat area."

"These sections are vital, and must be constructed in order to deal with hostile terrorist activity and infiltrators," he added.

Diskin also warned of a permanent breach in the Gaza-Egypt border. "Weapons that were smuggled in tunnels will now be transferred in an easier manner above ground," Diskin told the cabinet meeting.

Diskin added, however, that such a situation would have the advantage of allowing Israel to transfer responsibility to Egypt. Diskin updated the ministers on the Egyptian-mediated talks between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority on the Gaza border crisis, but said it is still unclear whether the talks will bear fruit.

Israeli security on high alert

Israeli security remains high along the Egyptian border out of fear Palestinian militants who had already entered Sinai would attack targets in Israel.

Senior security officials confirmed to Haaretz that the many Egyptian press reports about arrests of Palestinian cells in Sinai last week are indeed correct.

Israel Defense Forces sources said they acknowledged that the border between Israel and Egypt is vulnerable and prone to penetration, despite the bolstering of border patrols during the past week.

Emphasizing this concern, GOC Southern Command Yoav Galant issued an order last week banning Israeli civilians from visiting areas close to the border with Egypt. Only those in organized tours accompanied by armed guards, and only following coordination with the IDF, will be allowed near the border, said the order.

As part of the upgrade in border security, the IDF has established a new buffer zone for its patrols, ranging from two to five kilometers wide.

An IDF source said that in the past security was bolstered in communities along the border with Egypt in line with changing circumstances and intelligence assessments.

Militants smuggled advanced arms into Gaza Strip (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/950571.html)

A Coming Hamas-Israel War?

By ROBERT BAER
Feb 6, 6:35 PM ET

It's difficult to decide which will go over the edge first, Lebanon or Gaza. Maybe both at the same time, hand in hand, and - if you believe Israel - with a gentle shove from Iran.

Bets are on Gaza to explode first. Although Hamas claimed that Monday's suicide bomber in Dimona, the first in a year, came from the West Bank, the Israelis still are investigating whether he got into the country from Gaza via Egypt while the border fence at Rafah was breached. It's certainly possible. An estimated 750,000 Palestinians, half of Gaza's population, crossed into Egypt and back, primarily to shop for basic goods unavailable at home.

Israel also suspects that advanced long-range rockets, anti-tank rockets and anti-aircraft missiles were smuggled into Gaza during the breach. But more ominously, Israel claimed that, along with the weapons, Iranian-trained Hamas guerrillas came across at the same time - presumably to operate the new weapons. The Negev was hit by rockets on Tuesday, but they were an old model, Qassams.

At this point Israel has to be wondering if Hamas is planning a real war, something along the lines of the 34-day war in 2006 between Israel and Hizballah. A Hamas official didn't put that suspicion to rest when he said that next time Hamas might knock a hole in the fence that separates Gaza from Israel.

Israel knows too that Hamas would like to drag Egypt into it. And, who knows, it might work. At some level someone in Egypt is complicit in smuggling weapons into Gaza. Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, the main opposition party, still looks at Hamas as its Palestinian branch. Iran and Hizballah have been soliciting Egypt's cooperation in more help for Gaza. Will Egyptian President Mubarak be able to hold the line, keep a lid on Gaza, when Israel itself can't?

Count on it, Israel will do something to change the status quo in Gaza. One option is to build a bigger and higher wall around the country. Construction on a wall separating Israel and Egypt has already started. But little good it will do against the Hamas rockets Israel thinks are coming into Egypt.

Walls aside, what Israel sorely misses is the capacity to strike fear into its neighbors, deterrence. The Winograd Commission spelled it out in bleak terms in its report on Israel's failures during the 34-day war. "Israel cannot survive," the official statement said, unless it is able to deter its enemies - teach Hamas and Hizballah a lesson they won't forget.

Lebanon is second on the neighborhood triage list, but only because no one has been killed in the last 24 hours, at least at this writing. On the other hand, since the Lebanese army fired on demonstrators in the Shi'a southern suburbs on January 27 - killing seven, five of whom were connected to Iran's proxy, Hizballah - there have been 11 attacks on the army. The only reason Hizballah has not responded more forcefully is that the time is not right. But a war in nearby Gaza might just be the perfect time.

A Coming Hamas-Israel War? (http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20080206/wl_time/acominghamasisraelwar)

Palestinians burn Joseph's Tomb
Judaism's 3rd holiest site regarded as burial place of biblical patriarch

Palestinians yesterday tried to burn down Joseph's Tomb – Judaism's third holiest site – according to Palestinian security officials speaking to WND.

It marks the second time the Palestinians attempted to burn down the tomb, located near Nablus, the biblical city of Shechem.

Joseph's Tomb is the believed burial place of the biblical patriarch Joseph, the son of Jacob who was sold by his brothers into slavery and later became viceroy of Egypt.

Palestinian security officials in Nablus said yesterday they were called to the tomb to find 16 burning tires inside the sacred structure.

A Palestinian police official who inspected the site told WND today there was some fire damage to the tomb. He said the Palestinian Authority, fearing embarrassment, immediately formed a joint committee from the PA's Force 17, Preventative Security Services and Palestinian intelligence, to find out who was behind the fire.

He said patrols were stepped up around the site.

A spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces said the IDF was not aware of the fire or any unusual activity near the tomb but that it would immediately inquire with the PA.

The move comes after Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced last week he would ask Israel's Defense Ministry to work with the PA to reconstruct and restore the tomb, parts of which were destroyed by Palestinians, including known PA security officers, in 2000.

Under the 1993 Oslo Accords, which granted nearby strategic territory to the Palestinians, Joseph's Tomb was supposed to be accessible to Jews and Christians. But following repeated attacks against Jewish worshippers at the holy site by gunmen associated with then-Palestinian Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat's militias, then-Prime Minister Ehud Barak in October 2000 ordered an Israeli unilateral retreat from the area.

Within less than an hour of the Israeli retreat, Palestinian rioters overtook Joseph's Tomb and reportedly began to ransack the site. Palestinian mobs reportedly tore apart books, destroying prayer stands and grinding out stone carvings in the Tomb's interior.

Palestinians hoisted a Muslim flag over the tomb. Amin Maqbul, an official from Arafat's office, visited the tomb to deliver a speech declaring, "Today was the first step to liberate (Jerusalem)."

One BBC reporter described the scene: "The site was reduced to smoldering rubble – festooned with Palestinian and Islamic flags – cheering Arab crowd."

Palestinians also constructed a mosque on the rubble of the tomb's adjacent yeshiva compound. Workers painted the dome of the compound green, the Islamic color.

Third holiest site turned into mosque

The Torah describes how Jacob purchased a land plot in Shechem, which was given as an inheritance to his sons and was used to re-inter Joseph, whose bones were taken out of Egypt during the Jewish exodus. Joseph's sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, are also said to be buried at the site.

As detailed in the Torah, shortly before his death, Joseph asked the Israelites to vow they would resettle his bones in the land of Canaan, biblical Israel. That oath was fulfilled when, according to the Torah, Joseph's remains were taken by the Jews from Egypt and reburied at the plot of land Jacob had earlier purchased in Shechem, believed to be the site of the tomb. Modern archeologists confirm Nablus is the biblical city of Shechem

Yehuda Leibman, who until the Israeli retreat from Joseph's Tomb in 2000 was director of a yeshiva constructed there, explained, "The sages tell us that there are three places which the world cannot claim were stolen by the Jewish people: the Temple Mount, the Cave of the Patriarchs and Joseph's Tomb."

There is evidence suggesting for more than 1,000 years Jews of various origins worshipped at Joseph's Tomb. The Samaritans, a local tribe that follow a religion based on the Torah, say they trace their lineage back to Joseph himself and that they worshipped at the tomb site for more than 1,700 years.

Israel first gained control of Nablus and the neighboring site of Joseph's Tomb in the 1967 Six-Day War. The Oslo Accords signed by Arafat and Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin called for the area surrounding the tomb site to be placed under Palestinian jurisdiction but allowed for continued Jewish visits to the site and the construction of an Israeli military outpost at the tomb to ensure secure Jewish access.

Following the transfer of control of Nablus and the general area encompassing the tomb to the Palestinians in the early 1990s, there were a series of outbreaks of violence in which Arab rioters and gunmen from Arafat's Fatah militias shot at Jewish worshipers and the tomb's military outpost.

Six Israeli soldiers were killed, and many others, including yeshiva students, were wounded in September 1996 when Palestinian rioters and Fatah gunmen attempted to over take the tomb. Eventually, Israeli soldiers regained control of the site.

The Palestinians continued to attack Joseph's Tomb with regular shootings and the lobbing of firebombs and Molotov cocktails. Security for Jews at the site increasingly became more difficult to maintain. Rumors circulated in 2000 that Barak would evacuate the Israeli military outpost and give the tomb to Arafat as a "peacemaking gesture."

In early 2000, the Israeli army began denying Jewish visits to the tomb on certain days due to prospects of Arab violence. Following U.S.-mediated peace talks at Camp David in September 2000, Arafat returned to the West Bank and initiated his intifada. During one bloody week in October 2000, Fatah gunmen attacked the tomb repeatedly, killing two and injuring dozens, prompting Barak to order a complete evacuation of Judaism's third holiest site Oct. 6.

In a WND exclusive interview, Tariq Tarawi, a Fatah lawmaker who in 2000 served as chief of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror group in the vicinity of the tomb, said the Palestinians would "never" allow Israel to rebuild a yeshiva or synagogue at Joseph's Tomb. The Brigades carried out most of the attacks against the tomb site.

"A yeshiva is an institution," said Tarawi. "An institution can be the beginning of claiming rights and these claims can bring once again the Israeli army to establish a base in the place, and we can not accept this. If the Jews try to build a yeshiva, we will shoot at them."

Barkat: Plan agreed on dividing J'lem
JPost.com Staff , THE JERUSALEM POST Feb. 13, 2008

"Vice Premier Haim Ramon and PA negotiator Mohammad Rashid have agreed on a plan to divide Jerusalem," Jerusalem municipal opposition leader Nir Barkat said Wednesday, following a letter he received from Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.

Livni was answering Barkat's request that she respond to the Jerusalem Post report about secret negotiations on the future of capital.

Barkat, a former Kadima member, has led a public campaign against the proposed division of the capital. On January 22, he said that a decision to freeze building in east Jerusalem would make Prime Minister Ehud Olmert the first Israeli prime minister since the end of the British mandate in 1948 to enact 'a White Paper' for the capital, a reference to the infamous 1939 British policy which limited Jewish immigration to Palestine.

In her letter, Livni wrote: "At Annapolis, it was agreed that Israel and the Palestinians would conduct negotiations on all the core issues without exception.

"The negotiations between the Israeli and Palestinian delegations are being conducted with agreement from both sides that until there is an accord on every issue there will be no accord on any issue and that the contents of the negotiations must not be disclosed."

She said that from past experience, Israel had learned that conducting negotiations "under the floodlights" will not contribute to Israel's goals and that "for this reason, and this reason only, I have neither related to reports about agreements seemingly reached during negotiations and nor will I do so in the future."

"You cannot conclude anything from my lack of response and the absence of a denial is not any form of confirmation," stressed the foreign minister.

Following the foreign minister's response, Barkat said: "Livni's letter exposes more than anything the fraudulent peace process led by Ramon and the prime minister. Livni refuses to reveal the vital information she knows, of which I was informed by senior officials, that there is a secret channel led by Haim Ramon and Mohammad Rashid and not by the Foreign Ministry."

Barkat went on to say that the fact that Livni was aware of the reported secret channel and refused to admit it to the public "turns her into an active partner in the fraudulent peace process of which the true aim is to divide Jerusalem."

Ramon denied the report, saying Barkat's claims were "absurd and unfounded."

Barkat: Plan agreed on dividing J'lem (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1202742149852&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)

Google Earth: Israel 'stole Palestinian land'
Says Jews drove out Arabs even though town was founded on empty sand dunes
Posted: February 11, 2008
4:52 pm Eastern

By Aaron Klein
© 2008 WorldNetDaily

TEL AVIV – An Israeli town is suing Internet giant Google after surprised municipal officials discovered Google Earth, the popular, user-driven satellite map, labels their city as stolen Palestinian land.

"[The label] is simply complete nonsense," Yossi Ben-Artzi, a history professor at Israel's Haifa University told Yediot Ahronot, Israel's leading daily. "Kiryat Yam was built on sand dunes, and there wasn't any Palestinian village in the area. The lands were bought in 1939 by the Gav Yam construction company."

The professor was responding to a criminal complaint filed by the northern Israeli coastal town of Kiryat Yam, which a Google Earth user mapped as stolen by Jews when Israel was founded in 1948.

About 600,000 Arabs fled Israel after surrounding Arab countries warned they would destroy the Jewish state in 1948. Some Arabs also were driven out by Jewish forces while they were trying to push back invading Arab armies. At the same time, over 800,000 Jews were expelled or left Arab countries under threat after Israel was founded.

The Google Earth user, identified as Palestinian physician Thameen Darby, inserted a note on the map saying Kiryat Yam was built in 1948 at the location of a former Arab town called Ghawarina.

Ghawarina, though, is widely thought to be about 10 miles south of Kiryat Yat, in an Arab village currently named Jisr el-Zarka.

"This is one of the Palestinian localities evacuated and destroyed after the 1948 Arab-Israeli war," Darby posted above Kiryat Yam.

Darby's claim is strange since Kiryat Yam was founded in the 1930s and not in 1948, when he claims Jews expelled Arabs from the site.

An official Google response e-mailed to WND explained Google Earth is user driven:

"Content reflects what people contribute, not what Google believes to be true. ... While we recognize that some may find the user-generated content objectionable, we are careful to balance the integrity of an open forum with the legal requirements of local governments. If an overlay does not breach our Terms and Conditions and is not in any way illegal, it is our policy not to remove it."

A Google spokesman told the Associated Press Darby's posting on the map doesn't violate Google policy and that the Palestinian label would not be removed.

Google marks Temple Mount Palestinian

This is not the first time Google Earth drew controversy alleging pro-Palestinian bias.

WND reported last year while Jerusalem serves as Israel's capital, and the Temple Mount is located within Israeli sovereignty, Google Earth divides the city and places the Mount – Judaism's holiest site – within Palestinian territory.

Interactive Google Earth maps still mark eastern sections of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount as "occupied territory," set to become part of a future Palestinian state.

The United Nations considers eastern sections of Jerusalem, recaptured by Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War, to be "disputed" and not "occupied." The Israeli Knesset officially annexed the entire city of Jerusalem as its capital in 1980.

"Google Earth is reinforcing lies," Rabbi Chaim Richman, director of the international department at Israel's Temple Institute, told WND.

"The Muslims have engaged in a systemic campaign to re-write history and erase any traces of Judaism from the Temple Mount in total disregard to all actual archeological and historic evidence," he continued. "Now Google Earth has given in to this campaign."

Jerusalem first was divided into eastern and western sections when Jordan invaded and occupied the city and the Temple Mount area in 1947, expelling all Jewish inhabitants. Israel originally built its capital in the western part of the city, while the eastern quarters remained under Jordanian control until Israel regained them in 1967.

'Racist Israel stealing Palestinian water'

Google Earth does not limit its input in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to Jerusalem and Kiryat Yam.

The Gaza Strip is labeled by Google Earth as "Israeli occupied," even though the Jewish state withdrew from Gaza in August 2005.

TotallyJewish.com, a UK-based Jewish website, pointed out an interactive Google Earth map of an Israeli community in the northern West Bank features integrated user comments implying Jews are stealing water from neighboring Palestinians.

A posting on a Google map next to the town of Kiryat Arba, near the ancient city of Hebron, states: "Note the well-tended lawns in a region deprived of water."

Clicking on a Web link in the posting brings the user to a site stating, "The principal reason for the water shortage is an unfair distribution of water resources shared by Israel and the Palestinians."

The posting decries Israel's purported water-confiscation practices as "illegal" and "racist," even though dozens of major Israeli aquifers, many run by the Jewish National Fund, purify water running through Palestinian cities and return the cleaned water to the Palestinian towns.

Comments on other Google Earth images claim Israel plans to divide parts of Bethlehem, even though no such plan exists and the city is already under Palestinian control.

Google Earth is also accused of showing falsified images. Visitors to Google Earth who click on an area just outside Jerusalem can view a computer-generated image claiming to depict an Israeli missile factory.

Israeli defense officials told WND the "missile factory" is a fabrication.

Terror leader: 'Congratulations to Google Earth'

Mort Klein, president of the Zionist Organization of America, accused Google Earth of encouraging terrorism when it allowed Jerusalem and the Temple Mount to be labeled Palestinian.

"When the Arab terrorists see Google Earth's falsification of geographic realities, they will be appeased and encouraged, because these kinds of lying maps send the message that their disinformation campaigns and their terrorism work," Klein told WND.

Indeed, Abu Nasser, second-in-command of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror group, said he was "thrilled" by Google Earth's depictions.

"Congratulations to Google Earth," Abu Nasser told WND.

"We congratulate Google and the American people in making this very important change in the Middle East. The Al Aqsa Mosque (located on the Temple Mount) is part of Jerusalem, and Jerusalem is part of Palestine. If such a big institution like Google corrected these historical mistakes on maps, maybe we can bring about a change in the depictions of Palestine by the American media, which is controlled by the Zionists."

According to Abu Nasser, whose terror group says it is trying to liberate the Al Aqsa Mosque, the Jewish Temple "never existed."

"At least not on the area Jews now call the Temple Mount," he said. "Maybe a Temple existed somewhere but not in Jerusalem. The Temple Mount exists only in the imaginations of the Jews and Americans."

Abu Nasser's Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades is the declared "military wing" of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party. The Brigades, together with the Islamic Jihad terror group, has taken responsibility for every suicide bombing in Israel the past two years, including an attack in Tel Aviv that killed American teenager Daniel Wultz and nine Israelis.

'Mughniyeh co-founded Hizbullah'
Yaakov Katz , THE JERUSALEM POST Feb. 13, 2008

Imad Mughniyeh, Hizbullah's chief of operations, was considered over the past 25 years one of the world's most-wanted terrorists, involved in endless attacks against Israel and the United States, including the abduction of two IDF reservists in 2006 and the bombing of US embassies in Africa.

Less known than Osama Bin Laden but considered a greater outlaw, Mughniyeh was implicated in the 1983 bombing of the US Embassy and Marine barracks in Beirut which killed over 350 as well as the 1994 bombing of the Israelite Mutual Association building in Buenos Aires which killed 85 people and the 1992 attack on the Israeli embassy in the same city which killed 29.

He also apparently had strong ties with Al Qaida and according to the testimony of Ali Mohammed, a senior Al Qaida operative who was arrested for involvement in the attacks on American embassies in Africa, Mughniyeh met with Bin Laden in Sudan in 1993. Hizbullah, Mohammed said, provided explosives training for Al-Qaida fighters. This relationship and the fact that Mughniyeh was Hizbullah's liaison to Al Qaida, has led western intelligence agencies to raise the possibility that he was also involved in the 9/11 attacks

Born in the Lebanese city of Tyre in 1962, Mughniyeh did not attract attention until 1976, when he joined Force 17 as a sniper targeting Christians on the Green Line dividing West and East Beirut.

Fatah officials told The Jerusalem Post that he was very close to former Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat when the PLO was based in Beirut.

"His nickname was tha'lab [the fox], and today he's considered the second important figure in Hizbullah after Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah. We're very proud to have had a Palestinian holding such a high position in Hizbullah," said a Fatah official who said he knew Mughniyeh well during the '70s and '80s.

When the IDF forced the PLO to leave Lebanon in 1982, Arafat entrusted Mughniyeh with transferring the organization's weapons to Lebanese militias allied with the Palestinians. Mughniyeh, who refused to leave Beirut with the PLO leadership, joined the Shi'ite Amal militia headed by Nabih Berri. He and Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, who was then a member of Amal, later left the movement to form Hizbullah.

The first terror attack he was implicated for was the 1983 bombings of the US Embassy and barracks housing US Marines and French paratroopers who were part of the Multinational Force in Lebanon. Some 350 people were killed.

"Mughniyeh was one of the most dangerous and cruel terrorists," former Mossad chief and Labor MK Danny Yatom said. "This is a huge achievement for the war against terror."

In 1985, Mughniyeh was believed to have been one of the terrorists who took hostage a TWA flight on its way from Athens to Rome. The plane was forced to land in Beirut and afterwards flew to Algeria and then returned to Beirut. He was later indicted in the US for the murder of one of the hostages on board, a US Navy diver.

On October 10, 2001 Mughniyeh appeared on the FBI's first "Top 22 Most Wanted Terrorists" list. A reward of $5 million was offered for information leading to his capture.

He has also been linked to the Karine A weapons ship that Arafat tried to use to smuggle arms into the Gaza Strip in 2001 as well as the kidnapping of three IDF soldiers in October 2000 by Hizbullah in addition to the abduction of Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser in the summer of 2006.

Mughniyeh was considered Hizbullah's chief liaison with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and was believed to have spent most of his time in Tehran under tight Iranian security. Outside of Iran he was reported to not sleep in the same place twice and to constantly be looking over his shoulder.

In January 2006, Mughniyeh is believed to have traveled with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Damascus for a meeting with Nasrallah, Hamas leader Khaled Mashal and Islamic Jihad chief Ramadan Salah.

"He knew that he was on the FBI's list for many years and he has lived many years according to this understanding and this was strengthened following the Second Lebanon War," said Col. (res.) Dr. Eitan Azani, former head of the Lebanese Desk at the IDF's Military Intelligence and deputy executive director of the Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT) in Herzliya.

In contrast to Bin Laden, Azani said, Mughniyeh was an operations officer and did not have an organizational or political role in Hizbullah. "He did not have a political role but was strictly involved in operations, like the chief of staff," he said.

'Mughniyeh co-founded Hizbullah' (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1202742146147&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)

PA TV Bunny Rabbit Threatens to 'Eat the Jews'
8 Adar 5768, February 14, '08
by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz

(IsraelNN.com) The latest TV character created to incite Palestinian Authority children to anti-Semitism, Islamic triumphalism and violence has debuted on a popular show produced by Hamas. The character is a cute rabbit who aspires to finish off the Jews and eat them.

The rabbit's name is Assoud, which translates as "lions," and he has come from Lebanon "in order to return to the homeland and liberate it." News of the program and a translation of the dialogue was provided by the Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) organization.

In the PA children's program, called Tomorrow's Pioneers, a young girl hostess asks the new character, "Why is your name Assoud, since you are a rabbit?"

Assoud replies: "A rabbit is a [term] for a bad person and coward. And I, Assoud, will finish off the Jews and eat them."

"Allah Willing!" the girl exclaims.

Later in the show, children are taught that the Jewish city of Tel Aviv is actually Arab and that it must be "liberated" by way of Hamas-style terrorism.

Assoud asks the child hostess of the program, "Do you know the original name of our city... Tel Aviv?"

"It's our city: Tel-Rabia," she replies, "but the Zionists today call it Tel Aviv, but it will stay ours.... And we will return with Allah's will."

Assoud: "How will we go to our city if the Jews took it?"

"We will continue the resistance [a PA term for terrorism]," she answers.

The program ends with singing: "We will never recognize Israel...." with the hostess emphasizing the call to "liberate our homeland from the Zionist filth."

The show, Tomorrow’s Pioneers, first became known for its genocidal Mickey Mouse look-alike character, Farfur. The show's producers had Farfur murdered by Israelis and replaced by Nahoul the bee, who was killed off in an episode in which Israel would not allow him to leave Gaza for medical treatment.

PA TV Bunny Rabbit Threatens to 'Eat the Jews' (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/125227)

Biblical hero Joseph
'was really a Muslim'
Palestinians make astonishing claim,
deny they'll help restore burned tomb

In the wake of an attempt by Palestinians to burn down Joseph's Tomb – Judaism's third holiest site – Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah faction issued a statement denying it will help restore the shrine, referring to both the shrine and the biblical patriarch as "Muslim."

"Pay no attention to the rumors that we will work with Israel to restore the burial site of the holy Muslim Joseph," said the statement, issued from Nablus, the biblical city of Shechem. "We are going to guard this holy Muslim site."

Joseph's Tomb is the believed burial place of the son of Jacob who was sold by his brothers into slavery and later became viceroy of Egypt.

Palestinian security officials in Nablus said Monday they were called to the tomb to find 16 burning tires inside the sacred structure. A Palestinian police official who inspected the site told WND there was some fire damage to the tomb.

He said the Palestinian Authority, fearing embarrassment, immediately formed a joint committee from the PA's Force 17, Preventative Security Services and Palestinian intelligence, to find out who was behind the fire.

The move comes after Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced last week he would ask Israel's Defense Ministry to work with the PA to reconstruct and restore the tomb, parts of which were destroyed in 2000 by Palestinians, including known PA security officers.

Under the 1993 Oslo Accords, which granted nearby strategic territory to the Palestinians, Joseph's Tomb was supposed to be accessible to Jews and Christians. But following repeated attacks against Jewish worshippers at the holy site by gunmen associated with then-Palestinian Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat's militias, then-Prime Minister Ehud Barak in October 2000 ordered an Israeli unilateral retreat from the area.

Within less than an hour of the Israeli retreat, Palestinian rioters overtook Joseph's Tomb and reportedly began to ransack the site. Palestinian mobs reportedly tore apart books, destroying prayer stands and grinding out stone carvings in the Tomb's interior. A Muslim flag was hoisted over the tomb.

Israel first gained control of Nablus and the neighboring site of Joseph's Tomb in the 1967 Six-Day War. The Oslo Accords signed by Arafat and Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin called for the area surrounding the tomb site to be placed under Palestinian jurisdiction but allowed for continued Jewish visits to the site and the construction of an Israeli military outpost at the tomb to ensure secure Jewish access.

Following the transfer of control of Nablus and the general area encompassing the tomb to the Palestinians in the early 1990s, there were a series of outbreaks of violence in which Arab rioters and gunmen from Arafat's Fatah militias shot at Jewish worshipers and the tomb's military outpost.

Six Israeli soldiers were killed, and many others, including yeshiva students, were wounded in September 1996 when Palestinian rioters and Fatah gunmen attempted to over take the tomb. Eventually, Israeli soldiers regained control of the site.

The Palestinians continued to attack Joseph's Tomb with regular shootings and the lobbing of firebombs and Molotov cocktails. Security for Jews at the site increasingly became more difficult to maintain. Rumors circulated in 2000 that Barak would evacuate the Israeli military outpost and give the tomb to Arafat as a "peacemaking gesture."

In early 2000, the Israeli army began denying Jewish visits to the tomb on certain days due to prospects of Arab violence. Following U.S.-mediated peace talks at Camp David in September 2000, Arafat returned to the West Bank and initiated his intifada. During one bloody week in October 2000, Fatah gunmen attacked the tomb repeatedly, killing two and injuring dozens, prompting Barak to order a complete evacuation of Judaism's third holiest site Oct. 6.

Jerusalem is the subject of discussion in the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks that could bring down the Israeli government

As the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian peace talks continue, there is the ever-increasing possibility that the present Israeli government may fall apart due to the negotiations going on right now about the status of the city of Jerusalem.

Several of the political parties involved in the Ehud Olmert government say they will bring the government down if even discussions of the division of Jerusalem are being held. There is information surfacing that both public and secret talks are going on and one Israeli official is claiming that a deal has been made to divide Jerusalem. The PA leadership says there can be no peace deal without a portion of Jerusalem as the capital of the Palestinian state they see as the deal for peace in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Negotiations to divide the city of Jerusalem being held by the Israelis and the Palestinians can not only bring down the present Israeli government but it is a precursor to the End Times scenario that can be found in Bible prophecy.

As the Israelis and the Palestinians discuss the potential peace deal that President Bush and other world leaders have encouraged these leaders to do in order to have a peaceful coexistence in the Middle East, the subject of Jerusalem is quickly becoming the main focus of the talks. Many of the Israeli leaders wanted any discussion of the status on Jerusalem to be held at the end of the peace talks. Palestinian leaders believe that Jerusalem is their main concern in these talks and have forced the issue onto the table with Israeli officials agreeing to talk about Jerusalem and its division. With Jerusalem as the main focus of the prophetic scenario found in Bible prophecy, we are quickly moving ever so close to the fulfillment of these prophecies.

Zechariah wrote 2,500 years ago that Jerusalem will be the center of controversy that it is today and this controversy would be the precursor to the Second Coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, Zechariah 12:2. Jesus told Zechariah in a pre-incarnate appearance that He was aggressively possessive for Jerusalem and that He would come back one day to build His Temple there where He would rule and reign from during the Kingdom Period, Zechariah 1:14-16.

With Jerusalem on the table in the Israeli-Palestinian discussions it is clear that Bible prophecy will be fulfilled.

'Palestinian government' in Israel within weeks
Officially opening institutions in Jewish state's capital city

JERUSALEM – The Palestinian Authority, aided by international donors, will attempt to open official institutions in Jerusalem within weeks, WND has learned.

While Israel has not officially approved the PA's presence in Jerusalem, Palestinian diplomatic sources said there is an unwritten agreement in which Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office has agreed not to interrupt some PA activities in Jerusalem.

Hatem Abdel Khader, a member of Palestinian Authority President Mahmad Abbas' Fatah party and a former member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, held a meeting today with Fatah activists in Jerusalem in which he declared the PA would start officially acting in Jerusalem.

(Story continues below)

Official PA minutes of the meeting, obtained by WND, announced the launching of "practical PA activities in Jerusalem such as those that took place before the closing of Orient House in Jerusalem by Israeli Occupation Authorities."

In line with previous Israeli-Palestinian accords, the PA has been barred from conducting political activity in Jerusalem, although it maintained an office, called Orient House, in an eastern Jerusalem neighborhood that previously functioned as a de facto PA headquarters.

Orient House was closed down by Israel in 2001 following a series of suicide bombings in Jerusalem and information Israel said indicated the House was used to plan and fund terrorism.

Thousands of documents and copies of bank certificates and checks captured by Israel from Orient House – including many documents obtained by WND – showed the offices were used to finance terrorism, including direct payments to the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror group.

A press release from Khader yesterday said the PA would start acting in Jerusalem on both the social and political levels "to strengthen Palestinian preservation of Jerusalem."

Khader's release stated the World Bank and other international donors provided $150,000 in initial seed money to launch PA activities in Jerusalem and that more aid was expected.

Palestinian diplomatic sources claimed they received tacit agreement from Israeli officials to allow some PA political activities in Jerusalem's Old City and eastern Jerusalem neighborhoods.

David Baker, a spokesman for Olmert, did not returns a request for comment before press time.

The Palestinian sources noted Israel last week arrested Khader, as reported by WND, accusing him of setting up a Palestinian council in Jerusalem to attend to the needs of the city's Israeli Arab population. But Khader was released after a few hours and no charges were brought against him.

Palestinian officials speaking to WND said they recently urged the U.S. to support what they said is a key demand allowing the PA to open official institutions and to reopen Orient House to serve as their Jerusalem headquarters. The U.S. brought the request to Olmert in November, but according to sources in Jerusalem, Israeli officials replied for domestic political reasons Olmert is waiting to discuss Jerusalem during biweekly negotiations held with Abbas.

Olmert is facing major opposition from the Israeli Shas party, a member of his governing coalition whose leadership has stated it would bolt Olmert's government if he negotiated over Jerusalem.

Olmert, though, previously hinted he would be willing to divide Jerusalem, asking during a December speech whether it was "really necessary" to retain certain Arab neighborhoods in Judaism's capital. His vice premier, Haim Ramon, a member of Olmert's ruling Kadima party, last month reportedly mapped out a future partition of Jerusalem under a deal with the Palestinians.

But following Shas threats to bolt his coalition, Olmert has denied he is negotiating over Jerusalem, a claim strongly contested by Palestinian negotiators speaking to WND.

The Palestinians may declare their own state unilaterally

A senior Palestinian official has said that the Palestinians ought to unilaterally declare a state if peace talks with the Israelis do not succeed, adding that the Palestinians deserved independence more than Kosovo.

Another Palestinian official disagreed saying that the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) had declared independence in 1988 and now the Palestinian people need real independence, not a declaration, they need real independence by ending the Israeli occupation. These comments coming from key Palestinian officials even as the peace negotiations continue between the Israelis and the Palestinians while at the same time there is the continuation of Palestinian violence and Israeli military activity in Gaza.

If the Palestinian people follow the lead of Kosovo and declare an independent state unilaterally, the End Times scenario of Bible prophecy will be set to be fulfilled.

Even though there has never been a Palestinian state throughout all of history, the world has now been led to believe that the Israelis must give back the Palestinian state. Until the Oslow Accords, the peace treaty between the Israelis and the Palestinians signed in 1993, there was never a legitimacy to the Palestinian claim of a state for the Palestinian people. Now, with Kosovo going against international law and declaring their own independence from Serbia, the Palestinians say they deserve to be an independent state as well.

This scenario was revealed 2,500 years ago by the ancient Jewish prophet Malachi just as the Old Testament Period was closing out. Malachi wrote that the descendants of Esau, the Edomites, would one day return and rebuild their nation, Malachi 1:4. God told Malachi that He would call the borders of the Edomites, the Palestinians of today, the borders of wickedness, Malachi 1:4. Obadiah wrote 2,800 years ago that the Last Days would see the Israelis and the Palestinians in conflict as they are today.

Declaration of a Palestinian state will indeed set the stage for Bible prophecy to be fulfilled.

Abbas does not rule out resuming armed conflict with Israel

Jordanian newspaper interviews Palestinian President Abbas, quotes him as boasting about past activities in PLO, expressing vague support for possibility of Palestinians resuming armed conflict with Israel

Roee Nahmias
Published: 02.28.08, 09:38
Israel News

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Thursday that he does not completely rule out the possibility of resuming the armed conflict with Israel.

In an interview to the Jordanian newspaper al-Dustur, Abbas said that he is against an armed conflict at this time, but things may differ in the future.

Abbas, a leading figure of the Palestine Liberation Organization, was quoted as boasting about the fact that he was the one to "fire the first bullet of the resistance" back in 1965, adding it was the PLO that taught many around the world "how to resist, when resistance is most effective and when it is not."

"I had the honor to lead… we taught everyone, including the Hizbullah, the ways of resistance. They were all educated in our training camps."

According to al-Dustur, Abbas does not demand of Hamas to acknowledge Israel, but rather wants it to join a government which will negotiate the recognition.

"I demanded that a unity government be formed, to negotiate with Israel… that is what I told Syrian President Bashar Assad – and he backed me up.

"Hamas entered an election based on the Oslo Accords, which recognize Israel. I am not the only one pushing for such recognition, the Arab initiative – which is a consensus in the Arab and Muslim world – calls for it as well."

The Palestinian president also said he objects to Israel's definition as a Jewish State: "We negated the concept in the Annapolis peace conference and it almost ended because of it… they wanted us to state we recognize Israel as a Jewish State in the closing statements, but we wouldn't hear of it."

Abbas does not rule out resuming armed conflict with Israel (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3512417,00.html)

Gaza militants 'risking disaster'

Israel air strikes pounded targets in Gaza for a second night.

Israel's deputy defence minister has said the Palestinians will bring a big disaster upon themselves if they step up rocket attacks on Israel.

Matan Vilnai said Israel would use all its might to defend itself, after Palestinian rockets hit the city of Ashkelon, 10km (six miles) from Gaza.

At a rally attended by thousands in Gaza, Hamas leader Ismail Haniya said it was ready for a large-scale attack.

Israeli air strikes have killed about 30 Palestinians in the past three days.

Four Palestinian boys were killed in an Israeli raid as they played in a field in northern Gaza on Thursday. Several militants, including a Hamas commander, were also killed.

The string of attacks came a day after a rocket fired by Hamas killed an Israeli student on the outskirts of Sderot, about a mile from Gaza, the first such death in nine months.

The barrage continued on Friday with militants aiming several Grad rockets at Ashkelon, a major Israeli city which has 120,000 residents.

The Iranian-made rockets are said to have a range of about 22km (14 miles).

One rocket hit a block of flats in the city, breaking through the roof and slicing through three floors below, while another landed near a school, wounding a 17-year-old girl.

It is the first time Israeli officials have ordered Code Red sirens to be sounded in Ashkelon and reports say soldiers from the Israeli military's Home Front Command have been hanging posters around the city instructing residents on what to do when the warning sounds.

"It's a city with large facilities - a huge soccer stadium, and a basketball stadium, and a beach. No-one is ready for this," Ashkelon mayor Roni Mehatzri told Israel Radio.

ISRAEL-HAMAS ATTACKS
Friday:
Israeli city Ashkelon activates warning system after Palestinian rocket hits
Israeli air raids continue, with four wounded in Jabaliya
Thursday:
Four children killed near Jabaliya refugee camp
Hamas militant killed near Shati refugee camp
Hamas militant killed near Beit Hanoun
Three Hamas militants and two from PRC killed in Gaza City
Wednesday:
Six-month-old boy killed near interior ministry
Five Hamas militants near Khan Younis
Islamic Jihad militant near Bureij refugee camp
Israeli civilian killed in Sderot

Israel's leaders have been under pressure in some quarters to launch a ground invasion of Gaza to end the rocket fire and although they are reluctant, Mr Vilnai admitted on Friday that they may have "no other choice".

Speaking on Israel Army Radio, Mr Vilnai said if Palestinians increased rocket fire, they will bring upon themselves what he called a "shoah" - a Hebrew word for catastrophe, and for the Nazi Holocaust.

The BBC's Katya Adler in Jerusalem says many of Mr Vilnai's colleagues have quickly distanced themselves from his comments and also tried to downplay them saying he did not mean genocide.

"We're getting close to using our full strength. Until now, we've used a small percentage of the army's power because of the nature of the territory," he added.

Separately, the chairman of the Knesset's defence and foreign affairs committee, Tzachi Hanegbi, said Israel "must make a strategic decision to order the army to prepare quickly".

A recent opinion poll has indicated a majority of Israelis favour a truce with Hamas.

The Islamist movement, which seized control of Gaza in June, has said it will cease fire if Israel stops its military operations in Palestinian areas and ends the blockade of the territory which has cut essential supplies to its 1.5m inhabitants.

Ismail Haniya (29 February 2008)
Mr Haniya said any Israeli invasion would end in terrible failure

Addressing a crowd of around 2,000 Hamas supporters at a rally held after Friday prayers in Gaza City, former Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya said Israel was deluded if it thought it could now remove his group.

"Gaza today faces a real war, a crazy war led by the enemy against our people," he said.

"What does a large-scale raid mean? You were in the Gaza Strip and you quit because of the resistance. What does assassination mean? If some leaders are assassinated, would the cause be assassinated?" he asked.

Several senior Hamas leaders, including Mr Haniya, have remained out of public view during the last six weeks because of fears that Israel might try to kill them.

Mr Haniya, who was dismissed by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas after Hamas ousted his Fatah movement in Gaza, said any Israeli attempt to invade would "end in terrible failure just like all the other rounds have failed".

A senior Palestinian negotiator in the ongoing peace talks between the PA and the Israeli government, Saeb Erekat, also condemned the recent Israeli air strikes and urged both sides to work towards a ceasefire.

"We strongly condemn this bloodbath and the massacring of our people," he told al-Jazeera.

Gaza conditions 'at 40-year low'

Gaza's humanitarian situation is at its worst since Israel occupied the territory in 1967, say UK-based human rights and development groups.

They include Amnesty International, Save the Children, Cafod, Care International and Christian Aid.

They criticise Israel's blockade on Gaza as illegal collective punishment which fails to deliver security.

Israel says its military action and other measures are lawful and needed to stop rocket attacks from Gaza.

Israel pulled its troops and settlers out of the Gaza Strip in 2005, but retains control over Gaza's airspace and coastline, and over its own border with the territory.

It tightened its blockade in January amid a surge in rocket attacks by Palestinian militants in Gaza.

Israel's Defence Ministry rejected the criticism in the report, blaming the Hamas militant group which controls Gaza.

"The main responsibility for events in Gaza is the Hamas organisation, to which all complaints should be addressed," a statement read.

The groups' report, Gaza Strip: A Humanitarian Implosion, says the blockade has dramatically worsened levels of poverty and unemployment, and has led to deterioration in education and health services.

More than 1.1 million Gazans are dependent on food aid and of 110,000 workers previously employed in the private sector, 75,000 have now lost their jobs, the report says.

"Unless the blockade ends now, it will be impossible to pull Gaza back from the brink of this disaster and any hopes for peace in the region will be dashed," said Geoffrey Dennis, of Care International UK.

Last week Israeli forces launched a bloody and destructive raid in northern Gaza, in which more than 120 Palestinians - including many civilians - were killed.

Israel says the measures are designed to stamp out frequent rocket fire by Palestinian militants.

Recent rocket attacks have hit deeper into southern Israel, reaching Ashkelon, the closest large Israeli city to the Gaza Strip.

The UK-based groups agree that Israel has the right and obligation to protect its citizens, urging both sides to cease unlawful attacks on civilians.

But they call upon Israel to comply with its obligations, as the occupying power in Gaza, to ensure its inhabitants have access to food, clean water, electricity and medical care, which have been in short supply in the strip.

"Punishing the entire Gazan population by denying them these basic human rights is utterly indefensible," said Amnesty UK Director Kate Allen.

"The current situation is man-made and must be reversed."

Other recommendations from the groups include international engagement with the Hamas movement, which rejects Israel's legitimacy and has been shunned by Israel's allies, and the Fatah party of Palestinian West Bank leader Mahmoud Abbas.

"Gaza cannot become a partner for peace unless Israel, Fatah and the Quartet [the US and UN, Europe and Russia] engage with Hamas and give the people of Gaza a future," said Daleep Mukarji of Christian Aid.

Eight killed at Jerusalem school

The gunman entered the school's dining room and opened fire.

Eight people have been killed and nine wounded by a Palestinian gunman who infiltrated a Jewish seminary in West Jerusalem, Israeli officials say.

Witnesses said the gunman went into the library at the Mercaz Harav seminary in the city's Kiryat Moshe quarter and opened fire.

The assailant, who Israeli police said was a resident of East Jerusalem, was shot dead by an Israeli army officer.

The attack is the worst of its kind in Israel for a number of years.

The White House has led international condemnation but the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas called the attack "heroic" while not claiming responsibility.

When we got in... we saw young, 15-, 16-year-old guys lying on the floor with their Bibles in their hands - all dead on the floor.

However, the 15-strong UN Security Council failed to agree on a resolution condemning the attack because of reservations from temporary member Libya, which sought to link it to Israeli actions in the Gaza Strip.

A previously unknown group called the "Jalil Freedom Battalions - the Martyrs of Imad Mughniyeh and Gaza" claims to have carried it out, according to Lebanese Hezbollah media.

The fact that the school is at the heart of the settler movement in the occupied West Bank may have been the reason why it was targeted, BBC Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen reports.

Many of its students are on special courses that combine religious study with service in combat units in the Israeli army, he notes.

There will be an Israeli response to this attack, our Middle East editor adds - the question is how severe it will be.

The gunman entered the library at the Mercaz Harav seminary on Thursday evening, where about 80 students were gathered, and fired an AK-47 rifle for several minutes, witnesses say.

MERCAZ HARAV SEMINARY
Founded in 1924 by influential Rabbi Avraham Hacohen Kook
Some 500 students enrolled in Talmudic study
Students mainly high-school age and young adults
Graduates serve as rabbis and rabbinical judges in Israel and Jewish settlements
School has played a major role in ideology and theology of Israeli religious settlement movement
Key figures linked to the school were strongly opposed to Israeli pull-out from Gaza

One of the students, Yitzhak Dadon, reportedly shot the gunman twice before he was finally killed by an off-duty Israeli army officer, who had gone to the school after hearing gunfire.

"I shot him twice in the head," he told the Reuters news agency.

"He started to sway and then someone else with a rifle fired at him, and he died."

Another man told the BBC that there had been "terrible scenes" inside the building afterwards.

"When we got in... we saw young, 15-, 16-year-old guys lying on the floor with their Bibles in their hands - all dead..." he said.

Jerusalem police commander Aharon Franco confirmed there had been only one gunman and said he had hidden his weapon in a cardboard box.

Imad Mughniyeh, a senior Hezbollah leader and military commander, was killed in a car bomb in Damascus on 12 February.

An Israeli foreign ministry spokesman said that "terrorists [were] trying to destroy the chances of peace" but peace talks with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas would continue.

DEADLY ATTACKS IN ISRAEL
4 Feb 2008: One dies, Dimona suicide bombing
29 Apr 2007: Three die, Eilat suicide bombing
17 Apr 2006: Nine die, 40 wounded, suicide bombing near old bus station in Tel Aviv
30 Mar 2006: Four die, Kedumim suicide bombing
29 Dec 2005: Thee die, suicide bombing near Tulkarm
5 Dec 2005: Five die, Netanya suicide bombing
26 Oct 2005: Six die, Hadera market suicide bombing
12 July 2005: Two die, Netanya suicide bombing
25 Feb 2005: Five die, 50 hurt, suicide bombing outside Tel Aviv nightclub
13 Jan 2005: Six die, suicide bombing at Karni crossing

Mr Abbas condemned the attack in a statement saying he "condemns all attacks that target civilians, whether they are Palestinian or Israeli".

US President George W Bush condemned the attack "in the strongest possible terms" and UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband said news of the killings was "shocking".

"They are an arrow aimed at the heart of the peace process so recently revived," Mr Miliband added.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also criticised the "deliberate killing and injuring of civilians" in what he called a "savage attack".

In the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, gunmen fired into the air after news broke about the attack.

This heroic attack in Jerusalem is a normal response to the crimes of the occupier and its murder of civilians.

A loudspeaker in Gaza City reportedly broadcast the message: "This is God's vengeance".

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said the group "blesses the heroic operation in Jerusalem" calling it as a "natural reaction" to Israeli attacks.

Last week, Israeli forces launched a raid into northern Gaza in which more than 120 Palestinians - including many civilians - were killed.

Shortly after the Jerusalem shooting, the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad said four of its fighters had been killed in an Israeli air strike in the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis.

Israel says the recent military offensive has been designed to stamp out frequent rocket fire by Palestinian militants.

Rocket attacks have hit deeper into southern Israel, reaching Ashkelon, the closest large city to the Gaza Strip.

Egypt hosts Gaza ceasefire talks

Delegations from the Palestinian militant groups, Hamas and Islamic Jihad, have begun talks in Egypt about a possible ceasefire with Israel.

Egyptian officials hope to broker an agreement that would end rocket attacks on Israel from the Gaza Strip.

The groups have indicated that, in return, Israel would have to stop all attacks on Gaza and lift its blockade.

The US has sent top state department official David Welch to Cairo to support Egypt's mediation efforts.

Aides of Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman met officials from the two groups in the city of al-Arish, security officials said.

Hamas officials said one of the group's senior leaders, Mahmoud al-Zahhar, was heading its delegation.

Hamas leaders have been in hiding in recent days because of the threat of assassination attempts by the Israeli military.

Correspondents say Egypt appeared to have launched the mediation under heavy pressure from its ally, the US.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice held talks with Egyptian leaders on Tuesday.

On Thursday Ms Rice said she backed Egyptian mediation efforts but would not discuss "specifics about meetings".

The US has shunned Hamas as a terrorist group since its parliamentary election victory in 2006 and ousting of the rival Fatah group from Gaza in 2007.

The US is keen for peace talks to resume between the West Bank Palestinian leadership of Mahmoud Abbas and Israel as part of the process launched in Annapolis last November.

Earlier, there were renewed clashes between Israeli troops and Palestinian gunmen.

One Israeli soldier was killed in an explosion, and one Palestinian militant died in an Israeli air attack in northern Gaza.

The latest violence came three days after Israel ended an offensive in which more than 120 Palestinians were killed.

Israel buries victims of shooting

Thousands of people have attended the funerals in Jerusalem of eight students killed by a Palestinian gunman at a Jewish religious college on Thursday.

People at the Mercaz Harav seminary openly wept as a rabbi recited prayers over the bodies of the victims.

Israel's government has said the attack will not lead it to break off peace talks with the Palestinian Authority.

The gunman, who was shot dead by an army officer, was a resident of East Jerusalem and worked as a driver.

Israeli police named him as Ala Hashem Abu Dhaim, a 25-year-old from the Jabal Mukabir neighbourhood.

His family set up a funeral tent outside their home there, adorned with the flags of Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Lebanese militant group, Hezbollah.

His sister described him as quiet and intensely religious, but said he was not a member of a militant group. Israeli security forces detained several of his male relatives, his fiancee, and a number of neighbours after the shooting, she added.

"They surrounded the building and raided my brother's flat. They smashed it up, took things away and arrested all these people," she told the BBC Arabic Service.

A previously unknown group called the Jalil Freedom Battalions - the Martyrs of Imad Mughniyeh and Gaza, claimed it was behind the attack, Hezbollah's al-Manar television channel reported.

Imad Mughniyeh, a senior Hezbollah leader and military commander, was killed in a car bomb in the Syrian capital, Damascus, on 12 February.

The BBC's Crispin Thorold in Jerusalem says that until Israel establishes whether the statement is true, it is unclear how it will respond.

However, the outpouring of public grief will add to pressure on the Israeli government to end the peace talks with the Palestinians, our correspondent says.

Palestinian Authority President broke off contacts with the Israelis at the weekend after an Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip killed more than 120 people.

Sobbing and wailing filled the air at the funerals for the eight religious students killed in what the Israeli government described as a massacre on Thursday night.

Thousands gathered outside the bullet-scarred seminary to attend the ceremony as a rabbi recited Hebrew psalms in memory of the victims, all but one of whom were aged between 15 and 19. The eldest victim was 26 years old.

"The time for us has come to understand that an external struggle as well as an internal struggle is raging," Rabbi Yaakov Shapira told the crowd.

Abu Dhaim entered the library at the seminary in West Jerusalem, where about 80 students were gathered, and fired an AK-47 rifle for several minutes, witnesses said.

Students scrambled to flee the scene, jumping out of windows, witnesses said.

A student reportedly shot the gunman twice before an off-duty Israeli army officer killed him.

Dani Speigel, a student from the seminary - called a yeshiva in Hebrew - told the BBC of the loss that his school had suffered.

"Well, it's very hard here in the yeshiva, we're having a very hard time. What people do not understand is that kids, 14 years old, 15 years old, 16 years old, high school kids died here yesterday," he said.

MERCAZ HARAV SEMINARY
Founded in 1924 by influential Rabbi Avraham Hacohen Kook
Some 500 students enrolled in Talmudic study
Students mainly high-school age and young adults
Graduates serve as rabbis and rabbinical judges in Israel and Jewish settlements
School has played a major role in ideology and theology of Israeli religious settlement movement
Key figures linked to the school were strongly opposed to Israeli pull-out from Gaza

The BBC's Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen says that the school was no ordinary seminary. It was the ideological cradle of the settler movement in the West Bank, which could be the reason it was targeted.

Many of its students are on special courses that combine religious study with service in combat units in the Israeli army.

Our editor says that those who gathered at the seminary ahead of the victims' funerals were people who were already opposed to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's decision to engage in talks with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

This incident will only make stronger their determination to stop any agreements going through, our editor says.

The Palestinian leadership has been split between Mr Abbas's Fatah faction, in control of the West Bank, and Hamas, who have ruled Gaza since forcing out Fatah last year.

The Palestinians - without Hamas - have been engaged in a US-launched peace process with the Israelis since late last year.

Hamas supporters celebrated the attack, drawing condemnation from Mr Abbas as well as Israel.

DEADLY ATTACKS IN ISRAEL
4 Feb 2008: One dies, Dimona suicide bombing
29 Apr 2007: Three die, Eilat suicide bombing
17 Apr 2006: Nine die, 40 wounded, suicide bombing near old bus station in Tel Aviv
30 Mar 2006: Four die, Kedumim suicide bombing
29 Dec 2005: Three die, suicide bombing near Tulkarm
5 Dec 2005: Five die, Netanya suicide bombing
26 Oct 2005: Six die, Hadera market suicide bombing
12 July 2005: Two die, Netanya suicide bombing
25 Feb 2005: Five die, 50 hurt, suicide bombing outside Tel Aviv nightclub
13 Jan 2005: Six die, suicide bombing at Karni crossing

Hamas described the shooting as a "natural reaction" to Israel's actions in Gaza.

The Israeli operations aim to stop Palestinian militants from firing rockets from Gaza that have been hitting its border towns since it ended its permanent military presence in Gaza in 2005.

There was international condemnation of Thursday's shooting.

UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown said it was "clearly an attempt to strike a blow at the very heart of the peace process".

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called it a "savage attack", but the UN Security Council failed to agree on a statement.

HAVE YOUR SAY As long as Gaza keeps firing missiles into Israeli towns, Israel will do everything to defend itself Elaine, UK

The Libyan representative said his country and several others wanted the council to couple any condemnation of the Jerusalem shootings with one against Israel for killing large numbers of civilians, including children, in Gaza.

Israel has occupied East Jerusalem since the 1967 war and annexed the area, a move not recognised by the international community.

Israel regards the entire city as its "eternal, indivisible" capital and has settled hundreds of thousands of Jews in East Jerusalem.

The Palestinians hope to establish the capital of their future state in East Jerusalem, which is home to about 240,000 Palestinians.

Gaza: Thousands celebrate Jerusalem attack

Palestinians distribute sweets in celebration of Jerusalem terror attack as Hamas promises 'this is only the beginning'
Ali Waked

Gaza's streets filled with joyous crowds of thousands on Thursday evening following the terror attack at a Jerusalem rabbinical seminary in which eight people were killed.

In mosques in Gaza City and northern Gaza, many residents went to perform the prayers of thanksgiving.

Armed men fired in the air in celebration and others passed out sweets to passersby.

Hamas stopped just short of claiming responsibility but issued a statement saying the group "blesses the (Jerusalem) operation. It will not be the last,'' Hamas said in a statement.

An Islamic Jihad spokesman Abu Ahmed told Ynet the blame for the attack lay with Israel for its operations in Gaza. "The responsibility lies with those who killed 130 Palestinians in Gaza, most of them children," he said. "We welcome this heroic act and strengthen the hands of those who carried it out. This is only the first of many responses the Palestinian people are planning."

The spokesman, a member of the organization's military wing – the al-Quds Brigades – said Israel is "reaping what it has sown in the Strip. Those who carried out the attack have brought great pride and raised the heads of the Palestinians."

The 'Galilee Freedom Brigades' – an Israeli-Arab group - has claimed responsibility for the attack. The organization has claimed responsibility for several terror attacks in Israel in the past.

Initial estimates indicate the gunman was a resident of east Jerusalem and likely possessed the blue ID card given to Israeli citizens.

The attack came a day after Rice persuaded Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to return to peace talks with Israel. Abbas briefly suspended talks to protest an Israeli offensive in Gaza.

At his West Bank headquarters, Abbas harshly criticized the attack. ''The president condemned all attacks that target civilians, whether they are Palestinian or Israeli.''

Palestinians: Hamas, Hezbollah cooperated on Jerusalem terror attack
By Avi Issacharoff, Amos Harel, Jonathan Lis and Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondents and AP
12:29 09/03/2008

The gunman who murdered eight students at Mercaz Harav Yeshiva in Jerusalem last Thursday was acting on instructions from Hamas leaders in Damascus, in coordination with Hezbollah, Palestinian defense sources said.

Over the weekend, eight East Jerusalem residents were arrested in connection with gunman Ala Abu Dhaim's shooting attack. Abu Dhaim's father, two of his brothers and two cousins are among those detained.

The father also removed Hamas and Hezbollah flags from a mourners' tent the family had erected, after being instructed to do so by police. According to the Palestinian news agency Maan, Abu Dhaim's father had in the past been a member of Hamas.

Abu Dhaim, 25, was killed at the scene of the attack by an off-duty Israel Defense Forces officer who lives near the seminary.

So far no Palestinian or Arab organization has claimed responsibility for the attack, although Palestinian sources have said that the attack had been planned by a Hamas network in the West Bank acting on orders from its leaders in Damascus. Hamas' leadership in Gaza was not privy to the plan, which was drawn up in coordination with Hezbollah, the sources said.

The Palestinian Authority believes this was the first of a number of planned attacks by both Hamas and Islamic Jihad, independent of each other.

The Shin Bet security service said the gunman was not known to them. Major General Ilan Franco, the commander of Jerusalem's district police, told Channel 2 that the attacker was "not known to the security forces."

An initial police investigation has revealed that the shooting was not a spontaneous attack, but had been planned in advance. Police also learnt that Abu Dhaim had personally chosen the location and time for the shooting. To this end, he carried out extensive reconnaissance and intelligence-gathering work on the yeshiva.

The gunman had also stockpiled weapons and ammunition, only some of which he took to perpetrate the attack - an AK-47 assault rifle, two pistols and a few magazines.

Since Abu Dhaim, an East Jerusalem resident, had a blue identity card, and since he transported people in the area, he was able to move freely in the city's western part, too, and seems to have been well-acquainted with the attack site. The key question is where he obtained his AK-47 assault rifle, which he used to attack the yeshiva.

Investigators were seeking to establish whether Abu Dhaim had acted alone or was connected to any militant group, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said. Abu Dhaim never worked in the yeshiva and the police dismissed the assumption that he had planned to stage a standoff inside the yeshiva, while taking students hostage.

In a television interview in Lebanon, a Hezbollah man on Saturday denied any connection to the attack. Hamas spokespeople in the Gaza Strip said they were checking whether their organization was connected to the attack.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Saturday that just as Israel has managed to stop Hezbollah from "firing a single missile for the past year and a half," so it will stop the terror organizations, too.

Palestinians: Hamas, Hezbollah cooperated on Jerusalem terror attack (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/962055.html)

Hamas leader says hundreds of militants trained in Iran, Syria
By Ruth Margalit, Haaretz Service
17:51 09/03/2008

Hamas has sent hundreds of militants to train in Iran and Syria in the past two years, a commander in the Iz al-Din al-Qassam military wing of Hamas said in a rare interview with The Sunday Times of London.

Speaking on the record but on condition of anonymity, the Hamas commander, already a senior figure in his late twenties, told the British newspaper that Hamas had been sending militants to Iran for training in both field tactics and weapons technology since Israel pulled out of the Gaza Strip in 2005. Others, he said, go to Syria for more basic training.

We have sent seven 'courses' of our fighters to Iran," he said in the interview. "During each course, the group is trained to increase our capacity to fight."

The most promising members of each group stay longer for an advanced course and return as trainers themselves, he said, adding "We send our best brains to Tehran. It would be a waste of money to send them and then have them come back with nothing."

The report confirms assessments made by Shin Bet Director Yuval Diskin last week in a speech in front of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.

"Hundreds of Hamas members have been sent to Iran for training, and not training periods of a week, two weeks or a month, but for long-term, high-quality training," committee member MK Zvi Hendel (National Union) quoted Diskin as saying last Tuesday.

The Sunday Times' report suggests that these assessments were right and that so far, 150 members of Hamas' military wing have completed training in Tehran, where they study for between 45 days and six months at a closed military base under the command of the elite Revolutionary Guard force.

An additional 150 are currently undergoing training in Tehran, the commander said.

Conditions at the base are strict, he said, adding that a further 650 Hamas militants have trained in Syria under instructors who were themselves trained in Iran. Sixty-two Hamas militants are currently in Syria, he said.

The commander continued to praise the Iranian and Syrian training systems, saying the militants "come home with more abilities that we need, such as high-tech capabilities, knowledge about land mines and rockets, sniping, and fighting tactics like the ones used by Hezbollah [during the Second Lebanon War], when they were able to come out of tunnels from behind the Israelis and attack them successfully."

He further told his interviewers that Hamas was modeling itself on Hezbollah. "We don't have tanks. We don't have planes. We are street fighters and we will use our own ways," he said.

Hamas leader says hundreds of militants trained in Iran, Syria (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/962279.html)

Hamas wages Iran’s proxy war on Israel
A Hamas leader admits hundreds of his fighters have travelled to Tehran
A Palestinian Hamas militant runs to avoid sniper fire during clashes between Fatah militants and Palestinian security members in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in Gaza City
Marie Colvin in Gaza City

The Hamas commander was in a hurry. Hunched forward in a navy-blue parka, with the wind-chapped skin and drawn eyes of someone who had been outdoors all night, he had just returned from the front line with Israel. The whine of drones overhead signalled that his enemy was hunting for blood.

For someone who had survived the fiercest fighting between Israelis and Palestinians since 2000 and the deaths of scores of his fellow fighters, the commander, already a senior figure in his late twenties, appeared remarkably composed.

He is in the vanguard of the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas which is growing into a disciplined army, trained to fight for victory rather than be consigned to the “martyr’s death” of the suicide bomber.

Israel has long insisted that Iran is behind this training. Last week Yuval Diskin, the head of the Israeli internal security service Shin Bet, said as much when he claimed that Hamas had “started to dispatch people to Iran, tens and a promise of hundreds”. He provided no evidence.

The Hamas commander, however, confirmed for the first time that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard has been training its men in Tehran for more than two years and is currently honing the skills of 150 fighters.

The details he gave suggested that, if anything, Shin Bet has underestimated the extent of Iran’s influence on Hamas’s increasingly sophisticated tactics and weaponry.

Speaking on the record but withholding his identity as a target of Israeli forces, the commander, who has a sparse moustache and oiled black hair, said Hamas had been sending fighters to Iran for training in both field tactics and weapons technology since Israeli troops pulled out of the Gaza strip of Palestinian territory in 2005. Others go to Syria for more basic training.

“We have sent seven ‘courses’ of our fighters to Iran,” he said. “During each course, the group receives training that he will use to increase our capacity to fight.”

The most promising members of each group stay longer for an advanced course and return as trainers themselves, he said.

So far, 150 members of Qassam have passed through training in Tehran, where they study for between 45 days and six months at a closed military base under the command of the elite Revolutionary Guard force.

Of the additional 150 who are in Tehran now, some will go into Hamas’s research unit if they are not deemed strong enough for fighting.

Conditions at the base are strict, the commander said. The Palestinians are allowed out only one day a week. Even then, they may leave the base only in a group and with Iranian security. They shop and “always come back with really good boots”.

According to the commander, a further 650 Hamas fighters have trained in Syria under instructors who learnt their techniques in Iran. Sixty-two are in Syria now.

But what Hamas values most is the knowledge that comes directly from Iran. Some of it was used to devastating effect by the militant group Hezbollah against Israeli forces in Lebanon in 2006.

“They come home with more abilities that we need,” said the Hamas commander, “such as high-tech capabilities, knowledge about land mines and rockets, sniping, and fighting tactics like the ones used by Hezbollah, when they were able to come out of tunnels from behind the Israelis and attack them successfully.

“Those who go to Iran have to swear on the Koran not to reveal details, even to their mothers.”

He said the Hamas military, which numbers about 15,000 fighters, was modelling itself on Hezbollah. “We don’t have tanks. We don’t have planes. We are street fighters and we will use our own ways,” he said.

Nodding in agreement was his companion, another senior Qassam fighter, from Hamas’s manufacturing wing. Dressed in a new, olive-green uniform, he said his job entailed “cooking” – putting together the explosive mixture that Hamas inserts into Qassam rockets.

Everyone was working overtime, he added. He too had been out all night. He said he had launched five mortars and faced heavy machinegun fire in return from Israeli lines.

The commander was particularly impressed with advances made using Iranian technology. “One of the things that has been helpful is that they have taught us how to use the most ordinary things we have here and make them into explosives,” he said.

Such technology had been most useful of all in developing the Qassam rocket and mines deployed against Israeli tanks.

Hamas had just developed the Shawas 4, a new generation of mine, with Iranian expertise, he added.

“We send our best brains to Tehran. It would be a waste of money to send them and then have them come back with nothing.”

They travelled to Egypt, flew to Syria and, on arrival and departure from Tehran, were allowed through without a stamp for security reasons.

“Anything they think will be useful, our guys there e-mail it to us right away,” the military technician said. THE latest spiral of violence, which has killed 130 Palestinians and 12 Israelis, including eight students massacred at their seminary in Jerusalem last Thursday, was triggered 10 days ago by a chance event.

For weeks, Hamas had been launching rockets into Israel to little effect. But then a rocket aimed at Sderot, a town in the western Negev desert, killed Roni Yichia, a 47-year-old mature student, as he stood in his college car park. The next day, Israel launched the fierce ground and air assault on Gaza dubbed Operation Hot Winter.

Its targets, as Hamas intensified the rocket attacks, ranged from Qassam launchers in the northern Gaza Strip to the interior ministry in the centre of Gaza City. Last week, as the blasts and counter-blasts subsided, it was not only Hamas that was counting its losses. As many civilians as fighters had died.

Ra’ad Abu Seif, a 40-year-old lorry driver, had herded his family into an interior room as their street exploded. His 12-year-old daughter Safa ran to an upstairs flat to fetch her uncle. An Israeli sniper shot her just below the heart, he said.

Abu Seif heard screams and ran to find her lying on the floor. “I didn’t see the bullet hole so I picked her up and then I felt the blood on her back,” he said. “We put her by the water tank and opened her clothes and found the bullet holes.

“We tried to close the holes by holding them and putting cotton on them,” he said. Safa lived for two more hours. “Then her head went back, and her eyes rolled,” he said, covering his face with his hands. “The one who shot her, I just want to ask him, how can you be a human being and shoot a little kid?”

Abu Seif blames not only Israel but Hamas as well. “They have been firing these rockets for seven years, and look what happens,” he said. “Hamas should admit it has made a mistake and try another path.”

cont'd next post

A short distance away, Mohamed Abu Shabak was mourning his daughter Jacqueline, 17, and son Iyad, 16. He sat gaping at a hole in a second-floor window that he said had been made by an Israeli sniper. His hand shook and he could not speak for a while.

Iyad was the first to die. He had got up at about 1am to go to the lavatory and was hit in the chest by a single shot through the window. Jacqueline came running in and was shot in the head.

Their father was in the West Bank city of Ramallah, having fled Gaza because he was an official in the Fatah administration deposed by Hamas last year, and was on the militants’ wanted list.

The last time he spoke to Jacqueline, who wanted to be a doctor, she had minutes to live. “She called to tell me, father I am so scared, there is shooting everywhere. She was worried about her 12-year-old brother, Mohamed,” he said.

When the Israelis withdrew last Monday, Hamas claimed victory, but it did not seem like one to many in Gaza. Attacks continued from both sides last week.

One of them would claim the youngest victim of the conflict.

Mohamed Abu Asser, a 37-year-old taxi driver, and his wife, Nadia, 30, took their two youngest daughters, two-year-old Nadine and 20-day-old Amira, to visit a sick friend of the family last Tuesday.

This weekend, however, Nadia lay in a hospital bed. Large tears spilled from her eyes as she described how Amira had died.

“We heard fierce shooting,” Nadia recalled. “The Israelis called over the microphone to evacuate the house. But when I went out, holding up my baby, a small red light came on me and they shot me. They didn’t let the ambulance come for three hours.”

Her husband told the same story. “We decided Nadia should go out first, with the baby – they would be less likely to shoot her,” he said. “Now my first photo of my smiley baby is when she is dead.”

Tragedy came to Israel as well. At 8.30pm on Thursday, Alaa Abu Dheim, a 25-year-old driver from largely Palestinian east Jerusalem, arrived at the entrance to Mercaz Harav seminary, carrying a big television box. He took an AK47 out of the box and shot his way in, carrying magazines as well as two hand guns.

While a student whispered for help to emergency services over his mobile, Abu Dheim was calmly replacing his AK47 magazines, one after another, and killing students trapped in the library with shots to the head.

He was eventually killed by David Shapira, an Israeli para-troop captain on leave, who had been reading a bedtime story to his children when he heard the shots and ran to the seminary.

Yehuda Hillel Shulman, 19, was one of the nine wounded who were still in hospital this weekend. His mother Miriam said that when the first shots were heard, a rabbi had turned off the lights and told his students to jump from a balcony.

“They all jumped out of the second floor and that’s how they saved their lives, before Abu Dheim reached their room. The rabbi was the last to jump,” she said.

Gaza’s gunmen poured into the streets on hearing the news, shooting into the air in celebration of the massacre. CAN anything be done to stem the bloodshed? Tortuous negotiations in which Egypt acted as an intermediary produced a truce that was still in place yesterday. But any further incident could result in another Israeli incursion.

Condoleezza Rice, the American secretary of state, also persuaded Fatah’s Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, to resume talks with Israel, but he has not said when.

Hamas, which is pledged to destroy Israel, remains excluded from any negotiations. But it emerged this weekend that senior members of the Israeli security establishment were urging the government of Ehud Olmert to talk to Hamas. They believe any agreement made without Hamas would fail.

Fundamentally, however, the real problem may be that much of Hamas seems willing to fight on for “liberation”, no matter how hopeless the cause.

The conflict is further complicated by the role of Iran which, by supporting Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza, has created two potential fronts for Israel. If Israel’s military is occupied with an internal threat, its reasoning goes, Olmert will be loath to mount the attack Tehran fears on its nuclear programme.

As for the Hamas commander, he is focused on making sure his forces are equipped and trained for the next Israeli incursion. “They are occupying us, we are not occupying them,” he said. “We will never stop resisting.”

Reformers banned from poll

A record low turnout is expected in Iran’s parliamentary elections this week after the ruling hardliners banned the majority of reformist candidates from standing.

Despite a faltering economy, runaway inflation, falling living standards and international isolation, the elections pose little threat to the deeply conservative regime led by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The Council of Guardians, which decides the legitimacy of candidates, barred reformers including Ali Eshraghi, 39, the grandson of Iran’s late revolutionary leader Ayatollah Khomeini.

The conservatives, known as the principalists, backed by Ahmadinejad are virtually assured of 70% of the 290 parliamentary seats because of the guardians’ decisions.

Hamas wages Iran’s proxy war on Israel (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article3512014.ece)

Hamas exploitation of civilians as human shields: Photographic evidence
6 Mar 2008

Deliberate use of civilians as human shields

In its fight to defend itself against Hamas attacks against its civilians, Israel is faced with moral challenges unprecedented in their complexity. Hamas, as a basic element of its strategy, exploits the Palestinian population as shields for its terrorist operations and infrastructure. This cynical strategy include the following tactics:

- The deliberate launching of rocket from populated areas
- The deliberate use of civilian homes to shield Hamas arms and explosives manufacturing facilities
- The deliberate use of civilians as human shields against anticipated airstrikes

Deliberate use of civilians as human shields against anticipated air-strikes

In order to avoid civilian casualties, Israel sends warning messages before attacking terrorist targets advising civilians to leave. Israel prefers to attack empty buildings used to manufacture rockets, even taking into consideration that the terrorists too will be warned and their lives spared.

Hamas, on the other hand, calls on civilians to come and to protect with their bodies the precise locations they expect Israel to attack. Since they know that Israel will usually strike from the air, they send the children to the roofs to prevent the air force from targeting that building.

During the course of the Israeli operation against terrorists in the Gaza Strip (March 2008), Hamas repeatedly called upon Palestinian civilians to gather near buildings where they feared that the IDF was about to launch air-strikes against Hamas targets hidden within. The purpose of the civilian presence was to have them serve as human shields, exploiting the fact that the IDF avoids harming Palestinian civilians, even if it means aborting attacks on crucial terrorist infrastructure targets.

The following are but a few of the documented examples of calls in the Hamas controlled Gaza media for Palestinians civilians to serve as human shields:

1) Hamas’s Al-Aqsa TV called upon children to form a human shield at the home of Abu al-Hatal of the a-Shouqaf quarter of Sajaiyeh in order to protect the building from an anticipated IDF airstrike (March 1).
2) Al-Aqsa TV News broadcast a story about how a crowd of civilians gathered on the roof of Abu Bilal al-Ja’abeer in the Northern Gaza strip, in order cause the IDF to abort a threatened airstrike against the structure.
3) Al-Aqsa TV called upon the Palestinians in the northern Gaza Strip to go to the house of Othman al-Ruziana in order to protect it against an anticipated IDF strike (February 29).

4) Al-Aqsa TV called upon the residents of Khan Yunis to gather at the house of Ma’amoun Abu ‘Amer due to an anticipated airstrike. (February 28). An hour later dozens of Palestinians from Khan Yunis were reported to have gathered on the roof of Abu ‘Amer’s house to serve as human shields to prevent the house from being hit (Pal-today Website, February 28).

The deliberate launching of rockets from populated areas

It is a common practice for the Hamas to launch their rockets, aimed at Israeli cities, from within built-up areas, in order to make it difficult for Israel to take preventative action against Hamas rocket salvos, without endangering the Palestinian population. These photos and video clips give evidence of this practice.

When launching rockets against Israel, Hamas terrorists usually do not stay nearby, but rather use timers, radio frequency and other ways to remotely control the launchings. In order to protect the rockets from counter-attack until they are launched, they send children to play near the launchers, or place the launchers near playgrounds.

The deliberate use of civilian homes to shield Hamas arms and explosives manufacturing facilities

Hamas frequently uses civilian homes in the Gaza Strip for the manufacture of rockets, explosives, antitank missiles and other arms being used against Israel. Rockets, explosives and other arms were also found in the mosque in Jabalya.

I will not post the link because of pictures of dead bodies in them.

Hamas using U.S. weapons
Spokesman: 'We will continue to balance the equilibrium of terror with the Zionists'

JERUSALEM – The Hamas terrorist group used U.S. weapons against the Israel Defense Forces this weekend, a Hamas official told WND.

The weapons were seized when Hamas last June took complete control of the Gaza Strip, overtaking all U.S.-backed security compounds in the territory associated with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party.

"We fired at incoming Israeli helicopters using the seized weapons. We will continue to balance the equilibrium of terror with the Zionists," said Hamas spokesman Abu Oubeida.

On Friday, Hamas gunmen used mounted heavy machine guns to fire at Israeli helicopters that were attacking a cell of terrorists attempting to launch Qassam rockets into Israel. Hamas claimed they struck one helicopter.

The IDF confirmed a helicopter on Friday was fired at and returned to its base outside the Gaza Strip but the army would not state whether or not the chopper was hit or sustained any damaged.

According to Oubeida and to Abu Abdullah, a senior member of Hamas' so-called military wing, the terror group's purported use of U.S. weapons against the helicopter on Friday was not the first such incident.

Abdullah said Hamas has been firing at Israeli helicopters the past few weeks and said he noticed many of the IDF's recent aerial operations in Gaza were carried out by F-16's, a contention denied by IDF officials.

"They are afraid to use the helicopters," said Abdullah.

The terrorist warned Hamas also possesses a number of U.S. anti-aircraft missiles he said can strike F-16's.

A senior Israel Air Force officer told Israel's Ynet news website the threats against Israeli aircraft are "increasing with each passing day,",adding the "terror organizations are highly motivated to hit our aircraft, and helicopters are naturally targeted because they fly at a relatively low altitude."

Immediately after Hamas staged their coup and took over Gaza, WND quoted Hamas officials stating they seized "enormous" stockpiles of foreign weapons, including U.S. arms, that had been stored in Fatah security compounds.

The U.S. in recent years reportedly transferred large quantities of weaponry to build up Fatah forces against rival Hamas. Hamas officials told WND in multiple interviews prior to last June they would seize the American weapons.

Hamas last summer provided WND with a partial list of what the terror group said were seized weapons, The list included:

* "Dozens" of mounted machine guns that can fire at Israeli helicopters
* Approximately 7,400 American M-16 assault rifles
* About 800,000 rounds of bullets.
* Eighteen armored personnel carriers
* Seven armored military jeeps
* "Tens" of armored civilian cars, including pickup trucks and magnums.
* Eight massive trucks equipped with water cannons for dispersing protests
* Fourteen military-sized bulldozers

Hamas officials said the list they provided didn't include what they said were large quantities of U.S.-provided, rocket-propelled grenades, grenade launchers, explosives, and military equipment, such as boots and tents.

Abu Abdullah told WND Hamas estimates they obtained at least $400 million worth of American weapons and equipment. That number couldn't be verified.

Meanwhile, President Bush last week pushed Congress to remove a hold on two-thirds of a $150 million aid package to be transferred to Abbas' PA. The $100 million is scheduled to be transferred directly to Abbas.

Bush said the PA was in economic trouble and needed the money at a time it is "threatened" by extremists and negotiating with Israel. The U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Operations Appropriations subcommittee earlier halted the aid fearing it would be used to fund terrorism.

Quote from: Pastor Roger on March 16, 2008, 04:26:52 PM

Brilliant of US!

(not!)

Hamas popularity on the rise: poll

Mon Mar 17, 9:30 AM ET

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AFP) - The popularity of Hamas has risen in recent months since the Gaza Strip's border breach with Egypt, deadly Israeli strikes and the lack of progress in renewed Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, according to an opinion poll released on Monday.

"A major shift in Hamas's favour occurred during the last three months with about 10 percent of the population shifting their attitudes and perceptions," said the Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research in a statement accompanying the results.

The same number of people would vote for moderate Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas as for senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniya in any presidential election and the Islamists would get more votes than Fatah in legislative polls, it said.

Abbas, who succeeded legendary leader Yasser Arafat at the head of the Palestinian Authority in January 2005, would receive 46 percent of votes, compared with 47 percent for Haniya.

It is the first poll in which an Islamist candidate has garnered more support than the secular leader.

Haniya served as prime minister in the Hamas-led unity government that Abbas fired in June 2007 after the Islamists routed his forces in the Gaza Strip following a week of deadly clashes.

The Hamas leader would not fare as well against Marwan Barghuti, the popular West Bank leader of Abbas's Fatah party and architect of the 2000 uprising who is imprisoned by Israel for his involvement in suicide attacks.

Barghuti would receive 57 percent of the vote, while Haniya would get 38 percent, the poll said.

In legislative elections, Hamas would receive 42 percent of the vote, compared with 35 percent for Fatah -- a near mirror reversal of the figures from a December poll, in which 31 percent would have voted for Hamas and 49 percent for Fatah.

The rise in Hamas's popularity is partly due to the recent breach of Gaza's border with Egypt and the high number of Palestinian casualties in Israeli strikes on the coastal strip, the poll said.

Abbas meanwhile has been hurt by the lack of an improvement in Palestinians' daily lives amid the renewed peace talks with Israelis, it said.

"These developments managed to present Hamas as successful in breaking the siege (on Gaza) and as a victim of Israeli attacks," it said.

"These also presented Palestinian president Abbas and his Fatah faction as impotent, unable to change the bitter reality in the West Bank or ending Israeli occupation through diplomacy," it said.

Fifty-six percent of those questioned said they were "unsatisfied" with Abbas, compared with 41 percent who said they were satisfied.

The survey questioned 1,270 people in the West Bank and Gaza between March 13 and 15 and had a three-percent margin of error.

Hamas popularity on the rise: poll (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080317/wl_mideast_afp/mideastpoliticspalestinian)

Israeli-Palestinian peace talks renewed on sour note
03-17-2008, 16h47
JERUSALEM (AFP)

Israeli-Palestinian peace talks resumed on a sour note on Monday with the Palestinian negotiator blasting Israel for vowing to continue settlement activity in the occupied West Bank.

"There was a meeting to resume the negotiations but after what the Israeli prime minister said about settlements, the meeting was an unofficial not an official meeting," former Palestinian premier Ahmed Qorei said after his two-hour meeting with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni in Jerusalem.

Just hours before the talks, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert reiterated Israel would continue to build Jewish settlements in annexed east Jerusalem -- despite international concern that the action could hamper peace talks.

"I expressed our strong anger and complete rejection of this position which was declared by the Israeli prime minister," Qorei said in a statement, adding that it violated Israel's commitment to the international roadmap peace plan.

Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Arye Mekel said Livni and Qorei "restarted their dialogue and met face-to-face for two hours", but he gave no further details.

The last time the two met was on February 19 when Olmert and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas chaired a session of the Middle East peace talks that were relaunched in late November to great fanfare under US stewardship.

Abbas had suspended the talks on March 2 amid Israeli army operations in Hamas-run Gaza in response to increased rocket fire, a massive assault that killed more than 130 Palestinians, including dozens of civilians.

Five Israelis were killed during the fighting.

On a subsequent visit to the region, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the two sides had agreed to resume negotiations, but new Israeli settlement projects in the occupied West Bank have since heightened tensions.

Contacts between the two sides officially restarted on Friday, when Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad and a senior Israeli defence ministry official met Lieutenant General William Fraser, a US envoy charged with overseeing the implementation of the 2003 roadmap peace blueprint.

The internationally-drafted document calls on Israel to freeze settlement activity and the Palestinians to improve security in the territories, but on Friday both sides accused the other of shirking their obligations.

Israeli settlement projects and continuing violence in the Gaza Strip, where Abbas's government was driven out by the rival Hamas movement in June, have repeatedly threatened to derail the peace negotiations.

Israeli-Palestinian peace talks renewed on sour note (http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=220784&s=&i=&t=Israeli-Palestinian_peace_talks_renewed_on_sour_note)

Palestinians Unite in Anger Against Israeli Attack
By ISABEL KERSHNER

BETHLEHEM, West Bank — It was a display of Palestinian unity rarely seen since the militant Islamic group Hamas seized power in Gaza last summer and left the rival pro-Fatah Palestinian Authority struggling to hold on to the West Bank.

As thousands of men and women crowded into Manger Square on Thursday to attend prayers and the funerals for four local militants killed by Israeli undercover forces in a raid the day before, a general strike was observed throughout this Muslim-Christian city of 30,000 people.

In the square, youths held flags representing the mainstream Fatah, Hamas, the smaller, more extreme Islamic Jihad and the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. The body of one of the victims, a local Islamic Jihad leader, Muhammad Shehada, was draped with the increasingly popular emblem of the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah.

More than creating a temporary fusion of political and ideological divisions, though, the killings enraged Fatah advocates of negotiations with Israel, who posed questions about its commitment to peacemaking.

“The crime committed by Israel against our people aims to blow up the peace process,” said Muhammad Khalil al-Laham, a Fatah legislator who came to the square, and whose voice rose in fury as row upon row of Muslim mourners bowed down on the paving stones in silent prayer.

“Bethlehem was the calmest and most committed city,” Mr. Laham said, noting that Salam Fayyad, the Palestinian Authority prime minister, had planned an international investors’ conference to be held in the city in May under the slogan, “You can do business in Palestine.”

Israel strongly defended the killings on Thursday as a legitimate response to terrorist acts. “Yesterday, in Bethlehem, we again proved that the state of Israel will continue to hunt and to strike any murderer who has Jewish blood on his hands, and those who send him,” said the Israeli defense minister, Ehud Barak. “It is unimportant how much time has elapsed. Israel’s long arm will reach him.”

The Israeli raid came at a delicate time for the authority and its president, Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah. Egyptian mediators are trying to broker a truce that would calm the hostilities between Israel and Hamas in and around Gaza, a truce that Mr. Abbas called for after violence spiraled there earlier this month.

Mr. Abbas’s office issued an unusually strong statement after the Bethlehem raid. “These barbaric crimes reveal the true face of Israel, which speaks loudly about peace and security all the while committing murders and executions against our people,” it said.

In a response, Islamic Jihad fired more than 20 rockets from Gaza at Israel on Thursday, after refraining from launching any for nearly a week. Only a small number of them fell inside Israel and they caused no casualties, the Israeli military said. Before dawn the Israeli Air Force carried out a strike in Gaza, also the first in nearly a week, hitting a rocket launcher, the military said.

To Israel, the four men were dangerous fugitives with long records in terrorism; two had been on Israel’s most wanted list for years. For the thousands who attended their funerals they were local heroes of the Palestinian resistance who had managed to survive this long. Mr. Shehada ran in the Palestinian elections as an independent candidate in 2006 and won 7,000 votes. One of the companions he was killed with, Issa Marzuk, 36, was voted onto the Bethlehem city council on an Islamic Jihad ticket in 2005.

The four, including Ahmed Balboul, a local commander of Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades, were shot while riding together in a car. Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades, is a militia affiliated with Fatah.

Palestinians say that all four had been hoping to be included in an amnesty agreement with Israel, but that Israel had refused. The 178 militants Israel did offer amnesty to last summer, under certain conditions, were all from Fatah.

Mr. Balboul, 48, had spoken in recent months about his support for a negotiated settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Mr. Shehada, 45, had used “the language of resistance up to the last minute,” said Ata Manaa, a journalist for a local Bethlehem television station who interviewed the fugitive earlier this week.

But many here believe that Mr. Shehada and his companions had not been engaged in violence against Israelis in recent years. “Though they opposed the Palestinian Authority’s position,” said Hassan Abed Rabbo, a spokesman for Fatah, “there was a clear commitment to the authority’s decision to maintain calm.”

Mark Regev, a spokesman for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, said it was true that the West Bank had been relatively quiet, “but that,” he added, “is largely because the Israeli Army is conducting these ongoing operations.” The Authority’s own security forces are in a process of capacity building, said Mr. Regev, “but we have no doubt they could do much more than they have done. They’ve been extremely reticent to take on the terrorist infrastructure,” he said.

There were no gunmen visible in Manger Square on Thursday, and only a couple of traffic policemen in uniform. Other members of the security services joined the mourners in civilian clothes. There was one burst of gunfire in the air as the funeral procession set off for the cemetery; otherwise, order prevailed.

“The Palestinian Authority doesn’t control an inch of the West Bank,” said Shawqi Issa, the director of the Ensan Center for Human Rights in Bethlehem. “Israel is everywhere.” Nor, he said, does Israel want peace. “Their strategy is to put obstacles in the way every day.”

Mr. Issa was a classmate of Mr. Shehada’s 30 years ago. The two happened to meet in an elevator about 40 minutes before Mr. Shehada was killed. Mr. Shehada, who was with Mr. Balboul, knew he was being pursued. “He said, ‘They don’t want to arrest me, they want to kill me,’ ” Mr. Issa recalled.

Israeli Attacks Condemned

DAKAR, Senegal (Agence France-Presse) — The United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, sharply condemned the Israeli attacks in a speech here on Thursday at the start of a meeting of the 57-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference.

“Israel’s disproportionate and excessive use of force has killed and injured many civilians, including children. I condemn these actions and call on Israel to cease such attacks,” Mr. Ban told an audience that included the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas. “At the same time,” he added, “I also condemn the rocket attacks directed against Israel and call for the immediate cessation of such acts.”

Palestinians Unite in Anger Against Israeli Attack (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/14/world/middleeast/14mideast.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin)

Rabbi stabbed at Damascus Gate
ETGAR LEFKOVITS and Matthew Wagner
THE JERUSALEM POST
Mar. 18, 2008

A 49-year-old rabbi was stabbed and moderately wounded by an Arab assailant Tuesday near the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem's Old City, police and rescue officials said.

Rabbi Yehezkel Greenwald of the West Bank settlement of Beit El was stabbed in the neck from behind, Jerusalem police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby said. The attacker then fled the scene.

Greenwald had been on his way to the Ateret Cohanim Yeshiva, where he teaches, police and rescue officials said.

Despite his wounds, Greenwald managed remove the knife from his neck and walk a few meters before finding police, who summoned Magen David Adom paramedics to the scene, the police said. He was given first aid and then rushed to Hadassah-University Hospital at Ein Kerem.

The Damascus Gate is primarily used by Arab residents of the city, and has been the scene of previous stabbings in the past. The entryway is frequently used by teachers at the yeshiva.

Rabbi Shlomo Aviner, head of the yeshiva - which is located in the Old City's Muslim Quarter and is also known as Ateret Yerushalayim - rebuffed claims Tuesday that the location of his institution was a provocation to local Arabs.

"I've been asked by several reporters whether I think it is right for us to be located in the Muslim Quarter, as if we are to blame for the attack," said Aviner, a leading religious Zionist spiritual leader and rabbi of Beit El.

"The Russians, the Poles and the Germans also blamed the Jews for causing anti-Semitism," said Aviner. "And it is true that if there had been no Jews in Russia there would never have been pogroms, and if there had been no Jews in Germany when the Nazis came to power, the Holocaust never would have happened. Perhaps we should just set up a colony on the moon and move all the Jews there. Then we wouldn't be a Jewish problem."

Commenting on calls by right-wing activists to avenge the deaths of the eight Mercaz Harav Yeshiva students killed in a terror attack over a week ago, Aviner said that only official state bodies were authorized to take military action.

"Warfare is a commandment on the entire Jewish people," said Aviner. "It is not something individuals can take upon themselves to carry out. The state represents the Jewish people, and it must decide what actions should be taken."

Aviner's comments were indirect criticism against right-wing demonstrators who grappled with police on Sunday during attempts to destroy the house of Ala Abu Dhaim, the Arab terrorist who carried out the Mercaz Harav attack.

Since its establishment 27 years ago, the Ateret Cohanim Yeshiva has lost three of its students to terror attacks.

Currently, about 200 post-high school students study at the yeshiva. Some of the students do three years of army service; others join the five-year "hesder" program offered at other yeshivot, which combines Torah study with 18 months of army service; and some postpone army service indefinitely.

Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski denounced Tuesday's attack and called it "an attempt by radical elements to harm the fabric of coexistence in the city," according to a statement issued by his office.

Rabbi stabbed at Damascus Gate (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1205420714593&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)

Poll shows Palestinians support rocket attacks and want peace talks to end
By Ethan Bronner
Tuesday, March 18, 2008

RAMALLAH, West Bank: A new poll shows that an overwhelming majority of Palestinians support the attack this month on a Jewish seminary in Jerusalem that killed eight young men, most of them teenagers, an indication of the alarming level of Israeli-Palestinian tension in recent weeks.

The survey also shows unprecedented support for the firing of rockets on Israeli towns from the Gaza Strip and for the end of the peace negotiations between Palestinian and Israeli leaders.

The pollster who conducted the survey, Khalil Shikaki, said he was shocked because it showed greater support for violence than any of the surveys he had conducted over the past 15 years in the Palestinian areas. Never before, he said, had a majority favored an end to negotiations or the firing of rockets at Israel.

"There is real reason to be concerned," Shikaki said in his West Bank office. His Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, which conducts a survey every three months, is widely viewed as among the few independent and reliable gauges of Palestinian public opinion.

His explanation for the shift, one widely reflected in the Palestinian media, is that recent actions by Israel, especially a series of attacks on Gaza that killed nearly 130 people, an undercover operation in Bethlehem that killed four militants, and the announced expansion of several West Bank settlements, has led to despair and rage among average Palestinians who want revenge.

"The anger that this poll is registering is about equal to that at the very height of the second intifada," Shikaki said, referring to the years just after 2000 when suicide attacks on Israel and Israeli strikes on Palestinian forces reached new heights. "I am very worried about what is coming."

Shikaki's poll also showed that the militant Islamist group Hamas, which Israel and the United States have been trying to isolate, is gaining popularity in the West Bank while its American-backed rival, the more secular Fatah, is losing ground. Asked for whom they would vote for president, 46 percent chose Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah, the current president, while 47 percent chose Ismail Haniya of Hamas.

Three months ago, Abbas was ahead 56 percent to 37 percent. After Hamas forces pushed Fatah forces out of Gaza last summer, Shikaki's polls showed the Palestinian public to be disillusioned with Hamas and in the subsequent months, many argued that Abbas, with the support of Washington and Israel, had a chance to win public support by easing living conditions and advancing in negotiations. That has not happened.

According to the poll, conducted last week with 1,270 Palestinians in face-to-face interviews, 84 percent supported the March 6 attack on the Mercaz Harav yeshiva, one of the most prominent centers of religious Zionism in Israel and an ideological wellspring of the settler movement in the West Bank. Shikaki said that this was the single highest support for an act of violence in his 15 years of polling.

On negotiations between Ehud Olmert, prime minister of Israel, and Abbas of the Palestinian Authority, 75 percent said they were without benefit and should be terminated. Regarding the thousands of rockets that have been launched at Israeli towns like Sderot and Ashkelon, 64 percent support the attacks.

The poll did show support for a two-state solution over the long term, with 66 percent favoring normalized relations with Israel if it returned all land won in 1967 and a Palestinian state was established. But such a deal seems a long way off now.

Poll shows Palestinians support rocket attacks and want peace talks to end (http://www.iht.com/bin/printfriendly.php?id=11227292)

Majority of Israelis are against cease-fire with Hamas
, THE JERUSALEM POST Mar. 18, 2008

Although Jewish Israelis are divided on how to react to the rocket fire from the Gaza Strip, most prefer military means over a cease-fire based on dialogue with Hamas, according to Tel Aviv University's February 2008 Peace Index poll.

An police officer removes a rocket from a sidewalk in Sderot.

Seventy-one percent said Israel should not accept Hamas's offer to stop the fire in return for Israel ceasing its operations in Gaza and the West Bank and its pursuit of Hamas leaders.

Although the public did not overwhelmingly favor any one approach, the clear winner was a military operation. Whereas only 4% supported the present policy of restraint and 17% favored negotiating a cease-fire with Hamas, 26% called for reoccupying Gaza and staying there for an unlimited time, while one-third wanted a limited military operation in Gaza after which the IDF would withdraw.

Asked whether they favored establishing a national unity government or relying on the current government, 51% responded that a national unity government was preferable while 30% were prepared to stick with the current one. The rate of support for a national unity government is among the lowest in years.

A persistent question has been whether Israel's response to the rocket attacks is related to the fact that those on the receiving end are peripheral communities.

It turns out that 56% indeed think the government fails to assign high priority to tending to these communities' security problems because of their remoteness from the Central region, and would not practice restraint to the same extent if the center of the country was under attack. Only 37% disagreed.

However, the public also showed self-criticism on this issue: 51% agreed that Israelis as a whole were less interested in the southern residents' security problems because of their remoteness, while 42% dissented.

At the same time, only 38% thought that the residents of "the state of Tel Aviv" - a term some in the media use to describe those in the center of the country - do not identify with the southern residents' suffering, and 64% rejected the claim that people in central Israel were less patriotic than those in other areas.

Finally, it appears that the ongoing rocket fire has not affected the "national fortitude."

A majority of 55% said the attacks had not affected their desire to remain in Israel, one-quarter said they only strengthened that desire, while for 18% the attacks had increased their desire to live elsewhere.

The Peace Index Project was conducted at the Tami Steinmetz Center for Peace Research and the Evens Program in Mediation and Conflict Resolution of Tel Aviv University, headed by Prof. Ephraim Yaar and Prof. Tamar Hermann.

The telephone interviews were conducted by the B.I. Cohen Institute of TAU on March 3-4 with 590 people who represent the adult Jewish and Arab population of Israel (including the Jewish population in the West Bank). The sampling error was 4.5%.

Majority of Israelis are against cease-fire with Hamas (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1205420718388&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)

PA urges Palestinians to 'return' to Israel on 60th anniversary
Khaled Abu Toameh , THE JERUSALEM POST Mar. 18, 2008

The Palestinian Authority is planning to mark Israel's 60th anniversary by calling on all Palestinians living abroad to converge on Israel by land, sea and air.

The plan, drawn by Ziad Abu Ein, a senior Fatah operative and Deputy Minister for Prisoners' Affairs in the Palestinian Authority, states that the Palestinians have decided to implement United Nations Resolution 194 regarding the refugees.

Article 11 of the resolution, which was passed in December 1948, says that "refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbors should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return and for loss of or damage to property which, under principles of international law or in equity, should be made good by the Governments or authorities responsible."

The initiative is the first of its kind and is clearly aimed at embarrassing Israel during the anniversary celebrations by highlighting the issue of the "right of return" for the refugees.

Entitled "The Initiative of Return and Coexistence," the plan suggests that the PA has abandoned a two-state solution in favor of one state where all Arabs and Jews would live together.

"The Palestinians, backed by all those who believe in peace, coexistence, human rights and the UN resolutions, shall recruit all their energies and efforts to return to their homeland and live with the Jews in peace and security," the plan says.

"Fulfilling the right of return is a human, moral and legal will that can't be denied by the Jews or the international community. On the [60th] anniversary of the great suffering, the Palestinian people are determined to end this injustice."

Abu Ein's initiative, which has won the backing of many PA leaders in Ramallah, calls on all Israelis to welcome the Palestinians "who will be returning to live together with them in the land of peace."

The plan calls on the refugees to return to Israel on May 14, 2008 with their suitcases and tents so that they could settle in their former villages and towns. The refugees are also requested to carry UN flags upon their return and to be equipped with their UNRWA-issued ID cards.

The Arab countries hosting Palestinian refugees are requested to facilitate the return of the refugees by opening their borders and allowing them to march toward Israel. The plan specifically refers to Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq, whose governments are asked to provide logistic support to allow the refugees to carry out their mission.

Palestinian refugees living in the US, EU, Canada and Latin America are requested to use their foreign passports to fly to Ben-Gurion Airport from May 14-16. The plan calls for the Palestinians to hire dozens of boats flying UN flags that will converge on Israeli ports simultaneously.

To ensure international backing, the plan calls to invite world leaders, the UN secretary-general, journalists and legal experts from around the world to declare their support for the Palestinians' "right of return." The Palestinians, in return, would promise to practice their right peacefully and to denounce terror and violence.

Arab governments are requested to provide both financial and political backing for the initiative. The plan stresses that the Palestinians can no longer expect to achieve the "right of return" at the negotiating table with Israel. "We must take matters into our own hands," it states. "Negotiations, slogans and UN resolutions are not going to bring us our rights."

PA urges Palestinians to 'return' (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1205420712985&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/Printer)

Abbas: Protect Palestinians from IDF
JPost.com staff and AP
THE JERUSALEM POST
Mar. 29, 2008

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday called on Arab and international forces in the Palestinian territories to protect his people against Israeli attacks.

Abbas has called in the past for international peacekeepers in the Gaza Strip, but his call Saturday at the Arab Summit in Damascus marked the first time he has urged Arab countries to send forces.

In his speech at the summit, Abbas accused Israel of undermining the basis for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and of attacking Gaza "brutally," killing innocent Palestinians.

He asked Arab countries to "think seriously of Arab and international protection for our people."

Abbas took a sharply pessimistic tone over Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations launched in December.

"The coming couple of months are decisive. If we don't reach a solution by the end of this year, it means the whole region will be on the verge of a new era of tension and loss of confidence in peace," Abbas said.

He blasted in particular Israeli settlement expansion and recent Israeli military assaults in the Gaza Strip aimed at stopping Hamas rocket fire on towns.

"The last few months have witnessed unprecedented Israeli escalation in settlement expansion in Jerusalem and the West Bank. It has become clear that the Israeli government is imposing on the ground the political solution that it wants," Abbas said.

"Negotiations cannot continue under the Israeli bulldozers swallowing our land and building settlements and under the daily Israeli military operations," he said.

Earlier, in his opening speech at the gathering, Syrian President Bashar Assad accused Israel of rejecting every peace initiative offered over the last three decades.

Assad singled out the Madrid conference and the 2002 Arab peace initiative, saying that Israel had responded to those proposals by massacring Palestinians, continuing settlement activity and building the security barrier.

The Syrian president said Israel had used every possible chance to prove how uncooperative it is and questioned how long Arab nations can keep offering Israel a land-for-peace proposal.

Assad said peace was the only way for Israel to gain security in the region, and "peace will not come except through withdrawal from occupied Arab land and giving back (Arab) rights."

He added that Israel was "exploiting the internal Palestinian divisions for its own benefit."

Assad warned that Arab countries may have to seek alternatives to the Arab peace initiative if Israel continues to refuse to accept it. The proposal offers Israel full peace with Arab nations if it withdraws from "occupied lands" and allows for the creation of a Palestinian state.

"The question is: Do we leave the peace process and initiatives hostage to the whims of successive Israeli governments, or do we search for choices and substitutes that can achieve a just and comprehensive peace?" Assad said.

Assad went on to accuse Israel of stalling on peace negotiations with Syria.

"The foot-dragging Israel is displaying on the issue of peace with Syria for the return of Golan Heights is not working in its favor and the passing time won't help it achieve better conditions in the future," he said.

Also during the summit's opening session, Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa proposed that Arab foreign ministers meet in mid-2008 to evaluate the Israeli-Arab peace process.

"We must know in which direction we are moving," Moussa said. "If there is progress, we will welcome it. If there is not, then Arabs may have to take painful positions.

"No one will blame us for a decisive position we will take," he said. "What have we achieved? So far, nothing ... Things are not reassuring."

Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi slammed Arab countries for calling on Israel to only pull back to the 1967 borders. "The occupation did not start in 1967 and Palestine is not only the West Bank and the Gaza Strip," he said.

Gadhafi reiterated his proposal to establish one state for Israelis and Palestinians between Jordan and the Mediterranean. He said the state should be a haven for all Palestinian refugees, it should disarm its nuclear weapons and hold democratic elections.

Saturday's session comes amid anger among pro-US Arab countries over what they say is Syria's obstruction of the election of a new president in Lebanon. They are also worried about Damascus's close alliance with Iran, Hamas and Hizbullah.

Ten of the Arab League's 22 heads of state are absent from the summit. Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan are represented by low-level officials in a snub to Syria.

In his speech, Assad denied that Syria was interfering in Lebanon. "The key to a solution is in the hands of the Lebanese. They have their country, constitution and institutions," he said. "Any other (outside) role is to give assistance, not be a substitute."

Abbas: Protect Palestinians from IDF (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1206632360079&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)

Hamas gets Iranian plans for improved Qassams
By Avi Issacharoff and Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondents
28/03/2008

Hamas militants who recently returned to the Gaza Strip after training in Iran have a detailed plan for upgrading the capabilities of the rockets being developed in the Strip, according to senior Palestinian Authority sources.

A senior Palestinian source told Haaretz this week that members of Hamas' military wing smuggled blueprints and other detailed technical instructions into the Strip that will enable the group to develop rockets capable of striking at longer distances.

The PA source was unable to estimate the actual distance that these upgrades will allow the Qassam rockets to cover, but said that the aim is to strike at communities north of Ashkelon, which is approximately 15 kilometers north of the northern border of the Strip.

Israeli security sources said recently that Islamic Jihad militants in the Gaza Strip have developed their own upgraded version of the Qassam rocket, with an estimated range of 18 kilometers.

Iran is investing significant efforts in trying to increase the striking distance of the rockets manufactured by Palestinians in Gaza. The militants there have only a limited supply of Grad-type Katyusha rockets, capable of striking targets 20 kilometers away.

And the stockpiles of Katyusha rockets in Gaza, according to the PA source, have dwindled since the fighting three weeks ago, although Iran has smuggled more Katyushas, made by its own military industries, into the Strip by sea, and has also stepped up its efforts to develop more effective rockets locally in the Strip.

The senior Palestinian source said that the technical information for improving the rockets was smuggled into the Strip following January's breach in the Philadelphi Route wall, which separates the Gaza Strip from Sinai and Egypt.

The source added that some 200 Hamas militants who received training in Iran, the Beqa'a Valley in Lebanon, and Syria, returned to the Strip through this breach in the wall.

Hamas and Hezbollah militants are being trained in Iran together, and are learning the same fighting doctrines.

In addition to the experts in rocket development, militants with specialized training in guerrila warfare also snuck back into the Strip. These men received specialized training in the use of anti-tank missiles, laying road-side bombs, and tactics for carrying out defensive
operations against a possible IDF invasion of the Strip.

The PA sources said that it is possible that among those who returned after the breach in the wall to the Strip are members of PFLP-GC.

Hamas gets Iranian plans for improved Qassams (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/969359.html)

35 pages of Israeli security concessions
March 30, 2008

Ynet cites an Israeli source as saying that US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was 'amazed' by Israeli concessions offered to Palestinians during a three-way meeting with defense minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad.

During the meeting, the US secretary of state received a 35-page booklet in English, prepared by Barak's assistants in three days. Barak had demanded that the booklet include a series of real gestures, which would "manifest Israel's seriousness" but "without harming the security of Israel's citizens." Ynet reported that the Israeli "gestures" include establishment of a city near the West Bank city of Ramallah, to be financed by a Jordanian businessman.

Rice told Barak during the three-way meeting that she welcomed the booklet containing the 35 pages of "gestures."

It seems, however, that the Palestinians were less amazed. The Palestinian leader refused to allow publication of a joint Palestinian-Israeli-American statement, which Barak has supported.

Earlier, Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni met with US secretary of state in Jerusalem and said that the government must assist residents of Judea and Samaria who choose to leave their homes, but that it would be premature to put forward such a program until borders were defined.

The defense minister said during the meeting that Israel planned to remove the Mevo Horon outpost, in addition to two other outposts already removed.

Barak also said that 700 Palestinian police officers would be allowed to enter Jenin. He added that a checkpoint and 50 dirt roadblocks would be removed, easing movement among the West Bank cities of Jenin, Tulkarm, Qalqilya and Ramallah.

Additional concessions presented in the meeting, according to ynet, include:

* The establishment of a Palestinian police station in the B areas.
* The transfer of 25 armored vehicles to the Palestinians.
* Ease of restriction on Palestinian public figures.
* Building two intersections for the Palestinians in the Hebron area.
* Advancing the establishment of industrial zones in Jericho and Hebron.
* Increasing the number of laborers allowed to work in Israel to 5,000.

In addition, Palestinian businesspeople passing through the crossing will undergo easier security checks, and the daily quota of people allowed to pass will be tripled.

Israeli sources said the Palestinians agreed to step up their efforts to "prevent terror" in the West Bank, but Fayyad or other Palestinian made no public statements on this point. Nor did they commit to any concrete measures to increase the effort against terrorism.

Rice, who has harshly criticized both sides for lack of "progress" in recent months, sounded upbeat, despite the lack of a joint statement.

"We all want to work hard for the improvements that can lead to a successful conclusion of the Annapolis process," said Rice at a press conference with Barak and Fayad following their meeting.

"We have just had a very good meeting. We are discussing the situation on the ground and the importance of improvement in that situation along the lines of one of the Annapolis tracks. I am pleased to say that the two gentlemen have met before I was here and they have said they will continue to meet as is necessary," she said.

35 pages of Israeli security concessions (http://web.israelinsider.com/Articles/Diplomacy/12748.htm)

Monday, March 31, 2008

Christian, Jewish leaders to celebrate Israel’s 60th birthday at the United Nations
Participants in Jerusalem Prayer Banquet to declare support for Jewish State

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release

NEW YORK (ANS) -- Christian and Jewish leaders will come together May 15 at the United Nations to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the creation of the modern state of Israel.

Participants in the Jerusalem Prayer Banquet will declare their continued support for the nation that was "born in a day" on May 14, 1948.

The evening will include addresses from Israeli Ambassador Asaf Shariv; Pastor John Hagee, founder of Christians United for Israel; and Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, Chief Rabbi of Efrat in Israel.

Organizers of the event call it a historic opportunity to gather leaders from both faiths in the Delegates’ Hall of the U.N. Sixty years ago, General Assembly Resolution 181 deeded the Jewish homeland to a tiny remnant of Jews that had escaped Hitler's Nazi Germany.

"I do not know of any other point in history where Jews and Christians have joined together at the United Nations in this way, to lift their voices in prayer and declaration for Zion," said Robert Stearns, Executive Director of Eagles’ Wings Ministries and one of the co-sponsors of the event.

Christian leaders scheduled to participate include Stephen Strang, Dr. Frederick K.C. Price, Michael Little, Paula White, Lou Engle, Jay Sekulow, Barbara Yoder, Larry Kreider, Bishop Carlton Brown, Billy Wilson, Dr. David Ireland and many others.

"Evangelical Christians and Jewish people will stand together, declaring a God of love, not hatred, and calling for peace, not violence," said Rabbi Riskin, who recently launched the Center for Jewish-Christian Understanding and Cooperation in Israel.

The location of the banquet is also noteworthy, say Christian and Jewish leaders, since recently Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has repeatedly called for Israel's destruction and has denied the truth of the Holocaust, spoke at the U.N.
__________________________________

Adolf Hitler of Nazi Germany is now a Hero on Palestinian Radio

A Palestinian Authority radio contest featured a biography of Adolf Hitler, complete with his military victories and his heroism during WWI & WWII and the broadcast never mentioned the Holocaust and the death of six million Jews.

This Palestinian Authority radio contest is consistent with Palestinian education in general which erases the Holocaust from history, according to a recent report from the Palestinian Media Watch, which revealed that the new 12th grade Palestinian Authority history school books showed that many pages were dedicated to the history of World War II and even to Nazi racism, but neither the Jews nor the Holocaust is ever mentioned.

The fascination with Adolf Hitler among Palestinians and the Palestinian Authority radio broadcast that characterizes Hitler as a hero, and never mentions the Holocaust, is a precursor to a dreadful end time scenario that can be found in Bible prophecy.

During the days of the Holocaust in Nazi Germany, the Palestinian leader, the Haj Amin al Husseini was used by Hitler to rally the Moslem world to join his final solution for the Jews, death in the ovens and gas chambers.

From the times of the Holocaust, during WWII, there has been an unholy fascination of Hitler by the Palestinian people, evidenced by the fact that they have named their children, Hitler.

These developments are preparing the world for a coming Holocaust of the Jews that will be more horrific than the Holocaust of Hitler. The ancient Jewish prophet, Zechariah, revealed that two out of every three Jews will be killed during the coming Holocaust in the seven year Tribulation Period, Zechariah 13:8.

Daniel, another Jewish prophet, wrote in chapter 12 verse 1 of his prophecy that this time would be the worst time the Jews have ever faced in all of their history. Revelation 12:13-17 says that Satan and his evil forces will endeavor to eliminate the Jews from the earth.

The UN has been accused of being one-sided and irrational in decisions designed to demonize the Jewish state of Israel

UN Watch and American NGO that monitors the UN activities has released a report that deals with UN in action on Antisemitism and has stated the UN is an infrastructure of manifestly one-sided and irrational measures designed to demonize the Jewish state of Israel.

Noting that both the UN General Assembly and the Human Rights Council with their influence on the global stage both parties, according to UN Watch, reported that neither agency has yet to pass any dedicated resolution or request any report on hatred of Jews and Christians. The report also notes that the UN Human Rights Council, in its first year 2006-2007, saw 100% of its resloutions devoted to condemning Israel alone.

An international political body like the UN that does not stand against Antisemitism and in the majority of its resolutions condemns the Jewish state of Israel is setting the stage for Bible prophecy to be fulfilled.

With the establishment of the UN Human Rights Council, many believed that the international, political body would become more than one-sided in its condemnation of Antisemitism. Instead, the UN agency saw 100% of its resolutions devoted to condemning the Jewish state of Israel. This has been the case with the entire operation of the UN over the years. Since its beginning, over one-third of all resolutions that the UN has passed have been condemning the state of Israel.

As I stated previously, these activities are setting the stage for Bible prophecy to be fulfilled. The ancient Jewish prophet Zechariah wrote 2,500 years ago that in the Last Days leading up to the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, there would be a slaughter of two out of every three Jews on the Earth, Zechariah 13:8. John the Revelator wrote 2,000 years ago in Revelation 12:13-17 that satanic forces would move to wipe out all Jews on the Earth during the time of Jacob's Trouble ahead.

The UN in action against Antisemitism is indeed setting the stage for Bible prophecy to be fulfilled.

Insider leaks plans for Palestinian state
Secretive U.S.-backed discussion focuses on West Bank, Jerusalem

U.S.-backed negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians are expected to generate an agreement by the end of the year that would set up a Palestinian state in the West Bank and eastern sections of Jerusalem, according to a source who has participated in the talks.

In one of the first media glimpses into the current negotiations, a source who takes part in the regular meetings outlined for WND the main objectives of the secretive negotiations.

Since last November's Israeli-Palestinian Annapolis summit, which set as a goal the creation of a Palestinian state before 2009, negotiating teams including Israeli Foreign Minister Tzippy Livni and chief Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qureia have been meeting weekly while Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas have been meeting biweekly.

Unlike previous Israeli-Palestinian negotiations in which both sides attended with about a dozen advisers each, the teams working with Livni and Qureia are small, usually consisting at most of five people each.

Also unlike previous talks, in which the contents of many meetings were leaked quickly to the media, the current negotiations have resulted in few press leaks.

According to the source who has been playing a role in the meetings, the two sides are drafting an agreement, to be signed by the end of the year, requiring Israel to evacuate most of the West Bank and certain eastern sections of Jerusalem.

The source said Israeli community blocks in the zones of Gush Etzion, Maale Adumin and Ariel would remain Israeli while most of the West Bank and parts of Jerusalem will be slated for a Palestinian state.

In contradiction to statements by Olmert, the status of sections of Jerusalem is being negotiated but the specifics of any agreed-upon Israeli withdrawal is as yet unclear, said the source.

"It is understood [Jerusalem] Arab neighborhoods would become part of a Palestinian state," the source said.

The source told WND both sides agreed Israel would retain Jerusalem's Pisgat Zeev neighborhood, which is located near large Arab communities. Many of those Arab towns were constructed illegally on property owned by the Jewish National Fund, a Jewish nonprofit that purchases property using Jewish donors funds for the stated purpose of Jewish settlement.

The source said the U.S. pledged advanced training for thousands of PA security officers who would take over security in the West Bank and eastern sections of Jerusalem and operate in those territories instead of the Israel Defense Forces and Israeli police.

The U.S. previously has trained thousands of Palestinian security officers, including units in which known members of Fatah's Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terrorist group serve. Scores of those security forces have carried out terrorist attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians, including recent deadly shootings in the West Bank.

But the source claimed the planned U.S. training is different:

"This training is unlike anything before. The PA, Israel and the U.S. are working very closely to vet the forces. All sides are approving the training candidates. The training is more advanced than ever. It will create a very serious Palestinian army," said the source.

The source said as part of the negotiations, Abbas has agreed to hold early PA elections in the West Bank by 2009, including presidential elections that could replace the Palestinian leader.

PA elections previously have been held simultaneously in both the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The source's description of planned new elections only in the West Bank implied the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip would be treated as a separate entity

Leaders from the Hamas terrorist organization, which swept the last municipal elections, stated the past few days Hamas would agree to early elections. The Hamas leaders also said for the first time ever, their organization would propose a candidate to compete with Abbas' Fatah group in PA presidential elections.

The source speaking to WND about the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations said while a signed agreement and PA security force training can be expected before the end of the year, it has not yet been determined when any Israeli withdrawals would be implemented.

He said Olmert would be headed to new Israeli elections with an Israeli-PA agreement in tow.

The source said the U.S. is "very deeply involved" in all aspects of the negotiations.

To demonstrate the level of U.S. involvement, the source pointed to recent U.S. supervision of Israeli commitments to dismantle about 50 West Bank anti-terror roadblocks and to bulldoze what are called illegal outposts, or West Bank Jewish communities constructed without government permits.

"The U.S. oversaw the removal of each and every roadblock, making sure the roadblocks were actually removed," said the source.

"Also, even though Israel prepared a report of all illegal outposts and handed it to the Americans, U.S. officials have been doing their own very specific independent investigating to find each and every illegal outpost and then oversee their dismantlement," the source said.

U.S. training of the PA security forces already started last month at U.S.-controlled bases in the Jordanian village of Giftlik, according to Israeli security officials. Over 600 elite PA soldiers are enrolled in the current course, which includes training in the use of weapons, conducting ambushes, fighting street crime, fighting terrorism, and dealing with hostage situations, among other things.

After the unit is finished training in Jordan, they will continue with more advanced training courses at a U.S.-run base in the West Bank city of Jericho.

All training is being directly overseen by Gen. Keith Dayton, the U.S. security coordinator to the Palestinian territories.

As a test of the PA's abilities, a battalion of about 600 PA officers recently trained by the U.S. is set to deploy in the West Bank city of Jenin, which is considered a sanctuary for Palestinian terrorist organizations.

The U.S. and Israel will monitor closely the officers' activities but it wasn't immediately clear how the success or failure of the Jenin force would impact the deployment of other such forces since the Jenin force was deployed despite recent negative U.S. reports of PA security forces.

A U.S. security report last month concluded the PA is failing to fight terrorism. The report was compiled by Gen. William Fraser, who was deployed to the region to monitor implementation of agreements pledged by Israel and the PA at Annapolis.

Fraser's report slammed the PA for failing to arrest, interrogate and place terrorist suspects on trial. The report said the PA occasionally carries out arrests of suspected terrorists, but usually only following pressure from Israel or the U.S. The arrested terrorists, the report said, are rarely interrogated or tried but instead are briefly detained.

O Jerusalem! America
drafts plan to cut in 2
Allows Palestinian security control,
asks Israel to forfeit Temple Mount

The United States, which has been mediating negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority here, has proposed a plan to divide Jerusalem, WND has learned.

The plan, divided into separate phases, among other things calls for Israel eventually to forfeit parts of the Temple Mount, Judaism's holiest site.

According to the first stage of the U.S. plan, which was obtained by WND, Israel would give the PA some municipal and security sovereignty over key Arab neighborhoods in eastern Jerusalem.

The PA would be allowed to open some official institutions in Jerusalem, could elect a mayor for the Palestinian side of the city and would deploy police forces to maintain law and order.

The initial stage also calls for the PA to operate Jerusalem municipal institutions, such as offices to oversee trash collection and maintenance of roads.

After five years, if both sides keep their certain commitments called for in a larger principal agreement, according to the U.S. plan the PA would be given full sovereignty over the eastern Jerusalem neighborhoods and also over sections of the Temple Mount. The plan doesn't specify which parts of the Temple Mount would be forfeited to the Palestinians.

After the five year period, the PA could deploy official security forces in Jerusalem separate from a police force and could also open major governmental institutions, such as a president's office, and offices for the finance and foreign ministries.

The U.S. plan leaves Israel and the PA to negotiate which Jerusalem neighborhoods would become Palestinian. According to diplomatic sources familiar with the plan, while specific neighborhoods were not officially listed, American officials recommended sections of Jerusalem's Old City as well as certain largely Arab Jerusalem neighborhoods such as Jabal mukabar, Beit Hanina, Shoafat, Abu Dis and Abu Tur become part of the Palestinian side.

As WND reported previously, many of the Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem, including all of Shoafat, a large Arab section, were constructed illegally on property owned by the Jewish National Fund, a Jewish nonprofit that purchases property using Jewish donors funds for the stated purpose of Jewish settlement.

According to diplomatic sources, the plan is being discussed by Israel and the PA but has not yet been accepted.

The sources said the plan was delivered earlier this month by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during her trip to the region to push Israeli-Palestinian negotiations started at last November's U.S.-backed Annapolis summit, which aimed to create a Palestinian state before the end of the year.

Since Annapolis, negotiating teams including Israeli Foreign Minister Tzippy Livni and chief Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qureia have been meeting weekly while Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and PA President Mahmoud Abbas have been meeting biweekly.

The U.S. is "very deeply involved" in all aspects of the negotiations, according to a top diplomatic source.

To demonstrate the level of U.S. involvement, the source pointed to recent U.S. supervision of Israeli commitments to dismantle about 50 West Bank anti-terror roadblocks and to bulldoze what are called illegal outposts, or West Bank Jewish communities constructed without government permits.

"The U.S. oversaw the removal of each and every roadblock, making sure the roadblocks were actually removed," said the source.

"Also, even though Israel prepared a report of all illegal outposts and handed it to the Americans, U.S. officials have been doing their own very specific independent investigating to find each and every illegal outpost and then oversee their dismantlement," the source said.

Olmert's government has hinted a number of times it will divide Jerusalem.

In December, Israeli Vice Premier Haim Ramon said the country "must" give up sections of Jerusalem for a future Palestinian state, even conceding the Palestinians can rename Jerusalem "to whatever they want."

"We must come today and say, friends, the Jewish neighborhoods, including Har Homa, will remain under Israeli sovereignty, and the Arab neighborhoods will be the Palestinian capital, which they will call Jerusalem or whatever they want," said Ramon during an interview.

Positions held by Ramon, a ranking member of Olmert's Kadima party, are largely considered to be reflective of Israeli government policy.

Olmert himself recently questioned whether it was "really necessary" to retain Arab-majority eastern sections of Jerusalem.

Israel recaptured eastern Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount – Judaism's holiest site – during the 1967 Six Day War. The Palestinians have claimed eastern Jerusalem as a future capital; the area has large Arab neighborhoods, a significant Jewish population and sites holy to Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

About 231,000 Arabs live in Jerusalem, mostly in eastern neighborhoods, and many reside in illegally constructed complexes. The city has an estimated total population of 724,000.

Carter says Hamas willing to be Israel's neighbor

By KARIN LAUB, Associated Press Writer Mon Apr 21, 5:54 PM ET

JERUSALEM - Former President Carter said Monday that the Islamic group Hamas was willing to accept the Jewish state as a "neighbor next door," but the militants did not match their upbeat words with concrete steps to halt violence.

Hamas, which advocates Israel's destruction, instead recycled previous offers, including a 10-year truce if Israel takes the unlikely step of withdrawing from the West Bank and Jerusalem first.

Hamas has repeatedly confounded observers with its conflicting messages. Actions on the ground — seven rockets were fired on Israel from Hamas-ruled Gaza Monday, including one that wounded a 4-year-old boy — contradicted the Islamic militant group's positive words about coexistence and a truce.

And a leader of the Hamas military wing, which carried out a twin suicide bombing on the Gaza border Saturday, said his group would step up attacks against Israel in coming days.

The salvo of rockets came despite a last-minute phone call from Carter, urging a one-month halt to attacks on Israel, to gain some international goodwill and defuse tensions.

"I did the best I could," Carter said of his conversation with Hamas supreme leader, Khaled Mashaal, pressing him to declare a one-month truce. "They turned me down, and I think they're wrong."

Carter, who delivered a speech in Jerusalem Monday summing up his visit, said top Hamas leaders told him during seven hours of talks in Damascus over the weekend that they are willing to live next to Israel.

Hours later, however, Mashaal sent mixed messages. He stressed that while the militants would accept a state in the 1967 borders, meaning alongside Israel, the group would never outright recognize the Jewish state.

The Bush administration and Israel, which shun Hamas as a terrorist group, have criticized the Carter mission as misguided. In Washington, a State Department official said Monday that it does not appear Hamas has changed its positions.

In Jerusalem, Carter defended his trip, saying peace in the region will be possible only if Israel and the U.S. start talking to Hamas and Syria, which supports several militant groups. He also called on the Bush administration to push harder to renew Israeli-Syrian peace talks.

"The present strategy of excluding Hamas and excluding Syria is just not working," said Carter, who brokered a historic 1979 peace treaty between Israel and Egypt.

Analysts said Hamas apparently decided to send Carter off largely empty-handed, despite the possibility he might have paved an opening to a hostile West, because it prefers doing business with leaders in the region who can deliver concrete achievements. Egypt has been shuttling between Israel and Hamas for nearly two years trying to broker a cease-fire, a prisoner swap and an opening of Gaza's border crossings.

Over the weekend, Carter met twice with Hamas' five-member politburo, headed by Mashaal. Carter said he won a written pledge from Hamas to accept any peace deal with Israel, even if Hamas disagrees with some of the terms, as long as it's approved in a Palestinian referendum.

Carter said Hamas leaders told him they're also ready to accept the Jewish state's right to "live as a neighbor next door in peace" one day. Since its founding 21 years ago, Hamas has carried out scores of suicide attacks in Israel and has fired hundreds of rockets from Gaza at Israeli border towns.

The pledge did not reflect a new Hamas position, though it's significant that it was made in writing. Hamas leaders have said in the past they would establish "peace in stages" if Israel were to withdraw to the borders it held before the 1967 Mideast War. Hamas has been evasive about how it sees the final borders of a Palestinian state, and has not abandoned its official call for Israel's destruction.

The Hamas promise does not say who would participate in a peace referendum. Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza would be far more likely to approve a deal than exiles in camps in Lebanon and Syria, especially if a treaty does not affirm the "right of return" of refugees to homes in what is now Israel.

A vast majority of Israelis see the repatriation of millions of Palestinians as a threat to the Jewish state's survival, because Jews eventually could be outnumbered.

Mashaal praised Carter for ignoring the broad international boycott of Hamas, which is viewed by Israel and the West as a terrorist organization. "That doesn't mean we agree on all things," the Hamas leader said of Carter. "But we appreciate this brave voice, coming from the West, and coming from America."

Despite the warm words, Hamas rejected Carter's appeal to halt rocket fire on Israel for a month and to speed up the release of a captured Israeli soldier, as a show of good faith.

Mashaal wouldn't budge on the rockets, even during the last-minute phone call by Carter Monday morning.

Carter said that in that call, Mashaal insisted on a reciprocal cease-fire.

"I told them (Hamas), 'Don't wait for reciprocation, just do it unilaterally," Carter said. "'This would bring a lot of credit to you around the world, doing a humane thing.'"

Seven rockets hit Israel on Monday, but other militant groups claimed responsibility not Hamas. In one strike, a 4-year-old boy was hurt in the shoulder in the town of Sderot on Gaza's border.

Also, a leader of the Hamas military wing said attacks on Israel would intensify.

The leader, identified as Abu Jandal, told the Hamas-linked newspaper Al Risala that a suicide bombing at an Israeli position on the Gaza border on Saturday was just a warmup. In the attack, Hamas militants blew up two jeeps carrying hundreds of kilograms (pounds) of explosives, wounding 13 soldiers.

"The previous attacks were just a walk in the park," he told the newspaper.

Concerning a prisoner swap, Carter said the current indirect talks between Israel and Hamas, via Egypt, were making only very slow progress. He said Israel is willing, in principle, to free 1,000 prisoners for Cpl. Gilad Shalit, captured by Hamas-allied militants in 2006. However, so far Israel has only approved 71 names from a list of 450 prisoners suggested by Hamas.

At this pace, Carter said, the negotiations could drag on for years.

He proposed that Hamas agree to a release of women, minors and Hamas legislators in the first phase, in order to speed up the swap, but was turned down.

Mouin Rabbani, an independent analyst, said Hamas used Carter to convey the message that, under certain conditions, it is willing to accept a two-state solution. "Where he demanded specific actions, they didn't respond because he wasn't in a position to deliver anything in return," Rabbani said.

In Washington, the State Department said there is no indication that Hamas wants peace with Israel. "It is pretty clear to us that there is no acceptance on the part of Hamas of any kind of negotiated settlement," said deputy spokesman Tom Casey.

Casey said there had been contradictory statements from Hamas officials over whether they would accept the result of a referendum on a peace deal. Earlier Monday, a senior Hamas official in Gaza, Sami Abu Zuhri, said Hamas would not necessarily accept the outcome of a referendum.

Casey also refuted Carter's insistence that no one in the State Department had advised him against meeting with Hamas officials, saying that Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Welch had specifically done so in a telephone conversation in late March.

Still, the State Department is open to hearing from Carter about the talks, Casey said.

Carter said he would write a report on his trip and send it to the Bush administration.

Carter says Hamas willing to be Israel's neighbor (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080421/ap_on_re_mi_ea/carter_israel;_ylt=AjMlI4C9JZ55pbDfTbrllKis0NUE)

Hamas vows 'harsh' attacks on Israel, says previous assaults were 'practice'
By Amos Harel, Barak Ravid, Yuval Azoulay and Fadi Eyadat, Haaretz Correspondents, and The Associated Press
21/04/2008

A Hamas spokesman on Monday said that the Palestinian militant group will carry out harsher attacks on Israel-Gaza border crossings - worse than recent ones that killed five Israelis.

The spokesman, Abu Jandal, also said that previous attacks on crossings between the coastal strip and Israel were just practice. Jandal made the comments speaking to a newspaper linked to the group.

Two Israeli civilians and three soldiers have been killed in recent attacks.

Israel Defense Forces responses in Gaza have killed more than 20 Palestinians.

Abu Jandal described the recent attacks as a walk in the park and said upcoming attacks would be harsher.

The Hamas threats came as former U.S. President Jimmy Carter said Hamas would be prepared to live next to Israel in peace in the framework of a Palestinian state. Carter's comments were echoed by Hamas political leader Khaled Meshal.

Meanwhile, Israel is planning to tighten controls even further over goods allowed into the Gaza Strip, as a result of the Hamas attacks. Some of the crossings will remain shut today, and may remain so for several days.

On Saturday morning, the IDF foiled a Hamas attempt to carry out a combined "hit and grab" attack against the Kerem Shalom crossing in the southern Gaza Strip, aimed at killing and capturing soldiers. Three Hamas gunmen were killed, and 13 IDF soldiers were injured, none seriously.

The Kerem Shalom crossing, which is used to transfer humanitarian cargo into the Gaza Strip, is likely to remain closed today for an evaluation of the security arrangements.

Saturday night, there was still no decision on whether to open the Sufa crossing.

As for the crossing at Nahal Oz, where fuel is transferred to the Strip, last Thursday Palestinians fired at a fuel truck. Security sources told Haaretz last night that Dor Alon, the company operating the terminal, has let the army know that it intends to reevaluate its role in transfering fuel to the Palestinians in light of the dangers to its staff. Two weeks ago, two Israelis were murdered in a Palestinian attack at the terminal.

Dor Alon refused to confirm the information provided by the security sources.

Israeli political sources said Sunday that "Hamas is harming the civilians of the Gaza Strip." The same sources added that via Kerem Shalom about 200 truckloads of food and medicines per week are transfered to the Strip, in an effort to avoid a humanitarian crisis there.

"Once more Hamas has proved that it does not care about the civilians in the Strip and has targeted the crossing where humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians is delivered."

Despite the attack Major General Yoav Galant, GOC Southern Command, said that Israel does not intend to embark on a large ground operation in the Strip in the coming weeks.

Such an operation, Galant said, would mar the planned celebrations for the 60th anniversary of the state. However, senior IDF officers warned that "in spite the excellent work of the ground forces, we are in a very unstable situation. We are expecting more attacks, but it would be difficult to counter them for long without suffering casualties."

The same senior officers added that the latest attempt was "a very clear declaration on the part of Hamas. This was not a 'slip.' This [attack] had been planned for months."

In spite of the attack, assessments in Israel are that Hamas would like to reach a lull in the fighting in the near future.

Hamas vows 'harsh' attacks on Israel, says previous assaults were 'practice' (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/976473.html)

Adolph Hitler of Nazi Germany is a Hero on Palestinian Radio

A Palestinian Authority radio contest featured a biography of Adolph Hitler, complete with his military victories and his heroism during World War I & War World II and the broadcast never mentioned the Holocaust and the death of six million Jews.

This Palestinian Authority radio contest is consistent with Palestinian education in general which erases the Holocaust from history, according to a recent report from the Palestinian Media Watch, which revealed that the new 12th grade Palestinian Authority history school books showed that many pages were dedicated to the history of World War II and even to Nazi racism, but neither the Jews nor the Holocaust is ever mentioned.

The fascination with Adolph Hitler among Palestinians and the Palestinian Authority radio broadcast that characterizes Hitler as a hero, and never mentions the Holocaust, is a precursor to a dreadful end time scenario that can be found in Bible prophecy.

During the days of the Holocaust in Nazi Germany, the Palestinian leader, the Haj Amin al Husseini was used by Hitler to rally the Moslem world to join his final solution for the Jews, death in the ovens and gas chambers. From the times of the Holocaust, during World War II, there has been an unholy fascination of Hitler by the Palestinian people, evidenced by the fact that they have named their children, Hitler.

These developments are preparing the world for a coming Holocaust of the Jews that will be more horrific than the Holocaust of Hitler. The ancient Jewish prophet, Zechariah, revealed that two out of every three Jews will be killed during the coming Holocaust in the seven year Tribulation Period, Zechariah 13:8. Daniel, another Jewish prophet, wrote in chapter 12 verse 1 of his prophecy that this time would be the worst time the Jews have ever faced in all of their history. Revelation 12:13-17 says that Satan and his evil forces will endeavor to eliminate the Jews from the earth.

The Palestinian Authority radio broadcast honoring Hitler is indeed a precursor to the End Times scenario of Bible prophecy. Bible prophecy that will be fulfilled.

Hamas negotiates truce, 'peace partner' attacks Israel

Rockets, mortars hit Jewish population centers outside Gaza Strip
Posted: April 28, 2008
11:20 am Eastern

By Aaron Klein
© 2008 WorldNetDaily

JERUSALEM – As the Hamas terrorist organization negotiates a possible truce with Israel, terrorists from Palestinian Authority President Maumoud Abbas' Fatah party today launched a series of rocket attacks that hit Jewish population centers near the Gaza Strip.

At least seven Qassam rockets and nine mortar shells were fired from Gaza-based terrorists today, landing in the Israeli cities of Sderot and Ashkelon.

Of the rockets that slammed into Sderot – a city of about 25,000 people nearly three miles from the Gaza border – one scored a direct hit on a house and another landed near an elementary school. Damage and injuries were still being assessed.

At least two rockets were fired at Ashkelon, a city of 120,000 residents about 12 miles from Gaza that is home to Israel's main electric supply station and critical gas and oil pipelines.

Hamas claimed responsibility for two of the rockets, while the rest were launched by Fatah's Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in conjunction with the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization, according to Brigades sources speaking to WND.

The Brigades, listed by the U.S. State Department as a terror group, took responsibility along with the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization for every suicide bombing in Israel since 2005 and for hundreds of shootings and rocket attacks against Jewish civilian population centers.

Fatah's Brigades the past few days has carried out more attacks than Hamas both from the Gaza Strip and from the West Bank. The Brigades launched rockets and mortars, engaged in clashes with Israel Defense Force troops near the Gaza town of Khan Yunis and carried out a shooting attack against Jewish motorists in the northern West Bank.

In a statement to WND, the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades said they would not be party to any cease-fire with Israel

"We refuse any cease-fire with the Zionist occupation. It is our right to keep fighting and implementing resistance against the enemy" said Abu Ahmed, leader of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in the northern West Bank.

Hamas reportedly has been talking with Egyptian mediators about a truce agreement with Israel. Still, Hamas has perpetuated scores of attacks, including a massive Israeli border raid and bombing last week that was described by Israeli officials as the most sophisticated Hamas operation since Israel evacuated the Gaza Strip in 2005.

Israeli security officials say Hamas' interest in a cease-fire largely stems from fear the Jewish state will launch a large-scale ground operation in the Gaza Strip following next month's visit to the region by President Bush to take part in Israel's 60th anniversary celebrations. Until Bush's visit, Israel is loathe to start a major flare-up in Gaza.

The Israeli security officials told WND Fatah has made a strategic decision to continue terror attacks in an attempt to scuttle the possibility of a cease-fire for fear of the political consequences of a Hamas-brokered truce.

"If Hamas is the one to broker a cease-fire, and it takes effect in the West Bank as well as in Gaza, this would demonstrate Hamas are the deal makers and major players in the West Bank, which is supposed to be controlled by Fatah," said a security official. "Fatah doesn't want that, so they are attacking Israel."

Some of today's rocket attacks from Gaza came after seven Palestinians reportedly were killed during an IDF anti-rocket operation in the northern Gaza Strip. Media accounts stated Israel shelled a house, killing Palestinian civilians, including four young siblings and their mother.

But the IDF denied the media accounts, which quoted Gaza-based medics and Hamas officials. An IDF source told Israel's Army Radio the explosion at the house was caused after Hamas terrorists carrying an ammunitions bag were hit by IDF fire.

Following the strike, Defense Minister Ehud Barak placed blame for the incident on the ruling Hamas faction.

"We see Hamas as responsible for everything that happens there, for all injuries. ... The army is acting, and will continue to act, against Hamas, including inside the Gaza Strip. Hamas is also responsible, by way of its activity within the civilian population, for part of the casualties among uninvolved civilians," Barak said.

Terror groups planning Independence Day attack

Major-General Amos Yadlin briefs cabinet on situation in Gaza Strip, warns Palestinian terror organizations may try to carry out mass-casualty attack during Israel's 60th anniversary celebrations

Roni Sofer
Published: 04.29.08, 15:50
Israel News

Military Intelligence Chief Major-General Amos Yadlin warned the cabinet Tuesday of terror organizations seeking to carry out a major terror attack during Independence Day.

The Israel Defense Forces, he said, "has intelligence indicating terrorists might try to mimic the Passover attack, including the possible abductions of IDF soldiers."

On the eve of the holiday, a Palestinian terror cell detonated a car bomb near the Kerem Shalom crossing, in a failed infiltration attempt. Thirteen IDF soldiers were wounded in the attack.

Yadlin briefed the cabinet on the situation in the Gaza Strip at the request of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Hamas, he told the ministers "wants to break the blockade on Gaza and since Egypt is determined to stop that from happening on its side, Hamas will try to carry out another attack similar to the one on Kerem Shalom."

The terror groups, he stressed, are likely to target the Gaza crossings: "It's an operational opportunity for them to hurt both soldiers and civilians… They'll target everything they can along the Hubers Route, including digging tunnels, laying explosives and carrying out shooting attacks.

The Hubers Route runs along Israel's security fence with the Gaza Strip, from the Mediterranean to the Philadelphi Route; and includes Israel's four major crossings with the Strip – the Erez crossing in its north, the Sufa and Karni crossings in its central and Kerem Shalom in its south.

Yadlin went on to say that "Hamas is not interested in any kind of truce. As far as they are concerned a hudna last five to 10 years, but they are asking much more for it than the moderate Palestinians are asking for a peace treaty."

Hamas is lacking dominant leadership, he added, and while "the political wing leads and the military wing does as it's told, the leadership per se is weak…

"(Hamas politburo chief) Khaled Mashaal said so himself – 'We need the time to regroup' – and even if Egypt and Hamas come to some sort of an understanding, they still need the approval of the Palestinian factions in Cairo."

Terror groups planning Independence Day attack (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3537473,00.html)

Secret documents detail post-WWII debacle

A messianic Jewish ministry leader says recent documents released by the British government have confirmed a long-held belief.

Jan Markell has long believed that God judged Britain for its treatment of the Jews. She notes that 400 pages of formerly secret documents -- recently made public by the British National Archives -- reveal how the British government tried to send thousands of Holy Land-bound Jewish Holocaust survivors back to post-war Germany without inflaming world opinion.

But despite the best efforts of early spin-doctors to portray the move in a most sympathetic light, the decision to turn away more than 4,500 Jewish refugees on board the Exodus refugee ship turned into a humanitarian and public relations debacle for Great Britain.

Markell, founder and director of Olive Tree Ministries, believes Britain has paid a steep price for betraying the Jews in 1947. "At one time [Britain] had so many nations and colonies that the sun never set on [the British Empire]," she recalls. "Today [Britain] is a broken and fractured empire, and I believe it is partly because of the way that she dealt with the Jews ... during the Holocaust and post-Holocaust," says Markell.

And the pro-Israel advocate warns this story ought to serve as reminder to supporters of Israel today. "It should remind us that the world to this day continues to hate the Jewish people," she continues, "because they still are God's chosen people no matter what the Muslim world wants to do to annihilate them. [The Jews] will not go away."

Markell argues the United States should take special heed to this story, considering its continual efforts to force the Jewish people to turn over their covenant land in order to create a Palestinian "state."

Fearing Olmert collapse, Palestinians rush for deal
Asking U.S. to guarantee independent state if prime minister forced from office

Fearing the collapse of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's government, the Palestinian Authority asked the U.S. government for backing to rush a deal regarding the establishment of a Palestinian state, WND has learned.

According to a top PA negotiator, the Palestinians expect Olmert will be forced from office before the end of the year. They fear some of the negotiations led by Olmert's government will be fruitless unless an understanding is reached before the Israeli leader vacates office.

"What we are seeking is to quickly reach certain understandings, put those understandings on paper and have them guaranteed by the U.S. so the understandings can be used as a starting point in negotiations with the next Israeli prime minister," the top PA negotiator told WND.

Olmert's government has been conducting intense negotiations with the PA started at last November's U.S.-backed Annapolis summit, which sought to create a Palestinian state before Bush leaves office in January. Israel is highly expected to offer the Palestinians most of the West Bank and sections of Jerusalem.

Olmert faces a bribery and corruption investigation that has been described by police officials here as "very serious." The Israeli leader has said he would resign if he is indicted.

Earlier this week, Morris Talansky, a U.S. businessman, testified in court he provided about $150,000 in cash to Olmert over the years and that he didn't know exactly what the Israeli leader did with the money.

According to sources close to the investigation, the charges against Olmert extend far beyond possible cash transfers by Talansky and involve other foreign businessmen allegedly passing on money in exchange for political and business favors.

In a major blow to Olmert's future leadership, his defense minister and senior coalition partner, Ehud Barak, yesterday called on him to step down.

"I do not think the prime minister can simultaneously run the government and deal with his own personal affair," Barak said at a nationally televised news conference after conferring with other members of his Labor party.

Barak maintained his position today, telling the Knesset that early elections appear inevitable in light of the corruption probe.

Olmert, though, continues to insist he will not resign unless he is indicted. He told the Knesset he was certain that once his side of the story is aired, no charges would be brought against him.

"I have been done an injustice, and it is illogical that a prime minister should be brought down because of something like this," Olmert said.

"Some people think that every investigation requires a resignation. I do not agree, and I do not intend to resign," Olmert said.

The prime minister has faced five previous investigations into accusations of corruption or accepting bribes.

Immediately after Barak's statements yesterday, three members of his party, which is in a governing coalition with Olmert's Kadima party, submitted motions to the Knesset to dissolve the Olmert government. By Israeli law, if the majority of the Knesset votes for the downfall of the prime minister, new elections must be held within 90 days.

Barak has made no secret of his desire to become prime minister. But his calls for Olmert to step down were also echoed across the political spectrum.

Legally, Olmert can remain in office until 2010 unless he is either convicted or the Knesset votes for new elections.

If he resigns, Olmert could appoint a member of his Kadima party as prime minister to avoid early elections and ensure his party remains in power. He could also take a 90-day leave of absence during which time his deputy prime minister, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, would temporarily govern.

Olmert, though, is said to oppose placing Livni is power. According to top political sources in Jerusalem, Olmert is attempting to coordinate the future leadership of Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz, a former defense minister and close Olmert confidant.

Israel will need to strike soon or reconcile itself to a nuclear Iran

http://news.scotsman.com/politics/Israel-39would-consider-strike39-amid.4118482.jp (http://news.scotsman.com/politics/Israel-39would-consider-strike39-amid.4118482.jp)

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As Israel pursues peace talks with Syria, speculation is growing that the Jewish state will seriously consider unilateral military action against Iran within the next year. Israeli intelligence is now estimating that Iran will master centrifuge technology and be able to begin enriching uranium by the end of this year, 12 months ahead of schedule.

As a result, Israeli military officials believe the Islamic republic could have a nuclear weapon by the middle of 2009.

"Within a year, the Israeli government will have to decide between two options: either not do anything and reconcile itself to the fact that Iran is now nuclear, or take unilateral military action," Giora Eiland, Israel's former national security adviser, told Scotland on Sunday.

According to the Jerusalem Post, Israel is also worried that Tehran is developing a cruise missile that can evade interception by the Arrow, Israel's anti-ballistic missile defences.

Iran is suspected of using smuggled Ukrainian X-55 cruise missiles as a model for its own project. A cruise missile, which flies low to dodge radar and interception, could be used to carry a nuclear warhead.

With US President George Bush nearing the end of his term, the likelihood of US military action appears to be fading. The strong chance of Democrat Barack Obama winning the presidential race means Israel will have to consider going it alone. "It's certainly not an option to be taken lightly, but at the end of the day, we may decide it is the only option we have," an Israeli official told the Scotland on Sunday.

The White House last week denied Israeli media reports that President Bush intends to attack Iran. It said that while the military option remained open, the administration preferred to resolve concerns about Iran's push for a nuclear weapon "through peaceful diplomatic means".

Meanwhile, Eiland dismissed the notion that, with Israel now talking to Syria, it was paving the path for military action against Iran. "These are two entirely separate issues that are not at all connected. Syria wants the Golan Heights back and Israel, in return, wants a sort of a diplomatic relationship with its neighbour."

The onus is now on Israeli intelligence to follow up on its reports that the Iranians are ahead of schedule.

"If in the end, a decision is taken to pursue unilateral military action, I think the Israeli public would be willing to accept the repercussions," said Dr Shmuel Bar from the Institute for Policy and Strategy at Israel's Herzliya Interdisciplinary Centre. "The most worrying thing in the last six months is what was found in Syria, which means nuclear proliferation, thanks to North Korean help, is happening at much greater levels than people realised."

Bar also pointed to a paper to be published next month by the Washington Institute for Near East Strategy. Its authors, Patrick Clawson and Michael Eisenstadt, argue that it should not be assumed an attack on Iran would result in a doomsday-type scenario.

In an interview with Haaretz last week, Clawson said the outcome would depend on several factors: whether nuclear or conventional weapons would be used; if an attack came from the US or Israel; and if nuclear sites only would be targeted. "If the attack completely destroys Iran's nuclear programme that is one thing, but if it does not, that is a different story. Then Iran will be able to continue to develop its nuclear programme, and the world will no longer care about that." When asked about possible Iranian responses to an Israeli attack, Clawson threw doubt on the accuracy of Iran's Shihab missiles, describing them as unreliable and inaccurate. He also questioned the conventional wisdom that in the wake of an Israeli attack, the Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement would also respond.

"There is no guarantee that Hezbollah will react automatically. Hezbollah are very aware of Israel's strength, and of the harsh reaction that may result if they attack."

Temple Mount
'100% Islamic'
Warning: 'Any action that offends holy site
will be answered by 1.5 billion Muslims'

Jerusalem and the Temple Mount belong to the Muslims and any Israeli action that "offends" the Mount will be answered by 1.5 billion Muslims, declared the chief of staff for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

"Jerusalem is Muslim. The blessed Al Aqsa mosque and Harem Al Sharif (Temple Mount) is 100 percent Muslim. The Israelis are playing with fire when they threaten Al Aqsa with digging that is taking place," said Abbas' chief of staff Rafiq Al Husseini.

The Temple Mount is Judaism's holiest site.

Husseini was referring to Israeli plans to construct a new bridge from the Western Wall area to the Temple Mount.

The old bridge was damaged two years ago. When Israeli workers tried to repair it, Palestinian leaders claimed the work was threatening the Al Aqsa Mosque, even though the mosque is located hundreds of feet away, the work did not tunnel under any Mount foundation or touch any structure connected to the mosque, and the repair work – which had been pre-approved by Jordan and the Mount's Muslim custodians – was conducted under the scrutiny of an accessible 24/7 webcam.

"Any hurting of Jerusalem will explode the whole negotiations between us and the Israelis ... we must work to strengthen Palestinian ties to Jerusalem," al-Husseini said.

Israel has been negotiating with Abbas in line with talks started at last November's U.S.-backed Annapolis Summit, which seeks to create a Palestinian state before the end of the year. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is widely expected to offer the Palestinians most of the West Bank and eastern sections of Jerusalem. The Temple Mount is located in eastern Jerusalem.

Mainstream Palestinian leaders claim the Temple Mount is Muslim in spite of overwhelming archaeological evidence documenting the first and second Jewish temples.

In a WND exclusive interview last year, Taysir Tamimi, chief Palestinian Justice and one of the most influential Muslim leaders in Israel, argued the Jewish Temples never existed, the Western Wall really was a tying post for Muhammad's horse, the Al Aqsa Mosque was built by angels, and Abraham, Moses and Jesus were prophets for Islam.

Tamimi is considered the second most important Palestinian cleric after Muhammad Hussein, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem.

"Israel started since 1967 making archeological digs to show Jewish signs to prove the relationship between Judaism and the city and they found nothing. There is no Jewish connection to Israel before the Jews invaded in the 1880s," said Tamimi.
"About these so-called two Temples, they never existed, certainly not at the [Temple Mount]," Tamimi said during a sit-down interview in his eastern Jerusalem office.

The Palestinian cleric denied the validity of dozens of digs verified by experts worldwide revealing Jewish artifacts from the First and Second Temples throughout Jerusalem, including on the Temple Mount itself; excavations revealing Jewish homes and a synagogue in a site in Jerusalem called the City of David; or even the recent discovery of a Second Temple Jewish city in the vicinity of Jerusalem.

Tamimi said descriptions of the Jewish Temples in the Hebrew Tanach, in the Talmud and in Byzantine and Roman writings from the Temple periods were forged, and that the Torah was falsified to claim biblical patriarchs and matriarchs were Jewish when indeed they were prophets for Islam.

"All this is not real. We don't believe in all your versions. Your Torah was falsified. The text as given to the Muslim prophet Moses never mentions Jerusalem. Maybe Jerusalem was mentioned in the rest of the Torah, which was falsified by the Jews," said Tamimi.

He said Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses and Jesus were "prophets for the Israelites sent by Allah as to usher in Islam."

Asked about the Western Wall, Tamimi said the structure was a tying post for Muhammad's horse and that it is part of the Al Aqsa Mosque, even though the Wall predates the mosque by over 1,000 years.

"The Western wall is the western wall of the Al Aqsa Mosque. It's where Prophet Muhammad tied his animal which took him from Mecca to Jerusalem to receive the revelations of Allah."

The Kotel, or Western Wall, is an outer retaining wall of the Temple Mount that survived the destruction of the Second Temple and still stands today in Jerusalem.

Tamimi went on to claim to WND the Al Aqsa Mosque , which has sprung multiple leaks and has had to be repainted several times, was built by angels.

"Al Aqsa was build by the angels forty years after the building of Al-Haram in Mecca. This we have no doubt is true," he said.

The First Temple was built by King Solomon in the 10th century B.C. It was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 B.C. The Second Temple was rebuilt in 515 B.C. after Jerusalem was freed from Babylonian captivity. That temple was destroyed by the Roman Empire in A.D. 70. Each temple stood for a period of about four centuries.

The Temple was the center of religious worship for ancient Israelites. It housed the Holy of Holies, which contained the Ark of the Covenant and was said to be the area upon which God's presence dwelt. All biblical holidays centered on worship at the Temple. The Temples served as the primary location for the offering of sacrifices and was the main gathering place for Israelites.

According to the Talmud, the world was created from the foundation stone of the Temple Mount. It's believed to be the biblical Mount Moriah, the location where Abraham fulfilled God's test to see if he would be willing to sacrifice his son Isaac.

The Temple Mount has remained a focal point for Jewish services for thousands of years. Prayers for a return to Jerusalem and the rebuilding of the Temple have been uttered by Jews since the Second Temple was destroyed, according to Jewish tradition.

The Al Aqsa Mosque was constructed in about 709 to serve as a shrine near another shrine, the Dome of the Rock, which was built by an Islamic caliph. Al Aqsa was meant to mark what Muslims came to believe was the place at which Muhammad, the founder of Islam, ascended to heaven to receive revelations from Allah.

Jerusalem is not mentioned in the Quran. It is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible 656 times. Muslims worldwide pray with their backs away from the Temple Mount and toward Mecca.

Islamic tradition states Muhammad took a journey in a single night on a horse from "a sacred mosque" – believed to be in Mecca in southern Saudi Arabia – to "the farthest mosque" and from a rock there ascended to heaven. The farthest mosque became associated with Jerusalem about 120 years ago.

According to research by Israeli Author Shmuel Berkovits, Islam historically disregarded Jerusalem. Berkovits points out in his new book, "How dreadful is this place!" that Muhammad was said to loathe Jerusalem and what it stood for. He wrote Muhammad made a point of eliminating pagan sites of worship, and sanctifying only one place – the Kaaba in Mecca – to signify the unity of God.

As late as the 14th century, Islamic scholar Taqi al-Din Ibn Taymiyya, whose writings influenced the Wahhabi movement in Arabia, ruled that sacred Islamic sites are to be found only in the Arabian Peninsula, and that "in Jerusalem, there is not a place one calls sacred, and the same holds true for the tombs of Hebron."

It wasn't until the late nineteenth century – incidentally when Jews started immigrating to Palestine – that some Muslim scholars began claiming Muhammad tied his horse to the Western Wall and associated Muhammad's purported night journey with the Temple Mount.

Israel agreed to recognize the State of Palestine
SEPTEMBER 10, 2015.
By Uri Avnery

In a solemn ceremony, on a stage bedecked with Israeli and Palestinian flags, the peace treaty between Israel and Palestine has been signed.

Negotiations did not take long. The essential elements of the treaty had been known for a long time. The document held no real surprises.

Israel agreed to recognize the State of Palestine. The border between the two states was based on the so-called Green Line (the pre-1967 line), but both parties agreed on a limited exchange of territory. About 5% of the West Bank, including several "settlement blocs", were joined to Israel, in exchange for an equivalent area alongside the Gaza Strip. Both sides expressed the wish to keep the border open for the movement of people and goods.

In Jerusalem, the Arab neighborhoods, including al-Haram al-Sharif (the Temple Mount) became part of Palestine, while Jewish neighborhoods and the Western Wall stayed in Israel. The two halves of Jerusalem remained physically united under a joint municipal authority, with equal representation.

Israel agreed to remove all settlements from the territory of Palestine.

On the refugee problem, a complex solution was found. A Committee of Truth and Reconciliation (CTR) was set up to investigate the events of 1948 and 1967 which led to the displacement of the refugees. Both sides agreed to abide by its findings. The CTR was composed of respected Israeli, Palestinian and international historians.

Israel recognized in principle the Right of Return, but both sides agreed that only a limited and mutually agreed-upon number would be enabled to return to Israeli territory, while all the others would be compensated and settled in the State of Palestine or elsewhere, according to their wishes, with international assistance.

Another committee was appointed to see to a just distribution of the water resources, and especially to the large-scale desalination of sea water, with international help, for the benefit of both sides.

After the Presidents of Israel and Palestine shook hands, all present shared in a minute of silence, in memory of all those who died in the generations-old conflict.

The secretary of the Arab League declared the treaty to be in conformity with the Arab Peace Initiative of 2002, and confirmed that all member states of the League would establish normal relations with Israel.

THE HISTORIC event was preceded by far-reaching changes on both sides.

After a long and painful rift, the new Palestinian President had succeeded in uniting the warring Palestinian factions in a rejuvenated PLO and a Provisional Government of Palestine. After some recriminations, both Hamas and Fatah supported the treaty.

In Israel, a charismatic new leader, who enjoyed much public respect, had succeeded in alerting public opinion to the dangers of the ongoing state of war in a region full of missiles and weapons of mass destruction. His new party, which attracted not only leaders and members from all the discredited old parties, but also a whole generation of young people who entered politics to bring about a change, had won a resounding election victory. The peace movement, which had long been dormant, played a major role in this upheaval.

When the two new Presidents shook hands, the whole world heaved a sigh of relief.

BUT THE signing of the document by the politicians was only the beginning of the struggle. As everybody knew, a decisive confrontation between the Israeli government and the settlers was looming.

The settlers and their allies had spent years preparing for this test. Supported by major elements of the army and the various ministries, they had access to large resources of arms and money. Many of them were determined to wage a civil war, if it came to it.

However, when the clash came, it was much less dramatic than had been feared. As agreed with the Palestinians, the settlers were allowed a year to leave voluntarily in return for very generous compensation. After initial hesitation, about half of the settlers accepted the offer and actually left the occupied territories. The rest were demoralized by the solid support of the great majority of the Israeli public for the peace treaty.

In the end, actual fighting was sporadic. In the hour of crisis, Israeli democracy stood the test and the army remained solidly loyal to the government, despite the efforts the settlers had been making for years to infiltrate the officers' corps.

THE COMPARATIVE ease with which both governments overcame the often violent opposition in their respective countries was also due to the active support of the international community.

Many commentators doubted whether the peace treaty would have been possible without the profound change of US policy in the Middle East. After the 2012 elections, the President announced that America's basic interests demanded an even-handed approach in order to overcome the hatred millions of Muslims felt for America. "We shall support both Israel and Palestine in their valiant quest for peace," he declared. The pro-Israel lobby did not dare oppose this, sensing the fundamental change in American public opinion and fearing an anti-Semitic backlash.

Europe followed suit, as always.

IN ISRAEL, the public was quick to realize the practical benefits of peace. New joint Israeli-Arab ventures attracted large foreign investments. Following the earlier peace treaty with Syria, Israeli entrepreneurs were already busy in Damascus, making lucrative deals in a Syrian economy that was springing to new life. The Syrians, by the way, allowed the Israeli wine industry on the Golan Heights to continue operating. "Let's go and eat Hummus in Damascus" became an Israeli slogan. And indeed, Israelis crowded the famous bazaars of that ancient city, turning the trip to the Syrian capital into an exciting experience.

While Arab businessmen were filling the hotels in Tel Aviv, looking for joint ventures, their Israeli counterparts were flocking to Riyadh, Baghdad, Doha and Dubai. Stories of their successes filled the television news programs and eclipsed the sight of settlers trying to repeat the scenes of the Gaza "disengagement" ten years earlier.

Owing to their position between Israel and the Arab world, Palestinians became sought-after middlemen. Former inmates of Israeli prisons, speaking excellent Hebrew, were especially successful in creating business connections. So were Arab citizens of Israel, with their intimate knowledge of Israeli political and economic processes. Their standard of living rose steeply to about that of Jewish Israelis. Their birthrate fell, as is usual with increased prosperity.

In this atmosphere, the return of several thousand Palestinian refugees to Israel passed almost without comment. Since the rapid growth of the Israeli economy had attracted many Jews from abroad, the "demographic balance" hardly changed.

Politicians and economists on both sides started to raise the idea of a "Middle Eastern Union", a political, economic and security organization on the lines of the European Union. Others were talking of a confederation of Israel, Palestine and Jordan, perhaps also including Lebanon, where Hizbullah was by now a well established government party.

THE ISRAELI army remained a powerful instrument for protecting the state. But as in the US and Western Europe, the best and the brightest were drawn to high-tech, science and business. Soon the old conflict was seen as a thing of the past.

In the end, the old adage that "peace is not made between governments but between peoples" was prove once more. Human relations, economic interests and the passage of time completed the process that started with the formal peace treaty.

Israel agreed to recognize the State of Palestine (http://mwcnews.net/content/view/25851/26)

Gaza truce only to resume when Hamas keeps its commitments
14/11/2008
By Amira Hass, Haaretz Correspondent

The United Nations on Thursday warned its stocks had run so low that it would not be able to make its next delivery of food to 750,000 needy Gazans on Saturday.

"We've been working here from hand to mouth for quite a long time, so these interruptions on the crossing points affect us immediately," said John Ging, director of UN Relief and Works Agency operations in Gaza.

The Defense Ministry had said it would allow 30 truckloads of humanitarian supplies into Gaza on Thursday. But the crossings were kept shut because militants fired fire rockets and mortars into Israel earlier in the day, security officials said.

Later in the day, Defense Minister Ehud Barak ordered the army to keep the crossings shut after receiving an intelligence warning of a plan by Palestinian militants to attack the Kerem Shalom border terminal.

Gaza City was dark Thursday evening after a day of violence and retribution, raising the grim prospect of an end to a truce that has stopped most Israeli-Palestinian violence in and around the seaside territory for five months.

Gaza officials shut down their only power plant, cutting off electricity to much of the city of 300,000, after Israel canceled plans to ship in some diesel fuel for the plant as well as 30 trucks full of humanitarian supplies. The Israeli move came after Gaza militants fired at least eight rockets and some mortar shells at Israel on Thursday, according to the Israeli military.

Rocket fire has resumed over the past week after an armed clash in Gaza, and Israel has clamped a tight blockade on the impoverished seaside territory.

Though no one was hurt in the rocket attacks on Israel Thursday, Israel scrapped plans to allow small amounts of fuel and supplies into Gaza. Kamal Obeid, a Hamas official at of the power plant, said fuel was running out and the facility would be shut down completely later Thursday.

Israelis counter that the plant provides less than a quarter of Gaza's electricity, and most of the rest flows in unimpeded on power lines from Israel.

Speaking in Brussels, Belgium, UNRWA head Karen AbuZayd said it was unusual for Israel not to let basic food and medicines in.

"This has alarmed us more than usual because it's never been quite so long and so bad, and there has never been so much negative response on what we need," she said.

"We have hundreds of containers waiting in Ashdod port, holding such simple things such as the wool and the yarn for vocational training centers or centers for the visually impaired to make some money," she said. "We were told these are not humanitarian supplies."

Israel has not allow the UN and other agencies to bring supplies into the Gaza Strip since Nov. 4, when its troops raided the territory to destroy what the army described as a tunnel built by militants.

Six Hamas gunmen were killed in the operations. Gaza militants responded to the incursion with rocket salvoes at southern Israel.

The ceasefire, which began in June, calls on both sides to stop cross-border violence and on Israel to ease the Gaza blockade it tightened after Hamas Islamists seized the territory more than a year ago.

Israel: Truce only to resume when Hamas keeps its commitments

Senior Defense Ministry official Amos Gilad on Thursday said Israel's truce with Hamas in Gaza, ruptured by a flare-up in cross-border fighting, will resume only when the Palestinian militant group keeps its commitments.

"The lull will return only when we are convinced that Hamas has gone back to its commitment to keep the lull, because it decides when [militants] shoot and when they don't," said Gilad, speaking on Israel Radio.

Gilad defended Israel's closing of the border crossings against claims that it would prevent Gazans from meeting their most basic needs.

"Israel is working to prevent the occurrence of a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, but will not endanger its soldiers by continuing to supply produce - because Hamas even attacks the crossings' terminals," he told Israel Radio.

"The murderous attacks must end. We are sensitive to the humanitarian situation but there is a serious concern that murderous and terrorist acts will take place."

Israel also held up shipments of European Union-funded fuel to the territory's sole power plant. Palestinian officials said the facility would be shut down later in the day.

Israel blocks entry of 20 EU diplomats into Gaza

Also Thursday, Israel prevented 20 European Union consul generals from entering Gaza on Thursday after a recent upsurge in clashes between the Israel Defense Forces and Gaza militants.

The consuls had planned to meet with businesspeople and human rights activists in the Hamas-ruled coastal territory in order to learn about the humanitarian situation.

Early in the day, Palestinian mortar and rocket gunners bombarding southern Israel after the IDF killed four Hamas gunmen in the Strip on Wednesday.

A senior official at the French Consulate, which had arranged the trip, said he could not remember another time when Israel had prevented diplomats from entering Gaza over reasons that were not security-related.

Israel Defense Forces spokesman Peter Lerner told Haaretz that Israel had informed the diplomats on Wednesday of its intention to prevent their entry, and yet they still attempted to cross into Gaza.

"The reason their entry was prevented was because it was not humanitarian. The policy today is only to allow the most essential entry... I hope [Gaza militants] will stop shooting missiles and then we can return to the previous situation," he said.

Gaza truce only to resume when Hamas keeps its commitments (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1037141.html)

Hamas fires long-range rockets at Israel
Fri Nov 14, 2008 5:09pm EST

By Abed Shana

GAZA (Reuters) - Hamas Islamists fired long-range rockets at a southern Israel city on Friday after an Israeli air strike on their Gaza stronghold in the 11th day of skirmishes that threaten a five-month-old truce.

The armed wing of the Islamist group said it fired five Grad rockets, the longest-range weapon it has used against the Jewish state. Israel said they hit Ashkelon, north of Gaza on the Mediterranean coast, with no casualties.

Israel and Hamas blamed each other for the flare-up since November 4, in which 12 Hamas militants have been killed by Israeli forces and scores of rockets fired into Israel. But both shied away from declaring an end to the Egyptian-brokered truce.

"We will continue to forcefully defend Israeli soldiers and citizens, to thwart attempts to stage attacks when we discover them," Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said. "At the same time, if the other side wants to continue the calm we will definitely give it positive consideration."

Hamas took a similar stand.

"Up to this moment we are committed to the ceasefire," said Mahmoud al-Zahar, a Hamas leader. "Self-defense and resistance" would continue. "We are waiting for the Israelis. If they are really committed (to a truce) we have to address that frankly."

The 1960s-era Soviet-made Grad rocket has a range of 25 km (15 miles). Two of them struck Ashkelon.

Earlier, Palestinian medics said two Hamas fighters were wounded in an Israeli air strike, which a military spokesman said was in response to an earlier rocket attack.

After the air strike, Hamas said it fired eight shorter-range Qassam rockets aimed at the city of Sderot.

Two Qassams hit, causing damage to buildings, an Israeli police spokesman said. One Israeli was treated for shrapnel wounds and a number of people suffered shock.

NEXT MOVE

Israel's caretaker prime minister, Ehud Olmert, said in a statement after consultations with defense chiefs that Israel would not tolerate the rocket fire. It would continue to apply economic pressure on Hamas through border crossings.

Israel has not allowed humanitarian supplies into the Gaza Strip since November 4, when its troops raided the territory to destroy what the army described as a tunnel built by militants to kidnap Israeli soldiers.

Six Hamas gunmen were killed in the raid. Militants responded to the incursion with rocket salvoes.

Israel said the crossings would remain shut for now.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on Israel to allow urgently fuel and humanitarian aid into Gaza, where 750,000 Palestinians are in need of food.

Short of fuel, Gaza shut down its sole power plant, and rationed electricity it gets from Israel and Egypt. Some Gaza bakeries posted notices on Friday limiting the purchase of bread, although no major shortages were reported.

The EU also urged Israel to let aid supplies through.

"I am profoundly concerned about the consequences for the Gazan population of the complete closure of all Gaza crossings for deliveries of fuel and basic humanitarian assistance," External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said.

Israeli troops also killed four gunmen in a raid on Wednesday, prompting more rocket and mortar attacks from Gaza.

Hamas is in conflict with the Fatah faction of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas which holds sway in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and is negotiating with Israel on peace terms.

The rift between them widened in 2007 as Hamas took control of Gaza. Egypt brokered the Israel-Hamas truce, but Palestinian unity talks it is mediating faltered earlier this month.

Hamas fires long-range rockets at Israel (http://www.reuters.com/articlePrint?articleId=USTRE4AD1CB20081114)

Hamas will not to renew ceasefire

Hamas to demand new conditions for any ceasefire talks, including prior opening of crossings; Islamic Jihad member warns of imminent suicide attacks

Ali Waked
Published: 11.14.08, 16:08
Israel News

Hamas will demand different conditions for any renewed ceasefire, regardless of whether the current six-month Hamas-Israel ceasefire will end as planned on December 19 or be terminated early as the result of rocket fire on Sderot, a source from the organization told Ynet Friday.

"If and when new discussions will commence regarding an extension of the ceasefire, we'll demand the opening of all crossings prior to or concurrent to a ceasefire," the source said. "We'll demand to put a stop to Israeli disruptions of the ceasefire via closings of the crossings or delay of goods, as well as demanding that the ceasefire apply to the West Bank."

According to the source, it is unclear whether the ceasefire has officially ended. "It looks like it's about to end, but even if it won't collapse in the upcoming days as a result of Israeli violations, one thing is for sure: We won't accept the current conditions for a future ceasefire."

"We will demand guarantees. We will agree to an additional period of ceasefire only after crossings are opened and goods are delivered and after we receive guarantees that the ceasefire will include the West Bank," he said.

A senior Hamas official, Dr. Khalil al-Haya, called on members of Hamas' military wing to continue shooting rockets "at the Israeli settlements around Gaza."

Al-Haya spoke at a Hamas-organized rally against the arrest of organization operatives in the West Bank by associates of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Suicide attacks to resume
The Palestinian organizations involved in a ceasefire with Israel consulted with members of an umbrella organization representing the Palestinian opposition and agreed that the ceasefire, in its current format, had failed and should not be renewed.

A member of the al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of Islamic Jihad, told Ynet that, in his estimation, all Palestinian organizations understand that the ceasefire has ended and that a new round of hard fighting with Israel is about to take place.

"Israelis are not the only ones who can threaten and they are not the only ones who had the means to hurt Palestinians. We are ready to show the innovations we've been acquiring over the recent months, including more massive shooting of more precise and long-range missiles," he said.

He also threatened that the organization would renew suicide attacks. "The recent months caused Israelis to forget the suicide bombings. And if they think the fence in Gaza or the West Bank will prevent such attacks, we promise there are ways to remind them that attacks will return to the heart of Israel," he said.

Hamas will not to renew ceasefire (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3623096,00.html)

Secret 'peace talks' exposed
Israel, Palestinians still attempting major pact before January
Posted: November 20, 2008
1:10 am Eastern

By Aaron Klein
© 2008 WorldNetDaily

JERUSALEM – Despite media reports painting a dismal picture of negotiation prospects, Israel and the Palestinian Authority are still quietly working to conclude a major agreement before President Bush leaves office in January, informed Israeli and Palestinian sources told WND.

The sources, including a senior Palestinian negotiator, said the aim is to reach a series of understandings to be guaranteed by the U.S. that would result in an eventual Israeli withdrawal from the vast majority of the West Bank.

The understandings would also grant the PA permission to open official institutions in Jerusalem but would postpone talks on the future status of the capital city until new Israeli and U.S. governments are installed next year.

The original plan, initiated at last November's U.S.-sponsored Annapolis summit, was to create a Palestinian state, at least on paper, by January. The summit launched talks aimed at concluding a final status agreement on all core issues – borders, the status of Jerusalem and the future of so-called Palestinian refugees.

But a final agreement has been hampered by several recent events here, most notably Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's decision to resign amid corruption charges, leading to general elections scheduled for February that will see a new prime minister elected. The candidate for office from Olmert's Kadima party, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, is said to oppose reaching a deal on Jerusalem or refugees ahead of elections, fearing it will harm her prospects among center-right voters. Livni is Olmert's chief negotiator with the Palestinians.

In spite of the upcoming elections and the Israeli government's subsequent political instability, teams of Israeli and Palestinian negotiators have been quietly meeting regularly the past few weeks in hope of concluding a series of understandings on key issues. Informed sources said any understandings reached will be backed up by Bush in an official letter. It is unclear how much weight such a letter will carry under a new U.S. administration.

According to the sources, neither side expects to conclude any deal on the status of Jerusalem or Palestinian "refugees" before January, putting aside those issues for future talks. Instead, negotiations are focused on reaching an agreement emphasizing borders, particularly a pledged Israeli evacuation of the vast majority of the strategic West Bank, which borders central Israeli population centers.

A Palestinian source told WND the U.S. is said to favor Israel withdrawing from nearly the entire West Bank. The source said the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem has been closely monitoring Israeli activities in the territory, which the source said has led to the Jewish state clamping down on what are termed "illegal outposts," or Jewish structures built in the West Bank without government permission. Israel has recently announced a series of small West Bank evacuations, including the threatened forced removal of Jews who legally purchased a house in the ancient city of Hebron.

Also being heavily negotiated is an agreement that would allow the PA to official open institutions in Jerusalem. WND previously reported the PA already has been quietly operating in Jerusalem, apparently with tacit approval from the Israeli government. But the expected agreement to be concluded before January would give the PA official operational status in the city, likely leading to the opening of scores of Palestinian institutions there.

According to Israeli law, the PA cannot officially hold court in Jerusalem. The PA previously maintained a de facto headquarters in Jerusalem, called Orient House, but the building was closed down by Israel in 2001 following a series of suicide bombings in Jerusalem. Israel said it had information indicating the House was used to plan and fund terrorism.

Thousands of documents and copies of bank certificates and checks captured by Israel from Orient House – including many documents obtained by WND – showed the offices were used to finance terrorism, including direct payments to the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror group.

In parallel with an understanding on the West Bank and Jerusalem institutions, the PA is pushing for a massive prisoner release to be pledged before January. A senior Palestinian negotiator told WND the PA requested that all Palestinian prisoners – meaning even convicted terrorists responsible for murdering Israelis as well as members of the rival Hamas terror group – be freed as part of the deal.

While the negotiator conceded such a massive release is unlikely, he said the PA's hope is that Israel will grant a large release, possibly including the freedom of convicted murderer Marwan Barghouti.

Barghouti is a founder of Fatah's Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror group, the most active Palestinian terror organization. He has boasted of planning the intifada, or Palestinian terror war, launched in September 2000, after then-PA President Yasser Arafat turned down an Israeli offer of a Palestinian state and instead attempted to "liberate" Palestine by force. Barghouti is serving five life sentences for his direct role in murdering Israelis.

Other understandings that Israel and the PA are attempting to reach before January surround water and natural resources.

While it wasn't clear whether any understanding would actually be reached, the timing apparently favors all involved leaders.

With Bush set to depart office in January, sealing a deal between Israel and the Palestinians would bode well for his legacy, which some analysts say is hampered by what is described as an unpopular war in Iraq, an economic meltdown and a growing crisis with Russia.

Olmert is Israel's most unpopular prime minister. Tainted by corruption charges and a heavily mismanaged war in Lebanon in 2006, Olmert would also like to depart office with a deal in hand. Also there is some concern in Jerusalem that President-elect Barack Obama may push Israel into further concessions during future negotiations, so some argue a deal on key issues while Bush is in office may be in Israel's interests.

Abbas' term in office expires Jan. 10. His future leadership is sure to be contested by Hamas and by some in Fatah's young guard who want him to be replaced by Barghouti. Abbas' ability to tout an agreement in which Israel is compelled to retreat from the West Bank and release Palestinian prisoners could help his fading street popularity. Also, Abbas is said to be greatly concerned by the prospects of February's Israeli elections resulting in opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu coming to power. Netanyahu has announced repeatedly, including as recently as yesterday, he would suspend negotiations with the PA.

Palestinians: Punish Israel for building in 'biblical heartland'
Seek economic sanctions preventing construction in historic, holy cities
Posted: November 27, 2008
3:50 pm Eastern

By Aaron Klein
© 2008 WorldNetDaily

JERUSALEM – Four days after WND broke the story the Palestinian Authority has quietly asked the U.S. to impose sanctions on Israel if the Jewish state continues building any new housing structures in the strategic and historic West Bank, the PA today publicly asked Palestinian diplomats to campaign abroad for economic steps against Israeli West Bank settlements.

"We want you to make the whole world aware of the problem because condemnations and press conferences are not enough anymore," Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salaam Fayad told a public gathering of Palestinian diplomats today.

Fayad reportedly singled out Britain as a model for other countries to follow in imposing economic sanctions on Israeli West Bank construction. Britain has said it is pressing European countries for tighter controls of imports to the EU from West Bank settlements, demanding West Bank Jewish imports be labeled separately from the rest of the Jewish state's general imports.

"We call on other countries in the EU to follow suit with Britain on this issue," Fayad said.

Last week, WND quoted a top PA source revealing the PA has asked the U.S. to impose sanctions on Israeli West Bank construction.

The source, who works from PA President Mahmoud Abbas' office, said the threat of sanctions would be part a series of Israeli-Palestinian understandings to be guaranteed by the U.S. that both sides are trying to reach before January.

The understandings, the source said, would result in an eventual Israeli withdrawal from the vast majority of the West Bank, an area rich in biblical history and significance.

Secret 'peace' talks exposed

Last week, informed Israeli and Palestinian sources told WND that despite media reports painting a dismal picture of negotiation prospects, Israel and the PA are still quietly working to conclude a major agreement before President Bush leaves office at the end of the year.

Aside from a major West Bank withdrawal, the agreement would also grant the PA permission to open official institutions in Jerusalem but would postpone talks on the future status of the capital city until new Israeli and U.S. governments are installed next year.

A top source said the PA requested that as part of the understandings, the U.S. would threaten sanctions for any new Jewish construction in the West Bank.

Israel recaptured the West Bank in the 1967 Six Day War. The territory, in which about 200,000 Jews live, is tied to Judaism throughout the Torah and is often referred to as the biblical heartland of Israel.

The book of Genesis says Abraham entered Israel at the West Bank city of Shechem (Nablus) and received God's promise of land for his offspring.

He was later buried with the rest of the biblical patriarchs and matriarchs, except for Rachel, in Hebron's Tomb of the Patriarchs. The West Bank's Hebron was site of the first Jewish capital.

The nearby West Bank town of Beit El–anciently called Bethel, meaning "house of God"–is where Scripture says the patriarch Jacob slept on a stone pillow and dreamed of angels ascending and descending a stairway to heaven. In that dream, God spoke directly to Jacob and reaffirmed the promise of territory. Earlier, God had promised the land of Israel to Abraham at Beit El. In Exodus, the holy tabernacle rested just north of Beit El in Shiloh, believed to be the first area the ancient Israelites settled after fleeing Egypt.

The understandings both sides are trying to reach before January are part of an original plan initiated at last November's U.S.-sponsored Annapolis summit, which sought to create a Palestinian state, at least on paper, by January. The summit launched talks aimed at concluding a final status agreement on all core issues – borders, the status of Jerusalem and the future of so-called Palestinian refugees.

But a final agreement has been hampered by several recent events here, most notably Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's decision to resign amid corruption charges, leading to general elections scheduled for February that will see a new prime minister elected.

The candidate for office from Olmert's Kadima party, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, is said to oppose reaching a deal on Jerusalem or refugees ahead of elections, fearing it will harm her prospects among center-right voters. Livni is Olmert's chief negotiator with the Palestinians.

In spite of the upcoming elections and the Israeli government's subsequent political instability, teams of Israeli and Palestinian negotiators have been quietly meeting regularly the past few weeks in hope of concluding a series of understandings on key issues. Informed sources said any understandings reached will be backed up by Bush in an official letter. It is unclear how much weight such a letter will carry under a new U.S. administration.

According to the sources, neither side expects to conclude any deal on the status of Jerusalem or Palestinian "refugees" before January, putting aside those issues for future talks. Instead, negotiations are focused on reaching an agreement emphasizing borders, particularly a pledged Israeli evacuation of the vast majority of the strategic West Bank, which borders central Israeli population centers.

A Palestinian source told WND the U.S. is said to favor Israel withdrawing from nearly the entire West Bank. The source said the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem has been closely monitoring Israeli activities in the territory, which the source said has led to the Jewish state clamping down on what are termed "illegal outposts," or Jewish structures built in the West Bank without government permission. Israel has recently announced a series of small West Bank evacuations, including the threatened forced removal of Jews who legally purchased a house in the ancient city of Hebron.

Olmert announced he wants quick peace deal

On Tuesday, Olmert seemed to confirm the WND report exposing secret Israeli-Palestinian talks aimed at reaching an agreement on core issues, when he announced in Washington his intention to continue negotiations in hope of an agreement on core issues.

"In principle there is nothing to prevent us from reaching an agreement on the core issues in the near future," Olmert said regarding ongoing peace negotiations with the Palestinian Authority.

"We're in a situation where it's possible to do so, and I hope we do. It would be good for the state of Israel," said Olmert speaking to Israeli reporters after a meeting with President Bush.

Speaking of "a painful sacrifice of parts of the land of Israel and the history of the Jewish people," Olmert told reporters now was the "time for decisions."

"I am ready to make that decision, and I hope the other side will make it as well," he said. "You don't need months to make a decision."

Hamas leaders say will not extend Gaza truce
Sun Dec 14, 2008 4:22pm EST

By Nidal al-Mughrabi

GAZA (Reuters) - Hamas leaders said on Sunday they did not expect to extend a six-month ceasefire with Israel in the Gaza Strip when it expires this week, although it remained unclear whether this would mean an immediate surge in violence.

Israel, which has traded fire with Palestinian Islamists in the enclave in recent weeks, sent a senior official to Cairo and said it was ready to prolong the Egyptian-brokered ceasefire which began on June 19. and runs out on Friday.

In an interview in Damascus, where he lives in exile, Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal told Al-Quds Television: "We in Hamas, and in most of the factions, think that after December 19 the truce ends and it will not be renewed."

He complained that Israel had not eased its blockade on the territory, as Hamas had hoped when it agreed to end rocket fire.

"We are studying the issue of the calm with our allies ... and, God willing, we will reach a vision within the coming days," Meshaal said.

"But I believe the general mood, among the people and among the factions is against extending calm because the enemy did not abide by its obligations."

A Hamas official in Gaza, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the group would issue a formal statement in a few days that the ceasefire would end.

"Hamas's decision is not to renew calm after it expires," the official said.

The truce had dampened violence but began to unravel early last month after a deadly Israeli raid prompted militants to resume firing makeshift rockets into the Jewish state.

ISRAEL "READY"

After Israel sent a senior Defense Ministry official to Cairo, a spokesman for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said.

"Israel has been, and continues to be, ready to abide by the understandings negotiated through Egypt," Mark Regev said.

"But it is clear that we won't be doing so unilaterally," he added, citing what he called Hamas's "daily grave violations of those understandings."

Olmert resigned in September over a corruption scandal but will stay on in a caretaker capacity until after a parliamentary election in February, raising doubts over Israel's readiness to mount a major offensive in Gaza for the time being.

Policy toward Hamas is a key issue in the election, with front-running party leaders Tzipi Livni of the ruling Kadima party and Benjamin Netanyahu of the Likud opposition both vowing to try to halt rocket attacks on towns near the Gaza border.

"As long as Hamas continues to use terror from Gaza, Israel will us its own means," Livni, who is Olmert's foreign minister, was quoted as saying by Israeli media.

Hamas rallied up to 200,000 supporters in sea of green Islamic banners in Gaza on Sunday, showing off the movement's strength a year and a half after it seized control of the enclave in a brief, bloody civil war with the rival secular Fatah faction, headed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Hamas leaders at the rally marking the group's 21st anniversary derided Fatah "rats" and predicted Abbas's downfall.

Reminiscent of rallies organized by Lebanon's Hezbollah, which shares many features with Hamas, the Gaza rally included music and sketches, including one mocking an Israeli soldier whom Hamas has been holding captive in Gaza since 2006.

Hamas leaders say will not extend Gaza truce (http://www.reuters.com/articlePrint?articleId=USTRE4BD1BE20081214)

11 Qassams hit Negev, 48 hours before truce set to end
By Haaretz Service
17/12/2008

Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday fired nine Qassam rockets at the western Negev. The barrage came just days before a six-month-old truce with factions in the coastal territory was due to expire.

Two of the rockets exploded near Ashkelon. Two people were treated at the nearby Barzilai Medical Center for apparent ringing their ears following the strike.

A second rocket hit an open field in the Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council, another struck just south of Ashkelon, and the rest struck fields in the Eshkol area. There were no damages or injuries reported in any of the incidents.

On Tuesday, militants fired 11 rockets and a mortar shell at the western Negev. One of the rockets exploded in a soccer field next to Sapir College in Sderot. There were no injuries, but several people were treated for shock.

Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the rockets fired on Tuesday, saying they were a response to the Israel Defense Forces' killing of a top group commander in the West Bank earlier in the day.

Jihad has threatened to increase its cross-border rocket fire, despite the days remaining in the ruce. "Our rockets will not stop and it will be like the rain over all the Zionist towns around the Gaza Strip," said Abu Hamza, a spokesman for the Palestinian militant group.

Hamas has in recent days arrested several members of the smaller Palestinian factions responsible for the rocket fire. While the group's leaders announced Tuesday that they did not intend to renew the cease-fire, they also said they would not fire at Israel unless provoked.

11 Qassams hit Negev, 48 hours before truce set to end (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1047494.html)

World Bank Warns Israel to Keep Giving Funds to Gaza
12/15/08
by Hana Levi Julian

(IsraelNN.com) The president of the World Bank and other international fiscal authorities are warning Israel in a strongly-worded letter not to withhold cash from Gaza.

According to the Associated Press news agency, they also advised Jerusalem not to allow Israeli banks to implement a decision to sever ties with their Palestinian Authority counterparts in the Hamas terrorist-run region.

The letter, dated December 12 and received Monday by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, was signed by Robert B. Zoelick, Quartet Mideast envoy Tony Blair and International Monetary Fund managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

Withholding cash and ending reciprocal relations between Israeli and Gaza-based PA banks might have a “considerable impact on the Palestinian economy and its institutions, and ultimately on Israel’s longer-term relationship with the Palestinians,” the letter warned. The international monetary officials expressed concern that limiting cash supplies to the terrorist-controlled region could strengthen the black market there and further weaken the already-faltering banking system, arguing that this would weaken PA Chairman and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas in the effort to weaken Hamas.

Israel classified Gaza as a hostile entity after the Hamas terrorist organization seized total control over the region in a militia war with the rival Fatah faction in June 2007. The Hamas charter expressly refuses to recognize the State of Israel and calls for its annihilation.

Although the Israeli government has stated its objective is to ultimately topple the terrorist regime, Defense Minister Ehud Barak nonetheless recently approved the transfer of millions of shekels in cash into the region to re-invigorate the Gaza economy.

Government sources explained the cash was needed to allow the Ramallah-based Fatah-led PA government to continue to pay Fatah loyalists who still live in the area.

World Bank Warns Israel to Keep Giving Funds to Gaza (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/128858)

New bombs change Middle East dynamics

CBNnews

A new bomb technology developed by Australia and the U.S. will allow Israel's jet fighter pilots to strike inside Syria or Lebanon without ever leaving their own airspace should there be another conflict in the region, changing the dynamics of the Middle East conflict, according to a report from Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin.

It is called the JDAM-ER, or Joint Direct Munitions-Extended Range, and essentially takes a dumb bomb and turns it into a smart bomb.

Among the modifications is the addition of a set of folding wings that extend the range to more than three times the range of a baseline JDAM, or Mk-84 2000-pound bomb, reportedly increasing the range from 15 to some 55 nautical miles.

Another modification converts existing unguided bombs into bombs directed to their targets using GPS technology.

Even before the JDAM is released, it begins to receive data while still attached to the computer inside the aircraft.

Upon release, a satellite then guides the bomb to its target. The aircraft and crew then don't have to remain in enemy territory to "ride the bomb down" to its target, according to officials.

This enhanced capability allows the bomb to hit its target accurately regardless of weather conditions, day or night.

The ER kit also is designed to be installed in the field to existing JDAM weapons.

JDAM bombs already are available for all the fighting aircraft of the U.S. inventory. They include the B-1B, B-2A, B-52H, F-16C/D, F/A-18C/D, F/A-18E/F, F-15E, F/A-22, F-35, A-10A, S-3, F-117, AV-8B, and F-14A/B/D. They also are available for aircraft in development and for foreign aircraft.

While the kits are available now to attach to existing JDAMs, a JDAM-ER bomb is expected to enter into production in 2010 as a joint effort of the Australian Air Force and Boeing.

"We have demonstrated the impressive capability enhancement that an affordable modular wing kit can bring to JDAM weapons, while simultaneously setting the engineering foundation that will facilitate the fielding of an Australian-designed wing kit to JDAM users around the globe," said Bart Volpe, Boeing JDAM International program manager.

A number of Boeing's 16 international JDAM customers reportedly are showing interest in acquiring the extended range capability for their own JDAM bombs.

For Israel, the ER version of the JDAM also is seen as giving Israel a longer-range capability of striking Iranian nuclear sites. Pilots could release the bombs from afar and avoid anti-aircraft defense missiles.

The Israeli version is said to be capable of using laser guidance as well as standard GPS. Its version of the JDAM also is protected against electronic jamming.

Israel recently upgraded its F-15 fleet to carry the JDAMs.

Israeli Cabinet to convene over Palestinian terror on South
Dec. 20, 2008
YAAKOV KATZ and KHALED ABU TOAMEH , THE JERUSALEM POST

Violence flared on the Gaza front over the weekend as the informal cease-fire with Hamas expired and dozens of rockets and mortars pounded the western Negev.

On Sunday morning one person was lightly hurt by shrapnel as Palestinian terrorists fired three Kassam rockets at the western Negev.

One Palestinian was killed by an Israel Air Force strike in the northern Strip on Saturday. Another man was wounded, according to Palestinian sources.

Between the cease-fire's expiration on Friday morning and Saturday evening, 17 Kassam rockets and 24 mortar shells were fired into Israel.

On Friday, gunmen opened fire at farmers near Kibbutz Nir Oz, in the Eshkol region. Nobody was wounded, but a number of vehicles were damaged.

On Saturday, one of the shells scored a direct hit on a kibbutz youth clubhouse in the Sha'ar Hanegev region. No one was injured but the structure was seriously damaged.

Military sources said the IDF was preparing for a wide-range of scenarios, pending government instructions.

"We have operational plans ranging from conquering the Gaza Strip to pinpoint raids against rocket squads," one officer said. "However, we will ultimately do what we are told to do."

Also on Saturday, a boat carrying a Qatari delegation, Lebanese activists and journalists from Israel and Lebanon sailed into Gaza City's small port from Cyprus in defiance of the Israeli blockade. It was the fifth such boat trip since the summer.

The two Qatari citizens aboard the Dignity are from the government-funded Qatar Authority for Charitable Activities.

"We are here to represent the Qatar government and people," said delegation member Aed al-Kahtani. "We will look into the needs of our brothers in Gaza, and find out what is the most appropriate way to bring in [aid]."

Also on board were reporter Shlomi Eldar of Israel's Channel 10, Lebanese reporter Katya Nasser from Al-Jazeera, and another Lebanese citizen.

The cabinet is expected to discuss the situation in the South at its weekly meeting on Sunday.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's spokesman, Mark Regev, said Saturday night that the situation was "simply unsustainable."

"It is clear that if it is not possible to stop the Kassam rockets by one way, then another way will be found," he said.

"Israel preferred a successful 'calm,' and we were willing to abide by the understandings reached through Egypt. But both Hamas's declarations and behavior have demonstrated clearly that they have no interest in calm, and as such they are just bringing pain and suffering to the populations of both southern Israel and the Gaza Strip."

Hamas officials in the Gaza Strip said over the weekend that they want a new party to replace Egypt and mediate between the Islamist movement and Israel on a renewal of the cease-fire.

The statements came shortly after Cairo announced it had resumed efforts to persuade Israel and Hamas to agree to the extension of the truce.

Relations between Hamas and Egypt have been strained ever since the movement boycotted a conference in Cairo meant to resolve the crisis between Hamas and Fatah. The conference, which was supposed to be held in early November, was called off at the last minute.

Hamas is also angry with the Egyptians because of their refusal to reopen the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Sinai. Hamas supporters demonstrated in front of the Egyptian Representative Office in Gaza City on Saturday in protest of the continued closure.

"We don't rule out the possibility of renewing the tahadiyeh [calm] with Israel, but we don't trust the Egyptians because they're not honest brokers," a top Hamas official in Gaza City said. "We want a decent mediator and we don't mind if they are from Europe."

Another Hamas official claimed the Egyptians were biased in favor of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Israel.

"The Egyptian government does not care about the Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip," he said. "They only care about the interests of Abbas and Israel. As such, we don't have much faith in them."

The official pointed out that the Egyptians had also failed in their attempts to arrange a prisoner exchange between Hamas and Israel. He said Cairo's "arrogance and refusal to reopen the Rafah border crossing" was one of the reasons why kidnapped IDF soldier St.-Sgt. Gilad Schalit was still in captivity.

Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum accused Israel and the US of deliberately sabotaging the cease-fire in an attempt to bring down the Hamas government in Gaza. He also lashed out at the Arab countries for failing to sound their voice against the continued blockade of the Strip.

In Cairo, the spokesman for the Egyptian foreign minister, Husam Zaki, confirmed that his government had resumed efforts to broker a new agreement between Hamas and Israel. Cairo was pressuring Israel to refrain from launching a massive military operation in the Gaza Strip, he said.

The spokesman added that his country would not reopen the Rafah border crossing unless the Palestinian terminal was controlled by forces loyal to Abbas. He blamed Israel for the latest escalation because of its "inhuman and brutal blockade and closure of the border crossings."

Israeli Cabinet to convene over Palestinian terror on South (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1228728268904&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)

Gaza Militants Launch More Rockets Into Israel
Sunday, December 21, 2008

JERUSALEM — Barrages of rockets fired from Gaza hit Israeli towns Sunday and the Israeli air force responded with a missile strike as violence surged after the expiration of a shaky truce.

One rocket struck a house in the town of Sderot, but no injuries were reported. The blast scattered rubble and furniture inside the house.

"Everyone is traumatized," the house's owner, Maya Aviar, told AP Television News.

A worker at a farming community near Gaza was lightly wounded by shrapnel in a separate rocket strike, the Israeli military said.

Another rocket landed in an industrial zone in Ashkelon, a city of about 120,000 people 10 miles north of Gaza.

Ashkelon is the biggest population center in range of the rockets from Gaza, and Israel has responded harshly to past attacks on the coastal city.

The Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad took responsibility for Sunday's rocket fire.

An Israeli aircraft fired a missile at a rocket launcher that had been primed and was ready to fire in northern Gaza, the Israeli military said. Militants typically prepare rockets for launch and then fire them from cover a safe distance away. There were no reports of casualties in the strike.

On Saturday, militants fired more than 30 rockets and mortar shells into Israel, and the Israeli air force killed one militant who was launching rockets.

Israel has said it wants to preserve the truce and will not take military action if the militants hold their fire, but has threatened to carry out a broad military operation in Gaza if the barrages persist.

"The scenarios are clear, the plans are clear, the determination is clear, and so are the ramifications of each of the steps. A responsible government is not happy to go to war, but does not evade it," Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said at his Cabinet's weekly meeting.

The Israeli government has come under heavy pressure to react to the rocket fire. In the past, large operations have not succeeded in stopping the rockets.

Israel has also largely kept the crossings into Gaza closed in response to the rocket fire, a move that has caused shortages of fuel and basic goods in the territory of 1.4 million Palestinians.

Militants Barrage Israel With Mortars, Rockets

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

JERUSALEM —
Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip bombarded southern Israel with mortars and rockets on Wednesday, burdening diplomatic efforts to revive a truce that expired over the weekend.

A civilian man who works for a conflict resolution center was badly wounded in an explosion at a house in Gaza City. Two other civilians were lightly hurt when a rocket failed to clear the border and landed on a house in the northern town of Beit Lahiya, Gaza health officials said. Separately, two militants were killed when an explosive they were preparing went off prematurely.

Hamas, the Islamic militant group that rules Gaza, said the bombardment came in retaliation for the deaths of three of its fighters in a clash with Israeli troops late Tuesday. Israel said the militants were planting explosives in northern Gaza along the border fence.

The Israeli military said nine mortars and at least 13 rockets were fired at southern Israel early Wednesday. No injuries were reported. But near Gaza City, an explosion tore through a two-story apartment building, badly wounding Iyad Dremly, an attorney who works for the Palestinian Center for Conflict Resolution. Militants were firing rockets and mortars from the area, but the military said it did not carry out any attacks on Gaza, suggesting the blast was caused by misfired explosives.

Gazans living in border areas criticized militants for operating within residential areas, but would not agree to be quoted for fear of reprisal.

Before the violence resumed, Israel had agreed to crack open cargo crossings with Gaza on Wednesday to allow in a limited amount of food, medicines and fuel, including supplies from Egypt. But military spokesman Peter Lerner said the passages would remain closed in light of the militant barrages.

Israel has maintained a strict blockade of Gaza since the cease-fire began unraveling six weeks ago, allowing in only small quantities of essential goods. Egypt has similarly sealed its border crossing with the territory.

The sanctions have deepened the destitution in Gaza, home to 1.4 million Palestinians who are confined to the tiny coastal strip. Gazans have worked around the choking off of supplies by bringing in goods through tunnels dug under the Gaza-Egypt border.

So far the number of rockets and retaliatory Israeli airstrikes has not approached the pre-truce level, feeding hopes that the cease-fire can be resumed. Both sides have expressed willingness to consider reviving it.

Egypt, which mediated the expired truce, is leading the diplomatic efforts to renew it. On Thursday, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni is to meet with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo.

Alongside talk of restoring the truce, Israel is preparing for an escalation of violence.

Israeli leaders have approved a large-scale military operation to stop the rocket fire, but are reluctant to press ahead with a campaign sure to exact heavy casualties on both sides. Past incursions have not halted the barrages, and defense and political officials fear anything short of a reoccupation of Gaza would fail to achieve the desired results.

Israel left Gaza in 2005 after a 38-year occupation.

Militants Barrage Israel With Mortars, Rockets (http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,472246,00.html)

Hamas mocks Israel's nonresponse to Kassams
Dec. 25, 2008
Khaled Abu Toameh , THE JERUSALEM POST

Hamas on Wednesday remained as defiant as ever and said it would continue to fire rockets at Israel as an act of "self-defense."

Hamas also mocked what it described as the "state of confusion" in Israel over how to react to the latest spree of rocket and mortar attacks.

The movement also claimed that the Egyptians had given Israel a "green light" to launch a limited military operation in the Gaza Strip to overthrow the Hamas government.

"Israel will pay a heavy price for its crimes against the Palestinians," said Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum. "Israel's actions enhance our determination to pursue the path of resistance through all means available."

Barhoum said that Hamas has placed all its security forces and militias on high alert to thwart an IDF invasion of the Gaza Strip.

The armed wing of Hamas, Izzadin Kassam, said it would not be deterred by Israel's threats of a military operation. The group also threatened to expand the range of its rockets and missiles so that they would reach more Israeli communities.

"We won't succumb to the logic of threats made by the Zionist war criminals," the group said in a leaflet. "Today we are prepared more than ever to foil any aggression against our people."

The Hamas wing also warned that if Israel carried out its threats it would face a "volcano of fury that would turn the Zionists' tears into blood."

Boasting that it had fired dozens of rockets and mortars at Israeli towns in the past few days, the group pointed out that Israel was "hopeless and desperate" because it doesn't know what to do to stop the attacks.

"The enemy is in a state of confusion and doesn't know what to do," the leaflet read. "Their fragile cabinet has met in a desperate attempt to stop the rockets while thousands of settlers have found refuge in shelters which, by God's will, will become their permanent homes."

Hamas legislator and spokesman Mushir al-Masri said Wednesday's rocket attacks on Ashkelon and nearby communities were a warning message to Israel as to what awaits it when and if it decides to enter the Gaza Strip.

He too threatened that Israel would pay a "heavy price" if it launched an attack.

"Israel's threats don't scare us," he said. "We're not afraid of assassinations and invasions and we are prepared to sacrifice our leaders."

Al-Masri held Israel responsible for the collapse of the cease-fire by refusing to reopen the border crossings into the Gaza Strip and pursuing its policy of targeting Palestinian gunmen in the West Bank.

In another development, a top Hamas official in Gaza City told The Jerusalem Post Wednesday that the Egyptians have given Israel a "green light" to target Hamas figures and installations.

The official claimed that Egyptian Intelligence Chief Gen. Omar Suleiman told Defense Ministry envoy Amos Gilad last week that Cairo would not oppose a "limited operation" that would lead to the downfall of the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip.

The allegation by the Hamas official followed a report in the London-based Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper, in which Suleiman was quoted as saying that the time has come to "teach the Hamas leaders a good lesson."

Citing "informed" Palestinian sources, the report added that Suleiman made it clear to Gilad that Egypt was not opposed to a limited operation that would bring down the Hamas regime.

The report said that Suleiman was furious with Hamas because of the movement's last-minute decision to boycott a "national reconciliation" conference he was planning to convene in Cairo in early November.

According to the newspaper, Suleiman referred to Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal as the head of a "gang" and said told Gilad that Cairo would like to see the movement's leaders punished.

"The Hamas leaders have become very arrogant," the report quoted the Egyptian official as saying. "It's time to teach these leaders a lesson so that they would wake up from their dreams."

Hamas mocks Israel's nonresponse to Kassams (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1230111690081&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)

IDF gets green light to strike Hamas after rocket barrage
Dec. 24, 2008
YAAKOV KATZ and HERB KEINON , THE JERUSALEM POST

The IDF received the green light Wednesday for a series of operations against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, after more than 60 mortar shells and Katyusha and Kassam rockets pounded the Negev.

The barrage hit communities throughout the South, reaching as far north as Ashkelon and as far south as Kerem Shalom. At least two Grad-model Katyusha rockets were fired into Ashkelon on Wednesday, and a Kassam with extended range hit Netivot.

No one was wounded, even though terrorists hit close to educational facilities and homes; however, nearly 60 people, almost half of them children or teenagers, were treated for emotional trauma and anxiety.

"It was a Hanukka miracle," Magen David Adom spokesman Yerucham Mandola said.

A factory, a home and other structures were damaged.

Due to the recent escalation and out of concern that during an IDF operation in Gaza, Hamas would further escalate its rocket attacks, the IDF Home Front Command decided Wednesday to connect all towns within 30 km. of the Gaza Strip to the Kassam-warning system, including Ashdod, Ofakim and Kiryat Gat. In addition, Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilna'i decided to distribute beeper systems to farmers in the Gaza periphery.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Wednesday night that he had ordered the IDF to prepare itself to deliver a "response" to the rocket attacks. He said Hamas was responsible and would pay a price.

"Anyone who hurts Israeli civilians or soldiers will pay the price in a big way," Barak said in an interview on a Channel 2 talk show. "We will bring the solution, and we will not let this situation continue."

Defense officials said the IDF now had approval for a number of operations that would likely include heavy air strikes against Hamas and Islamic Jihad targets, as well as pinpoint ground operations against terrorist infrastructure.

Military sources said a major operation - such as conquering the Gaza Strip - was not currently on the agenda. The officials would not reveal the timing of the planned operations so as not to tip off Hamas, but said that it depended on a number of factors, including the stormy weather in the South.

Hamas said it would continue to fire rockets in "self-defense." The group also said it had placed all its forces on high alert in preparation for an IDF invasion of the Gaza Strip.

In Ashkelon, one rocket slammed into a home seconds after a father rushed his children from the living room into a bomb shelter. A massive hole gaped in a wall of the living room, which was sprayed with shrapnel. Baby toys lay covered in rubble and dust, and a crib was pocked with splinters and filled with pieces of concrete.

In the evening, IAF aircraft bombed a rocket cell in southern Gaza, near the Daniyeh air strip, killing at least one Palestinian and wounding two others. The IDF said it had targeted a rocket squad that was behind Kassam rocket fire on Sderot earlier in the day.

"We will not let this continue," a defense official said on Wednesday night. "Our response will come in the right place and at the right time."

The ambiguity about the timing of an IDF operation was in line with what Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told the security cabinet on Sunday - that Israel would not give Hamas a "promo" of when and how it would respond.

However, hints that Israel's response was well on the way could be found in a statement a government official released after the four-hour security cabinet meeting.

"Hamas bears sole responsibility for the deterioration in the South. They deliberately undermined the understandings reached through Egypt, and they acted to destroy the calm," the official said, in what sounded like an explanation to the world of why Israel needed to act.

"Until now, Israel has acted with great restraint, despite the fact that the civilian population was continuously targeted," the official said. "But this cannot go on."

The official warned that "Israel will answer quiet with quiet, but we will answer attacks with measures to protect our people."

During the security cabinet meeting, the ministers were briefed by intelligence and military officials on the situation in the South, as well as on plans that had been drawn up on how to respond.

A media blackout was declared on the deliberations.

The meeting had originally been meant for a discussion of global jihad. However, the escalating violence forced Gaza onto the agenda.

Although most of the meeting was dedicated to the Gaza Strip, the discussion on global jihad was still held, and 35 al-Qaida- and Taliban-affiliated organizations were declared terrorist organizations for the purposes of fighting money-laundering that provides them with cash.

According to a statement issued after the meeting, the blacklisted groups are active mainly in Pakistan, Afghanistan and North Africa, and operate against Western targets, not necessarily Israel.

The decision obligates banks and financial institutions to check their accounts and transactions and to report any activity suspected of being related to these organizations.

The move is in line with regulations taken in other Western countries, especially the US.

Meanwhile, Police Commissioner Insp.-Gen. David Cohen ordered police reinforcements to be sent to the Southern District in light of the escalation in rocket fire.

The decision came following a situation analysis at the police's Lachish subdistrict headquarters, held by Cohen, police Operations Branch head Cmdr. Bentzi Sao and Southern District Dep.-Cmdr. Danny Hen. IDF and Home Front Command officers also attended the meeting.

The increased forces were meant to enable a rapid police response to rocket attacks. Officers have been tasked with helping to evacuate the victims, protect property and give residents a sense of security.

Cohen also called on police to be on alert for "unusual" incidents that could develop in "sensitive spots around the country" - a reference to mixed Arab-Jewish cities.

MDA, too, stepped up operations in the western Negev and the Lachish region, putting ambulance staffers there on the highest alert Wednesday morning.

Director-general Eli Bin ordered that 200 ambulances be on duty in the embattled region. Such an alert was last called some six months ago, before the unofficial cease-fire went into effect on June 19.

On an ordinary day, there are only a few dozen ambulances at the ready in the region.

With the high alert, which will last until further notice, ambulances were given the most advanced equipment for coping with the situation. Bin consulted with security experts before making his decision.

IDF gets green light to strike Hamas after rocket barrage (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1229868837971&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)

Hamas seems to believe Jews 'understand only force'
By Avi Issacharoff
25/12/2008

The slaying of three Hamas militants near the border separating the Gaza Strip from Israel on Tuesday night also have served to persuade Hamas' leaders to opt for a confrontational position, as did Egyptian indifference to renewing the talks for a ceasefire. The fact that Israel did not open the crossings into the Strip to let in aid from Egypt was also believed to be connected to this decision.

Above all, the decision to renew the firing stems from an arrogant perception - which can also be observed from time to time on the Israeli side of the border - that the other side understands force better than anything else. Hamas seems to believe that "the Jews understand only force."

If violence at a low intensity fails to persuade Israel to let goods into the Strip, then, according to Hamas' approach, another escalation in violence could help Israel make the right decision. The organization's leadership expects an Israeli retaliation, but they assume it will be limited in scope. They deduce this from what they view as an Israeli reluctance to launch a massive land invasion.

As for Israeli air raids, assassinations and the sort, they would only serve to help Hamas regain some popularity - and not only in Gaza, but also in the West Bank and across the Arab-speaking world.

At this stage, it will be the lack of an Israeli retaliation that will corner Hamas. That way, Arab television channels will not broadcast images of martyrs out of Gaza, and the organization will not be perceived as causing the escalation. Hamas, then, may prefer to engage in negotiations even without an Israeli retaliation.

Hamas seems to believe Jews 'understand only force' (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1049778.html)

Israel strikes demolish Hamas compounds, kill 192

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – Israeli warplanes retaliating for rocket fire from the Gaza Strip pounded dozens of security compounds across the Hamas-ruled territory in unprecedented waves of airstrikes Saturday, killing nearly 200 people and wounding 270 others in the single bloodiest day of fighting in years.

Most of those killed were security men, but civilians were also among the dead. Hamas said all of its security installations were hit and responded with several medium-range Grad rockets at Israel, reaching deeper than in the past. One Israeli was killed and at least four people were wounded in the rocket attacks. With so many wounded, the Palestinian death toll was likely to rise.

The air offensive followed weeks of intense Palestinian rocket and mortar fire on southern Israel, and Israeli leaders had issued increasingly tough warnings in recent days that they would not tolerate continued attacks.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Israel would expand the operation if necessary. "There is a time for calm and there is a time for fighting, and now is the time for fighting," he told a news conference. He would not comment when asked if a ground offensive was planned.

But asked earlier if Hamas political leaders might be targeted next, military spokeswoman Maj. Avital Leibovich said, "Any Hamas target is a target."

The strikes caused widespread panic and confusion in Gaza, as black clouds of smoke rose above the territory, ruled by Hamas for the past 18 months. Some of the Israeli missiles struck in densely populated areas as children were leaving school, and women rushed into the streets frantically looking for their children. Most of those killed were security men, but civilians were among the dead.

Said Masri sat in the middle of a Gaza City street, close to a security compound, alternately slapping his face and covering his head with dust from the bombed-out building.

"My son is gone, my son is gone," wailed Masri, 57. The shopkeeper said he sent his 9-year-old son out to purchase cigarettes minutes before the airstrikes began and now could not find him. "May I burn like the cigarettes, may Israel burn," Masri moaned.

In Gaza City's main security compound, bodies of more than a dozen uniformed security officers lay on the ground. One survivor raised his index finger in a show of Muslim faith, uttering a prayer. The Gaza police chief was among those killed. One man, his face bloodied, sat dazed on the ground as a fire raged nearby.

Later, some of the dead, rolled in blankets, were laid out on the floor of Gaza's main hospital for identification. Hamas police spokesman Ehad Ghussein said about 140 Hamas security forces were killed.

Israeli military officials said more than 100 tons of bombs were dropped on Gaza by mid-afternoon. They spoke on condition of anonymity under military guidelines.

Defiant Hamas leaders threatened revenge, including suicide attacks. Hamas "will continue the resistance until the last drop of blood," vowed spokesman Fawzi Barhoum.

Israel told its civilians near Gaza to take cover as militants began retaliating with rockets, and in the West Bank, moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called for restraint. Egypt summoned the Israeli ambassador to express condemnation and opened its border with Gaza to allow ambulances to drive out some of the wounded.

Israeli leaders approved military action against Gaza earlier in the week.

Past limited ground incursions and air strikes have not halted rocket barrages from Gaza. But with 200 mortars and rockets raining down on Israel since the truce expired a week ago, and 3,000 since the beginning of the year, according to the military's count, pressure had been mounting in Israel for the military to crush the gunmen.

Gaza militants fired 30 rockets and mortars Saturday after the air offensive began. A missile hit the town of Netivot, killing an Israeli man and wounding four people, rescue services said.

Dozens of stunned residents gathered around the house that took the deadly rocket hit. Many wept openly. The crowd broke up after an alert siren went off and sent the onlookers running.

Streets were nearly empty in Sderot, the Israeli border town that has been pummeled hardest by rockets. A few cars carried panicked residents leaving town. Dozens of people congregated on a hilltop to watch the Israeli aerial attacks.

Israel declared a state of emergency in Israeli communities within a 12-mile (20-kilometer) range of Gaza, putting the area on a war footing. A siren went off in Kiryat Gat, about 12 miles (20 kilometers) from the border, but early reports that the town was hit by a rocket for the first time were incorrect.

Barak, the Israeli defense minister, said the coming period "won't be easy" for southern Israel.

Protests against the campaign erupted in the Abbas-ruled West Bank and across the Arab world.

Several hundred angry Jordanians protested outside a U.N. complex in the capital Amman. "Hamas, go ahead. You are the cannon, we are the bullets," they cried, some waving the signature green Hamas banners.

In Ein Hilweh, a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon, dozens of youths hit the streets and set fire to tires. In Syria's al-Yarmouk camp, outside Damascus, dozens of Palestinian protesters vowed to continue fighting Israel.

The first round of air strikes on Gaza came just before noon.

Hospitals crowded with people, civilians rushing in wounded people in cars, vans and ambulances. "We are treating people on the floor, in the corridors. We have no more space. We don't know who is here or who to treat first," said one doctor who hung up the phone before identifying himself at Shifa Hospital, Gaza's main treatment center.

Dr. Moawiya Hassanain, a Gaza Health Ministry official, said at least 192 people were killed and 270 wounded. Frantic civilians drove wounded people to hospitals in their cars.

In the West Bank, Hamas' rival, Abbas, said in a statement that he "condemns this aggression" and called for restraint, according to an aide, Nabil Abu Rdeneh. Abbas, who has ruled only the West Bank since the Islamic Hamas seized power in Gaza in June 2007, was in contact with Arab leaders, and his West Bank Cabinet convened an emergency session.

Israel has targeted Gaza in the past, but the number of simultaneous attacks was unprecedented.

Israel left Gaza in 2005 after a 38-year occupation, but the withdrawal did not lead to better relations with Palestinians in the territory as Israeli officials had hoped.

Instead, the evacuation was followed by a sharp rise in militant attacks on Israeli border communities that on several occasions provoked harsh Israeli military reprisals.

The last, in late February and early March, spurred both sides to agree to a truce that was to have lasted six months but began unraveling in early November.

(This version CORRECTS that siren went off in Kiryat Gat, but there was no rocket.)

Barak: We have no choice, the time has come for us to fight
By Haaretz Service
27/12/2008

Defense Minister Ehud Barak held a press conference on Saturday in which he defended Israel Defense Forces strikes that left 205 dead according to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip Saturday, saying Israel had no choice and that "the time has come to fight."

Barak said the IDF and Israel Air Force attacks had destroyed "terrorism infrastructure" and hit over 150 Hamas militants. He also said the current campaign would be widened and will continue for some time.

Barak said Israel cannot stand by while rockets strike the communities of the western Negev and "won't let terror hurt our citizens or soldiers."
Advertisement
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on Saturday addressed the ongoing IDF campaign in Gaza, saying "until now we have shown restraint. But today there is no other option than a military operation."

Livni, speaking in English at a press conference, said Israel had no
choice but to act to "protect our citizens from attack through a military response against the terror infrastructure in Gaza."

Livni called the IDF operations an expression of Israel's "basic right to self-defense."

The Foreign Minister laid blame for the bloodshed at the feet of Hamas, saying the group "cynically abuses its own civilian population and their suffering for propaganda purposes."

Palestinians in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip fired at least 54 Qassam and Grad rockets into southern Israel on Saturday after the IDF campaign began. One of the rockets directly struck a home in the town of Netivot, leaving one Israel dead and four with moderate to serious injuries.

Barak: We have no choice, the time has come for us to fight (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1050410.html)

Israeli airstrikes widen scope against Gaza

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – Warplanes pressing one of the Israel's deadliest assaults ever against Palestinian militants widened their sights on Sunday, dropping bombs on smuggling tunnels that are a major weapons pipeline for the Gaza Strip's Islamic Hamas rulers.

Israel's Cabinet authorized the military to call up 6,500 reserve soldiers for a possible ground invasion and moved tanks, infantry and armored units to the Gaza border. Since it began Saturday, Israel's offensive against Gaza rocket squads has been carried out exclusively from the air.

Crowds of Gazans, backed by a bulldozer, breached the border wall with Egypt to escape the chaos. Syria, reflecting the rage in the Arab world over Israel's aerial onslaught, broke off indirect peace talks with the Jewish state.

The airstrikes, which initially targeted Hamas security compounds, killed more than 280 Palestinians and wounded hundreds more in its first 24 hours, said Gaza health official Dr. Moaiya Hassanain. A Palestinian human rights group said among 251 dead it counted, 20 were children under 16 and nine were women.

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights said it was difficult to keep an exact count because of chaos at the hospitals, and difficulty in identifying dismembered bodies.

The civilian casualties included a 15-year-old boy who died in southern Gaza on Sunday in an attack on a greenhouse near the border. At least 644 people were wounded, Hassanain said.

Battered militants managed to launch more than 20 rockets and mortars at Israeli border communities. The number of attacks was down sharply from a day earlier, indicating the Israeli airstrikes took a stiff toll. Israel's head of military intelligence told Israel's Cabinet on Sunday that Hamas' ability to fire rockets had been reduced by 50 percent.

Still, two rockets struck close to Israel's largest southern city, Ashdod, reaching deeper into Israel than ever before, and confirming Israel's concern that militants are now able to put major cities within rocket range. No serious injuries were reported. The rockets landed some 23 miles (38 kilometers) from Gaza, doubling the militants' previous range.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said it was unclear when the operation would end. The situation in southern Israel "is liable to last longer than we are able to foresee at this time," he told his Cabinet.

The carnage has inflamed Arab public opinion, and the diplomatic fallout came swiftly.

A Syrian official said Damascus would suspend indirect peace talks with Israel, begun earlier this year, over the Gaza attacks. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, says "Israel's aggression closes all the doors" to any move toward a settlement in the region. Israel and Syria held four rounds of negotiations in Turkey.

Condemnations and protests against the Israeli offensive swept the Arab world for a second straight day, occasionally turning violent. A suicide bomber on a bicycle blew himself up in the midst of a large demonstration in northern Iraq. Israeli troops fired on a violent protest in the West Bank, killing a Palestinian man.

Hamas' fiercest rival, the Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, urged the Islamic militant group to renew a truce with Israel that collapsed last week. However, Abbas has had no influence in Gaza since Hamas seized control there by force in June 2007.

The Israeli army says Palestinian militants have fired more than 300 rockets and mortars at Israeli targets over the past week and 10 times that number over the past year.

Israel's foreign minister Tzipi Livni told "Meet the Press" that Israel launched its strike because Gaza's Hamas rulers were smuggling weapons and building up "a small army."

But, she added, "Our goal is not to reoccupy the Gaza Strip." Israeli soldiers and settlers left the tiny seaside territory in 2005 after a 38-year occupation, though Israel retained control of Gaza's borders.

The Israeli military said warplanes attacked 40 tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border in the course of four minutes Sunday. Medics said two people were killed and 25 were injured. Witnesses reported large fires and dozens of explosions. Black smoke rising from the area of the attacks was especially dense closer to the Mediterranean, apparently after missile struck a makeshift underground fuel pipeline.

Weapons and commercial goods are brought in through the passageways, which have allowed Hamas to stay in power by relieving shortages caused by the blockade Israel and Egypt imposed after the Hamas takeover.

Shortly after the tunnel attacks, hundreds of Palestinians breached the border fence with Egypt in several places, drawing fire from Egyptian border guards.

An Egyptian security official said there were at least five breaches along the 9 mile (14 kilometer) border and hundreds of Palestian residents were pouring in. At least 300 Egyptian border guards rushed to the area to reseal the border.

Earlier in the day, Israeli aircraft targeted a top Hamas security installation, a mosque, a TV station and dozens of other targets. They also attacked a Gaza fuel tanker and a major pharmaceutical warehouse. Residents said the fuel and medicines had been smuggled in from Gaza through the underground tunnels, further evidence that Israel was widening its offensive to go after operations that are Hamas' lifeline.

In New York, the U.N. Security Council called on Israel and the Palestinians to immediately halt all violence and military activities. The U.N.'s most powerful body called for a new cease-fire between Israel and Hamas and for opening border crossings into Gaza to enable humanitarian supplies to reach the territory.

Israel allowed limited supplies of fuel and medicine to enter Gaza.

U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, Israel's closest ally on the Security Council, said "the key issue here was not to point a finger at Israel. The key issue was to urge all parties to end the violence and address the humanitarian needs of the people of Gaza."

Streets were empty in Gaza City on Sunday as most residents stayed home, fearing more airstrikes. A few lined up to buy bread outside two bakeries. Schools were shut for a three-day mourning period the Gaza government declared Saturday for the campaign's dead.

Aircraft struck one of Hamas' main security compounds in Gaza City — a major symbol of the group's authority. Health officials said four people were killed and 25 wounded. A column of black smoke towered from the building and some inmates of the compound's prison fled after the missiles struck.

One prisoner trapped under the rubble, his face bloodied, waved his hand in the hope of being rescued. Two other prisoners helped a bleeding friend walk through the debris.

Since the campaign began, around 150 rockets and mortars have bombarded southern Israel, the military said.

In Ashkelon, a city of 120,000 people about 11 miles (17 kilometers) from Gaza, bustling sidewalks immediately emptied after a rocket fell downtown.

Store Clerk Elvira Taberbobsky, 36, stepped outside after one rocket struck only to have a second expode right in front of her.

"I flew backwards. I couldn't hear anything for a few seconds, and then all of a sudden I saw holes in my pants and blood streaming down my pants," she said.

Hamas threatens to harm Livni, Barak

Islamist group figure in Gaza Strip says organization will strike Foreign Minister Livni 'inside the Knesset compound…will hunt Defense Minister Ehud Barak down'; also threatens revenge against 'traitors in Ramallah, Arab world who took part in scheme against us'

Ali Waked
12.28.08
Israel News

The death toll in the Gaza Strip continued to climb on Sunday, and Hamas heads broke out with threats against the Israeli leadership.

Hamas figure in the northern Gaza Strip Fathi Hamad said his organization would hurt Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Defense Minister Ehud Barak.

"We will reach that Zionist in her house, inside the Knesset compound. We will also get to the traitors in the Muqata compound in Ramallah and to all those in the Arab world that had a hand in the scheme against us. We will hunt Barak down and reach all of them," Hamad said.

"Today we are sending a message through the sea of blood that was spilled here and we will not surrender and we will defeat the enemy. From here, from within the proud Strip, we say to all our enemies: We will get to you, defeat you, and hunt you down one by one.

"We will reach the Zionist leaders in their homes, we will get to you, the collaborators in the Muqata in Ramallah, and we will settle the score with you one by one."

Hamad added that "Hamas and the organizations will settle the score with anyone who was involved in the attack on Gaza, in the participation in this scheme and in supporting this attack.

"The heroes in the Strip will continue to fight and prove the youth and fighters of Islam and the Palestinian organizations cannot be defeated," he said.

Israeli leaders boost security
Meanwhile, security around Livni and Barak was boosted. However, a Ynet examination revealed that the increase in security had more to do with protecting the three leading candidates ahead of the upcoming general elections, than with the IDF operation in Gaza.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's security is at its peak.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Sunday morning that Hamas could have avoided the attacks.

"We talked to them and we told them 'please, we ask you, do not end the truce. Let the truce continue and not stop' so that we could have avoided what happened," he said in Cairo.

In a joint press conference with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Abbas said he wanted to protect the Strip. "We want to protect Gaza and we don't want it to be destroyed."

Abbas added, "Now there are vigorous efforts towards protecting our people in the Gaza Strip."

The president stressed that he was interested in "returning to dialogue as soon as possible" and that it was very important to stand up to "the Israeli aggression against civilians in the Gaza Strip in which over 270 were killed and hundreds injured.

"We do not want and will not agree to our people being destroyed. Again we stress that we are responsible for every drop of blood that is spilled amongst our people."

Hamas threatens to harm Livni, Barak (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3645799,00.html)

Israel Gaza blitz kills 290, as ground troops mobilise
David Byers and James Hider in Jerusalem
December 28, 2008

Israel continued one of its biggest ever air assaults on Gaza today, bringing the overall number of Palestinians killed to around 290, amid indications that a large-scale ground incursion was being planned against Hamas militants.

As the United Nations Security Council demanded an immediate end to the fighting, Israel's Cabinet instead appeared to be expanding its campaign against the territory's Islamist rulers, authorising a call-up of at least 6,500 reservists and sending infantry and armoured units to the Gaza border.

The large-scale air strikes - numbering 250 so far in little over 24 hours - have so far killed around 290, mostly Palestinian police officers, but also civilians including children. Hamas has pledged suicide attacks against Israeli civilians in retaliation.

In its raids today, Israel targeted one of Hamas' main security compounds in Gaza, the Al-Asqa television station, a prison and a mosque. Around 40 tunnels along the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, which Hamas uses for weapons smuggling, were also bombed. Egyptian border police said officers fired in the air to prevent "dozens" of civilians from forcing their way over the border.

Amid growing international concern at the violence, David Miliband, Britain's Foreign Secretary, echoed the UN in saying that a ceasefire was required to stop the “massive loss of life” in the territory. In a strong statement, he added that the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza was "deeply disturbing".

The Jewish State said, however, that it had no choice but to launch its offensive after Hamas blitzed its southern towns of Ashkelon and Sderot with scores of rocket attacks following the breakdown of an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire between the sides last week.

Tzipi Livni, the Israeli Foreign Minister who will stand as the ruling Kadima party's candidate to be Prime Minister in elections to be held next February, said: “I expect the international community, including the entire Arab world, to send a clear message to Hamas: ’It is your fault. It’s your responsibility. You’re the one who’s being condemned.’”

Speaking to NBC’s Meet the Press, she continued: “’You (Hamas) are not going to get legitimacy from the international community this way. The responsibility for the lives of civilians in the Gaza Strip is in your hands."

Ehud Olmert, the Israeli Prime Minister, refused to clarify when his military's operation would end. Speaking to his Cabinet, he added that the situation in southern Israel was "liable to last longer than we are able to foresee at this time".

However, Gaza militants scored another victory in their bombardment of southern Israel today, firing two rockets further than ever before into the country. The rockets, among 150 launched, landed close to the largest city in the region, Ashdod, some 23 miles from Gaza. Dozens more were also fired.

The targeting of Ashdod will confirm Israel’s concern that militants are capable of putting major cities within the range of increasingly sophisticated rockets. No serious injuries were reported in today's attacks.

The dramatic escalation also presented a fresh threat to the already-fragile West Bank administration of the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. As the Israeli strikes continued, Hamas's exiled leader Khaled Meshaal called on Palestinians from both territories to join together under the Islamists' banner to launch a new 'intifada,' or uprising, against Israel - a clear attempt to undermine Mr Abbas' pro-Western Fatah administration.

Today, pro-Hamas demonstrations took place in Ramallah, the administrative centre of the West Bank, and Israeli-occupied east Jerusalem, but only minor violent skirmishes have so far been reported.

Mr Abbas appeared to lay the blame for the attacks on Hamas although he sharply condemned the number of casualties. After meetings in Cairo today, he said: "We talked to them (Hamas) and we told them 'please, we ask you, do not end the truce. Let the truce continue and not stop' so that we could have avoided what happened."

The already-bitter rivalry between Hamas and Fatah worsened in summer 2007 when the Islamists drove forces affiliated with Mr Abbas' movement from Gaza in a coup which dismantled the two sides' unity government. Hamas has since then faced almost complete international isolation for its continuing rejection of Fatah's peace process with Israel and its refusal to renounce terrorism.

The violence also threatened to spiral to neighbouring Lebanon, where pro-Iranian Hezbollah guerillas in the south - who became involved in a bloody conflict with Israel in summer 2006 - organised vociferous demonstrations.

Figures worldwide expressed growing alarm at the violence today. In New York, the UN Security Council called on both sides to immediately halt all military activities. It also called for an opening of Gaza's borders to humanitarian supplies. Israel has enforced a large-scale blockade of Gaza since Hamas seized power.

Hamas, however, said that the Israeli strikes only served to make the group stronger and broaden its public support, rather than weaken it.

"These strikes fuel our popular support, our military power and the firmness of our positions," said Mushir al-Masri, a Hamas legislator. "We will survive, we will move forward, we will not surrender, we will not be shaken."

Israel Gaza blitz kills 290, as ground troops mobilise (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article5407382.ece)

Israel and Hamas Reject U.N. Truce, Intensify Attacks

Friday , January 09, 2009

Israeli jets and helicopters bombarded Gaza on Friday and Hamas responded with a barrage of rockets, as Israel's government said it will press forward with its offensive despite a U.N. resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.

One Israeli airstrike killed two Hamas militants and another unidentified man, while another flattened a five-story building in northern Gaza, killing at least seven people, including an infant, Hamas security officials said. By midday, 19 Palestinians had been killed.

In all, Israeli aircraft struck more than 30 targets before dawn, and constant explosions continued after first light. Friday's deaths in Gaza pushed the Palestinian death toll to more than 760 in the two-week-old conflict, with at least half of them civilians, according to Gaza health officials. Thirteen Israelis have died.

In Israel's first official response to the U.N. Security Council resolution, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office said Israel "has never agreed to let an external body decide its right to protect the security of its citizens."

The military "will continue acting to protect Israeli citizens and will carry out the missions it was given," the statement read. The rockets fell in Israel on Friday "only prove that the U.N.'s decision is not practical and will not be kept in practice by the Palestinian murder organizations."

Israel launched its assault on Dec. 27 in an attempt to halt years of rocket fire from the Hamas-controlled territory.

Despite the devastating offensive, Hamas continued to bombard residents of southern Israel. Rockets hit Friday morning across southern Israel, including in and around Beersheba and Ashkelon, which — like other cities within rocket range of Gaza — have largely been paralyzed since the fighting began.

The U.N. Security Council resolution was approved Thursday night by a 14-0 vote, with the United States abstaining. The resolution "stresses the urgency of and calls for an immediate, durable and fully respected cease-fire, leading to the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza."

Israel and Hamas were not parties to the council vote and it is now up to them to stop the fighting. But a Hamas spokesman said the Islamic militant group "is not interested" in the cease-fire because it was not consulted and the resolution did not meet its minimum demands.

Israel called up thousands of reserve troops earlier in the week, and they are now ready for action.

The Security Council action came hours after a U.N. agency suspended food deliveries to Gaza, and the Red Cross accused Israel of blocking medical assistance after forces fired on aid workers. It also followed concerns of a wider conflict after militants in Lebanon fired rockets into northern Israel early Thursday, though the border has been quiet since.

The United States abstained from the Security Council vote even though it helped hammer out the resolution's text along with Arab nations that have ties to Hamas and the Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied territories.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the U.S. "fully supports" the resolution but abstained "to see the outcomes of the Egyptian mediation" with Israel and Hamas, also aimed at achieving a cease-fire.

The resolution expresses "grave concern" at the escalating violence and the deepening humanitarian crisis in Gaza and emphasizes the need to open all border crossings and achieve a lasting solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict.

It also calls on U.N. member states "to intensify efforts to provide arrangements and guarantees in Gaza in order to sustain a durable cease-fire and calm, including to prevent illicit trafficking in arms and ammunition and to ensure the sustained reopening" of border crossings.

In addition, the resolution "condemns all violence and hostilities directed against civilians" and calls for "unimpeded humanitarian access to Gaza."

Osama Hamdan, a Hamas envoy to Lebanon, told the al-Arabiya satellite channel that the group "is not interested in it because it does not meet the demands of the movement."

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said the U.N. failed to consider the interests of the Palestinian people. "This resolution doesn't mean that the war is over," he told the al-Jazeera satellite television network. "We call on the Palestinian fighters to mobilize and be ready to face the offensive, and we urge the Arab masses to carry on with their angry protests."

Following the resolution, Egypt was expected to take the lead in persuading Israel and Hamas to accept it. Israeli representatives returned home from talks in Cairo Thursday, and Hamas was due to send political leaders to the Egyptian capital on Saturday.

Israel's government says any cease-fire must guarantee an end to rocket fire and arms smuggling into Gaza. During a six-month cease-fire that ended with the current operation, Hamas is thought to have used tunnels under the Egypt-Gaza border to smuggle in the medium-range rockets it is now using to hit deeper than ever inside Israel.

Hamas has said it won't accept any agreement that does not include the full opening Gaza's blockaded border crossings. Israel is unlikely to agree to that demand, as it would allow Hamas to strengthen its hold on the territory which it violently seized in June 2007.

With Israeli troops now in control of many of the open areas used by militants to launch rockets, gunman have continued shooting from inside populated neighborhoods.

The conflict has left hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza increasingly desperate for food, water, fuel and medical assistance, and the situation was expected to worsen as humanitarian efforts fall victim to the fighting.

One of the dead Thursday was a Ukrainian woman, the first foreigner to die in the fighting, according to Gaza Health Ministry official Dr. Moaiya Hassanain. He said the woman was married to a Palestinian doctor who trained in Ukraine and returned with her to Gaza. Her 2-year-old son was also killed in the tank shelling east of Gaza City, he said.

Details are emerging of other incidents in which civilians were killed. A U.N. agency said Israeli troops evacuated Palestinian civilians to a house in Gaza City on Jan. 4, then shelled the building 24 hours later, killing 30 people.

The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs report was based on eyewitness testimony. It added details to an incident previously reported by The Associated Press and an Israeli human rights group.

The U.N. agency said 110 people were in the house. The 30 people reported killed is a far higher figure than in other accounts.

The Israeli military had no comment on the report Friday.

The West Bank saw its biggest protests so far Friday, as thousands took to the streets following prayers to express their anger at the Israeli offensive. In Ramallah, scuffles broke out between supporters of Hamas and the rival Fatah faction.

Israel launched its offensive Dec. 27 in response to cross-border rocket attacks by the Islamic group Hamas — which the United States and Israel consider a terrorist organization and whose charter calls for the destruction of the state of Israel.

Israel and Hamas Reject U.N. Truce, Intensify Attacks (http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,478245,00.html)

Israel's unilateral cease-fire in Gaza goes into effect
By Haaretz Staff and News Agencies
18/01/2009

Prime Minster Ehud Olmert on Saturday night announced that Israel's security cabinet has voted in favor of a unilateral cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, which went into effect at 2 A.M. local time.

The announcement comes after three weeks of fighting in the coastal strip, as Israel launched a massive military offensive aimed at halting years of daily rocket fire on its southern communities. Palestinian sources say that more than 1,100 Gazans have been killed since the offensive began on December 27. Three Israeli civilians and 10 Israel Defense Forces have been killed during that period.

"I want to thank, first and foremost, my friend the defense minister, Ehud Barak, for his professional expertise, and the understanding he showed throughout the whole operation," Olmert said.

"I also want to thank and express my appreciation to Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni for her contributions to the wide-ranging diplomatic efforts that greatly enhanced the international support Israel has received."

The decision to launch the cease-fire was approved during a lengthy security cabinet meeting which began after sundown in Tel Aviv. Two ministers were against the move, and another abstained.

"Our fight is not with the people of Gaza," Olmert said at the Tel Aviv press conference following the cabinet meeting. "We left Gaza in 2005 with the intention of never returning," he said, referring to Israel's unilateral withdrawal of troops and settlers from the territory under former prime minister Ariel Sharon.

Olmert warned that Iran, through its proxies Hezbollah and Hamas, was trying to establish its own hegemony in the region. He said that Hamas had underestimated Israel's decisiveness, had been "surprised" by the launch of the offensive, and was still not fully aware of how badly it had been damaged.

Olmert said that "if Hamas entirely ends its rocket fire on Israel, Israel will consider an IDF withdrawal from the Gaza Strip." If that did not occur, he said, "The IDF will continue to operate in order to protect our citizens."

"If our enemies decide the blows they've been dealt have not been sufficient and they are interested in continuing the fight, Israel will be prepared for such and feel free to continue to react with force," the premier added.

"[Hamas'] leaders are in hiding, many of its members have been killed, its rocket factories have been destroyed, its smuggling routes through the tunnels have been blown up, its ability to move weapons in the Gaza Strip has been reduced and the launching sites where most of the rockets are fired are under Israeli military control," Olmert said.

Barak said on Saturday that if Hamas continued firing, the IDF would respond forcefully.

Calling the operation "a justified war of choice," the defense minister said he was pleased with the results.

"We did not go to war to fight the people of Gaza," he said. "Hamas has taken half of the Palestinian people hostage. The IDF and the Shin Bet dealt Hamas a painful blow."

Barak added that the army "will maintain its level of readiness in Gaza" and that Israel would renew military operations "if the need calls." The defense minister also reiterated Israel's commitment to win the release of abducted soldier Gilad Shalit.

A strong hint at the impending cease-fire announcement came earlier Saturday, when Ehud Barak said that Israel was very close to meeting the objectives of its 22-day-old offensive in Gaza.

"After three weeks of Operation Cast Lead, we are very close to reaching the goals and securing them through diplomatic agreements," Barak said during a visit to the south of the country earlier Saturday, according to a statement from his office.

The decision means Israel has put an end to Operation Cast Lead without an agreement with Hamas, relying instead on the support of the United States and Egypt in battling arms smuggling into Gaza.

Israel said on Sunday it will be prepared to sharply increase the flow of food and medicine to Gaza if the unilateral cease-fire holds, but it ruled out fully lifting a blockade until captured Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit is freed.

"If the quiet holds, there will not be any problem dramatically increasing aid like food and medicine. If this quiet holds, we will work with the international community for reconstruction," said Mark Regev, a spokesman for Olmert.

"But you can't have anything close to full normalization of the crossings as long as Gilad Shalit remains a hostage," Regev added. Shalit was captured in a cross-border raid in 2006.

Israel's unilateral cease-fire in Gaza goes into effect (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1056246.html)

IAF strikes south Gaza targets after two rockets hit Israel
By Anshel Pfeffer, Haaretz Correspondent, and Reuters
07/02/2009

The Israel Air Force struck targets in southern Gaza on Friday a few hours after Palestinian militants fired two rockets from the coastal strip into Israel.

An Israel Defense Forces spokesman confirmed the air strikes. The spokesman said the targets included four smuggling tunnels, as well as a weapons storage facility, which caused a series of secondary explosions to be heard in the area.

Hamas, which controls Gaza, and Palestinian witnesses said no one was wounded in the IAF strikes.

The first of the rockets fired by Gaza militants Friday hit the Sha'ar Hanegev region, the IDF said. The attack caused no casualties or damage.

Three hours later, a rocket hit near the coastal city of Ashkelon. No casualties were reported in that attack either.

An IDF spokesman said the first rocket was fired from the northern Gazan town of Beit Lahiya.

On Thursday evening, IDF soldiers killed a Palestinian militant who approached the Gaza-Israel border and drew a grenade.

The grenade subsequently exploded as a result of the soldiers' gunfire, killing the militant. There were no casualties among the troops, who were from the Golani infantry brigade. The incident took place near Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha.

The troops later searched the area from which the militant had come, Army Radio said, then returned to Israeli territory.

The incident came a few hours after senior Defense Ministry official Amos Gilad headed to Cairo to meet with Egyptian mediators over negotiations for a truce with Hamas in Gaza.

The cease-fire that ended Israel's 22-day offensive against Hamas in the coastal territory two weeks ago has been ruptured by intermittent fighting.

On Wednesday, Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip launched a mortar shell at southern Israel, which exploded in the Eshkol Regional Council.

There were no casualties reported in the incident, which came a day after Gaza militants fired the first Grad rocket at Israel since the end of the IDF campaign in Gaza.

IAF strikes south Gaza targets after two rockets hit Israel (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1061982.html)

Abbas calls IDF Gaza op 'war crimes'
Feb. 4, 2009
Associated Press
THE JERUSALEM POST

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday said the Gaza attacks were war crimes for which Israeli officials should be held accountable, but he insisted he would continue seeking a lasting peace with Israel.

Abbas, who is on a European tour seeking support for a Palestinian unity government, gave a speech at the EU Parliament detailing the suffering of Gaza's civilians during Operation Cast Lead.

The PA president said he would push for a war crimes investigation into the IDF attacks, which ended Jan. 18. When he said he held Israel's leaders accountable, he was applauded by European lawmakers.

"People who committed those crimes have to be held responsible so that these crimes cannot be repeated," he told reporters after the speech.

"We do not want to continue to be the enemies of Israel. We are stretching out our hand for peace with Israel. But what was done is regretfully crimes of war."

He also denounced Hamas' rocket attacks from Gaza into Israel, which triggered the Israeli offensive.

"I have condemned such rocket attacks for years, and I still condemn them," he said. "They do not go in the direction of peace."

However, Abbas said there was no comparison between the IDF operation in Gaza and rocket attacks such as the one Tuesday morning that hit Ashkelon. Vehicles and buildings were damaged, but no one in the 122,000-population city was hurt.

Abbas, also told European lawmakers he was committed to reuniting Palestinians and reconciling with Hamas.

"Our doors are still open" to a unity government with Hamas, he said.

He said such a union would allow Hamas to be part of an effective cease-fire with Israel, but added that "Hamas is capable of respecting a period of calm, whether in government or not."

Abbas calls IDF Gaza op 'war crimes' (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1233304685759&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)

'World duped by Hamas death count'
Feb. 15, 2009
Yaakov Katz , THE JERUSALEM POST

Four weeks after the cessation of Operation Cast Lead, the IDF finally opened its dossier on Palestinian fatalities on Sunday for the first time, and presented to The Jerusalem Post an overview utterly at odds with the Palestinian figures that have hitherto formed the basis for assessing the conflict.

While the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, whose death toll figures have been widely cited, reports that 895 Gaza civilians were killed in the fighting, amounting to more than two-thirds of all fatalities, the IDF figures shown to the Post on Sunday put the civilian death toll at no higher than a third of the total.

The international community had been given a vastly distorted impression of the death toll because of "false reporting" by Hamas, said Col. Moshe Levi, the head of the IDF's Gaza Coordination and Liaison Administration (CLA), which compiled the IDF figures.

As an example of such distortion, he cited the incident near a UN school in Jabalya on January 6, in which initial Palestinian reports falsely claimed IDF shells had hit the school and killed 40 or more people, many of them civilians.

In fact, he said, 12 Palestinians were killed in the incident - nine Hamas operatives and three noncombatants. Furthermore, as had since been acknowledged by the UN, the IDF was returning fire after coming under attack, and its shells did not hit the school compound.

"From the beginning, Hamas claimed that 42 people were killed, but we could see from our surveillance that only a few stretchers were brought in to evacuate people," said Levi, adding that the CLA contacted the PA Health Ministry and asked for the names of the dead. "We were told that Hamas was hiding the number of dead."

As a consequence of the false information, he added, the IDF was considering setting up a "response team" for future conflicts whose job would be to collect information, analyze it and issue reports as rapidly as possible that refuted Hamas fabrications.

Basing its work on the official Palestinian death toll of 1,338, Levi said the CLA had now identified more than 1,200 of the Palestinian fatalities. Its 200-page report lists their names, their official Palestinian Authority identity numbers, the circumstances in which they were killed and, where appropriate, the terrorist group with which they were affiliated.

The CLA said 580 of these 1,200 had been conclusively "incriminated" as members of Hamas and other terrorist groups.

Another 300 of the 1,200 - women, children aged 15 and younger and men over the age of 65 - had been categorized as noncombatants, the CLA said.

Counted among the women, however, were female terrorists, including at least two women who tried to blow themselves up next to forces from the Givati and Paratroopers' Brigades. Also classed as noncombatants were the wives and children of Nizar Rayyan, a Hamas military commander who refused to allow his family to leave his home even after he was warned by Israel that it would be bombed.

The 320 names yet to be classified are all men; the IDF has yet complete its identification work in these cases, but estimates that two-thirds of them were terror operatives.

The CLA gave the Post the names of several fatalities who it said had been classified by the Palestinians as "medics," but who it stated were Hamas fighters, including Anas Naim, the nephew of Hamas Health Minister Bassem Naim, who was killed during clashes with the IDF on January 4 in the Sheikh Ajlin neighborhood of Gaza City.

Following the clashes, the Palestinian press reported that Naim was killed and that he was a medic with the Palestinian Red Crescent. The Gaza CLA, however, produced photographs of Naim posing holding a rocket-propelled grenade launcher and a Kalashnikov assault rifle that had been posted on a Hamas Web site.

Levi stressed that on no occasion were civilians deliberately targeted, and that every effort was made to minimize civilian casualties.

Work on the death toll list was started during Operation Cast Lead under Levi's direction. A special team was set up and led by an officer in the CLA who coordinated efforts with the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) and worked from statistics and information on the dead from the Hamas Health Ministry, the media in Gaza, and other Palestinian and Israeli intelligence sources.

Much controversy and confusion has surrounded the number of Palestinian noncombatants killed during Israel's three-week campaign against Hamas, with the IDF and the Shin Bet refusing to release official numbers to refute Hamas allegations. Israeli estimates were intermittently leaked to the press but not published in official press statements.

'World duped by Hamas death count' (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1233304788684&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)

Partners in Arms? Fatah and Hamas Say They'll Unify
February 28, '09
by Avraham Zuroff

(IsraelNN.com) Fatah and Hamas leaders have announced an “agreement in principle” that would lead to a joint Fatah-Hamas led Palestinian Authority, according to the Bethlehem-based Ma’an news agency. The two groups plan to form a joint transitional government that would operate until elections can be held. In addition, they agreed to a prisoner exchange between them.

The groups began operating in tandem at the helm of the PA in 2006 after Hamas won more legislative seats than Fatah in elections in Judea, Samaria and Gaza. They split again following the violent Hamas takeover of Gaza in 2007, and have remained separate and hostile ever since, and attempts to reconcile between them have failed.

Hamas politburo chief, Mussa Abu Marzook, said in a press conference in Cairo on Thursday evening that the various factions have reached an agreement to create a transitional government. The Cairo conference of 14 different divisions is an effort to end nearly two years of disunity, mainly between Fatah and Hamas.

Fatah delegation leader, Ahmad Qurei, said, “This government could be formed and approved by all the Palestinian factions, or could be a technocrat government, or another form of government approved by the committees.”

The secretary-general of the Palestinian National Initiative, Mustafa Al-Barghouti, said, “All of the Palestinian factions will together confront any Israeli assault.”

An Arab Liberation Front leader, Wasel Abu Yousef, called for a policy review regarding Arabs living under Israeli rule, construction of a separation barrier, and Jewish towns within Judea and Samaria. “This review should come within a national strategy towards establishing a Palestinian state,” he stated.

The United States, several European nations, and Israel do not conduct direct negotiations with Hamas, as they do not want to acknowledge a terrorist organization. Fatah, however, is not currently regarded as a terrorist organization by any of these governments. Fatah’s reunification with organizations that overtly espouse terrorism methods might cause a political problem for the United States, which has called Fatah “a partner in peace.”

Fatah used to be designated terrorist under Israeli law and was considered terrorist by the United States Department of State and United States Congress until it renounced terrorism in 1988. Israel’s recognition of Fatah, which controls parts of Judea and Samaria, continues despite involvement by the group -- as well as subgroups of Fatah like Tanzim and Al-Aqsa Brigades -- in numerous atrocities against Israel men, women and children since 2000.

One of Tanzim’s leaders, Marwan Barghouti, is currently held prisoner in Israel for murdering civilians. In addition, Tanzim has recruited a number of human bombers, who have killed and maimed Israelis.

Partners in Arms? Fatah and Hamas Say They'll Unify (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/130180)

After foiled Gaza attack, IDF says Hamas risking another Gaza offensive
Jun. 8, 2009
yaaKOV LAPPIN , THE JERUSALEM POST

Under the cover of morning fog, some 10 gunmen staged a failed assault at the Karni cargo crossing into Gaza on Monday, in which horses laden with explosives were used, a security source told The Jerusalem Post.

At least four terrorists and a number of their horses were killed in the ensuing exchange of fire with the IDF. No soldiers were wounded.

"A very big terrorist attack was thwarted," the security source told the Post.

"These terrorists were armed with a huge quantity of explosives. They launched a combined attack, using mortars, and attempted to approach the border fence with booby-trapped horses to harm our soldiers, before firing on our force," he added.

The Gazan cell belonged to the Janud Ansar Allah (Soldiers Loyal to Allah) organization, a small group that is linked to Iran and Hizbullah, the security source added.

Members of the cell, some of whom had suicide-bomb belts strapped around their bodies, led the horses off of trucks and began placing bombs along the fence.

They were identified by members of Golani Brigade's 13th Battalion, who were on patrol. The terrorists proceeded to open fire on the infantrymen, and mortar fire from deep within the Gaza Strip was also directed at them.

The soldiers returned fire and called for backup. At first, tanks were dispatched to the scene, and fired at the terrorists. Air force helicopter gunships then joined the battle.

Lt.-Col. Avinoam Stolevitch, commander of the 13th Battalion, told Army Radio that future assaults of this sort would put Hamas at risk of a second Operation Cast Lead.

"We are slowly beginning to understand the magnitude of [the threat from the Gaza Strip]," he said.

Stolevitch added that he believed the terrorists had planned a "large explosion... to provide cover for a kidnapping."

He said his men did not pursue the surviving terrorists into Gaza, out of concern the attack was a trap aimed at kidnapping soldiers.

Stolevitch praised his men's alertness.

"Hamas did not carry out this attack but they certainly provide general coverage for these small groups," he said.

The source said it was too soon to know whether the cell had planned to kidnap soldiers.

"The area turned into a war zone," he said. "Southern Command forces are prepared for these types of attacks, and are aware of the dangers present in the morning fog. There is always the chance terrorists will try to use that for an attack."

Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Monday afternoon praised the army's "effectiveness" in foiling the attack, and said it was quite possible that the terrorists had planned a kidnapping, a claim made by Hamas television.

"The results speak for themselves, and prove the preparedness and the alertness of our forces along the Gaza border," Barak told a Labor faction meeting. "I hope that all future operations end with the same type of result."

Ismail Haniyeh, who heads Gaza's Hamas government, praised the attackers as "martyrs," and said the violence confirmed Israel's "aggressive intentions" toward the Palestinians.

Following the attack, Israel closed the Karni crossing, the main cargo terminal between Israel and Gaza, as well as the nearby Nahal Oz fuel depot.

But despite the attack, 30,000 vaccines against foot-and-mouth disease were transferred to Gaza via the northern Erez crossing. The IDF said that 125,000 vaccines had been supplied to the Strip in the past three months in three separate transfers, due to the importance of preventing an outbreak.

In addition, 140 truckloads of humanitarian aid was scheduled to be sent to Gaza via the southern Kerem Shalom crossing.

After foiled Gaza attack, IDF says Hamas risking another Gaza offensive (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1244371036350&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter)

Rocket attack overshadows EU visit to Gaza

ANDREW RETTMAN

18.03.2010 @ 17:28 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - A deadly rocket attack against Israel from Gaza has threatened to spark fresh fighting in the region, overshadowing a high-level EU humanitarian mission.

A Palestinian militant group calling itself Ansar al-Sunna fired the Qassam rocket from Gaza early on Thursday (18 March) killing a Thai-origin farm worker in Israel's Negev district.

The attack came shortly after EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton entered Gaza on a highly-anticipated trip designed to spotlight the humanitarian cost of Israel's blockade of aid shipments to the territory.

Ms Ashton's delegation visited a UN-run food distribution bureau, an EU-funded centre for deaf children and an EU-funded girls school before returning to Israel.

"I condemn any kind of violence. We have got to find a peaceful solution to the issues and problems," she told local media. "What we have been saying to the Israelis for a long time is that we need to allow aid into this region, to be able to support the economy to grow for people to have the things they are clearly lacking," she added.

The Ashton visit came as a breakthrough after Israel had denied access to Gaza to several senior EU politicians over the past year. But the threat of renewed fighting is likely to put off any talk on the aid blockade for now.

"The Israeli response will be appropriate. It will be strong," Israel's deputy defence minister Matan Vilnai said following news of the Qassam blast. "This is a crossing of a red line, which Israel cannot accept."

The Gaza strip is controlled by the more moderate Palestinian militant group Hamas, which linked the rocket fire to Israel's construction activity near Islamic holy sites in East Jerusalem.

"It has no connection [to the Ashton trip]. People are angry because of what is happening in East Jerusalem and because the world is keeping silent about it," Hamas spokesman Ghazi Hamad told EUobserver.

Ms Ashton did not meet with any Hamas officials during the visit in line with an international embargo on talks with the group, which is considered a terrorist entity by the EU.

Hamas carried out a safety inspection of Ms Ashton's planned route though Gaza prior to her visit and provided "two or three cars" with unarmed security staff to accompany her convoy, Mr Hamad said.

"We co-ordinated with the UN here to facilitate her crossing."

Rocket attack overshadows EU visit to Gaza (http://euobserver.com/24/29714)

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Theology => Prophecy - Current Events => Topic started by: Shammu on September 26, 2007, 03:11:06 PM