Israel, the mid-east, and Russia

[Shammu]

Hamas Leader Mashal meets Iranians

04/07/06 - 12:55
Jerusalem

Just a few hours before the Shalit ultimatum expired, Khaled Mashal leader of Hamas' Syrian branch came out of hiding to appear before Arab television cameras with Iranian leaders. Mashal had gone underground since the kidnapping of Cpl. Gilad Shalit.

The Iranian delegation reportedly came to Damascus in order, "To encourage the determined opposition to freeing the kidnapped solider without a deal on releasing [Palestinian] prisoners." Syrian President, Bashar Assad confirmed yesterday that he supported the Hamas demands for a prisoner swap.

Members of the Iranian delegation, who arrived in Damascus two days after the kidnapping, recommended Mashal not to visit Egypt as he had originally planned, and to avoid telephone calls from leaders of the Egyptian intelligence services. Mashal fears an Israeli assassination attempt after Israeli leaders declared that they held him accountable for the attack. Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres said in an interview yesterday, “The directives for this action came from Khaled Mashal in Damascus. There sits a man determined to destroy any chance for peace.”

Hamas Leader Mashal meets Iranians

[Shammu]

Iran urges int'l pressure on Israel over Gaza

Tuesday, July 04, 2006 - ©2005 IranMania.com

 
Archived Picture -Iran on Tuesday called for international pressure on arch-foe Israel to halt the violence in the Palestinian territories following the capture of an Israeli soldier by militants, said AFP. "We believe international pressure should be applied from all sides against these (Israeli) assaults in order to stop them and lead to the release of Palestinian officials," Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told reporters.

LONDON, July 4 (IranMania) - Iran on Tuesday called for international pressure on arch-foe Israel to halt the violence in the Palestinian territories following the capture of an Israeli soldier by militants, said AFP.

"We believe international pressure should be applied from all sides against these (Israeli) assaults in order to stop them and lead to the release of Palestinian officials," Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told reporters.

He urged Islamic countries to show a "serious response" in order to stop the violence in the Gaza Strip after Israel's military bid to free the teenage conscript captured in a June 25 militant raid on a border post.

Israel has detained scores of Hamas members in the occupied West Bank -- including a third of the Palestinian cabinet -- since its military incursion into the Gaza Strip began on June 27 with air raids on targets that included a power station.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has ruled out any negotiations with militants to free the serviceman in the face of the miltants' demands for the release of 1,000 prisoners, as well as Palestinian women and minors detained in Israel.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad slammed the United Nations on Monday for its slowness to act against the "Zionist regime's crimes".

[Shammu]

 Terrorists Refuse to Accept Egyptian Proposal
10:10 Jul 05, '06 / 9 Tammuz 5766

(IsraelNN.com) According to a report appearing in the London-based Arabic el-Shark el-Awsat newspaper, quoting a senior Palestinian Authority (PA) official, Egyptian officials are continuing efforts to persuade terrorists to release IDF Corporal Gilad Shalit. This despite messages released on Tuesday morning that the expired ultimatum marks the end of all talks towards the soldier’s release.

According to the report, the terrorists refused to release the soldier despite assurances from Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak that Israel would release imprisoned terrorists.

Terrorists Refuse to Accept Egyptian Proposal

[Shammu]

 Arab States Continue to Pressure UN to Condemn Israel
11:37 Jul 05, '06 / 9 Tammuz 5766

(IsraelNN.com) Arab nations will on Wednesday appeal to United Nations human rights officials, seeking a condemnation of ongoing Israeli military activities in Gaza. The Arab nations are calling on the international body to condemn Israel and order an immediate halt of IDF operations in Gaza.

Earlier this week, the Security Council met in an urgent session, also prompted by Arab nations, but the council did not vote on a resolution to condemn Israel, realizing that such a move would be vetoed by the United States.

Arab States Continue to Pressure UN to Condemn Israel

[Shammu]

 High Alert in Sharon region Lowered – Attack Blocked
11:55 Jul 05, '06 / 9 Tammuz 5766

(IsraelNN.com) Government officials released for publication the news that security forces have blocked an attack planned by terrorists for the center of the country.

The high alert in force for the Sharon region was lowered after the cause of the terror threat was eliminated.

Security personnel had screened all vehicles in Samaria at roadblocks set up throughout the region in order to prevent the attack.

High Alert in Sharon region Lowered – Attack Blocked

[Shammu]

Israel tanks forge deeper into Gaza as crisis spirals

14 minutes ago

GAZA CITY (AFP) - Israeli tanks moved deeper into the northern Gaza Strip after Islamist militants launched a second rocket attack on the southern Israeli town of Ashkelon.

The move came after Israel's security cabinet authorised the army to advance farther and to step up attacks on the Hamas-led government.

Witnesses told AFP up to 15 Israeli tanks pushed into an industrial zone in the north of the strip, advancing several hundred metres.

They entered the sites of the two former Israeli settlements of Elei Sinai and Nissanit near the Erez border crossing point, the sources said.

An AFP photographer at the scene reported heavy machinegun and mortar fire.

Earlier, a rocket crashed into an open area of Ashkelon without causing damage or casualties, military sources said.

It was the second Palestinian rocket attack on the Israeli town in two days.

In Washington, meanwhile, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said it was "high time" for Hamas to return an Israeli soldier whose capture sparked the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip.

She called on both the Israelis and the Palestinians to exercise restraint.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's security cabinet ordered the military to intensify air raids against Hamas as well as so-called targeted killing operations against militants who launch or order rocket attacks.

The army was also given the go-ahead to surround two key towns in northern Gaza and enlarge an interdiction zone to be enforced by aircraft and artillery in a bid to stave off rocket attacks.

The decisions followed the most spectacular operation against Israel since a soldier was captured 10 days ago, plunging the Middle East into fresh crisis, when Hamas militants fired a new type of rocket Tuesday into the heart of Ashkelon.

The first Palestinian rocket ever to hit the centre of the southern coastal town ploughed into a school, causing no injuries but drawing furious calls for retribution from members of the Israeli government.

"The goals we have set forth remain: releasing the kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit and stopping projectile fire," a security cabinet statement said.

As a result, the cabinet instructed the defence establishment to prepare "for prolonged and graduated security activity".

The goals of the campaign were described as "damaging Hamas in the West Bank and Gaza, with an emphasis on institutions and terror infrastructure," and "reducing terrorists' freedom of movement by continuing to section off the Gaza Strip and striking at infrastructures that serve terrorism".

Olmert himself branded the first rocket attack on Ashkelon an "unprecedented and severe escalation in the terrorist war being waged by Hamas" which he warned would have "far-reaching consequences".

Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erakat said Israel's plans to enlarge an interdiction zone in northern Gaza would only make matters worse.

"Israel is using the recent developments as a pretext to impose faits accomplis. A security zone will not solve the problem, but on the contrary, help further the escalation and complications," Erekat said.

The EU cautioned that the army's operations had delayed efforts to get much-needed funding to the Palestinian people, as 1.4 million people living in impoverished Gaza Strip grapple with food, fuel and power cuts.

But repeated international calls for restraint have largely fallen on deaf ears in what has become the worst Middle East crisis since Hamas came to power in March and Olmert formally took the Israeli helm in May.

Overnight Tuesday, Israeli warplanes attacked the Hamas-run interior ministry in Gaza City for the second time in a week, causing heavy damage and wounding four Palestinians, local medical sources said.

Israeli aircraft also pounded other targets in Gaza for the eighth consecutive night.

The return of ground troops to what is one of the most densely populated areas on earth comes less than 10 months after Israel withdrew from the territory last September following a 38-year occupation.

Infrastructure Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, a member of Israel's security cabinet, said "systematic operations to liquidate terrorist chiefs" were the only possible response unless Palestinians halted their rocket attacks.

But claiming responsibility for Tuesday's rocket strike, the armed wing of Hamas vowed to step up its attacks after Israel rejected a prisoner swap and pressed on with its Gaza offensive.

The Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades said it used a "new type of rocket" with a longer range than those fired daily at Israel in recent days, promising "a new era of violence" if the Jewish state did not stop its military operation.

Rice said Hamas carried more blame for the upsurge of tensions and pressed for the captured Israeli soldier's release.

"Their government, Hamas government, needs to respond to the root cause of this problem, and the root cause of this problem was the attack that took place and the Israeli soldier that was abducted," she said.

"It is high time for Hamas to return that soldier. It is high time then for everybody who has any influence on Hamas to make sure that that happens, and then we can get back on track."

In the occupied West Bank, Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian militant of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a rival faction to the Qassam Brigades, and who was wanted for killing two Israelis in 2000.

Following the expiry Tuesday of an ultimatum set the Palestinian captors of 19-year-old Israeli soldier Gilad Shalid, Olmert again ruled out negotiations with militants and promised to strike anyone linked to them, in a thinly veiled reference to Syria.

Israel said Shalit remained alive after being seized and wounded 10 days ago in a Palestinian raid.

The shadowy Army of Islam, one of three groups that claims to be holding Shalit in the Gaza Strip, said Tuesday he would not be killed.

The group, together with the armed wing of the governing Hamas movement and the Popular Resistance Committees, snatched him in a raid on an army post on June 25 in which two other soldiers and two militants were killed.

The prime minister of the Hamas-led government, Ismail Haniya, said his administration continued to appeal for the soldier's life and good treatment.

Israel tanks forge deeper into Gaza as crisis spirals

[Shammu]

India backs OIC, flays Israel on GazaAdd to Clippings
Indrani Bagchi
[ Thursday, July 06, 2006 12:51:08 amTIMES NEWS NETWORK ]
RSS Feeds| SMS NEWS to 8888 for latest updates

NEW DELHI: On most days, the Organisation for Islamic Countries (OIC) and India are at daggers drawn. Yet, India last week signed on to an OIC petition for a special session of the newly-constituted Human Rights Council of the UN held on Wednesday - to give Israel a hollering for its activities in Gaza.

The vote to keep the situation in the occupied territories on the Council's agenda was passed with 29 countries in favour, 12 against and 5 abstentions, while one country was absent. India voted along with Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Syria, while UK, Canada, France, Germany and Japan voted against.

The Indian action comes amid a perception among the UPA government's political managers that New Delhi's stance against its traditional Muslim allies, like Iran, at the behest of its newest strategic partner, US, was having its repercussions in the Congress'Muslim vote, not least in the recent state assembly elections.

This unease has been compounded in the Congress party, starting from India's Iran vote at the IAEA in 2005 to a much reviled clause in the US Congress' nuclear Bill asking India to "isolate and sanction" Iran for its nuclear weapons activities - and being seen as detrimental to the Congress party's chances to trawl in the Muslim vote in the forthcoming UP elections.

The Indian action at the UN is also designed to keep carping Communist allies at bay, by indicating that India was capable of taking "independent" foreign policy decisions. In recent days, South Block has tried to accomplish some delicate balancing on its Middle East policies. On June 27, it openly condemned Hamas' capture of an Israeli soldier.

But three days later, secretary in the MEA, Rajiv Sikri, called in the Israeli ambassador to protest against the resultant Israeli military offensive in Gaza, citing humanitarian concerns.

India backs OIC, flays Israel on Gaza

[Shammu]

Russia worried by degrading relations between Israel, Palestine

05.07.2006, 20.53


GENEVA, July 5 (Itar-Tass) -- Russia is “deeply worried” by the degradation of relations between Israel and Palestine and an escalation of confrontation between them, Russian Permanent Representative to the U.N. in Geneva Valery Loshchinin said on Wednesday.

“We are taking all necessary steps in order to facilitate the normalisation of the situation and resumption of the peace process both on the bilateral basis and in the format of mediators,” he said at a special session of the U.N. Human Rights Council.

He stressed, “Russia’s position remains unchanged.”

“Israel must refrain from indiscriminate use of force, and Palestine, in turn, should take real measures to stop terrorist acts, show restraint and to prevent an escalation of tensions,” the diplomat said.

He stressed the need to release the captured Israeli soldier. “We also believe it absolutely necessary to release without delay elected members of the government and legislative bodies of Palestine who have been captured by Israel,” he said.

“The Russian side urges both states to refrain from violence and honour their commitments and agreements on peaceful settlement in order to reach lasting and just peace in the Middle East,” Loshchinin said.

He expressed serious concern about the social, economic, and humanitarian situation in Palestine, which has deteriorated after the start of the Israeli military operation.

“We think using force against the civilian population is inadmissible and urge [Israel] not to exacerbate its suffering. Collective punishment of the Palestinian people is inadmissible and contrary to the norms and principles of international humanitarian law,” the diplomat said.

Russia worried by degrading relations between Israel, Palestine

“We think using force against the civilian population is inadmissible and urge [Israel] not to exacerbate its suffering. Collective punishment of the Palestinian people is inadmissible and contrary to the norms and principles of international humanitarian law,” the diplomat said.

If you check, Russia has a history of doing this.

[Shammu]

July 06, 2006

New militant rocket ignites fury
By Stephen Farrell
Israel said that it would shift the focus of its Gaza offensive on to Hamas after the Islamist group fired rockets farther than before into Israel, striking a main town..

An urgent Security Cabinet meeting approved a series of measures, including more airstrikes against Hamas institutions and infrastructure, stepping up its incursion to secure the release of a captured soldier, and halt rockets. In what appeared to be part of a new offensive, Israeli tanks in northern Gaza advanced towards an abandoned Jewish settlement.

The first of the extended Qassam rockets launched by Hamas’s military wing from Gaza struck Ashkelon 7½ miles (12km) away on Tuesday, damaging a school but causing no injury. A second Qassam landed in an orchard in Ashkelon yesterday, but no one was hurt.

New militant rocket ignites fury

[Shammu]

Hamas militant wing: We will use 'firm hand' if attacked

Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the Hamas military wing stated that if Israel resumes its attacks in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, it will respond "firmly".

"We are telling the enemy that if it continues to carry out its crimes in the Gaza Strip and West Bank we will respond in a firm hand," said the statement.

Hamas militant wing: We will use 'firm hand' if attacked

[Shammu]

Israeli blood will not be spared -- Hamas

GAZA, July 5 (KUNA) -- Hamas warned Israel Wednesday, if Palestinian people lose their sense of security then so will the Israelis.

In a statement today, Hamas said, if blood is spilled in Gaza, then blood in Israeli malls will not be spared.

Israel will not be allowed to bring down the Palestinian government, Hamas added. If Israel attempts to tamper with Palestinian security, Hamas will retaliate in unexpected ways.

About a week ago, Israel had detained over 60 Palestinian ministers, members of Parliament, and Hamas officials in the West Bank in response to the abduction of a soldier.

The statement added, all the Palestinian factions stand behind the demands of those holding the soldier.

The captors demanded that Israel release 1,000 Palestinian prisoners including children and women in exchange for information about the prisoner.

Ehud Olmert, Israeli Prime Minister, had refused those demands and escalated violence in Gaza to pressure the captors to release the soldier.

The statement called on "reasonable people in this world" to intervene quickly, and work to resolve the detained soldier issue.

Olmert's plans carry catastrophic consequences that will affect the whole region, the statement added.

It also commented on the "double standards" of the world, as governments work to save one Israeli soldier, yet forget about thousands of Palestinian prisoners left to die.

Israeli blood will not be spared -- Hamas

[Shammu]

Hamas must be brought to Justice for causing the kidnap and murder of a Jewish teenager in their evil terrorist act.

Israel have every right to defend itself against a murderous organisation Hamas and steps must be taken to ensure that the responsible persons be brought to justice - all Hamas political leaders are responsible for the wickedness and no end to these incursions.

Before there were more than 200 rockets fired by Hamas and militant groups into the Jewish cities from Gaza!

This time the Gazians need to choose to have Hamas or face the consequences of war.

Hamas is inciting a warzone and they deserve to be attacked and brought to justice.

Today Syria still choose not to recognise Israel and harbours Hamas and many terrorists organisations. Their interference with Lebanon also showed the devastations they left behind. When PLO was ultimately removed from Syria they wandered back to Gaza and West Bank. Many are exiled due to their criminal and terrorist records (in accordance to UN and Interpol). That's facts for you.

Hamas agenda is same as Iran!

They both wants to see the destruction of Israel and are arch-enemy as both have a long history of hatred influenced by extremism and false religious fervour. The sad news, they will not want to have Peace in this world.

[Shammu]

High time for soldier's release: US
From: Agence France-Presse
From correspondents in Washington

July 06, 2006
 

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said overnight that it was "high time" for Hamas to return an Israeli soldier whose abduction sparked an Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip.
Her spokesman meanwhile declined to condemn Israeli airstrikes on Palestinian government buildings, saying that Israel had the right to defend itself in the face of rocket attacks launched from Gaza.

Ms Rice said she was calling on both Israelis and the Palestinians to exercise restraint as a new wave of Palestinian rockets rained down on Israeli territory, prompting return air and artillery fire from the Israeli side.

But she said Hamas carried more blame for the upsurge of tensions and pressed for release of the soldier, 19-year-old Gilad Shalit,

"Their government, Hamas government, needs to respond to the root cause of this problem, and the root cause of this problem was the attack that took place and the Israeli soldier that was abducted," Ms Rice said.

"It is high time for Hamas to return that soldier. It is high time then for everybody who has any influence on Hamas to make sure that that happens, and then we can get back on track."

Later, Ms Rice's spokesman Sean McCormack declined to condemn Israeli air-strikes on Palestinian government buildings.

Asked whether Israeli "attacks" on Palestinian government buildings could be justified, Mr McCormack replied: "you're using the words 'attack' in this sort of what Israel needs to do."

"Let's talk about what the root cause of this is," he said, referring to Palestinian rocket attacks on southern Israel launched from Gaza and the soldier's capture.

High time for soldier's release: US

[Shammu]

Erdogan Receives Ambassadors Of Palestine, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Libya & Egypt
Published: 7/6/2006

   
ANKARA - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan received ambassadors of Palestine, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Libya and Egypt in Ankara on Wednesday.

The ambassadors paid the visit to thank Erdogan for his efforts to ease tension between Israel and Palestine as well as to restore permanent peace in the Middle East.

Erdogan Receives Ambassadors Of Palestine, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Libya & Egypt
===============================================

A few of the countries mentioned in the Bible, are right there.

[Shammu]

EU Tones Down Criticism of Israel
July 6th, 2006 @ 4:13am

By SLOBODAN LEKIC
Associated Press Writer

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) - The shift is subtle but unmistakable. European governments _ long accused of being pro-Arab _ have toned down criticism of Israel, left in shock by the rise to power of Islamic Hamas which they consider a terrorist outfit.

The rise of Hamas and the subsequent deterioration of peace prospects have left the European Union in a quandary. The election of the Hamas government has pulled the rug from under its $626.5-million-a-year aid package that feeds, clothes and educates many Palestinians and distanced the EU from them.

After the Hamas government was sworn in, the EU strongly condemned it on April 10 for refusing to recognize Israel in a one-page statement whose brevity contrasted with the bloc's usually long Mideast declarations that take pains to show balance.

The EU's tilt toward the Jewish state was highlighted after Israel's attacks last week on infrastructure targets in the Gaza Strip. Normally such strikes elicit stinging rebukes, but this time they brought only limp appeals to both sides to resolve the crisis through diplomacy.

The EU formally denies any policy shift.

Yet analysts see a more nuanced approach to the Mideast conflict caused mainly by the unexpected Hamas victory in January. They also believe the Europeans are seeking to move closer to the U.S. position to maintain some say in the region, and that means not being automatically critical of Israel's actions.

Last week, after Israeli tanks and troops mounted their offensive in a bid to free a soldier captured by Palestinian militants, EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner simply urged the two sides "to consider their responsibilities extremely carefully."

She demanded the militants release the soldier but stayed silent on the destruction of bridges and the Gaza Strip's only power plant, as well as the unprecedented arrest of 64 top Hamas officials, including eight Cabinet members and 26 lawmakers.

The United States, Russia and other countries also have appealed to the militants to release the soldier.

In the past, the EU has demanded that Israel repay the EU for damage caused to infrastructure that is often financed with European money, but there was no mention of that this time.

"The European Union's lukewarm reaction is shocking when even infrastructure built through the EU's own investments is being destroyed," said Marwan Bishara, a lecturer in international affairs in France. "It is also contrary to the very foundations of the EU in terms of the civil and humanitarian principles."

Bishara attributed the EU's attitude to Hamas' victory and a growing conviction in European capitals that the trans-Atlantic rift over the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 can only be bridged by coordinating Mideast policy more closely with Washington.

"Europe is now following the U.S. policy of being passive toward Israeli actions," said Bishara.

Others echoed his comments.

"The election of Hamas has obviously changed the dynamics of the problem and ended the almost automatic solidarity with the Palestinians," said Mark Leonard, a foreign policy analyst at London's Centre for European Reform.

Declining support for the Palestinian cause in Europe was another factor, said Dominique Moisi of the French Institute for International Relations.

"They have disappointed Europeans by their divisions, their lack of organization, the spectacle of violence in Gaza" between various Palestinian factions, he said. "By refusing to recognize Israel's right to exist, Hamas has weakened the Palestinians' position considerably."

This has meshed with Israel's efforts to persuade the international community that Hamas is too radical to negotiate with and should be isolated despite the fact that it came to power in a legitimate fashion.

Moisi also sees Europe trying to mend fences with Washington and agreeing with Washington on stifling Iran's nuclear ambitions. "We don't want to jeopardize this agreement by being divided over the Palestinians," said Moisi.

Yossi Alpher, an adviser to Israel's former Prime Minister Ehud Barak, noted that a few years ago the Europeans would have criticized Israel much more explicitly for an attack like the one in Gaza.

"What has changed is the advent of a radical Palestinian Islamist terrorist movement and government (and) a greater sense of realism in the EU on what can and what can't be done in the Middle East."

Alpher warned this may change quickly if Israel's heavy-handed actions result in civilian casualties or a humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

The EU is not alone in toning down its criticisms of Israel.

Most non-Muslim members of the 105-member Nonaligned Movement _ loyal supporters of the Arabs in their wars with Israel in past decades _ have gone softer on the Jewish state. Also, Russia _ long a key source of support for Arab countries _ has cultivated economic, political and other ties with Israel, as has China.

Individual European countries have been more critical of Israel, although they, too, have shied away from publicly denouncing the latest offensive. It was only neutral Switzerland _ not an EU member _ that issued a strongly worded condemnation of the Gaza action, including the destruction of the local power plant and arrest of dozens of Hamas officials.

"A number of actions by the Israeli defense forces in their offensive against the Gaza Strip have violated the principle of proportionality and are to be seen as forms of collective punishment, which is forbidden," the Swiss Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

EU Tones Down Criticism of Israel