PSALMS 20:1-9 PRAY THIS FOR ISRAEL EVERY DAY OF THIS WAR
1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. The LORD hear thee in the day of trouble; the name of the God of Jacob defend thee;
2 Send thee help from the sanctuary, and strengthen thee out of Zion;
3 Remember all thy offerings, and accept thy burnt sacrifice; Selah.
4 Grant thee according to thine own heart, and fulfil all thy counsel.
5 We will rejoice in thy salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners: the LORD fulfil all thy petitions.
6 Now know I that the LORD saveth his anointed; he will hear him from his holy heaven with the saving strength of his right hand.
7 Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.
8 They are brought down and fallen: but we are risen, and stand upright.
9 Save, LORD: let the king hear us when we call.
ISRAELS INHERITED LAND IN THE FUTURE
And here are the bounderies of the land that Israel will inherit either through war or peace or God in the future. God says its Israels land and only Israels land. They will have every inch God promised them of this land in the future.
Egypt east of the Nile River, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, The southern part of Turkey and the Western Half of Iraq west of the Euphrates. Gen 13:14-15, Psm 105:9,11, Gen 15:18, Exe 23:31, Num 34:1-12, Josh 1:4.
ALL THIS LAND ISRAEL WILL DEFINATELY OWN IN THE FUTURE, ITS ISRAELS NOT ISHMAELS LAND.
HAMAS AT THERE WORST
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UptNr0v1p3E
WAR COVERAGE
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Special/War/
The Well-Oiled Arab Propaganda Machine
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/129546
Obama tells Olmert, Abbas he will pursue peace By Jeffrey Heller JAN 21,09
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama pledged on Wednesday to pursue Middle East peace, telephoning Israeli and Palestinian leaders after Israel completed a troop withdrawal from the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.In a call to Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Obama reiterated that he and his administration would work to achieve Middle East peace, a Palestinian official said.
A statement from Olmert's office said the prime minister updated Obama on the situation in the Gaza Strip and added that he hoped efforts by Israel, Egypt, the U.S. and European countries to prevent weapons smuggling into Gaza would succeed.The statement added that Olmert undertook that Israel would invest in efforts to provide for the humanitarian needs of the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip and would work to improve the economic situation in the West Bank.In Washington, the White House said Obama had also spoken to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Jordan's King Abdullah and that the U.S. President would actively engage in peace efforts.He used this opportunity on his first day in office to communicate his commitment to active engagement in pursuit of Arab-Israeli peace from the beginning of his term, and to express his hope for their continued cooperation and leadership, spokesman Robert Gibbs said in a statement.Israel left the Gaza Strip devastated by its 22-day offensive. It completed its pullout earlier on Wednesday.We've redeployed on our side of the frontier and we will follow events closely, said Mark Regev, a spokesman for Olmert. If Hamas breaks the ceasefire, we of course reserve the right to act to protect our people.
PRESSURE
Under international pressure to end the deadliest Israeli-Palestinian fighting in decades, Israel and Hamas declared separate ceasefires on Sunday, opening the way for more aid to be brought into the rubble-strewn enclave where thousands are homeless.Reconstruction, if it can be launched in light of the West shunning Hamas as a terrorist group, may cost close to $2 billion, according to Palestinian and international estimates.Diplomatic efforts led by Egypt were focusing on reaching a long-term Israel-Hamas truce deal, far short of an accord on Palestinian statehood sought by the United States and other international peace brokers.Israel's attacks in an offensive it began on December 27 killed some 1,300 Palestinians. Gaza medical officials said the Palestinian dead included at least 700 civilians.Israel said hundreds of militants died and that it dealt Hamas a strong blow that had boosted the Jewish state's power of deterrence and drawn international pledges to help prevent the Islamist group from replenishing its rocket arsenal.Ten Israeli soldiers and three civilians, hit by cross-border rocket fire, were killed in the conflict.
Israel's Haaretz daily, reporting what it said were details of an army probe into its soldiers' use of white-phosphorous shells, said 200 were fired in the fighting, including 20 in a built-up area in the northern Gaza Strip.Two Palestinian children were killed and 14 people suffered severe burns on January 17 when Israeli shells landed in a U.N.-run school in the northern Beit Lahiya area, medical officials said.
Amnesty International has accused Israel of war crimes over its use of the high-incendiary munitions in heavily populated areas.
TROOP WITHDRAWAL
Calling the troop withdrawal a victory for Palestinian resistance, Hamas demanded a lifting of the blockade Israel tightened on the Gaza Strip after the Islamist group seized control of the territory from the Fatah movement in 2007. Israel said at the start of the military campaign it never intended for its army, which quit the Gaza Strip in 2005 after 38 years of occupation, to remain there permanently. Most Israeli forces pulled out before Obama was sworn in on Tuesday, in a move analysts saw as an attempt to avoid any early tensions with his administration that could cloud the beginning of a new era in a key alliance. Looking to reconstruction efforts, Israel has told the United Nations and aid groups they must apply for project-by-project Israeli approval and provide guarantees none of the work will benefit Hamas, Western and Palestinian officials said. Israel, the officials said, is also preventing the Western-backed Palestinian Authority from transferring cash to the Gaza Strip to pay its workers and others hard-hit by war. The restrictions threatened to undercut the ability of Abbas's West Bank-based government to reassert a presence in the enclave. Hamas officials and an Israeli envoy planned to meet separately with Egyptian mediators in Cairo on Thursday to discuss ways to make the ceasefire durable and a reopening of border crossings, an official close to the talks said. (Additional reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi and Doug Hamilton in Gaza and Adam Entous in Jerusalem, Editing by Elizabeth Piper)
Lebanon army gets boost from Russian jets By SAM F. GHATTAS, Associated Press Writer – Wed Jan 21, 3:36 am ET
BEIRUT, Lebanon – With Israel in a fragile cease-fire with Hamas in Gaza to the south, the army of this tiny country bordering Israel's north is for the first time getting some serious military muscle, including its first fighter jets in decades.
The influx of hardware begins with Russia, which is trying to increase its influence again in the Mideast.Moscow's decision last month to provide Lebanon with 10 MiG-29 fighter jets comes at a sensitive time, with Israel just out of its second major armed confrontation in two years against neighboring militant groups.The offer was made before Israel launched its offensive against Gaza's Hamas rulers on Dec. 27 to stop rocket fire from militants on southern Israeli communities, but the conflict has made it all the more significant.Separate cease-fires declared by Israel and the militant Islamic group went into effect Sunday, ending fighting that has killed about 1,300 Palestinians, according to Palestinian medical officials. Thirteen Israelis also have been killed.Lebanon says it needs more hardware to ensure control of its southern border. During the Gaza fighting, militants fired rockets from southern Lebanon into Israel, prompting Israeli artillery fire.The United States and Europe have long had an ambivalent attitude toward Lebanon's 60,000-member army — wanting to beef it up as a lever against Hezbollah militants who control much of southern Lebanon.At the same time, the U.S. and Europe fear that too much military hardware could enable the Lebanese to use it against Israel.Either way, Russia's military grant to Lebanon triggered an immediate reaction, with Washington promising Beirut a few days later to deliver tanks.Support for the Lebanese armed forces remains a pillar of our Lebanon policy, said David Hale, a deputy U.S. assistant secretary of state. We are working ... to deliver modern M-60 tanks to Lebanon by the spring of 2009 and we're preparing a new package of assistance including close air support capability with precision weapons and urban combat gear.
The U.S. has committed $410 million in security assistance to Lebanon since 2006. Most has gone to logistics, communications, equipment, flak jackets, vehicles and training. In late December, the U.S. delivered 72 Humvees to Lebanon, bringing the total to 350 since 2006. A U.S. Embassy statement said 275 more Humvees will be sent by the end of this year.For years, Lebanon's military was dismissed at home and abroad as little more than an internal security force. The army was rebuilt after splintering along sectarian lines during the 1975-1990 civil war and has primarily taken the role of paramilitary police.It has largely stayed out of the frequent battles between Israeli forces and Hezbollah, the militants in southern Lebanon. But after the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war, the army sent thousands of troops to southern Lebanon alongside U.N. peacekeepers in the border zone.Lebanon has virtually no air force — about 30 unarmed helicopters and several 1950s-era British-made Hawker Hunter jets — and no effective air defense system. Israel routinely flies reconnaissance missions over Lebanon unchallenged.But Mideast analysts don't believe that 10 Russian-made fighter jets will tip the regional military balance, which remains heavily in Israel's favor.The acquisition of 10 aircraft has more morale impact than material impact in the field, said retired Lebanese general Amin Hteit.
The Russian offer gives Moscow an opportunity to play a role in the Middle East, where its influence waned after the collapse of the Soviet Union.Many Lebanese see the move as a sign of international commitment to their government as it seeks to control the south, and stop the fire toward Israel coming from Hezbollah and small Palestinian militant groups there. Russia wants to be on the Mediterranean. It seeks to play a role, but it also wants to stress Lebanese sovereignty, Charles Ayoub, a former air force pilot and publisher of Lebanon's pro-Syrian newspaper Addiyar, said in a TV interview. Israeli analyst Efraim Inbar, director of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, said Moscow's move is part of the distancing of Lebanon from the West.Nevertheless, Israeli government reaction has been supportive because Israel would prefer to have the Lebanese army and not Hezbollah in charge of the south. The Lebanese state needs to be able to meet the challenges of armed militia, who under U.N. resolutions need to be disarmed, Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said in Jerusalem, alluding to Hezbollah. Hezbollah, backed by Russia-allied Syria and Iran, maintains a heavily armed force with more than 30,000 rockets and some bigger missiles in its arsenal. Associated Press writers Aron Heller and Mark Lavie contributed from Jerusalem.
Hamas Hijacks Humanitarian Aid by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu JAN 21,09
(IsraelNN.com) Hamas is hijacking some of the 6,000 tons of international humanitarian aid that have entered Gaza this week for the poor, and instead is using the goods to fund its own support system, the Israeli government charged.Since the beginning of Operation Cast Lead over three weeks ago, Israel has supervised the delivery of nearly 50,000 tons into Gaza but has no supervision over the trucks after the food and medicines are transferred to Arab trucks at Gaza crossings.Armed terrorists have stolen several trucks at gunpoint, forcing one Jordanian company to suspend operations, charged the government agency that supervises coordination of the aid. Israel has warned the international community that reconstruction programs for Gaza must not pass through Hamas hands in order to prevent giving the terrorist organization legitimacy and the opportunity to use aid for its own purposes.Reports of Hamas confiscating aid, using it for its members and selling the rest of it on the black market surfaced nearly two weeks ago, after Israel decided halt fire for three hours a day to allow trucks to enter Gaza.United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) spokesman Chris Gunness said that the U.N. agency is investigating the reports that the hijacked Jordanian trucks were destined for UNRWA. We are not aware of any aid being diverted, he stated but added that officials still are investigating the reports of hijacking.
Gunness added that between a third and a half of the humanitarian aid is for UNRWA. Egypt and the private sector operate most of the other trucks, and a small amount goes to various other U.N. agencies. The UNRWA aid is shipped from the port in Ashdod via Israeli trucks to the Kerem Shalom crossing, where agency officials deliver the trucks to UNRWA warehouses.Hamas and its rival Fatah faction have accused each other of stealing the aid, with Hamas charging that Fatah is diverting aid to Arabs in Judea and Samaria.
Hizbullah Plots Against Israel in Azerbaijan and Sinai Thwarted
by Gil Ronen JAN 21,09
(IsraelNN.com) Authorities in Azerbaijan have thwarted a plot by Hizbullah to bomb the Israeli embassy in Baku, the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Watan reported on Monday. The paper quoted well-informed Russian sources as saying Azerbaijan's security apparatus thwarted Hizbullah's alleged plot which was aimed at avenging the killing of the Shi'ite terror group's military commander Imad Mughniyeh in a car bombing in Damascus, in February 2008.Hizbullah has accused Israel of involvement in Mughniyeh's killing but Israel has denied the charge.After Mughniyeh's death, Israeli embassies worldwide went on alert and Israeli authorities advised Jewish institutions across the globe to be vigilant for revenge attacks.The same sources said that Egypt uncovered a Hizbullah cell that was preparing an attack on Israeli targets in Sinai. The ring leader was reportedly a Lebanese man, and the rest of the cell's members were Palestinians.The London Times reported earlier this week that at least one attack was foiled in Azerbaijan weeks after Mughniyeh’s assassination when Azeri Intelligence discovered a plot to blow up the Israeli Embassy there. In addition, Egypt recently broke up a Hizbullah cell in the Sinai headed by a Lebanese citizen, Sami Shehab, which included Palestinians and was planning to attack Israeli targets.
Al-Watan said Baku recently announced that it had thwarted a large-scale plot by an extremist group aimed at targeting foreign embassies and institutions, without detailing which country was being threatened.
According to the paper, Azeri authorities said they arrested the suspected terrorists and seized weapons from them. The Mossad, Israel's overseas intelligence organization, responded to a query regarding the reports by saying that it does not comment on information regarding its activities or activities that are ascribed to it.
Last Israeli troops leave Gaza, completing pullout By AMY TEIBEL, Associated Press Writer JAN 21,09
JERUSALEM – The last Israeli troops left the Gaza Strip before dawn Wednesday, the military said, as Israel dispatched its foreign minister to Europe in a bid to rally international support to end arms smuggling into the Hamas-ruled territory.The timing of the troop pullout reflected Israel's hopes to defuse the crisis in still-volatile Gaza before President Barack Obama settled into the White House. The military said troops remain massed on the Israeli side of the border, poised for action if militants violated a fragile, three-day-old truce.The troops' exit marked the end of an Israeli offensive that ravaged Gaza and left some 1,300 Palestinians dead, at least half of them civilians, according to Gaza health officials and a Palestinian human rights group. Thirteen Israelis also died.Israel launched the war to halt years of militant rocket fire on southern Israel and to stop arms smuggling that put one-eighth of the country's population within rocket range. The death toll in Gaza provoked international outrage, but in Israel, the war was widely seen as a legitimate response to militants' attacks.The Israeli military announced Wednesday that it would investigate claims by the United Nations and human rights groups that it improperly used white phosphorous — an ingredient in weapons that inflicts horrific burns. Although the use of phosphorus weapons to mask forces is permitted by international law, Amnesty International has accused Israel of committing a war crime by using it in densely populated areas.U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon left the region early Wednesday after touring Gaza and southern Israel. Ban called for an investigation into the Israeli shelling of U.N. compounds in Gaza during the fighting, which he termed outrageous. He also called rocket attacks against Israel appalling and unacceptable.
Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni was headed to Brussels on Wednesday, hoping to clinch a deal committing the European Union to contribute forces, ships and technology to anti-smuggling operations.She will sum up with the the EU representatives their involvement in the international handling of the problem of smuggling into the Gaza Strip, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor.An EU commitment would build on a deal the U.S. signed with Israel last week promising expanded intelligence cooperation between the two countries and other U.S. allies in the Middle East and Europe.EU officials said it was too early for that, saying providing humanitarian relief and efforts to secure a lasting cease-fire were their priorities.The situation is fragile, Javier Solana, the EU's foreign and security chief, said ahead of the meeting.The U.S. has promised to supply detection and surveillance equipment, as well as logistical help and training to Israel, Egypt and other nations in the region. The equipment and training would be used to monitor Gaza's land and sea borders.Some EU nations, notably Germany, have promised to help Israel stop the arms smuggling. The issue will likely be debated at a regular EU foreign ministers meeting scheduled next Monday.Most of the smuggling was carried out through tunnels underneath the 8-mile (15 kilometer) border between Egypt and Gaza. Egypt has proved unable or unwilling to halt the flow of weapons and medium-range rockets coming through the tunnels, alongside fuel and consumer goods.
During its offensive, Israel said it destroyed most of the hundreds of tunnels in repeated bombing runs by Israeli jets. But Wednesday, smuggling was under way again.
AP Television News footage showed Palestinian smugglers Wednesday filling a fuel truck with petrol that came through a cross-border tunnel from Egypt. The footage also showed workers busy clearing blocked tunnels and bulldozers carrying out other repairs.Iran has rejected the international attempt to deny Hamas weapons. In statements reported Wednesday on the Web site of Iranian state TV, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said because Israel is so well-armed, Palestinians shouldn't be barred from obtaining weapons.Iran is one of Hamas' main backers but denies Israel's claims that it arms the Palestinian group. Meanwhile, a Palestinian human rights group said it had completed its count of the death toll from the Israeli operation.
The Palestinian Center for Human Rights said a total of 1,284 Palestinians were killed and 4,336 wounded in the 23-day war. It said 894 of the dead were civilians, including 280 children or minors ages 17 and under. It cited data collected by its field researchers and checked against information from hospitals and clinics. The PCHR was a main source of information about dead and wounded during the war. The Israeli military says 500 Palestinian militants were killed in the fighting. Gaza's militant groups say they lost 158 fighters.
Quartet will talk to Hamas if it recognises Israel: Blair JAN 21,09
ABU DHABI (AFP) – Middle East peace envoy Tony Blair said on Wednesday the diplomatic Quartet would deal with Hamas if the Islamist movement accepts a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.The Quartet has always said it is prepared to talk to Hamas provided that Hamas is part of a government that is on terms that are consistent with the two-state solution, said Blair, who represents the four principals of the Quartet -- Europe, Russia, the United States and the United Nations.The issue is not whether we talk to Hamas or not. The issue is whether there is a basis for talking that allows us to make progress on the two-state solution, he told reporters on the sideline of an energy summit in Abu Dhabi.
The Quartet has endorsed a roadmap that calls for a Palestinian state coexisting peacefully alongside a secure Israel.Blair said he supported a call by Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas for the formation of a national unity government, which the issued in the wake of the devastating Israeli offensive on the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.But the former British prime minister said such unity would have to be effected on the right terms and which would lead the Islamist movement to recognise the state of Israel.We all want Palestinian unity, including with Hamas, but it has to be on the right terms. It has got to be on terms consistent with the two-state solution. That is the issue now, Blair stressed.What has to be explored over the coming period of time is what are the possibilities of getting that agreement and reconciliation that are on terms consistent with peace and not with conflict, he added.On Sunday, Blair said that a Saudi-initiated Arab initiative for peace in the region was not dead despite Israel's lethal 22-day war on the Gaza Strip.Israel's onslaught, aimed at destroying Hamas' military capabilities, killed at least 1,300 Palestinians, wounded 5,300 and left large swathes of the territory in ruins.
Mideast urges Obama focus on Palestinian conflict By JASON KEYSER, Associated Press Writer JAN 21,09
CAIRO, Egypt – Mideast leaders urged President Barack Obama Wednesday to dive into peace efforts and make the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians one of his top priorities.Some in the region were heartened by Obama's attempt to reach out to Muslims in his inaugural address Tuesday, saying he wanted to put relations on a new path. But he followed that overture immediately with a stern warning to those who foment violence.I would like to stress that the region has high hopes that your administration will deal with the Palestinian issue from its first day as an immediate priority and a key for solving other issues in the Middle East, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said in a congratulatory message to Obama.But others were more pessimistic as newspaper editorials and political commentators laid out the challenges facing Obama, from rebuilding the wreckage in Gaza to ending the war in Iraq and confronting a strengthening Taliban in Afghanistan.To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West — know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy, Obama said Tuesday.To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist, he added.
Iran, which was shunned by the Bush administration, said it was hoping to see new policies from Obama.The two nations have been deeply at odds over Iran's nuclear program and what the U.S. says is its support for militiamen in neighboring Iraq — a charge Iran denies. Obama has spoken of a need to engage the country.We are ready for new approaches by the United States, Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told the English-language Press TV, part of Iran's state media.A new Middle East is in the making," Mottaki said, according to the official IRNA news agency. The new generation in this region seeks justice and rejects domination.Mottaki also said Iran will study the idea of setting up a U.S. interests section office in Tehran if there is a formal U.S. request to do so, after nearly three decades without diplomatic ties.Obama and his senior commanders were to meet in Washington on Wednesday to discuss the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.Obama promised during the campaign to withdraw all U.S. combat troops from Iraq within 16 months of taking office and said in Tuesday's speech that he would begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people.We feel that we are liberated with Obama's victory, said Ahmed Araak, a 53-year-old retired teacher in Iraq.Israelis were also watching for Obama's first moves in the Middle East. Israel's military completed a withdrawal from Gaza Wednesday, reflecting its hopes of defusing that crisis before Obama took office. Some Israelis were wary during the campaign that Obama would be less supportive than Bush.Prominent commentator Nahum Barnea wrote in Israel's Yediot Ahronot daily that one of the first stops in Obama's foreign policy would be Iran, also a pressing issue for Israel, which fears Iran is seeking nuclear weapons.If Obama succeeds by diplomatic means in closing down the Iranian nuclear project, more power to him, Barnea wrote. If he fails, his willingness to act by less diplomatic means will be tested.A newspaper in U.S. ally Saudi Arabia said the Middle East should not expect Obama to solve every problem. Yesterday was a day of hope, a day to dream. Today, the crowds have gone, the flags have come down, but, half a world away, Gaza still smolders, insurgents still plot in Iraq, the Taliban grow stronger in Afghanistan, read an editorial in the English-language Arab News. It is time for Obama to get down to work, to deliver on the promises he made, the hopes he kindled.A Jordanian doctor of Palestinian origin said the moment was right for the Middle East to take steps to build better ties with the United States. Arabs, both ordinary people and their leaders, should stop their defiance and insults of the U.S., said Jihad Barghouti. Associated Press writers around the Middle East and in Pakistan contributed to this report.
Israel, Egypt have no information on Shalit: Cairo JAN 21,09
CAIRO (AFP) – Neither Egypt nor Israel knows whether an Israeli soldier held by Hamas militants in Gaza for three years is alive, Egypt Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit said on Wednesday.Egypt had tried to broker a deal between Israel and Hamas to release Gilad Shalit in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners before Israel began its three-week offensive in Gaza on December 27.Mussa Abu Marzuk, deputy head of Hamas politburo, told an Arabic newspaper after the war began that Shalit might have been wounded in Israeli air strikes and that the subject no longer interests Hamas.Whether Shalit is alive or not alive, this is a question that needs investigation now, Abul Gheit said.I have no information and I believe the Israeli side has no information, either, he said.Israel has said it will not end its blockade of Gaza -- a key Hamas demand and the reason it says it launched rockets into Israel -- unless there is progress on releasing Shalit.Abul Gheit said the release of Shalit had been an Israeli objective when it agreed to a six-month long truce brokered in June 2008 by Egypt between the Jewish state and Hamas.
Hamas had demanded 1,400 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Shalit. Their list included about 450 prisoners implicated in attacks against Israelis. Israel was reluctant to release prisoners with blood on their hands.Israel holds more than 11,000 Palestinian prisoners, the Palestinian Authority says.Egyptian state-run news agency MENA quoted President Hosni Mubarak as saying in an October interview that Shalit was in good health and Hamas would not harm him.Under no circumstances should he be mistreated, he said. Palestinians are not stupid. They must seriously consider what the consequences would be if they kill him, he said.
EU to press Israel to open Gaza to aid, bolster ceasefire by Lorne Cook Lorne Cook – JAN 21,09
BRUSSELS (AFP) – European Union nations are to press Israel Wednesday to quickly open the war-torn Gaza Strip to humanitarian aid and consolidate a ceasefire that ended the Jewish state's war on Hamas.At talks in Brussels around 1900 GMT, EU foreign ministers will remind Israeli counterpart Tzipi Livni of Europe's willingness to throw political and economic resources into the region, and try to spark new peace moves.The Europeans, the biggest donors of aid to the Palestinians, have little political leverage over Israel and they hope the arrival of new US President Barack Obama provide impetus now the guns have fallen silent.It is very important that Gaza is open, that the crossings are opened, so that the help the international community is willing to give can arrive, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana told reporters ahead of the talks.The European Union is committed to help, to help politically -- to maintain with all our means the ceasefire. The EU is committed to do it economically, he said.More than 1,300 Palestinians were killed in Israel's land, sea and air assault, Operation Cast Lead, launched on December 27 on Hamas militants in the impoverished coastal strip to stop them firing rockets at Israeli civilians.Some 5,300 people were wounded, with 4,100 homes destroyed and 17,000 damaged.
Israel lost 10 soldiers and three civilians.
As the last Israeli troops withdrew Wednesday following a weekend ceasefire, Solana said it was important to make best use of the window of opportunity to get vital aid to those most in need.Now we have to really get to work, to see how fast this can be done. The opening of Gaza is a must, he said.The EU is proposing to bolster its monitoring mission in the Rafah Terminal, the only crossing the Palestinians have to the outside world, on the border with Egypt, to try to help stop Hamas re-arming.The bloc already has a team of almost 30 monitors there but it has rarely been unable to work as Israel has often kept the terminal closed, citing security concerns.We are willing to do whatever is necessary in that direction, with monitors in Rafah and other places, Solana said. According to diplomats, the observers are unlikely to go anywhere else.An EU diplomat said the ministers want to try to work out ways to help poor Palestinians turn away from smuggling, much of which happens in tunnels under the border.If they don't make a living smuggling guns, what do they do? It's an industry, the diplomat said.After talks with Livni, the EU ministers will also meet Sunday with counterparts from Egypt -- the main regional broker -- Jordan, the Palestinian Authority and Turkey, which has good relations with Israel.Hamas figures on an EU terror blacklist and the bloc refuses to hold direct talks with its members, although that could change if the militant group reaches an agreement with the Fatah faction of president Mahmud Abbas.On the likelihood of future talks with Hamas, Solana would only say: If there is an agreement within the Palestinians, we will cooperate with the Palestinian government.The EU has done this in the past, talking only to Fatah officials. Middle East peace envoy Tony Blair said Wednesday that the diplomatic Quartet -- the EU, UN, Russia and United States -- would deal with Hamas if the Islamists accept a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Gaza war gives edge to Israel's conservative Likud Party By Joshua Mitnick JAN 21,09
Tel Aviv – As Israeli soldiers pull back from the Gaza Strip and Hamas's rockets go silent, Israel's dormant election campaign has come back to life.With just three weeks before voters go to the polls, the center-left government is getting high marks from the Israeli public for its pounding offensive in Gaza. But Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and her ruling centrist Kadima Party may fall victim to the military's success.Polls show that the conservative opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud party have opened up a bigger lead, based on a public concern that the offensive left the Hamas regime intact while failing to free an Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, imprisoned in Gaza for 2-1/2 years.That's one of the interesting paradoxes of the war, says Mitchell Barak, a pollster who runs the survey group Keevoon. It restored the Israeli public's confidence in the Israeli army, and in Israel's leadership's ability to defend its citizens ... but it didn't go far enough [to weaken Hamas].On the third day of the Israel-Hamas cease-fire, there were rival allegations of violations. The Palestinians said that a farmer was shot dead by Israeli soldiers in the northern Gaza Strip, a charge denied by a military spokeswoman. Israel's army said that it returned fire after one of its units inside Gaza was shot at near the border fence.The three-week Gaza war has shifted the focus of Israel's truncated parliamentary campaign toward the best approach in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip and the threat of rockets on southern Israel.
Already, Ms. Livni and Defense Minister Ehud Barak of the Labor Party are back on the campaign trail hailing the war's achievements. They're touting Israel's restored deterrence against militants and the international support expressed by US and European leaders.Addressing Israeli college students in a Tel Aviv suburb Tuesday, Livni bragged that European leaders came to Jerusalem to work with Israeli leaders despite the international uproar over the Palestinian civilian toll during fighting. About 1,300 Palestinians were killed, many of them noncombatants and children, according to health officials.If Hamas fires a Qassam rocket at Israel, they will get hit again, just like they got hit now, and they know that, Livni said in an interview with Israel Radio on Monday.Mr. Netanyahu, who had the awkward role of defending the government to the international press during the Gaza offensive, has resumed his criticism of this government's Gaza policy. Right-wing allies of Netanyahu have warned that the military operation has left Hamas in a position to threaten Israel in the future.Just a few weeks ago, before the fighting, the campaign focused on good government, economics, and leadership.Today it's a different world. Security and leadership, mainly in times of crisis, have moved center stage, wrote Yossi Verter, a political commentator in the Haaretz newspaper. Netanyahu is feeling good – Hamas was always his preferred playing field. In 2006 he was talking about Hamastan, and nobody wanted to listen.To be sure, the biggest single winner from the war has been Mr. Barak and his Labor Party, which seemed to be fading into irrelevancy with polls indicating a fourth or fifth place finish prior to the war. Labor's 50 percent jump in popularity puts it in third place and makes Barak a leading candidate to continue as defense minister in the next government, but he's still far behind in the race for prime minister.
Netanayhu's Likud party continues to lead Livni's Kadima party by a range of three to six seats, according to recent polls. What's more, right-wing and religious parties are projected to control a 10-seat majority over a coalition of center, left, and Arab parties in the 120-seat parliament. That would allow Netanyahu, who first served as prime minister for three years in the 1990s, a leg up in forming a coalition.Netanyahu has said that before negotiating a final peace deal can be reached with the Palestinians, the Palestinian Authority needs to build up the Palestinian economy in the West Bank and implement further political reforms. Critics say such a delay in the peace process comes when many fear that the window of opportunity is closing for a two-state solution.Livni's prospects as prime minister looked more promising at the start of the Gaza war, when several polls showed a coalition of center-left wing and Arab parties pulling even with the right wing. Livni is now coming under fire from those who were unhappy with the UN Security Council Resolution that called for an immediate cease-fire and the international pressure to withdraw from Gaza.She is also criticized for the failure to force Hamas to negotiate over Corporal Shalit, the Israeli soldier taken hostage.
Political analysts note, however, a fragile cease-fire with Hamas means the fighting might not be finished, creating a volatile environment for public opinion leading up to the Feb. 10 vote. It's very fluid, says Avraham Diskin, a political science professor at Hebrew University. If something happens and the Israeli army retaliates, [the fighting] won't be over.
Will all Palestinian factions honor Hamas's cease-fire? By Shane Bauer JAN 21,09
Damascus, Syria – The rockets fired by Palestinian militants into southern Israel throughout the 22-day war in Gaza and in the weeks leading up to the devastating Israeli operation have stopped. The cease-fire declared by Hamas is holding.But while the Hamas movement and its weapons caches were Israel's primary target throughout the offensive, numerous militant groups fought alongside Hamas against Israeli soldiers, including a splinter faction of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, the armed wing of the Fatah Party, according to a senior Fatah official in Damascus.The question now is whether these groups, who are often at odds with Hamas over how to carry out Palestinian resistance, will adhere to Hamas's decision to hold its fire or continue to shoot rockets into southern Israel and perhaps spark another round of fighting.On Sunday, the deputy of Hamas's political bureau, Musa Abu Marzuq, appeared on Syrian television, speaking not in the name of Hamas, but in the name of Palestinian resistance factions to declare a one-week cease-fire and insist that all Israeli troops leave within that time period and open all border crossings.But some Middle East analysts say Hamas might not be able to hold together an alliance of such disparate and mutually hostile groups. One faction, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), has already dissented. Maher Taher, PFLP's representative in Damascus, where much of the Palestinian leadership structure is based, declined to comment on their decision, but in an interview with Al Jazeera, he insisted The Israeli attack is continuing.
The PFLP is fighting on the ground against this barbaric invasion by Israel, he said in the interview last week, before the cease-fire. This is a battle involving all of the Palestinian people.Last week, several other Palestinian factions in Damascus issued a statement refusing any security arrangements that affect the resistance and its legitimate right to struggle against the occupation. The coalition was composed of representatives of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the PFLP, Al Saiqa, the Popular Struggle Front, the Revolutionary Communist Party, Palestinian Liberation organization, Fatah's Intifada faction, and a number of other Palestinian factions.They categorically refused the presence of international forces in Gaza, a proposition put forth in part by Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas. They said that any peace initiatives must include the immediate secession of Israeli attacks, the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, an end to the economic blockade, and an opening of all of Gaza's crossings, including the Rafah crossing with Egypt.
Some regional observers say there are two probable outcomes, neither of which bode well for Israel. Either factions continue to stand behind Hamas, bolstering the group's legitimacy in Gaza, or they break away and start launching rockets in violation of cease-fires.Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) sources say some 750 rockets were shot into Israel (more than 200 of those were claimed by Islamic Jihad) since Operation Cast Lead began on Dec. 27, killing three civilians. The IDF says it killed hundreds of militants, most of whom were probably members of Hamas, the largest group in Gaza, but that number undoubtedly includes members of other militias.Leaders of the secular Fatah Party that controls the PA say the group bears no responsibility for its members in the armed wing fighting in Gaza, according to the group's representative in Damascus, Sameer Rifai. He says that a faction of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades has been acting without the consent of the leadership, but adds that they were engaged in a legitimate form of defense.The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades are a part of the Palestinian people in Gaza, he says. They are defending their homes, their lives, and themselves. They are people fighting an occupation.
UN wants all Gaza borders opened By EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press Writer – Tue Jan 20, 7:35 pm ET
UNITED NATIONS – U.N. humanitarian chief John Holmes said Tuesday that he's heading to Gaza and a top priority will be to get all border crossings opened not only for food and medicine but for desperately needed construction materials which Israel has refused to allow in since Hamas seized power in June 2007.Holmes, who expects to arrive in Israel on Wednesday, told reporters it's absolutely critical that cement, pipes and other building materials are unbanned by Israel and allowed into Gaza to start rebuilding the war-ravaged Palestinian territory.Otherwise, the reconstruction effort won't get off first base, Holmes said.Holmes said Monday that hundreds of millions of dollars in humanitarian aid will be needed immediately to help Gaza's 1.4million people and billions of dollars will be required to rebuild its shattered buildings and infrastructure.Israel launched the war on Dec. 27 in an effort to halt years of militant rocket fire by Hamas on its southern communities and arms smuggling into Gaza. The Israeli government declared a cease-fire that went into effect early Sunday, and hours later, Hamas agreed to silence its guns, too.Holmes said Tuesday the U.N. is trying to bolster humanitarian efforts in Gaza. We need more food, wheat grain in particular, Holmes said.Gaza also needs continuing supplies of fuel for its power plant, for hospital generators and for bakeries to bake bread, he said.Holmes said a lasting and durable cease-fire and the reopening of all border crossings are essential to get humanitarian aid, commercial goods and construction materials into Gaza.The temporary cease-fire doesn't include an agreement on the opening of border crossings, he noted.There's a lot of talk about it but it doesn't exist yet. So that's one of the points I'm very keen to pursue when I go there myself later this week, Holmes said.
Holmes said construction materials were effectively to virtually 100 percent banned from entering into Gaza since the Hamas takeover in 2007, which meant even before these hostilities a lot of humanitarian projects which had been planned were not able to be completed.He cited the repair of Gaza's sewage system, which was further damaged in the latest conflict, as an example.So it's absolutely critical that these kind of materials now be allowed into Gaza on a regular basis, Holmes said.
Meeting of Arab leaders on Gaza ends in discord By DIANA ELIAS, Associated Press Writer – Tue Jan 20, 12:59 pm ET
KUWAIT CITY – Arab leaders trying to come up with a plan to rebuild Gaza ended their meeting Tuesday in discord, unable to agree on whether to back Egyptian peace efforts or even set up a joint reconstruction fund for the devastated Palestinian territory.The deep tensions among rival Arab leaders could affect the fragile cease-fire between Hamas and Israel that ended a three-week Israeli onslaught on the Mediterranean strip. The military campaign to stop militant rocket fire left around 1,300 Palestinians dead, according to Gaza health officials, and material damage estimated at around $2 billion. Thirteen Israelis were also killed.The violence in Gaza split Arab countries into two camps — one led by Syria and Qatar supporting Hamas hard-liners who rule the territory, and another led by Egypt and Saudi Arabia hoping to lure the Palestinian militant group toward more moderation.The two-day gathering of Arab leaders in Kuwait that ended Tuesday was expected to announce a fund to rebuild Gaza and a unified statement about how to end the crisis there.
Instead, pledges came in vague and without figures, along with criticism for Israel and threats to hold it accountable for what leaders called war crimes in Gaza.Saudi Arabia was the only Arab country to commit at the opening of the gathering to a $1 billion contribution for rebuilding efforts, and Kuwait's emir, Sheik Sabah Al Ahmed Al Sabah, said the reconstruction should be an international collective effort.It remains to be seen when the money will be paid and if it will be delivered to Gaza's militant Hamas rulers or to the rival Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.An international effort is a million times better, said Nabil al-Fadhl, columnist for Kuwait's Al-Watan newspaper.Do you want to give the donations to Hamas, the illegal authority? Hamas seized control of Gaza in June 2007 from its Palestinian rival, the Fatah movement of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, which now controls only the West Bank. The two groups have been unable to come up with a power-sharing agreement.Shortly before a final statement was read, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, without naming specific countries, said leaders were unable to reach a consensus.Some are entrenched in their positions, Zebari told state-owned Kuwait Television.After the summit ended, Arab League chief Amr Moussa acknowledged he was frustrated.
Of course the Arab situation is still troubled and tense ... and we need to exert efforts to close ranks as much as possible, he said.Egypt and Saudi Arabia, both staunch U.S. allies, initially blamed Hamas for the Gaza crisis, which Israel says it launched to halt rockets fired by the militant group on its south. Later, as the Gaza death toll increased and public pressure in the Arab world to support Hamas mounted, the two Arab powerhouses shifted their accusations toward Israel.The two Arab camps are also divided about what should be done with the Arab peace initiative — first proposed by Saudi Arabia in 2002 and relaunched in March 2007.
At a summit in Qatar Friday, Syria called for putting the peace initiative on hold — a more radical position than one outlined by Saudi King Abdullah on Monday.The Arab peace initiative offers Israel collective Arab recognition in exchange for Israeli withdrawal from territory it occupied during the 1967 Mideast war, the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital and a just solution to the problem of Palestinian refugees.Israel initially rejected the initiative in 2002, but in the past year has said it could be a starting point for discussions.
Israeli PM says Obama will be full partner in Mideast Tue Jan 20, 11:36 am ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert congratulated Barack Obama on his inauguration as US president, saying he hoped their two countries would be full partners in promoting Middle East peace.We wish the incoming president good luck and we are sure we will be full partners in promoting peace and stability in the Middle East, Olmert said in a statement released ahead of Obama's swearing in.The inauguration of the 44th US president comes just days after Israel halted the deadliest offensive it ever launched on the Gaza Strip, a three-week war against the Islamist Hamas movement that killed more than 1,300 Palestinians.
