U.S. promises sustained Middle East peace bid By Sue Pleming FEB 3,09
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Following through on a pledge to make Israeli-Palestinian peace a priority, the Obama administration will send its Middle East envoy back to the region this month to try to revive stalled talks.Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Tuesday that envoy George Mitchell, whose first trip came a week after Barack Obama took over the presidency, would return to the Middle East before the end of February.Clinton, with Mitchell at her side, said the United States was prepared to work with all of the parties to make progress toward Palestinian statehood.But she urged the militant group Hamas to meet oft-repeated conditions. They (Hamas) must renounce violence, they must recognize Israel, they must agree to abide by prior agreements, she said.Asked whether Clinton might have a new approach toward Hamas, State Department spokesman Robert Wood indicated no policy shift.I don't think there was any ambiguity there on what she said, said Wood.But Middle East expert Shibley Telhami said how to tackle Hamas was a key issue for the new team. Hamas, which the Bush administration isolated, rules Gaza while the West Bank is run by President Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah movement.The real choice is between whether they continue just to support President Abbas ... or whether they will actively pursue a policy that encourages Arab partners to bring about reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah, said Telhami, a professor at the University of Maryland.
PROMISES
In his presidential campaign Obama promised to focus on the Middle East right away. His predecessor, George W. Bush, who was engaged in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, waited until his last year in office to make a major effort in the area.Clinton, whose husband President Bill Clinton worked until nearly his last day in office to get an elusive deal, promised a sustained effort from the new administration.This is the first of what will be an ongoing high level of engagement by Senator Mitchell on behalf of myself and the president, she said.The United States is committed to this path, and we are going to work as hard as we can over what period of time is required to try to help the parties make progress together, she added.Mitchell, who helped broker peace in Northern Ireland, returned on Monday from talks with Israelis and Palestinians in a bid to shore up a ceasefire in Gaza following Israel's three-week offensive launched in December.Mitchell said the situation was obviously complex and difficult but he was convinced that with patient diplomacy the United States could help achieve a long-term peace.There are no easy or risk-free courses of action, he told reporters. I plan to establish a regular and sustained presence in the region.Former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice traveled nearly monthly to Israel and the West Bank in her final year in office in a bid to get the two sides closer to reaching a deal.Mitchell said leaders in the region were anxious for Clinton to go at an appropriate time.British Foreign Secretary David Miliband met both Clinton and Mitchell at the State Department and said they had discussed, among other issues, how to ensure humanitarian aid could get through to Palestinians and international efforts to stop arms smuggling into Gaza. (We also looked at) keeping alive the critically important long-term vision of two states -- Israel and Palestine living side by side in security, which is so essential to regional stability, he added.(Additional reporting by Arshad Mohammed and John Whitesides; editing by David Wiessler and Mohammad Zargham)
Israeli airstrikes respond to medium-range rocket By ARON HELLER, Associated Press Writer FEB 3,09
JERUSALEM – A medium-range rocket from Gaza exploded in the Israeli city of Ashkelon on Tuesday, and witnesses said Israeli warplanes responded before nighftall with airstrikes on the tunnels used by the territory's militant Hamas rulers to smuggle in weapons and supplies.The latest fighting came as Hamas delegates met in Cairo for talks with Egyptian officials trying to mediate a long-term truce with Israel.The Grad rocket from Gaza was the first of its kind to be fired at the city of 122,000 since informal cease-fires were declared separately by Israel and Hamas two weeks ago at the end of Israel's bruising three-week-long offensive. The rocket exploded in an open space in the middle of the city and no one was injured, police said.
The Grad is distinctive from the home-made projectiles more commonly used by Hamas and smaller militant groups, as it is manufactured abroad, has greater reach and carries a more powerful payload.Defense Minister Ehud Barak pledged that if Hamas held its fire Israel would do likewise, while violence would be met by violence.If there is quiet then there will be quiet, he told reporters during a tour of northern Israel's border with Lebanon. If it is necessary to deal another, even stronger, blow then at the right time and in the right way an additional and stronger blow will be dealt.Residents near the Gaza-Egypt border said they received telephone messages from the Israeli military ahead of the airstrikes warning them to leave their homes ahead the airstrike. Such warnings are becoming routine.The recorded messages, in Arabic, said people who work in tunnels, live near them or are giving logistical help to terrorists should evacuate the area immediately, residents said.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive on Dec. 27 to halt near-daily rocket fire from Gaza at Israel targets. Sporadic rocket and mortar fire from Gaza has continued, however, prompting tough warnings of reprisal from Israeli leaders.More than a dozen rockets and mortar shells slammed into Israel on Sunday. The following day Israel fired a missile at a car in the town of Rafah, killing a Palestinian militant, and bombed the nearby Gaza-Egypt border, seeking to destroy tunnels that Hamas uses to smuggle in weapons and supplies.Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni pledged to keep hitting Hamas as long rockets continue to be fired at Israel, and she ruled out negotiations with Hamas.Terror must be fought with force and lots of force. Therefore we will strike Hamas, she said at a security conference Monday. If by ending the operation we have yet to achieve deterrence, we will continue until they get the message.Continued violence could work against Livni's government in the Feb. 10 general election and bolster hard-line opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu, who is seen as the front-runner.Ashkelon was hit by nearly 100 rockets during the Gaza fighting. Following Tuesday's rocket attack, a local parents' union called for classes to be called off. But city officials announced that school would be open as usual.Netanyahu later visited the site and pledged to force regime change in Gaza if he is elected.A government led by me will topple the Hamas government in Gaza and bring peace and security to the south (of Israel), his office quoted him as saying.
At negotiations in Cairo, Hamas' top demand is opening of Gaza's borders with Israel and Egypt. The crossings have remained sealed to all but a trickle of supplies since Hamas seized control of Gaza in June 2007 from its rivals in another Palestinian group.The Hamas delegation, which includes officials from its exiled leadership in Syria, also was to be briefed by the Egyptians about their separate meetings with the Israelis. Hamas and Israel do not negotiate directly. Israel does not want any deal that gives Hamas a role in controlling Gaza border crossings out of concern that that would permit continued weapons smuggling. Israelis feared the threat of a two-front war with Lebanon's Hezbollah militia, which held its fire during the onslaught in Gaza. But the Israeli government believes Hezbollah is planning an attack against Israel, or Israelis abroad, to mark the Feb. 12 anniversary of the killing of a senior Hezbollah commander in a car bombing the militia blames on Israel.The Israeli National Security Agency is warning all Israelis traveling abroad to be extra vigilant for fear of murder or kidnap attempts by Hezbollah agents.
Barak said Lebanon's government, which includes Hezbollah, could also face retaliation if Israel is attacked.Hezbollah is not just a terror organization running around the hills but also sits at the Cabinet table in Beirut, Barak said. Therefore the Lebanese government bears overall responsibility and any attempt to attack Israel will be met with a response.
France to rebuild bombed-out Gaza hospital FEB 3,09
PARIS (AFP) – France plans to rebuild a hospital in Gaza that was bombed by Israel last month, Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said Tuesday during his visit to Paris.France has approved a project to rebuild the Al-Quds hospital in Gaza and this is an extremely important humanitarian project, Abbas told reporters following a lunch meeting with Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner.We hope that it will be implemented as quickly as possible.Kouchner concurred that he had discussed urgent plans to rebuild the Al-Quds hospital and help other health centres in the Palestinian territory following Israel's 22-day offensive that left 1,330 dead.
The hospital in the Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood of Gaza City was hit on January 15 by an Israeli shell and caught fire, forcing hundreds of patients to flee on stretchers and in wheelchairs after dark.Kouchner reiterated calls for allowing humanitarian aid into Gaza through border crossings that France maintains are being sealed off by the Israeli military.France also supports efforts toward Palestinian reconciliation that would open the door to an agreement on forming a government of national unity, said Kouchner.Abbas has called for the formation of a reconciliation government between his Fatah movement and its Hamas rivals to pave the way for elections to restore Palestinian leadership.The president of the Palestinian Authority will travel to Strasbourg to address the European parliament on Wednesday before touring Britain, Turkey, Poland and Italy.
Hamas meets Egypt intelligence chief on Gaza truce by Samer al-Atrash Samer FEB 3,09
CAIRO (AFP) – The Islamist Hamas movement remained defiant on Tuesday in its demands of Israel for a longer-term truce in Gaza as renewed violence around the Palestinian territory overshadowed fresh talks with Egyptian mediators.Representatives of the movement that has controlled Gaza since seizing the territory in June 2007 met Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman -- Cairo's pointman on Palestinian and Israeli affairs -- hours after Gaza militants fired a rocket at an Israeli town.
Hamas officials have said the group is ready to agree to a one-year truce with Israel, but they have not ruled out an 18-month truce proposed by Egyptian mediators.
A senior Hamas official based in Damascus said the delegation had told Suleiman that the group will not agree to an open-ended truce and said all crossings into Gaza must be completely opened.The delegation relayed the general outlines Hamas is willing to work within, Mohammed Nazzal told Qatar-based television news channel Al-Jazeera.The first line is that it agrees to a calm of limited duration, but does not accept an open-ended truce, he said, adding that Hamas will not make any commitments about arms smuggling into Gaza -- a key Israeli demand for an extended truce.
Nazzal also said that Israel must end its blockade of Gaza -- imposed after Hamas seized control of the territory in June 2007 -- in return for a truce.The problem is in the detail and implementation, not in the general outlines, Nazzal said.His comments marked no change from Hamas's consistent demands. A Hamas official had said before the delegation arrived on Monday that the Islamist movement was waiting for Israel's response.We have already responded to the Egyptian proposal and we expect we will hear something positive from the Egyptian side, Osama Hamdan, Hamas's representative in Lebanon, told AFP.Neither Hamas nor Egypt has released details of the Egyptian proposal but Palestinian Islamic Jihad official Jamil Yusef told the state-owned Cairo daily Al-Ahram last week that it linked the full opening of the crossings to the release of captured Israeli soldier Corporal Gilad Shalit.The deal would allow about 70 percent of (Gaza's) daily needs to pass through the Israeli border crossings, which would open fully after solving the issue of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, Yusef, who was in Cairo for the truce talks, said.Israel has tied the end of the blockade with the release of Shalit, who was captured by Palestinian militants in a cross-border raid from Gaza in June 2006. Hamas says Shalit will be released only in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.Egypt has refused to permanently open its Rafah border crossing with Gaza in the absence of EU monitors and representatives of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.Egyptian media reported on Tuesday that the crossing, which Egypt opened during the war for aid and the evacuation of Palestinian wounded, will be closed from Thursday.Hamas and Israel both announced unilateral ceasefires on December 18, ending a devastating 22-day war that killed at least 1,330 Palestinians and 13 Israelis. The fragile calm has been tested by Palestinian rocket attacks and Israeli air strikes.
Turkish PM vows to fight anti-Semitism By CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA, Associated Press Writer FEB 3,09
ISTANBUL – Turkey's leader said Tuesday that criticism of Israel's offensive in Gaza should not be regarded as anti-Semitism, even as his country's small Jewish community looked to police and lawmakers for protection.Last week, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan publicly scolded Israeli President Shimon Peres over casualties among Palestinian civilians and walked off a stage during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Many Turks hailed him as a hero. But the Turkish government, which has been an important Israeli ally in the Muslim world, is campaigning hard to reassure its Jewish citizens that they are safe.There has been no anti-Semitism in the history of this country, Erdogan told ruling party lawmakers. As a minority, they're our citizens. Both their security and the right to observe their faith are under our guarantee.There are 23,000 Jews in the predominantly Muslim country of more than 70 million. Most live in Istanbul, and many have prominent roles in banking and education. Their ancestors arrived five centuries ago, and a recent comment by the prime minister that the Ottoman Empire welcomed Jews bothers some today who feel they are viewed as guests, not citizens.In a statement, the Jewish community welcomed statements by Erdogan and other Turkish officials that anti-Semitism will not be tolerated, and noted a decrease since the Jan. 18 Gaza cease-fire of what it called anti-Semitic manifestations during protests against Israel.
Numerous sensible and impartial journalists and intellectuals have accentuated that this is not a war of religions, said Musevi Cemaati, which means Jewish Community in Turkish. But the group, which has links to Turkey's rabbis, said at present there are unfortunately several TV programs with messages embedded with harshly anti-Semitic rhetoric.The group appeared to be referring to some current affairs programs and other news shows in which comments deemed to be anti-Jewish were made.It said it was in contact with Cabinet ministers and members of parliament, and was cooperating closely with police as it worked to ensure community premises and members are protected.Haberturk television reported that Mustafa Cagirici, the chief Islamic cleric in Istanbul, instructed clerics to avoid statements in weekly sermons on Friday that would disturb the Jewish community.In November 2003, Islamic militants linked to al-Qaida detonated bombs outside two synagogues in Istanbul, killing and injuring dozens. Since then, police have often been posted at Jewish centers.During the Gaza offensive, Turkish fury was mostly directed at Israel, but a few Turkish protesters held placards with anti-Semitic messages. Turkish media showed a photograph of three men in front of the office of a cultural association; they held a dog and a sign saying: Dogs are allowed, but Jews and Armenians aren't.Jewish community leaders say there have been several hundred anti-Semitic writings in Turkish media, and that prosecutors have failed to take legal action. Turkey bans acts that incite racial or religious hatred.Turkey acted as a mediator last year in peace efforts between Israel and Syria, and Erdogan said his country could still play such a role despite his criticism of Israel.Telling the truth is not an obstacle to be a mediator between two countries,Erdogan said.
Hamas prepared for 1-year truce, with open borders By SARAH EL DEEB, Associated Press Writer – Tue Feb 3, 9:25 am ET
CAIRO – Hamas is ready to commit to a yearlong cease-fire with Israel in exchange for a full opening of Gaza's border crossings, the militant group's officials said Tuesday, ahead of a new round of talks with Egyptian mediators in Cairo.Egypt is trying to forge a durable truce between Israel and Gaza's leaders, to replace the temporary and increasingly fragile cease-fire that ended Israel's three-week war on Hamas last month. But arrangements for border security remain a key obstacle.Israel says it won't ease a 20-month blockade of crowded, impoverished Gaza without international guarantees that Hamas will be prevented from smuggling weapons into Gaza. It does not want any deal that gives Hamas a role in controlling Gaza border crossings.So Egypt is also trying to restart reconciliation talks between Hamas and its main rival, U.S.-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Egypt has focused on getting Abbas' forces back to the Gaza crossings — perhaps with some form of symbolic Hamas presence — along with European monitors.But past attempts to broker a power-sharing deal among the Palestinians factions have failed.Prospects remain dim, with Hamas increasingly entrenched since its violent takeover of Gaza in June 2007. Abbas' government is now limited to the West Bank.Foreign ministers from nearly a dozen Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, met in the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday to bolster Egypt's mediation mission.The meeting appeared aimed at showing support for Abbas and pushing Hamas to accept a truce with Israel and reconciliation with Abbas. Key Hamas ally Syria was not invited.Saudi Arabia has offered its own proposals to help Palestinian reconciliation efforts, said Nabil Amr, the Palestinian representative to Egypt. The essence of the Saudi ideas is to provide more support for the Egyptian initiative by involving Arabs in it, Amr told The Associated Press. He did not provide details.
Saudi involvement signaled a more assertive role for the regional powerhouse, which largely stayed on the sidelines during the Gaza crisis. On Monday, Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal held surprise meetings in Cairo with Abbas and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.Abbas is now on a European tour seeking to ensure that he wins a role in any future Gaza deal. He wants support for a Palestinian unity government and a role in rebuilding impoverished Gaza. On Tuesday, Abbas was in Paris, meeting with French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and the president of the lower house of France's parliament.Egypt is hoping to forge a truce deal between Israel and Hamas by Thursday, and a five-member Hamas delegation was in Cairo for talks with the country's chief mediator.Ahmed Abdel-Hadi, a Lebanon-based Hamas official, said the movement is ready to commit to a yearlong truce, with the possibility of extending it, in exchange for open borders.The coming hours are going to be sensitive, in order to bring out a draft of an agreement, regarding the calm and opening the borders of Gaza, Abdel-Hadi told Gaza's Al Quds Radio. There is an agreement in principle about a calm (cease-fire) for one year. But the movement could show flexibility regarding the time ... if there are guarantees and commitments to lift the sanctions and open the borders.Abdel-Hadi said Hamas rejects a gradual opening of the border crossings or linking a truce deal to a release of Israeli Sgt. Gilad Schalit, held by Hamas-allied militants in Gaza since June 2006. We are going to deal with all the issues as one package, because we are going to avoid the trap of gradual implementation, he said.Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman in Gaza, said the movement is open to extending the cease-fire to 18 months.
Palestinian rocket explodes in Israeli town: army Tue Feb 3, 2:23 am ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – A rocket fired by Palestinian militants from the Gaza Strip exploded early Tuesday in the southern Israeli town of Ashkelon, the Israeli army announced.The blast caused damage but nobody was injured, a spokesman said.Public radio said it was the first rocket to hit Ashkelon since a truce came into effect on January 18 ending the Israeli operation in the Gaza Strip during which more than 1,330 Palestinians were killed.
Hamas leader thanks Iran for help in Gaza fight By NASSER KARIMI, Associated Press Writer – Mon Feb 2, 3:02 pm ET
TEHRAN, Iran – Hamas' top political leader thanked Iran Monday for its support during Israel's Gaza offensive, calling his movement's most powerful ally a partner in victory.Khaled Mashaal received a hero's welcome from hundreds of Iranians at Tehran University, where a crowd chanted: Hail to the soldier of holy war. On Sunday, he met the country's two top leaders, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.Mashaal's visit to Tehran underlined his group's close ties with Iran. But the country's substantial financial backing for the Palestinian militant group could be strained in the coming months, as the Islamic Republic struggles with growing financial troubles exacerbated by the sharp drop in oil prices.Mashaal's visit was his first since Israel launched its three-week assault in late December, aimed at stopping years of Hamas rocket fire into southern Israel. The fighting killed nearly 1,300 Palestinians, Gaza officials say, along with 13 Israelis.A cease-fire went into effect two weeks ago but has since been tested by sporadic Palestinian shelling and retaliatory Israeli airstrikes. Hamas has claimed victory simply by surviving.Israel and the United States accuse Iran of supplying Hamas with weapons, including rockets. Tehran denies it, but says it does support Hamas financially — believed to be to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars. The funding has been vital for sustaining Hamas under the crippling blockade that Israel and Egypt have imposed on Gaza since Hamas took over the Palestinian territory by force in 2007.Mashaal, who heads the Hamas leadership-in-exile in Syria, said Iran played a big role in helping Hamas with money and moral support during Israel's assault.God made us victorious in Gaza, and we, the Hamas movement, came to say thank you to Iran, which stood with us, he said in a speech at Tehran University. You are our partners in the victory in Gaza, he added, addressing the Iranian people. He the specifically thanked Ahmadinejad and Khamenei.Thank you for all the financial, political and popular support which you have given to us. The Palestinian people will not forget.Israel, along with the U.S. and Europe, considers Hamas a terrorist group. But Iran sees Hamas as justifiable resistance to Israel and the rightful Palestinian government, since 2006 elections that Hamas won.
Iran and Hamas are ideologically different — Iran espouses a fundamentalist Shiite version of Islam, while Hamas adheres to an equally strict rival Sunni version. But the Palestinian militant group gives Tehran a key foothold on the doorstep of Israel and Arab allies of the United States.Iran has never revealed how much money it provides to Hamas, but the group has said it received hundreds of million dollars from the country over the past year.That's only a fraction of the billions Iran earns from oil exports, the main source of its foreign income. But the tumble in oil prices — from a record $147 in July to around $40 a barrel now — has slashed Iran's revenues.The government plans to cut many subsidies to fight a budget deficit of billions of dollars — which could fuel social disenchantment, already high over a domestic inflation rate of about 25 percent annually.Iran's generosity could falter when its annual $100 billion oil income falls to $35 billion due to falling oil prices, said Saeed Laylaz, a prominent Iranian political analyst.But he said Iran was unlikely to cut off the flow of cash completely, because Hamas and Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah group — another close ally — are important for Iran's foreign policy toward the U.S.Iran's presidential elections in June and persistent international pressure over its disputed nuclear program could also force its leaders to focus more on matters at home.Separate from the government funding to Hamas, Iranians regularly donate money for the Palestinians to the Red Crescent or to charities — some of which may go through Hamas to Gazans. That money too could take a hit because of economic hardships. At a fundraiser Monday for Palestinian children orphaned during the offensive, housewife Mehraneh Abdi, 43, gave $20. She said she wanted to give more but can't since the cost of living has increased sharply in the past months in Iran.Down the street, teacher Minoo Rasai said the government shouldn't be giving so much either, noting that she has not received part of her salary for months. The government should pay our salary rather than paying people abroad, she sighed.
