Israel launches air strikes in Gaza
Tue Feb 2, 7:05 pm ET
GAZA (Reuters) – Israel launched air strikes in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday hitting tunnels along the border with Egypt and an abandoned airport, officials on both sides said.There were no reports of injuries from what witnesses said were five missiles fired by Israeli air force fighter jets at an airport is not operational and on tunnels Israel says are used to smuggle weapons into the coastal territory.
An Israeli army spokesman confirmed the attacks took place saying the air strikes targeted two sites where tunnels were dug to help gunmen infiltrate from Islamist Hamas-ruled Gaza into Israel and to smuggle in weapons from Egypt.The strikes were in response to two explosive devices that washed up on Israel's coastline the previous day, and rockets fired at Israel, including one that slammed into a farming area on Tuesday causing no injury, the Israeli spokesman said.The attacks came shortly after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a news conference alongside Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi that Israel would respond to the explosives found on the country's Mediterranean beaches.Palestinian militants from the Israeli-blockaded territory claimed responsibility for what Israel described as an unusual type of attempted attack. Most attacks from Gaza in the past few years have been by rocket shootings at Israeli towns.The Islamic Jihad group said it had floated the explosives out to sea in a joint operation with two other groups including the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement.Hamas, a Palestinian group that seized control of Gaza in 2007, has largely reined in its own militants since a devastating war with Israel a year ago in which 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed.In a separate development, an Arab resident of an Israeli town was spotted wandering toward the Gaza border, an Israeli military official said. The same man has made previous attempts to illegally cross into Egypt and Jordan, and was believed to be mentally unstable, the official added.Palestinian witnesses said Hamas police officials took the man into custody after he crossed into Gaza. There were no further details immediately available about the case.(Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi; Writing by Allyn Fisher-Ilan; Editing by Jon Hemming)
Talks to free Israeli soldier halted: Hamas official
Tue Feb 2, 12:57 pm ET
LONDON (AFP) – Negotiations between Hamas and Israel over a prisoner swap involving captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit have stopped, a senior official in the Islamist movement said in an interview aired on Tuesday.Up to this moment, we fail to achieve this process, Mahmud Zahar told the BBC.After the interference of (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu, there was a big regression and retraction. For this reason, everything has stopped,said Zahar, one of the leaders of Hamas in its Gaza Strip stronghold.Shalit, now 23, was captured by Hamas fighters and militants from two other groups in a deadly cross-border raid from Gaza in June 2006.Although Israel is reportedly prepared to release about 450 prisoners in exchange for Shalit, Netanyahu has vowed not to free several high-profile Palestinians who Hamas insist must be part of any deal.Netanyahu said on Tuesday that Israel wanted to carry out a prisoner exchange, but that it refuses to allow Palestinians convicted of taking part in deadly attacks against Israelis to return to the West Bank.If Hamas wants a deal, it will happen. If not, it won't happen. The decision is in its hands, Netanyahu told a Jerusalem press conference alongside Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.Last month, the Israeli premier told his right-wing Likud party that he would not release terror masterminds and never agree to the return of dangerous terrorists to the West Bank.Netanyahu was apparently referring to Marwan Barghuti, the popular Palestinian leader who Israel holds responsible for instigating the 2000 outbreak of the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising.
Barghuti, who was elected to the governing body of the secular Fatah party of Western-backed Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in August, is currently serving five life sentences for murder and his role in the intifada.He is widely seen as the uprising's architect, although he has said he opposed attacks on civilians inside Israel, including the scores of suicide bombers sent in by armed groups.
Netanyahu accuses Lebanon over Hezbollah forces
Tue Feb 2, 12:02 pm ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday accused Lebanon of allowing Hezbollah to develop its military force by smuggling weapons in violation of a UN resolution.We are worried about developments in Lebanon and the great flow of weapons, rockets and missiles in blatant violation of (United Nations Security Council) Resolution 1701, Netanyahu told a press conference alongside his Italian counterpart, Silvio Berlusconi.Shiite movement Hezbollah is part of a coalition government formed in November by US- and Saudi-backed Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri and Netanyahu said he held the Lebanese government accountable.
Hezbollah is in the Lebanese government and is developing a military force under the government,said Netanyahu.These weapons are without doubt aimed at Israeli civilians, said Netanyahu. It is the responsibility of the Lebanese government to prevent attacks against Israel and its citizens.Berlusconi said he would raise the Israeli concerns when he meets Hariri in Beirut this month.Israel and Hezbollah fought a devastating war in 2006, which killed more than 1,200 Lebanese, most of them civilians, and more than 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers.Resolution 1701, which led to an end to the 34-day conflict, set mechanisms to stop arms smuggling into Lebanon.
Iran accuses Israel of killing Hamas leader
Tue Feb 2, 9:23 am ET
TEHRAN (AFP) – Iran accused its arch-foe Israel on Tuesday of being behind the killing in Dubai last month of a top militant of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, branding the murder state terrorism.Mahmoud al-Mabhuh, found dead in his luxury hotel room in Dubai on January 20, was a senior militant official of Hamas which is supported by Tehran.This is another sign indicating the existence of state terrorism of the Zionist regime (Israel) and shows the violation of the sovereignty of other countries by this regime, Iran foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told reporters.The silence of countries and international communities on this matter is surprising.Iran has been a staunch supporter of Hamas since the movement won Palestinian legislative elections in 2006, although Tehran says its aid does not extend to military arms and training, as alleged by Israel.Mehmanparast also called on Islamic countries to plan against the danger of this regime with more alertness and take necessary actions.The hardline Hamas has also accused Israel of killing Mabhuh and has vowed revenge.Mabhuh, born in Jabaliya in northern Gaza, was behind the capture of two Israeli soldiers, Avi Sasportas and Ilan Sadon, in separate operations in 1989, both of whom were later murdered.Dubai's police chief said on Sunday that Israel's spy agency Mossad may have been behind the death, which he said was by suffocation.
It could be Mossad, or another party, Dhahi Khalfan told AFP.Personally, I don't exclude any possibility. I don't exclude any party that has an interest in the assassination of Mabhuh.Hamas has acknowledged that Mabhuh was in Dubai to buy weapons for Hamas in its struggle against Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories.
Berlusconi says Israel should join EU
Tue Feb 2, 5:27 am ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said at the start of a three-day visit to Israel on Monday that the Jewish state's future belongs in the European Union.My greatest desire, as long as I am a protagonist in politics, is to bring Israel into membership of the European Union, the Italian leader said at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office.Berlusconi also spoke of his great friendship and love for Israel and its people.Netanyahu called the visit -- during which eight Italian ministers accompanying Berlusconi will hold a joint cabinet meeting on Tuesday with their Israeli counterparts -- historic.I have the privilege of hosting one of the greatest friends of Israel, he said.While Israeli relations with some European nations have been frosty over the conflict with the Palestinians, ties with Italy have been much warmer, spurred by the personal friendship between the two leaders.After he took office early last year, Netanyahu's first European visit was to Italy.Berlusconi, who will address Israel's parliament, the Knesset, on Wednesday, told a state dinner how a visit to the Auschwitz Nazi death camp in Poland influenced his support for Israel.From that moment on I felt I was part of your history and I acted in the manner which I thought was the most appropriate by backing your people and your country, he said.It is my duty to act so that leaders of the world do not make the same error, he said, stressing that indifference was the root cause of the Holocaust.Netanyahu responded with comments apparently aimed at Iran, calling Israel's arch-foe a bloodthirsty dictatorship, although he did not identify the Islamic republic by name.
Mankind stands before one of its greatest tests since World War II, the attempt by an extremist Islamic regime, a bloodthirsty dictatorship, to acquire nuclear weapons and endanger the whole world, he said.Israel has routinely called for tough measures against Iran, which the West suspects of seeking to develop a weapons capability under the guise of a civil nuclear programme, an accusation Tehran denies.Israel is widely believed to be the Middle East's sole if undeclared nuclear power.Before his visit, Berlusconi had expressed some criticism of Israel, telling Haaretz newspaper that the country's settlement policy could be an obstacle to peace.I would like to say to the people and government of Israel, as a friend, with my hand on my heart, that persisting with this policy is a mistake,he said.However, Berlusconi praised Netanyahu's courage for imposing in November a 10-month freeze on new construction in settlements in the occupied West Bank.The Palestinians have refused to relaunch peace talks with Israel without a full freeze, and said Netanyahu's limited moratorium was insufficient because it excludes east Jerusalem, public buildings and projects already under way. Nearly half a million Israelis live in more than 120 settlements scattered across the occupied West Bank including east Jerusalem, territories captured by Israel in the 1967 Six Day War.
Jordan king urges more peace efforts from Obama
Mon Feb 1, 9:23 pm ET
AMMAN (AFP) – US President Barack Obama telephoned Jordan's King Abdullah II to discuss efforts to overcome obstacles facing the launch of Palestinian-Israeli peace talks, the palace said.The two leaders discussed Middle East developments, mainly efforts aimed at overcoming obstacles facing the launch of serious and effective Palestinian-Israeli negotiations in line with a two-state solution, a palace statement said.It quoted the king as telling Obama that the United States plays a key role in resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, which is a priority to achieve a comprehensive peace in the Middle East.Efforts must be intensified to launch negotiations that would lead to a two-state solution, which enjoys an international consensus,the king said.In Washington, the White House said Obama expressed his appreciation for Jordan's staunch support for a two-state solution and comprehensive peace in the region, and told the King he considers Jordan to be an integral partner of the United States.The United States has been trying for months to re-launch peace talks, but the Palestinians are demanding that Israel halts all settlement growth in the West Bank and east Jerusalem as a pre-condition for negotiations.The White House pledged on Friday to push hard for the talks in 2010, acknowledging it was a major disappointment that Obama's administration was unable to jump-start negotiations in its first year.Jordan, a key US ally, signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994.
Jordan pulls citizenship from Palestinians: US rights group
by Musa Hattar – Mon Feb 1, 2:23 pm ET
AMMAN (AFP) – Jordan has revoked citizenship from nearly 3,000 Jordanians of Palestinian origin and should put an end to the practice, Human Rights Watch said in a report released on Monday.HRW said 2,732 Palestinians were stripped of their Jordanian nationality between 2004 and 2008.Jordan is playing politics with the basic rights of thousands of its citizens, said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director of the US-based group that released the 60-page report at a news conference in Amman.Officials are denying entire families the ability to lead normal lives with the sense of security that most citizens of a country take for granted, the report said.The practice continued in 2009, denying many people basic citizenship rights such as access to education and health care, HRW said.We believe the total and actual number of those who have been stripped of their nationality is much bigger, Christoph Wilcke, a HRW researcher, told reporters.In 1950, Jordan annexed the West Bank following the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, and granted all residents Jordanian nationality.But in 1988, it severed legal and administrative ties to the West Bank, relinquishing claims to sovereignty there and withdrawing Jordanian nationality from all Palestinians who resided in the West Bank at the time, the report said.Other Jordanians of West Bank origin, but who were not living in the West Bank at the time, were not affected and kept their Jordanian nationality.Over the last decade and more, though, Jordan has arbitrarily withdrawn its nationality from thousands of these citizens of West Bank origin, the report said.Jordan, where a significant proportion of the nearly six million inhabitants are of Palestinian origin, has said the measure was a means to counter any Israeli plans to transfer Palestinians of the West Bank to the kingdom, according to HRW.One day you're Jordanian, and the next you've been stripped of your rights as a citizen in your own country, Whitson said.
But government spokesman Nabil Sharif criticised the report, charging it was rife with inaccuracies and wrong allegations, according to remarks carried by the official Petra news agency.Sharif said Jordan only revoked citizenship from a certain group of people who hold dual Jordanian and Palestinian nationality.This measure, he said, aimed to sort out the situation of such individuals in keeping with Jordan's decision in 1988 to disengage from the West Bank.Jordan is thus encouraging Palestinians to stay in the Palestinian territories and foil (Israeli) plans to Judaize the land and empty it of its inhabitants.Meanwhile, a Jordanian woman who says she was targeted by the decision, Kawkab Dawood al-Kawassmi, interrupted the news conference to vent her despair, saying her entire family had lost their citizenship.We've been living in Jordan for 60 years. There are 30 members in our family and we have all been stripped of our passports, Kawassmi said.
We no longer have health insurance, we are not allowed to own property and our children can no longer find work,she added, pleading with Jordan's King Abdullah II to look into her family's case.
Abbas to respond to US peace plan within week
Mon Feb 1, 10:34 am ET
BERLIN (AFP) – The Palestinian Authority will respond within a week to a proposal made by US Middle East envoy George Mitchell to push forward the Middle East peace process, president Mahmud Abbas said on Monday.There is a proposal from Mr Mitchell ... we have promised to examine this, to discuss it with our brothers and friends and then give an answer within a week from today, Abbas said after talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.After a round of shuttle diplomacy earlier in January, meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Abbas, Mitchell put forward a plan to relaunch peace talks.According to a Palestinian official, the plan calls on Israel to loosen its hold on some Palestinian-controlled areas, release a number of prisoners and ease a virtual blockade of the Gaza Strip.The initiative was aimed at creating an atmosphere for the relaunch of peace talks suspended more than a year ago, the official said on condition of anonymity.The Palestinian Authority has refused to negotiate with Israel without a complete halt to settlement building in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.Abbas has said Israel's partial settlement freeze, which excludes building in annexed Arab east Jerusalem and the construction of public building, was insufficient.
Israel nabs two Hamas recruits planning attacks
Mon Feb 1, 8:02 am ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israeli police said on Monday they arrested two Palestinians suspected of being recruited by Hamas abroad in order to carry out attacks against civilian population centres.Murad Nammar and Murad Kamal, both from occupied east Jerusalem and aged 25, were arrested last month in the central bus station of the southern city of Beersheva carrying portable memory cards with detailed plans for terror attacks in central Israeli targets, the army said in a statement.Those targets included central bus stations, a hospital outside Tel Aviv, a hotel and a Jerusalem shopping mall, it said.An investigation by Israel's Shin Bet internal security services showed that the two were recruited by Hamas commanders abroad to collect information on possible targets for terror attacks in Israel.The recruitment took place in Jordan and Dubai, where the two suspects had been staying in the months before their arrival in Israel. They had also met foreign agents in Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Turkey.In addition to that, they were scheduled to receive weaponry and explosive devices from their commanders, the statement said.The two were indicted in a Jerusalem court on charges of conspiring with foreign agents, membership in a terror organization, aiding the enemy and espionage.
Berlusconi warning over Israeli settlements
Sun Jan 31, 4:26 am ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories could be an obstacle to peace in an interview with an Israeli daily published Sunday.Berlusconi made the remarks ahead of a three-day visit to the Jewish state in which he was to deliver a speech in Israel's parliament, the Knesset.Israel's settlement policy could be an obstacle to peace, Berlusconi told the Haaretz newspaper.I would like to say to the people and government of Israel, as a friend, with my hand on my heart, that persisting with this policy is a mistake, he said.It will never be possible to convince the Palestinians of Israel's good intentions while Israel continues to build in territories that are to be returned as part of a peace agreement.At the same time, Berlusconi praised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's courage for imposing in November a 10-month freeze on new construction in settlements in the occupied West Bank.The Palestinians have refused to relaunch peace talks with Israel without a full freeze, and said Netanyahu's limited moratorium was insufficient because it excludes east Jerusalem, public buildings and projects already under way.
Nearly a half million Israelis live in more than 120 settlements scattered across the occupied West Bank including east Jerusalem, territories seized by Israel in the 1967 Six Day War.Washington has been struggling for months to convince the two sides to restart negotiations suspended 13 months ago during last winter's Gaza war.
Israel rejects Gaza war crimes accusations in UN response by Ron Bousso – Fri Jan 29, 3:37 pm ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel handed the United Nations on Friday a report on its military investigations into the Gaza war, rejecting accusations of war crimes and refusing to say whether it will hold an independent inquiry.UN chief Ban Ki-moon's office confirmed he had received a letter from Israel responding to allegations and that he was working on his response to the UN General Assembly.The Palestinian observer to the United Nations also said he had handed over his government's report on war crimes allegedly committed by Palestinian militants during the brief but bloody conflict.Israel's 46-page report said its army had examined 150 reports of wrongdoing during last year's war, of which 36 had been referred to criminal investigation.While admitting several fatal errors in judgment, the report denied any violations of international law during the war in which some 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed.The complexity and scale of such operations means that inevitably there are tragic instances, mistakes, and errors of judgment. Tragic results, including civilian death and damage to property do not necessarily mean that violations of international law have occurred, it said.The 36 cases under criminal investigation included 34 incidents addressed by a fact-finding mission by the UN Human Rights Council headed by South African international war crimes prosecutor Richard Goldstone, the report said.I think this report again proves the fact that the IDF (Israel Defence Force) is the most responsible and serious army and operates in the most moral way, Defence Minister Ehud Barak said in a statement earlier on Friday.He called the Goldstone report -- which accused both Israel and Palestinian armed groups of war crimes during the three weeks of fighting -- distorted, biased and unbalanced.
Hamas has also denied accusations of war crimes.At the United Nations, Palestinian observer Riyad Mansour said the Palestinian Authority met the deadline in submitting what is required of it, referring to a call by the UN General Assembly last November for Israel and Hamas to conduct independent probes of the allegations by February 5.
The Israeli report did not list all of the investigations it had carried out, but provided several detailed examples of its probes into some incidents.In one instance, the report said after investigating allegations that the army had used munitions containing white phosphorous -- banned by international war conventions -- that the army found its use was consistent with Israel?s obligations under international law.The report also summarised the Israeli army's internal judicial and investigative systems, comparing it to those of a number of Western armies, including Australia, Britain, Canada and the United States.The report made no reference to whether the Israeli government would agree to form an independent inquiry committee.Information Minister Yuli Edelstein said earlier in the week that Israel rejected the demand for a verification commission to probe the devastating offensive launched on December 27, 2008 in response to Palestinian rocket fire.But Israeli media have said the government may agree to a limited probe to deflect some international criticism.In such a case the investigators would examine decisions and orders given by government officials and military top brass and would interview only senior officials, the mass-selling Yediot Aharonot said. Leading Israeli human rights groups have urged Israel to establish, without delay, an independent and impartial investigation.The Hamas rulers of Gaza insisted this week their investigations showed that Palestinian fighters in the coastal strip did not target Israeli civilians during the war -- a stand rejected by Human Rights Watch.
Hamas?s claim that rockets were intended to hit Israeli military targets and only accidentally harmed civilians is belied by the facts, the New York-based group said.
The 575-page Goldstone report recommended that its conclusions be referred to the International Criminal Court prosecutor in The Hague if Israel and Hamas fail to carry out credible investigations.
Turkey offers to resume Israel-Syria mediation By Adrian Croft – Fri Jan 29, 1:45 pm ET
LONDON (Reuters) – Turkey is ready to try again to broker a peace agreement between Israel and Syria if both countries agree to resume the stalled initiative, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Friday.Davutoglu said Israel's 2008 invasion of Gaza scuttled a potential peace deal after Turkey mediated in indirect talks between Israel and Syria.Is it possible to restart it again? Yes, why not? Davutoglu said in response to a question about the talks.If the two countries agree to restart it, we can do it. As Turkey, we are ready, Davutoglu said at the International Institute of Strategic Studies thinktank in London.The Syrian side already declared they want to continue from where we left (off). The Israeli side, they have different views. Some coalition members are against, some are in favor. We will see, he said.If we see a strong political will, both in Israel and Syria, we will continue to support (peace efforts). We will support every attempt, step in the direction of peace.
INDIRECT TALKS
Israel and Syria held four indirect rounds of peace talks with Turkish mediation in 2008, but they were suspended following the resignation of then Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in September that year.Syria said at the time of the Israeli offensive in Gaza at the end of 2008 that it ruled out a resumption of the indirect talks any time soon.But more recently, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has expressed interest in renewing negotiations with Israel.Syria wants an Israeli commitment to withdraw from the whole of the Golan Heights, the Syrian plateau that Israel occupied in the 1967 Middle East War.Israel has said it was willing to resume the talks without preconditions.George Mitchell, U.S. President Barack Obama's Middle East envoy, discussed reviving peace talks between Israel and Syria last week with Assad, who said Israel had to declare frankly it wants peace.Muslim but secular, Turkey has a history of military cooperation with Israel and has acted as an intermediary for the Jewish state with the Arab world.But relations have soured recently as Turkey repeatedly criticized Israel's offensive in Palestinian-ruled Gaza.Syria has meanwhile improved its ties with Turkey, making Israeli officials wary of Turkey resuming a mediation role.Davutoglu repeated that the Israel-Syria peace talks had been making progress when Israel launched the Gaza offensive.
Turkey was concerned with the policies of Israel because of Gaza, he said, adding: Criticizing one policy of an Israeli government does not mean the end of Turkish-Israel relations.(Editing by Tim Castle)
