Obama tells Abbas he is committed to Palestinian state
Fri Jul 9, 5:03 pm ET
RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories (AFP) – US President Barack Obama assured Mahmud Abbas by telephone on Friday of his commitment to the establishment of a Palestinian state, the Palestinian leader's spokesman said.Mr. Obama promised Mr. Abbas to make all efforts for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state living in security, peace and stability alongside Israel,Nabil Abou Roudeina told AFP, adding that the US leader had called Abbas.The call followed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's White House meeting with Obama on Tuesday, in which the two leaders discussed a number of issues, including Israel's stalled peace talks with the Palestinians.President Abbas received a phone call from President Obama about the latest political events, in particular the meeting of Mr. Obama with Netanyahu, Roudeina said.He said that Abbas had assured Obama of his own commitment to a peace process that is serious and continuous, and which leads to the end of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories... and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.Abbas had stressed to Obama the US leader's role in a serious, lasting peace process which would bring to an end what he called the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 and to the creation of an independent Palestinian state.The White House confirmed the telephone conversation took place, saying Obama noted the positive momentum generated by the recent improvements on the ground in Gaza and in the West Bank, the restraint shown by both sides in recent months, and progress in the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian proximity talks.He and President Abbas reviewed ways to advance to direct talks in the near term, in order to reach an agreement that ends the conflict, and establishes an independent and viable Palestinian state living side by side in peace and security with Israel,the White House said in a statement.Obama also said that US Middle East envoy George Mitchell would travel to the region soon and meet Abbas to build on this momentum to advance our common goals.
South Lebanon people wary of French peacekeepers By Mariam Karouny – Fri Jul 9, 2:58 pm ET
KABRIKHA, Lebanon (Reuters) – Villagers in south Lebanon blamed French U.N. peacekeepers on Friday for recent tension and clashes near the border region with Israel, saying their patrols had become provocative and intrusive.The last two weeks have seen an increase in standoffs in the border area, a bastion of the Shi'ite militant Hezbollah group. Last week, residents in Kabrikha village attacked French UNIFIL peacekeepers, seizing their weapons and wounding their leader.Tension has been high since Israel accused Syria in April of transferring long-range Scud missiles to Hezbollah. Lebanon and Syria denied the charge, but it fueled security concerns.UNIFIL says its units respect the rights of Lebanon's civilians but residents of Kabrikha and five other villages in south Lebanon's border region said that in the past three months the French unit's behavior had became provocative and raised questions over their neutrality as a peacekeeping force.Recently they started to go ...between the houses and take pictures in the village. Once they took a picture of an old woman inside her house,said Ahmed Zahwi, a man in his 70s from Kabrikha.This is not acceptable here and our traditions do not allow that and we do not accept that. We told them once, twice and a third time and they never listened, he said angrily.The United Nations Security Council is due to meet on Friday, at France's request, to discuss the confrontations. The Lebanese army will send an additional brigade to the south of the country following the skirmishes, a newspaper reported on Friday.UNIFIL commander Major-General Alberto Asarta Cuevas said his force respected the villagers' culture, privacy and property. Problems should be resolved by discussion not by obstructing the work of the peacekeepers or by beating them.In an open letter to the people of south Lebanon which was published on Thursday, the Spanish major-general added: Our soldiers have received clear orders not to take pictures unless absolutely necessary for operation reasons.
HEZBOLLAH DOESN'T WANT ESCALATION
Some villagers said they were worried that Israel might be exerting pressure on France to spy on its behalf on Hezbollah, which is highly respected in the south and is considered the driving force behind Israel's withdrawal from south Lebanon in 2000after more than 22 years of occupation.Washington labels Hezbollah a terrorist group.
We do not know why they are doing this. Maybe Israel is behind them, said Mohamad Hmood from the village of Tebnin.If they continue like this we will ask their country to pull them out. This time people threw stones at them, next they might shoot at them, he said.UNIFIL, which was set up in 1978 and expanded in 2006 to monitor the end of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, has insisted it must have freedom of movement.Israel has criticized the U.N. peacekeeping operation in Lebanon for not stopping weapons it says are still flowing to Hezbollah guerrillas in the south. The United Nations says that is the responsibility of Lebanese authorities.U.N. special coordinator for Lebanon Michael Williams said last week that there had been several confrontations in southern Lebanon and some were clearly organized.Some Western diplomats say Hezbollah members have encouraged and taken part in the incidents, a charge the group and the villagers deny.When there is an attack on south Lebanon we are all Hezbollah and will all defend our land,said Ali Sofan from Joweya village. If Hezbollah did not want them here they wouldn't have lasted this long, and Hezbollah does not want this escalation,he said. His views are echoed by many people in south Lebanon.
Many in south Lebanon said they did not want UNIFIL to leave and that the problems would be over once the French unit changed its attitude toward them. There are Belgians, Italians, Spanish and others. They all run patrols in the villages and we welcome them. I do not know what happened to them (the French). They are very suspicious,said another local man, Abdullah Hajjar. They are focused on searching the villages. What for? We do not have anything and they say they are here to protect us -- OK fine, let them protect our skies, our seas and our land. Don't they see the Israeli daily flights over Lebanon? (Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
Parents of captive soldier meet Israeli PM
Fri Jul 9, 2:47 pm ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel's premier on Friday briefly met the parents of captive soldier Gilad Shalit who have set up camp outside his official residence in Jerusalem, his office said.It's not just the tens of thousands of marchers who support you, but all the citizens of the state of Israel,Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Noam and Aviva Shalit, who had led a 12-day march to Jerusalem.
Netanyahu, who had just returned from the United States, briefed the couple about his talks with US leaders about the fate of their son, who was captured in a cross-border raid from the Hamas-ruled Gaza four years ago.There are also millions of people abroad who are with you, as are my wife and myself, Netanyahu told the parents.During all my talks abroad, I have insisted on pressures on Hamas so that Gilad is released, he said.A senior official said Netanyahu would hold longer talks with the couple next week.The Shalit parents have vowed to remain camped outside the premier's residence until their son is freed.Shalit was captured just over four years ago in a raid from the Gaza Strip that involved Hamas and other fighters.The Islamist movement, which has ruled Gaza since 2007, wants hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Shalit, including scores of top militants responsible for deadly attacks.Talks with Shalit's Hamas captors collapsed late last year when Israel offered via a German mediator to release about 1,000 prisoners.Hamas never formally responded, and both sides have since blamed each other for the stalled talks.There also has been sharp disagreement inside Netanyahu's inner circle over the conditions of the swap, which would have seen those convicted of deadly attacks released to their homes in the West Bank.
Netanyahu says he'll confound critics, make peace By EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press Writer – Thu Jul 8, 11:20 pm ET
NEW YORK – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday he intends to confound critics and skeptics and make peace with the Palestinians — but he said he needs a partner.Netanyahu challenged Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to sit down with him. If he does, the Israeli leader said a peace agreement could be reached in a year.Netanyahu's message to Israelis, Americans and the wider world two days after patching up relations with President Barack Obama was that he became prime minister for a second time to take political risks for real peace.He told several hundred people at the Council on Foreign Relations that it's time to stop putting conditions on direct Israeli-Palestinian talks and start negotiations now, next week, in two weeks.We're ready to make far-reaching concessions today, and the best way to test that is to start negotiations,Netanyahu said.The Palestinians agreed to begin indirect talks in May with Israel through U.S. envoy George Mitchell. But they are demanding a halt to all Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank and east Jerusalem — captured territories they claim for a future state along with the Gaza Strip — before direct talks begin.Netanyahu announced a 10-month slowdown on construction in West Bank settlements that ends in September, which he called unprecedented. He also has imposed an unofficial construction freeze in east Jerusalem, but the Palestinians want a permanent halt.
In Cairo, the head of the Arab League said Thursday the indirect talks are failing and there is a little chance for a shift to direct negotiations. Amr Moussa, a former Egyptian foreign minister, said senior Arab diplomats will meet July 29 to evaluate the results of the indirect talks.Netanyahu said delaying direct negotiations is a big mistake that's cost both sides about a year.He repeated his vision of two states for two peoples in which a demilitarized Palestinian state recognizes the Jewish state of Israel.The Israeli leader said two elements are crucial — an enormously powerful security pillar to guarantee that there would be no rolling back on an agreement, and Palestinian declarations to their people that Israel will be here to stay as a Jewish state.I think we should seize the moment ... when we have the ability to negotiate a peace, Netanyahu said.The 60-year-old Netanyahu said when you get to be my advanced age ... you come back to do something.
I'm prepared to do something,he said.I'm not prepared to take risks with our security but I am prepared to take political risks.Abbas must also be prepared to take risks, Netanyahu said.I intend to confound the critics and the skeptics, Netanyahu said. I need a partner.Netanyahu was asked what would happen with Hamas-ruled Gaza if he reached an agreement with Abbas' Palestinian Authority, which controls the West Bank.He called it a big problem but said peace negotiations should move ahead between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, and proper precautions should be taken once an agreement is reached. Netanyahu added that Iran's proxies in Gaza and southern Lebanon pose a real problem and he recalled how 14 years ago he called Iran's nuclear ambitions the greatest threat to the world today — a view he still holds. Obviously, we hope that it's possible to stop Iran's programs by this U.S.-led effort to put maximum pressure on the Iranians, especially their main energy sector, Netanyahu said.
Thousands march in Jerusalem for captive soldier By ARON HELLER, Associated Press Writer – Thu Jul 8, 5:01 pm ET
JERUSALEM – More than 15,000 Israelis marched into Jerusalem on Thursday and rallied at a park downtown for the government to conclude a deal for the release of a captive soldier held by Palestinian militants.The turnout marked the climax of a 12-day cross-country campaign led by the family of Sgt. Gilad Schalit.Protesters wearing T-shirts bearing Schalit's image and yellow ribbons symbolizing his freedom chanted Gilad is still alive! Schalit, 23, was nabbed by Hamas-linked militants in June 2006 across the Gaza-Israel border. His captors have barred access to him and released only a brief videotape last year.The public campaign has increased pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to strike a deal.Netanyahu has said he is willing to trade 1,000 Palestinian prisoners for Schalit, but said he would not accept Hamas' demand to include senior militants. Israel considers Hamas a terrorist organization, and Netanyahu fears prisoners would return to violence if freed.
But Schalit's plight has touched many in Israel, where military service is compulsory for Jewish citizens.Tzahi Haleli, a 47-year-old marcher, said Schalit's fate was at a breaking point.It will either happen now, or it won't happen at all, he said.Thursday's marchers were met at the entrance to Jerusalem by a small group that warned of further abductions if the deal goes through.The Schalit family's campaign has enjoyed broad public support. Schalit's parents are pledging to camp outside the prime minister's home until a deal is reached.Netanyahu returns from a U.S. visit on Friday.
U.N. in Lebanon urges cooperation with peacekeepers
Thu Jul 8, 1:37 pm ET
BEIRUT (Reuters) – The head of U.N. peacekeepers in Lebanon appealed on Thursday for cooperation from residents in the south of the country after several confrontations near the border with Israel.Last week villagers seized weapons from French UNIFIL peacekeepers and wounded their patrol leader.That followed a series of standoffs or clashes in the border area, a stronghold of the militant Hezbollah group, and complaints that UNIFIL had stepped up its patrols and was failing to coordinate with Lebanese army forces in the region.UNIFIL, which was set up in 1978 and expanded in 2006 to monitor the end of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, has insisted it must have freedom of movement.As you all know, some recent incidents have cast a shadow on the positive environment in which UNIFIL peacekeepers have been working, in close coordination with the Lebanese army, for your safety and security,Major-General Alberto Asarta Cuevas said in an open letter released on Thursday.Cuevas said UNIFIL respected the privacy and property of the villagers in the south, and that problems should be resolved by discussion not by obstructing the work of the peacekeepers or by beating them.
Israel has criticized the U.N. peacekeeping operation in Lebanon for not stopping weapons it says are still flowing to Hezbollah guerrillas in the south. The United Nations says that is the responsibility of Lebanese authorities.The Israeli military published an aerial photograph on Wednesday it said showed Hezbollah positions and weapons storage dumps in the south Lebanon village of al-Khiam.The United Nations Security Council is due to meet on Friday, at France's request, to discuss the confrontations.U.N. special coordinator for Lebanon Michael Williams said last week that there had been several incidents in southern Lebanon and some were clearly organized. Some Western diplomats say Hezbollah members have encouraged and taken part in the confrontations, a charge the group denies.Cuevas said that UNIFIL worked in close cooperation with the Lebanese army, but that did not mean every one of its 350 daily patrols could be accompanied by the army.With this letter I would like to ask for your understanding and continued collaboration to help us undertake our difficult mission,he said.(Additional reporting by Ori Lewis in Jerusalem; editing by Myra MacDonald)
Israel images show Hezbollah hiding arms
by Patrick Moser – Thu Jul 8, 11:44 am ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – The Israeli military has published a series of aerial photographs of south Lebanon showing what it says is evidence of Hezbollah stockpiling weapons in towns and villages near the border.Israel declassified the intelligence just days ahead of the fourth anniversary of the Lebanon war, in what a military official said was a move to expose the Lebanese militia's use of civilians as human shields.The images and maps show what the military says are bunkers and arms caches located in the middle of Al-Khiam village, only four kilometres (2.5 miles) from the border.One heavily marked up aerial photograph shows 15 buildings in the middle of the village which the military says are being used as weapons stores, bunkers and operational headquarters for the Shiite militant group.Also marked on the map are schools, hospitals and other public buildings, some just a few hundred metres (yards) from the alleged weapons caches.They have warehouses of rockets near mosques, schools, medical centres, in the middle of villages, and they look like any other building, Lieutenant Colonel Avital Leibovitz told AFP on Thursday.They have taken the term human shields to a new extreme.Leibovitz said the intelligence material showed a shift in tactics by Hezbollah which, during the war, largely stored its arms in rural areas or forests along the border.As a result of the war, Hezbollah has moved three-quarters of its weapons into urban areas. We are talking about over 100 villages in the south that Hezbollah has turned into military bases.During the 34-day war much of the fighting took place on open scrubland but since then the militia has gravitated towards built-up areas out of the reach of UN peacekeepers -- and into heavily populated civilian areas, Israel says.Hezbollah changed its operational tactics based on Israel's sensitivity towards civilians,Leibovitz claimed.
They know we put a lot of effort to avoid hurting civilians, that is why they put their weapons in the middle of civilian areas to make it difficult for us to act against them,she said.The war was sparked when Israel launched a massive ground and air offensive on Lebanon in reaction to a cross-border raid by Hezbollah in which two Israeli soldiers were captured.Israel already claimed at the time that Hezbollah was using human shields, but Human Rights Watch charged that most of the Lebanese civilian casualties resulted from indiscriminate Israeli air-strikes.Colonel Ronen Marley, an officer stationed along the border, was quoted in the Haaretz daily as saying around 90 Hezbollah militants were now operating in Al-Khiam, and an average of between 30 and 200 fighters were deployed in every Shiite village across the south.Haaretz said publication of the military information sends Hezbollah a clear warning of what it can expect to face if it starts a war, while preparing the international community for the measures the IDF (Israel Defence Forces) is likely to take.Several Hezbollah officials in Lebanon declined to comment on the report, as did the Lebanese army and the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).Israel estimates that Hezbollah has an arsenal of 40,000 short- and medium-range rockets, which are being held in towns and villages across the south -- a significant rise from the 14,000 rockets held by the group in 2006.
It says the stockpile includes hundreds of longer-range rockets, some with a range of more than 300 kilometres (116 miles), capable of reaching major Israeli population centres. The military believes Hezbollah forces in south Lebanon number 20,000, more than a third of whom have undergone combat training in Iran. July 12 marks the fourth anniversary of the start of the war between Israel and Hezbollah, which destroyed much of Lebanon's major infrastructure and killed more than 1,200 people in Lebanon, mainly civilians, and 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers.
Netanyahu in New York, toasts White House success
by Steve Weizman – Wed Jul 7, 9:55 pm ET
UNITED NATIONS (AFP) – Fresh from upbeat talks with US President Barack Obama in Washington, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has flown to New York, where he spoke emotionally of the bond between Israel and the United States.Netanyahu had earlier said he could perform miracles to hammer out a peace deal if all sides come together.Netanyahu told ABC television in Washington he wanted to reach an agreement acceptable to Israelis with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.We want president Abbas to grasp my hand, get into a room, shake it, sit down and negotiate a final settlement of peace between Israel and the Palestinians, he told the US news channel.
He added he was confident a Middle East peace deal, which has eluded successive Israeli, Palestinian and US leaders for decades, could be struck. Don't be so skeptical, Netanyahu said.Raise your hopes. It's summer time and we can perform miracles if we set our sights to them.The talks between the US and Israeli leaders was warmly received by some media in Israel: A president now working with the premier, not against him, thrilled the right-wing Jerusalem Post. This time, publicly at least, there were none of the harsh demands, none of the hectoring, none of the patronizing.Addressing American Jewish leaders in New York, Netanyahu recalled the first hours after the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York and Washington.There were reactions that were different throughout the Middle East,he said.In many places there were celebrations, in Israel people wept, they grieved.
America has no better friend, no better ally than the state of Israel,he added.
Earlier in New York, the Israeli leader held a 45-minute meeting with United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.Ban's office said they had discussed the Middle East peace process, the Gaza blockade and the situation in southern Lebanon, where Israel says the Hezbollah militia has thousands of rockets aimed in its direction.While Ban has welcomed Israel's easing of its four-year blockade of the Gaza Strip, he said on Tuesday that more needed to be done to ease Palestinian hardships.His spokesman noted that Ban has long called for a significant shift in strategy to meet the needs of Gaza's population.The UN chief has demanded Israel lift its blockade of the impoverished Gaza Strip, imposed in the wake of the election victory by Hamas Islamic militants who now control the Palestinian territory.Israel has so far given the go-ahead for the international community to import construction materials into Gaza. And Netanyahu said Wednesday further steps were under consideration.There are more things we are prepared to do... There are things like additional easing of movements, some questions of economic projects,Netanyahu told ABC.There are quite a few. The point is we are prepared to do them.The change in policy was triggered by the international condemnation of an Israeli commando raid on an aid flotilla trying to break the blockade that led to the deaths of nine Turkish activists on May 31.
Israel has set up a commission of inquiry into the events with the participation of British and Canadian observers, but some nations are calling at the United Nations for a fuller international probe. After Tuesday's White House meeting, Obama said he hoped for direct peace talks to start before the end of September when an Israeli freeze on settlement building is due to expire. I believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu wants peace. I think he's willing to take risks for peace,Obama told reporters. He also disputed suggestions that he had distanced the United States from Israel, sharing a prolonged handshake with the visiting Israeli leader for the cameras.
EU foreign affairs chief to visit Gaza, Israel: official
Wed Jul 7, 1:50 pm ET
STRASBOURG (AFP) – European Union foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton will visit Israel and the Gaza Strip on July 17 and 18, her spokesman said on Wednesday.Her trip is independent from a visit planned by the foreign ministers of Spain, France and Italy, who will head to Gaza this month to check on Israel's plan to ease a blockade of the Hamas-run Palestinian territory, he said.Before the announcement, Ashton told the European Parliament in Strasbourg that she intended to return to the Middle East, adding: And I will visit Gaza again.The Israelis have reacted positively to her desire to revisit Gaza following her first trip there on March 18, the spokesman said.Ashton wants to assess the situation on the ground for herself, he said.Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman last month invited Italian counterpart Franco Frattini to lead an EU delegation to the Gaza Strip.Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos and French counterpart Bernard Kouchner will take part in the trip.Israel has given the go-ahead for the international community to import construction materials into Gaza, which is controlled by the Palestinian militant group Hamas.The new policy came in response to mounting international pressure on Israel to ease its four-year siege on Gaza after nine Turkish activists were killed in a May 31 commando raid on a flotilla of aid ships trying to bust the blockade.On Monday, Ashton welcomed Israel's decision to ease its blockade, saying it was another significant step forward in the review of its policy on Gaza.Israel's new policy should improve the lives of the ordinary people of Gaza while addressing the legitimate security concerns of Israel, she said.
The Israeli government published a list of construction materials to be allowed entry into Gaza but only for projects approved by the Palestinian Authority and implemented and supervised by the international community.The details of the lists will have to be carefully examined, Ashton said, adding that she hoped the complete implementation of these measures will allow for the reconstruction of Gaza and the revival of its economy.The movement of persons and trade between Gaza and the West Bank should remain one of the key objectives, she insisted.Ashton also said the EU was ready to support Israel and the Palestinian Authority in the opening of land crossings,and reiterated her call for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit's immediate release.
Abbas wants Israel sign on borders and security before talks
Wed Jul 7, 8:44 am ET
ADDIS ABABA (AFP) – Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said Wednesday he wanted an Israeli signal on the key issues of security and borders before heeding US calls for a resumption of direct peace talks.We are ready to go for direct talks if we receive any signals from the Israeli side on two issues, the borders and the security, Abbas said in English during an official visit to Ethiopia.We have presented our proposals to both the Americans and the Israelis and we are waiting for an Israeli impression and reaction,he told reporters after meeting Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.
US President Barack Obama this week expressed hope that direct talks would start before the end of September after a White House meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.Netanyahu says he is ready to meet Abbas at any time and Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said Wednesday he could see direct negotiations getting under way within a few weeks.But the Palestinians have yet to commit to direct talks, accusing Israel of undermining the atmosphere with continuing settlement activity on occupied Palestinian land.Obama said he hoped progress towards direct negotiations from indirect US-brokered proximity talks between Israelis and Palestinians would render an October 1 deadline for ending a partial Israeli settlement freeze irrelevant.My hope is that once direct talks have begun, well before the moratorium has expired, that that will create a climate in which everybody feels a greater investment in success, he said.
Guns belonging to Israel PM's security detail missing
Wed Jul 7, 2:29 am ET
NEW YORK (AFP) – Four guns went missing and were believed to have been stolen from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's security detail after American Airlines lost luggage containing the weapons, NBC reported.It said the Glock 9mm guns had been placed in checked baggage -- as security protocol dictates -- at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport and were supposed to be placed on a flight to Washington for Israeli agents assigned to Netanyahu, who was meeting President Barack Obama on Tuesday.But workers mistakenly sent the luggage to Los Angeles where it was learned the guns were missing, and police said they believe they were stolen, NBC television reported Tuesday out of New York city.The station said police at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey were investigating whether the weapons were stolen at the airport in New York, or after the bag arrived in Los Angeles.NBC cited a source saying the bag was inspected by screeners of the US Transportation Security Administration at Kennedy airport, who cleared the weapons for transport to Washington.American Airlines did not provide details on the incident.When you have a situation related to security, we allow the appropriate law enforcement agencies to handle the situation and we refrain from commenting publicly, so that we don't hamper an investigation,airline spokesman Tim Wagner was quoted by NBC as saying.
Netanyahu travels Wednesday to New York where he meets with United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon.
Obama hopes for direct Israeli-Palestinian talks by September
Tue Jul 6, 3:30 pm ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama said on Tuesday that he hoped face-to-face peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians would begin before a partial moratorium on Jewish settlement expansion expires in September.Obama, speaking to reporters during an Oval Office meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, also said Israel faced a unique range of security threats and vowed to continue to pressure Iran over its nuclear program.The two were meeting to mend fences after relations between the close allies went through an unusually cool phase.
(Reporting by Matt Spetalnick, editing by Alister Bull)
US tax-exempt funds aid settlements in West Bank
Tue Jul 6, 10:17 am ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – US charity groups have used tax-exempt donations to help establish Jewish settlements in Israeli-occupied West Bank, the New York Times reported Tuesday.As Washington sought to end a four-decade Jewish settlement enterprise and foster a Palestinian state in the West Bank, the US Treasury helped sustain settlements through tax breaks on donations, the report said.A New York Times examination of public records in the United States and Israel identified at least 40 American groups that have collected more than 200 million dollars in tax-deductible gifts for Jewish settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem over the last decade.The money went mostly to schools, synagogues, recreation centers and the like -- legitimate expenditures under the tax law.But it has also paid for housing as well as guard dogs, bulletproof vests, rifle scopes and vehicles to secure outposts deep in occupied areas, the Times reported.The controversy over the settlements is expected to top the agenda of talks between US President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House Tuesday.Pro-settler groups have stepped up pressure on Netanyahu not to cave in during the talks to demands that he extend a partial freeze on settlement construction in the West Bank.
Although Americans also get tax breaks for donations to pro-Palestinian groups, those to the settler movement stood out because it a key issue in current Middle East peace talks.Washington has refused to allow Israel to spend American government aid in the settlements.
Turkish foreign minister insists on Israeli apology
Tue Jul 6, 8:37 am ET
ANKARA (AFP) – Turkey's foreign minister Tuesday insisted on an Israeli apology for a deadly raid on a Gaza-bound aid ship but did not repeat a threat to break off diplomatic ties.Israel must apologise for the May 31 bloodshed and pay compensation for the nine Turkish victims or Turkey will not stay indifferent, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said in a television interview.Stoking tensions between the one-time allies, the minister told the Hurriyet daily Monday that Turkey would sever ties if Israel failed to meet Ankara's conditions to mend fences.Israel should either apologise and pay compensation unilaterally as a result of its own inquiry ... or if it does not want to do that... it should wait for the results of (a probe by) an international commission, Davutoglu told the TGRT channel on Tuesday.If those two conditions do not materialise, Turkey is not any country, Turkey will not stay indifferent,he said.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ruled out an apology and a senior government official reiterated Monday that Israel will never apologise for defending its citizens.Davutoglu said he conveyed Turkey's demands to Israeli trade minister Benjamin Ben Eliezer when the two met secretly in Brussels last week in a bid to find a way out of the crisis.The meeting sparked tensions within Israel's ruling coalition as it emerged that Netanyahu approved the talks without informing Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman.Referring to his earlier threat to cut ties, Davutoglu said he was compelled to make that statement because it was said that our demands would not be met while that turmoil was happening in Israel over the Brussels talks.
We are absolutely determined to follow up the issue until the end ... to protect the rights of its citizens, he said.Davutoglu slammed his Israeli counterpart when asked about reports quoting Lieberman as saying that Turkey should apologise.What Lieberman says has no value for us, Davutoglu said, adding that he did not view Israel's foreign minister as an interlocutor owing to his rhetoric and attitudes.The Turkish-Israeli turmoil was expected to be on the agenda of Netanyahu's meeting with US President Barack Obama on Tuesday.Washington has said it is working to heal the rift between its two Middle East allies. It is also concerned that the Islamist-rooted government in Ankara is taking Turkey, NATO's sole mainly Muslim member, away from the West.In his Monday's remarks, Davutoglu said Turkey had closed its airspace to all Israeli military aircraft and hinted the ban might be extended to civilian flights.Eight Turks and a dual US-Turkish citizen were killed when Israeli commandos stormed the Turkish ferry, Mavi Marmara, one of six boats trying to take aid to the Israeli-blockaded Gaza Strip.Israel said its soldiers used force after passengers attacked them with sticks and knives. Activists say the troops opened fire as soon as they landed.Turkey recalled its ambassador from Israel and cancelled three planned joint military exercises immediately after the raid. Bilateral ties were strained by Israel's invasion of Gaza last year, which triggered vehement Turkish criticism. Turkey's government, the offshoot of banned Islamist movement, has irked Israel with its close contacts with Iran and for hosting in 2006 the leader of Hamas, the radical Palestinian group controlling Gaza.Turkish-Israeli ties had flourished for years after the two countries signed a military cooperation accord in 1996.
Israel allows construction materials for Gaza projects by Majeda El Batsh – Mon Jul 5, 7:11 pm ET
KEREM SHALOM, Israel (AFP) – Israel on Monday gave the go-ahead for the international community to import construction materials into the Hamas-run Gaza Strip in an easing of its blockade that won cautious praise.The government published a list of construction materials to be allowed entry into Gaza but only for projects approved by the Palestinian Authority and implemented and supervised by the international community.The government said in a statement that while the building materials are liable to be used for Hamas military purposes (building bunkers, fortifying positions and digging tunnels), Israel will permit their entry into Gaza so as to facilitate construction projects.Because of the blockade, little reconstruction has taken place in the Palestinian territory since Israel's devastating 22-day military offensive, which ended in January 2009.A separate list maintains a ban on the import of arms and ammunition as well as dual-use items Israel fears could be used for military means.They include rock drills and equipment for drawing water from excavated sites, certain fertilisers, ball bearings, diving equipment, gliders and fireworks.I welcome the government's publication of the list, said Middle East peace envoy Tony Blair.The list of controlled items is tightly defined to protect Israel's legitimate security needs, said Blair, noting that implementation will be the test.Blair had worked with the Israeli government to switch from a policy that barred all but humanitarian goods and essential items from going into the Palestinian territory.
The United States, the European Union and Britain also welcomed the move.This is an important step in implementing the new policy announced by Israel two weeks ago, said Tommy Vietor, a White House spokesman.President Barack Obama looks forward to discussing the matter during his Oval Office talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday, he added.EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton hailed the move as another significant step forward in the review of its (Israel's) policy on Gaza.Israel's new policy should improve the lives of the ordinary people of Gaza while addressing the legitimate security concerns of Israel, Ashton said.Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague said, This step shows that it is possible to lift the pressure on ordinary Gazans without compromising the security of ordinary Israelis.All parties must now work together urgently to deliver real change on the ground. he added.The construction materials allowed in under international supervision include cement, iron, steel beams, steel cables, asphalt and lumber beams and boards more than two centimetres (one inch) thick, even though Israel said the latter could be used in tunnels dug to attack Israeli forces.
The new policy came in response to mounting international pressure on Israel to ease its four-year siege on Gaza after nine Turkish activists were killed in a May 31 commando raid on a flotilla of aid ships trying to bust the blockade. Israeli human rights group Gisha said the easing of the blockade did not go far enough.There can be no economic recovery unless Israel ends its ban on manufacturers in Gaza exporting finished products,the group said.There can be no healthy, intact Palestinian society and no two-state solution unless Israel allows Palestinians to travel between Gaza and the West Bank.
