Palestinians fire mortar salvo into Israel
DEC 20,10 - 8AM
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Palestinians in the Gaza Strip fired seven mortar shells into southern Israel on Monday but they fell on open ground, causing no casualties, the army said.Two mortar rounds were fired at Israel on Sunday, hours after Israeli warplanes Saturday night hit central Gaza, killing five militants as they were about to launch a rocket attack, according to the army and witnesses.The airstrike was one of the deadliest since Israel's 22-day war against Gaza's Hamas rulers, codenamed Operation Cast Lead, which began at the end of December 2008 and cost the lives of 1,400 Palestinians, most of them civilians, and 13 Israelis, 10 of them soldiers.
Since Operation Cast Lead, the number of rocket attacks has dropped considerably, but the Israeli army says more than 200 rockets or shells, have been fired this year.
Israeli settlements displace Palestinians: HRW
– Sun Dec 19, 4:06 pm ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Palestinians in the occupied West Bank lack basic amenities and are effectively being forcibly displaced by discriminatory Israeli policies, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report released on Sunday.The New York-based rights group called on Washington to penalise Israel by withholding from its massive annual aid a sum equal to the amount the Jewish state gives in subsidies to West Bank settlements.The 166-page report accuses Israel of depriving the Palestinians of services that are offered to Jewish settlers, who live in communities considered illegal under international law because they are built on occupied land.Palestinians face systematic discrimination merely because of their race, ethnicity, and national origin, depriving them of electricity, water, schools, and access to roads, HRW representative Carroll Bogert said.While Israeli settlements flourish, Palestinians under Israeli control live in a time warp -- not just separate, not just unequal, but sometimes even pushed off their lands and out of their homes.
Israel denied the report and accused HRW of bias.We must expose the hypocrisy of human rights organisations that turn a blind eye to the most repressive regimes in the world -- regimes that stone women and hang gays -- and instead target the only liberal, democracy in the Middle East,Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
Government spokesman Mark Regev charged that Human Rights Watch has allowed an anti-Israel agenda to pollute its objectivity.He also denied the report's accusations, saying there had been unprecedented levels of growth and development on the part of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank over the past two years.Anyone who looks at objective data can see this. The government of Israel is committed to working with the Palestinian Authority upon this path that is beneficial to all,he told AFP.
But Bill Van Esveld, author of the report and a researcher at HRW's Middle East division, said the study exposed a two-tier system enforced by a network of discriminatory laws and military orders.We're talking about different treatment of two people living in the same area for no real reason, he told AFP.He said settlers had easy access to planning committees whereas Palestinians were not allowed to serve on the same committees, and that it had become virtually impossible for Palestinians to obtain permits to build homes.The policies make life increasingly difficult for Palestinians in the West Bank, and in many cases encourages them simply to leave.Israeli policies are so harsh in their discrimination against Palestinians that in a number of cases Palestinians have been forced to leave, because they have no access to water, they have no access to electricity.The group called on the international community to avoid complicity in Israeli breaches of international law, including by cutting assistance to the country.The United States, which provides 2.75 billion dollars in aid to Israel annually, should suspend financing to Israel in an amount equivalent to the costs of Israel's spending in support of settlements, which a 2003 study estimated at 1.4 billion dollars," the report said.Similarly, based on numerous reports that US tax-exempt organisations provide substantial contributions to support settlements, the report urges the US to verify that such tax-exemptions are consistent with US obligations to ensure respect for international law,it added. Jewish settlement building on occupied Palestinian land is one of the most divisive issues in efforts to forge a peace agreement between the two sides.Around 500,000 Israelis live in more than 130 locations across the West Bank and mostly Arab east Jerusalem -- territories captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war but claimed by Palestinians for a future independent state.
Mubarak blames Israel for Mideast peace crisis By MAAMOUN YOUSSEF, Associated Press – Sun Dec 19, 10:24 am ET
CAIRO – Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Sunday blamed Israel for the stalemate in peace negotiations with the Palestinians in a speech before a joint session of the Egyptian parliament's two chambers.Mubarak also warned Israel that the security of its people hinged on peace rather than occupation or arms.The Egyptian president, whose country has a 1979 pace treaty with Israel, also called on the United States and other Mideast peace brokers to assume their responsibility to break the stalemate in the peace process, lamenting that international efforts had fallen well short of what was needed.Israel must take responsibility for the stalemate in the negotiations and realize that the security of its people depends on peace not occupation or arms, Mubarak told lawmakers, warning of the impact from Israel's intransigence, positions and policies on world and Middle East stability.The talks are at an impasse over the Israeli refusal to cease building settlements in areas wanted by the Palestinians for a future state.Egypt, a key U.S. ally, would continue to work for a just peace that brings security to all parties in the region, Mubarak said.
Israel has built dozens of settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem over the past four decades to buttress its control there. The international community considers the settlements to be illegal.Mubarak's criticism of Israel is not unusual. Relations between Egypt and Israel have been cool for most of the 31 years since they signed their peace treaty. Their differences are mostly over lack of progress toward a regional peace accord.Separately, an aide to Arab League chief Amr Moussa on Sunday informed heads of foreign diplomatic missions in Cairo of last week's decision by Arab foreign ministers that there would be no immediate return to direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians. A resumption of these talks, said Hesham Youssef, the aide, would be conditional on a serious offer that guarantees the end of the decades-old conflict.
Israeli air strike kills five Gaza militants
– Sat Dec 18, 6:11 pm ET
GAZA (Reuters) – An Israeli air strike killed five Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip Saturday, Israeli and Palestinian officials said.The Israeli military said in a statement that its aircraft targeted and identified hitting a squad of terror operatives who were preparing to launch rockets toward Israeli territory.Palestinian hospital officials said the five were militants.The Hamas Islamist group, which rules the Gaza Strip, says it has tried to curb rocket fire at Israel, but smaller groups continue to carry the out such attacks.Palestinian sources later identified the gunmen as members of a small militant group, Ansar al-Sunna, who have an agenda of global jihad similar to that of al Qaeda.Israel's military said more than 200 cross-border missiles, rockets and mortars have been fired from Gaza this year.
(Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi, Editing by Noah Barkin)
Palestinian PM says not seeking UDI
– Sat Dec 18, 3:18 pm ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad has said a unilateral declaration of independence by his people would only lead to a Mickey Mouse state as long as Israel remains the occupying power.In an interview with Israel's Channel Two television, recorded in Washington and broadcast on Saturday, he was asked to pledge that Palestinians would not unilaterally declare independence in 2011, the year he has set as a target, even if they do not reach a peace deal with Israel.What we're looking for... is a state of Palestine, we're not looking for yet another declaration of statehood, he said.Fayyad, a US-educated former World Bank economist well regarded by the international community, said his plan to build the institutions of statehood by August 2011 is well on track, but sovereignty depends on Israeli assent.The reality of the state may be there in terms of the functional institutions of the state, but if the Israeli army is still in our territory that's not a sovereign state, that's a Mickey Mouse state, he said.We're not looking for a Mickey Mouse state, we're not looking for some form of self-rule, we're looking for a sovereign state of Palestine where we Palestinians can live as free people, Fayyad added.Palestinians have repeatedly said they will unilaterally declare a state or ask for UN recognition of their independence, out of frustration with so far ineffective US efforts to relaunch peace negotiations with Israel.Bolivia on Friday joined Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay in recognising Palestine as an independent and sovereign state within the borders preceding Israel's 1967 occupation.
Israel opposes the steps by the South American governments, saying they go against an Israeli-Palestinian agreement that a Palestinian state be recognised only with Israeli approval.On Wednesday, the US House of Representatives approved a measure condemning unilateral measures to declare or recognise a Palestinian state, and backing a negotiated solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Bolivia recognizes Palestine as independent state
– Fri Dec 17, 8:35 pm ET
ITAIPU, Paraguay (AFP) – Bolivia has recognized Palestine as an independent state, following the lead of Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay.Bolivian President Evo Morales on Friday said his government would send a letter to Mahmud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority, recognizing Palestine as an independent and sovereign state.
Speaking at a news conference in Paraguay, Morales said Bolivia would officially notify international institutions of its decision next week.He charged that genocide was being committed in the region and called on the international community to assume responsibility for preventing it.Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay recognized Palestine as an independent state earlier this month, drawing a rebuke from Israel.
France gives Lebanon anti-tank missiles
– Fri Dec 17, 9:08 am ET
BEIRUT (AFP) – France will give Lebanon 100 anti-tank missiles, a government official said on Friday, confirming a deal that raised concerns in Israel and the United States earlier this year.Prime Minister Saad Hariri was informed on Wednesday of the French decision to supply the army with 100 ... HOT missiles that will be used by the military's Gazelle helicopters, the official told AFP.The missiles will be delivered before the end of February and are being given with no conditions attached, the official added.In Paris, the office of French Prime Minister Francois Fillon confirmed that a letter to that effect had been sent to Hariri.In August, a US lawmaker objected to the transfer saying the missiles could end up being used against Israel given the influence of the powerful militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon.The influence of Hezbollah militants and their Iranian and Syrian backers in the Lebanese government is rising, Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, had said.Therefore, to sell weapons to Lebanon at this time would be very irresponsible and could jeopardise security and stability in the region, she said.
Local press reports had said Israel, which fought a devastating war with Hezbollah in 2006, also expressed concerns.In November, Washington lifted a hold it had placed on 100 million dollars in military aid to Lebanon after receiving assurances that the army would closely monitor the border with Israel and that the assistance would not be diverted to Hezbollah.The Shiite movement is considered the most powerful military and political force in Lebanon.Intelligence officials estimate Hezbollah has amassed an arsenal of more than 40,000 short and long-range rockets as well as other sophisticated weapons, including anti-aircraft guns, that the party claims can reach deep inside Israel.
Hamas leader says time is on our side
by Sara Hussein – Fri Dec 17, 7:09 am ET
GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories (AFP) – The Palestinians have time in their fight for a state, and Hamas is committed to observing a truce with Israel as it builds a nation, senior Hamas leader Mahmud Zahar told AFP.We are not in a hurry to buy or to sell our national interest because this is not the proper market, he told AFP during a wide-ranging interview conducted in the expansive living room of his Gaza City home.Zahar derided peace talks as a waste of time, heaping scorn on Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas for engaging in negotiations, and ruled out recognition of Israel.But he also stressed Hamas has no plans to launch new attacks on the Jewish state and was instead focusing its efforts on state-building and providing an example of honest Palestinian governance.We are not saying wait, because we are not just sitting here, he said. We are reconstructing everything... For the first time, we are really administrating real progress in different ways, on all kinds of things.
We are giving a good example of purified administration.Zahar is a Hamas veteran and often considered a co-founder of the group. He was appointed its foreign minister after the group won 2006 parliamentary elections, but is now a top ideologue and frequent spokesman for Hamas.The 2006 vote stoked long-standing tensions between Hamas and Abbas's party Fatah. Violent clashes erupted a year later which saw the Islamist group routing Fatah and taking control of the Gaza Strip.Hamas has been isolated ever since, with Israel placing restrictions on the passage of goods into and out of the Gaza Strip, and most of the Western world refusing to talk to the group.It is a designated terror organisation in the United States and Europe, and reviled in many capitals for carrying out bloody suicide bombings in Israel.Since 2006 it has focused on governing, but it has refused to amend its charter, which calls for the destruction of Israel.They told me... you cannot stay isolated and you are not going to survive more than two months, now we finished five years and we survived, and we stayed, and we faced two wars, Zahar said.So we can stay, and we can withstand, and we can win.Zahar said Hamas drew strength from the examples of Algeria and Egypt, which were occupied for decades but eventually gained independence.Time is not important if you are not wasting this time, he said, adding Israel was losing international support as the Palestinians gained legitimacy.
He spoke in front of a picture of his son, who was killed in a 2008 Israeli attack, one of the few adornments in a room that doubles as a garage, complete with a parked car ready to whisk him away in case of an attack.Many top Hamas leaders, including the group's spiritual guide Ahmed Yassin, were killed by Israel in a string of assassinations that decimated the group's senior ranks.Zahar laid out a platform with similarities to that of Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad, who is implementing a two-year plan to build infrastructure in the West Bank. Both men describe the need for schools and roads, but Zahar rejected the comparison and accused Fayyad of begging for a nation.He says we are going to make the infrastructure for a state and then the international community will give us a state as a gift, he said.We are not beggars here... that's my right, he added. We are the owners of this land.Hamas rejects peace talks because negotiations have failed, he said.We are believing in the failure of the peace process to achieve our basic demands and without self defense by all means, our case will be lost, we our going to lose our case, our home actually, our Palestine.He derided Abbas, who began direct talks with Israel in September after a hiatus of nearly two years, then pulled out shortly afterwards, when an Israeli moratorium on settlement construction expired.Abbas refused to return to the talks unless the freeze was extended, but the United States acknowledged last week that direct negotiations were no longer possible and proposed indirect talks instead.They left no city without negotiations -- they started in Madrid, Sharm el-Sheikh many times, Wye River -- many talks, Zahar joked.Hamas's opposition to talks is pragmatic, with the group only willing to talk where there was a clear agenda, such as in the case of the ceasefire it agreed with Israel through Egypt, Zahar explained.But speaking just for speaking, that's not our style.
Hamas says it has adhered to the ceasefire it negotiated after Israel's 22-day war on Gaza which ended in January 2009, and Zahar said the group had no intention of violating it.We are here, and really we have to reconstruct what was destroyed by Israel -- houses, hospitals, schools.He pledged Hamas would continue to resist the occupation but insisted resistance was more than military confrontation.One of the methods of resistance is to reject the occupation as an idea, one is to educate yourself and your people in their culture, one is to prepare yourself for the war if it happens.This,he said,is resistance.
Malta pledges aid to Gaza refugees
– Fri Dec 17, 6:24 am ET
GAZA CITY (AFP) – Maltese Foreign Minister Tonio Borg on Friday promised during a visit to the Gaza Strip to donate funds to the United Nations agency caring for Palestinian refugees.Speaking at the end of a three-day tour of Israel and the Palestinian territories, Borg said he had met businessmen who complained they still faced shortages despite a recent easing of Israel's blockade of the Hamas-run strip.
Israel launched a fierce 22-day offensive against the militant Islamic Hamas in Gaza in December 2008, which killed 1,400 Palestinians according to figures from Palestinian medics and human rights groups.During the fighting 13 Israelis died, several from rockets and mortars fired by Palestinians into Israel.Homes and essential infrastructure in Gaza were extensively damaged in the conflict and rebuilding has been hampered by Israeli restrictions on import of construction materials on the grounds they could be used by Hamas to build bunkers and tunnels.
Malta is interested in launching projects for the benefit of Gaza, Borg told a news conference.We will financially assist UNRWA (the UN Relief and Welfare Agency) in this respect.Borg was the fourth European Union foreign minister to visit Gaza this year, after his Irish, German and Italian counterparts, and he said their trips influenced thinking in Brussels.I feel that the visits which have taken place in recent months by different foreign ministers from the European Union have made a difference, he said.The fact that now we are agreeing on certain things about Gaza is a step in the right direction.
