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Massive Israeli forces invade Nablus City, 30 kidnapped, 8 soldiers wounded
Hundreds of Israeli soldiers attacked Nablus in northern West Bank early Thursday morning carrying out one of the largest military invasions in recent months. At least 30 Palestinians have been kidnapped by the Israeli troops. Eyewitnesses told IMEMC that a loud explosion rocked the old city. The explosion apparently targetted an Israeli military vehicle which resulted in wounding 8 Israeli soldiers.
PA president asked Israel to strike Gaza, Hamas says
Hamas spokesman in the Palestinian parliament Salah al-Bardawil said Wednesday that he does not rule out the possibility that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had asked Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to strike the Gaza Strip.
Abbas advisor says Hamas fighting collaborators
Hani al-Hassan, senior presidential advisor says Gaza war was between Hamas and Fatah collaborators who aided Israel, US. Gunshots fired at al-Hassan's home following statements, Abbas dismisses him from his role .
Israel fights Fatah militants in West Bank city
An Israeli raid into a West Bank city dominated by Fatah gunmen drew accusations from Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad that Israel was trying to undermine his new government shorn of Hamas Islamists.
Palestinian PM Protests Israeli West Bank Raid
Israeli troops have raided the West Bank town of Nablus, in an operation that Palestinian officials say undermines the embattled government of President Mahmoud Abbas.
Israeli army forces women to strip at Bethlehem checkpoint
"It seems that there are plans to topple the honor of Palestinian girls in the clutches of the Israeli intelligence through blackmail at checkpoints and military crossings, and I don't doubt that inside the inspection rooms there are cameras video taping girls undressing."
Some 600 villagers face prospect of new displacement
Nearly all the Palestinian residents of al-Walaje village were displaced by the 1948 Israeli-Arab war or are descendants of those displaced, and many now again face the prospect of forced displacement, this time to make room for a possible new Israeli settlement and the construction of the Israeli West Bank separation barrier.
No evidence Iran interfering in Gaza
TEHRAN - In an interview with the Egyptian national television, the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has predicted that Hamas-Fatah disputes would be settled in four weeks, the London-based Arabic newspaper Asharq Alawsat said on Wednesday. In response to a question about the role of Iran and Syria in Gaza, he said, "There are many rumors but we have no solid evidence in this regard and I can not accuse anyone."
FM Livni, Canadian Ambassador slam UNHRC's stance on Israel
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni criticized the United Nations Human Rights Council on Wednesday for its decision to single out Israel for repeated criticism.
Palestinians back Iran bomb
New poll shows Palestinians are number one supporters of Iran nuclear weapons; Israelis top supporters of US.
Life in the Gaza Strip
Catchy, high-stepping, and jingoistic, it is the tune that plays all day long on Hamas's Al Aqsa Radio, the only one that remains standing after the turbulent ousting of its Palestinian rival Fatah earlier this month. From the airwaves to the imams' sermons, the message here is one of self-congratulation: for routing corrupt officials, for bringing a feeling of calm after months of internecine gun battles.
Feature: Palestinian refugees in Syria worried over Gaza escalation
"Anxiety and fear control us, ... we look forward to the day when we can return to Palestine, but how can we go back as fighting among the sons of one country continues?" somberly asked Umm Ibrahim, a Palestinian refugee living in the Yamouk refugees camp south of Damascus.
Scepticism hangs over Blair's appointment as quartet envoy
Tony Blair is to make his first working visit to Ramallah in the West Bank next month as envoy of the quartet of Middle East peacemakers, it emerged yesterday, after his job was confirmed amid scepticism about any chance of his success.
Blair's nomination as Quartet envoy not welcomed by Hamas
"Blair has always worked under the American umbrella and he was behind wars and disasters that are still going on in Iraq, Somalia, Afghanistan and Lebanon," said Barhoum.
Adding insult to injury
When you hear the news of Tony Blair's possible appointment as the Quartet's peace envoy to the Middle East, you don't know whether to laugh or cry. His selection for the job takes American policy in the Middle East to new heights of absurdity. The proposal we all know was put forward and pushed neither by Russia, nor the EU, but by the US as a reward for years of good service. But the decision is lunacy itself. The guiding question could only have been: who is the most profoundly resented and bitterly hated man in the Middle East? Bar Bush, the honour could only have gone to Blair.
Peace Now report reveals 560 checkpoints remain in West Bank
A newly-released report by the Israeli group Peace Now has compiled data from several sources to give a comprehensive overview of the current status of the Israeli-controlled checkpoints in the West Bank.
EGYPT LOSES DIPLOMATIC GROUND WITH HAMAS
Almost two weeks after the takeover of the Gaza Strip by Palestinian faction Hamas, attempts by Cairo to resolve the crisis have so far come to naught. But while government officials say mediation efforts are still under way, some commentators question the ability of Egypt -- a longtime supporter of Hamas rival Fatah -- to mediate impartially. "Egypt's open support of Fatah has cost it all credibility as an arbitrator," Gamal Zahran, political science professor at Suez Canal University and speaker for the independent bloc in parliament told IPS.
THE FAILING OF GAZA
Transportation is one of the few sectors of Gaza's economy that is relatively constant. No matter how dire the financial situation, collective taxis are always shuttling people along the main roads of the Gaza Strip. This past week saw an exception to even this rule, reflecting the severe desperation of Gaza. There are a few reasons for this. Many people are afraid of what the future may bring. Militarily, Hamas has shown its domination over Fatah by ousting the latter in 48 hours. Philip Rizk writes from Gaza.
US CONGRESS TO CURB BUSH ENTHUSIASM FOR ABBAS
US President George W. Bush threw his full support behind President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority (PA) last week, declaring the Fatah leader "the president of all the Palestinians." With Hamas, the Islamist political party backed by Iran and described by the US as a terrorist organization, firmly in control of Gaza, the administration is now attempting to bolster Abbas, who formed a new government in the West Bank following the Hamas takeover in Gaza.
Hamas in West Bank one day — gone the next
A NEW code was born here overnight. No one, it seems, belongs to Hamas in the West Bank any more. Everyone now is an "Islamist" — a word that neatly, and maybe more safely, shears the religious from party affiliation.
Gaza: from economic to humanitarian disaster
Gaza's humanitarian crisis began long before the world decided that the Palestinians had to be punished for voting in the Hamas government.
Hamastan and Red Zoneistan
Tony Blair is no more. The now-former British prime minister, a neo-con soulmate, was destroyed by the war on Iraq. Before tendering his resignation to Queen Elizabeth II, maybe with echoes of Oasis' "Don't Look Back in Anger" ringing in is mind, Blair at least had the decency to apologize publicly for the times he has "fallen short". No words to that effect will ever emanate from George W Bush's White House.
Rape charge dropped in Israeli president's plea bargain
A possible rape charge against disgraced president Moshe Katsav has been dropped after he accepted a plea bargain for sexual offences on Thursday, in the worst scandal involving an Israeli leader.
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