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Apologies for the lateness of today's list.
No Internet access because of a
long power outage.
Hamas negotiating return of Palestinians
detained in Egypt
Hamas is engaged in ongoing negotiations with
Egyptian officials to secure the return of
Palestinians detained by Egyptian police,
Hamas leader Ayman Taha said on Monday.
Taha added that the Egyptian authorities sent
back only 226 people who were detained in a
sports club in Al-Arish, who had earlier threatened
to set themselves and the building on fire. Taha
said that 126 trucks loaded with goods bought
from Egypt have also been allowed to cross the
border into the Gaza Strip. He confirmed reports
that Egyptian security forces are maltreating the
Palestinians held in Al-Arish
Thousands from Palestinian surge over
border remain in Egypt
CAIRO — Nearly 10,000 Palestinians,
many assumed to be Hamas infiltrators,
remain in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula where
many have been sheltered by the opposition
Muslim Brotherhood. Officials said the
Palestinians included Hamas fighters and
operatives, who entered Sinai in late
January in wake of the destruction of
the Egyptian border with the Gaza Strip.
They said the Palestinians were believed to have
been provided haven by Bedouins in the Sinai as
well as Egyptians on the African mainland.
Bahraini MPs leave Gaza Strip
through Rafah crossing
on Monday after refusing to leave through the
Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing.
A Bahraini royal delegation landed in Cairo on
Sunday on a mission to negotiate the passage
of the Bahraini officials out of the Gaza Strip,
Bahraini lawmaker Nasser Al-Faddala said.
Sources in Hamas movement, that controls the
Gaza Strip, said that "great pressures have been
exerted on the Egyptians to avoid opening the
Rafah crossing."
Hamas leaders go into hiding as
Israel plans targeted killings
The IDF and the Shin Bet internal security service
are preparing to step up assassinations against key
Hamas figures in the Gaza Strip in response to the
continued Qassam rocket attacks against Sderot.
Vice Premier Haim Ramon said Monday he was
recommending to the cabinet that it step up its
campaign against Hamas by targeting all group
leaders "directly or indirectly" involved in attacks
against Israelis. Top Hamas officials, including Prime
Minister Ismail Haniyeh, have not been seen in public
for several days. The Al-Quds al-Arabi daily reported
on Sunday that Haniyeh has gone underground in
light of Israel's assassination campaign.
Defense Minister Barak: Israel won't be
deterred from taking any action against Qassams
"The IDF will act in any way necessary in order to
restore security and quiet to Sderot and the Gaza
border area," said Barak. Earlier Monday, Barak
said that he had instructed the Israel Defense
Forces to prepare for a possible wide-scale
operation in the Gaza Strip in response to the
ongoing Qassam rocket attacks from the coastal
territory. "IDF operations are continuing day and
night and will even be expanded," hen told
committee members. The defense minister said that
in recent days, the IDF has killed 61 Palestinian
militants. [not to mention children, elderly people,
women – see B'Tselem's casualty list ]
Israel sees Hamas defeated in months
(Reuters) Israeli leaders vowed on Monday to step up
their war against Hamas and predicted the Islamists'
grip on the Gaza Strip would end within months.
Abbas's government said in a statement broader
action in Gaza could threaten peace moves and
trigger more tit-for-tat violence. It urged the
United States and international community to press
Israel for restraint. Hamas dismissed Israeli vice
premier Ramon's comments as "wishful thinking" and
said Israel was in cahoots with Abbas, who holds sway in
the West Bank and is pursuing U.S.-backed peace
talks with Israel.
102nd and 103rd Palestinian
patients die due to siege
Medical sources identified the two as Fathiyyia Abu
Wardah, 40, and Khadijja Al Aqaad. The sources said
that both died of cancer. Medica; sources said the
two had applied to travel for treatment outside Gaza
but the Israeli authorities refused to grant them permits,
despite their illness. Lawyer Sameer Mousa added
that patients suffering from heart problems, cancer,
diabetes, and kidney failure constitute the majority of
those who have died due to the siege. According to
the ad-Dameer association, there are 450 types of
medicine now unavailable in Gaza.
Haaretz editorial:
Restraint is not possible
For the past eight months Hamas has ruled the Gaza
Strip alone, and it is no longer possible to explain
away the shooting as due to a lack of control over
rogue organizations. The time has come for the
Palestinians to ask themselves and their leadership
about the direction they are heading. While Israel is
trying to correct its historic error of settling in the
heart of the Palestinian population by converging into
old-new borders of a more ethical democracy, the
Palestinians elected Hamas, which is not willing to
compromise. The Qassam attacks are not proof that
the disengagement failed, but that the Hamas rule is
leading the Palestinians into a new round of an
unnecessary war.
New guidelines for Israeli and
Palestinian bank ties
The Bank of Israel has issued new guidelines for ties
between Israeli and Palestinian banks governing money
transfers and checks, which will come into effect
tomorrow. The guidelines aim to prevent money
laundering and financing of terrorism.
Palestinian farmers to trash flowers in protest
at Israeli siege
Flower farmers from the Gaza Strip will throw their
products away on Monday in protest against being
unable to export to Europe. The Gaza Strip's farmers
have been planting flowers since 1991, and in the
past have exported up to 60 million flowers to
Europe every year. In 2007 however farmers
exported only five million flowers due to the
Israeli imposed embargo. This limited exportation
came as a result of Palestinian president Mahmoud
Abbas asking the Dutch government to exert
pressure on Israel. Approximately 4500
Palestinian workers are involved in the farming of
flowers, with each dunam costing 8000 US dollars
to farm. The overall income of the flower business
in the Gaza strip is 13 million US dollars.
Palestinian succumbs to wounds sustained
in Thursday's Israeli attack
22-year-old Palestinian Salih Nabhan died on
Monday. His two brothers, Saed and Jawdat,
were killed in the same airstrike on Thursday.
The death toll of Thursday's massacre rose to nine
with Nabhan's death. Palestinian medics are
searching for the bodies of two other victims\
in Jabalia.
PFLP fighter killed in battle with Israeli
forces in Gaza City Sunday
The Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades named the victim as
Rami Kareem from the Zaytoun neighborhood.
Palestinians: Two civilians wounded in
IAF air strike on Rafah Monday
The Israel Defense Forces confirmed the air
strike, saying it targeted a car carrying members
of Hamas' military wing. The army said the car
was hit in the strike.
Sderot protestors hold Tel Aviv protest,
demand Olmert quit over Qassams
Residents of the rocket-battered Negev town of
Sderot on Monday blocked Tel Aviv's central
Ayalon freeway and then marched to the Defense
Ministry's compound, in a second day of protest
aimed at stirring more intensive government
action to combat Palestinian rocket fire from Gaza.
Shas vows to quit government if talks,
terror continue in tandem
Shas Chairman Eli Yishai on Monday stepped
up his party's threats to resign from the
government over the ongoing peace talks with
the Palestinians, warning against moving
forward in the peace process as long as
terrorism against Israelis continues.
Israel's 'next logical step' –
by Ali Abunimah
"The next logical step" for the Israeli government "
will have to be a decision whether to target the top
political leadership" of Hamas. So said an Israeli
official quoted in The Jerusalem Post. Executing
democratically elected leaders may require more
chutzpah than even Israel has shown, but the
possibility and its disastrous consequences have
to be taken seriously given Israel's track record
[the murders of Yassin and Rantisi]. Aside from
the United States, Israel is the only country where
the murder of foreign leaders is openly debated
as a policy option.
Photostory: Solidarity with Gaza
As Israel tightened its siege on the Gaza Strip,
Palestinians and solidarity activists demonstrated
their support for the people of Gaza. The above
images were sent to The Electronic Intifada from
around the world and document various actions,
demonstrations and vigils in solidarity with Gazans
under siege.
Gaza diary: Birthday under siege
It is another clear and starry night in Gaza, and cold
... as cold as it gets this time of year. I woke up
shivering this morning. Yesterday, my family and I
spent the evening in darkness and without any
warmth because of another electricity cut.
Israel orders demolition of 15 houses,
health clinic near Hebron
The inhabitants of the houses have been given
until February 14th to quit the area on the pretext
that the houses and clinic were built without hard-
to-obtain construction permits, the organization
Christian Peacemaker Teams says. The Israeli
Civil Administration refused to grant a building
permit for the health despite the difficulties residents
encounter in reaching other health facilities outside
of the valley. Between 600 and 700 people, mostly
women and children, would use the new clinic for
routine medical care, including prenatal checkups
and vaccinations. Six of the homes slated for
demolition were rebuilt by the Israeli
Committee Against House Demolitions
(ICAHD) after previous demolitions.
Israeli forces detain Palestinian
photojournalists in Hebron, confiscate film
Israeli forces detained two photojournalists
affiliated to the Palestine Satellite TV station on
Monday afternoon in the old city of Hebron.
Photojournalist Muhammad Hmeidan and his
colleague Ziad Awad were detained for more
than two hours, and the material they filmed was
confiscated. They were preparing a report regarding
the overall situation in the city of Hebron.
Hebron settlers, Arab clan chiefs said
holding 'reconciliation talks'
Sheikh Abu-Hader Ja'abri, the head of a prominent
Palestinian clan and a relative of a former mayor of
\Hebron, and the head of the Abu Sneinah clan,
Haj Akram Abu-Sneinah met with the head of the
Kiryat Arba settlement council, Zvi K'tzubar, and
the heads of Jewish settlers in Hebron. The two
sides declared their goal was to restore peace and
security to the city, known to Jews as Hebron and
to Palestinians as Al-Khalil. "We don't see you as
settlers but as residents," Sheikh Ja'abri is quoted
as telling his Jewish interlocutors. At the end of
the meeting, which was attended by the IDF's
southern West Bank commander, a spokesperson
for the Hebron settlers said both sides agreed to
unite and combat "extremist elements that seek to
sow hatred and destruction in the city."
Hebron Palestinian chief in rare talks
with Jewish settlers
(AFP) A prominent Palestinian in the West
Bank city of Hebron met Israeli officials and
settler leaders to ask that they ease travel
restrictions in the bitterly divided city, they said
on Monday. "I asked them to open our street and
to lift the barricades, but until I see results I
cannot say whether the get-together was worthwhile,"
he said.The settlers agreed to meet Jaabari as a sign
of appreciation after he intervened to prevent the
destruction of a synagogue illegally built on land
belonging to him near the entrance to Kiryat Arba,
a settler official told AFP.
Israeli military intensifies blockade on
Jenin and Huwwara and kidnaps six
across West Bank
In the early hours of Monday morning, the Israeli
military invaded the town of Huwwarah, south of
Nablus, imposing a tight curfew on the area.
Several military vehicles entered the town and
sporadically opened gunfire and detonated sonic
grenades. Civilians evacuated the streets, and many
students were prevented from reaching their schools,
hiding from seemingly random shooting from the
Army vehicles. Preceding the operation, an
Israeli settler was reportedly injured near the town,
allegedly as a group of Palestinians hurled stones at
his vehicle.
Israeli forces raid Qalqilia;
Azzoun closure continues for fourth day
Israeli forces raided the northern West Bank
city of Qalqilia amidst heavy shooting early on
Monday morning. No casualties or arrests have
been reported Meanwhile, Israeli forces continued
to impose a 'curfew' [house arrest] on the town of
Azzun in the eastern Qalqilia district for the fourth
day in a row. Local sources said that the Israeli
soldiers stationed themselves on the top of a water
reservoir which commands views over the town's
neighbourhoods.
Israeli military kidnaps PA security
officer in Bethlehem
Salem 'Obayyt, 22, was kidnapped in a pre-dawn invasion
on Monday. 'Obayyt is reported to be a Palestinian
Security officer, and resident of Wad Abu Freha.
The invasion caused substantial damages to homes of
civilians before the abduction concluded. In a separate
operation, an Israeli military unit of some ten patrol
vehicles entered the town of Beit Fajjar, west of
Bethlehem, late on Sunday night
New European aid mechanism transfers
major contribution to PA
It will pay NIS 121 million (€ 22 million) today to
74,000 Palestinian public service providers and
pensioners. Launched by the European Commission
on 1st February 2008, PEGASE aims to channel
EU and international assistance towards the building
up of a Palestinian State.
Israeli authorities extend administrative
detention of 21 more Palestinians
The extension ranged between two and six months.
Administrative detention is arrest without charge
or trial. Under the practice, a detainee can be held
indefinitely. A detainee may be given an
administrative detention order for a period of
between 1-6 months, after which the order may
be renewed. Administrative detention is based
on secret evidence brought forward during military
tribunals, to which neither the detainee nor his/her
lawyer have access.
Tel Aviv decides to retain contract
with Gaza city as 'twin city'
Tel Aviv's municipal council on Sunday
rejected a motion raised by Deputy Mayor
Arnon Giladi (Likud) to rescind its "twin city"
status with Gaza City, opting instead for Mayor
Ron Huldai's counter-proposal to freeze the
relationship until "the return of better days."
In September 1998, Tel Aviv, Gaza City and
Barcelona entered a "twin city" agreement aimed at
supporting the Oslo Agreements and encouraging
joint cultural projects funded by
Barcelona's municipality.
Settler evacuees from Gaza to Peres:
We want to live a normal life
Gush Katif evacuees want to live a normal
life, Doron Ben-Shlomi, chairman of the Gush
Katif Settlers Council, told reporters. Money-
wise, they want only what was promised to
them, "not more and not less," he said.
As for housing, Ben Shlomi said it was totally
unacceptable that so many people were still
waiting for housing two and a half years after
the disengagement from Gaza.
Gifts for women and children in Gaza Strip
Raja Zarith Sofia Sultan Idris Shah, the consort
of the Tengku Mahkota of Johor and Malaysian
Red Crescent Society (MRCS) Community
Services National Committee chairman,
donated RM10,000 worth of goods for
Palestinian women and children taking
refuge on the strip bordering Egypt and Israel.
Peace Malaysia coordinator Mukhriz added that,
even though Malaysia was a small country far
from the Gaza Strip, Malaysians had not
forgotten the Palestinians.
No room for two states
The case for a single-state solution is irrefutable,
says Hassan Nafaa
Book Review: Israel and the Clash of
Civilizations by Jonathan Cook
If the war in Iraq was motivated by oil, then why
was it opposed by so many within the oil industry
itself? Was the US incited by the omnipotent
Zionist lobby to a war that is opposed to America's
vital interests (and is the lobby omnipotent?)?
Or is Israel merely a tool of the US establishment,
seen as a vital defender of Western interests in the
recalcitrant Orient? In his second book, Nazareth-
based English author Jonathan Cook seeks to cut
these Gordian knots, and in the process proposes
an uncompromisingly grim diagnosis of what is
happening in the world's most unstable region,
and why it is happening.
Israeli town sues Google over claim it was
built on Arab village
The northern town of Kiryat Yam is suing Internet
giant Google for slander, a local official said Monday,
because a feature of its worldwide map service shows
the town was built on the ruins of an Arab village.
The dispute brings together two controversies,
one old and one new. Officials from the town
deny they displaced Arabs during the War of
Independence, and Google is defending the
practice of allowing any surfer to change
information in its files.
Nonprofit group gives Palestinian
children breath of fresh air
SIDON: More then 100 children from the
Ain al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp near
Sidon were given the opportunity to play, sing,
dance and express themselves thanks to the
Nabeh Foundation, which organized a fun-
filled day for the children over the weekend.
"The fun day also aims to ease the children's
sufferings, as they live in tragic conditions in
the camp and in the absence of the basic factors
of decent life," said supervisor Alia Turkey
Arab Media Watch concern at lack of
commentary on Gaza in UK press
Israel's actions have resulted in civilian
deaths, a worsening humanitarian crisis,
the breach of Gaza's border with Egypt, and
bleaker prospects for the resumption of peace
talks. Nonetheless, there has been no comment
whatsoever in the Sun, Daily Mail, Daily Mirror,
Daily Star and Evening Standard. The only
commentary in the Times, by Robin Shepherd
entitled "A barrage against Israel," unreservedly
defends Israel's actions, blaming the situation in
Gaza on "the culture of violence in Palestinian
society" and accusing Israel's critics of "
sheer irrationality."
US Congressman and Holocaust survivor
Tom Lantos dies at 80
He was a strong supporter of Israel and a lead
advocate for the 2002 congressional resolution
authorizing the Iraq war, though he would come
to be a strong critic of the Bush administration's
strategy. In 2006 Lantos was one of five members
of Congress arrested in a protest outside the
Sudanese Embassy over the genocide in Darfur.
In early 2004 he led the first congressional
delegation to Libya in more than 30 years.
Barack Obama no
'Manchurian Candidate' - by Roger Cohen
Obama feels Israel in his kishkas, all right.
Equally, he feels dialogue, which has been his
way of getting things done since he became a
Chicago community organizer in the 1980s.
There would be no six-year time-outs on
Israel-Palestine under an Obama presidency.
"He'd be actively involved from day one," said
Axelrod. Jews should get over the scaremongering:
Obama is no Manchurian. Nor is he blind to the fact
that backing Israel is not enough if such U.S.
backing provides carte blanche for the subjugation
of another people.
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