Headlines for 12-04-07

Israel strikes Hamas base in central Gaza, kills three - Update


B'Tselem slams Israeli Supreme Courts delay in decision to allow reduction of fuel supplies to Gaza


Israeli officials reject U.S. findings on Iran ** Israeli officials, who've been warning that Iran would soon pose a nuclear threat to the world, reacted angrily Tuesday to a new U.S. intelligence finding that Iran stopped its nuclear weapons development program in 2003 and to date hasn't resumed trying to produce nuclear weapons.......An analysis in the competing Haaretz newspaper suggested that Israel might come to be viewed as a "panic-stricken rabbit" and said that the U.S. intelligence estimate established "a new, dramatic reality: The military option, American or Israeli, is off the table, indefinitely." Ooops. Looks like Israel's 'intel' didn't fly this time around (paragraph 27 in particular).


Taxis disappearing form Gaza streets due to Israeli fuel reduction


Bush to visit Israel in January


Peace Now: Israel not combatting illegal West Bank construction


Report: 17 Palestinians killed in internal clashes in November


Palestinian Political detainee hospitalized following attack


Israeli forces kidnap one Palestinian in Tubas and attack local shepherds


Report: Israel ignores its own building laws in West Bank settlements


Israeli army kidnaps Palestinian following large-scale military operation in Nablus.


Archbishop urges cultural acceptance A Palestinian Catholic archbishop nominated three times for the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to promote healing between Israelis and Arabs brought a message of peace to VU on Monday.


Israeli army tortures teenager over false allegations


The Anti-Iran Annapolis Conference by Philip Giraldi ** The conference is only comprehensible in terms of the other agendas that drove it. Behind the scenes, the United States and Israel were less interested in making peace with the Palestinians than they were in building up a de facto coalition of Arab states against Iran, which is why there was intense diplomatic pressure to obtain the participation of every Arab country.


Olmert: Nuke report on Iran shows need for tighter Iran sanctions ** "We discussed this report with leaders of the [U.S.] administration," Olmert told reporters. "It is vital to pursue efforts to prevent Iran from developing a capability like this and we will continue doing so along with our friends the United States.".....The report contradicts earlier U.S. intelligence reports, Israeli assessments, and the conclusions of senior officials in the Bush administration. .......The difference in the American and Israeli assessments is derived not from different information but rather different approaches


Hamas: Israeli threats against Gaza aims to bring Abbas back


Santa wears cool shades to give presents in Bethlehem's Christian community The sunglasses are a Palestinian addition to Santa's garb of red suit and black boots, meant to ensure that children in the tiny, tight-knit Christian community in Jesus' traditional birthplace don't recognize the bearded man bringing presents


Palestinian security forces deploy in West Bank town The plan is not being carried out with the coordination of the Israeli army and the military has refused to provide guarantees that it will not enter the city


Israel invites bids for new east Jerusalem settlements E. Jerusalem is Israeli-OCCUPIED (not owned) territory, according to international law. All of the settlements built therein are violations of the Fourth Geneva Convention, Article 49.


France outlines plan for Palestinian donors summit "(The conference's) aim is to mobilize donors and to provide financial and political support for the Palestinian Authority,"


Palestinians slam Israel over housing plan "This a flagrant violation of all that happened at Annapolis," Qurei, a former prime minister, said. "We demand from Israel to reverse this decision ... There will be no peace process if they continue with settlement activities."


Israel vows to resist Iran nuclear drive despite US report Israel on Tuesday charged that Iran was still seeking nuclear weapons despite a US report claiming the contrary, and vowed to continue its diplomatic campaign against its arch-foe. ......"It is necessary to continue our efforts with our American friends to prevent Iran from obtaining non-conventional weapons," Olmert said on army radio......"This report is a painful blow to Israeli policy, which has been to try to persuade the world that the Iranian problem needs to be solved urgently before Iran reaches the point of no return," warned the mass-selling Yediot Aharonot.


Increasing number of Fatah members wish to have talks with Hamas


U.S. envoy says State Dept. knew of pulled U.N. text Khalilzad said while the draft was welcomed by members of the Security Council, who include Arab Qatar, when it was submitted last Thursday, "the Israeli government at the highest level decided this was not going to be useful."


Support Iranian dissidents, says US analyst The West should seek regime change in Iran by lending support to the growing dissident movement within the country, said Dr Michael Ledeen......"They have been waiting ... to hear from an American president that the US wants an end to this regime... No president has done anything," he said, adding that sanctions, which have been in place since the 1979 Iranian revolution, have been ineffective."

Ledeen=neocon.


IDF soldier lightly wounded from mortar shell shrapnel in w. Negev An IDF soldier was lightly wounded late Tuesday night after a mortar shell fired by Palestinians in Gaza exploded near his position in the western Negev.


Budget for United Nations agency for Palestine refugees promised contributions by 22 countries, as other governments express intent to pledge later Twenty-two donors pledged contributions to the 2008 budget of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) this morning, with several Governments expressing their intention to announce additional pledges at a later date.


Ramon: West Bank barrier to be border ?It?s clear that Israel will annex the blocs of settlement, and it?s clear that Israel only wants the blocs of settlement,? Ramon said, referring to the major Israeli settlement blocs on Israel?s side of the West Bank fence, which he said constitute some 8 percent of the West Bank.


Gaza patients transferred to Egyptian hospitals through Rafah Crossing


Student trapped in Gaza returns to UK Khaled al-Mudallal, of Great Horton, Bradford, had returned to his native Gaza to marry but found himself caught up in an ongoing siege by the Israeli army. Passage in and out of the region was severely restricted and supplies of food and aid were cut off.


Israel denies attacking own kibbutz Before sunrise Tuesday, kibbutz members complained to the military shells came through the roof of a house and 20 mm shell casings were found, a type commonly used by Israeli helicopter gunships, the Jerusalem Post reported.



Lebanon: Refugees Coerced to Return to Iraq


Dichter: East Jerusalem Arabs loyal to Palestinian world Avi Dichter said Monday that "the Arabs of east Jerusalem live in two different worlds but are loyal only to the Palestinian world, and this is very problematic for us from the criminal and terrorist standpoint.".....Amidror added that Israel must make every effort to connect Jerusalem to Ma'ale Adumim in order to "protect the capital from the east".


Mistrial In Case of Air Base Ex-Guard At Andrews, Chamble said, Jackson asked supervisors to give him time off on Fridays for prayer services. According to Chamble, after Jackson said that Palestinians have a right to defend themselves, an Andrews supervisor gave him this advice: "On this base, you need to chill on that kind of stuff."


Outcomes of Minister?s Visit to Palestine During his courtesy call on Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, Minister Song explained that the Korean government has been providing assistance for the economic and social development of Palestine, and promised that Korea will actively participate at the upcoming Conference of Donor Nations to Palestine to be held on December 17 in Paris.


Palestinians brave desolation at bombed-out Lebanon camp Aisha Abdul Rahim's home has no doors or windows but she would still rather suffer the cold at her own home in a bombed-out Palestinian camp in north Lebanon than stay in a shelter......The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA, Karen Abu Zayd, said she had "witnessed nothing like this" in decades of services, after a November 13 tour of the camp.


Israeli guitarist seeks U.S. success Broza, an Israeli Jew, records in a Palestinian-run studio in east Jerusalem. He performs regularly at peace rallies, and was a common sight strumming in bomb shelters during Israel's war against Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon last year