Headlines for 01-05-08

Israel kills 4 in Gaza raid as Olmert vows escalation Israeli troops killed four Palestinians in a raid into the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip on Sunday, witnesses said, and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert vowed to step up attacks on militants who fire rockets into Israel.


Report: Additional Palestinian wounded by IDF shell dies of his wounds


Thousands protest Gaza seige in Nazarath Israel - Thousands of Arab Israelis marched through the streets of Nazareth on Saturday in protest against Israel?s sealing-off of the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, according to an AFP photographer


Israel to brief George Bush on options for Iran strike ** Ehud Barak, the defence minister, is said to want to convince him that an Israeli military strike against uranium enrichment facilities in Iran would be feasible if diplomatic efforts failed to halt nuclear operations. A range of military options has been prepared.


Bush: We'd defend Israel in event of Iranian strike "If Iran did strike Israel," Bush said, "We will defend our ally, no ands, ifs or buts."


Security guard shoots Palestinian at landfill north of J'lem


Military operations expand in ancient city "The 70,000 people who live in the city centre and the neighbourhoods around it have been placed under a curfew," a Palestinian security official said.


40 million NIS the cost of the damage that was made by the Israeli army in Nablus Shaher Sa'ed, the head of the Palestinian Workers Union, said on Saturday that the city of Nablus needs at least 40 million NIS to recover from the damage caused by the Israeli army in the city in the past three days


The Israeli army attacks Azon village and injures two civilians


Civilians in Gaza Appeal to Pope Benedict XVI for Support the only Catholic priest in Gaza, Father Musallam, earlier this week sent a letter to Pope Benedict XVI asking for support and prayers for th eChristian and Muslim Civilians who are caught up the middle of the unrest?


Egypt finds five tunnels into Gaza


Israel may trade Palestinian leader for soldier: official A senior Israeli official told army radio on Saturday that Israel might free the popular jailed Palestinian leader Marwan Barghuti in exchange for an Israeli soldier seized in June 2006.


Mideast visit to promote peace, corral Iran: Bush


Abbas's forces question 2 West Bank Hamas leaders A Palestinian security force loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas detained two Hamas leaders for seven hours on Saturday after one of them said publicly the Palestinian Authority was behaving like Israel.


Har Homa neighborhood slated for 'absentee' Palestinian land The Housing Ministry is pushing forward with the construction of more than 1,000 residential units in East Jerusalem's Har Homa neighborhood on land held by "absentee" Palestinians from the Bethlehem area. The move is in violation of both an instruction from the attorney general to stop applying the absentee law in East Jerusalem and explicit promises to the U.S. not to apply that law in the capital's eastern quarters........ It is now evident that most of the land for the 300 units belongs to residents of Beit Sahur who were declared absentee, so
their lands were taken by the state without compensation or legal hearings.
Land theft, folks, and how Israel does it and justifies it to itself.


Israel withdraws troops from northern West Bank city Israeli troops pulled out of the West Bank city of Nablus on Saturday after a three-day incursion in which they arrested 20 alleged Palestinian militants, the army said.......Palestinian medics said some 40 people were wounded by rubber bullets over the course of the operation. No Israeli soldiers were wounded.


Hamas dismisses Bush Mideast visit as "photo op" "Bush's visit is unwelcome because it aims to serve the occupation and provide it with political and psychological support," Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said in a statement.


Cancer patient dies due to the Israeli army siege on Gaza


Radio Address by the President to the Nation My first stops will be in the Holy Land, where I'll meet with Israeli Prime Minister Olmert and Palestinian President Abbas. I will encourage both leaders to move forward with the peace negotiations they began last November in Annapolis


Christian Zionists Gain Israel's Inner Sanctum In addition to raising great sums of money for Israel and devoting two-plus decades to building alliances with Christian Zionists, Eckstein has become an outspoken critic of Iran and its president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad


The Sack of Annapolis If you want to appreciate just how hopelessly entangled America has become in the fate of modern day Israel and Zionism, you may want to take a look at an eye-opening article of December 5th in the Jerusalem Post.


Bernier Set to Visit Middle East Bernier will leave Wednesday for his first trip to the Middle East, with stops scheduled in the West Bank and Israel.


Norman Finkelstein in The Netherlands Historians, human-rights organizations and the International Court of Justice have all rendered an overwhelmingly negative verdict on Israel's record. Now that Israel's record has caught up with it, American Jewry is slowly choosing to distance itself from Israel.


For sale: West?s deadly nuclear secrets The Turks and Israelis had planted ?moles? in military and academic institutions which handled nuclear technology. Edmonds says there were several transactions of nuclear material every month, with the Pakistanis being among the eventual buyers. ?The network appeared to be obtaining information from every nuclear agency in the United States,? ......One of the Pentagon figures under investigation was Lawrence Franklin, a former Pentagon analyst, who was jailed in 2006 for passing US defence information to lobbyists and sharing classified information with an Israeli diplomat.


Egyptian minister skeptical of U.S aid Egypt's foreign minister restated his refusal to preconditions linked to a U.S. aid package the minister says is tied to a U.S.-based Israeli lobby.


Arab FMs call for swift consensus on Lebanese presidential election Arab foreign ministers on Saturday evening called for a swift consensus on Lebanese presidential election to choose army chief General Michel Suleiman as president, the Egyptian MENA news agency reported.


Poll: 81 percent of Israelis back increasing IDF targeted killings The poll also found that 60.5 percent believe that Israel should not reach a cease-fire agreement with the Hamas in which the Israel Defense Forces would cease targeted killings if Hamas stops firing Qassam rockets towards Israel


Choir sings praises of Bethlehem concert They were accompanied by the Palestinian Youth Orchestra of the Edward Said Conservatory of Music and by pianist Sean Pollock of Jonesboro, Ark.