Hamas ends Israel truce early

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Written by Toni O'Loughlin in Jerusalem Toni O'Loughlin in Jerusalem

Published: 18 December 2008 18 December 2008

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Hamas ends Israel truce early

Militants declare six-month deal dead as Gaza violence escalates


The six-month truce between Hamas and Israel ended today with the militant Islamists who rule Gaza declaring the agreement dead, 24 hours before it was due to officially expire.

The declaration followed another day of escalating violence, beginning with an Israeli air raid on Gaza, which Hamas has controlled for the past 18 months.

Hamas responded to Israel's attack, which destroyed a weapons store and a rocket-making factory, by firing eight rockets and five mortars at Israel's southern towns.

"The calm, which was reached with Egyptian sponsorship on 19 June and expires on 19 December, is finished because the enemy did not abide by its obligations," said Hamas official Ayman Taha, who respresented the group in talks with other Palestinian factions. "The calm is over."

The truce was due to end tomorrow but has been unravelling ever since Israel crossed into Gaza, killed six Hamas fighters and destroyed a tunnel on 4 November.

So far this week Hamas has fired around 50 rockets. On Wednesday one struck a car park near a supermarket in Sderot, the Israeli town that borders Gaza's northern perimeter and bears the brunt of Palestinian missile attacks.

As the fighting has escalated, Israel has tightened its blockade, forcing the UN's Relief and Works Agency, which feeds 750,000 Palestinian refugees in the coastal territory, to suspend its food deliveries yesterday.

The eruption of violence follows five months of relative calm in which both sides seemed prepared to turn a blind eye to the other's transgressions: Israel maintained its crippling blockade on Gaza and Palestinian militants continued firing a small number of missiles into neighbouring Israeli townships. Now both sides are reassessing.

Earlier in the week, Israel's defence minister, Ehud Barak, reportedly sent negotiator Amos Gilad to Cairo to bid for a last-minute extension but to no avail.

Though publicly neither side is rushing in, both have an interest in maintaining the quiet. For Hamas, the truce was a boon. It allowed it to redeploy its forces from fighting Israel to cracking down on rival militias. As the dominant force in town with a steady flow of cash from the underground tunnels which it controls on its southern border with Egypt, Hamas consolidated its control over the bureaucracy and public law and order.

Meanwhile unemployment in Gaza has climbed to 40%, forcing families, who face power and water cuts for up to 16 hours a day, deeper into poverty.

"Gazans are suffering from an acute economic and social crisis but the Islamic movement is internally secure," said the International Crisis Group's latest report, released on Wednesday. "New elites more dependent on the movement are emerging and basic government functions appear stable.

"Aware that Gazans are suffering and dissatisfied, Hamas leaders blame the outside world and take credit for what has been accomplished despite the siege," it added.

Still, anger is building in Gaza and despite the absence of any democratic mechanisms to depose the often ruthless regime, Hamas is under pressure to find a way to open the crossings to Israel to revive the economy.

For Israel, the truce not only gave the residents of towns such as Sderot reprieve, it deflated the hard right's push for a full-scale invasion of the territory.

The current Israeli government has avoided such an attack, fearing the death of its soliders in Gaza's back alleys as well as the large financial drain.

Yet with the hard right and ultra-nationalists in the ascendancy in the run-up to next year's elections, the Kadima-led coalition government is under pressure to act.

With no real way of dealing with the missiles, Israel may start launching targeted attacks on Hamas's leadership. But that would inevitably result in an escalation of rocket attacks, which is becoming more effective as Hamas's armourers continue to find ways to increase their range.

Army Invades Several Areas in Bethlehem, Officials Angered by Pre-Christmas Invasion

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Written by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

Published: 17 December 2008 17 December 2008

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The Palestine News Network (PNN) reported on Wednesday that the Israeli army invaded several areas in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, detaining and kidnapping a number of residents, as well as searched a number of homes after forcing the residents out. Officials in Bethlehem slammed the Israeli invasion and said that this attack is an attempt to disrupt the preparations for Christmas.

The PNN reported that soldiers invaded at dawn Harmala town, east of Bethlehem, and closed all of its entrances. Soldiers invaded the town from several directions, broke into, and searched dozens of homes after forcing the residents out.

Eyewitnesses reported that the army conducted provocative searches and caused damage to the residences

Later on, soldiers kidnapped five residents who were later identified as Rafat Mohammad Al Zeer, 27, Hisham Mohammad Al Zeer, 25, Marwan Yousef Al Zeer, 23, Eyad Ahmad Al Zeer, 24, and Jamal Adel Al Zeer, 22. All were handcuffed, blindfolded, and taken to an unknown destination.

The soldiers also occupied one home after forcing the family out and raised the Israeli flag on top of it.

Furthermore, medical sources reported that Red Crescent medics transferred resident Ziad Al Zeer to a local clinic after he was attacked and beaten by the soldiers who broke into his home.

Soldiers also broke into a military clinic which belongs to the Palestinian security forces and searched it, causing damage.

Also, soldiers invaded Husan town, west of Bethlehem, and forced dozens of shops in the center of the town to close for four hours. The army told storeowners that if they do not leave the area they would be arrested.

Troops broke into a number of homes and searched them; damage was reported, but no injuries.

In al-Asakra town, east of Bethlehem, soldiers kidnapped three residents after invading the town and breaking into a number of homes.

Soldiers closed the entrances of al-Asakra and limited the movement of the residents for at least three hours.

An Israeli military spokesperson claimed that two of three residents who were kidnapped by the army are members of the Islamic Jihad, and that the third is a member of Hamas.

Troops also invaded Abu Njeim village, south of Bethlehem, and kidnapped two youths. Soldiers broke into and searched a number of homes causing damage.

During early dawn hours, soldiers invaded the city of Bethlehem and broke into a number of homes.

Officials in Bethlehem said that this invasion is an attempt to foil all preparations the Palestinian Authority is conducting as the city prepares for Christmas.

Bethlehem Mayor, Dr. Victor Batarsa, accused the Israeli Authorities of disrupting the atmosphere in Bethlehem before the beginning of Christmas celebrations, and added that Israel is attempting to destroy the tourist season in the area.

He demanded Israel to stop its attacks and violations, and added that Israel increased the restrictions and attacks in the area while the residents are preparing for Christmas, despite the hardships inflicted by the occupation. 

 

UN rights chief slams Israel's expulsion of expert

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Written by AFP AFP

Published: 17 December 2008 17 December 2008

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[When Israel feels free to deny access to Palestine of UN special envoys and humanitarian aid, the moment is ripe for even more Israeli war crimes . . .]

GENEVA (AFP) — The top United Nations human rights official on Tuesday condemned Israel's refusal to admit a UN special envoy into the country and called his expulsion "unprecedented" and "deeply regrettable".

Israeli authorities said Monday they had turned back UN human rights envoy Richard Falk upon his arrival at Ben Gurion airport, accusing him of "legitimising Hamas terrorism."

But the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, said in a statement that "it is the responsibility of states to cooperate with the independent UN experts appointed by the UN Human Rights Council."

Israel's refusal to admit Falk, his detention and subsequent expulsion was "unprecedented and deeply regrettable," she added.

Falk was denied entry to the country and was separated from two UN staff members accompanying him, and had his UN mobile phone confiscated, Pillay's office said in a statement.

"He was kept in a detention facility at the airport, where he spent the night in a small room with several other people who were being denied entry into Israel."

"In all, Mr. Falk spent more than 20 hours in the airport, before being deposited on a plane to Los Angeles," the statement said.

Read more: UN rights chief slams Israel's expulsion of expert

Afghan media: Bush visits Afghanistan amid failure in war on terror

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Written by Chinaview, Editor: Wang Hongjiang Chinaview, Editor: Wang Hongjiang

Published: 16 December 2008 16 December 2008

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  KABUL, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- Afghanistan newspapers have described the Washington-led war on terror as failure and said that the outgoing White House chief Geroge W. Bush toured the post-Taliban state Monday amid surge in Taliban activities in the war-battered country.

    "Violent insurgency and all other frustrating incidents in Afghanistan caused many observers to say that the fight against terrorism has turned into a debacle and prognostications that Afghanistan may slip back into the hands of extremists raged in media and press," daily Outlook writes in its editorial.

    It also added that U.S. President Bush in a joint press conference with his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai exercised moral sense of acknowledging as "No question that violence is up."

    The English newspaper under the title "Bush's farewell visit with support for troops surge" quoted the outgoing president as saying, "I would expect you'll see more U.S. troops here as quickly as possible in parts of the country that are being challenged by the Taliban."

    Another newspaper 8Subh or 8 A.M. almost with similar title wrote in its editorial that President Bush visited Afghanistan while little change has seen in the field of security and economy in Afghanistan in comparison with seven years ago when the U.S.-led forces ousted Taliban regime from power.

    It moreover added, "though Taliban are not in power, vast parts of the country is in their writ and they still could set schools on fire and pour acid on the faces of schoolgirls.

    The daily 8Subh in its editorial also added that Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, has no electricity and the poverty and unemployment are high in the country where President Bush promised seven years ago to root out terrorists and bring peace and prosperity.

    Another local newspaper Payman Daily in its editorial wrote that Bush at the last days of his power as the President of the U.S. toured Iraq and Afghanistan to ensure the two states that Washington would continue to support them.

    The visit, the newspaper added, took place amid increasing militancy and U.S. announcement to boost the strength of its troops from 30,000 to 50,000 in Afghanistan to fight terrorists and militants.

    It also added that Bush was welcomed by throwing shoes by Iraqi journalists in Iraq and the man who did so, described his action as "response to the massacre of Iraqis" while Afghan journalists did not do the same thing.

    "Anyhow, it was the last visit of Bush to Iraq and the region and the bitter memories of hurling shoes to him would remain with him as reminder of the crimes he committed in the world during his eight-year tenure as president," Payman Daily concluded.

    Soaring conflicts and Taliban-related insurgency mostly in the shape of deadly suicide attacks and roadside bombings have claimed the lives of more than 5,000 people, with over 277 international troops, despite the deployment of over 70,000-strong NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and the U.S.-led Coalition troops in Afghanistan.