6 aug 2014
The Gaza truce drawn up by Egypt shows Cairo has an "indispensable" role mediating conflicts between Israel and Hamas, despite strained ties with the Palestinian faction, analysts said Tuesday.
Israel withdrew all of its forces from Gaza on Tuesday after nearly a month-long deadly campaign, as a 72-hour ceasefire announced by Cairo went into effect.
The truce started at 8:00 a.m., just days after a similar attempt by the United Nations and the United States to secure a three-day ceasefire from Friday -- without Egyptian involvement -- fell through.
"The failure of that truce shows that Egypt is indispensible to any solution in Gaza," Nathan Thrall, Jerusalem-based senior analyst with the International Crisis Group, told AFP.
"There was never any possibility of sidelining Egypt from any ceasefire agreement ... Egypt was motivated not to be sidelined and not to lose its primacy in the process of mediation."
But there were also other factors that prompted Cairo to reach out to Hamas and invite it to submit its conditions for a ceasefire, although animosity runs high between the two sides, analysts said.
Egypt has banned Hamas, a former affiliate of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood of president Mohamed Morsi, who was deposed last year by former army chief and current President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
Cairo accuses Hamas of collaborating with Morsi to plot "terrorist attacks" inside Egypt.
Egyptian police have cracked down brutally on the Brotherhood, killing more than 1,400 of its supporters in street clashes since Morsi's ouster in July 2013.
The Egyptian army has also destroyed more than 1,600 tunnels that connect Egypt's restive Sinai Peninsula with Gaza, and which Palestinians to smuggle consumer supplies and weapons to blockaded Gaza.
Hamas needs Egypt
Palestinian factions, including Hamas, who thrashed out the truce details in Cairo are demanding a long-term ceasefire, the pullout of Israeli troops from Gaza, and the lifting of the blockade.
They also want border crossings with Gaza to be opened, as well as fishing rights up to 12 nautical miles off Gaza's coast and the release of Palestinians jailed in Israel.
Thrall said Hamas needs Egypt for a truce to take hold.
Hamas was aware that any "negotiated ceasefire will entail changes in easing of the Gaza blockade and that easing requires Egypt's cooperation," he added.
Egypt controls the Rafah border crossing with Gaza, the primary route used by Palestinians to connect with the outside world.
But Thrall cautioned that ties between the two will remain tense.
"Egypt is looking at Gaza and Hamas through the prism of its domestic battle with the Muslim Brotherhood. For Egypt, Hamas is its single enemy and that is not changing despite the ceasefire talks."
Analysts also noted that the high number of casualties in Gaza, where nearly 1,900 people have been killed since Israel launched its operation on July 8, helped Egypt to step in actively and press for a truce.
"Egypt is not independent from Palestinian politics," said Michael Hanna, a fellow at the Century Foundation.
President Mahmoud "Abbas has shifted his position and so did Egypt," he said, referring to Abbas' backing of Hamas's demands for a truce.
"Israel has been battered by international public opinion ... and the mounting human sufferings in Gaza" led to a joint Palestinian position, in turn influencing Egypt to shift its approach, Hanna added.
Egypt had snubbed Hamas when making an initial ceasefire offer during the early days of the conflict, triggering the fury of the Palestinian group.
Pullout helped Egypt
The initial withdrawal of some Israeli troops from certain areas of Gaza on Saturday was also a game-changer for Egypt to step in actively, analysts said.
"The fact that the Israelis had started to withdraw made the (Egyptian) ceasefire much more feasible," said James Dorsey of the Singapore-based Rajratnam School of International Studies.
"Israel began withdrawing as it felt it has significantly damaged Palestinian military capability, and it will take a very long time for Palestinians to rebuild."
Israel has said it has destroyed all of the known tunnels used by militants to attack its territory.
"Egypt's job was made easy as one of the key demands (of Palestinians) of Israeli withdrawal was already decided. Egypt's timing was right," Dorsey said.
Israel withdrew all of its forces from Gaza on Tuesday after nearly a month-long deadly campaign, as a 72-hour ceasefire announced by Cairo went into effect.
The truce started at 8:00 a.m., just days after a similar attempt by the United Nations and the United States to secure a three-day ceasefire from Friday -- without Egyptian involvement -- fell through.
"The failure of that truce shows that Egypt is indispensible to any solution in Gaza," Nathan Thrall, Jerusalem-based senior analyst with the International Crisis Group, told AFP.
"There was never any possibility of sidelining Egypt from any ceasefire agreement ... Egypt was motivated not to be sidelined and not to lose its primacy in the process of mediation."
But there were also other factors that prompted Cairo to reach out to Hamas and invite it to submit its conditions for a ceasefire, although animosity runs high between the two sides, analysts said.
Egypt has banned Hamas, a former affiliate of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood of president Mohamed Morsi, who was deposed last year by former army chief and current President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
Cairo accuses Hamas of collaborating with Morsi to plot "terrorist attacks" inside Egypt.
Egyptian police have cracked down brutally on the Brotherhood, killing more than 1,400 of its supporters in street clashes since Morsi's ouster in July 2013.
The Egyptian army has also destroyed more than 1,600 tunnels that connect Egypt's restive Sinai Peninsula with Gaza, and which Palestinians to smuggle consumer supplies and weapons to blockaded Gaza.
Hamas needs Egypt
Palestinian factions, including Hamas, who thrashed out the truce details in Cairo are demanding a long-term ceasefire, the pullout of Israeli troops from Gaza, and the lifting of the blockade.
They also want border crossings with Gaza to be opened, as well as fishing rights up to 12 nautical miles off Gaza's coast and the release of Palestinians jailed in Israel.
Thrall said Hamas needs Egypt for a truce to take hold.
Hamas was aware that any "negotiated ceasefire will entail changes in easing of the Gaza blockade and that easing requires Egypt's cooperation," he added.
Egypt controls the Rafah border crossing with Gaza, the primary route used by Palestinians to connect with the outside world.
But Thrall cautioned that ties between the two will remain tense.
"Egypt is looking at Gaza and Hamas through the prism of its domestic battle with the Muslim Brotherhood. For Egypt, Hamas is its single enemy and that is not changing despite the ceasefire talks."
Analysts also noted that the high number of casualties in Gaza, where nearly 1,900 people have been killed since Israel launched its operation on July 8, helped Egypt to step in actively and press for a truce.
"Egypt is not independent from Palestinian politics," said Michael Hanna, a fellow at the Century Foundation.
President Mahmoud "Abbas has shifted his position and so did Egypt," he said, referring to Abbas' backing of Hamas's demands for a truce.
"Israel has been battered by international public opinion ... and the mounting human sufferings in Gaza" led to a joint Palestinian position, in turn influencing Egypt to shift its approach, Hanna added.
Egypt had snubbed Hamas when making an initial ceasefire offer during the early days of the conflict, triggering the fury of the Palestinian group.
Pullout helped Egypt
The initial withdrawal of some Israeli troops from certain areas of Gaza on Saturday was also a game-changer for Egypt to step in actively, analysts said.
"The fact that the Israelis had started to withdraw made the (Egyptian) ceasefire much more feasible," said James Dorsey of the Singapore-based Rajratnam School of International Studies.
"Israel began withdrawing as it felt it has significantly damaged Palestinian military capability, and it will take a very long time for Palestinians to rebuild."
Israel has said it has destroyed all of the known tunnels used by militants to attack its territory.
"Egypt's job was made easy as one of the key demands (of Palestinians) of Israeli withdrawal was already decided. Egypt's timing was right," Dorsey said.
Former US president Jimmy Carter said in an op-ed Monday that in order for the Israel-Gaza status quo to change, the international community needs to recognize Hamas as a "legitimate political actor."
"Hamas cannot be wished away, nor will it cooperate in its own demise," an op-ed written by Carter and former Irish president Mary Robinson said.
"Only by recognizing its legitimacy as a political actor -- one that represents a substantial portion of the Palestinian people -- can the West begin to provide the right incentives for Hamas to lay down its weapons," the op-ed, published in Foreign Policy, said.
"Ever since the internationally monitored 2006 elections that brought Hamas to power in Palestine, the West's approach has manifestly contributed to the opposite result."
Carter and Robinson called for an "partial lifting" of the eight-year-old blockade on the Gaza Strip, and said an international force should be put into place to monitor border crossings.
The presence of an international force is also necessary to hold both sides accountable for ceasefire violations, they said.
The op-ed was also heavily critical of the Israeli army's handling of its offensive on Gaza.
"There is no humane or legal justification for the way the Israeli Defense Forces are conducting this war," the op-ed said.
"Hundreds of Palestinian noncombatants have been killed. Much of Gaza has lost access to water and electricity completely. This is a humanitarian catastrophe."
The op-ed also noted "unacceptable" actions by Hamas, but stressed that while Gaza militants have killed three civilians, the vast majority of the 1,875 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces throughout the assault have been civilians.
Both Carter and Robinson are members of the Elders, a non-governmental organization that describes itself as a group of "independent global leaders working together for peace and human rights."
Carter is among the most notable American public figures to criticize Israeli policy toward Palestinians. He is the author of "Peace Not Apartheid," a book for which he has earned praise for its frank speech about Israel and Palestine. Some key American figures, however, accuse him of being biased against Israel.
"Hamas cannot be wished away, nor will it cooperate in its own demise," an op-ed written by Carter and former Irish president Mary Robinson said.
"Only by recognizing its legitimacy as a political actor -- one that represents a substantial portion of the Palestinian people -- can the West begin to provide the right incentives for Hamas to lay down its weapons," the op-ed, published in Foreign Policy, said.
"Ever since the internationally monitored 2006 elections that brought Hamas to power in Palestine, the West's approach has manifestly contributed to the opposite result."
Carter and Robinson called for an "partial lifting" of the eight-year-old blockade on the Gaza Strip, and said an international force should be put into place to monitor border crossings.
The presence of an international force is also necessary to hold both sides accountable for ceasefire violations, they said.
The op-ed was also heavily critical of the Israeli army's handling of its offensive on Gaza.
"There is no humane or legal justification for the way the Israeli Defense Forces are conducting this war," the op-ed said.
"Hundreds of Palestinian noncombatants have been killed. Much of Gaza has lost access to water and electricity completely. This is a humanitarian catastrophe."
The op-ed also noted "unacceptable" actions by Hamas, but stressed that while Gaza militants have killed three civilians, the vast majority of the 1,875 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces throughout the assault have been civilians.
Both Carter and Robinson are members of the Elders, a non-governmental organization that describes itself as a group of "independent global leaders working together for peace and human rights."
Carter is among the most notable American public figures to criticize Israeli policy toward Palestinians. He is the author of "Peace Not Apartheid," a book for which he has earned praise for its frank speech about Israel and Palestine. Some key American figures, however, accuse him of being biased against Israel.
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Excessive Israeli restrictions on Palestinian territories cannot be justified on the grounds they protect Israel, a British parliamentary committee said on Wednesday.
"We challenge the assertion that restrictions which curtail economic development in the Occupied Palestinian Territories are based on Israel's security needs and can be justified on security grounds," the report by the International Development Committee said. The paper expressed particular concern about the situation in Hebron, the Palestinian city in the southern West Bank. "We were shocked by what we saw during our visit to Hebron. While we |
fully appreciate Israel's security concerns, these in no way justify the present restrictions on Palestinians in Hebron, which affect their livelihoods, economic development, and security," the report said.
The group, which monitors the British government's ministry of international development, called for London and Europe to speak out against restrictions that prevent economic development "as a matter of urgency."
The call comes a day after Baroness Sayeeda Warsi resigned as a government minister in protest at what she said was a "morally indefensible" failure by the government to condemn Israel's killing of civilians in Gaza.
The lifting of an eight-year blockade of Gaza has been a key demand of all Palestinian factions.
But West Bank restrictions in particular, such as the prevention of Palestinian businesses investing in the Israeli-controlled zone, should be opposed by Britain and other European countries, the report said.
It added that issues such as greater access to water and construction permits should be addressed regardless of the current conflict, which has killed 1,875 Palestinians including 430 children, 64 Israeli soldiers and three civilians in Israel.
The committee said it was "extremely concerned" that Israel could further expand settlements, and said Britain and other European countries should "stress to the Israeli authorities the unacceptability of the present situation."
The British government should also examine whether guidelines on the labeling of produce made in Israeli settlements to allow consumers to avoid buying them has been implemented by retailers, the report said.
The group, which monitors the British government's ministry of international development, called for London and Europe to speak out against restrictions that prevent economic development "as a matter of urgency."
The call comes a day after Baroness Sayeeda Warsi resigned as a government minister in protest at what she said was a "morally indefensible" failure by the government to condemn Israel's killing of civilians in Gaza.
The lifting of an eight-year blockade of Gaza has been a key demand of all Palestinian factions.
But West Bank restrictions in particular, such as the prevention of Palestinian businesses investing in the Israeli-controlled zone, should be opposed by Britain and other European countries, the report said.
It added that issues such as greater access to water and construction permits should be addressed regardless of the current conflict, which has killed 1,875 Palestinians including 430 children, 64 Israeli soldiers and three civilians in Israel.
The committee said it was "extremely concerned" that Israel could further expand settlements, and said Britain and other European countries should "stress to the Israeli authorities the unacceptability of the present situation."
The British government should also examine whether guidelines on the labeling of produce made in Israeli settlements to allow consumers to avoid buying them has been implemented by retailers, the report said.
A fragile ceasefire in Gaza pushed into a second day Wednesday as Israeli and Palestinian delegations prepared for crunch talks in Cairo to try to extend the 72-hour truce.
The ceasefire, which came into effect Tuesday and carried past midnight into Wednesday, has brought relief to millions on both sides after one month of fighting killed 1,875 Palestinians and 67 people in Israel.
Israeli and Palestinian delegations are now set for what are expected to be tough talks aimed at securing a permanent ceasefire after the three-day window closes.
Officials on both sides confirmed sending small teams to the Egyptian capital, but they bring conflicting demands and face an uphill diplomatic battle ahead.
The Palestinians insist Israel end its eight-year blockade of Gaza and open border crossings, while Israel wants Gaza fully demilitarized.
But after the longest period of quiet since fighting began, Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Maliki said he expected "the ceasefire to expand into another 72 hours and beyond."
The United States is set to participate in the Cairo talks.
"We are determining at what level and in what capacity and when," US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters in Washington.
US Secretary of State John Kerry, in a BBC interview, called for a sustained ceasefire but stressed that the crucial wider issues will need to be addressed.
"How are we going to make peace? How are we going to eliminate these rockets? How are we going to demilitarize and move towards a different future?"
In Gaza City, people came out in numbers on Tuesday afternoon, children played on the street and the beach, and some shops reopened for the first time in days.
Others ventured home for the first time only to witness scenes of devastation.
"What am I going to tell my wife and children? I don't want them to see this! They will go crazy," said Khayri Hasan al-Masri, a father of three who returned to his heavily damaged home in Beit Hanun in the north after fleeing when Israel's ground offensive began on July 17.
At a bullet-riddled girls' school, an Israeli flag and an anti-Hamas slogan had been etched on the wall of a classroom, and discarded ration packs and tuna cans labelled in Hebrew littered the floor.
Up to $6 billion worth of damage in Gaza
The ceasefire, announced by Egypt late on Monday, is the longest lull since fighting began.
The Palestinian health ministry said 1,875 Palestinians had been killed during the conflict, including 430 children, and said 9,567 people had been wounded, including 2,878 children.
In the West Bank city of Ramallah, deputy economy minister Taysir Amro said the 29-day war had caused total damage of up to $6 billion dollars.
Some of the worst devastation is near the southern Gaza city of Rafah, which was flattened in a massive Israeli assault that began Friday.
The United States and the United Nations have welcomed the truce, saying the onus was on Hamas to uphold its end of the deal.
Israel has been subject to increasingly harsh criticism over the high number of civilian casualties during its military operation launched on July 7.
A British parliamentary committee said Wednesday that excessive Israeli restrictions on Palestinian territories cannot be justified on the grounds they protect Israel.
The Israeli army says it destroyed 32 cross-border tunnels, struck nearly 4,800 targets and killed 900 Palestinian "terrorists."
But human rights groups and the UN say the vast majority -- between 70 and 80 percent -- of those killed in Gaza were civilians.
"We expect that they still have about 3,000 rockets left. This is a challenge we have to address," Lerner said.
The ceasefire, which came into effect Tuesday and carried past midnight into Wednesday, has brought relief to millions on both sides after one month of fighting killed 1,875 Palestinians and 67 people in Israel.
Israeli and Palestinian delegations are now set for what are expected to be tough talks aimed at securing a permanent ceasefire after the three-day window closes.
Officials on both sides confirmed sending small teams to the Egyptian capital, but they bring conflicting demands and face an uphill diplomatic battle ahead.
The Palestinians insist Israel end its eight-year blockade of Gaza and open border crossings, while Israel wants Gaza fully demilitarized.
But after the longest period of quiet since fighting began, Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Maliki said he expected "the ceasefire to expand into another 72 hours and beyond."
The United States is set to participate in the Cairo talks.
"We are determining at what level and in what capacity and when," US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters in Washington.
US Secretary of State John Kerry, in a BBC interview, called for a sustained ceasefire but stressed that the crucial wider issues will need to be addressed.
"How are we going to make peace? How are we going to eliminate these rockets? How are we going to demilitarize and move towards a different future?"
In Gaza City, people came out in numbers on Tuesday afternoon, children played on the street and the beach, and some shops reopened for the first time in days.
Others ventured home for the first time only to witness scenes of devastation.
"What am I going to tell my wife and children? I don't want them to see this! They will go crazy," said Khayri Hasan al-Masri, a father of three who returned to his heavily damaged home in Beit Hanun in the north after fleeing when Israel's ground offensive began on July 17.
At a bullet-riddled girls' school, an Israeli flag and an anti-Hamas slogan had been etched on the wall of a classroom, and discarded ration packs and tuna cans labelled in Hebrew littered the floor.
Up to $6 billion worth of damage in Gaza
The ceasefire, announced by Egypt late on Monday, is the longest lull since fighting began.
The Palestinian health ministry said 1,875 Palestinians had been killed during the conflict, including 430 children, and said 9,567 people had been wounded, including 2,878 children.
In the West Bank city of Ramallah, deputy economy minister Taysir Amro said the 29-day war had caused total damage of up to $6 billion dollars.
Some of the worst devastation is near the southern Gaza city of Rafah, which was flattened in a massive Israeli assault that began Friday.
The United States and the United Nations have welcomed the truce, saying the onus was on Hamas to uphold its end of the deal.
Israel has been subject to increasingly harsh criticism over the high number of civilian casualties during its military operation launched on July 7.
A British parliamentary committee said Wednesday that excessive Israeli restrictions on Palestinian territories cannot be justified on the grounds they protect Israel.
The Israeli army says it destroyed 32 cross-border tunnels, struck nearly 4,800 targets and killed 900 Palestinian "terrorists."
But human rights groups and the UN say the vast majority -- between 70 and 80 percent -- of those killed in Gaza were civilians.
"We expect that they still have about 3,000 rockets left. This is a challenge we have to address," Lerner said.
5 aug 2014
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Family relatives of four-year-old Yamin Abu Jabir found him alive in hospital after they spent four days looking for his dead body with the belief that he was killed along with the rest of his family.
The relatives were killed by an Israeli airstrike at their home in al-Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. Muhammad Jabir Abu, a cousin of Yamin’s father, said he believed that the child was dead under the rubble, but he was confused as bulldozers failed to find the child’s body after digging in the rubble for four days. Moving from one hospital to another across the Gaza Strip, relatives finally found Yamin on the fifth day at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. His face was wrapped with a white cloth and his hand was set in plaster, but fortunately a relative approached him and recognized him. |
Muhammad highlighted that his cousin’s family were gathered on Tuesday, the second day of the Eid al-Fitr holiday, in an attempt to create a positive atmosphere which could soften the tension and fear caused by the ongoing Israeli airstrikes everywhere in the coastal enclave.
However, he added, the good moments were interrupted by an Israeli missile which killed 22 members of the family leaving four-year-old Yamin alone as he turned out to be the only survivor.
Neighbors and ambulance service officers who hurried to evacuate the victims took Yamin to the Al-Aqsa Martys Hospital in Deir al-Balah where he was admitted to an intensive care unit.
He was then transferred to Shifa Hospital in Gaza City by a young volunteer Muhammad Abu Zeid who escorted him and remained attached to him hoping that some relative would recognize him.
“When Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital was bombarded, and chaos prevailed amongst medical staffs, I grabbed the child on my own and took him to Shifa Hospital,” he said.
Abu Zeid highlighted that medics wrote the word “unidentified” on Yamin’s file because nobody came to ask about him.
The Israeli military offensive on Gaza has claimed the lives of about 400 children in addition to thousands who were injured.
However, he added, the good moments were interrupted by an Israeli missile which killed 22 members of the family leaving four-year-old Yamin alone as he turned out to be the only survivor.
Neighbors and ambulance service officers who hurried to evacuate the victims took Yamin to the Al-Aqsa Martys Hospital in Deir al-Balah where he was admitted to an intensive care unit.
He was then transferred to Shifa Hospital in Gaza City by a young volunteer Muhammad Abu Zeid who escorted him and remained attached to him hoping that some relative would recognize him.
“When Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital was bombarded, and chaos prevailed amongst medical staffs, I grabbed the child on my own and took him to Shifa Hospital,” he said.
Abu Zeid highlighted that medics wrote the word “unidentified” on Yamin’s file because nobody came to ask about him.
The Israeli military offensive on Gaza has claimed the lives of about 400 children in addition to thousands who were injured.
Israel is willing to agree to the rebuilding of the Gaza Strip in exchange for the disarmament of militant groups there, an official said Tuesday.
Ofer Gendelman told Ma’an that the Israeli government linked the rebuilding of Gaza with disarming factions in the coastal enclave.
Gendelman said that Israel was interested in achieving a lasting ceasefire, but he insisted that it was dependent on Hamas' respect of the current 72-hour truce.
The Israeli assault in Gaza has caused severe damage to the infrastructure in Gaza. Over 10,000 houses, government buildings, universities, mosques, and schools were damaged in a month-long assault.
Also Tuesday, three remaining members of a Palestinian delegation negotiating a longer-term truce in Gaza were on their way to Cairo after entering Egypt through the Rafah crossing, state media reported.
Israel and Hamas halted their fighting in Gaza from 8 a.m. Tuesday after a three-day temporary truce brokered by Cairo went into effect.
Israel also withdrew its troops from the coastal enclave.
The three Palestinian leaders who entered Egypt were Islamic Jihad member Khaled al-Batsh and senior Hamas officials Khalil al-Haya and Emad El-Elmy, said the official MENA news agency.
A joint Palestinian delegation representing President Mahmoud Abbas' Palestinian Authority, Hamas and Islamic Jihad has been in Cairo for the past few days at Egypt's invitation.
Israel earlier refused to send its negotiators, but an official said Tuesday that a team representing it was on its way to Cairo.
The main demands proposed to Egyptian mediators by the Palestinian delegation are a ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, the end of the siege of the enclave, and opening its border crossings.
They have also demanded fishing rights up to 12 nautical miles off Gaza's coast and the release of Palestinian prisoners demanded by Hamas and Abbas.
Egyptian mediators are to forward these demands to the Israelis.
Israel's assault on Gaza has killed over 1,800 Palestinians and injured at least 9,000. Gaza's deputy economy minister Taysir Amro said Tuesday that the assault has caused at least $4-6 billion in damages.
Sixty-four Israeli soldiers have been killed and three Israeli civilians.
The majority of those killed in Gaza are civilians, according to UN agencies.
Ofer Gendelman told Ma’an that the Israeli government linked the rebuilding of Gaza with disarming factions in the coastal enclave.
Gendelman said that Israel was interested in achieving a lasting ceasefire, but he insisted that it was dependent on Hamas' respect of the current 72-hour truce.
The Israeli assault in Gaza has caused severe damage to the infrastructure in Gaza. Over 10,000 houses, government buildings, universities, mosques, and schools were damaged in a month-long assault.
Also Tuesday, three remaining members of a Palestinian delegation negotiating a longer-term truce in Gaza were on their way to Cairo after entering Egypt through the Rafah crossing, state media reported.
Israel and Hamas halted their fighting in Gaza from 8 a.m. Tuesday after a three-day temporary truce brokered by Cairo went into effect.
Israel also withdrew its troops from the coastal enclave.
The three Palestinian leaders who entered Egypt were Islamic Jihad member Khaled al-Batsh and senior Hamas officials Khalil al-Haya and Emad El-Elmy, said the official MENA news agency.
A joint Palestinian delegation representing President Mahmoud Abbas' Palestinian Authority, Hamas and Islamic Jihad has been in Cairo for the past few days at Egypt's invitation.
Israel earlier refused to send its negotiators, but an official said Tuesday that a team representing it was on its way to Cairo.
The main demands proposed to Egyptian mediators by the Palestinian delegation are a ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, the end of the siege of the enclave, and opening its border crossings.
They have also demanded fishing rights up to 12 nautical miles off Gaza's coast and the release of Palestinian prisoners demanded by Hamas and Abbas.
Egyptian mediators are to forward these demands to the Israelis.
Israel's assault on Gaza has killed over 1,800 Palestinians and injured at least 9,000. Gaza's deputy economy minister Taysir Amro said Tuesday that the assault has caused at least $4-6 billion in damages.
Sixty-four Israeli soldiers have been killed and three Israeli civilians.
The majority of those killed in Gaza are civilians, according to UN agencies.
The turmoil gripping the Middle East is a direct result of the provision of cash, weapons and surveillance to Israel by the US, the latest Snowden leak illustrates. Obama’s “helpless detachment” is just for show, the Intercept’s Glenn Greenwald writes.
In a bold examination, the former Guardian journalist reveals the amazing contrast between what the United States says publicly, and what it does behind the curtain. This involves President Barack Obama’s apparent heartbreak over the Middle Eastern region, as well as the American love for publicly listing Israel as a threat to regional peace at a time when billions of dollars’ worth of its weaponry and intelligence were being supplied to the Jewish state since the 1960s.
Greenwald has published his analysis of the latest leaked Edward Snowden document of April 12, 2013, wherein it’s explained just how false the notion that the US is a bystander to the Middle Eastern crisis really is.
In fact, "the single largest exchange between NSA and ISNU is on targets in the Middle East which constitute strategic threats to US and Israeli interests," the leaked paper reveals.
"The mutually agreed upon geographic targets include the countries of North Africa, the Middle East, the Persian Gulf, South Asia, and the Islamic republics of the former Soviet Union. Within that set of countries, cooperation covers the exploitation of internal governmental, military, civil and diplomatic communications; and external security/intelligence organizations."
One of the "key priorities" of this cooperation is "the Iranian nuclear development program, followed by Syrian nuclear efforts, Lebanese Hizbullah plans and intentions, Palestinian terrorism, and Global Jihad." The paper talks about "targeting and exploiting" these.
It goes on to show that both intelligence services have liaison officers in each other's embassies, enjoy a "cryptanalytic" partnership, and that Israel has direct access to the highest American military technology. Greenwald supplements this with proof of millions in emergency US funds stockpiled in the Middle East, which Israel can use for its own strategic purposes by simply writing a request.
Over the last decade, Greenwald writes, the NSA has upped the ante greatly on surveillance technology, funding of operations and weapons to its Israeli counterpart, the SIGINT National Unit. A bulk of this assistance has been used to fight its battles with occupied Palestine – including the Gaza operation, as well as other regional players.
In a bold examination, the former Guardian journalist reveals the amazing contrast between what the United States says publicly, and what it does behind the curtain. This involves President Barack Obama’s apparent heartbreak over the Middle Eastern region, as well as the American love for publicly listing Israel as a threat to regional peace at a time when billions of dollars’ worth of its weaponry and intelligence were being supplied to the Jewish state since the 1960s.
Greenwald has published his analysis of the latest leaked Edward Snowden document of April 12, 2013, wherein it’s explained just how false the notion that the US is a bystander to the Middle Eastern crisis really is.
In fact, "the single largest exchange between NSA and ISNU is on targets in the Middle East which constitute strategic threats to US and Israeli interests," the leaked paper reveals.
"The mutually agreed upon geographic targets include the countries of North Africa, the Middle East, the Persian Gulf, South Asia, and the Islamic republics of the former Soviet Union. Within that set of countries, cooperation covers the exploitation of internal governmental, military, civil and diplomatic communications; and external security/intelligence organizations."
One of the "key priorities" of this cooperation is "the Iranian nuclear development program, followed by Syrian nuclear efforts, Lebanese Hizbullah plans and intentions, Palestinian terrorism, and Global Jihad." The paper talks about "targeting and exploiting" these.
It goes on to show that both intelligence services have liaison officers in each other's embassies, enjoy a "cryptanalytic" partnership, and that Israel has direct access to the highest American military technology. Greenwald supplements this with proof of millions in emergency US funds stockpiled in the Middle East, which Israel can use for its own strategic purposes by simply writing a request.
Over the last decade, Greenwald writes, the NSA has upped the ante greatly on surveillance technology, funding of operations and weapons to its Israeli counterpart, the SIGINT National Unit. A bulk of this assistance has been used to fight its battles with occupied Palestine – including the Gaza operation, as well as other regional players.
On at least one occasion, a covert transaction of a massive payment in cash to Israeli operatives was carried out as part of the American initiative of using Israel and other US-sponsored actors (including Arab monarchies) to do its surveillance on Palestinian targets for it.
“The new documents underscore the indispensable, direct involvement of the US government and its key allies in Israeli aggression against its neighbors. That covert support is squarely at odds with the posture of helpless detachment typically adopted by Obama officials and their supporters,” Greenwald bluntly states.
That is despite the US president’s statement on how “heartbreaking” it is to see the Gaza crisis unravel, “as if he’s just a bystander, watching it all unfold”, wrote Corey Robin, a Brooklyn College Professor. “Obama talks about Gaza as if it were a natural disaster, an uncontrollable biological event.”
Greenwald goes on to list the occasions on which the US has been exposed as supplying arms to Israel; the last such occasion was just before the start of the operation in Gaza, wherein a $1 billion stockpile of ammunition the US stored in Israel specifically for situations like these was used. The origins of this particular stockpile date back to the 1990’s, when the US European Command allegedly stocked it there for future use.
What was not known to many is that Israel only had to make an emergency request to have access to it. One such case was the 2006 war against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
“The new documents underscore the indispensable, direct involvement of the US government and its key allies in Israeli aggression against its neighbors. That covert support is squarely at odds with the posture of helpless detachment typically adopted by Obama officials and their supporters,” Greenwald bluntly states.
That is despite the US president’s statement on how “heartbreaking” it is to see the Gaza crisis unravel, “as if he’s just a bystander, watching it all unfold”, wrote Corey Robin, a Brooklyn College Professor. “Obama talks about Gaza as if it were a natural disaster, an uncontrollable biological event.”
Greenwald goes on to list the occasions on which the US has been exposed as supplying arms to Israel; the last such occasion was just before the start of the operation in Gaza, wherein a $1 billion stockpile of ammunition the US stored in Israel specifically for situations like these was used. The origins of this particular stockpile date back to the 1990’s, when the US European Command allegedly stocked it there for future use.
What was not known to many is that Israel only had to make an emergency request to have access to it. One such case was the 2006 war against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
southern Beirut July 20 2006
Further support involved multiple UN resolutions shielding Israel from international condemnation and enabling it – something Greenwald sees as peculiar, given the American media’s shocked reaction at how the Middle East situation supposedly takes on a life of its own, despite everyone’s best efforts.
“The new Snowden documents illustrate a crucial fact: Israeli aggression would be impossible without the constant, lavish support and protection of the US government, which is anything but a neutral, peace-brokering party in these attacks. And the relationship between the NSA and its partners on the one hand, and the Israeli spying agency on the other, is at the center of that enabling,” Greenwald writes.
Numerous evidence of this includes the Guardian’s September 2013 disclosure of American “routine” sharing of raw intelligence with Israel without bothering to remove data on US citizens. But the new Snowden leak, published this Monday by the Intercept, details also how the “NSA maintains a far-reaching technical and analytical relationship with” Israeli intelligence, involving all types of data from communications intercepts to targets, language and analysis.
Israeli defense intelligence and Mossad are exposed as key partners in this relationship, under which access to “geographic targets [that] include the countries of North Africa, the Middle East, the Persian Gulf, South Asia, and the Islamic republics of the former Soviet Union” is freely provided by the US.
Further to that, Israel’s intelligence has access to advanced American military technology and equipment for use against what Israel candidly calls “Palestinian terrorism.”
And this cooperation dates back to the late 1960s, while expanded greatly in 2003.
It is therefore unclear to Greenwald how the NSA then lists Israel among the number of threats to Middle Eastern regional security. The public statements made by American and British officials are in stark contrast to what the latest Snowden leak reveals.
Further support involved multiple UN resolutions shielding Israel from international condemnation and enabling it – something Greenwald sees as peculiar, given the American media’s shocked reaction at how the Middle East situation supposedly takes on a life of its own, despite everyone’s best efforts.
“The new Snowden documents illustrate a crucial fact: Israeli aggression would be impossible without the constant, lavish support and protection of the US government, which is anything but a neutral, peace-brokering party in these attacks. And the relationship between the NSA and its partners on the one hand, and the Israeli spying agency on the other, is at the center of that enabling,” Greenwald writes.
Numerous evidence of this includes the Guardian’s September 2013 disclosure of American “routine” sharing of raw intelligence with Israel without bothering to remove data on US citizens. But the new Snowden leak, published this Monday by the Intercept, details also how the “NSA maintains a far-reaching technical and analytical relationship with” Israeli intelligence, involving all types of data from communications intercepts to targets, language and analysis.
Israeli defense intelligence and Mossad are exposed as key partners in this relationship, under which access to “geographic targets [that] include the countries of North Africa, the Middle East, the Persian Gulf, South Asia, and the Islamic republics of the former Soviet Union” is freely provided by the US.
Further to that, Israel’s intelligence has access to advanced American military technology and equipment for use against what Israel candidly calls “Palestinian terrorism.”
And this cooperation dates back to the late 1960s, while expanded greatly in 2003.
It is therefore unclear to Greenwald how the NSA then lists Israel among the number of threats to Middle Eastern regional security. The public statements made by American and British officials are in stark contrast to what the latest Snowden leak reveals.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) slammed Israel in its latest report for targeting and killing Palestinian civilians who are seeking to flee the fighting, adding that IDF violated the laws of war.
HRW cited several witness accounts who managed to get out of the southern Gaza town of Khuza’a between July 23 and July 25, who described Israeli forces targeting Palestinians civilian fleeing to Khan Younis seeking shelter or medical help.
“Israeli forces in the southern Gaza town of Khuza’a fired on and killed civilians in apparent violation of the laws of war in several incidents between July 23 and 25,” HRW said in the report. “Deliberate attacks on civilians who are not participating in the fighting are war crimes.”
Khuza’a, which has a population of around 10,000 people, became a hot target in Israel’s ground offensive on July 23.
HRW cited several witness accounts who managed to get out of the southern Gaza town of Khuza’a between July 23 and July 25, who described Israeli forces targeting Palestinians civilian fleeing to Khan Younis seeking shelter or medical help.
“Israeli forces in the southern Gaza town of Khuza’a fired on and killed civilians in apparent violation of the laws of war in several incidents between July 23 and 25,” HRW said in the report. “Deliberate attacks on civilians who are not participating in the fighting are war crimes.”
Khuza’a, which has a population of around 10,000 people, became a hot target in Israel’s ground offensive on July 23.
The report acknowledges that Israel warned civilians to leave the area before the offensive began, but argued that residents’ choice to stay did not make them "lawful targets."
“While the laws of war encourage ‘advance, effective warnings’ of attacks, the failure of civilians to abide by warnings does not make them lawful targets of attack – for obvious reasons, since many people do not flee because of infirmity, fear, lack of a place to go, or any number of other reasons,” according to the report.
“Warning families to flee fighting doesn’t make them fair targets just because they’re unable to do so, and deliberately attacking them is a war crime,” Middle East and North Africa director Sarah Leah Whitson said.
One instance on July 23 describes a man being critically injured as he was following Israeli orders and leaving a home that he was taking shelter. The man was walking out of the house with his hands in the air when he was shot in the jaw.
In another instance, Israeli soldiers targeted a group of men and children after they were released following questioning. Israeli forces shot at the group as they were making their way to Khan Younis, murdering one and injuring two others.
HRW notes that the civilians were not participating in the fighting.
“While the laws of war encourage ‘advance, effective warnings’ of attacks, the failure of civilians to abide by warnings does not make them lawful targets of attack – for obvious reasons, since many people do not flee because of infirmity, fear, lack of a place to go, or any number of other reasons,” according to the report.
“Warning families to flee fighting doesn’t make them fair targets just because they’re unable to do so, and deliberately attacking them is a war crime,” Middle East and North Africa director Sarah Leah Whitson said.
One instance on July 23 describes a man being critically injured as he was following Israeli orders and leaving a home that he was taking shelter. The man was walking out of the house with his hands in the air when he was shot in the jaw.
In another instance, Israeli soldiers targeted a group of men and children after they were released following questioning. Israeli forces shot at the group as they were making their way to Khan Younis, murdering one and injuring two others.
HRW notes that the civilians were not participating in the fighting.
The group received reports from those it interviewed that up to several hundred people could be “trapped and unable to leave Khuza’a.”
“When will there be justice for the civilians in Khuza’a, who suffered shelling for days, then faced deadly attacks by Israeli soldiers after being ordered to leave the town?” Whitson asked.
The report also highlights the difficulty medical staff have reaching the injured civilians safely, citing the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) case from July 25. One of the organization’s volunteers died after being critically wounded as he was trying to help civilians in Khuza’a.
“The horrors of war are bad enough for civilians even when all sides abide by the law,” Whitson said. “But it’s abhorrent that Israeli forces are making matters even worse by so blatantly violating the laws of war designed to spare civilians.”
“When will there be justice for the civilians in Khuza’a, who suffered shelling for days, then faced deadly attacks by Israeli soldiers after being ordered to leave the town?” Whitson asked.
The report also highlights the difficulty medical staff have reaching the injured civilians safely, citing the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) case from July 25. One of the organization’s volunteers died after being critically wounded as he was trying to help civilians in Khuza’a.
“The horrors of war are bad enough for civilians even when all sides abide by the law,” Whitson said. “But it’s abhorrent that Israeli forces are making matters even worse by so blatantly violating the laws of war designed to spare civilians.”
Meanwhile on Monday, UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) condemned an Israeli missile strike near an UNRWA shelter in Rafah that killed nine people Sunday, including five children.
UNRWA also reported that according to preliminary investigations five of its emergency shelters have been targets of IDF air strikes. One of the shelters was hit twice.
The death toll in Gaza has hit over 1,800 since Israel launched its operation Protective Edge on July 8, while Israel has been under international pressure to deescalate the situation.
At the same time US President Barack Obama on Monday signed a bill pledging $225 million to Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system. The House passed the bill earlier on Friday night.
Read more: ‘Here are the missiles!’ US Congress passes emergency funding for Israel's Iron Dome
The money will be used to replenish Israel’s defense system, which the Israeli Defense Forces say has been intercepting incoming rockets or mortars from Gaza with a 90 percent success rate.
In the latest attempt to cease the violence, Israel and the Palestinian factions have accepted a 72-hour ceasefire in Gaza starting Tuesday morning, according to diplomatic sources cited by Reuters.
UNRWA also reported that according to preliminary investigations five of its emergency shelters have been targets of IDF air strikes. One of the shelters was hit twice.
The death toll in Gaza has hit over 1,800 since Israel launched its operation Protective Edge on July 8, while Israel has been under international pressure to deescalate the situation.
At the same time US President Barack Obama on Monday signed a bill pledging $225 million to Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system. The House passed the bill earlier on Friday night.
Read more: ‘Here are the missiles!’ US Congress passes emergency funding for Israel's Iron Dome
The money will be used to replenish Israel’s defense system, which the Israeli Defense Forces say has been intercepting incoming rockets or mortars from Gaza with a 90 percent success rate.
In the latest attempt to cease the violence, Israel and the Palestinian factions have accepted a 72-hour ceasefire in Gaza starting Tuesday morning, according to diplomatic sources cited by Reuters.
Huthaifa Abu Elayan 20
A Palestinian who was injured during the Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip succumbed to his wounds early Tuesday in al-Maqasid hospital in Jerusalem.
The body of Huthaifa Abu Elayan, 20, was taken back to the Gaza Strip through the Erez crossing in an ambulance.
Abu Elayan was injured in an airstrike that targeted his house in Khan Younis, and was taken to al-Maqasid Hospital on Monday.
Some 30 injured Palestinians from Gaza are being treated in al-Maqasid, and the hospital expects dozens more to arrive during the coming few days.
A Palestinian who was injured during the Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip succumbed to his wounds early Tuesday in al-Maqasid hospital in Jerusalem.
The body of Huthaifa Abu Elayan, 20, was taken back to the Gaza Strip through the Erez crossing in an ambulance.
Abu Elayan was injured in an airstrike that targeted his house in Khan Younis, and was taken to al-Maqasid Hospital on Monday.
Some 30 injured Palestinians from Gaza are being treated in al-Maqasid, and the hospital expects dozens more to arrive during the coming few days.
An Israeli negotiations delegation arrived at Cairo airport on Tuesday evening and was greeted by Egyptian intelligence officials, high-ranking Egyptian sources said.
The 3-member delegation arrived at the airport under heavy protection in order to start indirect negotiations with Palestinians on the Egyptian ceasefire initiative and discuss Palestinian demands.
The 3-member delegation arrived at the airport under heavy protection in order to start indirect negotiations with Palestinians on the Egyptian ceasefire initiative and discuss Palestinian demands.
Shaabaan Suleiman al-Dahdouh 34
Medics on Tuesday recovered the body of an Islamic Jihad al-Quds Brigades leader from under the rubble of a destroyed building in Gaza City.
Shaabaan Suleiman al-Dahdouh, 34, was killed in an airstrike on al-Israa tower on July 21, which killed 13 others.
Al-Dahdouh is a leader in al-Zaytoun group in al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of Islamic Jihad.
Medics on Tuesday recovered the body of an Islamic Jihad al-Quds Brigades leader from under the rubble of a destroyed building in Gaza City.
Shaabaan Suleiman al-Dahdouh, 34, was killed in an airstrike on al-Israa tower on July 21, which killed 13 others.
Al-Dahdouh is a leader in al-Zaytoun group in al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of Islamic Jihad.
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(left) Israel: Gazans can go home now......what home???
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