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Thursday, January 15, 2009

Hamas eyes victory in Gaza as Israel threatens 'iron fist'

by Adel Zaanoun

GAZA CITY (AFP) – The defiant leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip vowed on Monday the Islamists would emerge victorious from the war in the Palestinian territory as Israeli tanks advanced on the main city.

After 17 days of conflict which have so far killed more than 900 Palestinians, Ismail Haniya made a rare televised address only hours after his Israeli counterpart threatened to hit Hamas with an "iron fist" if it did not end the rocket attacks which the war itself is designed to halt.

But while Prime Minister Ehud Olmert insisted Operation Cast Lead was achieving its objectives, more rockets rained down on Israel.

Palestinian medics, meanwhile, said at least another 26 people had been killed in the latest clashes, bringing the overall toll to 918, including 277 children. Another 4,100 have been wounded.

Ten Israeli soldiers and three civilians have been killed in combat or by rocket attacks since the operation began on December 27.

"We are approaching victory," Haniya, the prime minister of the Hamas government in Gaza, said in his broadcast from an undisclosed location.

"I tell you that after 17 days of this foolish war, Gaza has not been broken and Gaza will not fall."

Haniya also said the "blood of children" who have been killed in the conflict would serve as a "curse which will come back to haunt" United States President George W. Bush.

Bush has consistently blamed Hamas for the conflict, telling reporters on Monday that while he wanted to see a "sustainable ceasefire," it was up to Hamas to choose to end its rocket fire on Israel.

After Israel and Hamas both ignored a UN resolution last week calling for a truce, the focus of peace efforts turned to an Egyptian plan which calls for an immediate ceasefire to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza, talks on opening Gaza's border crossings and taking steps to prevent arms smuggling.

Olmert said he was grateful for Cairo's efforts but said Israel's key demands were non-negotiable.

"We want to end the operation when the two conditions we have demanded are met: ending the rocket fire and stopping Hamas's rearmament. If these two conditions are met, we will end our operation in Gaza," he said in the southern town of Ashkelon which has been the target of dozens of Hamas missiles.

"Anything else will meet the iron fist of the Israeli people, who are no longer ready to tolerate the Qassams (rockets)."

An army spokesman said that close to 30 missiles had been launched from Gaza on Monday, although there were no reports of casualties.

Residents said Israeli tanks managed to punch their way to the southern rim of Gaza City, advancing several hundred metres (yards) in the neighborhoods of Eijline, Tuffah and Zeitun where the sound of gunfire echoed constantly.

"We are tightening the encirclement of the city," the offensive's commander, Brigadier Eyal Eisenberg, told reporters.

"We are not static. We are careful to be constantly on the move."

Other troops said they had been struck by how little resistance they had encountered.

"I think Hamas has already folded," said one lieutenant-colonel, speaking to a group of embedded reporters on the third-floor balcony of a commandeered Palestinian villa.

A military spokesman said warplanes had hit more than 60 targets during the day, including 20 weapons smuggling tunnels on the Gaza-Egypt border and nine rocket launch sites.

Israeli officials on Sunday suggested what is now Israel's deadliest onslaught against Gaza could be approaching its end.

Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad, whose remit is limited to the West Bank, said the Egyptian initiative offered the best hope of peace, putting pressure on both Israel and Hamas to respond positively.

"He who refuses, voices reservations or moves slowly on this initiative bears the responsibility of explaining themselves, especially to the people of Gaza," he said.

Arab League chief Amr Mussa said the bloc's foreign ministers would meet later this week to discuss the conflict.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon, who is to head to the Middle East later this week, called on Israel and Hamas to immediately stop the fighting, saying "too many people have died."

"We have a Security Council resolution demanding an immediate and enduring ceasefire. This resolution must be observed."

Meanwhile Israel suffered another humiliating reverse at the hands of the United Nations, when the world body's Human Rights Council adopted a resolution accusing it of "grave" human rights violations against Palestinians.

Attention was also focusing on the task of rebuilding Gaza after the war, with the Czech Republic, which currently holds the revolving EU presidency, saying it would convene a donor conference to address humanitarian needs.

Aid deliveries have been massively disrupted by the conflict, with agencies warning that residents are running out of food and even having to burn their furniture to stay warm in the bitterly cold nights.

Jordan under Pressure as Israel Presses on in Gaza

By ABDULLAH OMAR

AMMAN -- Jordan has been equally strident in its condemnation of Israel's attack on Gaza on the popular and official levels.

In a country where more than 60 percent of the population is of Palestinian origin, and home to the powerful Muslim Brotherhood, it was inevitable to hear voices opposing the 1994 Wadi Araba peace treaty with Israel get louder by the day, as more civilians died in Gaza.

The Islamist-led opposition, green-lighted by the authorities to protest, have been venting their anger at the continued attacks since they started on Dec. 27.

A flurry of protests swept the kingdom from its southern city of Aqaba upwards to the tribal-dominated city of Karak, to Maan, Amman and the crowded refugee camps.

Under the leadership of the Islamist movement, all crowds repeat the same motto: "No to the Israeli embassy on Jordanian soil."

Until recently, the Islamist movement was shunned by the authorities; ever since Washington declared an open war against all Islamist movements and labelled them as terrorist groups, including Hamas.

The Islamist group in Jordan witnessed three years of relentless hostility from the authorities, including its orchestrated failure in the parliament and in municipal elections more than two years ago.

But the six-decade-old movement, and its political arm, the Islamic Action Front (IAF), have seen a revival of power in the past few months since the humanitarian situation in Gaza deteriorated.

Authorities in Amman opened lines of dialogue with the movement to strengthen the internal front following the worsening of economic conditions and growing frustration among the general public and even the political elite over lack of progress in the peace process, according to analyst Mohammed Abu Ruman – a Jordanian expert on the Islamic movement.

Ever since attacks on Gaza started, Amman, concerned by popular frustration over its inability to influence the war, turned to the Islamist movement to lead public protests against the war, again to absorb public anger, on the condition that protests remained benign.

The group, according to analysts, has honored its agreement with the authorities, aware of the window of opportunity it received to sell its political product through this situation.

On Jan. 3, the IAF flexed its muscles during a massive rally in an Amman stadium that brought together nearly 60,000 supporters.

In unison, the crowd repeatedly shouted, "No to the Israeli embassy in Amman."

"The message is loud and clear; this is a public referendum that we do not want peace with Israel," says Zaki Bani Rsheid, secretary general of the IAF, on the sidelines of the rally.

The Islamist movement continues to utilize all its political and financial capabilities to exert more pressure on the Jordanian authorities to react to popular calls for the severing of diplomatic relations with Israel.

Burning the Israeli flag has become a familiar scene in the streets of the kingdom, along with the American flag and images of outgoing U.S. President George W. Bush, whom protesters believe gave Israel the go-ahead to unleash its sophisticated arsenal in Gaza.

But some politicians believe the protest went a little too far when an MP pulled the white and blue flag of Israel from inside his shoes and burnt it inside the parliament, under the watchful eyes of Prime Minister Nader al-Dahabi and his cabinet.

Deputy Khalil Atiyah, known for his media gimmick of stamping on Israeli flags in his election campaigns, was assisted by a number of leftists and even pro-government MPs in setting the flag ablaze. The rest of the house cheered with joy as deputies delivered a letter calling for the cutting of ties with the Jewish state.

Atiyah blasted Israel and its allies in Washington for the attack, describing Israel's action as a war crime.

"I kept the flag of the so-called Zionist entity, the flag of pigs and monkeys' grandchildren in my cheap shoes, which is similar to the shoe that Muntazer al-Zaidi threw in the face of Bush. The shoe protested at the insult as I put the flag inside it," said Atiyah.

Political salons in Amman believe Atiyah's action greatly upset Israel, leading to the dismissal of chief of the General Intelligence Department, Mohammed Dahabi, who is believed to have approved the move.

As pressure mounted on authorities to end its ties with Israel, amid resistance from the latter to agree to a cease-fire, the Jordanian government felt it was compelled to react.

Jordan's prime minister told lawmakers that the government was going to reconsider its ties with Israel, during a heated parliament session on Jan. 4.

"The government is considering all the available options and procedures to evaluate the kingdom's ties with any country, particularly Israel, if they are necessary to serve the country's higher interests," the premier told lawmakers.

Since then Amman has recalled its ambassador to Tel Aviv but is not likely to ask the Israeli ambassador to leave.

The pro-West government appeared to have threatened to end peace ties with Israel, but this threat is unlikely to materialize, say analysts.

The kingdom, awarded an annual $500 million in military and economic assistance from Washington ever since it signed the peace treaty with Israel in 1994, considers its deal with Israel an irrevocable action, also for higher national interests.

As far as Jordanian officials are concerned, the peace treaty means the kingdom is safe from what could be potential Israeli interest in Jordanian lands and protects the future generations.

Moreover, officials in Amman insist their diplomatic relations with Israel are vital for Gazans at this delicate time as they have been able to send badly-needed humanitarian aid to the coastal enclave through the government-run charity organizations.

All aid pouring in from around the Arab and Muslim worlds, and even from the West, passes through the kingdom before crossing King Hussein Bridge on Jordanian trucks to Israel.

"The invaluable access of goods is a testimony to the importance of these relations," said a senior official, who preferred not to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue.

But officials from the Islamist movement believe the price Israel would pay for ending diplomatic ties with Jordan is far greater than the benefits that Gazans receive.

Israel Accused of Weapons Experimentation, War Crimes in Gaza

By SANA ABDALLAH

AMMAN -- The Israeli war on the Gaza Strip entered its 17th day Monday as the United Nations and other organizations took Israel to task for human rights violations and war crimes, which include experimenting with new weapons on the civilian population of Gaza.

Palestinian medics said that at least 909 Palestinians, including 280 children and 95 women, have been killed and more than 4,000 injured since Dec. 27, when Israel launched a war that is being condemned in worldwide street protests as a "holocaust."

Some Arab and international rights groups say they intend to take Israeli leaders to war crime tribunals in The Hague and warned that chemical weapons are being used against the civilian population in the impoverished strip.

The 47-member U.N. Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on Monday adopted a resolution accusing Israel of "grave" human rights violations against Palestinians and decided to set up a fact-finding mission to "investigate all violations of human rights and international humanitarian law by Israel."

Israel is expected to ban the entry of these investigators.

The UNHRC vote came after the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, told the council that Israel must be held accountable for any violations of international law in Gaza, saying that these breaches "may constitute war crimes for which criminal responsibility may be invoked."

Israel says its air and ground offensive is to stop Palestinian rocket fire from Gaza, where its 1.5 million residents have been living under a crippling Israeli blockade since Hamas seized control of the Mediterranean strip after ousting the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority in June 2007.

However, militant rockets continued to be fired deeper into Israeli territories. Palestinian civilian casualties kept rising, and are expected to continue doing so as Israeli forces push deeper into populated neighborhoods.

The Israeli army confirmed 10 of its soldiers have been killed in combat, and three civilians have died from the rocket attacks in the last 17 days.

Reports from Gaza said the Israeli forces were bulldozing houses and buildings to allow their tanks to move inside some of the areas, and that an aircraft bombed a public square in the center of Gaza City on Monday as people were trying to shop for food during a supposed three-hour Israeli lull in attacks.

The offensive has been described by Arab military strategists as the worst on the narrow strip since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, especially since it involves the world's fourth largest organized army against a group of ill-equipped fighters in the world's most densely-populated territory.

The Palestinian civilians have borne the brunt of this warfare, in which Israel is being accused of experimenting with new weapons.

The New Weapons Research Committee (NWRC), based in Genoa, Italy, indicated that Israel was "experimenting with new non-conventional weapons on the civilian population in Gaza," similar to those Israel used during its 34-day war on Lebanon in 2006.

The committee, made up of independent scientists and doctors studying non-conventional weapons and their medium-term effects on people, said Israel was using "white phosphorous, dense inert metal explosive (DIME), thermobaric bomb, cluster bombs and uranium ammunitions, and experimented novel weapons and delivery modalities."

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has concurred, saying that Israel was using white phosphorus, and that its own researchers observed multiple shell-bursts of the chemical material on Jan. 9 and 10 near Gaza City and Jabalya refugee camp. HRW urged Israel against using it in its operations in densely-populated areas.

The rights group said while Israel seemed to be using white phosphorous as an "obscurant," which is permitted in principle under international humanitarian law, it is a violation to be used in populated areas.

"White phosphorous can burn down houses and cause horrific burns when it touches the skin," HRW senior military analyst Marc Garlasco said in a statement.

The Israel army, which refuses to give the international media access to Gaza, said its operational secrecy prevents disclosure of its weaponry but denied the use of white phosphorous shells in the bombing.

Nevertheless, television footage has shown shells falling from Israeli aircraft and then breaking into white spray over buildings, while Gaza doctors said that dozens of victims have been burned in ways that can only be caused by white phosphorous, which sticks to human skin and burns through to the bone, causing death and leaving survivors with painful wounds that are slow to heal.

Physicians in Gaza hospitals have also reported unusual internal injuries that cannot be seen even in x-rays, saying that none of the wounds were visible on the bodies, but were "eating them up from the inside." They expressed concern that Israel may be using other forms of chemical or even biological weapons on the civilian areas.

The head of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees in Gaza, John Ging, told reporters outside a Gaza hospital that while he was not a doctor, "I see with my own eyes the horrific injuries … and there will be many inquiries and investigations that will need to take place." But the priority today, Ging added, is that the "fighting must stop now."

"More children have died today, and more will die tomorrow unless the fighting stops," he said. "Those who are doing the killing are responsible for their actions. Those on the political level for not finding solutions are responsible for their failures."

'Sudan could get worse than Somalia': Turabi

KHARTOUM (AFP) – Sudan's most iconic opposition leader who has inspired Islamist movements across the world on Monday warned the country was at risk of becoming worse than Somalia should central authority break down.

Hassan Turabi was speaking during an interview with reporters in Khartoum that concentrated on the possible fallout if, as expected, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issues an arrest warrant for President Omar al-Beshir.

When asked about a "worst case scenario" for Sudan, the frequently jailed opposition leader evoked Somalia, which has been engulfed in civil war since 1991 and where no central government is strong enough to impose its authority.

"This is worse than Somalia, if we lose any order of authority in the constitution. We are not one people like the Somalis or one religion or one language. We are a diversity of peoples," Turabi said.

Beshir rules over a fragile power-sharing government between former warring parties north and south, which ended decades of devastating civil war in 2005 although regional conflict continues to blight the biggest country in Africa.

Fighting in the country's western region of Darfur, where the ICC prosecutor wants Beshir arrested on 10 counts of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, is poised to enter a seventh year.

Turabi, a brainchild behind the Islamist-inspired bloodless 1989 coup that swept Beshir to power but now his bitter nemesis, said the president should hand himself over to save the country from possible UN sanctions.

"Politically we think he is culpable... He should assume responsibility for whatever is happening in Darfur, displacement, burning all the villages, rapes, I mean systematic rapes, continuously, I mean on a wide scale and the killing.

"Six million of the Sudanese are now paralyzed, no agriculture, no animal farming or rearing. He is responsible and we condemn him," said Turabi referring to the estimated population of Darfur.

"He should go there and defend himself... We are against the system of justice in Sudan... but politically he's guilty. No doubt about it.

Turabi speculated that "pressure from outside" on the government could encourage resistance movements, alluding to but not naming Darfur's Justice and Equality Movement that attacked the capital last May.

Turabi, one of the current regime's fiercest critics and regarded as a driving force behind the introduction of Islamic Sharia law in Sudan that in turn sparked rebellion in the south, was briefly detained after the JEM attack.

"They (resistance movements) might then do something... They say the whole country should be reorganized... that's why they attacked the capital."

"They may do something and then this will carry the others and then the south, they are mostly for the court because they get all the assistance from outside... They cannot go and stand up against international institutions.

"That would disturb the Sudan very much. If we lose authority, or disturbance of the existence of any authority, dictatorship or at all, then Sudan will be in a worse mess than Somalia, unfortunately," he warned.

UPDATE: Israeli Army Patrol Comes Under Fire From Jordan-Army

JERUSALEM (AFP)--An Israeli army patrol came under gunfire from inside Jordan early Tuesday, the army said, adding that no one was hurt in the rare attack that comes amid Israel's war on Hamas in Gaza.

"A border guard patrol near the Rabin crossing came under fire from an unknown source from inside Jordanian territory and fired back in their direction," a spokesman told AFP.

"There were no injuries or damage," he said.

Jordan said it was not aware of the incident and questioned the Israeli version of events.

"Sometimes hunters open fire in this area - without that becoming a military incident," a government source in Amman told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The incident came two days after a similar attack from inside Syrian territory, when an unknown gunman opened fire on Israeli soldiers and civilians working along the border fence.

No one was hurt in that incident either.

Israel is in the 18th day of a massive offensive on Hamas in the Gaza Strip, a war that has killed more than 900 Palestinians and has sparked widespread anger across the Muslim world.

The Target is Iran: Israel's Latest Gamble May Backfire

The Target is Iran: Israel's Latest Gamble May Backfire

By Muriel Mirak-Weissbach

URL of this article: www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=11747

Global Research, January 12, 2009

The aerial war against Gaza launched by Israel just after Christmas, and the ground offensive, with which it rang in the New Year, were shocking in their brutality, but should constitute no surprise, if viewed from the standpoint of long-term Israeli strategic aims. The Israelis have argued that the offensive was launched in response to eight years' of relentless attacks by Hamas rockets into Israel. But then, one asks: why now? Why should they wait eight years?

Perhaps the massive military onslaught, which has killed over 800 Palestinians and wounded thousands, has nothing to do with Kassam rockets. Perhaps it is not a tactical military operation by Israel, but a strategic decision on the part of Israel's Anglo-American backers, whose ultimate aim is war against Iran. Perhaps the military calculations in Tel Aviv are that continued massive pounding of Gaza by air and in house-to-house fighting, will take such a ghastly toll on the Palestinian civilian population, that Iran, touted as the backer of Hamas, will be forced to move into the conflict. Perhaps that is precisely the reaction Israel desires, in order to justify launching its war against the Islamic Republic, a war which has been on the drawing boards of the Israelis and their neocon sponsors for many years.

If that is the name of the game, it may well be that it will backfire totally. Not only will Iran not be drawn into the trap, but the continued genocidal campaign against the Palestinians may utterly discredit Israel politically and morally, and contribute to a shift in attitudes even in Europe and, most importantly, in the U.S. That, in turn, may open the way to redefining the conflict and therefore opening the way for real solutions.

The Clean Break Doctrine

What we have witnessed in Gaza since December 27 is the implementation of one crucial part of an Anglo-American strategic doctrine for redrawing the map of the Middle East (within a broader context), known as the "Clean Break." This doctrine had been cooked up by Dick Cheney's neocon task force in 1996 and served to then-aspiring PM Benjamin Netanyahu, on a silver platter. The policy had been fashioned by Richard Perle, Douglas Feith, David Wurmser and his wife Meyrav, among others, under the auspices of the Institute for Advanced Strategic and Political Studies in Jerusalem. The paper, which was one in a series of strategic policy papers from 1992 on, outlining how the Anglo-Americans could establish world hegemony in the post-Cold War world, derived its name from the idea that Israel must make a "clean break" with the historic 1993 Oslo Accords between it and the Palestinian Authority, and revert to "a peace process and strategy based on an entirely {new intellectual foundation} one that restores strategic initiative and provides the nation the room to engage every possible energy on rebuilding Zionism, the starting point of which must be economic reform". (http://www.iasps.org/strat1.htm).

This new approach involved Israeli initiatives to secure its northern borders: "Syria challenges Israel on Lebanese soil. An effective approach, and one with which America can sympathize, would be if Israel seized the strategic initiative along its northern borders by engaging Hezbollah, Syria, and Iran, as the principal agents in Lebanon..." This did not exclude attacks by proxy Israeli forces on Syria from Lebanon, targetting Syrian sites in Lebanon as well as in Syria proper.

The doctrine went on to develop the idea that Israel, "in cooperation with Turkey and Jordan" could shape the strategic environment "by weakening, containing and even rolling back Syria." "This effort can focus on removing Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq," the paper specified. As for the Palestinian question, "Clean Break" was equally explicit: "Israel has a chance to forge a new relationship between itself and the Palestinians. First and foremost, Israel's efforts to secure its streets may require hot pursuit into Palestinian controlled areas, a justifiable practice with which Americans can sympathize..."

This 1996 policy paper was enthusiastically endorsed by Benjamin Netanyahu, who presented its basic tenets in a speech to a joint session of the U.S. Congress days later, as "his" policy. However, before it could move accordingly, Israel would have to wait until the neocon establishment which had prepared the doctrine, regained power in Washington. This occurred promptly, in the wake of the dubious results of the 2000 U.S. presidential elections, and the events of September 11, 2001. It was 9-11 which made it possible for the "Clean Break" strategic doctrine to become U.S. military policy.

After the neocons had succeeded in their 2003 war against Iraq to actually depose Saddam Hussein, they followed up with "regime change by other means" in Lebanon (with the Hariri murder laid at Damascus's door). The Israeli 2008 bombing of a site in Syria alleged to be a nuclear installation, was the ultimate humiliation to Damascus. What remained on the Clean Break agenda were Iran and those militant Islamist Arab forces said to be allied to Tehran, to wit, Hamas and Hezbollah in Lebanon. It was widely acknowledged in the press and political realm that, were the Cheney faction to endorse an Israeli bid to attack Iran -- whether by bombing its presumed nuclear installations, and/or fomenting subversive processes within the country, -- then those elements which could engage in an effective asymmetric response against forces allied to the aggressors, must be taken out first. That was the rationale behind the 2006 Israeli war against Hezbollah in Lebanon, a war which, however, did not proceed according to Tel Aviv's script. Hezbollah prevailed militarily and politically, much to the chagrin of the Cheneyacs in the US/UK and Israel.

The Target is Iran

Throughout 2007 and 2008, the debate raged among concerned parties, including on the www.globalresearch.ca website, as to whether the war party would or could mount a military attack against Iran, using the pretext that questions regarding its nuclear program remained open, etc. Statements attributed to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad threatening the existence of Israel, were hyped up, to justify a preemptive strike against Tehran. But certain military realities had to be taken into consideration, at least by those who knew something about warfare.

The concern raised by competent military professionals, including those inside the U.S., was that, were Iran to be attacked (by the U.S. and/or Israel), the asymmetric response on the part of pro-Iranian factors in the region would unleash regional conflict with an immediate potential to become global. This was the thinking which led U.S. officials to tell Israel point blank that they would not endorse a military attack on Iran. Now, further confirming this report, the New York Times has released a timely article detailing Israel's bid and Washington rejection of permission to bomb Iran's plant at Natanz.

(http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/11/washington/11iran.html?_r=1&th=&emc=th&pagew)

In the article by David E. Sanger, it is reported that it was following the late 2007 National Intelligence Estimate, which said Iran had no nuclear weapons program, that Israel asked the U.S. for bunker busters, permission to fly over Iraqi air space, and refueling equipment. President Bush, according to the article, "was convinced by top administration officials, led by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, that any overt attack on Iran would probably prove ineffective, lead to the expulsion of international inspectors and drive Iran's nuclear effort further out of view." Bush et al reportedly also "discussed the possibility that an airstrike could ignite a broad Middle East war" which would draw in U.S. forces in Iraq. The article further quotes a spokesman of Gates, saying the Defense Secretary stated a week earlier that he believed "a potential strike on the Iranian facilities is not something that we or anyone else should be pursuing at this time."

Among those factors cataloged as pro-Iran, which might be activated in the event of an attack against Iran, were Shi'ite communities as well as armed militias in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait etc., and of course Iraq. Hezbollah remained the leading danger in Lebanon. In addition, the Palestinian Hamas movement, though not Shi'ite, was considered a serious threat. Thus, if any serious Israeli move against Iran were to be considered, one would have to figure out how to deal with Hamas first; not because it were such a powerful military force, comparable, say to Hezbollah, but because its self-conceived role as leading opposition to belligerent Israeli intentions would ensure its immediate mobilization in case of an Israeli move, a mobilization which would not be generically political, but pointedly military, and aimed at any Israeli vulnerabilities.

Thus the move against Hamas. Contrary to Israeli and other propaganda, the onslaught against Hamas in late 2008 had {nothing} to do with that Palestinian faction's alleged violation of the ceasefire, since it was Israel's continuing blockade of Gaza which was in violation. Rather, the Israeli military assault constituted a repetition of the strategy tried in 2006 against Hezbollah: to wipe out a potential nuisance, while proceeding to target Iran. The outgoing U.S. administration's military had signalled its rejection of a new war against Iran, but would obviously not object to Israeli aggression against Hamas, if presented as a thing-in-itself.

The neocon faction, led by outgoing Vice President Cheney, is viewing the Gaza war as a preparation for aggression against Iran, and the spark that ignites regional conflict. John Bolton, former U.S. ambassador to the U.N., and one of the most outspoken among the neocon war party, announced on December 31, that the Gaza war was the first step towards an attack against Iran, which he deemed necessary. "I don't think there's anything at this point standing between Iran and nuclear weapons other than the possibility of the use of military force possibly by the United States, possibly by Israel," he was quoted by Fox News. "So while our focus obviously is on Gaza now," he went on, "this could turn out to be a much larger conflict. We're looking at potentially a multi-front war." And, as Daniel Luban summarized in a January 10 piece for http://www.antiwar.com, the general consensus among the neocons was that the Gaza war was a proxy war against Iran.

Israel chose the timing of its Gaza war most carefully, with these considerations in mind: the lame duck, lame-brained U.S. President could be counted on to assert publicly that Israel had every right to defend itself from Hamas's deadly rocket attacks. President-elect Barack Obama would not venture to denounce the Bush administration's policy as long as it were still officially in power. Any initiatives launched by the European Union would be rebuffed by Israel. Israeli Foreign Minister Livni and Prime Minister Olmert, in fact, ignored any and all calls for a cease-fire on grounds that Israel alone would decide if and when any such a cease-fire could be organized. Israel's demands have been that the international community (in whatever form -- UN peacekeeping troops or whatever) would have one and only one task: to ensure that Hamas could no longer fire rockets on Israel, and that no weapons could be delivered to Gaza through the Egyptian border. The power of the Israeli establishment to blackmail any European or other attempts at mediation, -- on utterly unspoken, totally implicit, but universally understood grounds that any criticism of Israeli policy can be misconstrued as anti-semitic, -- has been demonstrated. The attempt of the EU troika to plea for a ceasefire, like the moves by the Russians too, have been ineffective.

Israel may be seriously miscalculating the total situation. It is to be mooted that the Israelis thought, -- and perhaps still think -- that, if they continue with their inhumane aggression in Gaza, killing women and children and obliterating anything that has to do with civil life in Gaza, then the other side will give up. This will not occur. Anyone who knows how the militant Hamas leaders think, realizes that their resistance even with their relatively modest missiles, will continue to be launched, up to the last man. For militant Hamas members, there is no fear of dying in struggle; on the contrary, a fighter killed in the battle for liberation is a martyr.

By the same token, if the Israelis believe that their escalation of the war will provoke Hezbollah, but more importantly, Iran, to enter the fray, they may be as badly mistaken. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah delivered a major speech on December 30, denouncing the Israeli aggression and calling for the defense of Palestinians. Significantly, he explicitly compared the Gaza war to the Israeli war on Hezbollah (Lebanon) in 2006. "What is happening today in Gaza is not similar but identical to what happened in July of 2006" (http://www.presstv.ir/pop/print.aspx?id=79953). He charged that the same international forces, and certain Arab states, "are asking Israel to eliminate Hamas, the Islamic Jihad and the rest of the resistance factions...." The marching orders that Nasrallah issued were {not} that others should join the armed struggle. Rather, he called on Arabs to "take to the streets by the thousands, by the tens and hundreds of thousands, and demand from these [Arab] governments to act responsibly." This included emphatically the demand that Egypt open the Rafah border to Gaza, but, he added, "I am not calling for a coup in Egypt....". Days later, on January 7, Nasrallah warned Israel against expanding the hostilities to Lebanon, but that was it. The rocket reportedly fired from southern Lebanon against Israel, was not the work of Hezbollah, the group declared.

As for Iran, its leadership's response has been most cautious. Immediately after the aggression, demonstrations took place in Iran unhindered, but the leadership explicitly warned demonstrators not to attack or occupy diplomatic missions of foreign nations, for example, the British Embassy, which some protesters had targetted. When, on January 5, it was reported that 70,000 Iranian students had declared their readiness to go to Israel as suicide bombers, the regime responded unequivocably that that was {not} the answer. Supreme Leader of the Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was quoted on January 10, saying, "I thank the pious and devoted youth who have asked to go to Gaza ... but it must be noted that our hands are tied in this arena." Iran criticized the inaction of Arab governments, but that was it. Iranian Speaker of the Parliament Ali Larijani had met in Damascus with Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on January 7 to discuss the crisis.

Although some commentators have tried to cast these events in Iran as part of a domestic political faction fight between Ahmadinejad, seen as the militant, and Khamenei, seen as the elder statesman, the issue transcends any such internal political controversy. The issue is strategic, and the Iranians know it.

In short, it appears that both Hezbollah and the Iranian leadership have realized what kind of a trap was being laid for them, and have wisely refrained from taking any irrational step that might entrap them. It is to be expected that they will continue to lie low, and bide their time, in hopes that the Palestinians can hold out until the regime change in Washington is completed.

The Change in Washington

The leading political power which could effect a major shift in the crisis, force Israel to pull back from its genocidal war, and impose serious negotiations aimed at an end to the bloodletting and a just peace, is the United States. History has shown, from Eisenhower's intervention in the Suez crisis, to later U.S. moves for Middle East peace, by Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, et al, that, if the power of the U.S. presidency is brought to bear on the issue, something can be done. The hope is that incoming President Barack Obama will make good on his campaign promises to introduce a fundamental change in U.S. foreign policy, engage in dialogue with perceived adversaries (Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, Syria), in the pursuit of viable solutions to the regional crises involved.

Although nothing will be certain until Obama delivers his inaugural speech on January 20, there are signs that he may make good on his campaign pledges. First, he has announced a number of encouraging appointments. His naming Leon Panetta as head of the CIA, was a courageous step; although Panetta has no intelligence experience, he has gone on record as principally opposed to any kind of torture, and can be expected to help implement Obama's pledge to shut down the infamous Guantanamo prison, and to reverse the Bush administration's anti-constitutional policy and practices. Obama's Vice President Joe Biden has been a relatively rational voice in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Several other appointees, from the economic policy team, to those in the justice area, like Dawn Johnsen, Elena Kagan and Tom Perelli, come from the Bill Clinton administration.

As for his foreign policy team involved in the Middle East directly, Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State is obviously central. Many in the region will recall that Mrs. Clinton made an unfortunate reverse conversion on the road to Damascus, some years back. Although she had made headlines, and friends, after having engaged politically and personally with Suha Arafat, the wife of Palestinian Authority president Yassir Arafat in 1999, she soon thereafter made a U-turn, in the course of her first campaign for a seat in the Senate from the state of New York, where the pro-Zionist vote is significant. That said, Mrs. Clinton is the wife of former President Bill Clinton, who strove to forge a just peace between Israel and the Palestinians, at Camp David, until his bid was sabotaged by Ehud Barak. During the presidential campaign, Mrs. Clinton uttered carelessly formulated statements on Iran, -- which she later rectified -- and of course stood by Israel and its "right to self-defense," etc., as is expected of any U.S. political figure. It is to be hoped that what she will represent in her new position, will more depend on what the general policy of the Obama presidency will be, than her personal views.

As for Obama, he repeatedly asserted in the campaign that he would meet with perceived adversaries, including the leaderships of Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah, etc., on grounds that diplomatic progress can be made with enemies, not just with friends. He recently repeated this, saying he thought Iran constituted a threat, but should be dealt with through diplomacy. Since the outbreak of the Gaza war, reports have been leaked, and then perfunctorily denied, that the Obama tream would be willing to establish contacts with Hamas. The London Guardian reported on January 9 that three people close to the Obama camp had said, on conditions of confidentiality, that Obama would be open to low-level contacts with Hamas

(http://.www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/08/barack-obama-gaza-hamas).

Although this was denied, it sounds plausible.

Considerable attention has been given to the policy orientation of several of Obama's advisers and other appointees. It has been mooted that Richard Haas will be an important Mideast envoy. Haas was the co-author of a recent CFR study, "Restoring the Balance," (http://www.cfr.org/publication/17791/), with other individuals who might be Obama advisors, which argues that a "new U.S. strategy" in the Mideast is required, that "a comprehensive diplomatic initiative" towards Iran is on the agenda, that "Arab-Israeli peacemaking needs to become a priority" and so forth. Other members of the Obama team have been involved in the Iraq Study Group, which called for talks with Iraq's neighbors, including Iran, to solve the Iraq mess. Among them is Defense Secretary Gates, who is to stay on.

The intervention of former President Jimmy Carter, has also been most useful. Carter, who oversaw the Camp David peace agreement between Israel and Egypt, is the author of an insightful book, Peace not Apartheid. In the context of the raging Gaza war, Carter presented an OpEd in the Washington Post on January 8, entitled "An Unnecessary War," in which he argued, from the standpoint of his experience in the region, that "the devastating invasion of Gaza by Israel could easily have been avoided."

The Boomerang

As the war continues and Israel threatens a further escalation of the conflict, reports of atrocities multiply, and the response of international public opinion is affected. Thus far, we have been informed that a UN school, designated as a refuge for civilans, was bombed; that a UN convoy of humanitarian aid was attacked, killing a driver and injuring others; that a house in which Israeli military had told 110 Palestians to seek safety, was shortly thereafter bombed, and 30 killed; that a UN building outfitted for refugees, was bombed.

Although the Israelis have systematically either denied the facts or pleaded ignorance, there are enough eyewitnesses, especially among Red Cross and UN personnel, to set the record straight. What emerges from the overall picture, is that the Israelis are doing in Gaza what the Anglo-Americans did in Iraq, only in a much shorter time frame and with more devastating consequences. Compare events in Gaza to the drama of Iraq: between 1990, after the invasion of Kuwait, and 2003, when the U.S. declared victory in its war against Saddam Hussein, Iraq had been subjected to a genocidal embargo, which deprived its 18 million citizens of food, medicines and other vital goods. The embargo continued even after Desert Storm had totally destroyed the country's infrastructure (energy, water, transportation, health, etc.), and in the interim period, the U.S. and U.K. air forces systematically bombarded Iraq's anti-aircraft defenses, under the rubric of the "no-fly-zones."

What the Israelis have done in Gaza, is remarkably similar: through their closure of Gaza, sealing the borders from Israel and Egypt, they put the Palestinian people in the situation of a "concentration camp," as Cardinal Renato Raffaele Martino of the Vatican Justitia et Pax recently stated. The population has been cut off from normal imports of food, medicine and energy, and then subjected to aerial bombardments and artillery attacks by a vastly superior force. The only result can be genocidal.

After the Israeli war against Hezbollah in summer 2006, Israeli senior analyst Dr. Martin van Krefeld told a seminar in Germany, that in that event, the response of the Israelis had been that of "a mad dog!" He described the utterly disproportionate Israeli response as showing that the Israelis were "mad dogs." Certainly, his characterization would apply today to the Gaza war in spades. But instead of producing awe, such mad dog violence is provoking justified outrage.

Statements by Israeli leaders, featured in news reports in Europe, have contributed to the outrage. Foreign Minister Livni, for example, stated early on in the war, that the great disparity in casualties between Palestinians and Israelis, was inconsequential. If hundreds of Palestinians were killed by the air bombardments, as compared to less than ten, from Hamas-fired rockets, no matter; it's not the numbers, she said, but that fact that Hamas was targeting civilians. Israeli President Shimon Peres made an even more offensive statement. When asked about the high number of Palestinian children killed, he said, yes, that's true, there are many Palestinian children and very few Israeli children casualties, but that is because "we take care of our children."

The psychological control exerted on large parts of the population in Western countries, in Europe and the U.S., as a result of the horrendous crimes perpetrated by the Nazis in World War II against the Jews, has been massive. But, now, in light of the atrocities committed against Palestinian civilians in Gaza, that control is being broken. Tens of thousands of Germans have taken to the streets since the New Year, to protest the war in Gaza, political figures have spoken out, and letters to the editors of leading German dailies have documented the fact that the psychological blackmail no longer works.

The most eloquent response in Germany to the ongoing Gaza catastrophe has been provided by musician and director Daniel Barenboim, who, prevented by the hostilities from performing as scheduled in Qatar, quickly reorganized his concert program, to bring his historic Arab-Israeli orchestra to Berlin on January 12, and then to Moscow, Milan and Vienna. Barenboim's commitment has been to define a completely new, higher level, from which standpoint this insane conflict, manipulated over decades by geopolitical forces, can be overcome. The fact that his concert was sold out in 24 hours, and a second concert in Berlin had to be added to accommodate the demand, testifies to the desire among many Germans, to seek solutions to conflict through the medium of the universal ideas of great music.

Source: Global Research.
Link: http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=11747.

Russian Air Force to get 34 warplanes rejected by Algeria

MOSCOW, January 13 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's Air Force will receive later this year 34 modern MiG-29 SMT and MiG-29 UBT fighter jets that Algeria refused to accept under an earlier contract, a Russian Defense Ministry source said on Tuesday.

Russian arms export monopoly Rosoboronexport had signed a $1.3 bln contract to deliver 29 one-seat MiG-29SMT fighters and six two-seat MiG-29UB fighters to Algeria in March 2006 as part of an $8 billion military cooperation agreement.

However, after receiving 15 MiG fighters, Algeria refused further deliveries in May 2007. It then froze all payments under contracts with Russia in October 2007, requiring that Moscow first take back the 15 MiG-29s due to their "inferior quality."

The aircraft were eventually returned to Russia last April.

Some Russian media sources reported that Algeria had asked Russia to deliver 14 to 16 Su-30 Flanker fighters in exchange for the MiG-29 Fulcrum aircraft it was supposed to receive under the contract.

Algeria landslide kills mother and 5 children -APS

ALGIERS, Jan 13 (Reuters) - A mother and her five children were killed when a landslide struck their home in eastern Algeria on Tuesday, official news agency APS reported.

The landslide was triggered by heavy rains in the village of Chehna in Jijel province, some 360 km (225 miles) from the capital Algiers, APS cited emergency services as saying.

Unusually heavy rains have hit Algeria and Morocco in recent months and dozens have been killed by flash floods, landslides, road accidents and collapsing buildings.

Floods killed more than 40 people in the Algerian oasis town of Ghardaia in October.

Source: Alertnet.
Link: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LD370656.htm.

Iran accuses four of plotting overthrow

TEHRAN, Jan. 13 (UPI) -- Authorities in Iran said Tuesday they arrested four people they claim were paid by the United States to instigate a change in regime.

In a statement, Ali Reza Jamshidi, a spokesman for Iran's judiciary, said the four were trying to recruit others, but did not reveal additional details of what the suspects were conspiring to do, CNN reported.

The four allegedly were part of a network "financed by the U.S. Department of State and the Central Intelligence Agency and is executing plans aimed at overthrowing the Iranian regime," Jamshidi said in a statement.

He said final sentencing for the detainees would be announced soon, the Kuwait news agency KUNA reported. The Iranian spokesman said the network "held training courses and sent its members to other countries" with the goal of unseating the Iranian government.

Ex-Air Force general could be new NASA boss

WASHINGTON (AFP) – A retired Air Force major general could soon be heading up the US space agency after being tapped by president-elect Barack Obama to take over the helm of NASA, a transition team source said Wednesday.

An announcement that Jonathan Scott Gration is to be the new head of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to replace Michael Griffin could come later Wednesday, the source told AFP, asking to remain anonymous.

Gration, who is said to be close to Obama, was one of the president-elect's foreign policy advisers during his White House campaign.

Although he has no particular experience in space flight, Gration has logged more than 1,000 hours of combat flying with the Air Force and has extensive experience in the Middle East and Iraq.

Like all the officials appointed by the outgoing administration of President George W. Bush, Griffin submitted his resignation at the end of December.

It has seemed unlikely that the top space engineer would be asked to stay on in the post, despite support from Florida's Democratic Senator Bill Nelson.

Griffin is the 11th administrator of the US space agency and has held the post since being appointed by Bush in 2005.

Several people have been mentioned as possible replacements in the past weeks, including Charles Kennel, who was the agency's assistant associate for the office of the Mission to Planet Earth.

Gration's lack of experience with the space program would not necessarily be a handicap, experts said.

"There are a lot of previous NASA administrators who have come from other areas without a background in space," said John Logsdon, former director at the Institute of Space Policy and International Affairs at George Washington University.

"It's really about the individual, how quickly they learn and how comfortable they feel," he said. "You want someone who is a leader and can manage a large organization."

What changes Gration might bring to the nation's space policy remained a mystery though, he added.

Under plans set out by the Bush administration the aging space shuttles are due to be retired in 2010 and replaced by the Orion. This is part of the Constellation program to put men back on the Moon by 2020 and use it as a launch pad towards manned flight to Mars.

Gration retired from the Air Force in 2006 after more than 30 years of service and joined Obama's campaign.

He is the son of missionaries and spent his childhood in Congo. According to a 2007 Newsweek article, he speaks fluent Swahili.

Venezuela, Bolivia break diplomatic ties with Israel

CARACAS (AFP) – Venezuela and Bolivia broke diplomatic ties with Israel over its deadly military offensive in the Gaza Strip and refusal to comply with international calls for a ceasefire, their leftist governments said.

"The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, in accordance with its vision of world peace, in solidarity and respect for human rights, has decided to definitively break diplomatic ties with Israel," a government statement said.

Caracas said it made its decision due to the "cruel persecution of the Palestinian people directed by Israeli authorities."

"Israel has systematically ignored United Nations (ceasefire) calls, repeatedly and unashamedly violating approved resolutions ... and placing itself increasingly outside international law," the statement added.

Israel's "repugnant attack on the civilian population (in Gaza) is a perfect example of Israel's repeated used of state terrorism ... (against) the weak and innocent: children, women and the elderly."

On January 5, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez expelled Israel's ambassador from Caracas, winning him hero status among Palestinians.

Venezuela's decision to cut ties with Israel came just hours after Bolivian President Evo Morales announced his government was breaking diplomatic relations with the Jewish state.

Morales, a socialist like Chavez, said his government was responding to Israel's "grave attacks on human life and humanity."

Morales told a group of diplomats in the administrative capital of La Paz that he planned to ask the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, to bring human rights abuse charges against Israel.

Bolivian Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca told reporters that the diplomatic break with Israel "will in no way affect" its burgeoning bilateral trade with Bolivia, but was merely intended to prod Israel into resuming talks with the Palestinians.

Choquehuanca also said he expected the UN General Assembly meeting Thursday in New York to take a "firm stance" against Israel's military offensive in Gaza that has left more than 1,000 Palestinians dead, including some 400 civilians.

Morales' diplomatic announcement on Israel came shortly after he received a letter from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad asking him to support an international agreement to resolve the Gaza crisis.

Iranian Cooperation Minister Mohammad Abbasi disclosed to reporters the contents of Ahmadinejad's letter after he met with the Bolivian president.

Morales said he would also report Israeli President Shimon Peres to the International Criminal Court, and ask that the premier's 1994 Nobel Peace prize be revoked.

"Mr. Perez must also be charged ... since he has done nothing to stop the criminal behavior of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and his government but, on the contrary, has justified the criminal actions against the Palestinians in Gaza."

Most Latin American governments have been critical of Israel's attack on the Gaza Strip that began on December 27 in retaliation for rockets launched by Palestinian militants from the tiny coastal strip on southern Israel.

The offensive has sparked widespread concern about a humanitarian crisis breaking out in one of the world's most densely populated places, where the vast majority of the 1.5 million residents depends on foreign aid.

UN headquarters in Gaza struck by Israeli shells

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – Witnesses and United Nations officials say Israeli shells have struck the U.N. headquarters in the Gaza Strip.

The compound has been serving as a shelter for hundreds of people fleeing Israel's devastating offensive in Gaza. U.N. spokesman Chris Gunness says at least three people were wounded.

The entire area is engulfed in smoke and it's not clear whether anyone is still inside the compound.

The compound includes the headquarters of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, a school and other offices. Gunness says large amounts of aid supplies, as well as fuel trucks, could soon be destroyed.

The attack came as U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon was in Israel trying to promote a cease-fire.

The Israeli army had no immediate comment on Thursday's incident.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli tanks shelled downtown Gaza City on Thursday and ground troops thrust deep into a crowded neighborhood for the first time, sending terrified residents fleeing for cover and increasing pressure on Hamas rulers to accept a proposed cease-fire to end Israel's devastating offensive.

The Israeli military would not discuss its operations and it was not clear whether the intensified assault on Gaza City signaled a new phase in the three-week-old Israeli campaign that Gaza health officials say has already killed more than 1,000 Palestinians. Thirteen Israelis have been killed since the offensive began, according to the military.

Israel has balked at all-out urban warfare in the narrow alleyways of Gaza's big cities, where Hamas militants are more familiar with the lay of the land and Israeli casualties would be liable to spiral. But Palestinian witnesses said Israeli tanks fired shells at least three high-rise buildings in the downtown area as ground troops advanced into a crowded residential area on the outskirts of the city.

The advance into Gaza City's Tel Hawwa neighborhood and the shelling of downtown Gaza City came as United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon was due to arrive for meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders. He was coming from Egypt, which has been working with Israel and Hamas to secure at least a temporary halt in fighting.

Israel launched the offensive on Dec. 27 in an effort to stop militant rocket fire from Gaza that has terrorized hundreds of thousands of Israelis. It says it will press ahead until it receives guarantees of a complete halt to rocket fire and an end to weapons smuggling into Gaza from neighboring Egypt.

Rocket fire has fallen off dramatically but not ceased and on Thursday the military reported 14 firings.

Thousands of Tel Hawwa residents fled their homes Thursday, many clad only in their pajamas, and some wheeling elderly parents in wheelchairs, one of them with an oxygen tank. Others stopped journalists' armored cars and ambulances pleading for someone to take them to a U.N. compound or to relatives' homes.

The crackle and boom of explosions from machine gun fire, tank shells and missiles split the air, already clouded with plumes of white and black smoke from Israeli gunfire. Tanks and bulldozers rolled into a neighborhood park, apparently seizing it as a kind of command center, witnesses said.

Masked gunmen ran toward the areas under fire carrying bags containing unidentified objects.

Rasha Hassam, a 25-year-old engineer, ran out of her apartment building carrying her screaming, crying, 6-year-old daughter, Dunia.

"God help us, God help us, where can we flee?" she cried. "All I want is to get my poor child away from here. We want to survive."

Thousands of others were trapped in Tel Hawwa's high-rise buildings by the fire, too afraid to even attempt to flee.

Israeli aircraft struck some 70 targets overnight, including weapons positions, rocket squads and a mosque in southern Gaza that it said served as an arsenal, the military said. One target was the Islamic University in Gaza City, a Hamas stronghold. The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees said its Gaza headquarters also were hit, though no one was hurt.

Clouds of white smoke covered the eastern section of the city while a pillar of black smoke towered over the western portion following air, tank and naval fire that set houses and farmlands ablaze.

Human rights groups have accused Israel of unlawfully using white phosphorous shells against populated areas. The weapon can burn anything it touches and is used to illuminate targets at night or create a smoke screen for day attacks.

The Israeli military has said only that it uses munitions in accordance with international law. The International Committee for the Red Cross has said it has no evidence that Israel has improperly used the shells.

Ban launched a weeklong trip to the region on Wednesday, hoping his heft will help to pursue the case for a truce a week after the U.N. Security Council passed a cease-fire resolution.

Ban will also meet with Palestinian leaders in the West Bank, where Western-backed President Mahmoud Abbas governs. He will not visit Gaza, which has been ruled by Hamas since it expelled forces loyal to Abbas in June 2007. The international community does not recognize Hamas' government.

In a sign of progress, Israel's chief negotiator, Amos Gilad, planned to fly to Egypt on Thursday to present Israel's stance, a senior defense official said. Gilad had put off the trip in recent days, saying the time was not yet ripe.

Israel also sent a senior diplomat to Washington to discuss international guarantees that Hamas will not rearm — a key Israeli demand.

World pressure on Israel to halt its offensive has increased because hundreds of civilians have been killed in the relentless pounding that has reduced landmarks, apartment buildings and some mosques to rubble.

The war has killed more than 1,000 Palestinians, about half of them civilians, including 300 children and teenagers, said Dr. Moaiya Hassanain of the Gaza Health Ministry. More than 4,500 Palestinians have been wounded, medical officials said.

In an interview with the British Broadcasting Corp. broadcast late Wednesday, Syrian President Bashar Assad said Hamas was ready for a "sustainable cease-fire," and that Syria was working for a truce.

It was the first indication that Syria, which hosts the exiled Hamas leadership, was involved in the cease-fire effort, or that Hamas was considering a long-term deal.

In an effort to end the bloodshed, Egypt was pressing both sides to accept a 10-day truce while details of a more comprehensive accord can be worked out.

In Cairo on Wednesday, Egyptian and Hamas officials expressed optimism that an agreement for a temporary halt in fighting could be sealed soon and presented to Israel. But even if all sides signed on, further talks would be needed to resolve disputes over policing Gaza's borders against arms smuggling and ensure a longer-term truce.

But Egypt's U.N. Ambassador Maged Abdelaziz told a U.N. Security Council meeting Wednesday evening that neither side had accepted the Egyptian plan. "Each believes that it will emerge victorious" from the conflict, he said.

Israel has made clear that the Cairo talks are key to determining whether it widens its offensive and sends thousands of reservists into the crowded urban areas.

Under the Egyptian proposal, Hamas would back off its demand that Israeli troops withdraw from Gaza and borders be opened immediately as part of any halt in fighting.

Instead, Israeli forces would remain in place during a 10-day truce until details on border security are worked out, Egyptian and Palestinian officials close to the talks told The Associated Press. They spoke on condition of anonymity to provide details of the closed-door negotiations.

A senior Israeli official said it was far from certain Israel would accept the deal. He said Israel welcomed many parts of the plan, but was afraid Hamas would not respect a cease-fire as long as troops are in Gaza.

The Israeli officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the press about diplomatic issues.

Israel rejects charges that its blockade has caused a humanitarian crisis, saying it has let more than 1,000 truckloads of supplies into Gaza during the fighting. Some 170 trucks were due to enter Gaza on Thursday, including food, medical supplies, fuel and animal feed.

Ethiopia hands over security of Somalia

By MOHAMED SHEIKH NOR, Associated Press Writer

MOGADISHU, Somalia – Ethiopia on Tuesday handed over security duties in Somalia to a joint force including Somali government officials and Islamic militiamen — a shift some fear will leave a power vacuum in the lawless African nation.

The Ethiopian troops have been propping up Somalia's weak government for two years, but said they would end their unpopular presence as demanded under an October power-sharing deal signed between the U.N.-backed Somali government and a faction of the country's Islamists.

"It is time Somalia stands on its own feet," said Ethiopian commander Col. Gabre Yohannes Abate, as he handed over security operations during a ceremony at the presidential palace in Mogadishu.

"So we are saying goodbye to all Somalis and their dignitaries," Abate said.

The pullout has received wide support from ordinary Somalis, officials and diplomats. Many had seen the Ethiopians as occupiers, and their two-year deployment has been a rallying cry for the insurgents to gain recruits even as the militants' strict form of Islam terrified people into submission.

"The insurgents have been fighting for the withdrawal of Ethiopians all this time," Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein said during the handover. "When the Ethiopians have begun withdrawing, there is no need for fighting again. I urge all Somalis to become peace-loving people."

It was unclear when all of the thousands of Ethiopians will have departed; they were pulling out in stages, rather than all at once, and gave no exact dates for security reasons.

Some feared their departure would allow the strengthening Islamic insurgency to take over.

On Monday, Islamic insurgents attacked the presidential palace, resulting in heavy fighting with government troops, during which at least 11 civilians were killed.

The U.N. envoy to Somalia welcomed the Ethiopian withdrawal as the honoring of a commitment made with the power-sharing deal signed last year in Djibouti.

"The ball is now in the court of the Somalis, particularly those who said they were only fighting against the Ethiopian forces, to stop the senseless killings and violence," Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah said in a statement issued Tuesday in neighboring Kenya.

An official from Somalia's splintered opposition, Hussein Siyad Qorgad, urged all to "come together and make a unity government."

"We are happy to see Ethiopian troops withdraw from Somalia ... we need to see them off, but we do not need to see them off with mortars or fighting," said Qorgad, deputy chairman of a faction of the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia.

The government called in the Ethiopian troops in December 2006 to oust an umbrella Islamic group that had controlled southern Somalia and the capital for six months.

The Ethiopians' decision to then stay on, despite resentment from many Somalis, became a reason for Islamists to launch an insurgency during which thousands have been killed and hundreds of thousands fled the capital.

Fadumo Wehliye, who lost three of her eight children during the violence, described the Ethiopian pullout as "great" and said she would go back to home in Mogadishu.

"For the last two years ... I have been living in a makeshift house in the outskirts of the capital," she said. Now "I will return to my home."

Snowy owls going hungry on P.E.I.

Driven south by a lack of food, there are about 10 times as many snowy owls as usual on P.E.I. this year, but they are not having much luck on the Island.

Wildlife officials estimate there are at least 20 snowy owls on the Island this year, compared to the usual one or two during the winter months. Some are running into trouble.

Dwaine Oakley of Holland College's Wildlife Conservation Technology program in Charlottetown and an avid birder, told CBC News Monday the spread of the birds throughout the southern part of eastern Canada appears to be the result of unfortunate timing in a crash of the owl's favorite food.

"There was an overabundance of young snowy owls this year because the lemming population was good during the breeding season," said Oakley.

"The owls correspond to that by having more young, but the problem is, they figure, the lemming population crashed later in the season. So you have a lot of young owls looking for a small amount of food."

Four snowy owls have been turned in to the Atlantic Veterinary College in Charlottetown this year. Having difficulty adjusting to southern hunting conditions, three died of starvation.

The fourth, dubbed Hedwig, came in with a broken wing. She was found in a field with a fox approaching her, but couldn't leave the ground.

Veterinarians put a pin in her wing, and she's been rehabilitating for three weeks.

"We have to catch her, and we have to gradually do the range of motion with her joint, and gently, gently stretching it," said Dr. Hans Gelens of AVC.

"It's very similar to people, except you can't explain what's going on. For the bird, it's a stressor to be caught."

If physiotherapy goes well for the owl she will be released back into the wild, near where she was found in eastern P.E.I. If it turns out she can't fly well enough to hunt, she'll be found a home in a Canadian wildlife park.

Students are thrilled to get close to the owl.

"They just look so special," said Holland College student Shawn Donovan. "Just an amazing animal to see."

Oakley said everyone should try to get a glimpse of a snowy owl before they migrate again in March. He warned, however, not to get so close to disturb them because they're busy trying to hunt.

Iran accuses Israel of halting aid ship to Gaza

TEHRAN (AFP) – Iran accused Israel of preventing a Red Crescent ship carrying medicines and food from reaching the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, state television reported.

"We are now close to Gaza, only a few miles away, but facing prevention by the Israeli navy which will not give us permission to pass," Ahmad Navabi, the head of the relief team, told the television by telephone.

"They have ordered us to return. If this (situation) continues we will have to go back to the (Egyptian) port of Al Arish and deliver the aid through the Rafah gateway," he added.

The Iranian ship loaded with more than 2,000 tonnes of medicine and food left the southern port city of Bandar Abbas in the Gulf two weeks ago.

Israel's deadly offensive against the Islamist Hamas in Gaza has killed nearly 1,000 Palestinians and wounded more than 4,500 since December 27.

Tehran is a staunch supporter of Hamas but rejects allegations that it supplies arms to the movement, saying it provides only moral backing.

Pictures of Hamas’ most wanted "terrorists"

Pictures of Hamas’ most wanted "terrorists"

By Khalid Amayreh

The "Israeli Defense Forces (IDF)" on Sunday released the pictures of some of Hamas’ most wanted “terrorists” it said it has killed since the start of the Israeli onslaught in the Gaza Strip more two weeks ago.

An Israeli spokesman told foreign reporters in Jerusalem that the world community, especially Americans and Europeans, shouldn’t be deceived by the ostensibly young age of the killed terrorists.

“They may look young to you and me. But these people are terrorists at heart. Don’t look at their deceptively innocent faces, try to think of the demons inside each of them.”

The spokesman, Nachman Abramovic, said he was “absolutely certain” that these people would grow to be “evil terrorists if we allowed them to grow.”

“If you were in our shoes, would you allow them to grow to kill your children or finish them off right now”?

Asked if he was worried about possible criticisms from the international community, Abramovic said he was not worried a bit because “We are only defending ourselves.”

“Would you apologize for defending yourself if another person attacked you without any provocation,” the Israeli spokesman asked an American reporter.

Impressed by the answer, the American reporter said “You are right, Sir, absolutely.”

The IDF spokesman added that Israel didn’t really target civilians in Gaza and that the world should fall into trap of Hamas' propaganda.

“I challenge serious news media to prove that we have killed a single innocent civilian in Gaza.

“Don’t tell me Aljazeera said this or CNN said that. You know all these people are anti-Semites and can’t be relied upon to tell the truth.”

He added that in any case, honest and moral people ought to differentiate between “true human beings” and “human animals.”

“We do kill human animals, and we do so unapologetically. Besides who in the West is in a position to lecture us on killing human animals. After all, whose hands are cleaned?”

Another Israeli spokesman, Tzipora Menache, said she was not immensely worried about negative ramifications that Operation Cast Lead might have on the way the Obama administration would view Israel.

“You know very well, and the stupid Americans know equally well, that we control their government, irrespective of who sits in the White House.”

“You see, I know it and you know it that no American president can be in a position to challenge us even if we do the unthinkable.”

Asked if she was not worried that her remarks would cause a public relations disaster, Menache said “what can they do to us. We control congress, we control the media, we control show biz, we control everything in America.
“In America you can criticize G-d, but you can’t criticize Israel.”

Saudis back Hezbollah competitor

Goal remains to fight Israel, 'enemies of Arabs'

January 14, 2009

A new Shiite resistance group back by Saudi Arabia is emerging in Lebanon, and its leader promises to provide competition to the Iranian-backed Hezbollah in their mutual goal of fighting Israel, according to a report from Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin.

Arab Islamic Resistance founder Sayyed Mohamed Ali al-Husseini said his group will fight enemies of Arabs and intends to lead the movement in Lebanon.

The group apparently is the armed offshoot of the Arab Islamic Council, which believes its responsibility is to solve "any conflict that might appear in our Arabic nation, and [try] to gather all Arabs to be a strong power that can't be divided."

At the same time, al-Husseini said it was possible for the two groups to cooperate in the event Lebanon is attacked by Israel, which he called "the first enemy of the Arab nation."

Al-Husseini claims that his group includes more than 3,000 fighters with another 1,500 volunteers who seek to join the group from the Gulf region.

"The new resistance group is now a military organization and has training camps in Lebanon and enough weapons to face any enemy," Al-Husseini said.

He said the Islamic Arab Resistance group differs from Hezbollah, which favors strong links between the Shiites of Lebanon and Iran rather than the Arab world.

Indeed, Shiites in Gulf Arab countries have prompted concern among Arab Sunnis, especially in Saudi Arabia, which believes that they are coming under the increasing influence of Shiite Iran.

Al-Husseini, however, was very positive to Saudi assistance but was critical of Syria, Iran and Hezbollah.

"Everybody, near and far, friend and foe, realizes that the role of the Saudi kingdom – the kingdom of Arabism, of Islam, and of humanism – the role that this kingdom has played and is still playing in Lebanon and in the Arab world is one of reconciliation and unification," Al-Husseini said.

However, he blamed Syria for attempting to "tarnish" Saudi intentions.

"Never have we seen the Syrian regime intervene in anything without ruining it," Al-Husseini said. "Never have we seen the Syrian regime entering any region without destroying it."

Source: World Net Daily.
Link: http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=86117.

Pakistan torn over how to handle Taliban: experts

by Rana Jawad

ISLAMABAD (AFP) – After years allowing Taliban militants to operate in the rugged tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, Pakistan is now torn over how to respond to US calls for decisive action against extremists.

Islamabad is under intense pressure from Washington, other western nations and Kabul to eliminate Taliban and Al-Qaeda havens in the tribal belt, from where fighters are said to stage attacks on foreign forces in Afghanistan.

But experts say Pakistan's desire to please the United States, a vital political and military ally, has run up against its own strategic interests in the region and its loyalty to Pashtuns, the predominant ethnicity among the Taliban.

"Pakistan's Taliban policy has suffered from indecisiveness, inconsistency and ambiguity," political analyst Hasan Askari told AFP.

"Pakistan's choices will become tougher in the future because its efforts to control the Taliban do not enjoy support throughout society. A good number of ordinary people see India as more of a threat than the Taliban."

The extremist Taliban movement emerged in the mid-1990s from Islamic schools along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border and -- with Islamabad's support -- eventually seized power in Kabul in 1996.

At the time, Pakistan's security establishment wanted a pro-Islamabad regime in Kabul that would give the country a foothold in Afghanistan, and much-needed strategic depth in the region to use against its nuclear-armed rival India.

President Pervez Musharraf disowned the regime following the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States -- carried out by Al-Qaeda which was being harbored by the Taliban.

However, he allowed thousands of Taliban to enter his country's northwest tribal belt after their ouster in a US-led invasion in late 2001.

"Pakistan did not want to sever all of its links with the Taliban movement, as doing so would have Pakistan totally out of the regional power game in Afghanistan," defense analyst Riffat Hussain told AFP.

Fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar is still widely believed to be hiding in the lawless tribal areas.

"Tens of thousands of Taliban poured into Pakistan's northwest and southwest but security forces were under strict orders only to arrest Al-Qaeda members," a senior security official with knowledge of counter-terrorism policy told AFP.

Hussain, head of strategic studies at Quaid-e-Azam University in Islamabad, said former military ruler Musharraf, who resigned last year, had two reasons for tolerating the militants' presence on Pakistani soil.

"Musharraf personally believed that there were many good Taliban who should be co-opted in the post-Taliban power dispensation in Afghanistan," Hussain said.

Islamabad also wanted an "insurance policy" against the US-backed government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, which it viewed as hostile, he added.

Another security official said that barring the Taliban from Pakistani soil would have angered ethnic Pashtuns at home, saying: "Antagonising them completely is against our long-term national interest."

But putting up with the Taliban was a risky policy, and security officials say it has backfired, as the extremists formed alliances with other militant groups and started attacking Pakistani targets.

Those militant groups -- such as that of renegade warlord Baitullah Mehsud, believed to have masterminded the assassination of Pakistani former premier Benazir Bhutto -- are now allied with the Al-Qaeda network.

"For years Pakistan targeted Al-Qaeda and tolerated the Taliban, but this policy has failed and resulted in making the Taliban a strong force not just in Afghanistan, but in many parts of Pakistan," a top security official told AFP.

Musharraf's successor Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani now must review Pakistan's role in the US-led "war on terror," which may mean a rethink on the Taliban.

"Pakistan will be asked to become the anvil for the hammer of American special forces operations in the tribal areas," Hussain said, predicting that Islamabad could be asked to stage joint anti-militant operations with the US.

Askari agreed, but said Islamabad would ask Washington to put a stop to attacks on militant targets in the border zone by unmanned CIA aircraft because "they create credibility problems" for the Pakistani government.

"Pakistan faces a double challenge -- controlling the Taliban in the tribal areas and containing militant groups based in mainland Pakistan," Askari said.

"Unless there is a simultaneous development of internal stability in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the problem may not be addressed."

Iran urges Muslims to avoid trade with Israel

Iran's Supreme Leader Seyed Ali Khamenei urged Muslims to avoid trade with Israel, the official IRNA news agency reported Tuesday.

"Purchase, import, re-import and promotion of any products whose profits will be given to Israeli occupiers directly or indirectly are forbidden and Muslims are not allowed to do so," Khamenei said.

"Since the Zionists are now at war with Islam, Muslims should avoid any action which might bring them profits," he said, adding that "Muslims should avoid any type of trade which might inflict losses on Islam and Muslims worldwide."

Iran's government warned on Sunday that companies of foreign countries dealing with Israel would be punished, according to Iran's satellite Press TV's report released on Monday.

"Iranian government has sent a bill to parliament that would hold liable any firm that directly or indirectly aids or abets Israel," the report said, adding that the bill "finalized by the (Iranian President) Mahmoud Ahmadinejad administration on Sunday, will impose sanctions on any foreign firms dealing with Israel or monetarily supporting Israeli interests."

The report added that there would be punitive measures for those companies if the Iranian parliament passes the bill.

Since the Israeli offensive on Gaza began on Dec. 27, 2008, Iran has uninterruptedly condemned the "Zionist regime's crimes on Gazans" and has incessantly called on the Arab states to break silence in favor of Gazan people.

Some Iranian officials have also asked oil-rich Muslim countries to use the oil weapon as a means of pressure against Israel.

More than 930 people in the impoverished Gaza Strip have been killed and some 4,100 others wounded since the launch of the Israeli raid, which it said was aimed at revenging Hamas rocket and mortar attacks.

Hamas is an alliance with Iran which does not recognize Israel as a state of the international community.

ALGERIA HOPES ARAB LEAGUE SUMMIT ACT STRONGLY AGAINST ISRAELI AGGRESSION

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 14 (Bernama) -- Algeria hopes an Arab League extraordinary summit in Doha on Friday will come out with a strong common Arab position against the Israeli aggression on Gaza, its ambassador to Malaysia Amar Belani said today.

He said the Algerian delegation to the summit would work towards achieving unity between all Palestinian factions.

"The current aggression perpetrated by the Zionist regime of Israel on the Palestinian people in Gaza has prompted many official and popular reactions in Algeria where a vast movement of moral, political and material solidarity has been engaged and is ongoing," he said in a statement.

He said Algerian Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia had reaffirmed the country’s solidarity with Palestine and condemned the crimes against humanity perpetrated by Israel against the Palestinians.

Death toll at 8 in Ingushetia blast

NAZRAN, Russia, Jan. 14 (UPI) -- The death toll from a building explosion in the Russian North Caucasus Republic of Ingushetia has reached eight, officials said Wednesday.

The explosion, which tore through a three-story court bailiffs' office building in the center of Nazran, Ingushetia, Tuesday, is thought to have been caused by a natural gas leak, RIA Novosti reported.

"An eighth body has been retrieved from the rubble," a spokeswoman for the local emergencies service told the Russian news service.

Twenty-two people were rescued from the building, with 17 still hospitalized with two in critical condition. Ingushetia President Yunus-Bek Yevkurov declared three days of mourning for the victims, RIA Novosti said.

Report: Iran signs oil deal with China

TEHRAN, Iran – Iran's official news agency says the country has signed a $1.76 billion deal with China to develop the North Azadegan oil field in southwestern Iran near the Iraq border.

The IRNA report says the deal was signed Wednesday between the National Iranian Oil Company and the China National Petroleum Corp.

Iran's Oil Minister Gholam Hossein Nozari says the field has an estimated 6 billion barrels of crude oil and will produce 75,000 barrels of oil per day for 25 years.

In December 2007, China's biggest refiner, Sinopec, signed a $2 billion agreement with Iran to develop another Iranian oil field, the Yadavaran.

The deals illustrate China's strong business ties with Iran despite U.S. pressure over the Iranian nuclear program.

Israeli troops advance deep into Gaza City

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – Witnesses say Israeli ground troops are advancing into crowded residential areas of Gaza City and thousands of terrified residents are fleeing their homes.

Israeli troops backed by helicopter gunships, tanks and heavy guns thrust deeper into the city than ever before Thursday to seek Hamas fighters, they said.

It wasn't clear whether this would be a brief foray or signal a new phase in Israel's devastating offensive against Gaza's Islamic Hamas rulers.

Israel has balked at launching all-out urban warfare in Gaza City, where Hamas militants are more familiar with the lay of the land and Israeli casualties would be liable to spiral.

Israel launched the offensive on Dec. 27 to stop militant rocket fire on southern Israel from Gaza.