The Israeli cabinet rejected calls from France and other nations for an immediate 48-hour pause in the devastating air offensive against Gaza, continuing the assault into a fifth day Dec. 31 despite mounting international pressure. A foreign ministry spokesman said… Read moreNearly 400 dead as Gaza bombardment enters fifth day; “humanitarian distaster” looms
Israeli air-strikes on the Gaza Strip entered a fourth day Dec. 30, with raids on a number of Hamas government buildings and security installations, as well as the Islamic University. Defense Minister Ehud Barak told the Knesset that Israel is… Read moreGaza death toll at 350 as air-strikes enter fourth day
Israeli air-strikes continued on Gaza for a second day Dec. 28, bringing the death toll to 292, with more than 1,000 injured, 180 of them seriously. (Ma’an News Agency, Dec. 28) At the 36-hour point in Israel’s “Operation Cast Lead,”… Read moreGaza Strip death toll approaches 300 in two days of air-strikes
A statement from Gush Shalom, the Israeli Peace Bloc, via the independent Palestinian Ma’an News Agency, Dec. 27: Bloodshed and suffering on both sides of the border could have been avoided. It is possible to return immediately to the ceasefire,… Read moreGush Shalom: Israel broke Gaza ceasefire
Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal called Dec. 27 for a new uprising against Israel after air-strikes in the Gaza Strip killed more than 200. “I call upon you to carry out a third intifada,” Meshaal told his followers from Damascus in… Read moreHamas calls for “Third Intifada” as air-strikes pound Gaza
Ahmed Saadat, secretary-general of the Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), was sentenced by an Israeli military court Dec. 25 to 30 years in prison for heading a “terrorist organization.” An Israeli army statement said Saadat, also a… Read morePFLP leader Ahmed Saadat sentenced to 30 years
Some 50 Palestinians—many decked out in Santa Claus costumes—hurled stones at Israeli security forces in the West Bank village of Bil’in Dec. 26 in a protest against the enclosure of village lands by the “Apartheid Wall.” Soldiers sought to disperse… Read morePalestine: Santa Claus strikes back on West Bank
A report released by the B’Tselem human rights group Dec. 22 states that the West Bank settlement of Ofra, northeast of Jerusalem, is in fact an “illegal” outpost even under Israeli law. Ofra, part of the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council,… Read moreReport: West Bank settlements illegal —under Israeli law
Israel’s Supreme Court ruled on Dec. 15 that the route of the West Bank “separation barrier” cannot be based on plans to expand Jewish settlements. The court rejected a plan that would route the wall through Bil’in village, on the… Read moreIsraeli high court orders “Apartheid Wall” rerouted at restive village
Right-wing settlers furious at the Israeli army’s eviction of the so-called House of Contention in Hebron invaded the northern West Bank city of Nablus Nov. 4, and set fire to fields and vehicles. Dozens were injured in Hebron as IDF… Read moreWest Bank settlers burn Palestinian fields to protest eviction
For the first time since the 1973 Arab-Israeli war (at least), no Palestinians from the Gaza Strip are making the sacred annual pilgrimage to Mecca this year. Saudi Arabia, seeking to bolster the (Fatah) administration on the West Bank, asked… Read moreHajj becomes pawn in struggle for Gaza
On Nov. 23, Israel’s Supreme Court issued a decision to allow the state until May 2009 to implement its ruling of February 2006 concerning the “National Priority Areas” (NPAs). In its 2006 decision, the court ruled that the government’s division… Read moreIsraeli high court extends official discrimination
