February 12, 2008
Calls Intensify For Gaza Invasion
Angry Israelis are pressing for retaliation against Palestinian militants in Gaza, even as the repercussions of the humiliating 2006 war with Hezbollah are still being felt.
Dozens of residents from Sderot, an Israeli town that sees a near-daily barrage of rocket attacks from Gaza, traveled to Jerusalem over the weekend to protest perceived government inaction. Israeli Cabinet members, including Defense Minister Ehud Barak, have joined the cries for harsher tactics against Gaza militants, particularly after two brothers, ages 8 and 19, were seriously injured while fleeing rocket fire with their family.
Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit advised the military to give one Gaza neighborhood a day to empty out, and then to destroy it, BBC News reports. The Israeli army has yet to make a significant military incursion into Gaza, despite its nearly complete isolation from the friendlier regime in the West Bank and the world community.
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February 04, 2008
Suicide Bombing Comes In Time Of Weakness For Olmert
The first suicide bombing that Israel has seen in more than a year killed a 20-year-old woman and injured 11 others, and comes at a particularly delicate time in renewed Mideast peace negotiations.
The attack was claimed by al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the unofficial terrorist wing of the Fatah Party, and took place at a shopping center in the southern town of Dimona. A second bomber was shot and killed by police before he could detonate explosives strapped to his body.
"Monday's terror attack gives us a painful reminder that we must be vigilant and maintain our readiness in all areas," said Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. "We are waging a war on terror. It is continuing without bounds and we will get to everyone involved in terror activity."
According to BBC News, an al-Aqsa spokesman hinted that the breach along the Gaza-Egypt border made the bombing mission possible. Gaza militants blew up the border two weeks ago amid an Israeli-enforced blockade that made travel to purchase goods and visit family members nearly impossible.
Egyptian security forces finally sealed the last remaining breach on Sunday, but not without violent exchanges with some lagging Palestinians. Officials haven't yet confirmed whether the Dimona bombers entered Israel via Egypt, but the bombing has already led to calls for suspending peace negotiations with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
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January 23, 2008
Gazans Pour Into Egypt
UPDATED.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians entered Egypt today, after bombers destroyed a seven-mile stretch of wall separating the country from a Gaza Strip border town. Israel has been stopping the flow of supplies into the area in response to continued rocket attacks from militants, and many Palestinians in Rafah and other Gaza cities have gone without adequate food, electricity and medicine from Israel for five days.
The U.N. Security Council convened an emergency session yesterday, one day after Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert "to express concern about the situation," Bloomberg News reports. The U.N. has been much more critical of Israel's treatment of the Palestinians than the U.S. or its Western allies.
About a million and a half Palestinians live in the Gaza Strip, which is currently controlled by the militant group Hamas. Although Hamas didn't take responsibility for knocking down the wall, the group expressed tacit approval for its destruction by controlling traffic across the border and not making a move to prevent people from moving back and forth. Egypt had previously refused to open the Rafah crossing, but after the wall was destroyed, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said he had ordered the military not to stop the Palestinians immediately.
"I told them to let them come in and eat and buy food and then return them later as long as they were not carrying weapons," he told reporters in Cairo.
Gunmen began assaulting the metal wall before dawn this morning -- not long after Israel had begun re-supplying Gaza's power plant with fuel last night in an effort to avert a humanitarian crisis.
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January 10, 2008
Bush: Peace 'Should Happen, And Can Happen' By Year's End
President Bush finished up his meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders today by predicting that both sides would reach a peace agreement by the end of this year.
"The establishment of the state of Palestine is long overdue," Bush said, speaking from Jerusalem. "The Palestinian people deserve it. And it will enhance the stability of the region, and it will contribute to the security of the people of Israel. The peace agreement should happen, and can happen, by the end of this year. I know each leader shares that important goal, and I am committed to doing all I can to achieve it."
He laid out three "tracks" essential to reaching that goal: a full commitment to the road map from both sides; the rebuilding of the Palestinian economy and "political and security institutions"; and the Arab League's cooperation and adherence to its own peace initiative. To ensure that the first track is followed, the White House today appointed Lt. Gen. William Fraser to oversee both sides' compliance with the peace road map.
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January 09, 2008
Try, Try Again: Bush Begins Mideast Tour
Distracted by an election, Americans have paid little mind to President Bush's first trip to Israel and the West Bank in his seven years in office. Haunted by the failed peace-brokering efforts of former presidents, there appears to be little momentum for Bush's renewed Mideast push at home. But the story in Israel is markedly different.
Speaking at a press conference in Jerusalem following talks between their delegations, Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert conveyed optimism and determination that this new effort toward a two-state solution would be successful.
"I view this as a historic moment," Bush said. "We've heard a lot of rhetoric in the past, a lot of grand proclamations. But I wouldn't be standing here if I did not believe you all were serious. Our job is to help you seize that opportunity."
Olmert answered Bush with effusive gratitude and praise.
"I want to thank you for this opportunity, for your friendship and support for the security of the state of Israel that you have manifested for a long period of time, through your time as president of the United States of America," Olmert said. Later, turning to Bush, Olmert added, "Thank you for the courage you inspire in all of us to carry on with our obligations."
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January 08, 2008
ICYMI: War In Iraq *Still On*
Hey everybody, we're still at war in Iraq! (And Afghanistan.) We know, it's easy to forget when every newspaper and news channel is focused on New Hampshire.
The Gate is going to let Granite State voters do their thing -- you know, democracy -- and will update with the results tonight when they are confirmed. In the meantime, here are some developments from Iraq that you will have missed if you're as glued to the TV as we are.
U.S. and Iraqi forces have begun a significant air and land raid in insurgent-infested Diyala River Valley. About 4,000 U.S. and Iraqi soldiers are involved in the effort, which launched overnight, the Los Angeles Times reports.
The Pentagon's new counterinsurgency strategy has successfully brought violence down, but commanders still face an uphill battle in their bid to scrub out/neutralize al-Qaida in Iraq. Part of the reason why is that militant fighters in Iraq are by now well-versed in dissipating into the general population when these U.S.-led missions begin.
According to the LAT account, "there were reports that the 50 to 60 senior insurgent leaders holed up northwest of Muqdadiya had fled."
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Bush Sets Off On First Major Swing Through Middle East
President Bush embarks today on a lengthy Mideast trip, making first-time visits to all the countries on his planned list -- including Israel but excluding Egypt -- as U.S. president. In the waning days of his term and in the wake of November's Annapolis summit, several questions have arisen: Why now, and what are Bush's goals? And what is it about the Middle East that makes presidents think about the L-word?
It's Iran (not "legacy") that's purportedly on Bush's mind as he heads to the region today. With stops in Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, he is trying to reaffirm the support of Iran's Arab neighbors for the U.S. campaign against the country.
Jerusalem is Bush's first stop. He will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and President Shimon Peres; on Thursday, he is scheduled to travel to the West Bank to sit down with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Although doubts about the strength of the brokering partners on all three sides continue to hang over the process, Bush promised in his Saturday radio address that he "will make clear that America is deeply committed to helping both parties realize the historic vision" of a two-state solution.
One editorial board characterizes Bush's visit as an "effort to bring about enormous changes at the last minute" -- hinting at his chance of success in an area where many others have failed. Another board, the Miami Herald's, goes a step further and calls it a "dangerous time for a Middle East visit" because of the escalating violence in the region, adding that it "is not clear what [Bush] hopes to accomplish, but... there is little reason to be hopeful about improving the chances for peace."
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January 07, 2008
U.S.-Iran Tussle Averted, Just In Time For Bush Trip
UPDATED.
Iran has confirmed an incident in which U.S. and Iranian naval vessels appear to have come dangerously close to a military confrontation, but waved off alarm over the near-clash.
"The example that happened on Saturday was similar to previous cases and is an ordinary and natural issue," Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said, according to Reuters. "This is an ordinary issue that happens for the two sides every once in a while and after the identification of the two sides the issue is resolved."
Earlier today, U.S. officials said that the "significant" confrontation between Iranian Revolutionary Guard vessels and three U.S. naval ships ended without a shot fired. The incident came just days before George W. Bush is due in Israel for the first Mideast visit of his presidency.
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December 17, 2007
Iran Watch: You've Got Fuel
So, Russia has just delivered the first shipment of 80 tons of uranium fuel rods to Iran's disputed Bushehr nuclear reactor. Now what?
Wait-and-see time, apparently. It is not clear how close the Bushehr facility is to full production capacity. A spokesman for Iran's Atomic Energy Agency said that Bushehr was 95-percent finished, according to the Los Angeles Times, but Iran has walked a tricky line between simultaneously exaggerating and denying its nuclear capacity for years.
Taking a question on Iran during a speech on the economy this morning, President Bush seemed to welcome news of the arrangement, but with a caveat.
"Interestingly enough, today Russia sent some enriched, or is in the process of sending enriched uranium to Iran to help on their civilian nuclear reactor. If that's the case, if the Russians are willing to do that -- which I support -- then the Iranians do not need to learn how to enrich," Bush said. "If the Iranians accept that uranium for a civilian nuclear power plant, then there's no need for them to learn how to enrich," he repeated.
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November 28, 2007
Mideast: Bush Pledges Personal Involvement But Few Trips
The world was treated to the sight of a united President Bush, Mahmoud Abbas and Ehud Olmert once again today after more meetings following by a brief photo-op on the White House lawn.
"Yesterday was an important day, and it was a hopeful beginning," Bush said of Tuesday's Annapolis Conference on Israeli-Palestinian relations. "No matter how important yesterday was, it's not nearly as important as tomorrow and the days beyond."
The Israelis and Palestinians along with the U.S. have been emphasizing that the work ahead will be painful but necessary to reach the goal of final agreement on a two-state solution by 2009. Washington is taking on the main oversight role in the negotiations after years of what administration critics say was neglect of the region.
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November 27, 2007
Mideast Summit: 'We Are Ready'
UPDATED.
Reading a joint statement issued by the international participants of the Annapolis conference on Israeli-Palestinian relations, President Bush heralded what is widely seen as a last-ditch attempt to broker a lasting peace between the two Mideast parties.
"We express our determination to bring an end to bloodshed, suffering and decades of conflict between our peoples; to usher in a new era of peace, based on freedom, security, justice, dignity, respect and mutual recognition; to propagate a culture of peace and nonviolence; to confront terrorism and incitement, whether committed by Palestinians or Israelis," Bush said before representatives of the U.N., EU, G-8 and nearly every major Arab League nation. "In furtherance of the goal of two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security, we agree to immediately launch good-faith bilateral negotiations in order to conclude a peace treaty, resolving all outstanding issues, including all core issues without exception."
Seated on stage to the president's side were Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, the two leaders who will do the heavy lifting in the negotiations. The joint statement was, as expected, a declaration of support from the world community of the two-state solution advocated by both parties as well as the United States. The statement also included a recommitment to the 2003 road map established by the Quartet -- the U.S., EU, U.N. and Russia -- shepherding the peace process.
But Bush also clarified the role the U.S. will play during the coming stretch of talks. While Washington won't exactly be in the thick of negotiations, it will be overseeing and assessing Israel's and the PLO's progress on the road map requirements. Exactly how much of a taskmaster the U.S. is in the process will probably be determined by the depth of involvement by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the mastermind behind the new push for a two-state solution.
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November 26, 2007
Mideast Summit: Can They Do It?
No doubt that helping forge an independent Palestinian state at peace with Israel would be the jewel in President Bush's pretty beat-up crown come 2009, hence his commitment to the Herculean task of getting the two parties to strike an accord before he leaves office. Analysts of the region are largely of two minds on whether Bush and his go-to on the issue, Condoleezza Rice, can get it done.
Some have come to believe that the Bush administration, so heavily mired in Iraq, completely gave up on Mideast negotiations after the road map fell apart in 2003. "The Bush administration has hung a 'Closed for the Season' sign on serious Arab-Israeli diplomacy," Aaron David Miller declared in April. "The Rice initiative is almost certainly way too little, way too late."
As the Boston Globe reported today, that skepticism persists. But Miller, for one, hasn't written tomorrow's Annapolis summit off.
Both sides badly want an end to the bloody and costly conflict, and for the first time maybe ever, the Palestinians are being represented by a man the West views as an honest broker, President Mahmoud Abbas. The Palestinians and Israelis are still about as far apart as they ever were on their demands, yet the ground seems especially fertile for compromise -- the essential and long-missing component for these negotiations.
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November 13, 2007
Violence Mars Uneasy Approach To Mideast Talks
Overnight raids in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip netted hundreds of Fatah activists in the area after days of clashes between the two Palestinian factions. A Fatah spokesman said 400 activists were rounded up; a Hamas official disputed that figure and said it had been fewer than 50.
The clashes began yesterday, after about 200,000 people marched at a Gaza rally to commemorate the third anniversary of the death of former Palestinian President Yasser Arafat. Palestinian factions have splintered since the longtime leader's death disrupted the uneasy status quo between the Fatah leader's more moderate party and the radical Hamas.
The rally was the largest since Hamas took over Gaza in June. Seven people have been killed and more than 50 injured in the clashes, according to Fatah representative Hazem Abu Shanab.
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October 29, 2007
Olmert Says Prostate Cancer Won't Impact Work
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced today that he will undergo surgery sometime in the next few months for a cancerous tumor in his prostate. During a surprise news conference, Olmert told reporters that the tumor was "microscopic" and he would not need radiation or chemotherapy to treat it, emphasizing that it would not affect his work and he would not step down from his position.
He also reminded the public that he was under no obligation to disclose private health matters, but he felt Israelis "had a right to know." Olmert took over as prime minister in January 2006, after his predecessor, Ariel Sharon, suffered a debilitating stroke.
Meanwhile, over the weekend, a Kuwaiti newspaper quoted Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as saying that Olmert's government is holding talks with Hamas, and the faction should "pluck up the courage and admit it." The Israeli government also tightened restrictions on the fuel supply flowing into the Hamas-controlled Gaza strip this weekend in response to recent rocket attacks.
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October 23, 2007
Judge Declares Mistrial In Holy Land Case
Disagreements over jury verdicts resulted in a Dallas judge handing a mistrial to five defendants connected to a Muslim charity. High-ranking officials in The Holy Land Foundation -- once the largest Muslim charity in the U.S. and a frequent target of FBI surveillance -- were accused of aiding terrorists and acting as an arm of Hamas.
The jury initially returned yesterday with a mix of not-guilty and deadlocked verdicts on the more than 200 combined charges ranging from tax fraud to providing material support for terrorism. But during routine polling of the jurors to determine that their votes were final, two female jurors spoke up and said their votes were not accurately reflected.
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October 17, 2007
Bush: Who You Calling Lame?
Vowing to "sprint to the finish" during his remaining 15 months in office, President Bush went before the White House press corps this morning armed with a laundry list of complaints about Congress' performance on domestic matters. Reporters, on the other hand, came armed with a flood of questions focused mainly on the president's own foreign policy agenda.
"There's little time left in the year," Bush warned in his opening statement. "And Congress has little to show for all the time that has gone by." He listed eight areas where Congress has either failed to act or compromise with the White House: health care, intelligence, the budget, education, housing, trade, veterans care and the judiciary.
Specifically, Bush urged the Democratic leadership to compromise with the White House on two contentious bills -- the expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program and the authorization of a controversial wiretapping program. The former has already earned a presidential veto, and the White House issued a fresh veto threat for the latter yesterday.
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October 15, 2007
Rice: Palestinian Statehood Now
In a sign that the Bush administration views a two-state Mideast solution as a critical accomplishment before the clock winds down to 2009, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that now was the time for the Palestinians to achieve statehood.
"Frankly, it's time for the establishment of a Palestinian state," Rice said today during a visit to the West Bank.
Rice appeared to indicate that she had grown weary of the negotiations process, which has been fraught with leadership changes and other stops and starts since President Bush rejuvenated Washington's role there in 2003.
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July 17, 2007
Libyan Court Commutes Death Sentences For Foreign Medics
Under intense international pressure, Libya's supreme court has decided to spare six foreign medical workers from execution. The five Bulgarian nurses and one Palestinian doctor are accused of infecting hundreds of Libyan children with HIV in the 1990s.
Bulgaria, in concert with the EU, has been campaigning heavily to bring the nurses home. The case has attracted international attention. Pop singer George Michael held a concert in the nurses' honor in May, and France's first lady visited the prisoners last week.
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July 16, 2007
Bush Issues Ultimatum, Of Sorts, To Hamas
President Bush today presented Hamas with a choice: Abide by the Quartet provisions, or get left out of a future independent Palestinian state.
"We're showing the Palestinian people that a commitment to peace leads to the generous support of the United States," Bush said after announcing Washington was sending $190 million in aid to the Palestinian Authority.
Implicit in Bush's remarks was that not a drop of aid would be delivered to the Gaza Strip unless the Hamas-run government there meets the conditions laid out by the Washington-drawn "road map." Hamas, considered a terrorist organization by the West, has repeatedly said it has no intention of ever renouncing violence and recognizing Israel -- two of the road map's conditions for Palestinian statehood.
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July 05, 2007
Johnston Release A Promising Start For Hamas
Hamas' role in securing the release of BBC reporter Alan Johnston in Gaza won't change the U.S. and EU boycott of its government, but could open a path toward better standing in the world community.
The Palestinian political party, which advocates the destruction of Israel, has been cut off from sorely needed international aid since violently seizing control of the Gaza Strip three weeks ago. Hamas' pledges to restore peace and prosperity to Gazans are meaningless, Israel and the West have said, so long as the Quartet conditions of recognizing Israel and renouncing violence are not met.
Still, the British government has expressed gratitude for the pivotal part Hamas played in Johnston's release. While sure to carefully avoid anything that smacks of quid pro quo with the Gaza government, it's difficult to see how Hamas won't be rewarded in some way, even if only with goodwill, a currency Hamas badly needs right now.
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June 25, 2007
Gaza Strife, Multimedia-Style
New Internet audio and video allegedly came out of the Gaza Strip in the past 24 hours highlighting the plights of people kidnapped and being held captive in the region now controlled by Hamas.
The first is video footage of Alan Johnston, a BBC reporter who was captured more than three months ago. Still shots from the video show Johnston against a black background, strapped with an explosive belt and looking pale.
"I've been dressed in what is an explosive belt, which the kidnappers say will be detonated if there is any attempt to storm this area. They say they're ready to turn the hideout into what they describe as a death zone if there is an attempt to free me by force."
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June 20, 2007
Gaza Isolated, Bombarded As Refugee Crisis Persists
As the United Nations marks World Refugee Day, hundreds of Palestinians remain encamped for a sixth day at the Erez tunnel between Gaza and Israel, hoping to be allowed to pass through Israel into the West Bank. (It was reported yesterday that the number of refugees there was 600, but Israel claims the number is closer to 200.)
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, newly installed as defense minister, did open the borders today to foreign nationals fleeing Gaza and to some Palestinians needing emergency medical treatment.
At the same time, however, Israel launched air and ground attacks against Hamas in Gaza, leaving four Palestinians dead.
Gaza City's main hospital is still grappling with the challenge of treating the 500 people wounded in last week's civil strife. The U.N. is urging that Gaza's border crossings be opened, or else food supplies may run out in two to four weeks.
The U.N.'s IRIN has a report on the plight of the estimated 4.4 million Palestinian refugees worldwide.
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June 19, 2007
Refugees Amass On Israeli Border
The breakup of the Fatah-Hamas unity government has created a potentially critical refugee crisis, as hundreds of people attempt to flee the Gaza Strip in fear of reprisals by militant Hamas, which now controls the territory. AP is reporting that 600 people are trapped in the Erez Tunnel at the Israeli border, hoping to pass through Israel to the West Bank.
Hamas promised amnesty for Fatah fighters, but according to one of the men hoping to escape at Erez, "They forgave people before, and later killed them. There's no way we'll go back."
Israeli officials have so far refused entry to most of the refugees, arguing that many of them may be terrorists and that their danger in Gaza is overstated. One Israeli officer told Israel Radio, "We don't think that all of them there are threatened.... There is a clear conflict between security needs and humanitarian considerations."
But at his news conference with President Bush at the White House today, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert differed somewhat with this assessment.
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Bush & Olmert Try To Bolster Abbas
Although President Bush said this is a "period of great concern" over Gaza, he also deemed it an "exciting moment" in the Middle East peace process after meeting today with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
Speaking at a joint press briefing at the White House, the two leaders both reiterated their support for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who has set up a new government in the West Bank after Hamas overtook his Gaza headquarters last week. Olmert said he will cooperate with Abbas and mentioned setting up a regular schedule of meetings.
Bush declared support for Abbas -- and rejected Hamas' new leadership in the Gaza Strip -- by emphasizing Abbas as the "president of all Palestinians" and calling him "a reasonable voice amongst extremism."
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Hamas To Feel The Squeeze As World Community Lines Up Behind Abbas
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert heads to Washington today as Western powers and Israel formulate a plan to cripple militant Hamas through isolation.
The EU and Israel have agreed to release aid and frozen tax revenues to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah government, which is in control of the West Bank. Abbas reaffirmed plans to seek a peace agreement with Israel; the moderate leader is backed by Washington and the EU. In a phone call to President Bush today, "President Abbas told Mr. Bush that this is the time to resume the political negotiations and to revive the hope of the Palestinian people," an Abbas aide said.
The White House seems poised to join the EU in re-releasing aid to the new Fatah government. That issue, along with resumption of peace talks, is expected to be on the table when Olmert and Bush sit down today.
The situation in Gaza, where unemployment and poverty are a much bigger problem than in the relatively peaceful West Bank, was already dire before Hamas gunmen wrested control of the region from Fatah. Now with the international community threatening to cut off the tiny Gaza Strip monetarily and Israel hinting it will do so physically, life for the area's nearly 1.5 million residents may get much, much worse.
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June 15, 2007
Abbas Picks New PM Amid Gaza Chaos
After officially disbanding the defunct unity government, Fatah-allied Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas today named Finance Minister Salam Fayyad as the new prime minister of the emergency government. Abbas dismissed Hamas-allied Prime Minister Ismail Haniya, who rejected the move and said he would not leave his post.
It has been a bad several days for Abbas' government. Bloody fighting has killed more than 100 Palestinians in Gaza Strip. Yesterday, Fatah fighters were executed in the streets.
And new photos released to the media this morning show masked men with machine guns overrunning the presidential compound in Gaza City, tearing pictures of Abbas and longtime Fatah leader Yasser Arafat off the walls. (Fatah guards surrendered the compound without the resistance that many had expected; Abbas is holed up in his office in the West Bank, which is now politically divided from the Gaza Strip.)
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June 14, 2007
'Hamastan' A Long Time Coming
Just as Hamas' sweep of the parliamentary elections in January 2006 took the West by surprise, so, it seems, has the factional fighting in Gaza and the West Bank.
But longtime observers of the region say such spurts of instability are the norm for transitional states.
"This is not very different from many other conflicts taking place around the world," says Cato Institute Mideast expert Leon T. Hadar, noting that Sri Lanka's civil unrest, which gets far less news coverage, has a higher casualty count.
What makes the brewing civil war between Hamas and Fatah more of a story in the West, of course, is the potential for spillover in a region already splintered by the U.S.-led war in Iraq. Another gaping maw of unrest in the Middle East holds tremendous consequences for Israel's future, President Bush's bid to reverse the tide of militant Islam, and the West's deep economic and security interests in the region.
Tragically, the increasingly real possibility that militant Hamas will overtake outgunned, secularist Fatah was in many ways fated by the West's efforts to prepare the Palestinians for nationhood.
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June 12, 2007
Gaza Infighting Intensifies
About a month ago, Palestinians looked as though they could be headed for a civil war, and developments over the last few days have taken the Gaza Strip even further down that path.
The two governmental factions -- technically still part of a unity government -- turned on each other today, with Hamas fighters and Fatah forces battling in the street after the homes of both parties' leaders were attacked.
Hamas gunmen stormed and captured a Fatah security base, leading President Mahmoud Abbas (who is allied with Fatah) to declare that an attempted coup was taking place. More than 20 people have been killed since fresh violence began Sunday, and some analysts are speculating that the factions have passed the point of a cease-fire.
Hamas is largely thought to
