Gaza

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Fatah, Hamas Unite for Ramadan
Fatah, Hamas Unite for Ramadan

Fatah, Hamas Unite for Ramadan

Despite shared start date for holy month, tensions still run high

(Newser) - Ramadan this year will mark a brief expression of unity for the rival Palestinian governments of Hamas, in Gaza, and Fatah, in the West Bank. The holy month begins today or tomorrow—and deciding the date can cause tension between factions across the Muslim world, the AP reports. And despite...

Rocket Attack Wounds Scores of Israeli Troops

Predawn strike hits tent in Gaza boot camp

(Newser) - At least 66 Israeli soldiers were wounded by a Qassam rocket fired into Israeli territory from inside the Gaza strip early today. The missile struck a tent in an Israeli basic training camp in the northern Negev desert near the community of Kibbutz Zikkim, reports Ha'aretz. Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility...

Palestinian Villagers Win Day in Court

Israel to reroute barrier that divides people from their land

(Newser) - Palestinian villagers have won their day in court and forced Israel to reroute the building of a disputed security barrier, the Guardian reports. Despite recent rocket attacks, Israel’s supreme court ruled that the barrier did not have to cut through the villagers’ fields over safety concerns. The defense ministry...

Hamas Launches Navy in Gaza
Hamas Launches Navy in Gaza

Hamas Launches Navy in Gaza

Palestinian faction is recruiting sailors; now all they need is a ship

(Newser) - Hamas, the Palestinian faction that seized power in the Gaza Strip in June, is launching a naval defense force, reports the Times. They're busy recruiting sailors—even though they don't have any ships.  “The requirements to join are that you have to be a good soldier, be fit,...

For Palestinian Hamas Faction, Surprise Payday

Fatah accidentally bankrolls rival's security forces

(Newser) - To victors in Palestinian factional fighting went the spoils, if temporarily, the BBC reports. Officers of Hamas' security force, which wrested control of the Gaza Strip from rival Fatah in June, were notified yesterday that Fatah had paid their salaries. The West Bank-based, Fatah-controlled Palestinian Authority rushed to correct its...

Olmert, Abbas Talk on Palestinian Soil

Jericho get-together signals progress in stalled peace process

(Newser) - Ehud Olmert and Mahmoud Abbas met in the West Bank city of Jericho today, the first time an Israeli head of state has been to the Palestinian territories in 7 years. The meeting was an attempt by both parties to bolster the moderate Fatah party’s standing and to bring...

Rice Pushes Peace Talks With Olmert, Abbas

Takes mission to Jerusalem, West Bank

(Newser) - Condoleezza Rice took her diplomatic tour to Jerusalem and the West Bank today, hoping to rekindle peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian government of Mahmoud Abbas. Rice comes bearing a promise from Saudi Arabia to support the peace conference proposed by the White House for later this year, Reuters...

Johnston Tells of 'Appalling,' 'Terrifying' Ordeal

Freed BBC reporter describes kidnapping

(Newser) - Alan Johnston's 16 weeks in captivity were an "appalling" experience that made him feel "buried alive," the BBC reporter tells the Evening Times of Glasgow. Johnston, freed yesterday, said he dreamed of freedom "but always woke up in that room." In Jerusalem yesterday after being...

Johnston Release Boosts Hamas
Johnston Release Boosts Hamas

Johnston Release Boosts Hamas

Freeing BBC reporter is attempt to send message

(Newser) - Alan Johnston's release after 12 weeks in captivity was used by Hamas today to separate itself from the al-Qaeda-inspired kidnappers, and to assert its ability to secure order in Gaza, the BBC reports. The freed reporter was taken to the home of Hamas leader Ismail Haniya, who was outsted as...

BBC Reporter Freed in Gaza
BBC Reporter Freed in Gaza

BBC Reporter Freed in Gaza

Alan Johnston handed over to Hamas after 114 days in captivity

(Newser) - Alan Johnston, the BBC reporter held by an Islamist faction in Gaza for 114 days, was released early today, saying it was "fantastic" to be free. The reporter was handed over to officials of Hamas, now in control of the Gaza Strip, by his captors, a militant splinter group...

Hamas Brings Peace to Gaza —at Gunpoint

Civil army rules the streets with show of force, but no law

(Newser) - Two weeks of Hamas rule have brought calm to Gaza—beaches are crowded, streets are choked with cars and donkey carts—but it is order delivered at the point of a gun. The Executive Force, Hamas's civil army, has seized control, bringing overwhelming force to bear on drug-dealers and clan...

Isolated Gaza Goes Hungry
Isolated Gaza Goes Hungry

Isolated Gaza Goes Hungry

Food is hard to come by for Palestinians in Hamas-controlled region

(Newser) - Fuel shortages have become familiar, and now food staples like flour and sugar are increasingly hard to come by in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. Aid agencies are doing their best to forestall an impending humanitarian crisis, the Globe and Mail reports, but with the main commercial crossing from Israel closed...

Hamas Rips Blair Peace Mission
Hamas Rips Blair Peace Mission

Hamas Rips Blair Peace Mission

Former Brit chief 'not honest, not helpful'

(Newser) - Hamas, the Palestinian group now in control of Gaza, blasted Tony Blair's appointment as a Mideast peace envoy yesterday, characterizing the former British prime minister as "not honest and not helpful," and a puppet of the US and Israel, the BBC reports. Blair's new role, formalized hours after...

Israel to Release 250 Fatah Prisoners

PM Olmert makes pledge at summit with Arab leaders

(Newser) - Israel plans to free 250 Fatah members as part of an international push to shore up Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the Washington Post reports.The announcement came at the close of a summit at a Red Sea resort, where Mideast leaders gathered to talk about dealing with Hamas in the...

Hamas Releases Audio of Israeli Soldier

A year after capture, Cpl. Gilad Shalit says his health is failing

(Newser) - In the first proof that he is alive a year after capture, Hamas militants today released an audio recording of Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier seized in a cross-border raid near the Gaza strip. In the message posted on the group's web site, Shalit said a year in prison is...

Captors Threaten to Kill Kidnapped BBC Reporter

Video shows Johnston wearing explosive belt

(Newser) - A newly released video shows kidnapped BBC reporter Alan Johnston wearing an explosive belt that his captors say will be detonated if a rescue attempt is made. The video deflates hope that Hamas would be able to negotiate Johnston's release after taking control of the chaotic Gaza strip. Johnston's family...

Egypt Will Host Mideast Summit
Egypt Will Host Mideast Summit

Egypt Will Host Mideast Summit

Abbas and Olmert to meet in effort to isolate Hamas

(Newser) - Alarmed by the Hamas takeover in Gaza, Egypt will host a summit Monday, bringing together the Western-backed Palestinian president and the Israeli PM, along with Jordanian and Egyptian leaders, Reuters reports. The move is a show of support for the moderate Mamoud Abbas-led emergency government, and an effort to isolate...

Fatah Elements Exact Revenge
Fatah Elements Exact Revenge

Fatah Elements Exact Revenge

Masked militias defy Abbas, run riot against Hamas loyalists in West Bank

(Newser) - In the week since Hamas staged an armed coup in Gaza, violent reprisals by Fatah-linked rivals have plagued the West Bank. Despite Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas'  demands for peace, militants loyal to the PM's group have staged massive looting and kidnapping of the Hamas faithful, including both unarmed supporters and...

Israel Takes Fight to Gaza
Israel Takes Fight to Gaza

Israel Takes Fight to Gaza

Four Palestinians dead after Israeli tanks and planes battle enter chaotic strip

(Newser) - Israeli aircraft and tanks attacked locations in Gaza today, killing four militants in their first assault on the strip since Hamas took over. An Israeli aerial strike targeted two rocket launchers in northern Gaza as tanks moved into southern Gaza, sparking a shootout that produced the four casualties.

Gazans Stuck in Israel Tunnel
Gazans Stuck in Israel Tunnel

Gazans Stuck in Israel Tunnel

No way out for those trapped in Erez passage en route to West Bank

(Newser) - Hundreds of Gazans hoping to escape Hamas are boxed in a filthy tunnel at a major crossing point with Israel, awaiting safe passage to the calmer West Bank. Israeli authorities are citing security concerns in checking the Palestinians, some of whom were wounded when Hamas attacked the tunnel at the...

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