Mid-East News

Arab League sweetening Israel-Palestinian peace plan brings rift to gov’t

Arab League suggestion puts Netanyahu in bind, straining both internal coalition parties, external pressure, as both domestic & int’l figures laud proposal.

Associated Press

The Arab League‘s decision to sweeten its decade-old proposal offering comprehensive peace with Israel has placed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a bind and swiftly exposed fissures in his new government.

In Washington Monday, Qatari Prime Minister Sheik Hamad Bin Jassem Al Thani tried to allay some of the Israeli concerns. Speaking on behalf of an Arab League delegation, he reiterated the need to base an agreement between Israel and a future Palestine on the 1967 lines, but for the first time, he cited the possibility of “comparable,” mutually agreed and “minor” land swaps between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: Arab League, Benjamin Netanyahu, Peace Process, peace talks

israelandstuffcom | May 1, 2013

Nasrallah warns Sunni fighters of danger if Shiite shrine is destroyed in Lebanon

Hezbollah leader warned Sunni rebels & al-Qaida that Iranian fighters would enter to rescue Assad’s embattled regime if needed.

By The Associated Press

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said Tuesday that Syrian rebels will not be able to defeat President Bashar Assad’s regime militarily, strongly suggesting that Syria’s “real friends” including his Iranian-backed militant group would intervene on the government’s side if the need arises.

Nasrallah speaks via TV screen from secret location - AP - May 11, 2012

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah speaks via a TV screen from his secret underground hiding place, during a ceremony, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, May 11, 2012. – Photo: AP

The powerful Shiite Muslim group is known to be backing Syrian regime fighters in Shiite villages near the Lebanon border against the mostly Sunni rebels fighting to topple Assad. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: Chemical Weapons, Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah, Syria

Leading Jordanian object to ‘confederation’ with Palestinians

More than 1,000 leading Jordanians sign petition objecting to ‘confederation’ with Palestinians, calling it Obama’s “confederation conspiracy”.

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH

More than 1,000 Jordanians have signed a petition opposing the idea of a confederation between the kingdom and a future Palestinian state.

Obama with Abbas in Ramallah

Recent reports have suggested that US and Western security advisers have arrived in Jordan to train Syrian rebels and help the Jordanians face a growing influx of Syrian refugees.

Some Palestinians have also voiced opposition to the confederation idea, saying it should be discussed only after the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital.

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: Barack Obama, confederation, Jordan, Palestinians

Arab League offers new Peace Plan motivated by “a strategic choice”

Arab League agrees to potentially dramatic changes in Saudi’s suggested plan.

Justice Minister Livni: “This is a positive development” ,but no comment yet from the Prime Minister’s Office.

The Associated Press, Reuters and Israel Hayom Staff

While the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem had yet to respond on Tuesday to a renewed Arab League endorsement for Israeli-Palestinian peace, Israeli Tourism Minister Uzi Landau (Likud-Beytenu), a staunch opponent of the two-state solution, poured cold water on the League’s proposals.

Tourism Minister Uzi Landau – Photo: Lior Mizrahi

“They’re offering us Auschwitz borders with minor adjustments,” Landau said, invoking former Foreign Minister Abba Eban’s famous phrase warning against a return to indefensible pre-1967 borders.

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: Arab League, John Kerry, Peace Process, Tzipi Livni, Uzi Landau

US official: Plans for possible military action in Syria are being evaluated

Senior White House official tells reporters that the Pentagon is looking into plans to strike Syrian military installations, though a ground offensive looks unlikely.

By Haaretz

The U.S. in stepping up planning for military intervention in Syria, CNN reported on Monday. The report quoted a senior administration official as saying that “there is intensified planning in the works as more precise information comes in on the Syrian regime’s potential use of chemical weapons and the body of evidence grows.”

A UH-1N Huey with Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron, 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit flies past the USS Rushmore, in the South Arabian Gulf, March 29, 2013.

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: Bashar Assad, Chemical Weapons, Syria, WMD

MK Ben-Eliezer: Hizbullah is Receiving Chemical Weapons Now

MK Binyamin Ben-Eliezer says the Syrian regime has already begun transferring chemical weapons to Hizbullah terrorists.

By Elad Benari

Former Defense Minister MK Binyamin Ben-Eliezer (Labor) said on Monday that the regime in Syria has begun to transfer chemical weapons to the Hizbullah terror group, its proxy in Lebanon.

“The process of weapon transfer to Hizbullah has begun,” Ben-Eliezer told The Associated Press. He would not elaborate.

Earlier, MK Ben-Eliezer told Kol Yisrael radio that he “has no doubt” that Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad has already used chemical weapons against rebels and that that “these weapons are trickling to Hizbullah.” Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, Chemical Weapons, Hizbullah, WMD

Report from Syria: Israeli Jets bomb a Syrian chemical weapons factory

The Free Syrian Army reports that Israeli jets destroyed a Syrian chemical weapons plant before rebels groups could get their hands on the goods.

By Israel Today Staff

The Free Syrian Army (FSA) reported at the weekend that Israeli warplanes had bombed a chemical weapons base in Damascus. The Israeli government gave no response.

Israel Air Force F-15 upgraded Eagles – Photo courtesy: IDF’s Spokesperson’s Office

FSA forces and the Syrian army were reportedly battling close to another chemical weapons base on the outskirts of Damascus on Monday, with the outcome of the battle still very much undetermined.

Israel and the West have taken the Syrian regime to task for reportedly using chemical weapons against rebel populations in recent weeks. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: Chemical Weapons, IAF strike, Syrian rebels, WMD

Kids from Gaza taught to use rocket launchers

Hamas’s Izzadin Kassam brigades train teens from Gaza how to fire rocket launches & shoot AK-47 (Kalashnikov) assault rifles.

By JPOST.COM STAFF

Gaza schools are providing military training to teenage boys, teaching them how to fire rocket launchers, Kalashnikov assault rifles and other weapons, The Guardian reported on Sunday.

Gaza schoolboy firing rocket launcher. – Photo: Video screenshot

Members of Hamas’s Izzadin Kassam brigades assist in the training, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Education website. They also teach schoolboys first aid, firefighting and “the values of discipline and responsibility,” the Guardian reported.

According to the Guardian, the school curriculum is supplemented with voluntary camps during school breaks where the boys get further training in handling guns and explosives.

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: Children, Gaza, Izzadin Kassam brigade, terrorism

Obama now knows that Abbas doesn’t want to make Peace

Senior Israeli diplomatic official: PM Netanyahu is willing to make significant progress toward a peace deal, but “everybody knows” that PA President Mahmoud Abbas won’t allow this, continuing to insist on numerous & unacceptable preconditions just to commence peace talks.

By Shlomo Cesana and Israel Hayom Staff

“U.S. President Barack Obama understands today that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is not interested in reaching an agreement with Israel,” a senior Israeli diplomatic source has said.

PM Benjamin Netanyahu, U.S. President Barack Obama and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas meet in Washington in September 2010 – Photo: AFP

According to the official, a regular participant in policy-making, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is willing to make significant progress toward a peace deal, but “everybody knows” that Abbas will not allow this.

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: Barack Obama, Benjamin Netanyahu, Mahmoud Abbas, Peace Process

Russian sends deputy FM to meet with Nasrallah

Mikhail Bogdanov meets with Nasrallah & other Lebanese leaders to discuss Hezbollah’s involvement in Syria’s conflict.

By ARIEL BEN SOLOMON

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov met with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Saturday night along with other top Lebanese leaders to conclude his three-day visit to the country.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah broadcasting from his underground hiding place – Photo: Reuters

The Russian ambassador to Lebanon, Alexander Zaspikin, also took part in the meeting, which dealt with the unstable situation in Lebanon and Syria, according to a report in the Lebanese Daily Star.

Hezbollah’s Al-Manar website reported that Ammar Mousawi, the group’s official responsible for international relations, was also in attendance.

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah, Syrian unrest

French court renders verdict: Jerusalem light rail doesn’t violate int’l law

French court dismisses claim that French firms violated human rights by building the transit system through “occupied territory”.

By JTA

A French court ruled that Israel did not violate international law by building a light rail line in eastern Jerusalem.

Jerusalem’s light rail – Photo: IsraelandStuff.com/PP

The ruling on March 22 by the Versailles Court of Appeals came in response to a lawsuit filed in 2007 by the Palestine Liberation Organization and the France-Palestine Solaridite association against three French firms that participated in the construction of the light rail network. The plaintiffs claimed that the firms were responsible for human rights and international law violations. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: Jerusalem, Jerusalem light rail, Light rail

Russia Reports: Boston Bombers’ Mom Told Son: ‘Go to Palestine’

Terrorist’s mom denied that her sons were involved in Islamic terrorism, saying her sons are being framed by U.S. security officials.

By JTA

The mother of the alleged Boston Marathon bombers spoke with her older son about going to “Palestine.”

Zubeidat Tsarnaeva – Screenshot from The Guardian video

Zubeidat Tsarnaeva, in a telephone conversation from Russia with her older son Tamerlan, suggested that he go to Palestine during a discussion about jihad, the Associated Press reported. The Russian security service intercepted the phone conversation, according to the news service.

Russian officials told the FBI in early 2011 that they believed Tamerlan, 26, and his mother were religious extremists. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: Boston Bombing, Judge Jeanine, terrorism

Seeing the connection: Hezbollah, or Iran’s int’l plots of carnage

Numerous foiled European operations may stand as “tipping point” for EU to finally include Hezbollah on terrorism blacklist.

By BENJAMIN WEINTHAL, JERUSALEM POST CORRESPONDENT

As the European Union grapples with a ban of the Lebanese Shi’ite organization Hezbollah within its territory, reports emerged last week of foiled Iranian and Hezbollah terror and criminal plots against targets spanning Bulgaria, Nepal, Canada and the US.

ZAKA man examines damage in Burgas – Photo: Avigdor Shatran

Will the mushrooming patchwork of global terrorism push the EU to include Hezbollah in its terror list? An EU designation could deal a one-two punch to the Lebanese group and its chief proxy Iran.

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: blacklist, EU, Hezbollah, Hezbollah terrorism