Tag Archive for Gaza

| June 3, 2012
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IAF Strikes Terror Targets in Gaza

IAF aircraft strike terror targets in Gaza, in response to Friday’s shooting incident which resulted in the death of one soldier.

 

IAF aircraft struck three weapons manufacturing sites in central Gaza on Saturday night, as well as two terror tunnels, one in northern Gaza and one in the south.

According to a statement by the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, direct hits at the targets were identified. All Israeli planes returned safely to their base.

The attack came in response to the shootout between IDF troops and a Gaza terrorist on Friday morning. 21-year-old Golani Brigade soldier Netanel Moshiashvili was killed in the incident. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| May 31, 2012
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Sinai peacekeeping force commander warns of weapons smuggling to Gaza

Commander of the Multinational Force and Observers says SA-24 surface-to-air missiles have made their way from Libya to Sinai, and may potentially be used against Israeli air operations.

The Commander of the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) in Sinai hinted on Thursday that advanced surface-to-air missiles had been found in the region as a result of weapons smuggling from Libya and could potentially be smuggled into Gaza.

Gaza militants - Reuters - May 31, 2012

Palestinian militants of al-Nasser Brigades hold a news conference in Gaza City - Photo by Reuters

At an MFO conference which took place on Monday at Tel Aviv University, Maj. Gen. Warren James Whiting, who oversees the force, said that one of the biggest challenges facing his troops is weapons smuggling, adding that Russian-made SA-24 surface-to-air missiles, which were sold to Libya in 2004, are being smuggled into the Gaza Strip through Egypt. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , , ,
| May 28, 2012
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Palestinian Airlines back in the air after 7 years

Once hailed as a symbol of Palestinian statehood dreams, the carrier is a tiny operation, with just two 48-seat turboprop planes, two weekly flights and a borrowed hub in Egypt.

 

Palestinian Airlines is back in the skies after being grounded for seven years by the deepening enmities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Once hailed as a symbol of Palestinian statehood dreams, the carrier is a tiny operation, with just two 48-seat turboprop planes, two weekly flights and a borrowed hub in Egypt.

But Palestinians say just being on the map again is what matters. “My hands were shaking when I bought the ticket… and it said the name of the carrier is Palestinian Airlines,” said recent passenger Zuhair Mohammed, a 38 year-old teacher from Gaza. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
| May 24, 2012
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Israeli companies win UN bids to reconstruct Gaza, angering Palestinians

Palestinian Contractors Union forbids members to collaborate with Israelis

 

A number of Israeli companies have recently won UN tenders for reconstruction projects in the Gaza Strip, enraging Palestinian contractors who claim they were outbid by the country that destroyed their infrastructure.

More than three years after Israel inflicted widespread damage on the infrastructure of the Gaza Strip during Operation Cast Lead, an offensive aimed at curtailing relentless Hamas rocket fire into Israel, two Israeli companies won bids issued by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to construct water plants in Gaza, London-based daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi reported Thursday.

Osama Kahil, deputy head of the Palestinian Contractors Union, told the daily that a number of Israeli companies have contacted contractors in Gaza offering them half of the bids’ revenue to execute the projects. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| May 23, 2012
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IDF Officer, Soldier Wounded by Terrorist Fire

Gaza terrorists ambushed an IDF unit working near the Gaza security fence, wounding two; both evacuated to hospital

An IDF officer and soldier on Wednesday were wounded in a live fire incident near the Gaza security fence.

The two were rushed to a nearby hospital for medical treatment. IDF force returned fire at the location they believed the gunman had fired from.

An IDF official told Arutz Sheva that attacks on soldiers near the fence by Gaza’s assorted terror gangs are “routine” and typically focus on “quantity over quality.”

Placing explosives, sniping, firing mortars, and trying to move antitank weapons into place to fire are “regular” tactics, the official said. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| May 15, 2012
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Many winners, few losers in deal to end Palestinian prisoners’ hunger strike

Israel, Hamas and the Palestinian Authority are each playing their cards to preserve the relative silence in Gaza and the West Bank.

The agreement that brought the Palestinian prisoners’ hunger strike to an end on Monday, alongside a decision to return 100 bodies of Palestinian terrorists buried in Israel, as a gesture to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, were less about possible progress in peace attempts as much as they were about an Israeli effort to preserve the relative silence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Palestinians celebrate the signing of a deal to end the Palestinian prisoners hunger strike

Palestinians wave flags as they celebrate the signing of a deal to end the Palestinian prisoners hunger strike, in the West Bank city of Ramallah - Photo by Reuters

 

Despite the fact that peace negotiations aren’t likely to restart, the Palestinian Authority, Hamas and Israel are all interested in getting rid of anything that could threat stability in the region. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News, Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
| May 15, 2012
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Gaza Banks in Currency Crisis

Gaza banks are answering withdrawal requests with multiple currencies, leading to an exchange rate crisis for local residents.

Gaza banks are experiencing another currency crisis, protesters told the Belthlehem-based Maan News Agency on Thursday.

Palestinian Authority employees reportedly organized a sit-in in front of the Bank of Palestine in Nuseirat to protest the fact that their salaries were distributed in multiple currencies.

“We were surprised today that our salaries were in dollars, (Jordanian) dinars, and shekels which will result in penalties due to the exchange rate,” one employee said.

Hamas, like its Fatah rivals in Ramallah, has experienced numerous cash-flow problems since seizing the coastal enclave from the Palestinian Authority in a bloody 2007 putsch. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| May 14, 2012
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Egypt Cracking Down on Hamas’ Black Market Fuel

Egyptian security forces in northern Sinai are seizing black market fuel shipments headed for Gaza after deal to sell fuel to PA

Egyptian security forces seized four vehicles transporting unlicensed fuel in the northern Sinai over the weekend.

Security officials said the vehicles were carrying 1,640 liters of fuel in 82 tanks for sale on the black market. A driver was detained for investigation, they added.

Last week, security forces confiscated a truck in the Sinai carrying 10 thousand liters of fuel headed to tunnels under the border with Gaza Strip.

Egypt moved in February to shut down fuel deliveries to Gaza via the tunnel smuggling network developed by Hamas – sparking a fuel shortage that caused widespread blackouts. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
| May 14, 2012
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Israel lets Gaza export clothes after long break

Egyptian-Israeli embargo on Gaza Strip export lifted as shipment of Palestinian clothing let out of Gaza en route to Britain

 

Israel allowed on Monday the export of Palestinian-made clothes from the Gaza Strip for the first time in at least five years, a Palestinian official said.

Raed Fattouh, who coordinates supplies into Gaza, said a truck carrying 2,000 pieces of mainly woolen garments were exported through the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing towards an Israeli seaport en route to Britain.

Kerem Shalom crossing Photo: AP

Kerem Shalom crossing - Photo: AP

Home to 1.7 million people, Gaza has been under tight embargo by both Israel and Egypt since the Islamist group Hamas took control of the coastal enclave in 2007. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| May 13, 2012
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‘Fatah prisoners held by Hamas in Gaza go on hunger strike’

Sources say prisoners initiate hunger strike to protest their incarceration, show solidarity with Palestinian prisoners in Israel; Hamas denies Fatah claim that prisoners being held without trial.

 

Fatah prisoners held in Hamas jails in the Gaza Strip have gone on hunger strike in protest against their incarceration, Palestinian sources reported Sunday.

The hunger strike is also in solidarity with hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons who have also been refusing food for the past few weeks, the sources said.

Palestinians in Gaza rally to free hunger strikers - Photo: REUTERS/Mohammed Salem

Palestinians in Gaza rally to free hunger strikers - Photo: REUTERS/Mohammed Salem

The Fatah-affiliated Palestine Press News Agency published a letter from the striking prisoners in the Gaza Strip in which they hold Hamas responsible for their continued imprisonment.

Continue Reading »
Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
| May 13, 2012
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Erdan: Cut Gaza power to avoid shortages in Israel

Minister says it is “absurd” that Israel should experience power shortages while the “terror entity next to us will get electricity.”

 

Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan on Sunday called on the government to cut off the supply of electricity to the Gaza Strip in order to avoid electricity shortages it is feared could affect Israel this summer.

Electric lines -illustrative photo: Thinkstock/Imagebank

Electric lines -illustrative photo: Thinkstock/Imagebank

Speaking in an interview with Army Radio, Erdan said that Gaza has its own power stations and legally, it is not clear that Israel is responsible for supplying power to Gaza, especially after Israel’s 2005 disengagement from the terrotory.

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Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| May 10, 2012
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Egypt forces seize missiles, grenade aunchers in Sinai raid

Raid comes a month after rockets believed to have been smuggled from Libya were fired from Sinai toward the Israeli resort town of Eilat.

 

Egyptian security forces seized near the Libyan border on Thursday dozens of heavy weapons allegedly bound for the Sinai Peninsula to stir up trouble ahead of upcoming presidential elections, a police official said.

Sinai - Reuters - May 10, 2012

An Egyptian watch tower is seen close to the construction site of a fence on the border between Israel and Egypt along Israel's Highway 12 near Eilat - Photo by Reuters

Authorities uncovered the munitions – including 40 surface-to-surface missiles, 17 rocket-propelled grenade launchers, mortar rounds, automatic rifles and around 10,000 artillery shells – in three vehicles near the Mediterranean resort city of Marsa Matrouh, some 430 kilometers (270 miles) northwest of Cairo, the official said.

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Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
| May 10, 2012
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Palestinian Airlines renews operations

Seven years after being grounded by Israeli offensive, airline is back in business with weekly flight to Amman

 

Seven years after grounding is planes, Palestinian Airlines was back in business on Wednesday, with an inaugural flight that travelled between the Egyptian town of Arish and Jordan’s capital, Amman.

Illustration Photo

Illustration Photo

The renewal of the air carrier’s business was facilitated by an agreement reached between the Palestinian Transportation Ministry and the authorities in Egypt and Jordan.

The company was founded in 1995, and operated flights that shuttled travelers between the Dahania Airport in Rafah and various destinations in the Middle East and North Africa. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| May 2, 2012
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Hamas says holding secret diplomatic talks with EU states

Europe and the U.S. have been rethinking Mideast policy since the Arab Spring uprisings toppled several pro-Western regimes in favor of Islamists.

Hamas has been holding secret political talks with five European Union member states in recent months, a senior member of the Gaza-based Islamist movement said on Wednesday.

Hamas rally - AP - 27.4.2012

Palestinians from Hamas and Islamic Jihad movements rallying for the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails, in Gaza City - Photo by AP

The EU’s official stance indicates that it will not deal with Hamas unless the group renounces violence and recognizes Israel.

Europe and the U.S. have been rethinking Mideast policy since the Arab Spring uprisings toppled several pro-Western regimes in favor of Islamists.

Continue Reading »
Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| May 2, 2012
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Israel & the Region Foot-and-mouth disease hits Gaza, could spread further

UN agencies fear disease, which oriented from Egypt, could affect the region and beyond

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — A UN agency said Wednesday that Egypt’s outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease has reached the neighboring Gaza Strip and could soon spread across the Middle East.

The Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organization said the disease was detected in Gaza’s southern border town of Rafah on April 19.

Juan Lubroth, FAO’s chief veterinary officer, says vaccines are in short supply and animal movement must be limited. He says the disease risks spreading to the Gulf, southern and eastern Europe and further.

The disease is not a direct threat to humans, but meat and milk from sick animals are unsafe for consumption. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
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