Israel / Palestine
Current Operations
UNTSO
United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UN-led)
Since: 06/48
More Information
TIPH-2
Temporary International Presence in Hebron (Other)
Since: 02/97
More Information
EUPOL COPPS
EU Police Co-ordinating Office for Palestinian Police Support (EU)
Since: 11/05
More Information
EU BAM Rafah
EU Border Assistance Mission at Rafah Crossing Point in the Palestinian Territories (EU)
Since: 11/05
More Information
Israel retreats from objection to Hamas role in elections (24.10.2005)
(Quelle: New York Times) Israel began on Sunday to back away from its opposition to participation of the armed Islamic group Hamas in Palestinian elections, having failed to persuade President Bush to offer public support for its stance. A senior Israeli official said it would be impractical to try to hinder the elections, scheduled for Jan. 25, though Israel would continue to try to press the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, to disarm Hamas beforehand or even to postpone the elections again, which some of his own Fatah members are urging.
Bush backs away from timetable for setting up Palestinian state (21.10.2005)
(Quelle: Financial Times) President George W. Bush yesterday backed away from the goal he set a year ago to help establish an independent Palestinian state by the end of his second term. With Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president at his side at a White House press conference, Mr Bush said he could not tell when Israelis and Palestinians would live side by side in two democratic states, and denied he had expressed the hope of this happening by the end of 2008.
Palestinian factions sign election Code of Conduct (17.10.2005)
(Quelle: Reliefweb) Twelve Palestinian political factions signed a Code of Conduct Monday on specific principles and rules to guide them before, during and after the upcoming legislative elections. The Islamic Hamas movement was the only faction that did not participate in the signing ceremony, held in Ramallah in the presence of heads of factions participating in the January 25 elections.
Israeli and Palestinian to discuss steps to peace (06.10.2005)
(Quelle: New York Times) Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and the Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, plan to meet next week for talks on advancing peace efforts after Israel's recent withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, both sides said Wednesday. The two leaders have met twice this year and have spoken by phone, but have not held detailed discussions since Israel withdrew its settlers and soldiers from Gaza in August and September, ending a 38-year presence in the territory.
Palestinians move in as Israel ends 38-year occupation of Gaza (12.09.2005)
(Quelle: The Independent) Gaza's 1.3 million Palestinians are on the brink of reclaiming the 21 formerly Jewish settlements in the Strip. After 38 years, Israeli troops began to leave the area last night following last month's evacuation of the settlements. Their positions were immediately taken up by Palestinian forces. The army is expected to complete a rapid evacuation of the troops by dawn today.
Palestinians name date for vote (20.08.2005)
(Quelle: BBC) The long-delayed Palestinian elections will be held on 25 January 2006, the Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has announced in Gaza. The parliamentary elections were originally scheduled for last month, but were postponed indefinitely.
Soldiers use force, persuasion in Gaza settler evacuation (18.08.2005)
(Quelle: Washington Post) Using patient persuasion and brute force, Israeli soldiers removed hundreds of residents from homes across the Gaza Strip's Jewish settlements Wednesday in a military operation that exacted a high emotional toll on troops and the settlers they came to evacuate.
Palestinian parliamentary poll set for January (16.08.2005)
(Quelle: ISN Security Warch) Palestinian parliamentary elections have been scheduled for 21 January, Reuters reported on Tuesday. It will be the first time the militant Hamas group will participate in parliamentary elections.
Palestinian poll set for January (09.08.2005)
(Quelle: BBC) Palestinians will hold general elections in January, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said in a speech to the parliament in Gaza. The vote had been set for July, but it was postponed because of a dispute over electoral reform, officials said. Mr Abbas did not give an exact date for the poll, in a speech which also urged an end to anti-Israeli violence.
Abbas postpones Palestinian vote (04.06.2005)
(Quelle: BBC) Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has announced that parliamentary elections set for 17 July will be postponed. In a public decree, he said he wanted to allow more time to resolve a dispute over changes to the election law. Mr Abbas said a new date would be set after talks with the Palestinian factions and law makers. The move has been condemned by militant group Hamas, which correspondents say had been poised to do well in its first run at a legislative poll.
Alvaro de Soto of Peru named new UN envoy to Middle East (06.05.2005)
(Quelle: UN News) Veteran United Nations negotiator Alvaro de Soto will begin work immediately as the top UN envoy in the Middle East after Secretary-General Kofi Annan today appointed the Peruvian national to the post.
Budget puts Israel closer to Gaza pullout (30.03.2005)
(Quelle: Washington Post) Israel's parliament on Tuesday easily approved the long-overdue 2005 state budget, meaning Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's government can no longer be brought down by opponents of a Gaza withdrawal set for this summer. … The budget confrontation caps a turbulent political year, and settler leaders say they will now take their battle against the pullout to the streets, threatening mass protests and even civil war.
Militants extend pledge not to attack Israel (18.03.2005)
(Quelle: Washington Post) Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas won pledges Thursday from Islamic militant organizations to extend the suspension of attacks on Israel until the end of this year if the lull in violence continues, but he failed to persuade them to agree to a formal cease-fire. In an accord reached during three days of meetings outside Cairo, the Islamic Resistance Movement, or Hamas, and other Palestinian militant groups said their pledge not to resort to violence would depend on whether Israel honored its commitment to withdraw its troops from all Palestinian cities in the West Bank and release significant numbers of Palestinian prisoners.
Palestinian groups extend truce (17.03.2005)
(Quelle: BBC) Palestinian faction leaders meeting in Cairo have agreed to continue an informal truce with Israel. The final statement from the 13 Palestinian groups agreed to maintain an 'open-ended' stop to hostilities, but did not specify a timeframe.
Israeli cabinet backs pullout plan (21.02.2005)
(Quelle: Washington Post) Israel's cabinet on Sunday solidly approved Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to withdraw Jewish settlers and Israeli soldiers from the Gaza Strip later this year. … In another major vote, the cabinet approved, 20 to 1, a modified route for a fence and wall complex that Israel is constructing through and around the West Bank.
Israelisches Parlament billigt Siedler-Entschädigung (17.02.2005)
(Quelle: Die Welt) Das israelische Parlament hat den umstrittenen Gaza-Rückzugsplan von Ministerpräsident Ariel Scharon endgültig gebilligt. Mit 59 zu 40 Stimmen verabschiedete die Knesset ein Gesetz, daß eine Entschädigung für die 9.000 betroffenen jüdischen Siedler vorsieht. … Mit dem Abzug aus dem Gazastreifen und vier Siedlungen im Westjordanland soll in diesem Sommer begonnen werden.
Abbas declares war with Israel effectively over (13.02.2005)
(Quelle: New York Times) The new Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, said in an interview this weekend that the war with the Israelis is effectively over and that the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, is speaking 'a different language' to the Palestinians. Mr. Sharon's commitment to withdraw from Gaza and dismantle all Israeli settlements there and four in the West Bank, despite 'how much pressure is on him from the Israeli Likud rightists,' Mr. Abbas said, 'is a good sign to start with' on the road to real peace.
Struck: Bundeswehr bereit zu Friedenseinsatz in Israel (12.02.2005)
(Quelle: FAZ) Deutschland ist nach den Worten von Verteidigungsminister Peter Struck bereit, nach einem Friedensabkommen zwischen Israel und den Palästinensern eine Rolle bei der dauerhaften Friedenssicherung in der Region zu spielen. „Bei einem Friedensvertrag muß die Nato ihre besondere Verantwortung wahrnehmen, und auch Deutschland ist bereit, seine Verantwortung im Rahmen der Nato wahrzunehmen', sagte der SPD-Politiker. Zur Frage einer möglichen Entsendung deutscher Soldaten zur Absicherung eines Friedensabkommens äußerte sich Struck nicht.
Talks postponed after Gaza attack (10.02.2005)
(Quelle: BBC) Israel has postponed security talks with Palestinians after militants fired mortars at Israeli settlements in Gaza, Palestinian officials said. The talks were aimed at consolidating a ceasefire agreed by the Israeli and Palestinian leaders on Tuesday. Hamas, which says it is not bound by the deal, said it fired mortar shells and rockets at Gush Katif settlement.
Israel, Palestinians declare end to violence (08.02.2005)
(Quelle: Washington Post) Israeli and Palestinian leaders proclaimed a formal end to more than four years of bloodshed at a summit in Egypt Tuesday. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he agreed with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to stop all violence. Sharon announced an end to military action after the highest-level talks since a Palestinian uprising blew up in 2000.
Palestinians given control of cities in West Bank (31.01.2005)
(Quelle: The Independent) Israel has agreed to allow the Palestinian Authority to deploy its own security forces in five West Bank cities this week in the latest of a series of confidence-building steps designed to entrench the still fragile and undeclared truce. … In one of the most significant changes to Israeli security policy, the army chief of staff, Moshe Yaalon not only imposed a freeze on 'offensive' military operations in the Gaza strip but also ordered that arrest operations directed at militants in the West Bank would require his personal authority.
Hamas gewinnt Kommunalwahl im Gazastreifen (28.01.2005)
(Quelle: NZZ) Die radikal-islamische Hamas-Bewegung ist als Siegerin aus der ersten Kommunalwahl im Gazastreifen hervorgegangen. Wie am Freitag aus Kreisen der Wahlkommission verlautete, gewann Hamas 77 von 118 Sitzen in zehn Bezirken. Die Fatah-Bewegung von Präsident Abbas errang demnach 26 Sitze, weitere 14 Mandate entfallen auf unabhängige Kandidaten.
Gespräche in Nahost (27.01.2005)
(Quelle: taz) Erstmals seit dem Amtsantritt von Palästinenserpräsident Mahmud Abbas haben Israel und die Palästinenser wieder politische Gespräche aufgenommen. Ranghohe Repräsentanten beider Seiten trafen sich in Jerusalem, um unter anderem ein Treffen zwischen Abbas und Scharon im Februar vorzubereiten.
Embracing the vote in Gaza (26.01.2005)
(Quelle: Washington Post) Militant groups join political process in territory's first local ballot.
Israel, Palestinians agree on deployments in southern Gaza (26.01.2005)
(Quelle: Reliefweb) Israeli and Palestinian security officials reached agreement Wednesday for the deployment of Palestinian forces from the centre of the Gaza Strip to the border with Egypt, a senior Palestinian security source said.
Israel accepts Palestinian police plan (20.01.2005)
(Quelle: Washington Post) Israeli officials accepted a Palestinian plan to deploy hundreds of police officers along the Gaza-Israel frontier starting Friday, in the first act of security cooperation with Israel under Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.
Abbas wins Palestinian polls by landslide (10.01.2005)
(Quelle: ISN) The landslide election victory of PLO leader Mahmoud Abbas (also known as Abu Mazen) as Palestinian president on Sunday raised hopes for new peace talks with Israel after more than four years of violence. Final results are expected around noon on Monday, but exit polls showed that Abbas won some 65 per cent of the vote, as high as any had predicted, compared with about 20 per cent for his nearest challenger, Mustafa Barghouti.
Israel will Beobachter der Palästinenserwahl zulassen (25.11.2004)
(Quelle: Die Welt) Israel will ausländische Beobachter zur palästinensischen Präsidentenwahl zulassen. Dies hat der israelische Außenminister Silvan Schalom erklärt.
Israel holding 25 U.N. workers (07.10.2004)
(Quelle: Washington Post) At least 25 Palestinian U.N. workers have been detained by Israel for as long as two years under charges Israel refuses to reveal, U.N. officials said Wednesday. The statements coincided with the arrival of a U.N. team in Jerusalem to investigate Israeli charges that a Palestinian employee of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency loaded a Qassam rocket into a U.N. ambulance during fighting in the northern Gaza Strip. … Israeli-U.N. relations have been strained for years, with Israel repeatedly accusing the world body of bias.
Ankündigung von Wahlen in Palästina (07.09.2004)
(Quelle: NZZ) Arafat hat Kommunal-, Parlaments- und Präsidentschaftswahlen in den palästinensischen Gebieten noch für den kommenden Winter angekündigt. … In Cisjordanien, im Gazastreifen und im palästinensischen Ostjerusalem sind am Wochenende über 1000 Büros zur Registrierung der Wähler eröffnet worden. … Den endgültigen Termin für die Parlaments- und Präsidentschaftswahlen muss der Vorsitzende der Autonomiebehörde Arafat noch festlegen.