Israel’s daily 3-hour truces in Gaza good first step, but not nearly enough, UN warns (07.01.2009)

(Source:UN News / International)

The daily three-hour pause that Israel began today on the 12th day of its Gaza offensive against Hamas was a good first step but totally insufficient for the United Nations to aid the 1.5 million civil-ians living in “increasingly appalling” conditions amid credible reports of 680 people killed so far and over 3,000 wounded, senior UN officials warned.

Politik hält deutschen Einsatz in Nahost für denkbar (Germany debates role in possible international intervention) (07.01.2009)

(Source:Die Welt / Germany)

Soll sich die Bundeswehr an einem möglichen internationalen Einsatz im Gazastreifen beteiligen? Ja, sagen die Außenpolitiker der großen Koalition. Wenn es gewünscht ist, sollte Deutschland eine Rolle spielen. FDP und Linke sehen das anders: Deutsche Soldaten hätten in dieser Region nichts verloren.

Aid workers’ movements in Gaza severely restricted (06.01.2009)

(Source:Irinnews / International)

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) has over 10,000 staff in Gaza, but their deployment has been severely restricted due to Israeli bombing and tank shelling, UNRWA spokesman Sami Mshasha said. They are not the only ones. The movements of all aid workers are severely restricted.

Conditioning Gaza: preparing to deploy international forces in Palestine? (06.01.2009)

(Source:The Daily Star / Lebanon)

The Israeli attack on Gaza is likely timed to coincide with the February elections in Israel and this month's inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama in anticipation of launching a comprehensive Middle East peace plan. The ultimate goal of the Gaza invasion is to create the conditions to intro-duce international troops into Palestine. … The idea for an international military intervention was first proposed by Martin Indyk, the former US ambassador to Israel under presidents Bill Clinton and George Bush 43, in a 2003 Foreign Affairs article, "A Trusteeship for Palestine?"

Ending the war in Gaza – new ICG policy briefing (05.01.2009)

(Source:International Crisis Group (ICG) / USA)

Urgent international action must help deliver an immediate ceasefire in Gaza to protect civilians, limit political damage and avoid a further catastrophe. “Ending the War in Gaza”, the latest policy briefing from the International Crisis Group, analyses the bloody developments since expiration of the fragile six-month ceasefire on 19 December and proposes a path to cessation of hostilities and beyond.

Einmarsch in Gaza: Das Schweigen der Araber (Intervention in Gaza: Arabs’ silence) (05.01.2009)

(Source:FAZ / Germany)

Der „Nahost-Konflikt“ ist über den Gegensatz zwischen Palästinensern und Israel längst hinausge-wachsen. Die gesamte Region braucht eine neue Sicherheitsarchitektur, in der der Konflikt zwischen Israelis und Palästinensern nur ein besonders wichtiger Punkt ist.

Egypt faces renewed spectre of Gaza responsibility (05.01.2009)

(Source:Middle East Times / USA)

Rockets fired from the Gaza Strip may be a thorn in Israel's side, but the embattled territory has for decades also been a headache for Egypt, which fears once more becoming its de facto master.

Israel rejects proposal for 48-hour truce (01.01.2009)

(Source:Washington Post / USA)

Israeli leaders rejected a proposal for a two-day cease-fire on Wednesday and vowed to continue at-tacks on Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip, including possibly sending in ground forces.

Israel's attacks on Gaza deepen Palestinian rift (01.01.2009)

(Source:Washington Post / USA)

Israel's assault on the Gaza Strip has exacerbated the deep divisions between Palestinians who want to make peace with Israel and those who support Hamas's militant struggle against the Jewish state.

Ban calls for immediate ceasefire in Gaza (31.12.2008)

(Source:UN News / International)

With the crisis in Gaza and southern Israel having reached its fifth day, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today appealed for an urgent ceasefire to end the violence and to allow crucial humanitarian aid to reach Gazans.

Gaza toll passes 350 in 3rd day of Israeli strikes (29.12.2008)

(Source:New York Times / USA)

In a third straight day of deadly airstrikes against the emblems and institutions of Hamas on Monday, Israeli warplanes pounded targets in Gaza, including the Interior Ministry, while in Jerusalem, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak vowed “an all-out war on Hamas and its kind.” The three-day death toll surpassed 350, some 60 of them civilians, according to United Nations officials. Palestinian hospital officials reported that some 1,500 people were wounded.

„Die Hamas ist vorbereitet“ („Hamas well prepared“) (29.12.2008)

(Source:FAZ / Germany)

Die Hamas hat die Waffenruhe genutzt, um sich auf einen Angriff vorzubereiten, vermutet das israe-lische Militär. Das Tunnelsystem unter dem Gazastreifen sei ausgebaut worden, „eine eigene Welt“ sei unter der Oberfläche entstanden.

Security Council calls on Israel, Palestinians to end violence immediately (28.12.2008)

(Source:UN News / International)

The Security Council on Sunday called on Israel and the Palestinians to immediately end all violence, as Israeli airstrikes in response to rocket attacks by militants in Gaza reportedly killed 270 people and wounded more than 600 in the Strip.

Israel denies entry to UN rights investigator (16.12.2008)

(Source:Reliefweb / International)

Israel denied entry on Monday to a special U.N. investigator who planned to travel to the Palestinian territories to document human rights conditions, Israeli and U.N. officials said. Border police pre-vented Richard Falk, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Israeli behavior in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, from entering Israel when he arrived at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv on Sunday.

Palestinian elections scheduled “very soon”: Abbas (16.12.2008)

(Source:Middle East Times / USA)

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said on Tuesday he will "very soon" schedule Palestinian elec-tions in the absence of reconciliation with the Hamas rulers of the Gaza Strip. … The Western-backed Palestinian president had earlier given the Islamist Hamas movement until the end of the year to accept reconciliation talks, warning he would otherwise call snap elections.

Agreement in Hamas: cease-fire to end Friday (16.12.2008)

(Source:Haaretz / Israel)

After expressing contradictory positions on Sunday, Hamas' leadership on Monday adopted a united stance: The cease-fire with Israel, which expires this Friday, will not be extended. On Sunday, the Damascus-based head of Hamas' political bureau, Khaled Meshal, had said precisely that, but Gaza-based leaders of the movement insisted that no decision had yet been reached.

Intensify peace talks, UN and top diplomatic partners tell Israel, Palestinians (15.12.2008)

(Source:UN News / International)

The United Nations and its diplomatic partners in the search for Middle East peace – the European Union (EU), Russia and the United States – called today for an intensification of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, urging both sides to take the necessary steps to reach this goal.

UN panel demands Israel lift Gaza blockade, free Palestinian prisoners (09.12.2008)

(Source:Haaretz / Israel)

The UN Human Rights Council called on Israel on Tuesday to take nearly 100 measures, from lifting its blockade on Gaza to releasing Arab detainees. The 47-member-state Council adopted its list of 99 recommendations by consensus at the end of a two-day review of Israel's human rights record.

Palestinian prime minister urges EU action on settlements (05.12.2008)

(Source:Middle East Times / USA)

Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad has urged the European Union to put more pressure on Israel to freeze settlement activity in the occupied West Bank, considered a major hurdle in Middle East peace efforts.

NATO: Diplomacy, not defense, will determine deployment of peacekeepers in Mideast (04.12.2008)

(Source:Haaretz / Israel)

When asked whether the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was preparing contingency plans, in the event that member states express willingness to deploy a peace force to the regions, as well as whether NATO had sufficient forces for such a mission, (Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, Admiral Giampaolo) Di Paola noted that only three conditions, laid down by NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, were needed to deploy NATO forces: a diplomatic agreement, an invitation from the parties and the agreement of the United Nations Security Council.

Stakes raised in Hebron stand-off (03.12.2008)

(Source:BBC / UK)

Jewish settlers in the West Bank city of Hebron have been involved in further clashes with Israeli security forces and local Palestinians. Tensions rose after Israel declared a large building occupied by settlers to be a "closed military area". … Israeli politicians say the building will be forcibly evacuated if no agreement can be reached with the settlers.

Israeli minister urges patience over Mideast peace talks (02.12.2008)

(Source:Middle East Times / USA)

Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni urged the international community to allow Israel and the Palestinians to pursue peace talks at their own pace, warning that deadlines could be counterproductive. "The eagerness of the international community can lead to a failure that nobody can afford," Livni told the European parliament's foreign affairs committee in Brussels.

Israel to free jailed Palestinians (30.11.2008)

(Source:Al Jazeera / Qatar)

The Israeli cabinet has given its approval to release a new batch of 250 Palestinian prisoners. The prisoners, a fraction of the 11,000 Palestinians held, will be released in the occupied West Bank before the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha. … "This is a confidence-building measure," Mark Regev, a spokesman for Olmert, said. He said Israel will release prisoners from the Fatah faction and other non-Islamist groups.

Arab foreign ministers meet on Palestinian rift (26.11.2008)

(Source:Asharq Al-Awsat (UK))

Arab foreign ministers met in Cairo Wednesday to work out how to deal with Hamas after the mili-tant group rejected reconciliation talks aimed at ending the division between the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The meeting comes three days after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose Fatah movement controls the West Bank, threatened to call elections early next year if his Hamas rivals controlling Gaza don't open reconciliation talks, an ultimatum that could deepen the rift.

Agencies seek $462 million in aid for Palestinians (26.11.2008)

(Source:Washington Post)

The U.N. and other aid agencies appealed to the international community Wednesday to send $462 million in emergency assistance to address what they said is a humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian territories. Most of the money will be used for food and cash handouts, said Maxwell Gaylard, local head of the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Abbas admits no progress in peace talks with Israel (24.11.2008)

(Source:The Daily Star (Beirut))

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas expressed frustration at US-backed Middle East peace talks on Sunday on the eve of a White House meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and President George W. Bush, saying that not one issue has been resolved. He also pledged to call snap presidential and parliamentary elections if there is no agreement with the Islamist Hamas move-ment, which controls Gaza, to end the rift in Palestinian ranks.

Abbas made Palestinian state head (24.11.2008)

(Source:BBC (UK))

The Palestinian Authority's central council has voted to appoint Mahmoud Abbas as Palestinian state president. It is a symbolic title, as a Palestinian state has not yet been formed. The position has been vacant since Yasser Arafat's death in 2004. The militant group Hamas rejected the move, saying the power to elect the state president rested with the people.

Israel opens Gaza border to let in humanitarian aid (24.11.2008)

(Source:Haaretz (Israel))

Israel partially its border crossings with the Gaza Strip on Monday to allow the transfer of humanitar-ian aid, following a reduction in rocket attacks from the strip over the past few days. The border crossings have been all but completely shut for 19 days amid a deteriorating five-month-old truce, with only one convoy of 33 trucks with essential humanitarian supplies entering the strip one week ago.

UN-backed Middle East Quartet representative expresses concern at Gaza situation (22.11.2008)

(Source:UN News (International))

The representative of the United Nations-backed Middle East Quartet has added his voice today to the growing international concerns about the humanitarian situation inside the Gaza Strip and the recent renewed violence in Gaza and Israel. Tony Blair, the former United Kingdom prime minister, issued a statement saying he was “deeply concerned by the unfolding events” in Gaza, echoing a similar statement from Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's spokesperson yesterday.

Arab plan explained in Hebrew ads (20.11.2008)

(Quelle: BBC; UK) The Palestinian Authority has placed a full-page advert in Israel's Hebrew newspapers to promote an Arab peace plan first proposed in 2002. The plan offers pan-Arab recognition of Israel in exchange for an end to Israel's occupation of land captured in the 1967 Arab-Israel war. It also proposes what it calls a just solution for Palestinian refugees. Israel has noted "positive aspects" in the plan but has not formally accepted it, largely over the refugee issue.