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After months of relative quiet — broken, in this country, only by the pandering of the presidential candidates — the century-old Palestinian-Israeli conflict has burst back into the news. It began last week when the Palestinian Authority revived its plan to seek an upgrade in the United Nations to "non-member observer status." On the face of it, that's hardly a game-changing power grab, and it seems unlikely to dramatically alter the regional balance of power.
Israeli leaders should think twice before launching a Gaza ground offensive
While Cairo is still applying pressure on Hamas to agree to a quick cease-fire with Israel, and while in Israel an airlift of diplomats has been landing seeking to stop a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip, the Israel Defense Force is continuing its intensive preparations for the ground phase of Operation Pillar of Defense.
Ground invasion?
As Israel enters the sixth day of Operation Pillar of Defense, Hamas and other terrorist organizations operating in the Gaza Strip continue their assaults on civilian centers.
Operation Pillar of Defense is Ehud Barak's test
Operation Pillar of Defense is Defense Minister Ehud Barak's war. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu left the public stage, the microphone and the tours in the field to him. Together, of course, with the political gamble.
Abu Mazen wants a state, not the right of return
On November 29, the Palestinian Authority will ask the United Nations General Assembly to recognize Palestine as a non-member state. That is on the assumption that pressure on the PA to delay until after the election in Israel does not bear fruit. Many of those close to PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas consider this step to be the last bullet in his revolver and the final chance of renewing the negotiations with Israel Apparently that explains the moderate text it is expected to contain.
We in the Gaza Strip will not die in silence
The latest Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip has prompted several European countries and the US to reaffirm their position of unwavering support for the aggressor. William Hague, Britain's foreign secretary, Cathy Ashton, the EU high representative for foreign affairs, and Barack Obama, have all claimed that Hamas's rockets were responsible for the crisis and that it is the right of Israel to defend its citizens. Had they checked the facts, they would have realised Israel started the attacks.
A Palestine That Israelis Can't See
The status quo in Palestine and Israel is unsustainable. Anyone involved in the reality on the ground in this part of the world knows this for a fact. As such, one can view the current Palestinian bid to the United Nations General Assembly for non-member state status as a last-ditch effort by the secular Palestinian leadership to save whatever may be remaining of the two-state paradigm as the basis to ending Israel’s 45 years of military occupation.
Who Is Palestinians' Partner for Peace?
A de-escalation in Gaza requires US leadership
Old rivalries, new allies as Hamas fights to save face
On July 22, 2002, shortly after midnight, an Israeli F-16 warplane dropped a one-tonne bomb on a house in a crowded neighbourhood in Gaza City, killing 13 civilians, including women and children. The target: Salah Shehadeh, a high-ranking Hamas leader, who was one of the founders of the faction's military arm, the Izzedine Al Qassam Brigades.
Hamas pragmatists lose out in leadership struggle
No one doubted that Hamas would hit back when its military commander was blown up by an Israeli air strike.
Mursi and Hamas in a predicament
For three days of Israeli aggression on Gaza, Hamas flatly rejected calls for mediation and said that those who want to go down that route should go to Egypt. But yesterday the deputy head of the Hamas political bureau, Mousa Abu Marzouk, hinted at the possibility of accepting mediation with Israel, and not only this, he also stressed the need to go to the United Nations and complete President Abbas’ project, even though Abbas has not been enthusiastic about Hamas in the past.
Rampant butchery
What is happening in Gaza right now is an exact deja vu of four years ago, albeit with stronger Palestinian rockets. Then, as now, the conflict was completely unbalanced, the rapidly growing civilian Palestinian death count evidence of that, should proof be needed.
A Pillar of Problems
Israel's Operation Pillar of Defense, after three days of air strikes on Hamas targets in Gaza, could be entering into a new phase of a larger ground invasion. While the war has been dissected six ways to Sunday, there are still gaping holes in our understanding of it, and several questions remain unanswered. Here are eight of them.
The third front
In political terms, a military maneuver is always risky. What appears in the beginning as a glorious move may turn out to be an electoral disaster. This is why most politicians hate launching a military campaign on the eve of elections. A military operation entails giving up control. The candidate's fate is in the hands of others – a pilot's error, a rocket that lands on a day care center, civilians not following safety guidelines.
Hamas finds cause to smile under Israeli assault
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