Israel allows aid into Gaza Strip
November 18, 2008
Gazans will welcome the aid following acute shortages
Israel has briefly reopened a border crossing with the Gaza Strip to allow in a convoy of humanitarian aid.
The Israeli army said 33 trucks had entered Gaza. The UN refugee agency confirmed an aid delivery, but said fewer trucks had been let in.
UK minister in Damascus meeting
November 18, 2008
Mr Miliband wants Syria to play a role in Middle East peace-building
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband is holding talks with the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
The visit, the first to Damascus by a top-level British official since 2001, is part of a tour that includes Israel, the West Bank and Lebanon.
Iraq cabinet backs US troops deal
November 17, 2008
US troops - like this one dancing with Iraqi police - are to leave by 2011
The Iraqi cabinet has approved a security pact with the US governing the future presence of 150,000 US troops in the country, officials have said.
Under the deal, US troops will withdraw from the streets of Iraqi towns next year, leaving Iraq by the end of 2011.
Militant killed in Gaza explosion
November 16, 2008
Israel says its blockade of Gaza is a response to rocket attacks by militants
Palestinian medical workers say a member of a militant group has died in an explosion in the Gaza Strip.
Another is said to have been seriously injured in the incident, which happened near the Jabaliya refugee camp.
Blockaded Gaza ‘faces disaster’
November 15, 2008
Israel has blamed rocket attacks by militants for the blockade
The UK-based aid agency Oxfam has warned of catastrophe for Gaza and nearby areas of Israel if a truce agreed last June is not maintained.
Peres lauds Saudi King peace plan
November 13, 2008
Shimon Peres said there is a will to bring peace in the Middle East
Israeli President Shimon Peres has praised the king of Saudi Arabia for his Middle East peace initiative.
At an interfaith meeting at the United Nations, Mr Peres told King Abdullah he hoped his would be the “prevailing voice of the whole region”.
The Saudi plan, proposed in 2002, calls for Israel to withdraw from occupied land in exchange for Arab recognition.
King Abdullah organised the two-day conference in New York to promote a dialogue on religion and culture.
He told the meeting of world leaders that it was time to learn the lessons of the past.
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“Terrorism and criminality are the enemies of each and every religion and civilisation,” he said, speaking through an interpreter.
“They wouldn’t have appeared had it not been for the upset of the principles of tolerance.”
Highly symbolic
When Mr Peres took to the floor, he broke off from his prepared speech to address King Abdullah directly.
“Your Majesty, the king of Saudi Arabia,” he said. “I was listening to your message. I wish that your voice will become the prevailing voice of the whole region, of all people. It’s right. It’s needed. It’s promising.
“The initiative’s portrayal of our region’s future provides hope to the people and inspires confidence in the nations.”
The Saudi-organised conference has been criticised by rights groups
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Diplomats described it as a highly symbolic moment, the BBC’s UN correspondent, Laura Trevelyan, said.
The question is whether it means anything for the Middle East peace process, she adds.
Mr Peres told reporters afterwards that he believed they were a step closer to that goal, while acknowledging there were still significant obstacles to overcome.
“I don’t deny there are open and difficult questions, but if there is a will - as the Arabs are saying - there is a way. What was today demonstrated was the will. We know that we have to work for the way.”
UN Secretary-General, the outgoing US President George W Bush and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown are among the world leaders attending the conference.
The event has been criticised by human rights groups who say it gives a platform to Saudi Arabia, which practices the strict Wahabi branch of Islam and allows no other form of public worship. Rights groups also strongly criticise the kingdom’s general human right record.
White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said President Bush believed “the king of Saudi Arabia has recognised that they have a long way to go and that he is trying to take some steps to get there”.
Source: bbc.co.uk/
Secularist voted Jerusalem mayor
November 12, 2008
Nir Barkat is on his second attempt to become Jerusalem mayor
Israeli secular politician Nir Barkat has defeated an ultra-orthodox rabbi to become the new mayor of Jerusalem.
Mr Barkat won outright with 52% of the vote while Meir Porush received 43%, according to final results released by Israel’s interior ministry.
The hard-fought campaign has raised tensions between Israel’s religious and secular Jews.
Claiming victory, Mr Barkat promised to be “everybody’s mayor”, regardless of who people had voted for.
“I’m aware of the depth of the challenge and the complexity of the mission. Now is the time to work together for the good of the city,” Mr Barkat told his supporters.
The 49-year-old’s victory ends a five-year rule of ultra-Orthodox Mayor Uri Lupolianski.
Major challenges
Mr Barkat opposes dividing Jerusalem as part of any peace agreement with the Palestinians and has promised to build extensively in what the rest of the world regards as occupied East Jerusalem.
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Most Palestinians and Israeli Arabs - who account for about a third of Jerusalem’s population - have not taken part in the election.
The status of Jerusalem is one of the most hotly-contested issues in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.
Israelis see the city as their capital, and Palestinians want to locate the capital of a future state in the east of the city, which Israel occupied in the 1967 Israeli-Arab war.
Correspondents say that as well as handling the political tensions, the mayor faces major challenges improving traffic flow and cleanliness, tackling high property prices and attracting fresh business to the city.
Local elections took place in 160 other areas of Israel ahead of national polls on 10 February.
Source: bbc.co.uk/
Israel allows some fuel into Gaza
November 11, 2008
Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak has agreed to partially lift Israel’s suspension of fuel supplies to the only power plant in the Gaza Strip.
The facility shut on Monday a week after Israel stopped fuel in response to rocket attacks from Hamas.
Israeli officials said Mr Barak had agreed to a limited resumption of fuel supplies to Gaza following an appeal by Middle East Quartet envoy Tony Blair.
But they said the border crossing would remain sealed for all other purposes.
Mr Blair, the former British prime minister, was in Jerusalem after attending a meeting of the Quartet in Egypt on Sunday, aimed at resolving the conflict in the Middle East.
Last week, Israeli tanks and troops entered the Gaza Strip for the first time since an Egyptian-mediated ceasefire began in June. Six Palestinian militants were killed.
Blackout
Meanwhile Hamas militants fired a barrage of rockets into southern Israel, which landed without causing casualties.
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Most of Gaza City was plunged into darkness on Monday night as the electricity plant shut down.
The facility depends on supplies of industrial fuel, mainly paid for by foreign donors like the European Union, but transported through Israel.
For nearly a week the Israeli government has not allowed any goods into Gaza through its crossings, including fuel and food.
Israel says the Hamas authorities in Gaza have orchestrated an artificial crisis for political reasons.
‘Real and serious’
But the United Nations has described the fuel shortages as “real and serious”.
Israel sealed the border after a wave of Palestinian rocket attacks
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Israel’s closure of the crossings has also kept journalists from entering Gaza for five days, drawing protests from the Tel Aviv-based Foreign Press Association.
The Gaza City plant provides about a quarter of the Gaza Strip’s electricity and more than half the electricity used by the city itself.
Most of the rest of the supply to the territory of 1.5 million people comes directly via power lines from Israel.
Palestinian engineers had been implementing a system of rolling blackouts to different areas of Gaza City to prevent the lines from Israel becoming overloaded and cutting out.
Source: bbc.co.uk/
Israel allows some fuel into Gaza
November 11, 2008
Gaza City plunged into darkness
Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak has agreed to partially lift Israel’s suspension of fuel supplies to the only power plant in the Gaza Strip.
The facility shut on Monday a week after Israel stopped fuel in response to rocket attacks from Hamas.
Israeli officials said Mr Barak had agreed to a limited resumption of fuel supplies to Gaza following an appeal by Middle East Quartet envoy Tony Blair.
But they said the border crossing would remain sealed for all other purposes.
Mr Blair, the former British prime minister, was in Jerusalem after attending a meeting of the Quartet in Egypt on Sunday, aimed at resolving the conflict in the Middle East.
Last week, Israeli tanks and troops entered the Gaza Strip for the first time since an Egyptian-mediated ceasefire began in June. Six Palestinian militants were killed.
Blackout
Meanwhile Hamas militants fired a barrage of rockets into southern Israel, which landed without causing casualties.
|
Most of Gaza City was plunged into darkness on Monday night as the electricity plant shut down.
The facility depends on supplies of industrial fuel, mainly paid for by foreign donors like the European Union, but transported through Israel.
For nearly a week the Israeli government has not allowed any goods into Gaza through its crossings, including fuel and food.
Israel says the Hamas authorities in Gaza have orchestrated an artificial crisis for political reasons.
‘Real and serious’
But the United Nations has described the fuel shortages as “real and serious”.
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Israel sealed the border after a wave of Palestinian rocket attacks
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Israel’s closure of the crossings has also kept journalists from entering Gaza for five days, drawing protests from the Tel Aviv-based Foreign Press Association.
The Gaza City plant provides about a quarter of the Gaza Strip’s electricity and more than half the electricity used by the city itself.
Most of the rest of the supply to the territory of 1.5 million people comes directly via power lines from Israel.
Palestinian engineers had been implementing a system of rolling blackouts to different areas of Gaza City to prevent the lines from Israel becoming overloaded and cutting out.
Source: bbc.co.uk/
Many killed in twin Baghdad bombs
November 10, 2008
The bombings struck a mainly-Sunni district of Baghdad
At least 22 people have been killed in two bombings that occurred just moments apart in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.
The first bomb went off in a car and then a suicide bomber detonated the second blast in a crowd that had gathered to help, police say.