A rare trip through Hizbullah's secret tunnel network

5-12-2007 • Christian Science Monitor

After scrabbling up a slope in this desolate valley amid Lebanon's craggy southern hills, I found it: an ominous pitch-black hole partially blocked by a layer of rock. It would be a tight squeeze to get in. And going farther was potentially risky

Hamas claims end to truce, fires rockets at Israel

4-26-2007 • AP

Hamas militants in Gaza pelted Israel with rockets and mortars for the first time in five months, retaliating for deadly Israeli raids in the Palestinian territories, leaving a largely successful Gaza truce in serious doubt.

Is U.S. ignoring the Hamas call for peace?

4-17-2007 • by Robert D. Novak (Union Leader)

I sat down with a leader of Hamas, the extremist organization that won last year's elections. He pushed a 2-state Israeli-Palestinian solution and deplored suicide bombers. But officials in Washington do not want to hear Hamas calling for peace.

An Israeli Refusenik’s Good Fight

4-9-2007 • In These Times

“We, who were raised to love the state of Israel and contribute to the Zionist enterprise, refuse to take part in Air Force attacks on civilian population centers. … These actions are illegal and immoral, and are a direct result of the ongoing occupa

Syria tells Pelosi it is ready for peace talks with Israel

4-4-2007 • Reuters

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, on a visit to Syria opposed by the White House, said on Wednesday President Bashar al-Assad was ready to hold peace talks with Israel. But her remark that Israel was prepared to negotiate with Damascus prompted Pri

Arab leaders relaunch Mideast peace plan

3-29-2007 • AFP

Arab leaders wrapped up a summit where they relaunched a five-year-old blueprint for peace in the Middle East, although Israel has rejected the plan as it stands.

Olmert Reveals the Real Goal of War in Lebanon

3-14-2007 • by Jonathan Cook (AntiWar)

Israel's supposedly "defensive" assault on Hezbollah last summer, in which more than 1,000 Lebanese civilians were killed in a massive aerial bombardment that ended with Israel littering the country's south with cluster bombs, was c

Israel planned months before Lebanon war

3-9-2007 • AP

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has told an investigative panel that Israel began planning for war in Lebanon months before last summer's conflict against Hezbollah guerrillas, countering criticism that he was caught off guard and acted too hastily in

Israel's army, legislature battle over Lebanon war

3-5-2007 • Reuters

A rare court battle pitting Israel's armed forces against its legislature erupted over a probe into last year's Lebanon war that could be critical of the military and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's government.

Hamas chief evokes 'prospect' of peace deal with Israel

2-27-2007 • AFP (Raw Story)

The head of the militant Palestinian group Hamas evoked for the first time the possibility of resolving differences with Israel through negotiation.

Congress blocks funds for Abbas' security forces

2-22-2007 • LA Times

Congress is holding up $86 million that the Bush administration is seeking to strengthen the security forces of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, a new setback for the administration's efforts in the region.

Judge: Troops at fence protest were more violent than protesters

2-11-2007 • Hareetz

A military judge wrote that soldiers trying to disperse protesters against the separation fence in a West Bank village used more violence than the demonstrators. After watching a videotape of the rally, the judge wrote that the troops showed an

Lebanon, Again: The Israelis want another go

2-11-2007 • by Justin Raimondo (AntiWar)

The Israelis, stung by their defeat at the hands of Hezbollah, are aching for a rematch. There have been a number of border incidents since the IDF retreated and the blockade was lifted, the most recent – and most brazen – occurring when the Israelis

Palestine, Bush's Other Civil War

2-11-2007 • by Seth Ackerman (Tom Paine)

In a private White House meeting, Bush vetoed the deal, threatening to cut off all contact with Abbas’ party if the Palestinian leader joined a government with Hamas—to which Fatah had been reduced to a US client regime, Abbas dutifully insisted the

Palestinians reach deal on power-sharing

2-9-2007 • Washington Post

Rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas agreed to form a power-sharing government and end the armed feuding that has killed scores of Palestinians over the past year.

The not-so-great interruption

2-7-2007 • by John Gittings (The Guardian)

It emerged recently that Israel and Syria had held peace talks - and there are strong suggestions that they failed because of US hostility.

West's boycott pushes Hamas close to Iran

2-1-2007 • Reuters

Hamas trounced the more moderate Fatah in an election last year. Its refusal to negotiate peace with Israel triggered a Western aid embargo which forced it to look elsewhere for financial support amid a rising crisis of poverty and hardship.

State Dept.: Israel 'broke US arms deal terms'

1-30-2007 • BBC News

Israel probably violated the terms of its arms deals with Washington by using US-made cluster bombs in Lebanon last year, a US government report says. The state department looked into Israel's use of cluster bombs in civilian areas of southern

Jimmy Carter Speaks Truth to Propaganda

1-11-2007 • by Paul Craig Roberts (AntiWar)

Israel’s policy is to turn Palestinians into refugees and to incorporate the West Bank into Israel. Slowly over time the policy has been implemented in the name of fighting terrorism and protecting Israel. Had Israel tried to achieve this all at once

Condi’s Savage War on the Palestinians

1-8-2007 • by Tony Karon (Rootless Cosmopolitan)

The violent conflict between Hamas and Fatah is a by-product of Secretary Rice’s economic siege of the Palestinians; retribution and collective punishment for their audacity to elect leaders other than deemed appropriate to US agendas.

Israel settlement breaks promise to U.S.

12-27-2006 • AP

Israel has approved a new settlement in the West Bank to house former Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip, officials said, breaking a promise to the U.S. to halt home construction in the Palestinian territories.

Lebanon's Slow Slide From Hope To Deadlock

12-25-2006 • Washington Post

The streets outside her windows teemed with hundreds of thousands gathering for the former prime minister's burial. "I was hoping his death was not for nothing. It's a loss you can't explain. I can't explain how I felt. It was a

Hamas Leader: We'll Accept Israel Within 1967 Borders

12-20-2006 • by Rainer Rupp (AntiWar)

An interview with Khaled Meshaal, the political leader of the Palestinian Hamas movement, which earlier this year came to power with a large majority in the free and democratic election in Palestine.

The new walls of Jerusalem: Part 1 * The Arabs on the outside

12-20-2006 • Christian Science Monitor (Pt. 1 0f 3)

Numerous examples of how life in this city - which lies at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - is fast becoming less penetrable and more gerrymandered. As the boundaries around Jerusalem harden, Palestinians are being shut off not only cu

20-year truce in exchange for state

12-20-2006 • y net news

Palestinian prime minister conveys message to Israel: If Palestinian state is established within 1967 borders, Hamas will aggress to long-term hudna. Meanwhile, Abbas calls for end to Gaza fighting