Israeli forces enter northern Gaza and raze farmland; Hamas retaliate

A number of Israeli military vehicles on Wednesday morning conducted a limited incursion into Beit Hanoun, in the northern Gaza Strip. Eyewitnesses reported that five bulldozers began the demolition of agricultural land around the Agricultural College, near the Erez Crossing.

http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=25778

Palestinians condemn Israeli land confiscation east of Jerusalem

Ramallah - Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat condemned Wednesday an Israeli decision to seize Palestinian land near Jerusalem for the construction of a new road bypassing the ancient road to Jericho.

http://news.monstersandcritics.com/middleeast/news/article_1363977.php/Palestinians_condemn_Israeli_land_confiscation_east_of_Jerusalem

EU quiet over Israeli land expropriation

Israel's settlement building has been met with little protest by the so-called "international community. Representatives of the European Union's two most powerful institutions remained silent this week on new efforts by Israel to expropriate Palestinian villages, triggering accusations that the bloc's Middle East policy suffers from double standards.

http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article9035.shtml

OPT: Arab League condemns Israeli actions to confiscate more Palestinian land

The Arab League condemned on Wednesday Israel's confiscation of about 300 acres of Palestinian land in four Arab villages located between East Jerusalem and the illegal Israeli colony of "Ma'aleh Adumim." In a press statement, the Arab league said that Israel's confiscation of Arab property in this provocative manner undermine current efforts to convene a peace conference called for by US President George W. Bush and poses questions about its effectiveness and usefulness. "The convening of the International Peace Conference while Arab lands are being confiscated and additional settlements are built is unacceptable, and raises many questions about the rationale for such a conference," the league of Arab countries said in a statement circulated here today.

http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900sid/KKAA-77V963?OpenDocument&rc=3&emid=ACOS-635PFR

Mustafa Barghouthi: Israel intends to annex the Jordan Valley

Ramallah – Ma'an – Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) member and head of the Palestinian National Initiative party Mustafa Barghouthi on Wednesday said that the Israeli decision to confiscate thousands of hectares of land from Abu Dis, As Sawahira ash Sharqiya and Nabi Mousa, east of Jerusalem, for an Israeli road, is part of a plan to separate the Jordan Valley from the West Bank.

http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=25782

Human rights center: Increase in Israeli human rights violations against Palestinians

In its monthly report released on Tuesday, the al Quds center for legal assistance and human rights, Musa'dah, declared that Israeli forces continue to violate the human rights of Palestinians. And contrary to the claims of the Israeli official media, there have been no noticeable improvements to the living situation of Palestinians.
http://www.imemc.org/article/50839

Five Gazans wounded in Israeli incursion

Israeli troops and armoured vehicles rolled into the central Gaza Strip on Thursday in an incursion that sparked gunfights and wounded five Palestinians, witnesses and medics said. Around 20 armoured vehicles thrust into an area around the Al-Maghazi refugee camp where clashes broke out between Israeli troops and Palestinian gunmen, witnesses said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071011/wl_mideast_afp/mideastconflictgaza_071011121953;_ylt=AnFxIe92KyFDabHwqVPyCTCaOrgF

Leader of Al Aqsa brigades killed in Jenin

Mohammad Waleed Abu Soror, 20, one of the leaders of the Al Aqsa brigades, the armed wing of Fatah, was assassinated in the early hours of Thursday morning. The incident took place in the northern West Bank city of Jenin during a military operation by Israeli Special Forces.

http://www.imemc.org/article/50829

Israeli military abducts 8 Palestinians including young woman from Nablus and Sura

The Israeli army conducted a wide-scale abduction campaign in the early hours of Thursday morning, abducting 7 Palestinian men and one young woman from the northern West Bank city of Nablus and the village of Sura.

http://www.imemc.org/article/50831

Israeli forces kidnap Prisoners Society lawyer and two civilians in Bethlehem

Israeli forces invaded the city of Bethlehem on Wednesday night and again on Thursday morning. Three Palestinians were kidnapped during the operations.

http://www.imemc.org/article/50837

Israeli military attacks Beit Fourik: one Palestinian injured

Israeli military forces invaded the village of Beit Fourik, near the northern West Bank city of Nablus, on Thursday morning and opened fire with tear-gas near a girl's school, causing students breathing difficulties.

http://www.imemc.org/article/50838

Israeli army invades northern Gaza

Israeli army tanks and bulldozers invaded the northern part of the Gaza strip on Wednesday afternoon, Palestinian sources reported.

http://www.imemc.org/article/50818

Israel shells Beit Hanoun and Deir Al Balah in Gaza: 9 injured and 20 abducted

Israeli military aircraft shelled the areas of Beit Hanoun and Deir Al Balah in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, firing several rockets.

http://www.imemc.org/article/50834

The Popular Committees Slam attacks against medical facilities, residents

The Palestinian Popular(Folk) Committees slammed on Wednesday an attack carried by Hamas members against the Medical Council in the northern West Bank city of Nablus, and medical facilities in the Gaza Strip, a statement by the Committees said.

http://www.imemc.org/article/50822

Hamas media sources accuse P.A security of cooperating with the Amy in Nablus invasion

Medical sources loyal to Hamas movement in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus reported on Wednesday that the overnight invasion to Nablus, which led to the assassination of one fighter was "a joint Palestinian-Israeli attack".

http://www.imemc.org/article/50823

Palestinian Fatah rules out Hamas peace talks

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction ruled out talks with Hamas on Thursday as Israel warned any such dialogue with the Islamists could "torpedo" a peace deal with the Jewish state.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L11208444.htm

Fatah denies Haniya claim that it is talking to Hamas

Ramallah- The Fatah party of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas vehemently denied Thursday that it was talking to Hamas, after contacts were severed following the radical Islamic movement's violent take-over of the Gaza Strip four months ago.  Hamas leader Ismail Haniya, who continues to call himself prime minister in Gaza despite his dismissal by Abbas following the June Gaza take-over, had said late Wednesday that Hamas had agreed with Fatah to a dialogue in "one of the Arab capitals."

http://rawstory.com/news/dpa/Fatah_denies_Haniya_claim_that_it_i_10112007.html

Hamas spokesperson condemns mass media's 'double-standards'

The spokesperson of Hamas, Sami Abu Zuhri, on Wednesday decried the media coverage of events in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and accused the media of double-standards. Abu Zuhri described the attack on staff of Irqa TV as "a new example of the criminal acts conducted by the PA's security services against media outlets in the West Bank."

http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=25785

Hamas seeks Fatah talks, hints at giving up Gaza

Hamas said on Wednesday it would hold reconciliation talks with the Fatah faction of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and hinted it might be ready to cede control of the Gaza Strip, which it seized in June.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L1040835.htm

PA READY TO SELL PALESTINIANS OUT: Palestinians Open to Possible Land Swap

The Palestinians are ready to yield parts of the West Bank to Israel if compensated with an equal amount of Israeli territory, the lead Palestinian negotiator told The Associated Press in an interview Wednesday.  Ahmed Qureia, a former prime minister who has dealt with five Israeli prime ministers during 14 years of failed peacemaking, is trying again with No. 6, Ehud Olmert.

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/10/10/ap4207278.html

PA minister: Israel wants to destroy Fayyad gov't

Palestinian minister for prisoners' affairs protests Israel's prohibition of delivering sweets to security prisoners for Muslim holiday, says 'Israel is a liar and wants to destroy the peace process'.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3458934,00.html

81% OF ISRAELIS SUPPORT RACIST APARTHEID POLICIES: Poll: 81% of Israelis want JNF land for Jews only

Poll shows overwhelming support for JNF policy of selling land to Jews only; strongest support among National Union-NRP, Yisrael Beiteinu, United Torah Judaism and Labor Party voters.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3458945,00.html

Abu Rudeinah: peace talks will fail unless Israeli attacks cease

In a press statement issued on Thursday, Nabeel Abu Rudeinah, spokesperson for the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, demanded that the Israeli government put an immediate stop to its attacks, targeted killings and invasions of Palestinian territory, in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

http://www.imemc.org/article/50843

In line with gov't policy, Discount Bank cuts ties with Gaza banks

Discount Bank on Wednesday cut ties with banks in Gaza, in line with the government's designation of Gaza as a hostile territory, the bank said in a statement. Palestinians do not have their own currency, using the shekel for transactions. The Discount Bank decision followed a similar one by the larger Bank Hapoalim to sever links with banks in Gaza. They were the only two Israeli commercial banks dealing with financial institutions in Gaza.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=911510&contrassID=1&subContrassID=1

Women in Uniform: Hamas Policewomen for Gaza

Wearing a black jilbab, a loose-fitting coat, and back headscarf with a white cotton underpiece hiding all of her hair, 27-year-old Iman is a member of the women's police force that Hamas has recently formed in Gaza.

http://www.themedialine.org/news/news_detail.asp?NewsID=19212

Hebron: American arrested for assaulting Palestinians

(Video) During Simchat Torah celebration in West Bank Jewish settlement, scuffle breaks out between settlers and Palestinians, and is filmed by bystander. Peace Now: 'Hebron settlers don't miss a chance to provoke and abuse Palestinians'.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3458645,00.html

Splintering as a strategy

Take note of the collection of items that were published on a single day this week: negotiating teams discussing a declaration of intentions that will be presented at the Annapolis conference; the prime minister's deputy reiterates his plan to remove "neighborhoods on the edge" of Jerusalem from the city's municipal borders, and causes a stir; the Knesset Finance Committee discusses a draft law that will permit the Jewish National Fund to lease land only to Jews; and the firing of a Katyusha rocket from the Gaza Strip leads to a noisy debate about the issue of taking control of areas of the Strip.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/911641.html

Silencing Bishop Tutu: Critical discussion off limits?

There is a point when a political position can become rabid; a point when rational arguments no longer work because the holder of such politics believes that their way can be the only way of seeing things and that all other views must be suppressed.

http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article9037.shtml

Audio: Crossing the Line interviews Gaza journalist Rami Almeghari

This week on Crossing The Line: Host Christopher Brown speaks with Gaza-based Palestinian journalist and regular EI contributor, Rami Almeghari. Almeghari speaks about the current situation on the ground in Gaza after a week in which tens of Palestinians were wounded or killed by Israeli military actions in the Gaza Strip. Brown asks Almeghari about reactions from Gazans after Israel's designation of Gaza as a "hostile entity."

http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article9034.shtml

Book review: "Married to Another Man"

Dr. Ghada Karmi's latest book Married to Another Man: Israel's Dilemma in Palestine opens with the problem European Zionists faced over a century ago when they first mooted the idea of a Jewish state in Palestine. They found then that there was already a well-established Palestinian society existing in the land they wished to claim as their own. Hence the message sent back to Vienna by the two rabbis who made the discovery: "The bride is beautiful, but she is married to another man."

http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article9033.shtml

Passing undefeated: Remembering Haider Abdul-Shafi

The recent death of Haider Abdul-Shafi could not have come at a worse time. Bearing in mind the grim shortcomings of the Palestinian leadership and the lack of any serious attempt to rectify the situation, the loss of this unique and iconic leader feels all the more acute.

http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article9031.shtml

What Israel Wants, Israel Gets

There is a consistent thread, a pattern, which designs Israel's policies in the Palestinian territories. Any scrutinizing observer will notice how Israel first pitches an idea to the public – however preposterous – then allows the Palestinians and the international community to absorb it before putting it into action. This way, policies and measures are less shocking and seem more acceptable once the dust has been allowed to settle. 

http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article9031.shtml

Cluster bomb kills Briton in south Lebanon

A British man was killed on Thursday while clearing cluster bombs dropped on south Lebanon by Israel during its war with Hezbollah guerrillas last year, a U.N. spokeswoman said.

http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=1626592007

Exclusive: Photos of navy ship hit during war revealed

Ynet reveals for the first time images of the damage caused to the Israeli navy gunship that was hit by a Hizbullah missile off the shores of Beirut during the Second Lebanon war . EXCLUSIVE - It happened on Friday night, July 14,three days into the Second Lebanon War. An Iranian missile fired by Hizbullah hit an Israeli Navy gunship off the shores of Beirut. Four soldiers were killed in the biggest blow to the IDF's morale during the 34-day conflict. An inquiry into the incident later revealed a line of failures. Up until now, the IDF has prevented the publication of detailed photographs of the incident. Now, 15-months later, exclusive images from the deck of the ship have been obtained by Ynet. For the first time, the hole that was left near the helipad on the advanced gunship, and the damage the missile caused, can be seen.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3458845,00.html