Semaine 30 / 2008

      Hamas security arrested over 120 supporters of the rival Fatah group early Saturday, Fatah said, following a mysterious beachside blast that killed five Hamas members and a 6-year-old girl. The cause of the blast remained unclear, though the circumstances suggested it was not set off inadvertently by militants mishandling explosives. The explosion went off late Friday in a car parked near a crowded Gaza City beach. Hamas said that at the time, a group of Hamas activists was picnicking on the beach. Three... [Lire la suite]

The Palestinian Authority says that due to a crisis in the negotiations with Israel, and because of ongoing Israeli military action in its territory, it will take one of three measures: stop the negotiations, make a unilateral declaration of Palestinian statehood, or, pull out Palestinian forces from the West Bank cities and mobilize them in Jericho instead. Palestinian sources are cited by the Al-Shark Al-Awsat newspaper as saying that the decision on which step to take will be made by September. Arab media are reporting that... [Lire la suite]

     Iran is set to receive an advanced Russian-made anti-aircraft system by the year's end that could help fend off any preemptive strikes against its nuclear facilities, senior Israeli defense sources told Reuters on Wednesday. The first delivery of the S-300 missile batteries was expected as soon as early September, one source said, though it could take six to 12 months for them to be deployed and operable - a possible reprieve for Israeli and American military planners. Washington has led a diplomatic drive to deny... [Lire la suite]

         Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and his legal team relayed on Wednesday that they are willing to undergo a polygraph test to prove that they did not leak material from the graft probe against the premier dubbed the "envelopes affair." Olmert's attorney, Eli Zohar, has handed over to Attorney General Menachem Mazuz a list of 26 people who were exposed to the investigation's material, in response to a request to do so by Mazuz. The attorney general has also asked for a similar list from the... [Lire la suite]

      Mourners in Syria buried dozens of guerillas killed fighting Israel over the years after their remains were returned Wednesday as part of a deal between Lebanon's Hezbollah and Israel. Relatives waiting at Syria's border with Lebanon showered the coffins with rice and rose petals. Black-clad Muslim women among the thousands of Syrians and Palestinians in the crowd uttered cries of joy as they watched the convoy snake toward the Syrian capital, Damascus, for a burial ceremony. Israel returned the remains of... [Lire la suite]

          Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Wednesday that the United States' participation in the latest round of nuclear talks is a step toward recognizing Tehran's right to acquire nuclear technology. A senior diplomat from the U.S. joined envoys from five other world powers in Switzerland at Saturday's talks on Iran's nuclear program. Ahmadinejad told thousands of supporters gathered in the southern Iranian town of Yasouj that U.S. Undersecretary of State William Burns spoke politely and in a... [Lire la suite]

    Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama visited the rocket-battered southern town of Sderot on Wednesday, where he warned that a situation in which Iran was capable of making nuclear weapons would be "game-changing," and would have repercussions across the globe. A nuclear Iran would be a game-changing situation, not just in the Middle East, but around the world," he said. "Whatever remains of our Non-Proliferation Treaty would begin to disintegrate." Obama vowed that as president he would... [Lire la suite]

      US Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama condemned the bulldozer attack in Jerusalem on Tuesday and said he would always support Israel in "confronting terrorism.""I strongly condemn this attack and will always support Israel in confronting terrorism and pursuing lasting peace and security," Obama told a news conference in Amman, Jordan. Nonetheless, the Illinois senator pledged to work to reach a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians from his first day in office but said... [Lire la suite]

       Five people were injured in Tuesday’s bulldozer attack in the center of Jerusalem. Magen David Adom rescue srevices reported one person suffering moderate to severe injuries was evacuated to the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, and is reportedly suffering from a partial leg amputation. The bulldozer driver was fatally shot shortly after he began his rampage on the corner of King David Street and Keren Hayesod Street in the capital. The vehicle reportedly left a construction site near Yemin Moshe... [Lire la suite]

       For the second time this week, a senior American official will meet with representatives of a Middle Eastern country that the US has sought to isolate diplomatically. David Welch, US assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, is set to speak with Riad Daoudi, the Syrian Foreign Ministry's legal counselor and lead Syrian negotiator for the ongoing indirect talks with Israel, as well as fellow Syrian advisers and analysts during their visit here this week. The meeting comes on the heels of a trip... [Lire la suite]