Captive Israeli soldier’s parents march for swap

June 28, 2010 By Leave a Comment

(Reuters) – The parents of an Israeli soldier held in the Gaza Strip since 2006 began a 12-day march on Sunday from their northern home to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyau’s Jerusalem residence to press for a prisoner swap.

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“We are strong enough to (trade) hundreds of murderers for Gilad Shalit,” said Shimshon Liebman, head of the public campaign for the soldier’s release. “Then, I am sure that every soldier will know that we are not leaving them behind.”

Shalit, now 23, was captured by Palestinian militants who tunneled from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel in June 2006.

Israel and Hamas Islamists who now run the enclave have failed to agree terms of a swap in which around 1,000 of the 7,000 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails would be released in exchange for Shalit.

Netanyahu has balked at allowing Palestinians convicted of killing Israelis to go free in West Bank areas where they could launch further attacks.

Hamas had accepted that some prisoners would be exiled but wanted to be able to choose their destinations, said sources familiar with the German-mediated negotiations.

Thousands of Israelis were expected to join Shalit’s parents and relatives on the trek from northern Israel to Jerusalem.

Stepping up pressure on Netanyahu to agree to a deal, Shalit’s family said it would camp indefinitely outside his official residence on July 8, two days after the Israeli leader is due to meet U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington.

Netanyahu told reporters he would invite Shalit’s parents to meet him when he returns from his U.S. visit.

“I want to see you. I will happy to meet you. This won’t be our first meeting … Our heart goes out to Gilad and his family,” Netanyahu said, appealing to the international community to press Hamas to release the soldier.

(Writing by Jeffrey Heller; Editing by Peter Graff)

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Captive Israeli soldier’s parents march for swap

June 28, 2010 By Leave a Comment

June 27 (Reuters) – The parents of an Israeli soldier held in the Gaza Strip since 2006 began a 12-day march on Sunday from their northern home to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyau’s Jerusalem residence to press for a prisoner swap.

“We are strong enough to (trade) hundreds of murderers for Gilad Shalit,” said Shimshon Liebman, head of the public campaign for the soldier’s release. “Then, I am sure that every soldier will know that we are not leaving them behind.”

Shalit, now 23, was captured by Palestinian militants who tunnelled from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel in June 2006.

Israel and Hamas Islamists who now run the enclave have failed to agree terms of a swap in which around 1,000 of the 7,000 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails would be released in exchange for Shalit.

Netanyahu has balked at allowing Palestinians convicted of killing Israelis to go free in West Bank areas where they could launch further attacks.

Hamas had accepted that some prisoners would be exiled but wanted to be able to choose their destinations, said sources familiar with the German-mediated negotiations.

Thousands of Israelis were expected to join Shalit’s parents and relatives on the trek from northern Israel to Jerusalem.

Stepping up pressure on Netanyahu to agree to a deal, Shalit’s family said it would camp indefinitely outside his official residence on July 8, two days after the Israeli leader is due to meet U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington.

Netanyahu told reporters he would invite Shalit’s parents to meet him when he returns from his U.S. visit.

“I want to see you. I will happy to meet you. This won’t be our first meeting … Our heart goes out to Gilad and his family,” Netanyahu said, appealing to the international community to press Hamas to release the soldier. (Writing by Jeffrey Heller; Editing by Peter Graff)

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Israel’s Netanyahu vows response to Gaza attacks

March 29, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned militants on Sunday that Israel would respond to any attacks from the Gaza Strip that harmed Israelis, making the pledge after clashes along the Hamas-run enclave’s border.

“Israel’s response policy is decisive and firm. It provides a firm answer to any harm caused to our citizens and soldiers. This policy is known and will continue,” Netanyahu told reporters at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting.

“Hamas and the other terror groups should know that they are responsible for their deeds,” he said.

Two Israeli soldiers and two Palestinian militants were killed on Friday in the most deadly clash on the Israel-Gaza frontier since Israel ended an offensive there 14 months ago.

The Israeli army said an officer and a conscript were killed in an ambush by Palestinian gunmen against a military patrol.

The incident was followed by an Israeli army incursion into Khan Younis in the central Gaza Strip. The troops returned to Israeli territory on Saturday, and the violence subsided.

Israel unilaterally withdrew from the Gaza Strip in 2005 but has maintained a blockade of its border with the territory since Hamas took over the enclave in 2007.

Hamas has largely held its fire since a three-week war with Israel in the opening days of 2009 in which some 1,400 Palestinians, mainly civilians, and 13 Israelis, mostly soldiers, were killed.

But smaller factions have violated the de facto truce by firing rockets and mortar bombs into neighbouring Israeli territory.

Tensions have run high along the Gaza frontier this month, with Israel launching repeated air strikes in response to Palestinian rocket attacks, one of which killed a Thai worker in a kibbutz last week.

(Writing by Joseph Nasr)

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Israel’s Netanyahu vows response to Gaza attacks

March 29, 2010 By Leave a Comment

(Reuters) – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned militants on Sunday that Israel would respond to any attacks from the Gaza Strip that harmed Israelis, making the pledge after clashes along the Hamas-run enclave’s border.

World

“Israel’s response policy is decisive and firm. It provides a firm answer to any harm caused to our citizens and soldiers. This policy is known and will continue,” Netanyahu told reporters at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting.

“Hamas and the other terror groups should know that they are responsible for their deeds,” he said.

Two Israeli soldiers and two Palestinian militants were killed on Friday in the most deadly clash on the Israel-Gaza frontier since Israel ended an offensive there 14 months ago.

The Israeli army said an officer and a conscript were killed in an ambush by Palestinian gunmen against a military patrol.

The incident was followed by an Israeli army incursion into Khan Younis in the central Gaza Strip. The troops returned to Israeli territory on Saturday, and the violence subsided.

Israel unilaterally withdrew from the Gaza Strip in 2005 but has maintained a blockade of its border with the territory since Hamas took over the enclave in 2007.

Hamas has largely held its fire since a three-week war with Israel in the opening days of 2009 in which some 1,400 Palestinians, mainly civilians, and 13 Israelis, mostly soldiers, were killed.

But smaller factions have violated the de facto truce by firing rockets and mortar bombs into neighboring Israeli territory.

Tensions have run high along the Gaza frontier this month, with Israel launching repeated air strikes in response to Palestinian rocket attacks, one of which killed a Thai worker in a kibbutz last week.

(Writing by Joseph Nasr)

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Amnesty blames Israel for collapse of truce with Hamas

May 28, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Jerusalem, May 28 (ANI): In its 2009 annual report, formally released on Thursday, Amnesty International places sole blame on Israel for the breakdown in the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas that led to Operation Cast Lead.

The London-based organization accuses Israel of breaking the six-month cease-fire on November 4, 2008, when “Israeli forces killed six Palestinian militants.”

Jerusalem-based research organization NGO Monitor said the report ignored Hamas violations.

“Hamas’s highly visible preparations for resumed Palestinian aggression during the six-month cease-fire in 2008, including the preparation of a human-shields strategy, are entirely ignored,” NGO Monitor said.

Amnesty also says the Israeli government is maintaining a “tight blockade” on Gaza as collective punishment for the “continuing detention” of St.-Sgt. Gilad Schalit in the Gaza Strip.

While the report acknowledges that the Red Cross has been denied access to Schalit, and makes reference to the indiscriminate rocket attacks on southern Israel, NGO Monitor said the report showed that Amnesty’s activities on Israeli and Palestinian issues were “highly biased and lack credibility.”
Subtitled “The state of the world’s human rights,” the report states that the Gaza smuggling tunnels are used to move food and fuel, but does not mention arms smuggling.

NGO Monitor also accused Amnesty of not giving context when it blames Israel for the plight of Gazans who are denied access to Israel hospitals. The report uses four examples of Palestinians who died after being denied entry to Israel, without mentioning the large number of Palestinians treated in Israeli hospitals. (ANI)

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Amnesty: Israel repeatedly breached laws of war in Gaza offensive

May 28, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Amnesty: Israel repeatedly breached laws of war in Gaza offensiveTel Aviv – Amnesty International, in its annual report released Thursday, accused Israel of having “repeatedly” violated the laws of war during its December offensive in the Gaza Strip that killed more than 1,400 Palestinians.

“Israeli forces repeatedly breached the laws of war, including by carrying out direct attacks on civilians and civilian buildings and attacks targeting Palestinian militants that caused a disproportionate toll among civilians,”

Some 300 children were among the dead and around 5,000 people were wounded in Israel’s three-week bombardment of the coastal enclave, according to the 2009 report titled: The State of the World’s Human Rights.

Israeli organization NGO Monitor criticized the report, saying Amnesty had ignored violations by the Palestinian Hamas movement that controls the Gaza Strip.

The Jerusalem-based organization also accused the international rights watchdog of failing to provide context in highlighting four cases of Palestinians who lost their lives after being denied entry into Israel for treatment.

The Amnesty report pointed out, however, that Israel had launched its offensive on December 27 in response to rocket attacks on southern Israeli towns by Palestinian militants. Seven Israelis were killed in such attacks in 2008 and three after the offensive was launched.

The Gaza conflict followed an 18-month Israeli blockade of Gaza that had brought almost all economic activities in the Palestinian territory and stoked a growing humanitarian catastrophe.

“This latest round of bloodletting again underscored the high degree of insecurity in the region and the failure of military forces, on both sides, to abide by the basic requirements of distinction and proportionality that are fundamental to the principles of international humanitarian law,” the report said.

“It underlined also the continuing failure of the two sides, and of the international community, to resolve the long, bitter conflict, to bring peace, justice and security to the region, and to enable all people in the region to live in the dignity that is their human right,” Amnesty said.(dpa)

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Israeli troops kill 2 Palestinians in Gaza clash

May 22, 2009 By Leave a Comment
JERUSALEM: Israeli troops crossed into Gaza and killed two Palestinian militants who were planting a bomb along the border fence before dawn on Friday, the Israeli military said.

Violence has largely abated along the tense frontier since Israel’s devastating offensive against Gaza’s Hamas rulers early this year, but sporadic border violence and rocket fire have continued.

Soldiers posted along the border spotted the two men planting a bomb near the fence and crossed into Gaza to engage them, the military said. The gunmen were killed in the ensuing firefight.

The military says the men were carrying rifles, grenades and an improvised explosive device. Militants have often used such devices to target Israeli military patrols along the border, planting bombs under cover of darkness and detonating them later by remote control.

It was not immediately clear to which Palestinian militant group the fighters belonged. Most violent incidents in recent months have been claimed by small militant factions and not by Hamas, which might be trying to avoid provoking further Israeli retaliation.

Gaza is still struggling to rebuild after the offensive Israel launched nearly five months ago in an attempt to halt years of rocket fire at Israeli towns. The three-week offensive claimed some 1,400 lives in Gaza, including more than 900 civilians, according to Palestinian officials and human rights groups.

Israel says the death toll was lower than that and that most of the dead were militants. It blames Hamas for the civilian casualties, saying the militants used schools, mosques and residential areas for cover. Thirteen Israelis were killed during the fighting.

Israel pulled all of its troops out of Gaza after the offensive ended in mid-January. But small forces have occasionally crossed back inside in short incursions to battle militants or defuse bombs along the border fence.

Friday’s gunfight took place near one of the border crossings where Israel allows a trickle of humanitarian aid into the territory. Gaza has been blockaded by Israel and Egypt since Hamas seized power there nearly two years ago.

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EXTRA: Hamas blames Israel, threatens to capture for of its soldiers

March 18, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Gaza – The Palestinian Hamas movement on Tuesday blamed Israel for the failure of negotiations for a possible prisoner swap deal and threatened to abduct more Israeli soldiers.

“Israel is the one that hindered Shalit’s deal,” Hamas said in a statement Tuesday night as Israel announced the failure of negotiations for a deal that would see the release of captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in exchange for jailed Palestinian militants.

“We will kidnap more Israeli soldiers to free our prisoners in Israeli jails,” Hamas said.

Hamas, which led a well-planned cross-border raid on an Israeli army outpost near Gaza in which Shalit was captured, had demanded the release of some 1,400 Palestinian militants jailed in Israel.

Earlier Tuesday, Hamas official Osama al-Muzini, commenting on the Egyptian-mediated talks between Hamas and Israel, said: “The enemy puts reservations on the numbers of the prisoners.” dpa

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Hurriyat leaders condemn Lahore attack on Lankan cricketers

March 5, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Srinagar, Mar 4 (ANI): All Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC) leaders on Wednesday strongly condemned the terrorist attack on Sri Lankan cricket players during the second Test match at Lahore in Pakistan.

Terming the incident as a ‘heinous act of terrorism’, senior leader of Hurriyat Conference Javed Ahmed Mir said, “We are saddened at the attack on these cricket players. If the players are attacked and injured with bullets, then it’s an inhuman act and any condemnation is less.”

The attack was also criticised widely by people in Kashmir, who demanded that the perpetrators of the attack should be punished.

“All of us condemn the attack on Sri Lankan cricket players in Pakistan because we know that these players are not there to wage any war. They bring the message of friendship through the game. Those responsible for the attack should be brought to book because all these things would only bring bad name for the country,” noted Showkat Malik, a local.

Meanwhile, many others felt that such incidents would only make players reluctant to tour Pakistan for the coming cricket matches.

The Sri Lankan team returned back to their homeland early on Wednesday after the second test match against Pakistan was cancelled following the attack.

Six members of the Sri Lankan team and a British coach were wounded in Tuesday’s daylight attack as their bus approached the cricket stadium in Lahore.

It was the first major attack on an international sporting team since Palestinian militants attacked Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympics in Munich.

Also, in 2002, a bomb had exploded in Karachi when the New Zealand cricket team was touring Pakistan claiming 13 lives including 11 French naval personnel.

Sri Lanka had decided to tour Pakistan, when both Australia and India had refused to visit there sighting security issues. (ANI)

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Hamas fires rocket into Israel, damages cars and property

February 8, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Jerusalem, Feb.8 (ANI): Palestinian militants have fired a rocket from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel, causing damage but no injuries, a military spokesman says.

The Israeli Defence Force said two cars were set ablaze and destroyed while shrapnel damaged several others after a Kassam rocket fired by Palestinians early Sunday morning landed in a parking lot on a kibbutz in the Sha’ar Hanegev region.

The rocket did not cause casualties. It exploded in the Niram kibbutz near the city of Sderot, the Jerusalem Post quoted a spokesman, as saying.

Palestinian militants have fired about 40 rockets and mortar rounds since January 18 when Israel ended its 22-day military Gaza offensive. That offensive caused 1,330 Palestinian deaths.

Israel, which launched its assault on December 27 with the stated aim of stemming rocket attacks, has warned of “the severest riposte” to any further rocket fire.

Meanwhile, IDF troops arrested a Palestinian terror suspect in a village northeast of Ramallah, in the West Bank on Saturday night. The man is being interrogated, IDF sources told the paper. (ANI)

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