This month commemorates the 30th anniversary of the signing of the peace treaty between Israel and Egypt. In honor of this occasion, the Menachem Begin Heritage Center (currently Hebrew only) has prepared the following video retrospective.
Over the past two days, we’ve been following a lively debate on Twitter surrounding the recent reports that suggest Israel is expanding settlements in the West Bank town of Efrat. David Saranga, Consul for Media and Public Affairs and the Israeli Consulate in New York said, “Any plans to build in the West Bank must be authorized by the Israeli Prime Minister.” Despite recent news reports, “no such authorization has been given to Efrat.”
JPost reports today on a new weapon developed by terrorists in Gaza: the medicine grenade (with photos). Apparently,
The
medicine bottles were filled with explosives, holes were drilled in the caps, and fuses were installed. Once Hamas fighters lit the fuses, they had several seconds to throw the grenades at soldiers. The IDF also found small explosive devices that used medical syringes to hold their fuses.
It appears, therefore, that Hamas and other terrorist groups are intent on building their weapons cache from anything remotely useful. (First we saw them use pipes and concrete, then the people of Gaza, now humanitarian aid.)
European customers looking for Valentine’s Day flowers will have the option of buying flowers from Gaza. At the request of the Dutch government, Israel has approved and will facilitate the export of 25,000 carnations from Gaza to the European market. The flowers were shipped this morning (Thursday, 12 February 2009) via the Kerem Shalom cargo terminal and are scheduled to arrive in Europe by Valentine’s Day.
UNRWA, the UN agency in charge of delivering aid to Gaza’s civilian population has temporarily suspended its program of distributing aid, after two incidents in which Hamas operatives intercepted incoming shipments. In the latest incident, detailed by AFP, Hamas seized 10 truckloads of rice and flour, prompting the UN agency to halt aid delivery until the stolen goods were returned. Hamas, of course, says this whole incident was a mistake, as they believed the aid was meant for them.
Whatever the case, this news is decidedly bad for the people who really do need the food–and who almost didn’t get it.
The cargo boat sailed from the Tripoli port in Lebanon a few days ago, docking in Cyprus before continuing its journey to the Gaza Strip. While at sea, the cargo boat was contacted by Israel, clarifying that it would not be permitted to enter Gaza because of security risks in the area.
Starting yesterday evening, the Israel Navy has been making direct contact with the boat and continued to clarify that the ship would not be permitted to enter the Gaza Strip’s coastal waters. The boat crew stated their intentions of changing their destination to the port in El-Arish, Egypt.
During the morning hours today, 05 February, the cargo ship changed its bearing, and began heading towards the Gaza Strip, contrary to the claims made by the boat crew last evening.
Disregarding all warnings, the cargo boat approached the Gaza shores. The actions of the boat crew raised suspicion, as it could threaten security concerns, or furthermore, the boat could be used for smuggling banned equipment (weaponry, etc.) in to or out of the Gaza Strip.
As a result of the actions taken by the boat crew, an Israel Navy force intercepted, boarded, and took control of the cargo boat, directing it towards Ashdod, Israel. No gunshots were fired on board during the boarding and capturing of the cargo boat. The boat crew will be taken for questioning by the Israeli Police, and any humanitarian goods found on the boat will be transferred to the Gaza Strip.
Any organization or country that wishes to transfer humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, can do so via the established crossings between Israel and the Gaza Strip with prior coordination.
Note: The true motivation of the ship’s voyage can be discerned by the fact that not only were a number of journalists invited to join, but also on board was Hilarion Cappuci – a former Greek Catholic bishop who was caught in 1974 smuggling weapons bound for Palestinian terrorists in the trunk of his official church vehicle while entering Israel from Lebanon.
Addendum: Haaretz reports that despite earlier claims that the boat was carrying tons of humanitarian aid, a search of the ship revealed “about 150 bottles of mineral water and a few dozen kilograms of food and medicine.”
Forty-eight orphans from Gaza will arrive in Israel today for some much-needed rest and relaxation after a decidedly trying month of January. Ynet reports that the children will take part in a program that will tour Haifa and includes visits to cultural sites around the city and meetings with Israeli students. The understanding behind this initiative, according to the article, is:
The Kibbutz Movement educates its sons to be the first on the battlefield and kill the enemy before being killed, and on the other hand, once the cannon fire stops, we adopt orphan children who, maybe, thanks to our humanitarian effort, we’ll put an end to the wars in the future.
A noble sentiment, indeed.
Israel and the Palestinian Authority:
Towards Peace and Prosperity
Introduction
Israel’s National Agency for International Cooperation (MASHAV) in Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, views cooperation with the Palestinian Authority as a crucial component towards the advancement of the peace process. MASHAV’s activities in the region reflect both Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs goals vis-à-vis the Palestinian Authority as well as the development strategies of the Palestinians. continue reading…
Haaretz reports today on the disclosure of footage from the al-Arabiyya satellite network, in which one of its reporters talks about what it felt when Hamas launched a Grad missile from right under her window. The video below (in Arabic) shows her reaction. Apparently, she didn’t realize the camera was rolling.
Haaretz reports:
Footage of a presenter on the Arabic language television station Al-Arabiya apparently confirms that Hamas fired at least one rocket from close to a building used by journalists during the 22-day conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The Jerusalem Report has an overview of investigative reporter Ronen Bergman’s book about the West’s intelligence war with Iran. We bring you an excerpt from JPost:
“The Secret War with Iran” is an expanded and updated version of Bergman’s Hebrew language “Point of No Return,” which became an Israeli bestseller. It is written in a compelling, lucid style, packed full of facts and anecdotes that often leave the reader open-mouthed at both the incredible failures and the audacious successes. It is obvious that Bergman was given access to loads of classified documents….Indeed, one of the most repeated phrases in the book is “disclosed here for the first time.”
A good example of this is the revelation that Israel came close to assassinating al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden…. “This is the closest any intelligence service has ever come to the world’s public enemy No.1,” Bergman writes.
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