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Sunday
Feb082009

The Latest on Israel-Gaza-Palestine (8 February)

Related Post: Dose of Cold Reality Statement of the Day - Obama Style v. Middle East Substance

6:30 p.m.: An Israeli Cabinet minister, Rafi Eitan, has forecast that a prisoner swap with Hamas could be completed before the next Israeli Government takes office: "There's a strong probability that all comprehensive moves with Hamas ... will happen during the current prime minister's term, as from experience we know it takes around six weeks for them to put together a new government."

On the Palestinian side, a source says, "There are positive signals that an announcement on a deal is near, unless Israel backs off at the last minute."

Afternoon Update (4:30 p.m. GMT; 6:30 p.m. Israel/Palestine): Aid agencies are expressing frustration at the inability to get supplies into Gaza. United Nations official Chris Gunness said, "For us to move ahead with rehabilitation and repairs, we must get building materials into Gaza. Two hundred and twenty-one schools for 200,000 children only have 40 percent of their books because we can't get paper and glue into Gaza."

More than 21,000 homes are still destroyed or badly damaged.

A rocket from Gaza landed near Ashkelon in southern Israel.

7:50 a.m. We're waiting for news out of Cairo, where a high-level Hamas delegation including Mahmoud az-Zahar is in talks that could move toward a proposed Israel-Gaza settlement. The main sticking point seems to be the opening and control of border crossings.

Diplomats have said that the working proposal is for an 18-month cease-fire, with a prisoner exchange (which presumably included kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit), and opening of at least two crossings. The deal would be "phased", with crossings gradually opened as the cease-fire held and prisoner exchange proceeded.

7:45 a.m. The Israeli navy shelled the northern and western coasts of Gaza this morning, damaging dozens of fishing boats. A rocket has landed in a kibbutz in southern Israel.

7:35 a.m. The "Reconciliation" Battle Continues. In Turkey yesterday, Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas called for Fatah and Hamas to create a consensus government. He then rejected Hamas' call for a new umbrella group to replace the Palestinian Liberation Organization.

Which, in effect, means that Abbas has thrown "reconciliation" back to Hamas: accept the PLO framework or there will be no consensus.

Morning Update (7:30 a.m. GMT; 9:30 a.m. Israel/Palestine): In a separate entry, we've had a look at US Vice President Joe Biden's speech in Munich yesterday. With media attention focused on the "new tone" of the Obama Administration and specific issues such as Afghanistan, Russia, and Iran, almost no one noticed Biden's passage on Israel, Gaza, and Palestine.



Here's the key phrase: "We must consolidate the cease-fire in Gaza by working with Egypt and others to stop smuggling, and developing an international relief and reconstruction effort that strengthens the Palestinian Authority, and not Hamas." So, six weeks, after the Israeli attacks failed to get regime change in Gaza, it seems that the Obama Administration is still supporting options that undermine the Gazan leadership, rather than getting arrangements that help the Gazan people.

Reader Comments (1)

Ha'aretz ran an article yesterday about teenage attitudes towards the Israeli election. It is a sobering and discouraging read reporting on the failure of the schools' civic curriculum as reflected in the high schoolers' rejection of democratic principles.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1061910.html

February 9, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterMae

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