June 30, 2006

ISRAELI SHELLING CONTINUES ON THE GAZA STRIP. THE ISRAELI ARMY CONTINUES ITS MILITARY CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE PALESTINIANS. REGIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL WARNING FROM A CATASTROPHE AS A RESULT OF THE ESCALATING TENSION. LEBANON FOLLOWS UP THE SITUATION ON THE BORDERS AND THE INVESTIGATION INTO THE ISRAELI TERROR NETWORK. THE EGYPTIAN-SYRIAN SUMMIT AGREES ON COORDINATING STANDS. THE LEBANESE NATIONAL DIALOGUE CONTINUES ITS MEETING ON JULY 25. Israeli aircraft have launched a fresh wave of air strikes on Gaza, intensifying pressure on Palestinian militants to free a captured soldier. The Palestinian interior ministry was hit, while a militant was reported killed in an air strike - the first fatality since the offensive began. In the pre-dawn bombing raid, Palestinian interior minister Said Siyam's office went up in flames when a missile made a direct hit on his room on the fourth floor of the ministry building. In an unprecedented move, the Israeli interior ministry also revoked the Jerusalem residency rights of four senior Hamas officials. The measure takes away their rights to live in the city and travel within Israel freely. Following the arrest of 64 Hamas politicians, including deputy prime minister Nasser Shaer, one of the group's MPs accused Israel of a "pre-planned plot to destroy the Palestinian Authority". Israel has insisted it will continue the operation until the Hamas political leadership puts pressure on its military wing to release 19-year-old Corporal Gilad Shalit from captivity. A member of the militant Islamic Jihad group was killed in a missile strike in Rafah in southern Gaza, Palestinian medical sources said. At least 20 other targets included an office of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah group, militant training camps, a weapons storage facility in Gaza City and sites used by militants to fire rockets at Israel. Saeb Erekat, an aide to Mr Abbas, accused Israel of trying to bring down the Palestinian presidency and government. "Israel is now waging an open-ended all-out war against the Palestinian people that aims to topple the Palestinian presidency and the Palestinian government, and act as though there is no Palestinian official or government," he told the BBC. There were also reports of heavy exchanges of fire between militants and an undercover Israeli force near the northern town of Jabaliya. The Israelis have denied that there are any of its troops in northern Gaza, but in reality they would be unlikely to confirm the presence of an undercover unit, says the BBC's Alan Johnston in Gaza. Israel is continuing to hold dozens of officials from the ruling Hamas party, including at least eight cabinet members and at least 20 MPs detained on Thursday. Meanwhile, the UN's emergency relief co-ordinator Jan Egeland said that Gaza was on the brink of a humanitarian crisis after the destruction by the Israeli air force of the only power plant there on Tuesday night. "No-one can hide from us what they're doing," Mr Egeland said. "We are appalled by seeing how they're playing with the future of defenceless civilians, including children." Much of Gaza's water supply and the sewerage system is dependent on electricity. Some of the wells can be operated by generators, but fuel is scarce after Israel stopped supplies. "I'm confident that the parties will see that we're heading for the abyss unless we get electricity and fuel restored," Mr Egeland said. Israeli artillery shelling destroyed the major power transmitter in the northern Gaza Strip on Thursday night, Palestinian witnesses and security sources said. The witnesses said that several explosions were heard when the transmitter was hit by Israeli tank shells, adding that flames of fire and black smoke were seen billowing up from the destroyed transmitter. The transmitter supplied electricity to the northern Gaza towns of Beit Hanon, Beit Lahia and Jabalia and its destruction led to electricity cut to more than two third of the population there. Israeli airstrikes destroyed the only Gaza power plant on early Wednesday, which resulted in a blackout in most areas of the Gaza Strip. Walid Sayel, executive director of the Gaza central power plant estimated the loss from Israel's destroying the power plant and the northern Gaza transmitter at more than 20 million U.S. dollars. Meanwhile, Palestinian security sources said that another Israeli shell hit a post of the Palestinian security forces in northern Gaza, wounding three security officers who were rushed to nearby hospitals by ambulances. Israeli troops crossed the border and entered the southern Gaza Strip on early Wednesday in their first major ground offensive in Gaza since Israel withdrew troops and settlers from the coastal strip last summer after 38 years of occupation. Israel says the operation is aimed to free an Israeli soldier kidnapped by Palestinian militants on Sunday. Several bridges and roads linking the north and the south of the Gaza Strip were also destroyed in Israeli air raids, a move which the Israeli army said was to prevent Palestinian militants from transferring the kidnapped soldier. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert held off on a planned incursion into the northern Gaza Strip Thursday night, ordering the military to suspend its plans to take over the Kassam launch sites and to give diplomatic efforts one last chance to retrieve kidnapped IDF soldier Cpl. Gilad Shalit. Columns of tanks and an entire infantry regiment had been put on standby outside Kibbutz Mefalsim near northern Gaza in preparation for the planned incursion initially scheduled for Thursday night. But following consultations at the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv, Olmert ordered Defense Minister Amir Peretz to put the incursion on hold. The Arab League Council held an urgent meeting at the permanent representatives Level on Thursday, and discussed the Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people and territories. In a press conference, Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Ambassador Ahmad bin Hilli said the meeting assigned the Arab Group in New York to immediately request an urgent UN Security Council session to discuss the Palestinian developments. He stressed the importance that the UN Security Council and the Quartet look after their responsibilities in protecting the Palestinian people. He added that the AL Council requested urgent aid from Arab countries to the Palestinians to confront the Israeli aggression, noting that the council decided to keep the session open to follow up the developments of the Israeli aggression. The council seriously condemned the Israeli aggression, which targeted innocent civilian lives, the infrastructure in the Palestinian territories, and members of the Palestinian government and parliament. It also condemned the Israeli violation of the Syrian airspace. Meanwhile, Speaker of the Council and UAE representative Mohammad Saeed Al-Kindi said the Palestinian representative presented a detailed report on the developments of the Israeli aggression. He added that the council will issue a statement that would express the Arab official stand regarding the aggression. Meantime President Hosni Mubarak called on all regional and international parties concerned to immediately reach a peaceful: settlement to the existing problem between the Palestinians and Israelis, especially the issue of the kidnapped Israeli soldier, adding he personally exerts his utmost to avert taking place a catastrophe that may destroy everything in the region. In an interview with Al-Ahram daily, President Mubarak said he made telephone contacts with the leaders concerned with the crisis mainly President Mahmoud Abbas, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad and French President Jacque Chirac. The President indicated that all these contacts targeted defusing the crisis and the necessity of reaching a rapid solution to the kidnapped Israeli soldier. The President added the Egyptian contacts were also made with some Hamas leaders. These contacts resulted in some positive outcomes, as Hams agreed to conditionally hand over the soldier as soon as possible to avoid more escalation, but no agreement was concluded with the Israeli side in this regard so far," the President said. He touched on his recent telephone call with President Bashar Al-Assad, pointing out it came within the Egyptian-Syrian constant consultation for the sake of the Arab common action and to avoid tension escalation in the region in light of the US stance which supports Israel in its right to defend itself. The President called on the Israeli Premier to wait for a peaceful solution to the problem, indicating that the Israeli leaders made promises and I hope they will respect them concerning abstention from bloodshed of innocent Palestinian citizens. The President said Egypt in the meantime warned Hams leaders against hazards of its ongoing stiff stances. Egypt called on Hamas to shoulder its responsibility to the looming 9angers and calamities that besiege the Palestinian people at present, taking into consideration the events began taking a new turn, as Israel detained some members of the Cabinet and parliament. Syrian Prime Minister Mohammad Naji Otari said the Israeli action was meant to divert attention from Israel's bombing of the Gaza Strip. "This aggression represents Israeli piracy that aims at covering up the savage crimes the Israeli occupation forces are committing in the Gaza Strip," Otari said at a news conference with Jordanian Prime Minister Marouf Al-Bakhit. The G-8 foreign ministers expressed Thursday particular concern regarding the Israel's abduction of 8 ministers and 20 Parliamentarians. "We call on Israel to exercise utmost restraint in the current crisis," the Ministers said in a joint statement. "The detention of elected members of the Palestinian government and legislature raises particular concerns." The Ministers also urged the Palestinian and Israeli leaders to abstain from unilateral action that could cast doubt on the final status of Palestinian territories. They asked Israel to display maximal restraint during the current crisis, adding that Israeli and Palestinian sovereignty, security and democratic development were among the G8's key goals. Speaking after the G8 meeting in Moscow, US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice said diplomatic efforts were continuing to secure the release of the Israeli soldier captured on Sunday. "There is a full-scale diplomatic effort," Rice told a news conference after the meeting "responsible Palestinians are also engaged in efforts to get this soldier released - and that is a very important point to make - as well as some regional actors that are engaged." "With restraint, perhaps we can get back to a place where there can be hope for a peaceful resolution," she added. "We confirmed our support for the Quartet," and "called on the parties to take all the necessary steps to calm the situation," Russian foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said after the meeting. On the other hand Israel's aggression on Gaza has dominated the internal political situation as national dialogue talks and a cabinet session focused on the need for Arab and international intervention to stop the attack. Political leaders meeting at national reconciliation talks on Thursday remained divided about the contentious issue of Hizbullah's right to hold weapons but they united in denouncing the Israeli assault and calling for diplomatic action to stop it. "The national dialogue conference denounces the continued Israeli aggression which represents the highest degree of state terrorism," Speaker Nabih Berri said after the meeting. "We ask the international community to take up its responsibility ... and ask the (Lebanese) government to work with Arab states in order to seek an action by the U.N. Security Council against this invasion and declared war," he added. MP Saad Hariri, one of the participants in the conference, described the Israeli action as "madness" and called for national unity to face this escalation by the Jewish state. "We can only face this madness with our unity. The messages that Israel is sending are terrifying and directed at all countries including Lebanon and Syria," he told reporters after the talks. Lebanese leaders adjourned the national dialogue Thursday after resuming talks aimed at resolving the thorny issue of Hizbullah's right to keep its weapons. "The next dialogue session will be held on July 25," Speaker Nabih Berri said in a press conference he held at the end of the discussions. In reference to Israeli warplanes over-flying the summer residence of President Assad and the Israeli invasion of Gaza, Berri said "the national dialogue conference denounces the continued Israeli aggression which has reached the highest levels of state terrorism." "We ask the international community to take up its responsibility ... and ask the (Lebanese) government to work with Arab states in order to seek an action by the U.N. Security Council against this invasion and declared war," he said after the more than three-hour meeting. Leaders from across the political spectrum continued discussions on the last item on the agenda of the reconciliation talks launched early March: a defense strategy for Lebanon in the face of a potential threat from Israel. On the eve of the talks, Speaker Nabih Berri, the organizer of the conference, held talks with Syrian President Bashar al Assad and Vice President Farouk al Sharaa. Upon his return to Beirut, Berri expressed his desire to remain silent about the result of his talks in the Syrian capital saying only that "things were progressing towards the better." "This meeting came after a series of Arab contacts all aimed at improving Lebanese-Syrian relations in addition to discussing developments in Palestine and the Arab region," said a statement issued by Berri's office. President Emile Lahoud, who headed a cabinet meeting Thursday, said Lebanon should call on the U.N. Security Council to meet before "all Palestinian ministers and MPs are thrown in jail." Prime Minister Fouad Saniora, also present at the meeting, denounced the Israeli attack which he said was a "violation of humanitarian values." "The most important thing happening today is the Israeli aggression on the Palestinians in Gazathis constitutes a mass extermination which we cannot accept," Saniora said. He said he has contacted Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa who will prepare for an Arab foreign ministers' meeting upon his return from the United States. Saniora also said he contacted EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and expressed his intention to sent a message to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. In the framework of ongoing efforts to coordinate Arab stances, President Mubarak and Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad held a summit at the Presidential Palace in Heliopolis. The summit tackled the Palestinian cause, Syrian-Lebanese relations and Syrian-Jordanian relations, the situation in Iraq and the Middle East region. The three hours of talks were attended on the Syrian side by Vice President Farouq Sharaa, Foreign Minister Walid Al Moallem and Information Minister Mohsen Belal. On the Egyptian side, talks were attended by Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit and Information Minister Anas al-Fikki. Talks were held between the Foreign Minister and his Syrian counterpart on the fringe of Mubarak-Assad one-on-one meeting. The meeting was followed by a press conference. The two ministers discussed the latest political developments in the Middle East region, particularly in the Palestinian territories and ongoing peace efforts. Meantime Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem said that diplomatic relations could not be established with neighbouring Lebanon because an "appropriate atmosphere" had yet to develop. Moallem's comments directly followed the meeting between Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and his Syrian counterpart, Bashar Assad, in Cairo. Moallem blamed the "negative atmosphere on some Lebanese officials who are currently in the government," accusing them of defaming Syria and "continuously blaming it for the assassination of former Premier Rafiq Hariri." These campaigns are "unjust," said Moallem. "The time is not right to open an embassy in Lebanon," he added, despite recent Lebanese and UN pleas that Syria establish formal diplomatic ties and mark out a common border "Any plan of this kind needs an opportune atmosphere between the two nations," he said. "If there was an embassy in the shadow of a bad atmosphere, the ambassadors would be withdrawn or diplomatic relations would be ended." Lebanese Premier Fouad Saniora reiterated his call for good relations with Syria despite comments by Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem the previous day that the atmosphere was not right to establish diplomatic ties between the two countries. "We are looking to establish healthy and normal relations based on mutual respect," Saniora told a delegation of Kuwaiti engineers. Saniora said he recognized Syria's role in ending Lebanon's Civil War and its support to the national resistance against Israel, but said the presence of the Syrian security services and army in Lebanon in the past "had pressured Lebanon's political and democratic life." As to the demarcation of borders, Saniora said that it was Lebanon's right to demarcate its borders with Syria. "Lebanon and Syria should have clear borders between them; this is a right for all countries," he said, adding that this issue has been a cause of dispute for the past 85 years. Saniora called on the Syrian authorities to sign maps proving the Lebanese identity of the Shebaa Farms, adding that only then would the Lebanese be able to compel Israel to withdraw from the Occupied Territory. On the other hand Lebanon has decided to file a complaint with the UN against Israel for its role in killing members of Hezbollah and Palestinian resistance groups, the prime minister said. Lebanon will assert in its complaint that Israeli intelligence, Mossad, was behind a wave of assassinations in the country, Fouad Saniora told reporters. "We consider this as an act of aggression (by Israel)," he said. "We are working on the file and once it is completed we will submit a complaint to the United Nations Security Council." An investigation carried out by Lebanese intelligence recently has uncovered a "terror network" that was used by the Mossad to carry out attacks inside Lebanon, mainly against Hezbollah and Palestinian resistance groups. The army issued a statement saying: "The terrorist network has been active in Lebanon for several years. Its members received training inside and outside Israel and were equipped with the latest tools and techniques used by Israel's Mossad to carry out assigned assassinations in Lebanon". "The network was tasked by this agency (Mossad) with carrying out these operations and was given secret communication and monitoring devices for this purpose along with detailed maps of the target... forged documents and bags with secret pockets" The Lebanese army revealed yesterday it had dismantled a network used by the Israeli spy agency Mossad to carry out attacks in Lebanon, mainly against Hezbollah and pro-Syrian Palestinian groups. In a statement, the army said it arrested a terrorist cell working for Israel's Mossad and its members admitted responsibility for the May 26 attack that killed Mahmoud al-Majzub and his brother Nidal. The army arrested Mahmoud Rafeh, a 59-year-old Lebanese citizen and retired police officer as the terror cell claimed responsibility for the Sidon attack. Majzub, one of the leaders in Lebanon of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group, was killed by a car bomb in the southern city of Sidon. The members of the cell also 'admitted taking part in the assassination of Hezbollah officials Ali Saleh in 2003 and Ali Hassan Dib in 1999, as well as the killing of Jihad Jibril in 2002.' The Lebanese daily An Nahar newspaper reported that Rafeh had been working for the Mossad since 1994. The statement added that the cell appeared to have established ties with Israel for several years and its members were trained there. The army explained that in the bombing that killed the Majzub brothers; the cell brought a booby-trapped door from Israel for the car used in the attack. The army seized the detonator that set off the device, as a well as explosives, Israeli computers, cameras, ammunition, military uniforms and forged identity cards in their hideouts. The Lebanese daily AsSafir said a manhunt was currently underway to catch another suspect whom it identified as Hussein Khattab, a Palestinian official in the PFLP-GC. Six members of the network have already been arrested and another two are believed to have fled to Israel. Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, had said Ali Saleh, whose killing the army blamed on the cell, was in charge of coordinating with Palestinian groups. Mahmoud al-Majzub meanwhile had been responsible for operations 'inside' the Palestinian territories. His killing sparked an escalating series of tit-for-tat cross-border exchanges between Israel and Lebanon that included rockets fired into the Jewish state and retaliatory air strikes on militant camps inside Lebanon.