More than half of the United States’ Lutheran bishops were on their way to Israel Monday, January 5, amid international concerns that an Israeli offensive against the militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip would lead to more suffering of civilians, including the territory’s Christian minority.
As Israel continued its ground assault into the Gaza Strip Monday, January 5, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) were on high alert along the country’s northern border amid concerns the militant Hezbollah group would fire rockets from Lebanon in revenge for the offensive.
Alarm bells echo around the world as Israel continues a major ground offensive it says is aimed at ending rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip fired by the militant group Hamas into Israel. Envoys of the European Union, including Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenburg along with the EU’s external relations commissioner and Schwarzenburg’s French and Swedish counterparts were due to hold talks in the region Monday, January 5.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon tried to bring an immediate end to Israel’s ground war in the Gaza Strip by backing a resolution to the Security Council that was drafted by Libya and put forward by the Arab League, calling for an immediate ceasefire.
Some of Israel’s largest Websites, including Ynet English and Bank Discount, have been attacked by a pro-Palestinian group, who redirected them to a site with anti-Israeli messages, Worthy News established Monday, January 5.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) unveiled new tactics in order to reduce the number of civilian casualties in Gaza. The IDF has dedicated resources calling residents of Gaza of impending strikes giving them a chance to flee before the attack. In some instances, the IDF has used sound bombs to warn civilians before attacks are carried out.
On Saturday, January 3, Israel launched a ground assault against Gaza on what was the eighth day of its aerial assaults against the seaside strip of desert. Israel’s stated objective for the ground confrontation is to end all rocket attacks. The immediate objective of the ground operations, according to Major Avital Leibovitch, a military spokeswoman, “is to destroy the Hamas terror infrastructure in the area of operations.”
On Front Page Jerusalem this week, Cox & Kinchlow explore the complexities of the Gaza Pullout and the possibility of civil war as the summer evacuation date draws closer. They interview Israeli citizens representing both sides of the controversial issue. Joining in with their differing opinions in the FPJ’s Roundtable are Danny Seaman, Director of Israel’s Government Press Office, Yechiel Leiter, Chief of Staff for Benjamin Netanyahu, and Caroline Glick, Deputy Managing Editor of the Jerusalem Post and award-winning columnist.
Jerusalem (ICEJ) — Five masked gunmen from Yasser Arafat’s al-Aksa Martyrs Brigades stormed the Ramallah TV studios of Arab satellite station al-Arabiya on Saturday night, smashing equipment and holding staff at gunpoint.
Jerusalem (ICEJ) — A thirteen-year-old Palestinian boy was reportedly killed Tuesday morning by shrapnel after Israeli special forces surrounded an eight-story building in Hebron in search for Hamas fugitives, two of whom died in the ensuing gun battle.
BEIRUT, LEBANON (ANS) — Bruce Balfour, the 52-year-old Canadian Christian charged with spying for Israel, has been found innocent by a Lebanese military court.
Jerusalem — (August 29, 2003 – ICEJ) — Officials from the Palestinian Authority froze the bank accounts of nine Islamic charities affiliated with the Hamas terror group Thursday, as part of a clampdown on armed groups demanded by the United States in the wake of last week’s Jerusalem bus bombing.
MEMRI) — On April 26, 2003, the Islamic website Islam Online (1) hosted Wasef Mansour, a diplomat with the Palestinian mission in Morocco, in an online discussion titled “What Israel Gains From the Occupation of Iraq.” (2) During the discussion, Mansour held Israel responsible for the looting of museums and banks in Baghdad, called for Jihad against ‘the occupiers’ of Iraq, Palestine, and three cities under Spanish rule regarded by him as Moroccan, denied Israel’s right to exist, and compared President George W. Bush to Hitler and other tyrannical leaders. The following are excerpts from Mansour’s discussion with visitors to the website:
Jerusalem, Israel (ICEJ) — It was all smiles at the White House Tuesday as US President George W. Bush toned down expected criticism of Israel’s seam-line security fence and repeated his call for the Palestinian Authority to “dismantle†the terrorist infrastructure, angering the PA leadership and Islamic terror groups.
(MEMRI) — On April 26, 2003, the Islamic website Islam Online (1) hosted Wasef Mansour, a diplomat with the Palestinian mission in Morocco, in an online discussion titled “What Israel Gains From the Occupation of Iraq.” (2) During the discussion, Mansour held Israel responsible for the looting of museums and banks in Baghdad, called for Jihad against ‘the occupiers’ of Iraq, Palestine, and three cities under Spanish rule regarded by him as Moroccan, denied Israel’s right to exist, and compared President George W. Bush to Hitler and other tyrannical leaders. The following are excerpts from Mansour’s discussion with visitors to the website:
Jerusalem, Israel (Worthy News) — Just before 9 A.M. this morning at least 10 people were killed and 50 wounded when a bomb was detonated in a bus traveling down Gaza Road in Jerusalem, Israel. The explosion occurred near the home of Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, who was not home at the time, and also near the Moment Café, where 11 people were killed in a previous attack in March of 2002.
erusalem (ICEJ) — At least nine Palestinians were killed and at 10 were injured in the early hours of Friday morning during an Israeli military operation in the El-Bureij neighborhood in the Gaza strip, according to Palestinian sources. The AFP news agency quoted Palestinian medical staff as saying that a 10th person, a woman, died in hospital of her wounds.
Jerusalem (Bridges for Peace) — The Israeli Defense Minister disclosed that during the past week the security forces prevented 15 attacks that were intended against Israeli citizens and, in addition, arrested over 400 terrorist activists. “The IDF and security forces are making immense efforts to prevent terrorism. Over the past two weeks we are witnessing an increase in terrorist attempts against Israeli citizens. The assessment is that these increasing waves of terror are aimed at interfering with the democratic process in the State of Israel.”
According to an Israeli expert on global Islam, recent reports that Washington agreed to back a Palestinian State with Jerusalem as its capital constitute more than a diplomatic manoeuvre aimed at shoring up Arab support for the current US-led war against terror.
IMRA – “Today a Russian plane en route from Tel Aviv to Novosibirsk, carrying 66 passengers and 12 crewmen, went down.
This is a terrible tragedy for both Israel and Russia. I spoke today with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and we agreed on full cooperation between Israel and Russia in investigating this tragic incident.