IDF kills One

Am heutigen Miontag erliegt ein 42-jähriger Zivilist im Gazastreifen an seinen Wunden, die er sich am Vortag bei Kämpfen in der Rafah-Zone zwischen der israelischen Armee und palästinensischen Milizien zugezogen hatte.

*** Gaza-Streifen: Eben wird gemeldet das 350 Personen davon über die Grenze verbracht wurde: Egyptian police have rounded up some 500 Palestinians in the northern Sinai Penninsula over the past four days and plan to deport them back into the Gaza Strip shortly, Egyptian security sources said on Monday. The Palestinians are some of at least 3,000 left inside Egypt after hundreds of thousands of Gaza residents crossed the border in January, when Hamas militants blasted through the frontier fence. [A group of Palestinians rounded up by Egyptian security forces are threatening suicide if they are not soon released either to the Gaza Strip or a life of dignity in Egypt. About 500 Gazans are still being held as prisoners in a sports complex in the border city of Al-Arish. Egyptian police arrested them after they did not return to Gaza when the border was resealed earlier this month following a brief period of unrestricted cross-border movement.] Über den Tag feuern wohl vornehmlich die al-Quds-Brigaden des Islamic Jihad insgesamt 9 Qassam-Raketen und 7 Mörsergranaten auf den israelischen Grenzzstreifen ab. Leichte Gebäudeschäden und Schockopfer sind zu notieren. Eine Qassam hingegen trifft eine belebte Zone. Äußerst unvermittelt und überraschend äußert sich der israelische PM Ehud Olmert in Bezug auf ein Raketenabwehrsystem: A significant amount of money is being invested for the completion of the Iron Dome anti-Kassam system, currently under development by Israel's Rafael (Armaments Development Authority), Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Monday. "The plan is that these means will give us the capability of stopping short-range rocket attacks including Kassams. This is applicable to both the northern and the southern fronts," said the prime minister during a Kadima faction meeting. Olmert emphasized that the system was at an advanced stage of development with an investment of nearly one billion NIS. Zum Ersten schmückt Olmert sich mal wieder mit Federn die ihn wie ein gerupftes Huhn aussehen lassen, hatte doch sein Kabinett die Entwicklung des Systems über Monate blockiert und erst am 23.12.07 die Freigabe der "Billion NIS" Investition über die nächsten fünf Jahre bewilligt. [Developing the system is expected to cost NIS 811 million over the next five years. According to the defense establishment estimate, the first operational version of the system will be deployed in Sderot in two and a half years.] Entweder hat sich also die Regierung Olmert von dem Finanzierungsjammern von Rafael verleiten lassen in ein bereits fertiges Produkt unnötige Mittel fließen zu lassen, oder Olmert plappert vor seinen Kadima-Genossen Blödsinn und wir sehen das Iron-Dome System erst 2011. Zweitens ist der politische Flurschaden beträchtlich das ein integraler Baustein der Zukunftsstrategie "Abandon the Westbank" von Verteidigungsminister Ehud Barak auf einem funktionierenden Iron-Dome-Systemberuht. Auf Deutsch: Wenn das System nicht funktioniert kann uns soll nicht aus der Westbank abgezogen werden, da man schutzlos Raketenterror ausgesetzt wäre. Jetzt funktioniert es jedoch nach Angaben von Ehud Olmert möglicherweise früher und wenn es in Sderot funktioniert, ergo auch in der Westbank, ergo steht dem Abzug nichts mehr im Wege. [...] Foreign Ministry Director-General Aharon Abramowitz on Monday accused a visiting United Nations official of equating terrorists with their victims, saying such discourse could encourage further attacks. Abramowitz adamantly rejected remarks made by UN Undersecretary General John Holmes during the latter's visit to Sderot on Sunday, in which he called the crisis in the south "a cycle of violence." During an official meeting with the former British diplomat, Abramowitz said such discourse draws parallels between terrorists and those who defend themselves against terror. [...] On Sunday, Holmes warned Israel against an invasion of the Gaza Strip and said that the crisis in the South can be solved only by diplomacy. "The only thing that will make a lasting difference is a peace settlement," he said. "You can't stop these problems militarily. They have to be solved through negotiations." In an interview with Haaretz after his visit to Sderot, Sir John Holmes said that the response to the Qassam rocket attacks must be proportional from a humanitarian point of view. [...] Israel is considering a large-scale incursion into the Gaza Strip during which it would present an ultimatum to the international community for the deployment of a multinational force as the only condition under which it would withdraw, defense officials have told The Jerusalem Post. [...] Israel and Hamas have agreed on the identities of 230 Palestinian prisoners, currently being held in Israeli prisons, to be released in exchange for the freedom of Gilad Shalit, who was abducted by Palestinian militants in June 2006, Army Radio reported Monday. According to the report, the two sides still disagree on the remaining 120 prisoners that Hamas demands be released in the first stage of the prisoner exchange deal, but Israel refuses to free. [Der Bericht wurde von der Hamas dementiert.]

*** Westbank: In der Westbank gehen die Verhaftungswellen mit looting-Charackter auf hohem niveau weiter: 16 Palästineser werden in den Beziken Nablus, Jenin und in der Christenstadt Abu Dis durch marodierende IDF-Milizen verhaftet. Die Fatah setzt drei Hamasniks fest. Unterdessen dokumentiert der ausgebrochene Streit über die Zukunft der sogenannten Friedensgespäche die Dummheit der Aussenministerin: Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said on Monday that Israel would continue its negotiations with the Palestinian Authority despite ongoing rocket fire from the Gaza Strip, because ending the talks would only strengthen the position of Hamas. Livni, who heads Israel's negotiating team, told the Knesset plenum after meeting with her Palestinian counterpart Ahmed Qureia that she was not "giving presents" to the Palestinians during talks: "I am not Santa Claus or some uncle that is giving out perks," she said. Und natürlich werden die großmächtigen "Wir haben alles geklärt worüber wir reden werden"-Berichte aus dem Hause Olmert erneut konterkariert: Meanwhile, Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, countering Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on the issue of Jerusalem, was quoted on Monday as declaring that talks on the status of the city must not be postponed.

*** Nordfront + Sonstiges: Tags: Israel has deployed a battery of U.S.-made Patriot air defense missiles near the northern port city of Haifa as part of precautions against a possible attack by Hezbollah in response to the assassination last week of the group's top commander Imad Mughniyah, Israeli security officials said Monday. The officials said the battery was put on standby Sunday for the first time since Israel's month-long war with Hezbollah in the summer of 2006, when the Lebanese guerrillas fired nearly 4,000 rockets into northern Israel. ++++ Rabbis call against forced integration in military service: Thirty-two of Religious Zionism's rabbis issue manifest calling on IDF chief not to force religious soldiers to take part in activities involving women in service for mere sake of integration. ++++ Israel complains to UN over Iranian general's remarks: Israel up in arms following Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander's comment likening Israel to cancerous growth and alluding to its destruction. ++++ Ehud Barak nimmt am Dienstag an einer Kampfmittel-Messe in Singapur teil. Dann was für den Nahen Osten gilt: "Immer mehr Waffen für immer mehr Gewalt" kann dem asiatischen Raum nicht schaden. ++++ Dem israelischen Minister Majadele, der am Montag wegen Hirnblutungen operiert werden mußte wüschen wir von hier aus baldige Genesung. ++++ Supreme Court President Dorit Beinisch told reporters on Sunday that the past year (during which Daniel Friedmann has been justice minister) has proven how essential it is for the judiciary to have administrative as well as substantive independence. [...] Regarding Friedmann's proposal to alter the composition of the Judges Election Committee so that politicians or their appointees would hold a majority of an expanded, 11-person panel, Beinisch said, "This is one of the most harmful initiatives to the judicial system. It causes injury to the constitutional structure."