IAF kills Two - Gazas Power plant shuts down

Weiterhin verhältnismäßig geringes Niveau palästinensischer Attacken auf israelische Einrichtungen. Während von vier Qassam-Raketen-Abschüssen über Sonntag auf zivile Städte berichtet wird, notiert man drei und zwei Mörsergranaten-Angriffe auf militärische Ziele. Die IAF tötet am Abend bei einem Luftangriff einen Palästinenser, der nach israelischen Angaben am Grenzzaun mit einem Karren Raketen transportierte. Ein zweiter Luftangriff gilt dem Al-Aqsa-Brigaden-Führer Ahmad Abu Sharia. Einer seiner Begleiter wird getötet. Bei beiden Vorfällen kommt es zu mehreren Verletzten. Am Samstag stirbt ein weiterer Krebspationt aus dem Gazastriefen, der keine Ausreisegenehmingung der Israelis zur medizinischen Behandlung erhielt.

Früher als erwartet muß das Elektrizitätwerk im Gaza-Streifen seine Produktion einstellen. A humanitarian crisis is underway as the Gaza Strip's only power plant began to shut down on Sunday, and the tiny coastal territory entered its third full day without shipments of vital food and fuel supplies due to Israel's punitive sanctions. The Gaza Strip's power plant will shut down by 8:00pm on Sunday because it no longer has the fuel needed to keep running. One of the plant's two electricity-generating turbines had already shut down by noon. +++ Gaza's only electrical plant shut down Sunday after Israel blocked the shipment of fuel that powers them, plunging Gaza City and the northern strip into darkness and sending already beleaguered Gazans to stock up on food and batteries in anticipation of long, dark, cold days ahead. Das erwähnte "There were no signs of panic" kann soweit kaum aktzeptiert werden. Blogger wie Tabula Gaza berichten sehr wohl von Panik, da man im Gazastreifen den Stromausfall mit einer Militäroffensive der Israelis in Verbindung bringt. Die reuters-Berichterstattung: Large parts of the Gaza Strip plunged into darkness on Sunday when its main power plant shut down after Israel blocked fuel supplies and closed the border to the Hamas-run territory. Israel said the blockade was in response to rocket attacks from Gaza and that "everything would go back to normal" if militants stopped firing missiles, Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Arye Mekel said.

The Palestinian Minister of Planning and Labor, Samir Abdullahm, told Ma'an on Saturday that 70% of the 7.7 billion US dollars in financial assistance donated to the Palestinian Authority (PA) at the Paris conference last December will be used to cover the PA's budget deficit, and the rest will be invested in a governmental development plan. He confirmed that some of the donor countries, including France, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, have already delivered the money they pledged, while other countries are still working out a mechanism to transfer the funds. Abdullah added that France has sent 35 million US dollars and the UAE has sent 70 million. The delivery of each donation requires a signed agreement with the donor country detailing how the money will be spent. Da haben wir sie mal wieder erwischt. Nach dem Bericht des IMF werden zur "Deckelung" des Budgetlochs US$ 3,92 billion benötigt, was 70% der ursprünglich geforderten Summe von US$ 5,6 billion ausmacht. Nun also sind es innerhalb eines Monats US$ 5,39 billion geworden, die zur Deckelung gebraucht werden. Und wenn jetzt noch einer fragt warum die Fatah als eine der korruptesten Gangs auf der Welt angesehen wird bekommt er hier die Antwort: US$ 1,47 billion werden hübsch in nette, Defizit erzeugende Haushaltstitel verpackt.

Derweil wird ein anderer fraud-Specialist der Lüge bezichtigt: John Bolton, who was U.S. ambassador to the United Nations during the Second Lebanon War, rejects Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's version of he launched a failed ground offensive during the war's final days. "The Israeli military operation did not play a role in the talks on drafting UN Security Council Resolution 1701," which ended the war, Bolton told Haaretz Sunday. He was in Israel to attend the Herzliya Conference. Zudem erneuert er seine alten Vorwürfe gegen das State Department in Sachen Iran: While "Iran's nuclear program is continuing and expanding," Bolton told The Jerusalem Post at a book-signing in a Tel Aviv Steimatzky on Sunday, "the NIE has had a devastating impact on our global efforts to try and constrain Iran." "I know the people who wrote this intelligence estimate," Bolton continued. "They are not from our intelligence community. They're from our State Department. It was a highly politicized document written by people who had a very clear policy objective."

After Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said Saturday that his organization is holding the remains of Israel Defense Forces soldiers killed in the Second Lebanon War, several government ministers on Sunday called for the militant chief's assassination.

The government is working on guidelines for establishing committees to review army assassinations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip that killed civilians in the past year. The Israel Defense Forces, Military Advocate General office, Justice Ministry and other bodies are involved in setting up the review boards, Haaretz has learned. This comes on the order of the High Court of Justice, in its definitive ruling on "the policy of assassinations" in the territories. +++ Retired Supreme Court President Aharon Barak on Sunday harshly criticized Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann's proposed reforms to the legal system, saying they have "a high probability of delivering a severe blow to the courts." +++ State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss said Sunday in implicit reference to the Winograd Commission, which is due to release their final report by the end of January, that the "top of the pyramid is to blame." He also said that personal responsibility should be taken by all public workers- appointed and elected- and should not be allocated to public figures separately. +++ Vermehrt wird die Lage in Sderot in den Medien aufgearbeitet. Ein Beispiel.

A scheduled session of Parliament on Monday to elect a new president was postponed for the 13th time until noon on February 11, Speaker Nabih Berri said, promising to convene Parliament at an earlier date if accord is reached. The announcement came after Berri met with Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa Sunday afternoon. With agreement among rival factions still elusive, Moussa left for Cairo without saying when he would return to Lebanon. Moussa told reporters after meeting Berri that an Arab foreign ministers' meeting would be held on January 27 in Cairo. Asked if Arab foreign ministers could come up with a new interpretation of the Arab initiative, Moussa said: "The interpretation has been made and what I said is final and the official interpretation."