Qassam fighter killed in Gaza

The Al Qassam brigades, the armed wing of Hamas movement, reported Saturday that one of its fighters was killed in what it called a jihad mission in Gaza City.

The fighter, Sameh Al Beitar, was killed in Al Sabra neighborhood.

The Brigades did not reveal information on how the fighter was killed and what type of mission he was conducting.

The Israeli army appears to have no relation to the incident.

For full article, visit http://www.imemc.org/article/61588

Doctor: 90% of war casualties at Gaza hospital were civilians

Ninety percent of casualties brought to Gaza’s main hospital during Israel’s winter offensive against Hamas were civilians, according to a new book by one of Norway’s most famous and controversial physicians, Dr. Mads Gilbert.

The book, scheduled to be published this month under the title “I in Gaza,” recounts Gilbert’s experiences as a volunteer at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City and focuses on individual stories by patients and medical staff.

For full article, visit http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1112493.htmlFor more on Mads Gilbert, type “Mads gilbert” in the search box on your right or visit http://israelpalestinenewscompiler.wordpress.com/2009/04/16/a-tribute-to-mads-gilbert/

Hasan Abu Nimah: An impossible reconciliation

Palestinians in Gaza wearing masks of Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh call for unity between the feuding groups. (Wissam Nassar/MaanImages)

One major stumbling block has been hundreds of Hamas political detainees held in Palestinian Authority and Fatah-controlled prisons in the West Bank. (The Palestinian Authority routinely denied such arrests, although Abbas announced that 200 Hamas prisoners would be freed on the occasion of the start of Ramadan.) Hamas also demands that Fatah security forces supplied, trained and supervised by US General Keith Dayton halt their crackdown on resistance fighters from Hamas as part of the American-backed plan for crushing any form of resistance to Israeli occupation.

This really is the heart of the matter. Hamas is in effect asking its Fatah/Palestinian Authority (PA) opponent to abandon its primary role undertaken as part of its “peace strategy” and its commitments to the so-called “international community,” the Quartet roadmap, as well as the Dayton plan. Fatah and the PA apparatus it controls adheres to this US-sponsored anti-resistance strategy as the primary condition for the continuation of international financing for the PA.

For full article, visit http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10742.shtml

The pitfalls of Palestinian national consciousness

Fatah leaders, including some of those newly elected to the Fatah Central Committee, pray next to the tomb of the late Fatah leader and founder Yasser Arafat, 13 August 2009.

True, the conference was held on Palestinian soil, but, ironically, under the watchful eye of Israeli soldiers. The failure of the Palestinian Liberation Movement (Fatah) to achieve any of its declared goals was symbolized in its holding the conference under occupation. This reflects not only the demise of Fatah — the faction that dominated the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) for decades — but the general demise of contemporary Palestinian nationalism.

For full article, visit http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10728.shtml

What Actually Happened in Fatah’s Elections?

In his WINEP speech Dayton acknowledged this crackdown when he said, “I don’t know how many of you are aware, but over the last year-and-a-half, the Palestinians have engaged upon a series of what they call security offensives throughout the West Bank, surprisingly well coordinated with the Israeli army.” He further admitted that during the 22-day Gaza war last winter, U.S.-trained Palestinian security forces prevented Palestinians in the West Bank from organizing mass protests against the Israeli army, which ironically allowed for the reduction of the Israeli military presence in the West Bank in order to redeploy those troops to Gaza. Dayton added, “As a matter of fact, a good portion of the Israeli army went off to Gaza from the West Bank— think about that for a minute, and the (Israeli military) commander (of the West Bank) was absent for eight straight days.”

For full article, visit http://www.counterpunch.org/amin08142009.html

Fayyad: “We have no political prisoners in our jails”

Salaam Fayyad

Meanwhile, Hamas movement stated Sunday that political arrests against its members are on the rise, an issue which contradicts what the rival Fateh movement and its affiliated security forces and officials are saying.

On Sunday, Hamas accused Fateh of firing employees from their government jobs due to their political affiliation.

For full article, visit http://www.imemc.org/article/61463

Abbas orders the release of 200 political prisoners

Maan added that Abbas told Egyptian security officials who visited Ramallah recently that “Fateh movement agrees to all of the demands of Hamas under the condition that Hamas agrees to presidential and legislative elections in 2010”. 

The statements of Abbas surprised the Egyptian team who immediately headed to Damascus to hold talks with Hamas’ political bureau leader, Khalid Mashal, to listen to his response.

For full article, visit http://www.imemc.org/article/61460

Hamas to attempt ‘reeducation’ of detained ultra-Islamists

The de facto Ministry of the Interior in Gaza will try to “correct” ideologies held by members of Jund Ansar Allah who were arrested after and during gun battles last week, spokesman Eyhab Al-Ghussein said on Saturday.

For full article, visit http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=220850

True or False: Shin Bet guards top Palestinian leaders in parts of West Bank?

The security Israel provides for Abbas and Fayyad is meant to prevent either of two possible scenarios. One is an assassination attempt by Palestinian extremists, such as the Hamas cell that was recently arrested for allegedly planning an attack on Abbas. The other is an assassination attempt by right-wing Israeli extremists.

For full article, visit http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1108777.html

“This news is not true,” Ad-Dameri said over the phone, “the Israeli media says so to misrepresent and to harm the status of the Palestinian Authority.” He assured Israel has “nothing to do with the security of the Palestinian President.”

For full article, visit http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=220414

Report: Al-Qaeda groups say Hamas “abdicated from Islam”

A statement on the website from unnamed sources, groups expressed condolences for Sheikh Abdul Latif Moussa, the leader of Jund Ansar Allah. Moussa lead hundreds of supporters to a Rafah mosque on Friday and declared the area an Islamic emirate. De facto government police said they were forced to react to the group when shots were fired in a civilian area. Clashes broke out culminating in 24 dead including six de facto government officers, six civilians including two young girls, and 12 Jund Ansar Allah fighters.

For a full report visit http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=220375