Conflict Blotter

To mark Condi’s seventh trip to the region this year, I’m going to jot down some thoughts on the nascent peace process and the Annapolis confererence slated for late November or December. First, people still aren’t taking this very seriously by and large, despite Condi’s warnings to journalists on Monday. Palestinians, Israelis, journalists, etc, tend […]

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Here’s the Gaza City based Palestinian Center for Human Rights’ latest 100-page report on the Fatah-Hamas clashes in June that culminated in Hamas’ takeover of the Gaza Strip. The report comes to the stunning conclusion that neither Fatah nor Hamas fought particularly nice during the infighting. The report details dozens of alleged violations of international […]

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Israel blames Hamas for firing a longer range Katyusha into southern Israel yesterday. The Popular Resistance Committees claimed responsibility for the attack, and it’s a matter of debate to what extent the PRC and Jihad and other factions are firing rockets with a nod from Hamas. In past weeks, there have been several reports of […]

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Reuters’ Adam Entous has the fascinating back story on why Israeli banks decided to sever ties with banks in the Gaza Strip. Bank Hapoalim, the first bank to decide to cut off Gaza, said it was doing so simply because the government had declared Gaza an “enemy entity.” But that now seems to be only […]

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There’s a rumor circulating throughout Gaza that Hamas spokesman Ghazi Hamad and Ismail Haniya advisor Ahmed Yussuf held direct talks with Israel’s deputy defense minister Matan Vilnai to discuss relaxing the siege and expanding the ceasefire. It’s been reported here and here on the Fras Web site, which I’m not familiar with, but which I […]

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In the past year I’ve had dozens of conversations with colleagues, experts, politicians, analysts, etc, about whether or not Al Qaeda is present in Gaza, especially foreign, non-Palestinian jihadis. As such, this news caught my eye today.
Hamas has extradited a wanted Al-Qaida militant to Egypt in exchange for Cairo’s agreement to allow dozens of stranded […]

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The Jerusalem Post’s Khaled Abu Toameh appears to have been badly misled on this story about a video of an alleged Hamas honor killing in the Gaza Strip. The paper’s Web site is currently leading with the story. Too bad the disturbing video looks to be a 2004 April 2007 clip of a Yazidi girl […]

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Asharq Alawsat reports today (arabic) that Hamas has announced a new plan to share control over the security services in Gaza. The short of it: Hamas will temporarily transfer responsibility for the security services, presidential headquarters and all the crossings into Gaza to the Egyptian government, until the security services can be reconstituted along national […]

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A couple of items from today’s Hebrew press.
First, Yediot Aharanot reports on more madness by Ben Gurion Airport’s out of control security screeners. Leading Egyptian businessmen have said they will not visit Israel again. People I speak with at the Foreign Ministry are going bonkers over this issue, but seem powerless to do anything […]

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I RECENTLY returned from Gaza where I met with deposed Hamas foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahar. Our hour long conversation produced few bomb shells, but was an interesting window on the man pegged as a leading Hamas hardliner in the Gaza Strip.

“I am the committed man to our principles. I address our attitudes very clearly,” he […]

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