Eurasia Press & News
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel said it completed a troop pullout from the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip on Wednesday, starting its relationship with U.S. President Barack Obama by quitting Palestinian land devastated by its 22-day offensive. “As of this morning, the last of the Israel Defense Forces soldiers have left the Gaza …
Read More »Conflict costs Israelis, Palestinians dear: study
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israelis and Palestinians could all be twice as rich as they are today if conflict had not continued throughout the peace process of the past two decades, an international think tank said on Wednesday. The Strategic Foresight Group, an India-based body that says it has advised governments, …
Read More »Hamas still standing, but some Gaza districts gone
SALATIN, Gaza Strip (Reuters) – Palestinian families returned to their homes in the northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday but many found there was nothing recognizable left standing. Women and children gazed around in dismay as they came in sight of Salatin, trundling slowly along on overloaded donkey carts or packed …
Read More »Arab economic summit divided on Gaza
KUWAIT (Reuters) – Arab leaders agreed at a summit on Tuesday to help rebuild the battered Gaza Strip, but failed to bridge differences over the three-week Israeli offensive that killed more than 1,300 people. The conflict in Gaza underscored the Arab divide between those allied to Egypt and Saudi Arabia …
Read More »Aid agencies ramp up Gaza operations after conflict
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Aid agencies poured resources into the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip on Tuesday, providing basic essentials to tens of thousands of Palestinians in need of emergency aid after three weeks of devastating conflict. Israel, which controls border entry points into Gaza, said it hoped to triple the number of …
Read More »France signals easing conditions for Hamas talks
PARIS (Reuters) – France signaled on Tuesday that it might be prepared to hold talks with Hamas even if the Palestinian Islamist group does not recognize Israel as Paris and other Western powers have demanded for years. The “Quartet” of Middle East mediators — the United States, the European Union, …
Read More »TIMELINE: Israeli-Hamas violence
(Reuters) – Voicing shock at stark scenes of destruction, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visited the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, and Israel was poised to withdraw its troops. Here is a timeline of events since a six-month ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip ended last month. December 19, …
Read More »Women may win seats, not rights, in Iraqi poll
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – More than a quarter of the 14,431 candidates registered for Iraq’s provincial council elections are women, but college student Fatma Imad sees few women’s faces on the posters plastered across her neighborhood. “Even if I want to choose a woman, where are these women? I don’t see …
Read More »IAEA to look into Gaza uranium ammunition claim
VIENNA (Reuters) – The U.N.’s nuclear watchdog said Tuesday it would look into a claim by Vienna-based Arab ambassadors that Israel may have used ammunition containing depleted uranium in Gaza attacks. The International Atomic Energy Agency said the request was made in a letter addressed to Director General Mohammed ElBaradei …
Read More »U.N. chief Ban sees “heartbreaking” Gaza damage
GAZA (Reuters) – U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, voicing shock and anger at the “heartbreaking” devastation, visited the Gaza Strip on Tuesday to pledge aid for Palestinians after Israeli attacks killed 1,300 and made thousands homeless. Israel had withdrawn most of its force before U.S. President Barack Obama was inaugurated — …
Read More »