Middle Orient

BAGHDAD (Reuters) — The United States has shown “arrogance” and “stupidity” in Iraq, a senior US diplomat said in an interview aired on Sunday, after US President George W. Bush said he was flexible on tactics, if not strategy. In an attack that highlights the problems Washington faces in recruiting …

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli army dropped phosphorous bombs against Hizbollah targets in Lebanon during the war there this summer, an Israeli Cabinet minister said Sunday, confirming Lebanese allegations for the first time. Phosphorus weapons can cause severe burns and are banned for use in civilian areas, but Israel …

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (Reuters) — Several Israeli Cabinet ministers called on Sunday for a military operation to retake control of Gaza’s southern border and prevent Palestinian fighters smuggling weapons from neighbouring Egypt. “Action must be taken without hesitation,” Industry and Trade Minister Eli Yishai of the religious party Shas told reporters. …

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (Reuters) — Several Israeli Cabinet ministers called on Sunday for a military operation to retake control of Gaza’s southern border and prevent Palestinian fighters smuggling weapons from neighbouring Egypt. “Action must be taken without hesitation,” Industry and Trade Minister Eli Yishai of the religious party Shas told reporters.

GAZA CITY — In Gaza City’s Firas market the stalls are laden with gift items and toys, fireworks and new clothes, cooking utensils and fish, as people crowd around, looking, touching and walking on. As the fasting month of Ramadan draws to an end and people look ahead to the …

KFAR ZABAD, Lebanon — It was born in the Arabian desert more than 1,500 years ago and is now being revived in the battle-scarred greenery of Lebanon. Already its success is heralding a regional renaissance. The pre-Islamic system of environmental protection known as “hima” — Arabic for protected area — …

JIT, West Bank — Fearful that radical Jewish settlers will swoop and steal their olives, Palestinians are turning to an unlikely source of protection to secure this year’s desperately needed harvest. Several hundred Israelis, from left-wing activists to moderate Jewish settlers, regularly volunteer to help Palestinians pick olives, believing that …

RAMALLAH — Eighth-grader Thaer Shweikiyeh, who dreams of being a doctor one day, was excited about going back to school after the summer vacation. Instead, he’s been selling onions in the local farmers’ market for the past two months, and his new schoolbag remains untouched. Thaer is one of 800,000 …

WASHINGTON — President George W. Bush keeps revising his explanation for why the US is in Iraq, moving from narrow military objectives at first to history-of-civilisation stakes now. Initially, the rationale was specific: To stop Saddam Hussein from using what Bush claimed were the Iraqi leader’s weapons of mass destruction …

ISRAELI TROOPS KILLED eight Palestinian fighters in clashes in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, including seven from the Hamas group, amid a surge in violence in the coastal territory. In the past three days, 21 Palestinians have been killed in fighting in Gaza, the majority of them fighters, and two …