JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel denied on Wednesday its armed forces used ordnance with depleted uranium during the Gaza Strip offensive, and said that could be proven by any U.N. investigation. Responding to a letter from Arab envoys, the International Atomic Energy Agency said on Tuesday it would consult with member …
Read More »Israel prevents Abbas from bringing cash to Gaza
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel is preventing the Western-backed Palestinian Authority from transferring cash to the Gaza Strip to pay its workers and others hard-hit by war, Western and Palestinian officials said on Wednesday. The restrictions threatened to undercut the ability of President Mahmoud Abbas’s West Bank-based government to reassert a …
Read More »Iranian FM: Abbas Presidency Term Over
TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran believes that the presidency term of Mahmoud Abbas in the Palestinian self-rule government is over and that new parliamentary elections should be held in Palestine, said Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki here on Wednesday. “We think Mahmoud Abbas’ term in the self-rule government is over and new …
Read More »Israel completes Gaza troop withdrawal
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, …
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