GPL M/ EAST UPDATES FROM JAN 30…. NO. 151

MASSIVE HIZBULLAH ATTACK AGAINST ISRAELI TARGET THWARTED IN EUROPE : (Ha’aretz)
A massive terror attack by Hizbullah against an Israeli target in Europe has been thwarted in recent weeks, Israel Television Channel 2 reported Wednesday January 28, quoting security officials.

UN OFFICIAL BLASTS HAMAS FOR “CYNICAL” USE OF CIVILIAN FACILITIES : (DPA/Ha’aretz)
UN Humanitarian Affairs Chief John Holmes blasted Hamas Tuesday January 27, for its “cynical” use of civilian facilities during recent hostilities in Gaza.

ISRAEL’S CHIEF RABBINATE SEVERS TIES WITH THE VATICAN ” - Ian Deitch (AP/Washington Post)
Israel’s chief rabbinate severed ties with the Vatican on Wednesday Januar y 28, to protest a papal decision to reinstate Bishop Richard Williamson who publicly denied six million Jews were killed during the Holocaust.

EGYPT ATTACKS IRAN AND ALLIES IN ARAB WORLD :
Egypt aired its grievances against Iran, the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, and the Lebanese Shi’ite group Hizbullah, saying they worked together in the fighting over Gaza to provoke conflict in the Middle East. “(They tried) to turn the region to confrontation in the interest of Iran.

TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTER STRESSES STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE OF TIES WITH ISRAEL:
Relations between Turkey and Israel remain of “strategic” importance despite Ankara’s severe criticism of the Israeli offensive in Gaza, Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said Wednesday. Turkey and Israel have maintained contact throughout the crisis, the minister said, and stressed that Hamas should renounce violence. (Hurriyet-Turkey)

HAMAS REJECTS ISRAELI TRUCE PROPOSAL : - Ali Waked
Hamas rejected Wednesday January 28, the Israeli truce proposal, with particular opposition to Prime Minister Olmert’s demand that it be conditioned on progress in negotiations to bring home kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit. Hamas also rejects the establishment a 500-yard security corridor along Gaza’s border with Israel.

IAF RETALIATES FOR HAMAS ATTACK : by Hana Levi Julian
Israel Air Force (IAF) war planes struck a wanted terrorist in southern Gaza at midday Thursday in retaliation for his attack on an IDF patrol unit that killed a soldier two days earlier. The target, 25-year-old Machmad Uda Chamdan Samiri, was critically wounded in the strike, according to officials at Nasser Hospital in the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis. A second terrorist who was a passenger in Samiri’s vehicle was also injured in the strike.

IRANIAN ARMS SHIP DETAINED IN CYPRUS : - Menelaos Hadjicostis (AP)
A Cypriot-flagged container ship that was searched by U.S. forces in the Red Sea last week with a suspected Iranian arms shipment bound for Hamas in Gaza arrived in Cyprus on Thursday and was being searched.

LEADERS OF TURKEY AND ISRAEL CLASH AT DAVOS : - Katrin Bennhold (New York Times)
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey walked off the stage after an angry exchange with Israeli President Shimon Peres during a panel discussion on Gaza at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday January 29.

IRAN AND SYRIA TRYING TO REPLACE PLO : - Khaled Abu Toameh (Jerusalem Post)
The Palestinian Authority on Thursday January 29, accused Iran and Syria of encouraging Hamas and other radical groups to establish a new leadership that would challenge the PLO’s claim to be the “sole and legitimate” representative of the Palestinians. The PA is an organ of the PLO.

HAMAS WAS CRIMES IN GAZA : (Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
Evidence of Hamas’ war crimes, its exaggeration of civilian casualties and damage to property, its abuse of humanitarian aid and its intimidation of Gaza’s residents are finally coming to light. Civilian casualty figures from Hamas sources include as “children” teenage Hamas fighters and as “women” female terrorists. Most of the casualties were young men in their 20s. Hamas deliberately used the local population as human shields, a war crime.

ACCOUNT OF ISRAELI ATTACK ON GAZA DOESN’T HOLD UP TO SCRUTINY : - Patrick Martin
Most people remember the headlines: “Israeli Strike Kills Dozens at UN School.” On Jan. 6, mortar shells fired by advancing Israeli forces reportedly killed 43 civilians at the UNRWA school where they had taken refuge in Jabalya in Gaza. But the story was not quite accurate. Physical evidence and interviews with several eyewitnesses, including a teacher who was in the schoolyard at the time of the shelling, make it clear: While a few people were injured from shrapnel landing inside the UNRWA compound, no one in the compound was killed. Those who died in the incident were all outside, on the street. Stories of one or more shells landing inside the schoolyard were inaccurate. There was no Israeli shooting into a schoolyard crowded with refuge-seekers. (Globe and Mail-Canada)

SPANISH JUDGE PROBES ISRAEL’S 2002 ATTACK ON HAMAS TERRORIST : - Daniel Woolls
A Spanish judge on Thursday January 29 began an investigation into seven current or former Israeli officials over a 2002 bombing in Gaza that killed Hamas terrorist leader Salah Shehadeh - wanted for masterminding suicide bombings - and 14 other people. The judge is acting under a doctrine that allows prosecution in Spain of crimes against humanity, even if they were alleged to have been committed in another country. The suit was brought by a group of Palestinians. (AP)

GAZANS DESCRIBE BEING USED AS HUMAN SHIELDS BY HAMAS : - Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook
Members of a Gaza family whose farm was turned into a “fortress” by Hamas fighters have reported that they were helpless to stop Hamas from using them as human shields. The official PA daily, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, reported Tuesday January 27.

GAZA WAR JUST A SIDESHOW TO SUNNI-PERSIAN CONFLICT : - Emanuele Ottolenghi
The Gaza war forced regional players to take sides. Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and all the Gulf states but Qatar gave Hamas a cold shoulder. Hamas is, after all, a Sunni Arab movement that turned its back on its brothers to embrace the feared and loathed Shi’ite Persian foe. A tacit if grudging alliance is emerging between Israel and pro-Western Sunni rulers. The prospect of an Iran fomenting Islamist revolutions, wars and insurrections around the region under the cover of a nuclear umbrella is infinitely more terrifying (to the Arabs) than a Jewish state in the Arab heartland. The Arabs need Israel’s steel against Iran today. (Ha’aretz)

HAMAS : “GAZA VICTORY ” :
Senior Hamas official Isma’il Radhwan recently stated: “The Gaza victory has paved the way to Jerusalem, Haifa, Jaffa, the Negev, and the West Bank.” (MEMRI)

GAZANS DESCRIBE HAMAS USING SCHOOLS TO SHOOT ROCKETS AT ISRAEL : HAMAS TAKING CONTROL OF INTERNATIONAL AID : - Yaakov Katz (Jerusalem Post)
Nuaf Atar said Hamas set up rocket launchers and fired rockets into Israel from within school compounds since they knew Israel would not bomb the schools. Zabhi Atar revealed that Hamas used food coupons to entice Palestinians to join its ranks, and Hamad Zalah said Hamas took control of UNRWA food supplies transferred to Gaza and refused to distribute them to people affiliated with Fatah. These are examples of testimony from Hamas and Islamic Jihad men who were captured by the IDF during the recent operation in Gaza.

FREED LEBANESE TERRORIST VISITS IRAN : DESTROY ISRAEL! : (AFP)
The disgusting and obscene convicted murderer Samir Kantar, who was released by Israel in a prisoner swap last year, called for the destruction of Israel during a visit to Tehran on Thursday January29. “We have to resist the Zionist regime and destroy it,” Kantar said in a speech before being honored by Iranian President Ahmadinejad.

HAMAS LEADERS MEET IN TEHERAN by Avraham Zuroff
A delegation of senior Hamas terrorists headed by Khaled Maashal, the group’s Damascus-based political bureau chief, arrived early Sunday morning February 1, in Tehran for talks with Iran’s top spiritual leader, according to Hamas official Izzat al-Rishq. The delegation will meet with Ayatollah Ali Khomeini and with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Hamas official told the Reuters news agency.

IAF RESPONDS TO HAMAS SHELLS : by Hillel Fendel
Following a mortar attack by Gaza terrorists on the Eshkol Regional Council Monday morning January 26, the Israel Air Force targeted a car in Gaza, killing one and wounding three. Israel officially said that it does not plan to resume its war against Hamas, however. A second mortar attack on the Eshkol region followed the Israeli bombing. No one was hurt in either mortar attack, nor was damage reported. Fighting was heavy in the past 24 hours as well. Gaza terrorists fired at least four short-range Kassam rockets into Israel - including one that landed between two kindergartens - as well as four mortar shells; no one was hurt. The IAF bombed Hamas targets during the night, including a base in northern Gaza and six weapons-smuggling tunnels.

JEWS FOREWARNED AGAINST ATTACK : By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
The government’s Counterterrorism Bureau has issued a worldwide warning that Hizbullah is planning to abduct or kill Israeli officials towards the anniversary of the elimination of its terrorist mastermind Imad Mughniyeh last February 12.
Security officials last week revealed they foiled an imminent Hizbullah attack in an unnamed European city

IDF KILLS TERRORIST SNIPER : by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Israel Defense Forces shot and killed an Arab sniper between Arad and Hevron Monday morning January 26. None of the soldiers was wounded.

EGYPT PRESSING HAMAS TO ACCEPT CEASEFIRE BEFORE ISRAELI ELECTIONS :
Egypt is pressing a Hamas delegation now in Cairo to accept by this Thursday February 5, the terms for a ceasefire proposed by Israel, which includes the release of captured IDF soldier Gilad Schalit, a move that could boost the center/left Kadima and Labor parties in next week’s national elections. Senior Hamas official Ali Barakei said, however, that Israel’s demands were excessive and would likely delay any agreement.

TURKEY’S ROLE AS MEDIATOR HARMED BY ERDOGAN OUTBURST :
Israel to wait for new leader in Ankara to broker Syria talks Turkey’s role in mediating the Israeli-Syrian talks has been compromised by its leader’s repeated censure of the IDF’s recent offensive in the Gaza Strip, an Israeli government official said Monday.

HAGUE COURT TO EXPLORE ISRAEL “WAR CRIMES” :
The International Criminal Court at the Hague is exploring ways to prosecute Israeli commanders over alleged war crimes in Gaza, The Times (of London) reported Monday February 2. Included in the alleged crimes is Israel’s use of white phosphorus in densely populated civilian areas.

IAF STRIKING SMUGGLING TUNNELS ON GAZA BORDER :
Israeli jets attacked smuggling tunnels and other Palestinian militia targets in Khan Yunis and Rafah in southern Gaza on Tuesday afternoon February 3, several hours after a Grad-type rocket landed in Ashkelon. Around dusk, a car was hit in the Rafah area at the southern Gaza border with Sinai, while earlier a Hamas outpost east of Khan Yunis was destroyed.

NETANYAHU VOWS TO STOP ROCKET FIRE AND TOPPLE HAMAS :
Addressing a critical campaign issue just days ahead of Israel’s national elections, Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday February 3 vowed that a government led by him would overthrow the Hamas regime and end the rocket fire emanating from the Gaza Strip.

IRAN CLAIMS FIRST SATELLITE LAUNCH INTO ORBIT :
Iran has successfully launched its first domestically-produced satellite into orbit on Tuesday February 3, Iranian news agencies reported, a move that has Israel and other Western countries concerned Tehran’s fledgling space program is really cover for developing intercontinental ballistic missiles.

MITCHELL WANTS HIS OWN OFFICE IN JERUSALEM :
Former US Sen. George Mitchell, the Obama administration’s new special envoy for Middle East peace, has asked to open his own office in the region to deal with day-to-day developments between Israel, the Palestinians and neighboring states, signaling a desire for greater American hands-on involvement in negotiations.