GAZA PALIS ARE BARAK OBAMA'S BIGGEST FANS

ALGERIAN SUICIDE BOMBERS HEAD FOR ISRAEL

Algeria: Eight would-be suicide bombers 'headed to Gaza', says report (ADN Kronos) (Hat Tip: Atlas Shrugs)

Algiers, 10 March (AKI) - Eight would-be suicide bombers left eastern Algeria a few days ago and are reportedly heading to the Gaza Strip to commit suicide attacks against Israeli soldiers, reported pan Arab daily al-Sharq al-Awsat on Monday.

The young men reportedly left their homes days ago without saying anything to their families.

Reportedly, their intent is to join Hamas' armed wing, the Izzadin al-Qassam brigades, considered a terrorist organisation by the European Union, the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom.

The report said that after a few days, two of the would-be bombers reached Gaza and called their parents saying they were in good health and that they wanted "to carry out a suicide attack against the Jews."

The eight men, aged between 18 and 24 come from the village of al-Raqiba in the province of Wadi, about 600 kilometres from the capital Algiers.

U.N. RIGHTS COUNCIL CONDEMNS....ISRAEL

UN Rights Council Condemns Israel - Eliane Engeler
The UN Human Rights Council on Thursday approved a resolution sponsored by Pakistan and Muslim countries condemning Israel's offensive in Gaza. Israel launched the offensive last week in response to Palestinian militants barraging southern Israel with rockets. (AP)

Statement by Israeli Ambassador to UN Human Rights Council - Amb. Itzhak Levanon
I cannot compete with the exaggerations, distortions and inaccuracies I have heard here. The truth is that the Hamas terrorists took over Gaza by force and established an irredentist entity. They have smuggled lethal weapons into this territory with the sole purpose to kill Israelis. Since the beginning of this year, in only two months, they have fired 671 missiles at civilians, women and children. They received these missiles from countries in the Middle East, such as the Iranian-made 122mm Grad missile. Hamas is committing war crimes and collectively punishing a population of a quarter of a million citizens living in Ashkelon, Sderot, the Negev, and Netivot. They call for the physical destruction of my country and translate these words into deeds. They brought al-Qaeda to Gaza, a fact confirmed by Mahmoud Abbas.

The truth is that in the 12 resolutions regarding the Palestinian-Israeli situation that have been passed by this Council, not one has made even passing mention of the relentless aggression against Israel. Not one of them has called explicitly to halt the deluge of Kassam rockets and Grad missiles. Not one of them attempted to recognize that Palestinians do not have a monopoly on suffering; not one of them acknowledged that the children of Israel have the same right to safety as Palestinian children. Not one of them attempted to empathize with the cries of an Israeli mother protecting her children, or the fear and trauma experienced while running to a bomb shelter, know that only 30 seconds separates you from death. (Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

"INNOCENT" CIVILIAN HOME WAS GAZA ROCKET FACTORY

"Innocent" Civilian Home Was Assembly Line for Gaza Rockets - Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff (Ha'aretz)
During the recent IDF operation in Gaza, Lt.-Col. Nir Ben-David noticed three Palestinians in civilian clothing entering a house at the edge of Jabalya. Using two Kalashnikov rifles and an RPG missile, the three then opened fire in the direction of the Israeli forces.  If it wants to, Hamas will clash with the army in uniform and with weapons. Yet, if it so desires, it can also shed its uniforms, enter houses, and pull out weapons from a cache.

In the battle for public opinion, Israel's explanation that civilian members of the Atallah family were killed in an Israel Air Force bombing in Gaza because they chose to build an assembly line for Kassam rockets in their home did not penetrate.   The fact that Hamas shelled the Sufa crossing at a time when 60 trucks with food were entering Gaza remained unreported.

EGPYT BUILDS WALL WITH GAZA

SECURITY FENCE OR WALL?  I WONDER WHAT THE WORLD REACTION WOULD BE IF ISRAEL BUILT A FENCE TO PROTECT ITSELF AGAINST TERRORISTS?  HMMMMM....

Egypt builds new wall along Gaza (CNN)
RAFAH, Egypt (AP) -- Egypt is building a 13-foot (3.96 m) high concrete and rock wall interspersed with watch towers along its narrow boundary with the Gaza to prevent Hamas militants from breaching the border, an official said Thursday.

The wall, set back nearly 35 feet (10.67 m) from an existing metal barrier, has guard towers every 100 yards. With it, Egypt hopes to prevent any future breaches like one in January when Palestinians broke through to escape an Israeli blockade, a security official said on customary condition of anonymity.

SOLDIER AMBUSHED, KILLED AT GAZA BORDER

IDF Jeep Ambushed on Israeli Side of Gaza Border, One Soldier Killed - Amos Harel and Mijal Grinberg
An Israel Defense Forces soldier was killed and another seriously wounded when Palestinian militants blew up an IDF jeep patrolling the Gaza border on Thursday. The jeep blew up as it passed over explosives next to Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha on the Israeli side of the border. Rescue units came under Palestinian gunfire. (Ha'aretz)

HAMAS DECLARES "VICTORY." ORWELL SMILES.

Hamas Declares Victory in Gaza Fighting - Griff Witte
Following five days of combat that left at least 117 Palestinians and three Israelis dead, Hamas declared victory and held a celebratory rally in Gaza City. "I wish them many more such victories," said Mark Regev, spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Olmert. "I have no doubt that the incursion... succeeded in hurting the Hamas military machine. I also have no illusions that it's over." Israel has accused Hamas of intentionally choosing to store and launch its rockets in heavily populated areas, turning civilians into human shields. (Washington Post)

ISRAEL LETS HUMANITARIAN AID INTO GAZA

Israel lets humanitarian aid into Gaza (JPost)
In an effort to ease the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, Israel opened the crossings along the southern border with Gaza on Tuesday, allowing dozens of trucks packed with aid and medical supplies to stream into the territory.

Over 160 trucks crossed into southern Gaza at the Kerem Shalom Crossing and the Sufa Crossing. It was the first shipment to pass into the territory since a surge of terror warnings forced Israel to close the border seven weeks ago.

WILL ISRAEL RE-OCCUPY GAZA?

'We'll reoccupy Gaza if necessary' (JPost)
Israel has informed foreign diplomats that it would reoccupy Hamas-ruled Gaza if necessary, though it prefers not to do so, the Foreign Ministry said Tuesday, as the IDF operated against defiant Gaza rocket squads.

Israel is contemplating a reoccupation of Gaza even as it makes efforts to make peace with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who controls the West Bank. On Sunday, Abbas called off talks with Israel to protest the high death toll from the IDF's latest incursion into Gaza. Palestinians reported more than 120 dead in the military campaign.

Israeli leaders have signaled that a broad invasion of Gaza is in the works to halt rocket fire that is striking closer to Israel's center.

In a meeting Monday with foreign diplomats based in Israel, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni did not rule out an Israeli reoccupation of the Strip, home to 1.4 million Palestinians. Israel pulled its settlers and troops out of Gaza in 2005, and last June, Hamas violently seized control there.

ISRAEL REJECTS HAMAS PLEA FOR CEASE-FIRE

Israel rejects truce with Hamas (JTA)
Israel rejected Hamas' request for a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip.

Israel's Army Radio reported Monday that the Olmert government received a truce offer from Hamas over the weekend, at the height of fighting in Gaza.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert rejected the overture, apparently conveyed through intermediaries, though two members of his Cabinet said it should be considered.

Tzahi Hanegbi, the chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee and an Olmert confidant, anticipated no change in Israel's refusal to talk to an Islamist group sworn to its destruction.

"Those who favor a truce are like a man who falls off a 100-story building and, upon reaching the 10th floor, says 'So far, so good,'" Hanegbi told Army Radio.

"Out of 23 ministers, I know of two who support this," he said. "It just won't happen. What has to happen is that the Cabinet makes a decision that the armed forces should go out on a campaign to bring down the Hamas regime."

E.U. CONDEMNS ISRAELI ATTACKS ON GAZA

EU Condemns Israeli Attacks on Gaza
EU president Slovenia on Sunday condemned Israel's attacks on Palestinians in Gaza as disproportionate and violating international law. The statement also condemned the firing of rockets by Palestinians from Gaza into Israel. (Reuters)

Israel's Statement to the Security Council on Palestinian Rocket Fire from Gaza - Daniel Carmon (Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

Israeli Charge d'Affaires Daniel Carmon told an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on Saturday:

• Israel has exercised restraint for many months now. This has been in spite of the constant firing of rockets and mortar shells on our towns and villages in southern Israel, every single hour, every single day. While Israel has been showing restraint, Hamas has showed no intention of ceasing its vicious attacks. Since Wednesday, more than 150 rockets were fired at Israel, dozens in the past 24 hours alone. More than a quarter of a million Israeli citizens are in the range of the deadly and murderous weapons of Hamas. The government of Israel should thus not apologize for protecting its citizens.
• No responsible member state would sit back in silence and do nothing as its citizens and territory are under constant attack. The alarms in Sderot - and now Ashkelon - gave Israeli civilians less than 15 seconds before the rocket slams into their lives, their homes, hospitals, kindergartens, schools, and playgrounds. And their lives are destroyed forever.
• Hamas not only seeks to kill Israelis; it has no concern for its own civilians. It fires rockets from populated civilian areas, using their civilians as human shields. This is a war crime against both Israelis and Palestinians. The Palestinians in Gaza are victims of Hamas' regime of terror. It is not only Israelis. We are all being held hostage by Hamas, the real and only occupier in Gaza through its terror.
• There should be no doubt in our minds that Hamas' true vision is the extermination of the State of Israel, and not to live peacefully side by side with us. It does not even seek to restore normalcy for the sake of the people of Gaza. Hamas bears sole responsibility for the violence.
• Sitting on the sidelines will only embolden the extremists and convince them that they should not stop their violence. Israel expects the international community to support us in our protection of our people.

Prime Minister: Striking at Hamas Increases Chance for Peace - Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
Prime Minister Olmert told the Cabinet Sunday: "The State of Israel has no intention of halting counter-terrorism actions even for a second....We will act...without respite in order to strike at the terrorist organizations - Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the others, including their leaders, those who dispatch them, those who provide their weapons, those who allow them in to act in given places, according to the outline that we will choose."

"I have recently heard criticism and claims that civilians are being hurt, that the State of Israel is using too much force....Nobody has the right to preach morality to the State of Israel for taking basic action to defend itself and prevent hundreds of thousands of residents of the south from continuing to be exposed to incessant firing that disrupts their lives."

"Striking at Hamas strengthens the chance for peace. The more that Hamas is hit, the greater the chances of reaching a diplomatic agreement and peace. It is clear to me that...the Palestinian leadership with whom we are trying to make peace understands this." (Prime Minister's Office)

Israeli Action in Gaza Met by Loud Silence from Arab World - Zvi Bar'el (Ha'aretz)
Palestinian Information Minister Riad al-Malki responded to Israel Defense Forces raids against militants firing rockets from Gaza by saying: "Hamas gave Israel an excuse to start a war in Gaza."

Mahmoud Abbas said that the "operation in Gaza is not just a reaction to the rocket barrage." Both comments can be interpreted as Palestinian backing of the Israel Defense Forces ground incursion.

Moreover, the very mild Egyptian reaction also indicates that the IDF raid is perceived by the Arab world to be first and foremost a war against Hamas, not the Palestinian people.

The fact that Al Jazeera devoted a whole episode of a popular debate show to the question "Why are the Palestinians keeping silent about the situation in Gaza?" also serves to prove this point.

NO MORE FEELING GUILTY

Yossi Klein Halevi: No more feeling guilty (JTA)
Writing in the Los Angeles Times, Yossi Klein Halevi tells how continuing Palestinian violence has cured him of being a “guilty Israeli.”

In the early 1990s, while serving as a reservist soldier in Gaza, I became a guilty Israeli. By day, my unit patrolled the refugee camps where sewage flowed in rivulets and old men stared with hatred and children with despair. By night, we entered bedrooms and retrieved suspects whose offenses ranged from membership in terror organizations to failure to pay a water bill. More policemen than soldiers, we found ourselves enforcing an occupation whose threat to Israel’s Jewish and democratic values had become unbearable.

According to Halevi, it’s not just him, thanks to a series of diplomatic betrayals and violent attacks.

The result of all this is that today the guilty Israeli has become nearly extinct. Just as we came to realize during the first intifada that the occupation was untenable, so we have now come to realize that peace is impossible with Palestinian leaders for whom reconciliation is a one-way process.

Now, he says, the true test will be what happens in Gaza.

So long as Gaza refuses to heal itself, Israelis will rightly suspect that the Palestinian goal remains Israel’s destruction. Not even a full withdrawal from the West Bank, they fear, will end the war, any more than the pullout from Gaza stopped the rockets. Israel’s crime isn’t occupying but existing.

And so we move toward the next terrible round of conflict. This time, though, for all our anguish, we will feel a lot less remorse. Because even guilty Israelis realize that, until our neighbors care more about building their state than undermining ours, the misery of Gaza will persist.

IDF LAUNCHES RAIDS ON GAZA

47 Palestinians killed during ongoing IDF raids in Gaza Strip (JPost)
Two IDF soldiers were killed and five others wounded during a military operation meant to combat the ongoing Palestinian rocket fire on Israeli cities in the western Negev. Forty-seven Palestinians have been killed on Saturday and at least 40 were wounded throughout the day.

One soldier was killed when a Palestinian threw an explosive device towards him and
the second soldier was killed during a gun battle that had ensued between his force and Palestinian terrorists.

St.-Sgt. Maj. Doron Asulin, 20, from Beersheba and St.-Sgt. Maj. Eran Dan-Gur, 20, from Jerusalem are the two soldiers killed during Saturday's events. Both troops served in the Givati Brigade's reconnaissance battalion. Their families have been notified of their deaths.

Of the five troops lightly-to moderately wounded, one was an officer.

According to Palestinian sources, at least 16 of those killed were civilians, including a baby reported to have been struck when a Palestinian rocket misfired, as well as two teenagers. Palestinian gunmen bombarded Israel with at least 44 rockets and mortar rounds the evening, undeterred by Israeli troops backed by tanks and attack aircrafts.

Later Saturday evening, the IAF bombed a truck filled with over a hundred rockets as well as several terrorists. It was unknown whether they were killed.

Meanwhile, IDF Chief of General Staff Lt. -Gen Gabi Ashkenazi, as well as other members of the army's general staff, were meeting with defense officials in Jerusalem to discuss the escalation of violence on Saturday evening, Army Radio reported.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was set to meet with defense officials including Defense Minister Ehud Barak and the military and Shin Bet heads to listen to evaluations and suggestions relating to the situation.

In all, 77 Palestinians have been killed since clashes between Israel and Hamas terrorists sparked Wednesday when an Israeli student at Sapir College in Sderot was killed by a Kassam rocket.

Bloody Israeli-Hamas clashes escalate in Gaza (MSNBC)
A least 54 Palestinians killed in fighting ahead of Rice visit
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Israeli troops backed by tanks and aircraft went after Gaza militants who bombarded southern Israel with rockets and mortars Saturday, killing 54 Palestinians in the deadliest day in Gaza since Islamic Hamas militants seized control in June.

As many as two dozen civilians died in the fighting, including at least two babies and two children. Two Israel soldiers were also killed. Gaza Health Ministry official Dr. Moaiya Hassanain said 160 people were wounded and 14 were in critical condition.

The intense battles pushed the Palestinian death toll to 76 since fighting flared Wednesday. About 40 of them were civilians.

ISRAEL WARNS GAZA INVASION IMPENDING

Israel warns Gaza invasion impending (AP)
ASHKELON, Israel - Israel's deputy defense minister warned on Friday of a disaster in the Gaza Strip after Israel activated an air raid system to protect a major city from increasingly threatening Palestinian rocket barrages.

As Israeli troops, tanks and aircraft went after Palestinian rocket operations, Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai told Army Radio that Israel had "no other choice" but to launch a massive military operation in Gaza.

"As the rocket fire grows, and the range increases ... they are bringing upon themselves a greater 'shoah' because we will use all our strength in every way we deem appropriate, whether in airstrikes or on the ground," Vilnai told Army Radio.

The Hebrew word "shoah" is most often associated with the Holocaust but Israelis use it to describe all sorts of disasters. A spokesman for Vilnai, Eitan Ginzburg, said the deputy defense minister never intended it as a reference to the Holocaust but used the word "shoah" to denote a disaster.....

The Israeli military has completed its preparations for a major ground offensive and notified the government it is ready to move immediately when the order is given, Israeli defense officials said. But Israel does not intend to launch a major ground offensive in the next week or two, partly because the military prefers to wait for clearer weather, they said, speaking on customary condition of anonymity.

Israel Prepares International Opinion for Assault on Gaza - Herb Keinon
As Hamas drew Ashkelon into the circle of communities coming under heavy rocket attacks, Defense Minister Barak and the Foreign Ministry on Thursday began preparing both Israeli and world opinion for the possibility of a large-scale incursion into Gaza. According to defense sources, the goals of such an operation would not "merely" be to reduce the threat of rocket fire and rocket manufacturing in Gaza, but would also likely entail paralyzing the Hamas government's ability to operate. Barak told Quartet envoy Tony Blair and Egyptian intelligence head Omar Suleiman that Israel could not tolerate the current level of rocket fire without offering a wider response.

Foreign Minister Livni said "there is no moral equivalence between terrorists and those fighting them, even if during those actions innocent civilians are accidentally killed. In these cases the world should not come to us - there is only one address for the Palestinian situation in Gaza and for what is likely to happen there in the future - and it is Hamas." (Jerusalem Post)

Palestinians Bringing Tragedy Upon Themselves - Marty Peretz
Let no one be deluded. Hamas is bruising for a war, and Israel will oblige. Sooner rather than later. Katyusha rockets hit the city of Ashkelon, which dates to deep antiquity and is now home to 120,000 people. The attacks on Ashkelon signify that Hamas' capacity now has longer range and greater accuracy. (This is a forewarning to the Israelis about what might happen if they were to hand over the West Bank to the Palestinians. After all, what guarantees could there be that Israel's population centers - Jerusalem, Tel Aviv - will not be similarly exposed and endangered?)

When the Israel Defense Forces enter Gaza, their goal will be to obliterate Hamas' military strength. But this has been implanted among the civilian population in order to obstruct an Israeli retaliation. The Israelis will restrain themselves as much as they can. But the victims of the fighting will also include Palestinian civilians, who will have brought their tragedy on themselves. (New Republic)

Insatiable Extremism - Editorial
Israel is gone from Gaza. Yet Hamas has intensified its attacks on Israel. A mindset that loathes Israel more than it seeks its own freedom will not be remade by Israeli withdrawal or endless international funding and sympathy. A leadership inciting against Israel in its media, mosques and school system will not be rejected by the Palestinian public so long as much of that population is mired in a bigotry that inculcates permanent victimhood, refuses to recognize any shred of justice to Israel's sovereign claims, and extols the virtues of violence and death.

What the Hamas-inspired murderous rocket fire across the Gaza border should long since have made plain to all is that even territory cleared of every last vestige of Israeli presence does not sate the appetite of the Islamists - who happen to constitute the parliamentary leadership freely elected by the Palestinian public. (Jerusalem Post)

Little Enthusiasm to Reoccupy Gaza - Herb Keinon
Barak is unlikely to initiate a large-scale ground invasion to reoccupy Gaza. While there is a need to secure the border between Egypt and Gaza, and while he may penetrate into Gaza to more effectively strike out at Hamas' infrastructure, there is little enthusiasm in either the defense establishment or the Prime Minister's Office about going in to reoccupy Gaza. Ironically, the party at this moment most eager to see the IDF march back into Gaza is Fatah, which would like nothing more than for Israel to do its dirty work: smash Hamas and then hand Gaza to Fatah on a silver platter. The Israeli public, however, will have little stomach for losing the lives of its soldiers in order to deliver Gaza to Mahmoud Abbas. (Jerusalem Post)

ISRAEL STRIKES BACK

Israel steps up pressure on Hamas, killing 20 (MSNBC)
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - A bloody spike in Israel-Hamas fighting put the Israeli city of Ashkelon and its 110,000 residents at the center of an intensifying militant rocket barrage Thursday — and Israel's defense minister warned he would invade Gaza, if necessary, to halt the attacks.

Israel sent a not-so-veiled warning to Gaza's Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, killing 20 Palestinians in almost a dozen airstrikes, including a missile attack on a guard post outside Haniyeh's home. Hamas leaders have been in hiding in recent weeks, though Israel has so far only targeted militants, not Hamas politicians.

Those killed on Thursday included members of rocket squads, as well as five children, ranging in age from 8 to 12, who their relatives said were playing soccer when they were killed in a missile strike.

ABBAS: AL QAEDA IN GAZA

Abbas Contradicts UN on Terrorism

ABE GREENWALD - (CONTENTIONS)

One day after the UN released a report intended to cast Palestinian terrorism as an “inevitable” and righteous response to Israeli aggression distinct from the morally and strategically unjustifiable terrorism orchestrated by al Qaeda, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas hascharged that al Qaeda is in fact working with the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas.

In yesterday’s UN report, John Dugard states:

[C]ommon sense . . . dictates that a distinction must be drawn between acts of mindless terror, such as acts committed by al-Qaida, and acts committed in the course of a war of national liberation against colonialism, apartheid or military occupation.

Today, Mahmoud Abbas says:

Al-Qaeda is present in Gaza and I’m convinced that they [Hamas] are their allies. . .I can say without doubt that al-Qaeda is present in the Palestinian territories and that this presence, especially in Gaza, is facilitated by Hamas.

Israeli authorities have long accused Hamas of working with al Qaeda, but Abbas’ announcement marks the first time that a Palestinian statesman has agreed with the Israeli charges.

With Dugard’s report exposed as terrorist-coddling, anti-Israel fiction, there’s no telling how far he’ll go at the UN.

RICE: STOP ROCKETS FROM GAZA FIRST

Olmert, Rice discuss Gaza crisis (JTA)
Ehud Olmert and Condoleezza Rice agreed that stopping terrorist rocket fire from the Gaza Strip takes priority over relieving the Palestinian plight there.

The Israeli prime minister and U.S. secretary of state held a breakfast meeting Thursday in Japan, where their paths crossed during separate official visits.

Rice, who will travel to Israel and the West Bank next week to promote a U.S. initiative for helping the Palestinian economy, told Olmert she was concerned about the humanitarian situation in Gaza amid a surge in fighting this week.

"I am concerned about the humanitarian conditions there and innocent people in the Gaza who are being hurt. We have to remember that the Hamas activities there are responsible for what has happened in Gaza," Rice told reporters, referring to cross-rocket attacks by the Islamist group.

"The issue is that the attacks -- rocket attacks -- need to stop," she said.

Responding to stepped-up attacks, Israeli forces killed 18 Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank in several airstrikes Thursday.

Olmert, who was to fly home later Thursday, indicated that Israel's current priority is crushing the rocket threat rather than relieving Gaza's civilian problems.

"We are at the height of the fighting," he said. "We will make the terrorists pay a very painful price."

Rice Demands End to Rocket Attacks
U.S. Secretary of State Rice, meeting Israeli Prime Minister Olmert in Tokyo, called for an end to Palestinian rocket attacks on Israeli territory from Gaza. Asked whether she advised Olmert to prevent the military from using disproportionate force in Gaza, Rice said: "I think that's not a good way to address this issue. The issue is that the rocket attacks need to stop.'' Rice will visit Israel and the West Bank next week to help accelerate Middle East peace talks. (Bloomberg)

See also Rice Tells Olmert She's Concerned about Gaza Civilians - Arshad Mohammed
Secretary of State Rice voiced concern on Thursday about Palestinian civilians killed by Israeli attacks in Gaza, but stopped short of an explicit call for Israel to exercise restraint. "I am concerned about the humanitarian condition there and innocent people in Gaza who are being hurt. We have to remember that the Hamas activities there are responsible for what has happened in Gaza," she said. (Reuters)

HAMAS ATTACKS WOMAN STUDENT AT GAZA UNIV. - WITH AXE

Hamas attacks woman student in Gaza university - with an axe

(Elder of Ziyon) The near-total news blackout that Hamas enforces on Gaza makes it very hard to find stories like these. IMEMC reports: Sources within Fateh movement reported on Monday that Hamas security forces attacked a with an axe female student of Al Azhar University in Gaza after breaking into the campus. The sources stated that Hamas gunmen and security men broke into Al Azhar University and struck Tharwat Abdul-Qader with an axe on her head inflicting serious wounds. Fateh stated that this attack is part of several recent attempts carried by Hamas-controlled forces and gunmen to control facilities controlled by Fateh movement. The Fatah-leaning Al-Hayat al-Jadida (Arabic) mentions the attack, saying that the university re-opened today after the incident. Al-Hayat makes it sound like the student was struck in the chest with a hatchet.

GAZA MOVING TO EGYPT'S ELECTRICAL GRID

GAZA CONTINUES ITS MARCH TO RETURNING TO EGYPT. ISRAEL HAS BEEN HOPING TO UNLOAD THIS CESSPOOL ON EGYPT SINCE 1967. IF THE PALIS WANT A STATE, IT CAN BE IN PARTS OF THE WEST BANK. NO NEED TO INCORPORATE GAZA ANYMORE OR CONNECT THE WEST BANK TO GAZA (BISECTING ISRAEL).

'Financing secured to hook Gaza to Egypt's electricity grid' (YNet)
The Palestinian government plans to connect more areas of the Gaza Strip to the Egyptian electricity grid, the head of the Palestinian Energy Authority said Tuesday, a move that would reduce the area's reliance on Israel for power.

The proposal also would bolster Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' claim to represent Gaza, which was taken over last June by the Hamas militant group after routing Abbas' forces. Abbas now rules from the West Bank and wields little control over Gaza.

Abbas' energy chief, Omar Qattaneh, said the authority has secured financing from the Islamic Development Bank in Saudi Arabia for the $32 million project, which would be able to distribute up to 250 megawatts, or a large part of the area's needs. He said bids would be published in the coming days, and the project could be completed in 12 to 18 months.

It was not clear whether Egypt could provide this much electricity. There was no immediate comment from Egypt. Israeli defense officials also were not immediately available for comment.

Gaza currently receives most of its power from Israel, and its dependence has been highlighted by fuel and power reductions imposed by Israel last month to put economic pressure on Hamas. The sanctions are a response to repeated rocket attacks launched by Gaza militants.

Hamas spokesman Taher Nunu welcomed the proposal, despite the lingering tensions with Abbas' government. "We welcome any project that links us to our Arab brothers and ends our relations with the occupation," he said. He said Hamas officials also have raised the idea with Egypt of boosting power supplies to Gaza.

AL QAEDA ENTERS GAZA FROM EGYPT

'Al-Qaida entered Gaza during breach' (JPost)
Dozens of terrorists - among them Al-Qaida operatives - managed to infiltrate the Gaza Strip after Hamas breached the border with Egypt in January, OC Military Intelligence Maj.-Gen. Amos Yadlin said Tuesday.

Speaking at the weekly meeting of the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Yadlin said the breach also "enabled Hamas to bring back those who had left for training in Syria and Iran, including snipers, explosives experts, rocket experts and engineers." Copious amounts of weaponry had also been smuggled in, he added.