News Middle East
Israeli forces seize Gaza aid ship
The Israeli navy has captured and diverted a ship from Lebanon carrying more than 60 tonnes of aid to the Gaza Strip.
Al Jazeera's correspondent aboard the Al-Ikhwa (The Brotherhood) ship said the navy first opened fire, then five Israeli soldiers boarded the ship, beating and threatening the passengers.
"They are pointing guns against us - they are kicking us and beating us. They are threatening our lives," Al Jazeera's Salam Khoder said.
Communications with the ship broke off shortly thereafter.
According to the owner of the vessel, the Israelis destroyed its communication equipment and confiscated the phones of those on board.
The Israeli military told Al Jazeera it had captured the Lebanese vessel and taken it to Ashdod, where authorities were examining its cargo. The passengers and crew, meanwhile, were being questioned by police.
Warnings 'disregarded'
In a statement, the Israeli military said it had warned the ship on Wednesday night against entering Gaza's coastal waters.
"During today's morning hours, the cargo ship changed its bearing, and began heading towards the Gaza Strip .... disregarding all warnings made," it said.
The Lebanese president has condemned Israel's seizure of the aid ship [AFP]Al-Ikhwa, which originally set sail from Cyprus, left the Lebanese port city of Tripoli on Tuesday.
Maan Bashour, an aid co-ordinator for the group End the Blockade of Gaza, said the ship was carrying medical equipment, food supplies and books, toys and milk for small children.
"This ship was searched in Cyprus and in Lebanon," Bashour told Al Jazeera in Beirut, Lebanon. "And we were very eager to let it be searched by Lebanese and Cypriot authorities in order that there be no reason for the Israelis to prevent it from going to Gaza."
Foud Siniora, Lebanon's president, condemned the attack on Al-Ikhwa, emphasising that it was on a humanitarian mission to Gaza.
"It is no surprise for Israel to perpetrate such an action as it has been accustomed to ignoring all international resolutions and values," he said during a speech in Beirut.
"I made a number of necessary phone calls with international parties in order to exert pressures on Israel which is violating laws. I hold Israel responsible for the safety of the ship and passengers. "
Source:
Al Jazeera
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Israeli forces regularly carry out raids in the occupied West Bank
Israeli forces regularly carry out raids in the occupied West Bank
[GALLO/GETTY
The Israeli military has reportedly killed a commander of al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian faction Islamic Jihad, in the West Bank town of Qabatiya, south of Jenin.
Israeli troops raided the home of Alaa Abu al-Rab, 21, early on Thursday, killing him almost immediately, sources told Al Jazeera.
Abu al-Rab's father told Al Jazeera that the Israeli soldiers deliberately showered him with bullets - in the face, the abdomen and the back - instead of attempting to arrest him.
He said the family was then forced to stand outside for several hours during cold weather while their house was vandalised.
Abu al-Rab had been arrested by the Israeli military in the past, and had been wanted by Israel for a year and half.
The Israeli military said it arrived at the home to find Abu al-Rab fully armed. It said that he had also been planning attacks against Israel.
Palestinian medical sources confirmed Abu al-Rab died from multiple bullet wounds.
Source:
Al Jazeera and agencies
Israeli troops raided the home of Alaa Abu al-Rab, 21, early on Thursday, killing him almost immediately, sources told Al Jazeera.
Abu al-Rab's father told Al Jazeera that the Israeli soldiers deliberately showered him with bullets - in the face, the abdomen and the back - instead of attempting to arrest him.
He said the family was then forced to stand outside for several hours during cold weather while their house was vandalised.
Abu al-Rab had been arrested by the Israeli military in the past, and had been wanted by Israel for a year and half.
The Israeli military said it arrived at the home to find Abu al-Rab fully armed. It said that he had also been planning attacks against Israel.
Palestinian medical sources confirmed Abu al-Rab died from multiple bullet wounds.
Source:
Al Jazeera and agencies
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Netanyahu vows to topple Hamas
Netanyahu is widely tipped to become Israel's next prime minister [AFP]
Benjamin Netanyahu, widely tipped to become Israel's prime minister after elections next week, has vowed to topple the Hamas movement in Gaza, calling the Palestinian group an "Iranian proxy".
Addressing the annual Herzliya security conference on Wednesday, Netanyahu said: "In the end of the day there will be no choice but to remove the Iranian threat in Gaza.
"There will be no escape from toppling the Hamas regime which is the Iranian proxy in the Gaza Strip," he said. "This is the real threat we are facing.
"If I'm elected, the biggest, most important task of my government will be to fend off the Iranian threat in all aspects," he said.
"It will oblige us to work on all fronts, including harnessing the US administration to stop the threat."
The 59-year-old leader of the Likud party, which is expected to have the most seats in the 120-member parliament after next Tuesday's vote, said the divided Palestinians were too weak for a peace deal.
Unity pledge
"Palestinian society is deeply divided ... They are not strong enough to accept minimal concessions for a peace deal and are not strong enough to fight terror," he said.
"The reality is very clear - any territory we evacuate today will be taken over by Iran," he said, alluding to Israel's withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, which he opposed.
Netanyahu vowed to form a unity government if he wins the elections.
In video
Security dominates Israel's elections
"If elected, I intend to unite all central powers in the country in a national unity government," he said.
"I will turn to our natural allies, but that is not enough. We must unite the entire nation and I will turn to all Zionist parties because, in the face of Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas, the social and economic challenges, we will have to stand together."
Interviewed on Al Jazeera, Shmuel Sandler, a political scientist at Jerusalem's Bar Ilan University, said: "When a country the size of Iran wants to go for nuclear weapons and at the same time it calls for the destruction of the state of Israel, the conclusion is very clear: That Iran might use its nuclear capabilities against the Jewish state. "We should not ignore such a threat. We once ignored it in Europe and we suffered very seriously." On whether Israel might launch a pre-emptive attack, Sandler said: "This depends on how fast Iran will develop its nuclear capabilty, how close it is to it and, of course, on the guts of the new Israeli government. "I don't think that even Netanyahu thinks that Hamas will be removed. "The party that has most of the interest that Hamas should be removed is the Palestinian government in the West Bank. "As we see it, I don't think that Hamas can be totally removed, it can be weakened ... but totally destroyed? I don't think it can be done."
Source:
Al Jazeera and agencies
Netanyahu is widely tipped to become Israel's next prime minister [AFP]
Benjamin Netanyahu, widely tipped to become Israel's prime minister after elections next week, has vowed to topple the Hamas movement in Gaza, calling the Palestinian group an "Iranian proxy".
Addressing the annual Herzliya security conference on Wednesday, Netanyahu said: "In the end of the day there will be no choice but to remove the Iranian threat in Gaza.
"There will be no escape from toppling the Hamas regime which is the Iranian proxy in the Gaza Strip," he said. "This is the real threat we are facing.
"If I'm elected, the biggest, most important task of my government will be to fend off the Iranian threat in all aspects," he said.
"It will oblige us to work on all fronts, including harnessing the US administration to stop the threat."
The 59-year-old leader of the Likud party, which is expected to have the most seats in the 120-member parliament after next Tuesday's vote, said the divided Palestinians were too weak for a peace deal.
Unity pledge
"Palestinian society is deeply divided ... They are not strong enough to accept minimal concessions for a peace deal and are not strong enough to fight terror," he said.
"The reality is very clear - any territory we evacuate today will be taken over by Iran," he said, alluding to Israel's withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, which he opposed.
Netanyahu vowed to form a unity government if he wins the elections.
In video
Security dominates Israel's elections
"If elected, I intend to unite all central powers in the country in a national unity government," he said.
"I will turn to our natural allies, but that is not enough. We must unite the entire nation and I will turn to all Zionist parties because, in the face of Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas, the social and economic challenges, we will have to stand together."
Interviewed on Al Jazeera, Shmuel Sandler, a political scientist at Jerusalem's Bar Ilan University, said: "When a country the size of Iran wants to go for nuclear weapons and at the same time it calls for the destruction of the state of Israel, the conclusion is very clear: That Iran might use its nuclear capabilities against the Jewish state. "We should not ignore such a threat. We once ignored it in Europe and we suffered very seriously." On whether Israel might launch a pre-emptive attack, Sandler said: "This depends on how fast Iran will develop its nuclear capabilty, how close it is to it and, of course, on the guts of the new Israeli government. "I don't think that even Netanyahu thinks that Hamas will be removed. "The party that has most of the interest that Hamas should be removed is the Palestinian government in the West Bank. "As we see it, I don't think that Hamas can be totally removed, it can be weakened ... but totally destroyed? I don't think it can be done."
Source:
Al Jazeera and agencies
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