Middle East

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Hamas Brings Peace to Gaza —at Gunpoint

Civil army rules the streets with show of force, but no law

(Newser) - Two weeks of Hamas rule have brought calm to Gaza—beaches are crowded, streets are choked with cars and donkey carts—but it is order delivered at the point of a gun. The Executive Force, Hamas's civil army, has seized control, bringing overwhelming force to bear on drug-dealers and clan...

Isolated Gaza Goes Hungry
Isolated Gaza Goes Hungry
Jun 29, 2007 3:00 PM CDT

Isolated Gaza Goes Hungry

Food is hard to come by for Palestinians in Hamas-controlled region

(Newser) - Fuel shortages have become familiar, and now food staples like flour and sugar are increasingly hard to come by in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. Aid agencies are doing their best to forestall an impending humanitarian crisis, the Globe and Mail reports, but with the main commercial crossing from Israel closed...

Hamas Rips Blair Peace Mission
Hamas Rips Blair Peace Mission
Jun 28, 2007 5:18 AM CDT

Hamas Rips Blair Peace Mission

Former Brit chief 'not honest, not helpful'

(Newser) - Hamas, the Palestinian group now in control of Gaza, blasted Tony Blair's appointment as a Mideast peace envoy yesterday, characterizing the former British prime minister as "not honest and not helpful," and a puppet of the US and Israel, the BBC reports. Blair's new role, formalized hours after...

Blair Tapped as Mideast Envoy
Blair Tapped as Mideast Envoy
Jun 26, 2007 4:31 AM CDT

Blair Tapped as Mideast Envoy

He'll prepare Palestinians for Israeli talks

(Newser) - Tony Blair will move into a key post as international Mideast peace envoy after  wrapping up 10 years as British prime minister tomorrow. President Bush personally mounted an "enormous push"  for the appointment, which will be based in Jerusalem and will involve working with the Palestinians to prepare...

Egypt Will Host Mideast Summit
Egypt Will Host Mideast Summit
Jun 21, 2007 6:21 PM CDT

Egypt Will Host Mideast Summit

Abbas and Olmert to meet in effort to isolate Hamas

(Newser) - Alarmed by the Hamas takeover in Gaza, Egypt will host a summit Monday, bringing together the Western-backed Palestinian president and the Israeli PM, along with Jordanian and Egyptian leaders, Reuters reports. The move is a show of support for the moderate Mamoud Abbas-led emergency government, and an effort to isolate...

US Eyes Blair as Mideast Envoy
US Eyes Blair as
Mideast Envoy
Jun 21, 2007 7:25 AM CDT

US Eyes Blair as Mideast Envoy

Soon-to-be-former PM would focus on groundwork for a Palestinian state

(Newser) - Outgoing British PM Tony Blair may step into a new role as a Mideast envoy focusing on the development of a viable Palestinian state, the Washington Post reports. Blair would concentrate on economic and governance issues; he would represent the quartet of world players involved in Mideast peace efforts—the...

Lebanon Under Seige
Lebanon Under Seige
Jun 19, 2007 9:22 PM CDT

Lebanon Under Seige

(Newser) - Economist Middle East correspondent Max Rodenbeck takes us on a painful amble through the history of modern Lebanon.   He sees Lebanon as a Manichean society where the wealthy live next to the poor, the religious coexist (sort of) with the secular, the pro-Syrian are at odds with the pro-Israeli.

Bush, Olmert Meet on Palestine
Bush, Olmert Meet on Palestine
Jun 19, 2007 8:05 AM CDT

Bush, Olmert Meet on Palestine

Israel considers picking up peace process as US resumes aid

(Newser) - President Bush and Israeli PM Ehud Olmert will convene today to discuss future relations with a newly divided Palestine. The US has resumed aid to Mahmoud Abbas' moderate Fatah government, now balkanized from its militant Hamas rivals, and Olmert has signaled his a potential willingness to push peace negotiations by...

US Must Bolster Fatah to Defeat Hamas

Peace with Israel will have to wait, says columnist

(Newser) - In the wake of Fatah's collapse in Gaza, and the subsequent takeover by Hamas, the US and its Mideast allies should focus on cleaning up corruption-tainted Fatah and making it more responsive to the Palestinian people, argues Dennis Ross in the New Republic. That is the only hope for a...

Hamas Executes Captives
Hamas Executes Captives
Jun 14, 2007 9:30 PM CDT

Hamas Executes Captives

Palestinian Authority on brink of collapse as Fatah 'collaborators' shot

(Newser) - The Palestinian Authority is teetering on collapse after Hamas declared victory in Gaza, executing captured Fatah leaders accused of collaborating with Israel. The Palestinian government  was dissolved by President Mahmoud Abbas while Fatah militants in the West Bank ominously rounded up Hamas supporters. 

UN Memo Rips US on Mideast
UN Memo Rips US on Mideast
Jun 13, 2007 5:36 AM CDT

UN Memo Rips US on Mideast

Palestinian boycott exacts 'devastating consequences'

(Newser) - The UN's former Mideast envoy condemns US policy toward Israel in a secret report that rips America for having "pummeled the UN into submission," rendering it powerless as a negotiator on Mideast matters. The report, leaked to the Guardian, also labels the boycott of the Palestinian government a...

Israeli Labor Party Picks Barak to Lead

Former PM will join cabinet, sets sight on top job again

(Newser) - Ehud Barak won a runoff election yesterday making him head of Israel's Labor Party once again. Barak, who edged out former Shin Bet boss Ari Ayalon, will join PM Ehud Olmert's coalition cabinet, probably as defense minister. But the Guardian reports that the serial party chief is widely expected to...

Hamas Takes Fatah Outposts in Gaza
Hamas Takes Fatah Outposts in Gaza
Jun 12, 2007 9:59 PM CDT

Hamas Takes Fatah Outposts in Gaza

Abbas decries Hamas coup as escalating bloodshed leaves 37 dead

(Newser) - Hamas fighters overpowered Fatah security forces to capture their headquarters in northern Gaza today, as battles raging across the strip for the second day left at least 37 dead, the AP reports. Pro-Fatah soldiers then attacked the main Hamas-run television station, but they were repelled.

Israel Cautiously Invites Syria to the Table

Olmert denounces war, hints back-door deals may end in peace talks

(Newser) - Israel's PM deflected fears of a war with Syria today, and fueled semi-official rumors that peace talks are going on furtively between the two hostile countries. Olmert says he wants a sitdown with Syria—which would be the first in seven years—but warned president Assad that talks would not...

Turkey Menaces Kurds
Turkey Menaces Kurds
Jun 1, 2007 6:00 AM CDT

Turkey Menaces Kurds

Buildup along border makes U.S., Iraq nervous

(Newser) - Turkish troops and tanks amassing along the border with Iraq are ready to go after Kurdish separatist guerrillas as soon as they get the order, the country's top general said yesterday. The US, Iraq and the EU are all urging Turkey not to launch the offensive, which could destabilize Northern...

Israel Targets Palestinian PM
Israel Targets Palestinian PM
May 22, 2007 2:40 PM CDT

Israel Targets Palestinian PM

All Hamas leaders fair game if rocket attacks don't cease, declares defense official

(Newser) - The Israeli government today threatened to assassinate the Palestinian prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh, if rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip are not halted, reports the Guardian. Deputy defense minister Ephraim Sneh declared on the radio, "There is no one who is in the circle of commanders and leaders in...

Iran Charges American Scholar
Iran Charges American Scholar
May 22, 2007 11:20 AM CDT

Iran Charges American Scholar

Imprisoned academic accused of working against government

(Newser) - The Iranian government has charged an Iranian-American scholar already in custody in Tehran with working for "the soft-toppling of the country." Haleh Esfandiari, 67, was arrested May 8 after being under house arrest since January. The accusations come just days before American and Iranian diplomats are to meet...

Israel Steps Up Attack on Hamas
Israel Steps
Up Attack
on Hamas
May 21, 2007 8:24 AM CDT

Israel Steps Up Attack on Hamas

Gaza assault continues; at least 5 dead, thousands without power

(Newser) - Israel is escalating both its shooting war and its war of words with Hamas over the Gaza Strip. An Israeli air assault today killed at least five people and came on the heels of a massive attack targeting a Hamas leader over the weekend. That strike missed Khalil al-Hayya but...

Israeli Strikes Kill 5 in Gaza
Israeli Strikes Kill 5 in Gaza
May 18, 2007 7:08 AM CDT

Israeli Strikes Kill 5 in Gaza

Hamas and Fatah continue to clash

(Newser) - Israel has launched air strikes at Gaza for a second day in response to continued Hamas rocket attacks. Helicopter gunships and fighter jets targeted militants, and at least five Hamas fighters were killed in the strikes. Hamas has fired about a hundred makeshift missiles into Israel in the past several...

Palestinian Factions Call Ceasefire
Palestinian Factions Call Ceasefire
May 15, 2007 6:49 AM CDT

Palestinian Factions Call Ceasefire

Hamas and Fatah agree to shaky truce after brutal fighting in Gaza

(Newser) - Hamas and Fatah have brokered a truce after two days of intense factional fighting that left 9 dead and 30 wounded. The Palestinian government has deployed its entire security force to the Gaza strip in an effort to maintain peace, but, the BBC observes, sporadic fighting continued Monday.

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