Israeli soldiers clash with Hamas armed wing al-Qassam Brigades in southern Gaza

GAZA,  – Islamic Hamas militants and Israeli soldiers clashed on Friday in east of the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah, Hamas armed wing al-Qassam Brigades and witnesses said.
The armed wing of the group, which controls the Gaza Strip, said in a leaflet faxed to reporters that its militants confronted an Israeli army force in [...]

Netanyahu to visit Russia next week

MOSCOW — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will visit Moscow next week, the Kremlin said Thursday, after Russia toughened its stance on Iran’s nuclear programme.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting in his office in Jerusalem February 7, 2010 (Reuters)”
Netanyahu will hold talks with President Dmitry Medvedev on Monday, the Kremlin said [...]

Hamas opens first police academy in Gaza

GAZA, — The deposed Hamas government opened the first police academy in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, nearly a year after Israel staged a three-week military operation against the territory.
Senior officials of the sacked Hamas government in Gaza attended the opening ceremony of the police academy, which recruits 200 students as the first batch.
Once they [...]

U.S. Federal Judge orders convicted Yemeni cleric deported

NEW YORK — A US federal judge  ordered the deportation of a Yemeni Muslim cleric originally sentenced in 2005 to 75 years in prison for supporting terrorism. Judge Dora Irizarry on Friday sentenced Mohammed Ali Hassan al-Moayad, 60, to time served and kicked him out of the country.

Yemeni men attend a rally in Sanaa on [...]

Two-state solution approved in Israel : Shimon Peres

CAIRO,  – Israeli President Shimon Peres said on Tuesday that the country’s discussion about two-state solution came to a conclusion and Israel would support the plan.
“Two states for two people, a state for the Israeli Jewish people beside a state for the Palestinian Arab people,” Peres said in a joint press conference with Egyptian President [...]

3 Palestinians killed in Gaza border battle

Gaza,  — At least three Palestinian militants have been killed in a gunbattle with Israeli soldiers along the border of the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, hospital officials said.

A Palestinian walks in a smuggling tunnel in Rafah under the border between Egypt and southern Gaza Strip (Reuters)
At least another 12 Palestinians were wounded in the clash near [...]

US Muslim charity leaders get 65 years in jail for Hamas support

DALLAS, Texas  — Two leaders of what was once the largest Muslim charity in the United States were sentenced to 65 years in jail Wednesday for supporting Palestinian militants.

Holy Land chief executive officer Shukri Abu Baker (CNN)
The Texas-based Holy Land Foundation and five of its leaders were convicted late last year of funneling more than [...]

Israeli Foreign Minister : Israel and U.S. agree on strategy

JERUSALEM — Israel and the United States agree on what needs to be achieved with the Palestinians but not on how to achieve those goals, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Thursday.

Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman (AP)
“The meeting with (Barack) Obama showed that there is complete understanding with the United State concerning strategic targets,” [...]

Israel dispatches envoys to soften hawkish image

JERUSALEM, May 4, 2009 — Israel dispatched top officials to the U.S. and Europe on Monday in a diplomatic offensive aimed at softening the hawkish image of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new government.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a Likud party meeting at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem May 4, 2009 (Reuters)
The country’s [...]

Khaled Meshaal re-elected Hamas chief

DAMASCUS, May 4, 2009  — Exiled Hamas supremo Khaled Meshaal has been re-elected head of the Palestinian Islamist movement’s politburo, according to a statement from the group in Damascus.

Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal delivers a speech at the opening of a poster exhibition of Palestinian prisoners jailed in Israel, at al-Yarmouk Camp near Damascus April 20, [...]