Hamas Urges Emergency Unity Govt
3/3/08
The Hamas-run administration in the Gaza Strip yesterday called for the formation of an emergency Palestinian unity government after a massive Israeli incursion killed 70 people. The crisis in Gaza “demands unity and an end to divisions and the separation between the West Bank and Gaza,” Hamas government spokesman Taher Al-Nunu told a press conference. Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party and Hamas shared power in a unity government for three months last year, but the president fired the Islamist-led Cabinet after Hamas overran his forces in Gaza in June. “We call for a serious national dialogue project without conditions to study the escalation of the occupation and to form an emergency national unity government,” said Nunu.
See: http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4§ion=0&article=107441&d=3&m=3&y=2008
Israel lends deaf ear to world outcry over Gaza onslaught; 3/3/08; http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=6116
More forceful action needed - UN;3/3/08; http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=6102
Editorial: Defusing Gaza
3/3/08
What Israel is doing to the Palestinians in Gaza can and should be called a war crime, genocide, and to borrow from the lexicon of one Israeli official, a holocaust. Israel has declared open season on Palestinian infants and children, against those who can do nothing in return. Not only have more Palestinians been murdered in the past five days than at any other time in the past eight years, but tough voices from Israel say that the slaughter will continue, that Israel has still not hit Hamas hard enough and that a full-scale invasion of Gaza is coming up. The root of the Gaza problem is not, as Israel and the US like to claim, Hamas. It is that hundreds of thousands of human beings are rotting there in refugee camps — camps that are incubators of poverty and despair, ignorance, and hatred and violence spawned by Israel.
See: http://www.arabnews.com/?page=7§ion=0&article=107413&d=3&m=3&y=2008
Private hospitals offer free treatment for Gaza patients - Jordan
Linda Hindi;3/3/08
The Private Hospital Association (PHA) on Sunday offered to treat civilians from the Gaza Strip free of charge, but it remains unclear how many of the wounded will be able to enter the Kingdom as approvals are required from three governments. “We know that Gaza hospitals cannot handle the increasing number of patients and we felt it was our responsibility to take immediate action,” PHA head Fawzi Hammouri told The Jordan Times, pointing out that clearances are required from the governments of Israel, Egypt and Jordan. So far, the PHA is awaiting the arrival of one Palestinian patient, who will come through Aqaba. “Once we are informed of the nature and severity of his wounds, we will immediately direct him to the appropriate hospital, he said.
See: http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=6124
OIC condemns Israel’s ‘heinous war crimes’ in Gaza Strip
Mohammad Ghazal; 3/3/08
The Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) on Sunday dispatched four trucks laden with medical supplies to the Gaza Strip, and announced it will launch a fund-raising campaign across the Islamic world to help the besieged Gazans. “Today, we are sending the first batch of the humanitarian assistance to help reduce the suffering of the Palestinians in Gaza. More medical equipment, supplies and drugs will be sent to the strip soon,” OIC Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, told reporters yesterday. He added that the conference will look to raise funds for continued aid from the OIC’s 57 member countries. The convoy was sent in cooperation with the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organisation.
Seehttp://www.jordantimes.com/?news=6127
Egypt offers medical facilities to Gazans
3/3/08
Egypt began allowing Palestinians wounded in an Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip to cross into Egypt for medical care yesterday via Gaza’s closed southern border, Egyptian security sources said. Israeli forces killed 61 people, nearly half of them civilians, in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip on Saturday, the bloodiest single day for Palestinians since the 1980s. Two Israeli soldiers were also killed. Egyptian security sources at the Rafah border post said four wounded Palestinian civilians crossed into Egypt on Sunday. Twenty ambulances waited at the border to take more wounded.
See: http://www.gulfnews.com/region/Middle_East/10194425.html
Red Cross aid convoy heads to Palestinian territories today
Dalya Dajani; 3/3/08
An International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) aid convoy is heading to the Palestinian territories today to assist hundreds of civilians whose lives have been crippled by Israel’s ongoing military offensive. Around 5,500 food parcels have been designated for dispatch to the West Bank and Gaza this week, targeting Palestinians most affected by the growing violence. “The first truckload will be dispatched to our warehouse in Jerusalem today with others to follow throughout the week,” ICRC Spokesperson Bana Sayeh said, adding that the aid will be distributed to Palestinians in both Gaza and West Bank based on need assessments. The food parcels include essential items such a vegetable and olive oil, tea, sugar, tomato paste, salt and flour.
See: http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=6126
Israeli terror continues to stalk Gaza
Editorial: 3/3/08
The world can continue to stand still as the bloodbath goes on. There is no need for the United Nations to condemn the attacks. There is no need for its Security Council to meet behind closed doors to discuss the matter. There is no need for US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to attempt “softening” Israel’s aggression. In fact, there is no need for the Arab world or the Islamic countries to be remotely concerned with what is unfolding in Gaza. Israel has put on its cloak of terror and exercised its iron fist and no one could stop that.
See: http://www.gulfnews.com/opinion/editorial_opinion/region/10194295.html
PM to tell Rice: Israel reserves right to act freely in Gaza - USA/Israel/Terrorism
Barak Ravid; 3/3/08
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will stress to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at their scheduled meeting in Jerusalem Tuesday evening that Israel reserves the right to act freely in the Gaza Strip against Hamas and other Palestinian terror groups. Olmert will also tell Rice that Israel is interested in continuing negotiations with moderate elements in the Palestinian Authority. In Olmert’s view, Israeli military activity in Gaza in the past few days has got the message across that Hamas needs to rethink its strategy.
See: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/959937.html
Gov’t, IDF: Hamas wants lull in Gaza but only on its own terms; 3/3/08; Amos Harel & Avi Issacharoff: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/959936.html
Hebron teen dies, 4 Israelis hurt as violence spreads to W. Bank; 3/3/08; Avi Issacharoff & Jonathan Lis; http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/959879.html
Barak to hold meeting on legality of striking civilian areas in Gaza; Barak Ravid; 3/3/08; http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/959917.html