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Who could be surprised by the following Haaretz report? The Israel Air Force on Tuesday evening bombed a target in the Gaza Strip used earlier in the day [by] Palestinian militants to fire eight mortar shells at Israel. Militants on Tuesday also opened fire at Israel Defense Forces soldiers in Gaza in two separate incidents, in the first violation of a shaky cease-fire in the coastal strip that ended Israel’s 3-week offensive against Hamas. Even though the coverage leads with Israel’s bombs, the cease-fire was broken by Palestinian rockets and guns. This doesn’t scream out “sustainable and durable.” Up until...

It is comforting to know that Israel’s leaders, for the last 15 years, have and continue to make the right decisions at the right time. Shimon Peres was right when he spearheaded the move to let Yassar Arafat back into Israel and be given the Gaza Strip and Jericho on a silver platter. Peres and then prime minister Yitzchak Rabin were right when they signed the Oslo peace deal essentially ceding most of Judea and Samaria to the PLO, all in exchange for… for… in exchange for anything? The Palestinian Liberation Organization whose very existence was predicated on sowing death...

The Palestinian militant group Hamas has announced an immediate ceasefire with Israel in Gaza.A statement read by a Hamas spokesman said the group would hold fire for a week to give Israel time to withdraw its forces from the Gaza Strip. The move came hours after a unilateral Israeli ceasefire came into effect. The cessation of hostilities was earlier cast into doubt by fresh rocket fire into Israel and an Israeli air strike on militants in Gaza. High alertHamas' deputy chief in Syria, Moussa Abou Marzouk, said the ceasefire was in the name of all "Palestinian resistance factions". "We... announce...

Sunday, Jan. 18, Hamas leader Mussa Abu Marzuk in Damascus declared an immediate ceasefire on behalf of all the Palestinian organizations conditional on Israel's withdrawal from Gaza within a week. A few minutes later, two rockets exploded in two kibbutzim near the Gaza border, topping 15 fired earlier at Sderot, Ashkelon, Eshkol, Ashdod and Kiryat Gat. DEBKAfile's military sources report that armed Hamas units are moving to take control of the Gaza Strip as Israeli forces redeploy ready to withdraw.

GAZA, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Hamas said on Sunday it would cease fire immediately along with other militant groups in the Gaza Strip and give Israel, which already declared a unilateral truce, a week to pull its troops out of the territory.

BEIRUT, Jan 17 (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said on Saturday that if Israel declared a unilateral ceasefire in the Gaza Strip it should include a timetable for the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Hamas-ruled enclave. Israel is planning to announce on Saturday a halt to its three-week Gaza offensive without any deal with Hamas, an Israeli official said.

Israel declares ceasefire in Gaza Israel is to halt its three-week military offensive against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said. Israel had achieved the aims of its operation, Mr Olmert said, and a unilateral Israeli ceasefire would take effect from 0200 (2400 GMT). Earlier, a Hamas spokesman said it would fight until its demands were met. Nearly 1,200 Palestinians have been killed since the violence began on 27 December. Thirteen Israelis have died. Minutes before Mr Olmert was due to speak, a rocket was fired from Gaza, a BBC producer in Gaza said. 'Goals...

(IsraelNN.com) The cabinet has voted to accept a unilateral ceasefire in Gaza. Two ministers voted against the proposal and one abstained from voting.

GAZA (Reuters) - Israel plans to halt its Gaza offensive without any deal with Hamas, an Israeli official said on Saturday, in an apparent effort to deny the Islamist group any gains from the three-week-old conflict. Hamas leaders in exile have vowed to fight on, but many of the 1.5 million Palestinians enduring incessant bombardment and privation in Gaza seemed desperate for their ordeal to end. "The goal is to announce, subject to cabinet approval, a suspension of military activities because we believe our goals have been attained," said the official, asking not to be named.

This morning, Hamas leader in hiding Khaled Mashaal rejected Israel's conditions for a Gaza cease-fire and demanded an immediate opening of the territory's borders, taking a tough line Friday as he asked Arab countries to back him by cutting off any ties with Israel. The Hamas government in hiding is arguing with the Hamas government in Gaza whether they have been defeated. Mashaal was attending a conference of Arab leaders taking place in Quatar. The summit was boycotted by some of the more "moderate" Arab countries Egypt & Saudi Arabia. It looks as if the gap between the moderate and...

Last week in the conference call with bloggers, myself included, Gen. Effie Eitam advised that Israel was going to pulverize Gaza City and would not agree to a ceasefire without recovering Corp Shalit. Then the talk of a lousy ceasefire filled the news and I thought that Effie mislead us. But now I think not. From the getgo, Israel managed the war and the message brilliantly. First of all, the press was barred from Gaza even though the Israel SC ordered that they be permitted in. The diplomatic core stayed on message and the IDF shut up. All to the...

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UNITED NATIONS/GAZA, Jan 9 (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council called for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip but Israeli warplanes launched intermittent attacks on Friday. After days of intense haggling, the Security Council passed a resolution urging an "immediate, durable and fully respected ceasefire", and for Israel to withdraw from Gaza after a 14-day air-and-ground offensive. The United States abstained. The resolution, pressed for by Arab countries in the face of efforts by Britain, France and the United States for a more muted statement, called for arrangements to prevent arms smuggling into Gaza and for its borders to...

For nine days, as European and United Nations officials have called urgently for a cease-fire in Gaza, the Bush administration has squarely blamed the rocket attacks of the Palestinian militant group Hamas for Israel’s assault, maintaining to the end its eight-year record of stalwart support for Israel. Mr. Bush, in his weekly radio address on Saturday, said the United States did not want a “one-way cease-fire” that allowed Hamas to keep up its rocket fire, and Vice President Dick Cheney on Sunday echoed the point, declaring that only a “sustainable, durable” peace would be acceptable. Many Middle East experts say...

In recent days CNN has been playing an interview with Palestinian politician Mustafa Barghouti in which he claims that Israel broke the ceasefire with Hamas by launching an attack in November, and that the current fighting is therefore the fault of Israel rather than the Palestinians. Barghouti also charged that Israel’s supposed blockade of Gaza was a further violation of the ceasefire agreement with Hamas.

CIUDAD JUÁREZ, Mexico – Mexico's warring cartels are negotiating a truce that, if it holds, could end one of the bloodiest eras since the 1910-20 Mexican Revolution, according to a U.S. official and experts familiar with the talks. A peace agreement would be the second in two years and, like the last one, its chances of surviving are slim, the U.S. official said. "In the end, greed prevails over reason," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Last year was one of the bloodiest ever, with more than 5,700 people killed nationwide, including 1,600 in Ciudad Juárez. "These guys...

December 28, 2008 UK and Vatican Call for Cease Fire in Gaza by Bill Levinson The United Kingdom has called for an “immediate halt” to violence in Gaza, while the Pope called upon “all sides” to end the violence. We do not recall either Britain or the Vatican speaking up when Hamas was pouring rockets and mortar shells into Israel. We therefore do not see why Israel should even listen to anything that either entity has to say now that Hamas is reaping what it has sown.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/128941 'Ceasefire' Over, Gaza Terrorists Add Sniper Fire to Arsenal by Hana Levi Julian (IsraelNN.com) The firing at farmers in the field is the final piece of evidence on the end of the 'calm' Gaza terrorists began the first official day after the end of the so-called "temporary ceasefire" early Friday morning with the usual barrage of Kassam rockets aimed at the western Negev. The attacks began at the usual hour, approximately 7:30 a.m., when Jewish children are walking to school and their parents and other adults are on their way to work, thus maximizing the chances of the missiles...

ST. PAUL, MINN. - Republican John McCain's primary campaign almost collapsed last year under the weight of opponents' attacks that he backed "amnesty" for illegal immigrants. As McCain prepares to accept his party's nomination for president tonight, past critics of the Arizona senator's position have rallied behind his candidacy. McCain, meanwhile, has backed away from signature immigration legislation and signed off on a party platform that makes a fence along the Mexican border a priority. The party's Twin Cities unity on immigration bridges, for now, an increasingly charged ideological rift for Republican candidates and campaigns. "We don't go around talking...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 26, 2008 – Though “significant Russian movements” have taken place in the former Soviet republic of Georgia, Russia still is not living up to the terms of the cease-fire agreement, a senior Defense Department official said here today. “There is still a sizeable Russian presence in Georgia. … They’ve established some self-declared security zones, observation posts and checkpoints and the like,” Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said in a meeting with reporters. “All are a reflection that they are not living up to the agreement.” The mission of the U.S. military in the country now is to provide humanitarian...