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Tourism Minister Benny Elon wrote in Maariv today that the expulsion of Arafat might gain Ariel Sharon some public opinion points, but is not a substitute for a clear diplomatic policy. "I'm not against it," Elon told Arutz-7 today, "but I just don't want it to be presented as a change in Israeli policy. We can't relate to Arafat, nor any individual - but to the Palestinian Authority in toto. At this rate, instead of Abu Mazen, we'll have Abu Ala, and he'll be replaced by Abu Ali, and then Abu Jilda or whoever - there are a lot of...

Hamas: we say to the Zionists it is payback time for your daily crimes against Palestinians

The next Palestinian prime minister needs clear control over security forces to crack down on terrorist groups or progress on the plan for Mideast peace will stall, Secretary of State Colin Powell said Sunday. "That person has to have political authority and the determination to go after terrorism," Powell said, and allow for movement on the U.S.-developed peace plan for Israel and the Palestinians, known as the "road map." "If that person does not make a solid commitment to follow the road map, go after terrorism and stop these terrorist attacks, then it's not clear that we'll be able to...

White House: watching Mideast events closely, committed to road map, all must consider consequences of actions (Reuters)

Naval commando Sgt. Maj. Raanan Kumemi, 23, of Moshav Aminadav was killed, and four soldiers were wounded, one seriously, during an IDF operation to nab Hamas fugitives in Nablus early Thursday. Kumemi was be buried at the military cemetery at mount Herzl Friday afternoon at 3PM. The wounded soldiers were taken to Meir Hospital in Kfar Saba, where one is reported to be in serious condition. Judea and Samaria Divisional commander Brig.Gen Gadi Eizencot, in a briefing with reporters, said that IDF forces, acting on intelligence information received regarding his whereabouts, were operating in the Raffidyia neighborhood in Nablus to...

"The only chance for the future of the political process is dependent on Israel's ability to wipe out Hamas and Islamic Jihad," Industry, Trade, and Labor Minister Ehud Olmert, who is also deputy prime minister, told The Jerusalem Post Sunday. Olmert said that such a goal "will not be easy, but is not impossible," and will require intense efforts in the months ahead. "If we succeed in critically wounding them [the terror organizations], perhaps the conditions will be created which will allow Abu Mazen [Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas] and [PA Security Minister Muhammad] Dahlan to fulfill their obligations...

The capture by US troops in Iraq of Ali Hassan al-Majid widely known as "Chemical Ali" and the fifth most wanted fugitive on the Allied list is excellent news. So too is the killing, by an Israeli helicopter gunship, of Ismail Abu Shanab, the fifth most senior figure in Hamas. Both men are responsible for a great deal of killing. Both men would likely have killed more had they not been stopped. But, we are told, there is a difference. Majid's capture is a step toward a more peaceful Iraq. Abu Shanab's killing contributes to the cycle of violence. Majid's...

Hamas has called on Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas to resign his office and leave Palestinian territory. Senior Hamas official Ismail Haniya made the call Thursday afternoon. Hamas officially declared Thursday that it was ending its hudna (cease-fire) on attacks against Israel in response to the targeted killing of top Hamas official Ismail Abu Shanab in Gaza City earlier in the day. Islamic Jihad released a statement in Gaza saying that it too is declaring an end to the cease-fire on attacks against Israelis. A senior activist from Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades, the military wing of Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement,...

(IsraelNN.com) One cannot be anything but pained when one realizes the tragedy that struck the Zargari family of Jerusalem. The mother Na’avah is recovering from emergency surgery. She remains in serious condition in Hadassah Hospital. The father, Yaakov, is admitted to an intensive care unit as is Ester, 6, a daughter, who was also seriously wounded in the attack. Another daughter, Abigail, 2, was transferred from Hadassah Mount Scopus to Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital to be together with other family members. She is in light condition. Lilach Kardi, 22, from Jerusalem, was killed in the attack. She was in the...

Data show suicide bombers young, well educated The Jerusalem Post Internet Staff Aug. 14, 2003 Since 1993, 303 suicide bombers have launched themselves against Israeli targets. Of that total, 242, or 80 percent, have come since September 2000, according to data released this week by security sources. Of the total launched, 167, or 55 percent, completed their efforts to kill themselves and others. In the first seven years of suicide bombing, 70 percent of attempts were successful. Since September 2000, despite a far higher rate of attack, only 51 percent have succeeded. The vast majority of suicide bombers since 2000...

PM decides that Israel won`t move to next stage of road map until PA dismantles terror insfrastructure (Israel Radio)

In the real world, two Israelis were killed in separate suicide bombings yesterday. It is time to stop playing "let's pretend." The road map, in both its conception and implementation, is based on the presumption that if we, the United States and Israel, pretend hard enough then reality will follow. It is not working. In his June 24 speech last year, US President George W. Bush cut through decades of "let's pretend" when he erected two pillars of moral clarity: first that Arafat must go, and second that the obstacle to a Palestinian state is not Israel, but Palestinian tyranny,...

The Israel Defense Forces destroyed the home of the suicide bomber who was responsible for yesterday's attack in Rosh Ha'ayin which murdered Yechezkiel Yakutieli and wounded 10 others, a military source told The Jerusalem Post. The terror bomber, who was a member of Fatah, came from Nablus. The IDF said that "demolishing the houses of terrorists is a message to suicide bombers and their partners that their actions have a price that will be paid by all those involved in hostile terrorist activity." "The IDF will continue to use all available legal means to strike at terrorists, their handlers, and...

(IsraelNN.com) Minister Uzi Landau said last night that “all of our gestures to the Palestinians and the Hizbullah are interpreted as weakness by the other side; and weakness invites terrorism, murder and death. Therefore, we must cease all good-will gestures.” The Road Map, Landau said, will be a trap for us as long as the Palestinians are not carrying out their obligations. Regarding the conflict in the north, Landau said, “In Lebanon, we’ve got to put an end to sending messages, as they have just brought terror down on us. It is time to start striking Syrian and Lebanese targets....

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon convened the security cabinet in his office this morning to discuss the worsening security situation. Earlier today, Defense Minister Sha'ul Mofaz - who cut short his European vacation last night - met with top IDF and GSS officials for the same purpose. The intelligence services are currently dealing with 21 warnings of possible terror attacks, and police throughout the country are on alert. Israel is not planning a major offensive against the Palestinian terrorist infrastructures in light of the PA's failure to take action. So say top political and security sources today. Prime Minister Sharon, in...

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - Yousra Abdel Raouf Al Kidwah, a sister of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, died in Cairo Wednesday, Palestinian officials reported. She was 77. Al Kidwah died at Cairo's Palestine Hospital, where she has been treated for various illnesses for a month. The exact cause of death was not immediately known. Mohammed Sobeih, the Palestinian envoy to the Arab League, said her body would be sent to Gaza for burial later Wednesday. Al Kidwah was not known to be active in the Palestinian political movement, but her husband Jarir Al Kidwah is an adviser to Arafat and her...

Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas condemned Tuesday the morning's suicide bombings in the Israeli town of Rosh Ha'ayin and the West Bank settlement of Ariel that killed two Israelis and wounded about a dozen, but said they were provoked by Israeli raids, which he denounced. Abbas said he had cut short his Gulf visit on Tuesday in response to the bombings, which broke a period of relative calm in Palestinian attacks against Israelis. "I am cutting my visit short and will be back home later in the day. I condemn the two attacks against Israelis and I also condemn the...

Rescue services identify the Israelis killed in the Rosh Ha`ayin and Ariel terror attacks as teenagers

The Prime Minister's office and the Foreign Ministry said today that they directly hold the Palestinian leadership responsible for today's suicide attacks. "This is the result of inaction on the part of the Palestinian Authority," said Sharon advisor Avi Pazner. "They have not dismantled terrorist organizations. We advised the Palestinian Authority that the Palestinian terrorist organizations were preparing attacks against Israel and the PA did nothing." Pazner said the government is formally calling on Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas to dismantle terrorist organizations, arrest their members and round up their arms according to the commitments made at the Aqaba summit two...

We have discovered that there were actually several chapters in the Biblical book of Joshua that were lost for millennia and only recently rediscovered. We bring them to you here for the first time: And after conquering many of the lands of the Canaanites, Joshua came to speak with the Lord and said unto him: Oh Lord we seem to be having "failure to communicate" with the Children of Israel. And the Lord asked: Tell Me, My son, what seems to be the problem? And Joshua said to the Lord: Well, things were going just fine at first. We were...