Tag: Gaza

  • Obama urges Egypt and Turkey to play key Gaza role as death toll mounts

    Obama urges Egypt and Turkey to play key Gaza role as death toll mounts

    Gaza Israel and Palestini 010

    Palestinian youths clash with Israeli soldiers in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus. Photograph: Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP/Getty Images

    President Barack Obama has personally urged leaders in Turkey and Egypt to engage with Hamas over a “de-escalation” of hostilities in Gaza, while continuing to support Israeli strikes despite mounting Palestinian civilian casualties.

    Speaking on board Air Force One en route to Asia, White House national security adviser Ben Rhodes blamed Hamas for the current round of violence, stating that the “precipitating factor” for Israeli air strikes were rockets fired into civilian territories from Gaza.

    It comes as the Palestinian death toll continues to rise. Up to 41 Gazans, including 13 civilians, and three Israelis have been killed since the Israeli operation began. Palestinian authorities have said their dead included at least eight children and a pregnant woman.

    Asked about the bombing of government buildings – including prime minister Ismail Haniyeh’s offices – the US official said he wouldn’t comment on “specific targeting choices” other than to say that the administration would “always underscore the importance of avoiding civilian casualties”.

    But Rhodes reiterated the White House view that Hamas was responsible for the latest outburst of violence.

    “Just to be clear on the precipitating factor: these rockets had been fired into Israeli civilian areas and territory for some time now. So Israelis have endured far too much of a threat from these rocket for far too long, and that is what led the Israelis to take the action that they did in Gaza,” he said.

    He added that the US wanted the same thing as Israelis: “an end to the rocket fire coming out of Gaza”.

    The comments come as the White House increased its diplomatic efforts to end the violence in Gaza.

    Obama has spoken to Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, it emerged on Saturday, along with Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi.

    Both men have the “ability to play a constructive role in engaging Hamas and encouraging a process of de-escalation”, Rhodes said.

    However, on Saturday, Erdogan appeared to take a different side in the conflict, despite the call from Obama. The Turkish leader on Saturday vowed support for Gaza’s Palestinians in a speech at Cairo University in Egypt. He also met Morsi for the first time since the Eggyptian Islamist leader was elected in late June, with Erdogan saying that that win at the polls offered hope to Palestinians.

    The US has been reaching out to leaders across the Middle East as Israel and Hamas trade volleys of fire.

    Secretary of state Hillary Clinton has spoken to the foreign ministers if Israel, Turkey and Egypt in the past few days, as well as Jordan’s King Abdullah.

    But the US has been clear in pledging its support for Israel, its staunch ally.

    Obama, who was on Saturday making his way to south-east Asia for a three day trip, has spoken to prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu every day since the current round of Israeli air strikes in Gaza commenced.

    At a briefing on Friday, a State Department spokeswoman summed up the US position: “We are urging a de-escalation of this conflict. We are urging those countries with influence on Hamas and other groups in Gaza to use that influence to get a de-escalation,” the spokeswoman said.

    “We support … Israel’s right to self-defence, and we obviously express our regret and sadness for the loss of life on all sides.”

    Israel has seen the US stance as a clear signal that it has a virtually free hand.

    On Friday, the Israeli ambassador to Washington, Michael Oren, said during a visit to Capitol Hill: “The United States has given us the full backing to take whatever measures are necessary to defend our citizens from Hamas terror.” Meanwhile, the Palestinian delegation to Washington has condemned the US response to the crisis as “biased and weak”.

    Despite diplomatic efforts, the violence continued on Saturday.

    Israeli air strikes hit the office building of the Hamas prime minister in Gaza, amid warnings of a dangerous escalation in the conflict with up to 75,000 Israeli reservists mobilised for a possible ground invasion.

    An explosion and air raid sirens were also heard over the Israeli port city of Tel Aviv as Palestinian militants in Gaza continued to fire rocket salvoes across the border four days after Israel launched an air offensive. So far Israel has struck more than 800 targets in Gaza while Gaza officials there said about 500 rockets had been launched so far at Israel.

    via Obama urges Egypt and Turkey to play key Gaza role as death toll mounts | World news | guardian.co.uk.

  • Turkey: to help with reconstruction of mosques in Gaza

    Turkey: to help with reconstruction of mosques in Gaza

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    Palestinians in Gaza pray on Friday on rubble of mosque destroyed by Israel [ARCHIVE MATERIAL 20090123 ]

    (ANSAmed) – ANKARA – Turkey will help the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip repair the mosques that were damaged in the Israeli attacks and rebuild those that have been destroyed. The announcement was made by the head of the Turkish directorate for religious affairs, Mehmet Gomez, after a meeting with his counterpart from Gaza, Salil Alreqed. The newspaper Hurriyet reports that Alreqed has thanked Turkey for his support against the blockade imposed by Israel. Turkey, a Muslim country, is in a diplomatic crisis with Israel. One of the reasons is Israel’s blockade on Gaza, meant to keep out weapons from Hamas. Turkey sees Hamas as a legitimate organisation, not a terrorist organisation as the U.S. and EU say.

    Early last month a request for assistance was issued from Gaza, to restore the damaged (161) and destroyed (34) mosques. The buildings were hit in Israeli air raids in the 2008-2009 period.

    The operation, the Turkish agency Anadolu specifies, will cost 15 million USD, more than the Gaza administration can afford.

    Turkey has also announced to help with the construction of the largest hospital in the Gaza Strip and a children’s home in Jabalia, which contributes to the already high popularity of Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Gaza. Erdogan has often said that the inhabitants of Gaza are ”desperate” people, who conduct a ”resistance” against the Israeli ”occupier,” part of Turkey’s strategy aimed at making it a leading country in the area based on historic-cultural and humanitarian relations.

    Turkey has played a role in the release of an Israeli hostage by Hamas and in October the country welcomed eleven Palestinian prisoners who had been released in exchange for Israeli soldier Ghilad Shalit.

    (ANSAmed).

  • Erdogan to Haniyeh: Talks must include Hamas‎

    Erdogan to Haniyeh: Talks must include Hamas‎

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    ISTANBUL — Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan held talks on Sunday with Gaza’s Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniya and voiced his support for Palestinian reconciliation efforts, media reports said.

    Haniya is in Istanbul as part of his first official regional tour since his Islamist movement seized power in the Palestinian enclave in 2007, the Anatolia news agency reported.

    Ankara has sought to mediate in efforts to reconcile Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas’s Fatah faction and Hamas despite Israeli ire over its contacts with the Islamist movement ruling the Gaza Strip.

    Hamas and Fatah signed a reconciliation deal in May after years of bitter and often deadly rivalry, but its implementation has since stalled.

    Haniya’s trip follows a visit to Turkey in November by Abbas, who angered Israel when he met a woman freed under a prisoner deal who had been sentenced to life for luring an Israeli teenager to his death through an Internet chat room.

    Erdogan’s government insists that peace cannot be achieved in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict if Hamas is excluded from the process.

    The Turkish premier has rejected the “terrorist” label for Hamas, defending the Islamist group as “resistance fighters who are struggling to defend their land”.

    Relations between Israel and Turkey also soured after Israeli commandos launched a raid on a Turkish boat trying to break the Gaza blockade in May 2010, killing nine Turkish nationals.

    Haniya is due to visit the vessel on Monday and meet relatives of the victims, as well as holding a press conference.

    Since 2007, the Palestinian territories have been politically divided into two separate territories, with Abbas’s Fatah largely ruling the West Bank and Hamas governing Gaza.

    (AFP)  31.12.2011

  • Gaza Premier set to meet Turkey PM today

    Gaza Premier set to meet Turkey PM today

    Gaza Premier set to meet Turkey PM today

    1 January 2012

    Agence France-Presse

    ANKARA, 1 JAN: Gaza’s Hamas Premier Ismail Haniya will be in Turkey today as part of his first official regional tour since the Islamists’ 2007 power seizure in the Palestinian enclave, the Anatolia news agency reported.

    Mr Haniya will meet with Turkish Prime Minister Mr Recep Tayyip Erdogan at his residence in Istanbul at 1400 GMT, according to the news agency.

    Mr Haniya’s visit comes after Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas’s talks in Turkey last month. On Friday, foreign minister Mr Ahmet Davutoglu said every Palestinian was welcome in Turkey.

    Ankara has sought to mediate in efforts to reconcile Abbas’s Fatah and Hamas, braving Israel’s ire over contacts with the Islamist movement ruling the Gaza Strip.

    Erdogan’s government insists that peace cannot be achieved in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict if Hamas is excluded from the process. The Turkish Premier has rejected the “terrorist” label for Hamas, defending the Islamist group as “resistance fighters who are struggling to defend their land.”

    Since 2007, the Palestinian territories have been politically divided into two separate territories, with Abbas’s Fatah largely ruling the West Bank and Hamas governing Gaza. In May, following years of bitter rivalry, the two factions signed a reconciliation deal.

    via Gaza Premier set to meet Turkey PM today.

  • Israel boards protest boats taking medical aid to Gaza

    Israel boards protest boats taking medical aid to Gaza

    The Israeli navy has intercepted and boarded two boats which were trying to break the blockade of the Gaza Strip.

    56482496 013279381 2The Canadian and Irish boats with 27 activists from the US and eight other countries on board had set sail from Turkey on Wednesday.

    They were carrying medical supplies for the coastal enclave.

    The navy said no-one was hurt in the operation and the boats would be towed to the Israeli port of Ashdod, north-east of Gaza.

    The Irish Saoirse (Gaelic for freedom) and the Canadian Tahrir (Arabic for liberation) were about 50 nautical miles from the Gaza shoreline when they were contacted by the Israeli navy and told to turn back, the flotilla organisers told the AFP news agency.

    The navy said it “advised the vessels that they may turn back at any point, thereby not breaking the maritime security blockade” or could sail to Ashdod or an Egyptian port.

    “The activists refused to co-operate,” AFP quoted the navy as saying.

    ‘Safety ensured’

    The navy ships then approached the boats and boarded them before towing them towards Ashdod.

    “The Israel Navy soldiers operated as planned, and took every precaution necessary to ensure the safety of the activists onboard the vessels as well as themselves,” said the navy.

    Palestinians in Ramallah demonstrate outside UN offices in support of flotilla and lifting of the blockade People in the West Bank have staged protests in support of the Gaza flotilla

    Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the activists would be questioned by police and immigration officials, then returned to their home countries, the Associated Press reports.

    Denis Kosseim, a spokesman for the flotilla based in Montreal, earlier told AFP that all those on board had signed an agreement not to put up any resistance if they were boarded.

    The US had urged the activists not to try to break the blockade. US officials also said Turkey had given assurances it would not send warships to escort the flotilla.

    Ankara had previously threatened to use its navy to escort boats carrying activists and supplies to Gaza.

    Relations between Turkey and Israel reached a crisis 18 months ago, when nine Turkish activists were killed in an Israeli raid on a far larger flotilla as it approached Gaza.

    Israel tightened its blockade on Gaza in 2006. It aims to stop the supply of arms or other items for military use and to put pressure on the Hamas administration in the strip. Israel also controls air and sea access to the territory.

    The importing of all weapons and military materials is banned, along with dual use materials such as fertilisers and certain chemicals.

    There are also strict controls on building materials such as cement and steel cables.

    All exports are banned, though this ruling is occasionally lifted.

    Fishermen may only operate in a strip of water up to three nautical miles from the shore.

    Egypt, which used to help maintain the blockade by closing its border with Gaza, now allows the restricted movement of people.

    However, many types of goods are smuggled though tunnels under the Egypt-Gaza border.

    via BBC News – Israel boards protest boats taking medical aid to Gaza.

  • Israeli attacks on Gaza kill 9 Palestinians

    Israeli attacks on Gaza kill 9 Palestinians

    Israeli State TerrorismGaza Strip, (Pal Telegraph)- Two Palestinians were killed Sunday at dawn in Israeli airstrikes on Ansar area, west of Gaza city.

    Death toll reached nine in less than 12 hours.

    Medical sources confirmed that the two victims identified as Suhail Jundia, 26, and Murdi Hajjaj, 18, from al-Shujaia neighborhood, were moved to Asshifa hospital after being attacked by Israeli air forces.

    According to local sources, Israeli warplanes carried out several airstrikes targeting different sites in Khan Younis town and eastern Gaza city.

    Israeli bombing inflicted great damage to Palestinian properties and created a state of panic among civilians who were asleep on that time.

    Seven Palestinians were killed yesterday in two separate airstrikes in Rafah city, southern Gaza Strip.

    Israeli military officials told that they would continue to bomb Gaza Strip in response to Palestinian rocket attacks that killed one Israeli and injured six others in Ashkelon region.

    However, Palestinians attempted to lunch homemade rockets at Israeli settlements as an act of self-defense.

    www.paltelegraph.com, 30 October 2011