Syrian rebels overrun intelligence base on Golan Heights used to spy on Israel

Syrian rebel forces fighting the government of President Bashar Assad overran a military intelligence base on the Golan Heights that served as a joint Russian-Syrian forward post for information-gathering on Israel.

In a four-minute video clip which was posted on the Internet by the rebels, Free Syrian Army fighters are seen in a building in Quneitra, just near the boundary between Syria and the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights.

Abbas at UNGA: Israel perpetrated genocide in Gaza, we won't forget or forgive

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas accused Israel on Friday of conducting a "war of genocide" during the 50-day summer conflict in Gaza but stopped short of saying he will pursue war crime charges against Jerusalem at the International Criminal Court...

In his speech at the UN General Assembly, Abbas also said he will seek a UN resolution to set a deadline for Israel to pull out of Palestinian lands captured in the 1967 war. He did not, however, include a three-year deadline as his aides had said he would, evidently due to concerns that the U.S. would veto such a resolution, Palestinian officials told Haaretz. 

Ex-New York judge named to UN panel assessing war crimes in Gaza

Mary McGowan Davis is third member of panel formed out of Palestinian resolution. She replaces attorney Amal Alamuddin....

A former New York judge has been appointed the third member of a United Nations panel looking into whether Israel has committed war crimes in its conflict with Hamas in Gaza.

Mary McGowan Davis was named to the panel by the head of the UN Human Rights Council, Gabon Ambassador Baudelaire Ndong Ella, the Associated Press reported.

Egypt pushes for Gaza truce, presents Palestinian demands (the Rafah border crossing)

CAIRO - Egypt asked Israel on Monday to accept a ceasefire as a first step toward comprehensive negotiations with Palestinian factions to end more than three weeks of fighting, Egyptian and Palestinian sources said.
Palestinian groups, including envoys of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, met the head of Egyptian intelligence in Cairo earlier in the day to formulate a plan to end the violence that has displaced more than one quarter of Gaza's 1.8 million people.

Immediately after the meeting, Egypt presented Israel with the key Palestinian demands: a ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, an end to the blockade of the impoverished enclave and the reconstruction of the area.
An Egyptian diplomatic source said Cairo expected Israel to accept a temporary halt to the fighting to allow for talks.

Netanyahu: Hamas will pay price for more attacks

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened on Saturday to exact an “intolerable price” from the Gaza Strip’s dominant Hamas Islamists should there be continued attacks from the Palestinian territory.
Netanyahu also said that Israel will continue its military campaign in Gaza for as long as needed and with as much force as necessary.
“From the beginning, we promised to return the quiet to Israel’s citizens and we will continue to act until that aim is achieved. We will take as much time as necessary, and will exert as much force as needed,” he said in a public address.
Meanwhile, the Israeli Cabinet minister said there was “no point” in trying to reach a Gaza truce with Hamas and that Israel won’t send a delegation to planned ceasefire talks in Cairo, the Associated Press reported.

Israel confirms it fired into UN shelter in Gaza (denied killing anyone at the site)

The Israeli army has confirmed it fired a mortar round into a Gaza UN shelter where 15 people died on Thursday, but denied killing anyone at the site.
Briefing journalists on the findings of an internal military inquiry into the incident at a UN school in Beit Hanun, spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner said militants "in the vicinity" of the school fired mortar rounds and anti-tank rockets at Israeli forces.
The army responded with mortar fire, sending a stray round into the compound, he said.

"A single errant mortar [round] landed in the courtyard of the school," he said.
"The courtyard was completely empty" at the time of the incident, he added.

Israel rejects US truce proposal for Gaza. (Security cabinet refuses US-initiated ceasefire in the Gaza Strip)

Israel TV reported on Friday that the cabinet had rejected the proposal in its current form, mainly because it would mean Israel would cut short an ongoing effort to destroy Hamas military tunnels under the Gaza-Israel border.
The proposal called for a week-long pause in fighting over the Muslim holiday of Eid. During that time, the two sides would begin indirect talks on easing the border closure of the blockaded Gaza Strip.
Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, says any truce must include a guaranteed end to Israel's eight-year siege of the enclave. Israel had previously said it would reject any deal that included a clause to ease the blockade.

Israel pounds Gaza as Kerry pushes truce (UN says ‘war crimes’ possible)

Israeli forces pounded Gaza on Wednesday, meeting stiff resistance from Hamas Islamists and sending thousands of residents fleeing, as US Secretary of State John Kerry said on a visit to Israel cease-fire talks had made some progress.

In a blow to Israel's economy and a public relations coup for Hamas, US and European air carriers halted flights to the Jewish state citing concern over a militant rocket from Gaza that hit a house near Ben Gurion airport. Israel urged a rethink, saying its air space was safe.

U.S. warns against Israeli ground invasion of Gaza

The United States on Monday warned against any Israeli ground invasion of Gaza, saying it would put even more civilians at risk than are currently in the crossfire of attacks on Hamas.
But the White House stopped short of criticizing Israel over the civilian toll so far in Gaza of the offensive, saying the government had a "right" and "responsibility" to defend their citizens against rocket attacks.
"Nobody wants to see a ground invasion because that would put more civilians at risk," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said during his daily press briefing.

UN Security Council calls for Israeli-Palestinian ceasefire

The UN Security Council called for a ceasefire in hostilities between Israel and Palestinians on Saturday, expressing its deep concern over the welfare and protection of civilians on both sides of the conflict.

“The Security Council members called for de-escalation of the situation, restoration of calm, and reinstitution of the November 2012 ceasefire,” the 15-member body said in a statement.

It also called for the respect of international humanitarian law, including the protection of civilians.

The Security Council’s statement came as Israel rushed an eighth missile interceptor battery into service on Saturday to counter stronger-than-expected rocket fire from Gaza, and the military struck positions in the Palestinian enclave for a fifth day.

Egypt set to receive wounded Palestinians via border crossing (Rafah crossing point)

Egypt opened its Rafah crossing point bordering the Palestinian Gaza Strip on Thursday to receive wounded Palestinians by Israeli air strikes, a security official at the crossing told Xinhua.

More than 45 Egyptians who were stuck at the border after the Israeli air strike on Gaza along with the injured Palestinians were expected to arrive, but still no one showed up fearing the strike, added the official on condition of anonymity.
Arish hospitals in north Sinai have been placed on alert with all necessary equipment and blood donation to cure the Palestinians, Adel Adawi, Egyptian Health Minister said in a statement.

Abbas: Israel committing ‘Genocide’ in Gaza

Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas told a crisis meeting in Ramallah on Wednesday that Israel is committing “genocide” in Gaza during its military offensive which has so far killed at least 50 Palestinians.

“It’s genocide -- the killing of entire families is genocide by Israel against our Palestinian people,” Abbas told the crisis meeting of the Palestinian leadership.
“What's happening now is a war against the Palestinian people as a whole and not against the (militant) factions.

Israel finds bodies of kidnapped teens

The bodies of three Israeli settlers who went missing near Hebron two weeks ago have been found on Monday near the city in the West Bank.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called for an urgent security cabinet meeting over the matter. 

Israel has accused the Islamist Hamas movement, which has its power base in the Gaza Strip, as being behind the abduction of the teenagers. Hamas has neither confirmed nor denied involvement.

Kerry, Abbas to meet for second day in Paris

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will meet on Thursday afternoon as part of Kerry's plan for a deal between Palestine and Israel.

The meeting comes after more than two hours of talks on Wednesday. Israeli-Palestinian peace talks resumed last year after a nearly three-year break.

U.S. officials say they are trying to forge a "framework for negotiations" as a first step.

Ban welcomes formation of new Government in Lebanon. -The United States welcomes Lebanon’s formation of a new government

15 February 2014 – United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed Saturday's announcement of the formation of a new Government in Lebanon, and congratulated Prime Minister Tamam Salam “on this important step”.
In a statement issued by his Spokesperson in New York, the UN chief encouraged Lebanon's political leaders to build on the constructive engagement which led to the formation of the new Government to ensure that the country's forthcoming presidential election is successfully conducted within the timeframe set by law.

"Israel to respond strongly against those who attempt to harm": Netanyahu

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said "Hamas should take into account that Israel would respond strongly against those who attempt to harm the country."

In response to a Gaza attack on Sunday morning, Netanyahu said the Israeli government is committed to "protecting tranquility in the south" and that they will continue their policy of pre-emptive action.
Israeli air forces attacked a Palestinian, allegedly held responsible for launching five rockets towards southern Israel last week. 

US calls Ya'alon's comments about Kerry 'offensive'; Netanyahu does damage control

State Dept. issues rebuke after Ya'alon reportedly calls Kerry "messianic, delusional"; PM says "Even when we have disagreements with the US, they are always on the heart of the matter, not on the merits of an individual."
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu did damage control on the Israel-US relationship in his speech in honor of the Knesset's 65th birthday, following Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon's comments about US Secretary of State John Kerry.

Ariel Sharon: A Bulldozer in War and Peace

Sharon was always consistent in his desire to secure Israel’s borders and was often photographed with a map in hand....

Israel’s indomitable lion Ariel Sharon, a bulldozer in war and peace, died on Saturday, eight years after suffering a massive brain hemorrhage that left him in a coma from which he never awoke.

Perhaps the most revered and often reviled of the country’s politicians, perceived alternately as a peacemaker and a warmonger, for decades his actions as a military commander and statesman shaped both Israel’s self-perception and the world’s image of the Jewish nation.

Cisjordanie: une dizaine de colons capturés par des Palestiniens

Une dizaine de colons israéliens ont été capturés et battus mardi par des habitants palestiniens d'un village du nord de la Cisjordanie occupée où ils avaient pénétré, a-t-on appris de sources concordantes.

En début d'après-midi, les 13 colons ont été relâchés et évacués par l'armée israélienne, à la suite de tractations menées en coordination avec les institutions palestiniennes, selon des sources de sécurité palestiniennes.
Auparavant, ils avaient été détenus dans une maison près du village de Qousra par des villageois palestiniens, selon un photographe de l'AFP et un responsable municipal local, Abdelazim Wadi.

Kerry leaves Middle East without achieving framework...

   JERUSALEM, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry headed back to the United States on Monday after failing to create a framework for the Israeli-Palestinian talks.
Kerry did however claim that progress has been made in talks with both sides and several Israeli politicians, including Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Labor chief MK Yitzhak Herzog.

Kerry operated his shuttle diplomacy, with back and forth excursions between Jerusalem and Ramallah, but it seems that both sides are looking to blame the other party for the talks' deterioration rather than trying to kick-start them.