Video Kidnapping prompts Egypt-Gaza border closure

The Globe and Mail - Friday 17th May, 2013

Egyptian police close Rafah border crossing to protest against government's inaction over the kidnapping of security forces in Sinai. Lindsey Parietti ...

New gas reserves found off coast of Israel

World Tribune - Friday 17th May, 2013

Israel’s Delek Group said it found significant quantities of gas at the offshore Karish-1 well, located 75 kilometers northwest of Haifa. Delek, which holds a 53 percent interest, said tests conducted at Karish, located in the Alon C basin, would be released by mid-July 2013. ';This is proof of the power of the Israeli gas industry and of the great gas potential that exists off ...

Erdogan Palestinian unity is imperative for peace process

Jerusalem Post - Friday 17th May, 2013

A reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas is imperative to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday, AFP reported."The process of unity between Fatah and Hamas, this has to be achieved. If this reconciliation is not achieved, then I don't believe that a solution or result will come out of the Israeli-Palestinian discussions," ...

Settlers attack West Bank farmer twice a week

Electronic Intifada - Friday 17th May, 2013

IPS ) ASIRA AL-QIBLIYA, West Bank (IPS) - Ibrahim Makhlouf reached for two wooden planks lying in the hallway and placed them expertly in an L-shape along the seams of his front door. "Open [the door]," he beckoned, knowing that doing so was nearly impossible. "Every night, we put this here," he said. "For ...

Ultra-Orthodox in Israel protest military draft 8 arrested

Middle East Times - Friday 17th May, 2013

Thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews in Jerusalem protested a proposal to remove their exemptions and draft them for the first time into military service. The protesters, estimated by various news sources as 15,000 to 30,000, gathered Thursday evening at a military recruiting office in an ultra-Orthodox neighborhood of Jerusalem. The demonstration included stones thrown at police and garbage cans ...

Gaza business smuggles in KFC from Egypt

Middle East Times - Friday 17th May, 2013

Gaza across the Egyptian border. Mohammed al-Madani, financial manager of al-Yamama company, said the business idea came when employees contacted a friend who works at the KFC in al-Arish, Egypt, with some orders and they were able to smuggle the food through a tunnel within three hours, The Christian Science Monitor reported Friday. "Then we asked ourselves, 'Why don't we ...

Netanyahu pulls back on Israels defense cuts

Middle East Times - Friday 17th May, 2013

Binyamin Netanyahu has greatly reduced planned defense budget cuts. But officials remain worried that Israeli military capabilities will still be weakened. "The big worry is that we'll have to reduce defense procurements and orders from defense industries," observed Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon. Defense contractors "will be the first to get hurt," he said. ...

Combat dogs in Israel get their own serial number personnel file

Middle East Times - Friday 17th May, 2013

Israel says military dogs are getting their own personnel files with serial numbers, medical backgrounds, performance reports and photos. Dogs of the Oketz canine special forces unit have received a military serial number which the army will use to track their activities, Ynetnews reported Friday. Each dog has also been given a personnel file that contains information from the moment it joined ...

Israel pushed to spell out gas export plan

Middle East Times - Friday 17th May, 2013

Nobel Energy of Houston, which discovered Israel's big gas fields in the eastern Mediterranean, is pressing the government to decide soon on an energy export policy as the prospect of an undersea pipeline to Turkey gains ...

Hamas training 37000 teens 15-17 in urban warfare

World Tribune - Friday 17th May, 2013

Special to WorldTribune.com GAZA CITY -- Hamas has expanded military training of youngsters. Palestinian sources said the Izzedin Kassam military wing has been mobilizing thousands of teenagers in the Gaza Strip for military training. They said Kassam introduced the Futuwa program in 2013 to train 37,000 Palestinians ages 15 to ...

Syria remains a problem for US Israel

MSNBC - Friday 17th May, 2013

state department is saying that this is not a new shipment, rather, but i think what the russian response is that this is completing a previously signed contract. but it's definitely something that the u.s. had argued against. that prime minister netenyahu had gone to moscow to argue strongly against because the weapons are so advanced. and frankly, my understanding is that israel does not ...

Palestinian refugees are not at your service

Electronic Intifada - Friday 17th May, 2013

Palestinian refugee camp Shatila . We walked through a maze of narrow alleys in Sabra, led by Abdullah, a young Palestinian from Syria, doing relief work for his fellow Palestinian refugees who fled violence in Syria and were now seeking safety all ...

US Bishops Reiterate Call for 2-State Solution in Israel Conflict

EWTN - Friday 17th May, 2013

Decry Plan to Confiscate Convent LandWASHINGTON, D.C., May 07, 2013 (Zenit.org) - The U.S. bishops support a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and oppose policies that undermine a just resolution to the conflict, such as Israel's decision to re-route the separation wall through the Cremisan Valley, said the chairman of the bishops' Committee on International ...

Don’t expect another Israeli attack on Syria anytime soon

The Globe and Mail - Friday 17th May, 2013

Two weeks ago , it is believed that it was Israeli fighter jets flying over Lebanon that fired on and destroyed some Syrian military warehouses outside Damascus. The facility was said to contain powerful, Iranian-made missiles capable of hitting targets in Israel as far south as Beersheva.While Israel never officially confirmed that it was the party doing the firing, it is clear that the ...

Walking Tours Connect Palestinians to Their Past

IPS - Friday 17th May, 2013

This shrine, known as the Al-Khawass shrine, sits 540 metres above sea level in the Palestinian village of Deir Ghassaneh. It is one of several stops along the Sufi trail, which begins in the valley below and takes visitors and locals alike back in time to when Sufism, a mystical form of Islam, was widespread in the area. ';I want foreigners to know Palestinian culture, our culture. And I ...

Israel and Turkey Fair-weather allies

Global Post - Friday 17th May, 2013

A demonstrator burns an Israeli flag as he sits behind a Turkish flag during a protest against Israel on June 5, 2010 at Caglayan Square in Istanbul. Nine people -- eight Turks and a US national of Turkish origin were killed in May 31's pre-dawn raid by Israeli forces on the Turkish ferry, Mavi Marmara, the lead ship in the aid flotilla aiming to break the crippling blockade of Gaza. ...

Sinai Bedouin complain they suffer since Israel left Sinai

IMRA - Friday 17th May, 2013

" The Bedouin have already paid a heavy price for the return of the land [the Sinai Peninsula] in the October 1973 War." Sinai residents blame interior ministry policies for Thursday kidnapping Residents of Sinai Peninsula tell Ahram Online that Thursday kidnapping of seven Egyptian security personnel came as 'Bedouin retaliation' for heavy-handed security practices by ...

Egyptian Palestinian Presidents Condemn Jewish Attacks in Jerusalem

Prensa Latina - Friday 17th May, 2013

Ramallah, May 17 (Prensa Latina) The Egyptian and Palestinian Presidents Mohamed Morsi and Mahmoud Abbas, respectively, condemned the desecration of sacred Islamic sites by Jewish extremists in Jerusalem, through an official communique released here today. According to the communique, Morsi and his host urged the Israeli government to immediately stop those violations of international law, ...

KFC smuggled to Gaza from Egypt via tunnels– video

The Guardian - Friday 17th May, 2013

A delivery company in Gaza is transporting Kentucky Fried Chicken from Egypt through underground tunnels for residents. Families order their meals a day in advance, and they are transported to the blockaded region through the Hamas-run tunnel system. Delivery company Alyamama reportedly charges around $35 (23) for a family ...

Report Russia sends advanced missiles to Syria signaling commitment to Assad

Prison Planet - Friday 17th May, 2013

May 17, 2013 Russia has sent advanced anti-ship cruise missiles to Syria, The New York Times reported Thursday, citing American officials. The officials stated that the move exemplifies the extent of Russia’s support for the Syrian government and its embattled leader, President Bashar Assad. The missiles, called Yakhonts, are equipped with an advanced radar that renders them more ...

I Am Gabriel Ancient Stone on Display in Israel

CBN News - Friday 17th May, 2013

JERUSALEM, Israel -- Gabriel is one of the Bible's best known angels. Now, a first of its kind exhibition in Jerusalem highlights an archaeological discovery quoting Gabriel that's considered the most important find of its kind since the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls. It's called the "Revelation of Gabriel." It's written on stone and proclaims three times, ...