From Occupied Palestine

There is something to talk about
GIDEON LEVY
Ha'aretz, 6 August 2005

He's not what you would think: In a polo shirt, two designer silver rings, a muscular body, a neat black beard, almost a Palestinian metrosexual. Meet Abdel Halim Izzedine, known as "Abu Qassam," one of the leaders of Islamic Jihad in the West Bank, a member of the political arm "without blood on his hands," a representative of his organization in talks with the Palestinian Authority (PA), and a spokesman for the organization.

Third parties
GRAHAM USHER
al-Ahram Weekly, 3-9 March 2005

Jerusalem -- On 25 February a Palestinian suicide bomber killed five Israelis and wounded 50 others outside a nightclub in Tel Aviv. It was the first attack inside Israel since 1 November. It also brought to a close the period of calm that followed Mahmoud Abbas's ceasefire declaration at the Sharm El-Sheikh summit on 8 February.

Calm is relative of course. Since 1 November, 170 Palestinian men, women and children have been killed by Israeli army and settlers. Twenty-five have been slain since Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Fatah's Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades (AMB) announced a de facto moratorium on military operations on 23 January.

IDF unit struck hard by Tel Aviv bomber
STAFF
Jerusalem Post.com, 26 February 2005 [updated 18:58]

Friday night's suicide bombing in Tel Aviv struck an IDF combat unit especially hard. The unit was all invited to celebrate a party for one of its soldiers, and stood at the entrance to the 'Stage' club when the bomber detonated his bomb-belt.

The platoon commander, Eran Cohen, told Army Radio, "There were 13 of us there. All the fatalities are from our unit. Many more were wounded."

'This is for Sheikh Yassin'
ARNON REGULAR
Ha'artez, 11 May 2004

Gaza City -- An armed Hamas member stood in an alleyway in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza yesterday, holding a bag that he said contained human remains from the armored personnel carrier blown up yesterday.

Shockingly, he proceeded to pull a finger out of the bag and shouted: "This is for Sheikh Yassin, and for the rest you'll pay in liberated prisoners."

6 soldiers killed in Gaza; troops pour in as Strip cut in 3
ARNON REGULAR
Ha'aretz, 11 May 2004

Six Israel Defense Forces soldiers from the Givati Brigade's engineering company were killed in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday morning, when a bomb exploded under the armored personnel carrier (APC) in which they were travelling.

Too late for two states?
SEUMAS MILNE
Guardian, 24 January 2004

More than three years into the intifada, the Palestinian situation seems worse than ever: the weekly death toll, the poverty and now the wall. So has the uprising failed? And how can suicide bombings ever be justified? Seumas Milne had exclusive access to leaders across the political spectrum - from president Yasser Arafat in his devastated compound to the underground strategists of Hamas and Islamic Jihad. He found an unprecedented willingness to compromise - but a growing belief that the wall will scupper the best ever hope for peace.

Bomber's family hits out at Islamic Jihad
CHRIS McGREAL
Guardian, 16 January 2004

The family of a teenage Palestinian suicide bomber, who died in a futile attempt to kill Israelis this week, has made unusual public criticism of the men who recruit human bombs.

The parents of 17-year-old Iyad al-Masri accused Islamic Jihad of exploiting his grief following the killing of a brother and a cousin by the Israeli army days earlier.

Eleven Palestinians killed by IDF fire since Thursday night
AMOS HAREL
Haaretz, 8 November 2003

Eleven Palestinians have been killed by Israel Defense Forces troops in separate incidents in the West Bank and Gaza Strip since Thursday night.

Another Palestinian, Ramzi Jarada, 22, died in a Ramallah hospital of wounds sustained in a shooting incident with IDF soldiers two weeks ago.

The street is pleased
DANNY RUBINSTEIN
Ha'aretz, 26 October 2003

It is difficult to assess from the two latest Hamas attacks on soldiers in the territories whether there has been a change in the policy of those carrying out the attacks. The attitude of the Palestinian leadership, which can almost be defined as the official position, has usually been that civilians inside Israel should not be attacked while targets in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, particularly the military, are legitimate in the struggle against occupation.

Palestinians cheer militant executions of 'collaborators'
JUSTIN HUGGLER and SA'ID GHAZALI
Independent, 24 October 2003

At dawn in the Tulkarem refugee camp yesterday, two Palestinians were led out into a side alley where the executioners, their faces covered with hoods, shot them at point- blank range.

Then their bullet-filled bodies were dragged into the main square, where they were propped up and displayed to the crowd for 15 minutes. The alleged crime of the two men was collaborating with Israeli intelligence.