Word: gaza
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These weren't the kind of fireworks that Israel wanted on its Independence Day. As Israelis on Tuesday flocked to parks and pine forests for picnics and revelry, Palestinian militants in Gaza were putting on a different kind of pyrotechnics display: on Monday and Tuesday nearly 100 rockets and mortars rained down on southern Israel...
Even in the volatile Gaza Strip, hostage taking had at least one firm rule. Journalists were released quickly, usually with tea and apologies. Those customs seem to have been thrown out with the case of respected BBC correspondent Alan Johnston, 44, grabbed by gunmen in Gaza on March 12. So far, it is not clear why the broadcast journalist was kidnapped. No demands have been forthcoming, only a harrowing and probably false communiqué from a group calling itself the Tawheed and Jihad Brigades, claiming that Johnston had been executed--revenge, it intimated, for the fate of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli...
Johnston's captors are thought to be a clan with criminal as well as political connections, and the lawlessness of this kidnapping is another sign of anarchic times in Gaza. Hamas and Fatah are fighting for power, and random armed groups are filling the vacuum in unpredictable ways. Compare the silence from Johnston's captors to the more traditional dealings of those who have held Israeli Corporal Gilad Shalit since June. Earlier this month, they gave Israel a long list of prisoners they want in exchange for Shalit. The swap hasn't happened, but in light of Johnston's case...
...intends to spend a further $16 million modernizing security technology at the Karni crossing that links Gaza to Israel. At present, some 30 to 40 trucks are manually searched each day, severely restricting the economic viability of export-oriented agriculture and dairy operations in Gaza. A new plan, drawn up by U.S. Army general Keith Dayton, envisages installing the same X-ray machines used to screen trucks at U.S. borders at Karni. By allowing up to 400 commercial trucks to pass from Gaza to Israel each day, the U.S. hopes to stimulate the Palestinian economy...
...Indeed, the most intense - if indirect - bargaining under way right now involves Hamas and Israel, over the list of the Palestinian prisoners Israel will be required to release in exchange for the return of Corporal Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier seized last summer on the Israeli side of the Gaza border. Israel is balking at Hamas's inclusion on its list of men Israel says have blood on their hands; Hamas is saying that there won't be a deal if they're removed from the list...