Word: israelity
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...much as each side seeks to spin the war as advancing their overall vision, Israel has yet to articulate a clear, workable exit plan that will achieve the war's objectives without reoccupying Gaza. Meanwhile, Hamas can stack civilian bodies like cordwood for the cameras and proclaim the virtues of its "steadfast resistance," but it has offered the Palestinians no explanation of how this fight will advance their national goals. To many a foreign journalist, then, this war conjures an image with which Joe the Plumber will be familiar: the proverbial pig whose nature can't be disguised...
...Given those numbers, concern is growing that the clashes could continue even when the Gaza assault ends. That's especially true in France, whose six million Muslims and more than 600,000 Jews constitute the largest of each respective community in Europe. Memories of the violence inspired by Israel-Palestinian clashes in 2002 and by Israel's offensive in Lebanon in 2006, prompted quick appeals for calm after the latest incidents. French President Nicolas Sarkozy declared "our country will not tolerate international tension mutating into inter-community violence", and promised no perpetrator of such trouble would "remain unpunished...
...Israeli bombardments and fighting in Gaza pushed the reported Palestinian death toll above 1,000 on Wednesday, negotiators for Hamas, the Islamic militants who rule Gaza and are firing rockets into Israel, showed signs of softening their defiance to Egypt's attempt to broker a ceasefire. In Cairo, a Hamas spokesman appeared more conciliatory toward the Egyptian peace plan and said that the Islamist leadership, both in Gaza and in Damascus, would be studying the latest Egyptian proposal, whose contents have yet to be disclosed. One Hamas source told TIME, "We've moved a step forward...
...Israeli troops from Gaza, and the lifting of the [18-month long] Israeli siege on Gaza." It isn't clear yet how close the Egyptian proposal mirrored Hamas' demands for a cease-fire in the 19 day-old conflict. When the assault started, Palestinians accused Egypt of catering to Israel (Cairo had just played host to Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni). The Hamas source commented pessimistically, "We're 100% sure that Israel won't accept our demands, but let's see how far the Egyptians get with them." Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert held a late-night meeting with...
Hamas sources say that the impasse between the Egyptians and Hamas was broken by Turkish envoy Ahmad Oglu who volunteered Turkish forces to be placed along the Egyptian-Gaza border to stop arms trafficking. Hamas has agreed to the Turkish offer, this source says. Before withdrawing troops and tanks, Israel wants a guarantee that the Egyptian border will be sealed off so that Hamas can no longer smuggle in Iranian-made rockets to shoot at Israeli cities. So far, Israel and Hamas have failed to agree on the length of the ceasefire proposed by the Egyptians. Israel wants...