Word: palestinian
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...weather matters. Israel's military offensive against Gaza was timed to coincide with three days of clear skies. Cloudlessness certainly helps the dozens of Israeli drones circling above the densely packed streets of the Palestinian seaside territory, using video and infrared cameras to search for possible targets...
...regimes in Egypt, Jordan and other Arab states have long worried about the rise of fundamentalist groups. When Hamas won Palestinian parliamentary elections just under three years ago, neighboring Arab governments grew even more nervous - and more determined to repress similar groups in their own countries. Never mind that a large reason for Hamas' rise was the dictatorial and corrupt ways of the old Fatah government, characteristics all too common in many Arab capitals...
...strikes will also give President Abbas no choice but to break off peace talks with Israel, although neither the Israelis nor most Palestinians treated them as any kind of serious peace process. Still, the Israeli offensive is likely to boost Palestinian political support for Hamas and to further weaken Abbas. In the weeks preceding the strikes, Israeli security officials warned that there is no end game, because a limited campaign would be unlikely to eliminate Hamas in Gaza, and a full-blown ground invasion would find Israel forced to reoccupy the territory on a long-term basis...
Israel continued to pound targets in Gaza from the air on Monday even as it made final preparations for a ground assault. The Israeli military offensive began on Dec. 27, after the lapse of a six-month-long de facto cease-fire between Israel and the government of the Palestinian militant group Hamas. Israel says its operation will continue until Hamas stops firing rockets at Israeli towns along the border with Gaza. Hamas wants an end to the economic chokehold Israel has applied to the crowded Mediterranean territory...
Hamas fired some 60 mortars and rockets into Israel on Monday, including one that killed an Israeli Arab in Ashkelon - the second Israeli casualty since the beginning of the air assault. The death toll in Gaza rose to at least 315 people, according to Palestinian officials. The United Nations says at least 51 of them were civilians. (See pictures of Israel's deadly assault on Gaza...