It appears the Israelis were right - not only were the supplies improperly packed and manifested in a way that would have precluded them being unloaded at any port, but they included stuff that wasn't even needed in Gaza. At least, that's how Hamas apparently feels: Hamas authorities on Tuesday refused to receive aid and supplies to the Gaza Strip through Israel, stressing that Israel mu...

Israel has downgraded the level of meetings with a group of fifteen visiting MEPs as a result of their plan to hold talks tomorrow (27 May) in the Gaza strip, EurActiv has learned. Israel refuses to permit foreign officials to enter Gaza, explaining that such moves serve to legitimise Hamas.

David Grossman proposes:After its severe strike on Gaza, Israel would do well to stop, turn to Hamas' leaders and say: Until Saturday Israel held its fire in the face of thousands of Qassams from the Gaza Strip. Now you know...

Israel will allow more exports from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, in a move that seeks to quell international criticism of its policies towards the Palestinian territory

Big things going on in Gaza today. I reckon there is much more to this than first meets the eye, though. Lets look at what has happened in Gaza since 2005 - Israel withdraws from Gaza in 2005, and gives full security control to the Palestinian Authority.In 2007, Hamas overthrows the Palestinian Authority and takes control of PA infrastructure.After the Hamas takeover of Gaza, Israel takes a look a...

Well that didn’t last long, did it.  The Hamas-declared ceasefire lasted for the whole of Monday. Yesterday, as Israel’s troops tactfully departed Gaza so as not to rain on Obama’s parade gunmen in Gaza fired at IDF patrols in two separate incidents. Today, Ha’aretz reports:  The Israel Air Force on Tuesday attacked areas in the Gaza Strip from which Palestin...

More good news! Israeli F-16 bombers have pounded key targets across the Gaza Strip, killing more than 200 people, local medics say. Most of those killed were Hamas terrorists, which controls Gaza, but women and children also died, the Gaza propagandists say.  About 700 others were wounded, as missiles struck terror security compounds and terror bases, the officials said. Israel said it was r...

Ralph Peters in the New York Posts puts his finger not very delicately on the sore spot of Western attitude towards operation Cast Lead. Israel hasn't killed a single civilian in the Gaza Strip. Over a hundred civilians have died, and Israeli bombs or shells may have ended their lives. But Israel didn't kill them. Hamas did. (...) When Hamas can't kill Jews, it's perfectly willing to drive Palesti...

Over the weekend, the Egyptian junta formally reopened the Rafah crossing between Egypt and the Hamas ruled Gaza Strip. This was done without coordinating anything with Israel, a violation of the 2005 Egyptian-Israeli accords on the Gaza crossings which call for them to be manned by European monitors and supervised by Israel. Those accords were part of the security assurances Israel was given when...

Israel has now launched a full-scale ground attack against the Gaza strip, which no doubt means many more innocent civilians will lose their lives over the coming days. To that extent, I think the demonstrations across the UK to express solidarity with the people of Gaza (not Hamas) were important - even if previous demonstrations