On Third Anniversary of Israeli Invasion of Gaza, Palestinian Prime Minister, Isma'il Haniya, Calls for Arab Support

Thursday December 29, 2011 06:02 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC News

As Palestinians commemorated the third anniversary of a massive Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, the Palestinian Prime Minister in Gaza, Ismail Haniyah, called on the Arab League nations to show support for the people of Gaza and push for an end to the five-year long siege that has devastated the Gazan economy.

Haniyah’s call came as top Israeli officials threatened a new invasion, which they promised would be “painful” to the people of Gaza. In the 2008-9 invasion, code named Operation Cast Lead, which ended the day before the inauguration of US President Barack Obama, Israeli forces killed over 1,400 Palestinians, including over 300 children. Nine Israeli soldiers and 5 civilians were also killed during the same time period.

The Palestinian Prime Minister, a member of the Hamas party elected in 2006 but never recognized by Israel or the U.S., spoke in his statement about the importance of the city of Jerusalem to Arabs and Muslims, and encouraged Arab leaders to educate their people about the historical and religious significance of the city.

He referenced the Israeli plan to cleanse the city of Jerusalem of its indigenous Palestinian inhabitants and Judaize the city – a plan laid out in 2006 by the Jerusalem municipality, known as the ‘E1 Plan for Greater Jerusalem’.

Referring to the revolutions that have swept across the Arab world this year, Haniyah stated, "The revolutions are the proof that the future is ours as Palestinians and for the Islamic and Arab people, the [Israeli] occupation cannot escape from the legitimate Palestinian demand to have a state with Jerusalem as its capital."

Israeli occupation forces' budget rises after approved by Knesset

[ 29/12/2011 - 10:58 AM ]

NAZARETH, (PIC)--

The so-called Israeli parliament (Knesset) committees of finance and security on Wednesday approved the Israeli government's decision to raise the budget of the Israeli occupation forces, although some Israeli officials called earlier for slashing it.

The official Hebrew radio said these two Knesset committees sanctioned the financial plan of the Israeli occupation forces by about one billion and 600 million shekels.

Knesset member and head of its security committee Shaul Mofaz had expressed his opposition to this budget increase and demanded cutting it, but Benny Gantz, the Israeli army's chief of staff, warned the Israeli occupation government of cutting the budget because this would affect the military readiness of the Israeli occupation army.

Gantz: New war on Gaza inevitable

[ 29/12/2011 - 04:49 PM ]

GAZA, (PIC)--

Israeli occupation government chief of staff, Benny Gantz, said that a new war on Gaza was inevitable “sooner or later” and that his occupation army was preparing for it.

Gantz, in a statement on the army’s website on Wednesday, said that the new war would be totally different from the last one three years ago.

He added that infantry forces would be more trained on night combat and would use explosives to blast their way through gates and passages.

Responding to these Israeli statements of aggression, first deputy speaker of the Palestinian legislative council Dr. Ahmed Bahar, said that any new Israeli war on Gaza would not be a “picnic”.

He said in a press release that the Israeli war threats were a type of psychological warfare, noting that the present stage was not similar to the last one as no “tyrannical regimes” would support such an aggression and it would not enjoy international support.

Bahar, however, asked the Palestinian resistance factions to be always on the alert and to remain wary of the “occupation’s cunningness, deceit and treachery”.

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