Israel agrees to extend Gaza ceasefire

Posted by Unknown on Wednesday, August 6, 2014 | 0 comments | Leave a comment...

Israel has agreed to extend the ongoing ceasefire with the Gaza-ruling Hamas movement, the Egyptian state TV reported late on Wednesday, August 6.
“Israel has announced willingness to extend the current truce with neither conditions nor time limit,” said the Egyptian state TV.
Egypt is currently hosting Israeli and Palestinian delegations for talks on extending the ongoing Cairo-brokered “extendable” 72- hour humanitarian truce that started early Tuesday.
During the ongoing talks, the Palestinian delegation, including influential Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, conditioned a list of demands to be presented by the Egyptian leadership to the Israeli side.
These demands include a ceasefire, withdrawal of the Israeli forces from Gaza, lifting the Israeli blockade against the Strip, opening the border crossings and releasing Palestinian prisoners agreed-upon with Israel in a previous prisoner swap and holding an international donor conference for Gaza reconstruction.
On the Israeli side, its key demand is that Hamas be disarmed, in exchange for the rehabilitation of the Gaza Strip, an Israeli official told Xinhua.
But Hamas vehemently rejects the notion of disarmament and wishes for a long-term arrangement, mainly to end the blockade on the strip, the Army Radio quoted a Hamas member of the Palestinian delegation as saying earlier on Wednesday.
The Israeli offensive on the restive Gaza Strip that lasted for less than one month has left more than 1,850 Palestinians killed and over 9,550 wounded, while 64 Israeli soldiers and three civilians were killed in the conflict.
Cairo has lately been the destination of United States, European and Asian diplomats until the 72-hour humanitarian truce was reached. The Egyptian leadership is currently intensifying communications and talks to reach a permanent truce between the Palestinians and the Israelis.
Egypt brokered a truce between Hamas and Israel in 2012, during the one-year reign of former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi who was ousted by the military last year.

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Journalist attacked by ‘angry Israeli’ during live report on Gaza (VIDEO)

Posted by Unknown on Wednesday, July 23, 2014 | 0 comments | Leave a comment...

A BBC Arabic correspondent was attacked on air in the Israeli city of Ashkelon, just outside Gaza, while reporting on the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.








The journalist, Feras Khatib, was wearing a PRESS vest during the live report in the Arabic language when a man, apparently an Israeli, approached and violently shoved him sideways, as seen on the video posted on YouTube.
The attacker was quickly pulled away from camera view by another member of the BBC team, while Khatib continued his reporting.
The incident took place in Ashkelon, just north of Gaza, according to a BBC Arabic spokesman. The attacker reportedly left right after the incident.
Khatib “was manhandled by an angry Israeli…Feras was unharmed and will continue reporting as normal,” the channel said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Al Jazeera’s office in Gaza was fired at on Tuesday. The network blames Israel for the attack. “Two very precise shots were fired straight into our building,” Al Jazeera’s Stefanie Dekker said. “We are high up in the building so we had a very strong vantage point over the area. But we have evacuated.”
Tuesday saw the Gaza conflict move into its third week. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, the number of Palestinians killed has risen to 633 – the vast majority of whom are civilians.
Overall, five mosques, a sports stadium, and the home of a deceased Hamas military chief were hit on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, 29 Israelis have been killed – two of them civilians. Two soldiers were also killed on Tuesday, according to Tel Aviv. This death toll is the highest number of Israeli military deaths since the 2006 Lebanon war.
Sources: BBC/ Reuters

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Gaza death toll climbs

Posted by Unknown on Sunday, July 20, 2014 | 0 comments | Leave a comment...

gaza, Gaza attack, Israel, Israel attack on Gaza, Palestine, UN, World News
Diplomatic pressure for a ceasefire in Gaza increased on Saturday as the Palestinian death toll in the 11-day conflict climbed to more than 300 and at least 50,000 people had to flee their homes in the face of the Israeli military assault from ground, air and sea.
Two Israeli soldiers were killed in a cross-border attack by Hamasmilitants on Saturday, the army said. Military officials said four other soldiers were wounded in the raid by fighters who had used a concealed tunnel to reach Israel. One Hamas gunman was killed, while the rest of the group managed to escape back into Gaza.
Israel’s bombardment of Gaza intensified on Saturday night as a handful of areas were hit every few seconds with tank and rocket fire. With Israel suggesting that its ground offensive could last two weeks, the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, travelled to the region to add his weight to efforts to broker a truce between Israel and Hamas.
The Egyptian government restated a proposal it had made on Monday, which was accepted by Israel but dismissed by Hamas. Israel launched the ground invasion following Hamas’s rejection. “This initiative still presents the chance for the two sides to cease fire, ending the bloodshed,” said Egypt’s foreign minister, Sameh Shukri. “It meets the needs of both sides. We will continue to propose it. We hope both sides accept it.” Laurent Fabius, the French foreign minister, said a ceasefire was “an urgent imperative”, adding that his government fully backed the Egyptian initiative, which is also supported by the Arab League. “The absolute priority is a ceasefire, but it must guarantee a lasting truce,” Fabius said in Cairo, after meeting the Egyptian president, Abdul Fatah al-Sisi.
Hamas has refused to agree to a ceasefire without preconditions on the release of prisoners arrested in the West Bank and the opening of crossings from Gaza to Egypt and Israel. Senior Hamas official Ghazi Hamad told Channel 4 News on Saturday that Hamas would continue to fire rockets until Israel agreed to its demands.
Qatar and Turkey, seen as allies of Hamas, were also attempting to broker a ceasefire, with the Qatari foreign minister, Khalid bin Mohammed al-Attiyah, reportedly tabling a proposal reflecting Hamas’s stance.
In Gaza, Israeli tanks and bulldozers were clearing a wide strip of land inside the perimeter fence as troops continued to hunt for openings to cross-border tunnels dug by militants. The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) said it had found more than a dozen tunnels since the ground offensive started. The UN said the number of internal refugees had more than doubled since the start of the invasion, to at least 50,000, with the number expected to rapidly rise. The World Food Programme was stepping up efforts to distribute supplies to Palestinian civilians caught in the fighting.
Thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched to the Israeli embassy in London , calling for an end to military action in Gaza.
- Guardian

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Israel launches Gaza air strike after bodies of three missing teens found

Posted by Unknown on Tuesday, July 1, 2014 | 0 comments | Leave a comment...

Israel bombed dozens of sites in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, striking at Hamas after finding the bodies of three missing teenagers whose abduction and killing it blames on the Palestinian Hamas group.
Israel’s security cabinet, which held an emergency session late on Monday and was due to meet again on Tuesday, was currently split on the scope of any further action in the coastal enclave and the occupied West Bank, officials said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had promised Hamas would pay after the discovery of the three Jewish seminary students’ bodies under a pile of rocks near the West Bank city of Hebron on Monday.
The military said aircraft attacked 34 sites, mostly belonging to Hamas, though its statement did not link the strikes to the abductions.
Instead, it cited 18 Palestinian rocket launched against Israel from Gaza in the past two days which Israeli officials have said Hamas carried out.
The Hamas group has neither confirmed nor denied Israel’s allegations about its role in the disappearance of the students as they hitchhiked near a Jewish settlement on June 12.
At the security cabinet meeting, the army proposed “considered and moderate actions” against militants in the West Bank in response to the teenagers’ deaths, said officials. Any sustained campaign there could undermine Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
But the cabinet did not agree on a future course of action at that session, officials added.
In the West Bank on Tuesday, an Israeli military spokeswoman said troops opened fire at a man, identified by Palestinian officials as Yousouf Ibrahim abu Zagha, 19, who threw a grenade at soldiers who were attempting to arrest a militant in the Jenin refugee camp.
The kidnapping appalled Israelis who rallied behind the youngsters’ families in a display of national unity.
“They were kidnapped and murdered in cold blood by beasts … Hamas is responsible and Hamas will pay,” Netanyahu said in a statement on Monday.
The funerals of Gil-Ad Shaer and U.S.-Israeli national Naftali Fraenkel, both 16, and Eyal Yifrah, 19 were due to take place later on Tuesday.
The teens, who attended a religious school in a Jewish settlement, had apparently been shot soon after being taken, officials said. Two of the youths lived in Israel.
The men Israel has accused of carrying out the abductions are still at large. Israeli media said the break in the case came after their relatives were interrogated.
Troops late on Monday set off explosions in the family homes of the alleged abductors, blowing open a doorway in one, an army spokeswoman said. The other property was on fire after the blast. Neighbours said both houses were empty.
“This kind of act is a sin, whether you’re a Muslim or Jew. They’ve scared the kids so much,” Um Sharif, the mother of one of the alleged kidnappers said about the damage caused to her home. She said she did not believe her son had been involved.
Hamas has been rocked by the arrest of dozens of its activists in an Israeli military sweep in the West Bank over the past three weeks during a search for the teenagers that Israel said was also aimed at weakening the militant movement. Up to six Palestinians died as a result of the Israeli operation, local residents said
After news of the teenagers’ deaths, condolence messages and condemnation of the killings poured in from foreign leaders. “The United States condemns in the strongest possible terms, this senseless act of terror against innocent youths,” President Barack Obama said in a statement. “I also urge all parties to refrain from steps that could further destabilise the situation.”
Netanyahu seized on the abduction to demand Abbas abrogate a reconciliation deal he reached with Hamas, his long-time rival, in April that led to a unity Palestinian government on June 2.
Abbas condemned the abduction and pledged the cooperation of his security forces, drawing criticism from Hamas and undercutting his popularity among Palestinians angered by what they saw as his collusion with Israel.
Hamas, which has maintained security control of the Gaza Strip since the unity deal, is shunned by the West over its refusal to renounce violence. The group has called for Israel’s destruction, although various officials have at times indicated a willingness to negotiate a long-term ceasefire.
- Reuters

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Iranian hackers use fake Facebook accounts to spy on U.S., others

Posted by Unknown on Thursday, June 12, 2014 | 0 comments | Leave a comment...

In an unprecedented, three-year cyber espionage campaign, Iranian hackers created false social networking accounts and a fake news website to spy on military and political leaders in the United States, Israel and other countries, a cyber intelligence firm said on Thursday.

ISight Partners, which uncovered the operation, said the hackers' targets include a four-star U.S. Navy admiral, U.S. lawmakers and ambassadors, members of the U.S.-Israeli lobby, and personnel from Britain, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.

The firm declined to identify the victims and said it could not say what data had been stolen by the hackers, who were seeking credentials to access government and corporate networks, as well as infect machines with malicious software.
 
 "If it's been going on for so long, clearly they have had success," iSight Executive Vice President Tiffany Jones told Reuters. The privately held company is based in Dallas, Texas and provides intelligence on cyber threats.

ISight dubbed the operation "Newscaster" because it said the Iranian hackers created six "personas" who appeared to work for a fake news site, NewsOnAir.org, which used content from the Associated Press, BBC, Reuters and other media outlets. The hackers created another eight personas who purported to work for defense contractors and other organizations, iSight said.

The hackers set up false accounts on Facebook and other online social networks for these 14 personas, populated their profiles with fictitious personal content, and then tried to befriend target victims, according to iSight.

The operation has been active since at least 2011, iSight said, noting that it was the most elaborate cyber espionage campaign using "social engineering" that has been uncovered to date from any nation.

To build credibility, the hackers would approach high-value targets by first establishing ties with the victims' friends, classmates, colleagues, relatives and other connections over social networks run by Facebook Inc, Google Inc and its YouTube, LinkedIn Corp and Twitter Inc.

The hackers would initially send the targets content that was not malicious, such as links to news articles on NewsOnAir.org, in a bid to establish trust. Then they would send links that infected PCs with malicious software, or direct targets to web portals that ask for network log-in credentials, iSight said.

The hackers used the 14 personas to make connections with more than 2,000 people, the firm said, adding that it believed the group ultimately targeted several hundred individuals.

"This campaign is not loud. It is low and slow," said Jones. "They want to be stealth. They want to be under the radar."

ISight said it had alerted some victims and social networking sites as well as the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and overseas authorities. An FBI spokeswoman declined to comment.

Facebook Inc spokesman Jay Nancarrow said his company had discovered the hacking group while investigating suspicious friend requests and other activity on its website.

"We removed all of the offending profiles we found to be associated with the fake NewsOnAir organization and we have used this case to further refine our systems that catch fake accounts at various points of interaction on the site and block malware from spreading," Nancarrow said.

LinkedIn spokesman Doug Madey said the site was investigating the report, though none of the 14 fake profiles uncovered by iSight were currently active.

Twitter declined to comment and Google could not immediately be reached for comment.

POST-STUXNET ERA

ISight disclosed its findings as evidence emerges that Iranian hacking groups are becoming increasingly aggressive.

Cybersecurity company FireEye Inc reported earlier this month that a group known as the Ajax Security Team has become the first Iranian hacking group to use custom-built malicious software for espionage.

Iranian hackers stepped up their activity in the wake of the Stuxnet attack on Tehran's nuclear program in 2010. The Stuxnet computer virus is widely believed to have been launched by the United States and Israel.

ISight said it could not ascertain whether the hackers were tied to the government in Tehran, though it believed they were supported by a nation state because of the complexity of the operation.

The firm said NewsOnAir.org was registered in Tehran and likely hosted by an Iranian provider. The Persian term "Parastoo" was used as a password for malware associated with the group, which appeared to work during business hours in Tehran, according to iSight.

Among the 14 false personas were reporters for NewsOnAir, including one with the same name as a Reuters journalist in Washington; six employees who purportedly worked for defense contractors; a systems administrator with the U.S. Navy; and an accountant working for a payment processor.

A spokesman for Thomson Reuters Corp, which owns Reuters, declined to comment.

(Reporting by Jim Finkle; Editing by Tiffany Wu)

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