Annan draws his vision of the Middle East

Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, related today his vision of the Arab-Israeli conflict:

Two states, Israel and Palestine living side by side in peace. The borders of the two countries will be based on the border of 1967 and the capital of the two states will be a divided Jerusalem.

The issue of Palestinian refugees will be solved within the boundaries of the Palestinian state and would not involve resettlement in Israel.

As to Syria and Lebanon: the two countries will have full diplomatic relations with Israel.

Annan claimed that both sides have a way to go in order to fulfill his vision and that each side must recognize the hardship it is causing the other. Only by accepting some of the other's view point can an agreement be made. Annan accepted Israel's position that terrorism did not equal unintentional harm which has befallen Palestinian citizens during IDF operations but did not absolve Israel of responsibility for it.

3 Qassam rockets fired on Sderot

After five days of quiet, 3 Qassam rockets were launched today by Palestinian terrorists from the Gaza Strip at the Israeli city of Sderot. The rockets landed in open territory and did no cause any casualties.

The Palestinian Authority blamed Islamic Jihad for breaking the ceasefire, but the terrorist group denied any connection to the shooting.

Peretz: Israel's ambiguity policy has not changed

On a tour of the West Bank today, Israel's Security Minister, Amir Peretz, stated that Israel's nuclear ambiguity policy has not changed. Peretz answered questions which arose due to an interview given yesterday by Ehud Olmert to German channel SAT1 in which he supposedly admitted that Israel possessed nuclear weapons. Olmert's staff was quick to deny that impression earlier today, but tempers in the local political arena are still wild over the Prime Minister's blunder.

Peretz said that Israel's position did not change and what is at stake is that the president of Iran threatens to destroy Israel and his country is developing a nuclear weapon. Peretz urged the International community to act and added that Israel shall not sit idly by.

Peretz reiterated the view that there are no apparent signs of an impending war with Syria.

A call for death for the shooters of the children in Gaza

Thousands attended the funeral of the three children of a top intelligence officer of the Fatah organization who were killed yesterday in Gaza in a driveby shooting which was intended for their father. The shooters were not caught but suspicion lies over the operatives of Hamas. The tensions between the two parties peaked today as calls for revenge rose from the crowds who came to see the children off.
Fatah's top man in the Gaza Strip, Muhamad Dahlan, called for the government to apprehend and punish the killers and intimated that Fatah was capable of hurting Hamas's top operatives.
In the shooting many others were injured and the driver of the children also perished. The children were aged 3, 6, and 9. Fatah officials called upon president Abu Mazen to dissolve the government and call for reelection. Ismail Haniyeh, the Prime Minister of the Hamas organization was quick to denounce the shooting and declared that every action to capture the killers will be taken.