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THE ISLAMIC SHIITE MIDDLE EAST BOBSIE TWINS

NASRALLAH (LEBANON) & MUQTATA SADR (IRAQ),

WORK TO BUILD A BOND FROM IRAN TO LEBANON

January 7, 2011

http://www.tribulationperiod

Begin Excerpt from DEBKAfile Exclusive Report

Iran builds new Eastern Front in Iraq against Israel, Jordan

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report

January 6, 2011, 30:7 PM (GMT+02:00)

The urgent phone call Jordan’s King Abdullah II put in to Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu Wednesday Jan. 5 dealt only marginally with stalled diplomacy

with the Palestinians. The king pressed for answers on what Jerusalem and Amman can do to curb Iran’s advancing domination of Iraq in the face of America’s inaction.

Referring to Hizballah’s role, Abdullah commented to Netanyahu: First Iran’s missiles had you jammed from the north and the south, now Iran and Hizballah are cornering you from the east. The Americans are not lifting a finger to stop this happening.”

The call, which came through the day before the Israeli prime minister met Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak for lunch at Sharm al Sheikh, elicited no real practical replies. Netanyahu confirmed that Israel still stood by the guarantee of support its armed forces and security services had granted the Hashemite Kingdom and its ruler for the past 60 years.

Both the king and the prime minister appreciated that words are not enough. Since both their military and strategic policies are synchronized with Washington, the total disintegration of American strategic positions in Baghdad Wednesday, Jan 5, was an alarming setback to both Jerusalem and Amman.

On that day, the anti-US radical Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr, a close friend and ally of Hizballah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah, came marching home from self-imposed exile in Iran, and the new Iranian foreign minister Ali Akbar Salehi paid his first visit to Baghdad – both in full sight of 50,000 US troops.

Sadr was greeted by thousands of supporters on his return to his old stronghold in the holy city of Najef south of Baghdad three years after his armed militia was defeated in bloody revolts against US forces.

The two arrivals from Iran, the cleric and

the diplomat, made it plain that Tehran has Iraq by the throat and plans to impose on Baghdad its regime structure, which rests on two focii, the political capital and the clergy. Prime Minister Nouri Maliki is already in Iran’s pocket; he is beholden to the radical Sadr’s support for his appointment. The same cleric – and therefore Iran – will control his fate – both by means of the 40-member Sadrist faction in parliament and the authority he wields from his seat in the religious city of Najef.

Tehran has also not neglected to carve out a position of influence in Baghdad for its Lebanese protégé, Hizballah, whose officers and instructors have been training the commanders of Sadr’s powerful militia, the Mahdi Army, alongside Iranian instructors.

The two ultra-radical Shiite leaders, Sadr and Nasrallah, are now bound closer together than ever before in an adventure for bringing Iraq under pro-Iranian Shiite domination.

Iraq’s neighbors, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, could only shudder at the sight of the two black-turbaned Shiite extremists taking charge of Iraq on behalf of Revolutionary Iran against no opposition.

This pair and Maliki have taken out of the hands of Washington and Baghdad the decision on whether a reduced US force stays on in Iraq after the main force departs in 11 months’ time. Moqtada Sadr has vowed to remove every last American from Iraqi soil and no one shows any sign of stopping him.

US troops will be replaced by Shiite-dominated Iraqi forces, the Shiite militias commanded and funded by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Al Qods Brigades and Hizballah militia detachments transferred from Lebanon.

Iran will in the coming months consolidate the Shiite takeover over Iraq. Hizballah will win a place in the sun and strategic depth after being squeezed between Syria, Israel and the sea. For US troops exit Iraq, the Iranians will be able to deploy their missiles and Hizballah’s rockets in the bases the Americans leave behind in Iraq and point them at Israel, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

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An OLD Defensive Policy ISRAEL SHOULD ACCELERATE NOW!

It is 2/3 completed – When finished it will enclose the West Bank!

January 5, 2011

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ARCHIVE SPECIAL PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 62D

April 10, 2002

Three years before I retired at the National Security Agency, in 1968, there was an Israeli security plan put forward by their Foreign Minister Yigal Allon. It was drawn up by him, but never put into effect and, for that matter, I do not remember it being put forward as an official proposal.

As I rec all, the pl

an was to completely surround the West Bank with a security buffer zone. I retired in 1971 and, quite frankly, my memory may not recall the details specifically, but it seems to me that the security buffer zone was to be about three miles deep, except on the side facing the Jordan River, where

I think it was to be seven to 10 miles in width. The Israelis seem to think this would provide them with security from the actions of the Palestinians enclosed within it. The more I think about it, the more it seems to me this was what was presented as a proposal under the Benjamin Netanyahu administration in a modified version. And what is now happening in Israel may also be a modified version of the old Allon Security Buffer Zone Plan. They would first eliminate or cripple the terrorist infrastructure in the cities and refugee camps, then pull back a few miles and establish a security ring around the individual areas, and then finally seal in most of the West Bank with a security buffer zone to give them a feeling of peace and safety from the terrorists within the West Bank.

That may, or may not, be Israel’s final objective, but I will guarantee you this, the Palestinians and all Islamic nations will hate it.

And if anything will cause a false peace to come in, this action will insure it. A false peace is coming to the Middle East. It may be a “forced peace” or a negotiated peace, or a combination of both, but it will be a false peace that gives Israel a sense of “Peace and safety,” and it will be broken with the agony and pain that suddenly comes upon a woman before giving birth to a child, and that pain and agony will last for some 1260 days.

I Thessalonians 5:3,4 – For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. [4] But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.

Revelation 12:6 – And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

If you would like to see a diagram of the Allen Plan, Click on the Archive Prophecy Update Number 65C

Begin Excerpt from ‘The American Thinker’ via Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs Daily Alert

January 4, 2011

The Doctrine of Defensible Borders

Harry Kanigel (American Thinker)

Arab strategists have, for decades, waged an economic, diplomatic and propaganda campaign whose object is to isolate Israel and shrink it to indefensible size and configuration.

In view of such an existential threat, Israel must steady its adherence to the doctrine of defensible borders.

Israel’s security arrangements cannot be dependent on transitory political conditions in the U.S. or the Arab states, whose overt hostility to Israel waxes and wanes but whose ingrained commitment to its destruction is well-nigh a law of nature.

The principle of defensible boundaries, as applied to the West Bank, draws on the foundational work of former Foreign Minister Yigal Allon, architect of Israel’s defensible borders template, dubbed the Allon Plan.

The major topographical feature in the West Bank is a mountain ridge running north-south and rising thousands of feet over the coastal plain to the west and the Jordan Valley rift to the east.

From vantage points along the mountain ridge, an observer gazing down on the coastal plain would see a narrow band of real estate jam-packed with vital infrastructure, an international airport, all of the major highways, 80% of the nation’s industrial capacity, and 70% of its population.

The Allon Plan makes ingenious use of this topology, envisioning a 12-mile security belt comprising the topographically rugged Jordan Valley and the ridge above. The combined height of the ridge and the rift presents a 4,200-foot barrier that would defend against attackers from the east (Jordan) and retain positions that oversee the coastal plain to the west.

BEGIN ARCHIVE SPECIAL PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 62D

April 10, 2002

Three years before I retired at the National Security Agency, in 1968, there was an Israeli security plan put forward by their Foreign Minister Yigal Allon. It was drawn up by him, but never put into effect and, for that matter, I do not remember it being put forward as an official proposal. As I recall, the plan was to completely surround the West Bank with a security buffer zone. I retired in 1971 and, quite frankly, my memory may not recall the details specifically, but it seems to me that the security buffer zone was to be about three miles deep, except on the side facing the Jordan River, where I think it was to be seven to 10 miles in width. The Israelis seem to think this would provide them with security from the actions of the Palestinians enclosed within it. The more I think about it, the more it seems to me this was what was presented as a proposal under the Benjamin Netanyahu administration in a modified version. And what is now happening in Israel may also be a modified version of the old Allon Security Buffer Zone Plan. They would first eliminate or cripple the terrorist infrastructure in the cities and refugee camps, then pull back a few miles and establish a security ring around the individual areas, and then finally seal in most of the West Bank with a security buffer zone to give them a feeling of peace and safety from the terrorists within the West Bank.

That may, or may not, be Israel’s final objective, but I will guarantee you this, the Palestinians and all Islamic nations will hate it. And if anything will cause a false peace to come in, this action will insure it. A false peace is coming to the Middle East. It may be a “forced peace” or a negotiated peace, or a combination of both, but it will be a false peace that gives Israel a sense of “Peace and safety,” and it will be broken with the agony and pain that suddenly comes upon a woman before giving birth to a child, and that pain and agony will last for some 1260 days.

I Thessalonians 5:3,4 – For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. [4] But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.

Revelation 12:6 – And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

BEGIN ARCHIVE PROPHECY UPDATE 21

June, 2002

Mid-East peace negotiations of one sort or another have been going on for more than ten years. In the last eight months more than 600 have died in the limited conflict, and thousands of lives have been ruined.

Terrorist act after terrorist act has shattered cease-fire after

cease fire. How long will these situations last? It will last until the terrorist groups, which are controlled by Syria, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan, and the Palestinians, finally realize this type of limited conflict can never drive Israel out of the country north of Beersheva.

Every Arab leader in Islam knows the technological military might of Israel, and sooner or later they will put to use what

they learned in three wars against her in 1948, 1967, and 1973. You cannot defeat Israel if she is in an alert military posture, even if you strike on the Day of Atonement. To defeat Israel two things must be in place: (1) A well planned, highly coordinated, joint effort between Syria, Iraq, and Iran, plus (2) A cessation of all terrorist activities to maintain what seems to be a genuine peace with Israel.

Israel must be lulled into a false sense of security in order for a joint effort of Syria, Iraq, and Iran to be successful. Until the Islamic leaders are able to bring this false peace to pass, Israel will remain in place from Dan to Beersheva.

The Jewish people have endured some 2000 years of persecution, a holocaust in Europe, and constant conflict in Israel for more than 60 years.

Their longing for an end of conflict will cause them to believe it is a real peace because they so desperately seek it. When Syria, Iran, and Iraq can overcome their natural dislike for one another, then Iran and Iraq can slip their troops across the southern border of Syria in small groups at night, where they can remained concealed in the valleys of the Palmyra folds and faults. This could be accomplished slowly over a years time until several divisions were embedded in the northeast to southwest valleys pointed toward Israel.

After a year without any terrorist activities, I believe Israel would negotiate a joint treaty with the Palestinians and the Syrians, with the Syrians receiving a favorable return of the Golan Heights, and the Palestinians receiving back most of the West Bank, but not the Old City of Jerusalem, or the Temple Mount.

This would be the perfect setting for a surprise attack down the tank trails west of the Golan Heights, with the enemy within, the Palestinians, assisting the southward advance

of the armies of Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Iran. In the next prophecy update, Lord willing, we will cover two military strategies that could drive Israel southward into the Negev: (1) Divide and conquer, and (2) Entrap from the south and north, then dig in and hold.

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Rocket threat against Israel more serious than ever Before

Next war capable of seeing 400 to 600 rockets launched Daily

Tehran has some missiles able to reach Israel in 10-12 Minutes

The IDF

Is Getting Ready for an Eventual Major Middle East War!

January 3, 2010

http://www/tribulationperiod.com/

Begin Excerpt 1 from THE JERUSALEM POSt

‘Hizbullah can fire 400-600 rockets a day in next war’

By YAAKOV KATZ AND LAHAV HARKOV

01/03/0211 03:40

Mossad official’s estimate from leaked cable predicts Tel Aviv will be hit; Iran has 300 long-range missiles, IDF chief says.

Hizbullah would likely shoot between 400 and 600 missiles a day in to Israel during a future war, a senior Mossad official

told a congressional delegation to Israel in 2009, according to a US diplomatic cable published on Sunday.

The cable from November 2009 summed up meetings a delegation led by Ike Skelton (D-Missouri) held with top officials from the Mossad, the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) and the IDF. It was first published on Sunday by Norway’s Aftenposten newspaper, which received it from WikiLeaks.

According to the Mossad official, 100 of the missiles will hit Tel Aviv.

Hizbullah, the delegation was told, has 40,000 missiles as well as a number of Iranian-made Ababil unmanned aerial vehicles that have a range of 150 km. and can be loaded with explosives and sent to bomb strategic targets in Israel.

Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi told the delegation that due to the military buildup in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, he was preparing the IDF for a “major war” since it would then be easier to scale down for smaller conflicts if needed.

As a result of the growing rocket threat, Ashkenazi told the congressmen that the IDF was investing heavily in missile defense systems, such as the Arrow, David’ s Sling and Iron Dome.

While the Iranian threat was grave, Ashkenazi told the Americans that the threat from Hamas and Hizbullah, which were funded by Iran, was most acute since due to their proximity to Israel, their rockets would be more accurate.

Turning to Iran, Ashkenazi said that Israel would have 10 to 12 minutes to prepare after its radar systems detected an Iranian missile fired toward the country.

He said that Teheran had more than 300 missiles capable of reaching Israel.

Ashkenazi also gave some rare insight into how Israel gathers intelligence on Hizbullah and locates targets in Lebanon.

Israel frequently sends drones over Lebanon to identify potential targets, he said, calling their use a “success.”

In addition, he revealed that the IDF closely cooperates with the US National Security Agency, which gathers signal intelligence such as communications.

Begin Excerpt 2 from Haaretz

WikiLeaks quotes IDF chief: Iran could hit Israel within 12 minutes

Gabi Ashkenazi told U.S. officials in 2009 that Israel was preparing for war against Hamas, Hezbollah and that rocket threat against Israel is ‘more serious than ever.’

By Haaretz Service

January 2, 2011 at 18:58

Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi reportedly said in 2009 that Israel would have only between 10 and 12 minutes of warning in the event of an Iranian missile attack, AFP on Sunday quoted leaked U.S. cables as saying.

According to the cable authored by the American embassy in Tel Aviv, Lieutenant General Ashkenazi told the American delegation led by Missourian Congressman Ike Skelton that Iran possesses some 300 Shihab rockets that are capable of reaching Israel within minutes, leaving Israel

with very little time to mount an effective defense.

Despite the danger that Iran poses to Israel, the cable states that Ashkenazi was more worried about the military capabilities of fighting forces closer to home, specifically Hamas, which controls Gaza, on Israel’s western border, and Hezbollah, which maintains a strong military presence in southern Lebanon, on Israel’s northern border.

According to the French news agency AFP, Ashkenazi’s statements were published in an article in the Norwegian-language newspaper Aftenposten, which has access to all of the U.S. embassy cables released by WikiLeaks.

Ashkenazi is supposed to have also told the American delegation on November 15, 2009 that Israel was preparing for a large-scale war with Hamas or Hezbollah.

“I am preparing the Israeli army for a large scale war, since it is easier to scale down to a smaller operation than to do the opposite,” Ashkenazi said. “The rocket threat against Israel is more serious than ever. That is why Israel is putting such emphasis on rocket defense.”

Ashkenazi said that he believes Hezbollah to possess 40,000 rockets, while U.S. officials put the number at closer to 50,000 rockets. “Hamas will have the possibility to bombard Tel Aviv, with Israel’s highest population concentration,” Ashkenazi reportedly said.

Although approximately 1400 Palestinians, many of them civilians, were killed during Operation Cast Lead, Israel’s incursion into the Gaza Strip in December 2008, Ashkenazi vowed that the next round of fighting in Gaza would entail an even greater cost in human life, saying that Israel would not again accept “any restrictions on warfare in populated areas.”

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from which we extracted it.

THE CONTROLLING FACTOR IN WHEN FALSE SECURITY ARISES

IN THE MIDDLE EAST TO LULL ISRAEL INTO ITS DEADLY WEB

IS NOW WEAVING THE FIRST THREADS IN THE 3 EXCERPTS.

January 2, 2011

http://www.tribulationperiod.com/

When I placed the third Prophecy Update on my new computer ten years ago, I stated the controlling factor that must occur to enable Islam to lull Israel into a time of the false security indicated in I Thessalonians 5:3,4.

I Thessalonians 5:3,4 – For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

[4] But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.

Begin January 1976 Heading from Archive Prophecy Update Number 3

There is something far more important in the peace process than who is leader of Israel and who is leader of the Palestinians.

I retired from the USAF/National Security Agency as a synoptic analyst. When one analyzes anything, it is imperative to advance from what controls the conclusion of the problem being examined. Some problems do not have a definite controlling factor, and all the factors, both incidental

and insignificant, must be given the appropriate weight in making a forecast of the outcome. However, this is not the case in making a determination of when peace will come between Israel and the Palestinians. The controlling factor which determines when a false peace will come to Israel, rests solely with the terrorist groups

that plague her. There can never be a period of peace, even false peace, without the approval of all the terrorist groups. Yassar Arafat cannot control the terrorist groups, nor can any other single Arab leader. The terrorist complex of Osama Bin Laden, the Islamic Jihad, Hamas, Hisbullah, and Fatah are really controlled by leaders in Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Afghanistan, and Iraq.

Until these leaders finally come to the conclusion that the only way Israel can be driven into the Negev is by being lulled into a false sense of security, the terrorist groups will continue to operate, and the killing will continue. I believe these terrorist groups will soon realize that if they really want to slaughter Jews by the hundreds of thousands, and drive the rest into the Negev, they will have to lull Israel into a brief period of false peace. When this happens, an agreement will be reached between Israel and the Palestinians. So my advice to those who want to get a feel of WHEN the false peace will come is this: WATCH the terrorist groups. When their actions drop to zero, and stay there for a while, you may rest assured it has been as a result of meetings behind closed doors between the leaders of the aforementioned nations, and the leaders of the terrorist groups they sponsor. I don’t pay much attention to any leader of Israel or the Palestinians. The terrorist groups are the key to a false peace in the Mid-East.

When they grasp that by appearing to cease their activities they will be able, at a later time, to kill many Jews, and drive the rest into the Negev, they will settle down and wait for the surprise attack against Israel from the north. Ariel Sharon may try to put a “forced peace” on the Palestinians before the terrorist groups shut down. This was one of the options considered by his party in the past. But it will not work. Watch for a cessation of terrorism. Then, after a brief period of false peace look for a vicious surprise attack from the north out of Syria.

End January 1976 Heading from Archive Prophecy Update Number 3

I believe Israel will be lulled into a sense of false safety, such that when rockets are sent suddenly across her northern border, she will rush headlong into Lebanon, thinking she can do what she has done so many times before, but she will be rushing into a preconceived trap, and the last war of this Gentile Age will begin. I believe this war will begin at some point in time prior to 2015, and that Israel will be pushed into the Negev, where she will remain surrounded for some three and one half prophetic years after a truce is declared between Islam and Israel.

At the end of the three and one half years the battle of Armageddon will occur, Christ will return at his Second Advent, Israel will defeat all her enemies, and occupy the Land Grant given to Israel (Jacob) through Abraham and Jacob.

Zechariah 13:8 – And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left

therein.

Revelation 12:6 – And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

Daniel 7:25 – And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.

Zechariah 13:9 – And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God.

Genesis 15:18 – In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:

Ezekiel 47:17 – And the border from the sea shall be Hazar-enan, the border of Damascus, and the north northward, and the border of Hamath. And this is the north side.

Ezekiel 47:19 – And the south side southward, from Tamar even to the waters of strife in Kadesh, the river to the great sea. And this is the south side southward.

Zechariah 14:9 – And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one.

Begin Excerpt 1 from YNet News via the Jerusalem Center for Public Information/ Daily Alert

2010: Lowest Number of Terror Attacks in a Decade

Hanan Greenberg

2010 saw the lowest number of terror attacks and terror victims in a decade, the Israel Security Agency reported. 9 civilians and soldiers were killed in 798 terror-related incidents in Israel and the territories, compared with 15 deaths in 1,354 incidents in 2009. 16 shooting incidents killed 5 Israelis in the West Bank in 2010. (Ynet News)

Begin Excerpt 2 from The Irish Times via World News

The Irish Times

Friday, December 31, 2010

Militant groups in Gaza to halt rocket attacks

MICHAEL JANSEN

ARMED PALESTINIAN groups in Gaza have decided to halt rocket attacks on Israel, a senior Islamic Jihad commander announced yesterday.

“We agreed to halt one of the means of armed resistance – which is firing rockets at Israel – to avoid Israeli threats,” said Daoud Shihab, an Islamic Jihad spokesman, “but the armed resistance will keep active by confronting [Israeli] raids and incursions.”

The decision to suspend rocket attacks, however, was “temporary” and “linked to the situation on the ground”.

The agreement among smaller factions based in Gaza, reached on Wednesday at a meeting called by Hamas, coincides with rising tensions due to an escalation of Palestinian rocket strikes on Israel and Israeli retaliatory action.

Israeli shelling and gunfire have killed at least 14 Palestinians this month and aggressive rhetoric on both sides has prompted concerns that a new war could ensue if violent exchanges do not end.

Islamic Jihad, the Popular Struggle Front and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine have come under strong pressure from Hamas, which rules Gaza, to abide by the ceasefire reached in January 2009, ending Israel’s all-out offensive against the Strip.

It has caused widespread destruction and has killed more than 1,440 people, most of them civilians.

Hamas’s political leadership has also had to impose its will on the movement’s own military wing, the Izzedin al-Qassam Brigades, which has suspended the firing of missiles into Israel but has ex- pressed determination to continue mounting attacks on Israeli soldiers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Spokesman Abu Ubayda said the force was observing the 2009 ceasefire with respect to rockets to prevent Gaza from being drawn into a new war. “However, if that war erupts, we will not stand by with our hands folded; we will fight fiercely.”

The brigades’ statement was issued a day after Mahmoud Zahar, a senior political figure regarded as a hardliner, said Hamas was committed to the truce and called on other factions to abide by it.

Palestinian analyst Wisam Afifa expressed the view of many in Gaza when he argued that Israel was preparing for a second Gaza war. He said the Israeli military did not achieve its objectives in the 2008- 2009 war – the collapse of

the de facto Hamas government and the elimination of armed resistance.

The Israelis “want to restore their deterrence and they know that the resistance took advantage of the ceasefire to upgrade its military skills”. He added: “Hamas is not planning to confront the Israeli army and is trying to avoid providing the Israelis with any pretext to wage war again.”

Hamas has tried and failed to link an end to rocket fire to the lifting of Israel’s siege and blockade of Gaza to allow in construction m ateri

als so Gazans can rebuild homes and businesses destroyed during the war.

However building materials are still banned, although Israel has eased the blockade somewhat since last summer following the raid by Israeli naval commandos on a blockade-busting Turkish ferry.

Begin Excerpt 3 from Ha’artz

Report: U.S. in secret talks with Syria over peace accord with Israel

Kuwaiti newspaper al-Rai reports U.S. believes Syria ready to distance itself from Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas.

Published January 1, 2011 at 14:08

The United States has been in secret contact with Syrian officials in the hopes of realizing a comprehensive Israel-Syrian peace treaty, the Kuwaiti al-Rai newspaper reported Saturday.

The past few weeks had witnessed an “unprecedented Syrian cooperation” in the peace process, prompting Washington to talk with Syrian officials to reach a peace agreement between Syria and Israel, informed sources told al-Rai.

Sources said Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem had sent positive signals to the U.S. showing that “the Syrians are ready to re-engage in dialogue with the Israelis to reach peace”.

President Barack Obama’s administration believes that an Israeli-Syrian peace agreement will be “a breakthrough in the peace process as a whole to achieve peace in the Palestinian territories.”

Sources said that Obama adviser Dennis Ross told the U.S. administration that he found “Syria ready to move away from Iran and reduce relations with Hezbollah and Hamas, and work with the United States in the fight against terrorism.”

Israel, for its part, apparently expressed a willingness to return the Golan Heights to Syria, reach an agreement on water rights, and normalize relations with Damascus.

Syrian demands the return of the Golan, a strategic plateau overlooking northern Israel, as a prerequisite for any peace deal.

Israel captured the Golan in the 1967 Six Day War, and in 1981 parliament passed a law applying Israeli “laws, jurisdiction and administration” to the territory, in effect annexing it. The annexation was not recognized internationally.

Direct Israeli-Syrian peace talks fell apart in 2000, over a dispute over Syrian access to the Sea of Galilee, as per the de facto border which existed prior to the 1967 war.

Turkish mediated Israeli-Syrian talks also failed to produce any breakthrough.

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http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml.

You may use material originated by this site. However, if you wish to use any quoted copyrighted material from this site, which did not originate at this site, for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner

from which we extracted it.