Thursday, August 30, 2007

The Middle East in Focus

This week, for all the headlines cited below, please join us in proclaiming THIS DECREE:

"You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in You." (Isaiah 26:3)

1. Barak: Hezbollah rocket arsenal bigger now than before the war - Ha'aretz

Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Monday told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that Hezbollah has more rockets today than it did prior to the Second Lebanon War last summer.

2. PA to shut down over 100 civil groups - Ynet News


The Palestinian government has ordered the closure of 103 institutions in the West Bank and Gaza, Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said Monday, in an apparent crackdown aimed at Hamas. The formal reason is violation of laws governing civil groups.

3. Hamas orders private Gaza clinics shut down - Jerusalem Post

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Members of Hamas's Executive Force.
Photo: AP [file] , AP

Gaza's Islamic Hamas rulers ordered striking doctors to shut down their private clinics on Monday, in a challenge to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas that threatened to deepen hardship in the long-suffering territory.

4. Israel worries Iran may give Russian anti-ship missile to Syria, Hizbullah - Jerusalem Post

The recent delivery of an advanced Russian-made anti-ship missile to Iran has defense officials concerned it will be transferred to Syria and Hizbullah and used against the Israel Navy in a future conflict.

5. Abbas: Summit pointless if only about 'principles' - Ha'aretz

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas voiced concern on Monday that much has yet to be agreed upon before the upcoming international Middle East peace summit, saying the conference would be a "waste of time" if it stuck to a "declaration of principles."

6. Shin Bet: Hamas in Syria plans suicide bombings - Ha'aretz

The security services are increasingly concerned that the Hamas leadership in Syria is intensifying efforts to undermine the diplomatic dialogue between Israel and the Palestinian Authority through a series of spectacular terrorist attacks.