Group Claims Kidnapped BBC Reporter Is Dead

Alan Johnston handed over to Hamas after 114 days in captivity

(NEWSER) - Alan Johnston, the BBC reporter held by an Islamist faction in Gaza for 114 days, was released early today, saying it was "fantastic" to be free. The reporter was handed over to officials of Hamas, now in control of the Gaza Strip, by his captors, a militant splinter group called the Army of Islam. More»

(NEWSER) - Explosives-laden horses were part of an attempt today by Palestinian militants to plant bombs in Israel, the BBC reports. Israel says it shot and killed four men—who where wearing explosive vests—and their explosive-laden horses after they first fired on a border post. The Israeli response to the men and their horses was carried out with machine guns, tanks, and helicopters. More»

Netanyahu, Hamas complicate Hillary's already difficult mission

(NEWSER) - Hillary Clinton arrived in Egypt last night, beginning her trip to the Middle East at a conference aimed at raising reconstruction money for Gaza. The secretary of state has enlisted a team of diplomats with long experience in Mideast negotiations, led by former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell. But as the Wall Street Journal reports, the Obama administration faces greater challenges in the region than at any time in recent memory. More»

Neighbors must be involved: Friedman

(NEWSER) - The dominant theory holds that the two-state solution is the answer to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But the war in Gaza has pushed tensions past the point where an equitable sharing of geography is enough, argues New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman. He wants a "five-state solution—Palestine, Egypt, Jordan, Israel, and Saudi Arabia." More»

(AP) - Osama bin Laden today urged Muslims to launch a jihad against Israel and condemned Arab governments as allies of the Jewish state, the AP reports. In a new message aimed at harnessing anger in the Mideast over the Gaza offensive, bin Laden spoke in an audiotape posted on Islamic militant websites. It's the first tape he's issued since May. More»