US Axes Fulbrights for 8 Palestinians

Administration pressuring Israel to end attacks

(NEWSER) - A deeply worried Bush administration is privately pushing Israel to settle on a Gaza exit strategy, despite the White House's public support of the offensive, insiders tell the Los Angeles Times. Amid rising international pressure to end the fighting, administration officials fear that rather than crushing Hamas, Israel's assault could increase support for Hamas in the same way that the 2006 Lebanon conflict boosted Hezbollah. More»

Party shares blame with Israel for sky-high unemployment

(NEWSER) - As joblessness mounts in the beleaguered Gaza Strip, more and more residents are blaming the ruling Hamas party for their woes, GlobalPost reports. Although Gaza has one of the fastest population growth rates on earth, 45% of people have no job and 85% depend on aid to get by. And while Palestinians largely blame Israel’s stifling economic blockade, they are increasingly turning their ire on Hamas, too. 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»

Officials say civilian deaths isolated, unintentional

(NEWSER) - An Israel Defense Forces probe has found that no Gaza civilians were intentionally harmed in Israel’s recent incursion into the region, Haaretz reports. IDF colonels who weren’t involved in the fighting found that the IDF “adhered to international law and maintained a high level of professionalism and morality.” Civilian deaths, they determined, were isolated and unintentional. 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»