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Palestinian Parliament Approves New Unity Government
 The Palestinian parliament has overwhelmingly approved a new Fatah-Hamas coalition government in an attempt to end a crippling international aid boycott of the Palestinian Authority. Israel has already rejected the new unity government. The Jewish state says it will not work with the new Palestinian government because it does not recognize Israel's right to exist. The United States also has criticized the new government because it does not renounce violence and recognize Israel's right to exist - a condition set by the international Middle East Quartet. (Voice of America)
Israeli Works Did Not Damage Temple Mount, UN Says
by Lilach Shoval
  Israeli works near the Temple Mount did not cause damage to the historic site, a UNESCO report states. However, the UN organization recommends that the excavations at the place be suspended in order to allow for international monitors to arrive in Jerusalem and supervise the project. In the report, UNESCO experts laud Israel for the transparency with which the works were being carried out, and note that the excavations conducted near the Temple Mount compound do not jeopardize its stability. According to the report, the works near the Mugrabi Gate have been properly documented and supervised, in compliance with international professional standards. (Ynet News)
Israel Sees Eventual Peace With Palestinians
by Ryan R. Jones
 While the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority speaks of maintaining its quest to ultimately destroy the Jewish state, Israeli leaders say they can see a day when peace exists between Israel and a Palestinian Arab state. Speaking to reporters and diplomats in Jerusalem last week, Israeli Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter said the Palestinians understand that they cannot fight Israel forever, and must eventually compromise and reach a situation of peaceful coexistence. "They know they have no chance to build themselves as a nation without a peace agreement with Israel," said Dichter. (All Headline News)
Hizbullah Preparing for the Next Round of War
by Andrew Mills
 Hizbullah forces have returned to the mountains north of the Litani River, beyond the jurisdiction of UN soldiers stationed in southern Lebanon, to build a new line of attack. "We know that they're here," says Hafez Kirwan, 42, leader of the Druze village of As-Srairi, 20 km. north of the Israeli border. During last summer's war between Israel and Hizbullah, its fighters used the thick underbrush of these mountainsides as cover to fire missiles into Israel. Locals say those fighters are back, in greater numbers, moving more frequently and, everyone suspects, stockpiling more weapons than ever before. Hizbullah says it has spent the last seven months preparing for another major battle with Israel by regrouping and amassing some 33,000 missiles. "We are completing our preparedness for a greater and more dangerous stage," Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah said in a televised address last month. (Toronto Star)
Palestinian Minister Admits Foreign Aid Millions Lost
by Josh Mitnick
 Salam Fayyad, 54, who is poised to start his second stint as PA Treasury chief in a new "unity" government, said that Palestinian finances have descended into such chaos that he has no idea where much of foreign donors' money has been spent in the 14 months since Hamas won elections. An estimated £362.5 million has flowed into Palestinian government coffers from abroad since the election that brought Hamas to power including £59.5 million from the EU. PA spending is out of control, salaries are being paid to workers who never turn up, and nobody can track where the money is going, according to Fayyad. (Sunday Telegraph-UK)
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Israel: Platform of New Palestinian Government Is "a Step Backward"
by Josef Federman
  The platform of the new Palestinian government is a major "step backward" for peace prospects, and Israel will lobby the international community not to work with the coalition, a senior Israeli official said last week. "Anyone who looks carefully at the document will see that there is a regression on a number of important issues," the official said, noting the platform's call for the return of Palestinian refugees to Israel and its affirmation of the Palestinian right of "resistance." "This is not a step forward. It's a step backward," he said. (AP/USA Today)
See also Hamas, Fatah Wrap Up Unity Government Deal (AP)
Olmert, Abbas Meet in Jerusalem
by Ronny Sofer
 Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas agreed last week that the Saudi initiative could serve as a basis for promoting a diplomatic process ahead of the implementation of the Roadmap. However, the two did not agree on the issues of the right of return, Jerusalem, prisoner releases, and the settlements. Diplomatic sources in Jerusalem said that in a recent meeting between Olmert and a senior European diplomatic source, the prime minister made it clear that Israel's red line in the Saudi initiative, and in initiatives of other moderate Arab countries, was the implementation of the Palestinian refugees' right of return. Abbas reiterated his commitment to the three Quartet conditions, which include recognizing Israel, renouncing terror, and honoring past agreements signed between Israel and the PA. (Ynet News)
Hamas Says Still Seeks Israel's Destruction
by Nidal al-Mughrabi
 The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas rejected criticism by al Qaeda's second-in-command and said it was still committed to Israel's destruction despite a power-sharing deal with the Fatah faction. "We will not betray promises we made to God to continue the path of Jihad and resistance until the liberation of Palestine, all of Palestine," Hamas said in a statement, in a clear reference to Israel as well as to the occupied West Bank. (Reuters/Washington Post)
UN to Open Permanent Probe on Israel
by Tovah Lazaroff
 The UN Human Rights Council is expected to place Israel under permanent investigation for its "violations" of international law in the territories - until such time as it withdraws to the pre-1967 border - according to Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, who said he received the information from diplomatic sources. Neuer said he expects the council to take at least four anti-Israel actions during its fourth session, which started in Geneva on Monday and runs through April 5. Since its inception last June, the Council has issued eight anti-Israel resolutions, and none against any other nation. It has also held three special sessions on Israel. (Jerusalem Post)
See also The Plot: Use the UN to Rid the World of Israel - Bradley Burston (Ha'aretz)
See also Stop Your Anti-Israel Resolutions (Simon Wiesenthal Center)
See also Anti-Israel Bias Subverts Equality, Peace and Human Rights
Although this video is a year and half old, it shows that the more things change, the more they stay the same. (YouTube)
Death Cult Family Moments from Hamas TV
 In a stomach-turning video clip from Al Aqsa TV (the Hamas television station) broadcast on March 8, 2007, the children of female suicide bomber Rim Al-Riyashi talk happily about their mother’s act of mass murder. (Courtesy of MEMRI TV.) (Little Green Footballs)
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