Middle East Inside Line: Hamas Division, Ahmadinejad with Syria & Hezbollah, Mitchell to Resign?

Hamas Divides over Shalit Case?: Haaretz says that negotiations over the captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit have divided Hamas, with the resignation of Mahmoud A-Zahar, a senior member of the negotiating team. Despite the efforts of German negotiator Gerhard Konrad, Israeli leaders have said that they will not release some senior Palestinian leaders as demanded by Hamas. A-Zahar's argued with Hamas political leader Khaled Meshaal over the handling of talks and then left his post.

Hamas' "Israel Spy" Speaks: Mosab Hassan Yousef, the son of Hamas founder Sheikh Hassan Yousef who worked for Israel's Shin Bet security service, converted to Christianity, and moved to California, said by phone: "I wish I were in Gaza now. I would put on an army uniform and join Israel's special forces in order to liberate Gilad Shalit. If I were there, I could help. We wasted so many years with investigations and arrests to capture the very terrorists that they now want to release in return for Shalit. That must not be done."



Ahmadinejad with Assad and Nasrallah: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah met in Damascus late Thursda. According to Al-Manar, Ahmadinejad met with Palestinian officials from at least 10 political movements during his visit. During that meeting, the Iranian president and the Palestinians expressed their desire for cooperation against Israeli "threats, aggressions," and moves regarding Islamic holy sites in Israel.

Mitchell to Resign?: Hadith a-Nass, a Nazareth-based daily Arab source, reported that special US Mideast envoy George Mitchell has requested to resign. The report claims that Mitchell is disillusioned over the bias of the State Department towards Israel and his failure to advance the resumption of peace negotiations. However, it is said that the White House has turned down Mitchell's request.

Palestine Moves if No Talks with Israel: Palestinian Authority chief negotiator Saeb Erekat, in an article, "The Political Situation in Light of Developments with the U.S. Administration and Israeli Government and Hamas's Continued Coup d'etat", threatens three steps unless negotiations with Israel are resumed.

One is an end to security cooperation with Israel, including the disbanding of the Palestinian security forces which have been trained by the US officials. The second is the nullification of the Oslo Accords and even the dissolution of the Palestinian Authority. The third? Abandoning pursuit of a two-state solution with Israel, and instead working toward a binational state that would exist on all the lands of historic Palestine.

Israel Expanding Settlements?: Haaretz has learned that Israel has plans to build another 600 homes in East Jerusalem.

Middle East Inside Line: Dubai Assassination, Ayalon Appeal to US, Washington's Man in Syria, and More

Uproar over Dubai Assassination: Discussions and accusations are running at full speed over the assassination of senior Hamas official Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in a Dubai hotel room. Dubai police chief Dahi Khalfan Tamim said that "it is 99 percent, if not 100 percent, that Mossad is standing behind the murder," and British Foreign Secretary David Miliband on Thursday demanded Israel's full cooperation in investigating of the fraudulent use of UK passports by the killers. On Wednesday, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown promised that his government would launch an inquiry into the matter.

Speaking to a memorial rally for Mabhouh in Gaza, Hamas political director Khaled Meshal said from Damascus, "We call on European countries to punish Israel's leaders for violating laws. Israel deserves to be placed on the terror list."

Iraq Snapshot: The Dispute over “Democracy” and Elections (Alaaldin)

Official "wanted" notices, with the faces of 11 suspected Israeli secret agents, were released Thursday by the Interpol website.



Ayalon's Play for US Support on Palestine: Speaking at the Jerusalem Conference on US-Israel relations, Israel's Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon criticized the Palestinian Authority and then praised the "unique" relationship with Washington:

The Palestinians have signed agreements that have called on them to dismantle terrorist groups and collect illegal weapons while they focus on the issue of the settlements, this is wrong and the settlements should not be singled out.

We also call on Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and President Mahmoud Abbas to cease the incitement against Israel. They should stop not only the incitement in the schools, mosques and websites but should also refrain from traveling to various capitals around the world and vilifying Israel and calling for Israel's relations with a third state or international organizations to be held hostage to the conflict.

We have excellent relations with the US and its uniqueness is that regardless of minor disputes, the overall relationship is never affected. Every facet of our relationship bodes well and is the cornerstone for stability in our region. We welcome the important work of Senator [George] Mitchell who came recently to the region and placed an offer on the table. Israel accepted and we are still waiting to hear from the Palestinians.

US Tops Up Relations with Damascus: Washington has formally named Robert Ford, a career diplomat, as its new ambassador to Syria. After meeting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, William Burns, the US Undersecretary of State, said: "I have no illusions about the challenges. But my meeting with President Assad made me hopeful that we can make progress together in the interest of both of our countries."

Bomb in Iraq: Outside an Iraqi government compound in Ramadi, the provincial capital of Anbar, a bomb exploded killing at least 13 people and wounding at least 20 people.

Middle East Inside Line: Gaza Clashes, Israel to Be "Delegitimized"?; Ceasefire in Yemen

Gaza Clashes: Israel Defense Forces soldiers on Friday opened artillery and gun fire on a group of four Palestinians rigging explosives near the Gaza border. Two of Palestinians were killed. Following the incident Hamas's Khaled Meshal, in an interview with London-based Al Hayat newspaper, threatened that a new conflict would not be limited to Gaza.

Israel Tries to Cut Off Gaza Enquiry: The Jerusalem Post has learned that the response Israel gave to United Nations on the investigations it is conducting into Operation Cast Lead seeks to deter UN action.

"Israel feels the report it gave was a serious, comprehensive, credible and complete answer to the UN secretary-general,” one senior official in the Prime Minister’s Office said.


Meanwhile, according to a report by the Reut Institute, a Tel-Aviv-based think tank, Israel is facing a global campaign of delegitimization from demonstrations on campuses, protests when Israeli athletes compete abroad, moves in Europe to boycott Israeli products, and threats of arrest warrants for Israeli leaders visiting London. The think tank called on ministers to treat the matter as a strategic threat.

Blair as Player in Israel-Palestine Talks?: On Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that the envoy of the Quartet (the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia), Tony Blair, will "intensify" his work with U.S. negotiator George Mitchell to broker peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

Yemen Cease-fire: A new ceasefire between the Yemeni government and northern Shia rebels came into forcetoday.

"We have decided to halt military operations in the north-western region … to stop bloodshed, bring peace to the region, the return of displaced people to their villages, reconstruction and achieve national reconciliation," Yemen's president Ali Abdullah Saleh's office said in a statement.

Israel, Hamas, and Russia: Who is in Bed with the Bear?

In June 2009, we noted that the Netanyahu Government was trying to use the Kremlin as leverage against the pressure of the Obama Administration as it manoeuvred over the peace process with Palestine and other Arab states. And we added that Israeli officials might want to remember that the multipolar works in more than one direction: Moscow had just welcomed Palestinian Authority representatives as part of its interest in the Middle East developments.

After eight months, Moscow has found more space for its initiative, welcoming Hamas's Khaled Meshal on Monday. Amidst the inability of the Obama Administration to make headway on the peace process, Kremlin has remembered and upheld one of the actors "forgotten" by Washington and the European Union.

Middle East Inside Line: Hamas in Russia, Iran FM on “Crazy Israel”, Palestine Talks

On the one hand, this tells  the Israelis that Russia's relationship with Palestinian factions cannot be broken easily and, on the other hand, it sends a signal to Washington that Moscow's can influence the course of the process in the region. Israeli officials could not summon Moscow's Ambassador "on a lower chair" but had to send a letter of protest asking Moscow to clarify its intentions.

The Kremlin said that Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was the highest-level official Meshal would meet. Its ambassador assured Israel that the visit did not signal a swing in Moscow's policy toward Hamas, and he said that Lavrov would reiterate its stance that the Islamist movement must abide by conditions to recognize Israel, give up violence, and honor past peace accords.

Meanwhile, Meshal declared:

I don't see any prospects on the Palestinian, the Syrian or any other track of the Middle East process because the Israeli leadership is a leadership of war, aggression and occupation.

It's enough that Moscow tells the world that Hamas is a movement of freedom fighters, not a terrorist group.

Middle East Inside Line: Hamas in Russia, Iran FM on "Crazy Israel", Palestine Talks

Hamas in Russia: On Monday, Hamas's Khaled Meshal was in Moscow, a guest of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov despite protests by Israel. Meshal said there was "no prospect of peace because the Israeli leadership is a leadership of war" and added, "It's enough that Moscow tells the world that Hamas is a movement of freedom fighters, not a terrorist group."

Iran FM on Israel "Crazy Nation, Crazy People": Following Ayatollah Khamenei 's statement, "Today Palestine is the symbol of life, determination, faithfulness, diligence, and dignity," Foreign Minister Manchour Mottaki jumped in: "Israel is a crazy nation run by crazy people. Therefore, we must prepare for the chance that Israel will do something crazy against everyone in the region: the Syrians, the Lebanese and the Palestinians."

Israel, Hamas, and Russia: Who is in Bed with the Bear?

Palestinian Authority on Peace Talks: With the leader of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas agreeing in principle to the U.S. proposal to hold talks with Israel, Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki said Monday that renewed talks with Israel under US mediation must focus first and foremost on the issue of borders.

The talks are expected to begin on February 20, a senior Palestinian official told AFP on Monday. "These contacts will be aimed at creating a better climate and reaching an understanding on the borders of the Palestinian state, and they will begin on February 20. They will last three months, with the Americans negotiating directly with the two sides after determining a timetable and agreed-upon mechanisms for implementation," the official said.