Palestine Analysis: What Could Shift Hamas?

The United Nations Relief Works Agency has announced that unemployment in the Gaza strip has reached 45%. Monthly earnings in Gaza decreased by almost 10%, in real terms, between the first half of 2009 and the first half of 2010. UNRWA spokesperson Chris Guinness warned that without international intervention to halt the Israeli blockade of Gaza, the crisis could deepen substantially. 

As Facebook groups are calling for a 'revolution' in the Gaza Strip, Hamas's Interior Ministry Spokesman Ihab al-Ghussein told AFP late on Wednesday: "It makes no sense, this is little more than media hype. Gaza has already had a revolution --- what happened in 2007 was a real revolution against corruption."

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Israel Analysis: International Pressure is Growing to Break "Deadlock"

With the Quartet (the US, Russia, European Union and United Nations) declaring that the deadlock in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process is a threat to region's whole security and condemning Israel for its inaction following the end of 10-month freeze on settlement expansion in the West Bank; the circle around West Jerusalem is tightening.

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Israel-Palestine Latest: Quartet Pushes Israel as Netanyahu Pushes Economic Plans

UPDATE 1830 GMT: Britain's Defense Secretary Liam Fox has underlined the importance of such a peace between Israel and Palestine in deflecting Iran's potential nuclear power, "an existential threat". Fox said:

The United Kingdom is pushing for stronger sanctions to influence Iran, but the importance of the Middle East peace process should not be overlooked.

Progress towards a two-state solution -- a secure and universally recognized Israel alongside a viable and contiguous Palestinian state -- is important for defusing the malign political influence of Iran in the region.

After the Quartet's meeting, German Foreign minister Guido Westerwelle said:

Those who want to support moderate forces in the Middle East, those who want to support constructive forces in the Middle East, are well advised to press for progress in the Middle East peace process

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Israel Document: Netanyahu on the Dangers of Change

"One possible scenario, which undoubtedly unites us all, is that these hopes for democracy and a gradual, stable reform process are realized in Egypt. 

However, this is not the only possible scenario.  Because far away from Washington, Paris, London --- and not so far from Jerusalem --- is another capital in which there are hopes.

In this capital, there are leaders who can also see the opportunities that change in Egypt could bring.  They also support the millions who took to the streets.  They too speak about the promise of a new day.  But for the people in this capital, the promise of a new day is not in its dawn but in the darkness it can bring.

That capital is Tehran, and I assure you, that the leaders in Iran are not interested in the genuine desires of Egyptians for freedom, liberalization or reform, any more than they were interested in answering similar calls for freedom by the Iranian people, their own people, only 18 months ago."

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Palestine Snapshot: Will Egypt and Tunisia Examples Bring Change?

UPDATE 1000 GMT: On Wednesday, officials in Ramallah initiated pro-Mubarak demonstrations as people condemned Mohamed ElBaradei as a “CIA agent”. Fatah-controlled media outlets called him a“war criminal”, blaming responsibility for the Iraq war.   

Haaretz's Amira Haaas asks: "Why isn't the PA supporting Egypt uprising?"

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Israel Analysis: Can West Jerusalem Put Palestine Above Iran's "Existential Threat"?

1) Was departing Mossad chief Meir Dagan really pressing the Government by saying it is not the right time to focus on Iran's nuclear programmes at a time when the Palestinian issue should be the one on the table? Was he reinforcing this as a window of opportunity by saying that there is no way to envisage an Iranian nuclear weapon within the next four years?

2) Even if Netanyahu's Forum of Seven agrees to a limited number of concessions following the departure of Defense Minister Ehud Barak from the Labor Party, can Netanyahu and/or his coalition partners give up the Iran card? Can they do so at a time when the world "has not learnt its lesson" from the Holocaust and "there is a great island of instability" in the region, which can even put the peace made with Cairo in jeopardy?

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The Palestine Papers: The Palestinian Authority Tries to Hit Back

Last night Al Jazeera completed three days of special broadcasts on the "Palestine Papers", the more than 1600 internal documents about the Palestinian negotiations with Israel from 1999 to 2010. The documents themselves carry on, posted not only by Al Jazeera but also by The Guardian of London.

On Tuesday, Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas, tried to strike back, calling the documents "fake". He told the crowd denouncing the Qatari regime, which owns Al Jazeera:

The Palestinian principles ... have not and will not change and the first of them is that East Jerusalem is the capital of the state of Palestine. No one in the world can make us give up on a centimeter of our land, the issue of the refugees or the issue of Jerusalem.

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Wikileaks 2008: Palestinian Leaders on Israeli Settlements and Gaza "Gone Forever"

Saeb Erekat (left) and Salam FayyadA leaked US cable summarises a July 2008 discussion between the Prime Minister of the West Bank, Salam Fayyad, and chief Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat, on the state of Israeli-Palestinian relations.

Fayyad pointed to the dilemma for Gaza. On the one hand, Fayyad argues that "its crossings must be controlled or it will be gone forever", but on the other, he warns Americans and Israelis not to give Hamas the 'vulnerability' excuse to exploit the Gazans. The West Bank Prime Minister wanted to talk to Hamas and bring it to the legitimate political arena. This, however, could not come true at the expense of Israel's "security".

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Palestine Papers Video: Discussing the Significance of the Documents (Al Jazeera)

Last night, in a special broadcast, Al Jazeera English unveiled more than 1600 documents on Israel-Palestine discussions from 1999 to 2010. We have posted links to both Al Jazeera and to The Guardian, which is also publishing the documents and anlaysis, in our initial entry.

We are awaiting the full copy of the special broadcast, including a dramatic interview with Saeb Erekat, the chief negotiator for the Palestinian Authoriyt. In the meantime, this is Al Jazeera's discussion during the programme with former Israeli Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben Ami, Daud Abdullah of Middle East Monitor UK, and Ali Abunimah, co-founder of Electronic Intifada. The video is in three parts:

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Israel-Palestine: Ramallah Rejects Foreign Minister Lieberman's Map

An Israeli official has said that Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has submitted a map, envisioning an interim agreement with the Palestinian Authority, to the Prime Minister's Office. Israel would turn over between 45 to 50% of the West Bank to the provisional state, though additional land could be transferred to Palestinian control in future negotiations. 

On Sunday, chief negotiator Saeb Erekat rejected the plan for a Palestinian state with provisional borders.

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