http://www.aljazeerah.info/8%20n/US%20stops%20Israeli%20jets%20from%20hijacking%20a%20Saudi%20plane%20carrying%20two%20Hizbullah%20officials.htm ( http://www.aljazeerah.info/ )
US stops Israeli jets from hijacking a Saudi plane carrying two Hizbullah officials

Date: 08 / 01 / 2007 Time: 14:19

Bethlehem - Maan -

Al-Jamal website has quoted from Lebanese closed sources on Monday that, ''Israel attempted to kidnap Na'eem Kasim, vice President of Hizbullah's secretary general and Mohamad Fineesh, a senior official in the Hizbullah party last Tuesday, while they were on their back from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia capital, Riyadh."

Sources stated that information was leaked before a delegation visit to meet the Saudi King and a recorded meeting was broadcast in Beirut during the visit.

The sources also said that on the return from the visit, two Israeli fighter jets obstructed the path of the plane which was carrying the Hizbullah officials. The Israeli jets tried to force the plane to land, but Saudi Arabia, whose ambassador to Beirut was onboard, appealed to the United States to exert pressure on Israel so as to avoid the Saudis being seen as plotting a conspiracy against Hizbullah. The American government succeeded in deterring the Israelis

http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=18486
Hamas blames Dahlan for the bloodshed in Gaza
Date: 08 / 01 / 2007 Time: 11:33


A Hamas rally in Nablus in December (MaanImages)
Gaza - Ma'an - The ruling Palestinian party, Hamas, has blamed the prominent Fatah leader in the Gaza Strip, Muhammad Dahlan, for the bloodshed of the Palestininan people.

The accusations of Hamas followed statements made by Dahlan at a Fatah rally in the Gaza Strip on Sunday. Dahlan said that the tens of thousands of Fatah supporters who crowded into the Yarmouk stadium for the rally, had "gathered to respond in one voice to the murderers who spill the proscribed Palestinian blood. While the Israeli forces were invading Ramallah, the forces of shame and indignity were murdering Colonel Muhammad Ghareib and his brothers".

The Hamas party has accused Dahlan of serving his personal interests and implementing the American plans in the region. In a press release, Hamas also accused him of attempting to overturn the results of last year's democratic election.

Hamas added that they consider any attack which might harm Hamas members, leaders or the Hamas-affiliated Executive Force,as playing with fire.

The press release added that Hamas will never accept any so-called ''death squad'' or assassinations under the command of Dahlan, which result in many Palestinian victims.

http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=18494 Israel attempts to hijack a Saudi plane carrying two Hezbollah officials/ ambassador to Beirut was also onboard

Bethlehem - Maan - Al Jamal website has quoted from Lebanese closed sources on Monday that, ''Israel attempted to kidnap Na'eem Kasim, vice President of Hezbollah's secretary general and Mohamad Fineesh, a senior official in the Hezbollah party last Tuesday, while they were on their back from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia capital, Riyadh."

Sources stated that information was leaked before a delegation visit to meet the Saudi King and a recorded meeting was broadcast in Beirut during the visit.

The sources also said that on the return from the visit, two Israeli fighter jets obstructed the path of the plane which was carrying the Hezbollah officials. The Israeli jets tried to force the plane to land, but Saudi Arabia, whose ambassador to Beirut was onboard, appealed to the United States to exert pressure on Israel so as to avoid the Saudis being seen as plotting a conspiracy against Hezbollah. The American government succeeded in detering the Israelis.

http://www.imemc.org/article/46461
Hamas website: “Fateh gunmen attack Hamas houses in Jenin”
Monday January 08, 2007 06:06 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies - 1 of IMEMC Editorial Group saed at imemc dot org

The Palestine Info news website run by Hamas reported on Sunday at night that members of the Preventive Security Force, loyal to Fateh movement, attacked dozens of houses that belong to Hamas supporters in Jenin, in the northern part of the West Bank, and abducted one member.

According to the site, one of the residents reported that masked Fateh gunmen broke into his house and dozens of other houses, and demanded the families to instruct their sons to surrender.The site also reported that at least one member of Hamas was abducted by the gunmen.The resident was identified as Ziad Souqiyya, an employee at the Jenin municipality. The gunmen, according to Hamas sources, are breaking into houses in an attempt to abducted Hamas members.In a separate incident, Hamas sources reported that Fateh gunmen fire on Sunday night a mortar shell at the Executive Force headquarters in Gaza city.Islam Shahwan, spokesperson of the Executive Force, held members of Fateh who, according to Shahwan, are attempting a coup against the Hamas-led government, responsible for repeated similar attacks.Hamas charges that Fateh legislator and the previous head of the Preventive Security Force in Gaza, Mohammad Dahlan, “gave orders for his followers to start a civil war”.

west bank | palestinian attacks | news report

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-01-07-israel-iran_x.htm?csp=24
Israel rejects report it may attack Iran's nuclear program with nuclear weapons
Posted 1/7/2007 12:24 PM ET
LONDON (AP) — A British newspaper reported Sunday that Israeli pilots were already training to strike as many as three targets in Iran with low-yield nuclear weapons, aiming to halt Tehran's controversial uranium enrichment program.
Israeli officials swiftly denied the report, which comes amid growing global concerns over an Iranian nuclear program that many believe is secretly aimed at developing weapons. Israel has never confirmed it has nuclear weapons itself, although the Jewish state is widely believed to possess a significant stockpile.

Citing multiple unidentified Israeli military sources, The Sunday Times said the proposals drawn up in Israel involved using so-called "bunker-buster" nuclear weapons to attack nuclear facilities at three sites south of the Iranian capital.

The United States and its allies suspect Tehran of secretly trying to produce atomic weapons there — and the issue has taken on redoubled urgency because of Iranian leaders' statements calling for the destruction of Israel, as well as their recent hosting of a conference at which the Holocaust was questioned.

Though Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has not explicitly ruled out a military strike against Iran's nuclear program, he says the issue should be dealt with diplomatically — and that an Iranian nuclear bomb would be a problem for the entire world, not just Israel.

Some view Israeli officials' occasional implied threats as a means of pressuring the world community to take action itself, building on the recent United Nations Security Council decision to impose some economic sanctions on Tehran for its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment.

Iran claims its nuclear program is solely for peaceful purposes, including generating electricity. Its President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has condemned the U.N. move as invalid and illegal.

The Sunday Times reported that Israeli military officials believed Iran could produce enough enriched uranium to build nuclear weapons within two years.

It reported that Israeli pilots had made flights to the British colony of Gibraltar to train for the 2,000-mile round trip to the Iranian targets.

Israeli pilots conducted a similar mission in Iraq in 1981, destroying the country's nuclear facility in a surprise, preventive strike.

But Iran's program may be far more difficult to cripple as it is believed to be distributed over many sites and in part deep underground.

Olmert's office would not react to the report. "We don't respond to publications in The Sunday Times," said spokeswoman Miri Eisin.

Avigdor Lieberman, Israel's Minister of Strategic Threats, whose portfolio includes dealing with the Iranian nuclear issue, also declined to comment, as did the Israeli military.

But Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev denied the report, saying Israel wanted "to give full support to diplomatic actions and the expeditious and full implementation of Security Council resolution 1737 (on sanctions). If diplomacy succeeds, the problem can be solved peaceably."

In an interview last month, Olmert appeared to step back from Israel's longstanding policy of ambiguity on nuclear weapons when he listed Israel among countries that possess them. He was criticized in Israel for what many took for a gaffe and his office maintained the comments were misinterpreted.

Some analysts viewed Sunday's report as another element of a delicate diplomatic dance.

"I refuse to believe that anyone here would consider using nuclear weapons against Iran," Reuven Pedatzur, a prominent defense analyst and columnist for the daily Haaretz, told the AP. "It is possible that this was a leak done on purpose, as deterrence, to say: 'Someone better hold us back, before we do something crazy."'

Former senior intelligence official Ephraim Kam — now of Tel Aviv University's Institute for National Strategic Studies — also suggested the report should not be taken literally. "No reliable source would ever speak about this, certainly not to the Sunday Times," he said.