I have much pleasure in conveying to you, on behalf of His Majesty's Government, the following declaration of sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations which has been submitted to, and approved by, the Cabinet.
"His Majesty's Government views with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country."
I should be grateful if you would bring this declaration to the knowledge of the Zionist Federation.
IAF strikes some 60 Hamas targets in Gaza overnight raids
By YAAKOV KATZ, JPOST.COM STAFF AND AP
The IAF attacked some sixty targets in the Gaza Strip overnight Tuesday, Israel Radio reported. The targets included 30 terrorists smuggling tunnels, weapons storage facilities and rocket launch squads.
IDF troops push deeper into Gaza City
Israel Radio reported that the IDF was turning up the heat on Hamas Wednesday morning, with ground forces progressing slowly to prevent civilian casualties.
According to Palestinian reports, one of the targets hit over night was the old Gaza city hall, which has been used as a court building in recent years
The 1910 structure was destroyed and many stores in the market around it were badly damaged, they said.
RELATED
Two newlywed paratroopers wounded in booby-trapped house explosion
Discrepancies over number of Palestinian civilian deaths
Analysis: IDF still not there
Analysis: Heavy losses haven't broken the Hamas regime
Gilad waits on Hamas cease-fire okay
Video: PA Prime Minister Fayad: Hamas has rejected a cease-fire with Israel
slideshow: Gaza op, Day 18
The Jerusalem Post could not confirm the report.
On Tuesday, the IDF pushed deeper into Gaza City and launched pinpoint raids in the southern Strip as Defense Minister Ehud Barak announced that his top aide would head to Cairo to try to secure a cease-fire that could end Operation Cast Lead.
IDF reservists enter the Gaza Strip, Monday.
Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Office
Defense officials told The Jerusalem Post that Egypt had made progress in its talks with Hamas and that the head of the Defense Ministry's Diplomatic-Security Bureau, Amos Gilad, would head to Cairo on Thursday to evaluate the cease-fire proposal and present Israel's conditions.
The officials said Jerusalem was hoping to secure a guarantee from the Egyptians that they would invest resources and efforts in stopping the weapons smuggling from Sinai into the Gaza Strip under the Philadelphi Corridor.
One Israeli proposal, supported by the IDF, calls for the erection of a barrier surrounding the Egyptian side of Rafah, to be manned by Egyptian soldiers who will not allow weapons smugglers into the town. Israel has proposed a barrier consisting of two fences surrounding the Philadelphi Corridor and encompassing Egyptian Rafah, which would be accessible by a single road controlled by the military.
The idea was suggested several years ago by then-National Security Council head Giora Eiland.
"If the Egyptians provide us with guarantees that the smuggling will stop, the operation could be over by the end of the week," a top defense official told the Post. "It is all up to the Egyptians right now."
Gilad will hold talks on Thursday with Egyptian Intelligence Minister Omar Suleiman, and one of the issues will be an Egyptian request to increase the number of soldiers it has deployed along the border from 750 to several thousand. Gilad has expressed fierce opposition to the request, but other defense officials in Israel said Tuesday that the request to relax the troop limits set by the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty needed to be considered.
"It is unclear why Amos Gilad is so adamantly against allowing Egypt to increase its force along Philadelphi," one official said. "If this is what the Egyptians want, then why not just give it to them?"
While diplomatic activity picked up speed on Tuesday, the IDF continued to push deeper into Gaza City as reservist units took over responsibility for several areas in the Strip. At least 50 Hamas gunmen were killed since Monday evening.
Rocket fire also dwindled, with some 15 rockets and mortar shells striking Israel - the lowest since Operation Cast Lead was launched on December 27 - by Tuesday evening.
"The operation is continuing on its 18th day with the aim of restoring quiet for southerners and curbing weapons smuggling," Barak said Tuesday. "We are working on both these goals, with an eye on diplomatic initiatives."
Lt. Aharon Karov from the Battalion 890 of the Paratroopers Brigade was critically wounded by an explosion inside a booby-trapped home in northern Gaza during a early-morning operation. Two other soldiers sustained light wounds, and by evening, the officer's condition had slightly improved following an intensive and complicated operation.
Karov, a resident of Karnei Shomron, was called up to join the fighting in Gaza a day after his wedding, less than two weeks ago.
Meanwhile, the IDF commenced heavy shelling of targets on Gaza City's outskirts early Tuesday, as soldiers continued to push deeper into the urban center. Ground troops battled Palestinian gunmen in a densely populated Gaza City neighborhood.
Military sources said the objective of Operation Cast Lead - weakening Hamas and restoring Israel's deterrence - had not yet been accomplished, and that the army would continue its push into Gaza City to hunt down Hamas operatives and infrastructure.
The purpose of deepening the operation, officials said, was to increase the pressure on Hamas and to buy time to see if the Egyptian proposal materialized into a cease-fire.
Overnight in northern Gaza, Hamas gunmen fired at troops from a mosque. The soldiers returned fire, and the IAF then bombed the mosque's courtyard after spotting the armed men.
The air force bombed some 60 targets overnight, including seven weapons storehouses, 15 Kassam launch pads and 10 Hamas outposts.
On Tuesday, an additional 50 targets were hit, including 30 tunnels.
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Assalaamu alaykum wa rahmatullaah
Qatar Guest Center invites the public to an evening of Compassion..
"For Gaza's Sake"
Invited Speakers:
Dr. Daud Abdullaah (UK)
Dr. Bilal Philips (Canada)
Dr. Zakir Naik (India)
Sh. Yusuf Estes (USA)
Mr. Jeremy Corbyn (UK)
Day : Saturday
Date : 17th February
Time : 7:30- 9:00 pm
Location : Sheraton (Al-Majlis Hall)
For more information, please call: 4863190
mob: 6810040
wassalaamu alaykum
The Foreign Office
November 2, 1917
Dear Lord Rothschild,
I have much pleasure in conveying to you, on behalf of His Majesty's Government, the following declaration of sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations which has been submitted to, and approved by, the Cabinet.
"His Majesty's Government views with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country."
I should be grateful if you would bring this declaration to the knowledge of the Zionist Federation.
Yours sincerely,
Arthur James Balfour
IAF strikes some 60 Hamas targets in Gaza overnight raids
By YAAKOV KATZ, JPOST.COM STAFF AND AP
The IAF attacked some sixty targets in the Gaza Strip overnight Tuesday, Israel Radio reported. The targets included 30 terrorists smuggling tunnels, weapons storage facilities and rocket launch squads.
IDF troops push deeper into Gaza City
Israel Radio reported that the IDF was turning up the heat on Hamas Wednesday morning, with ground forces progressing slowly to prevent civilian casualties.
According to Palestinian reports, one of the targets hit over night was the old Gaza city hall, which has been used as a court building in recent years
The 1910 structure was destroyed and many stores in the market around it were badly damaged, they said.
RELATED
Two newlywed paratroopers wounded in booby-trapped house explosion
Discrepancies over number of Palestinian civilian deaths
Analysis: IDF still not there
Analysis: Heavy losses haven't broken the Hamas regime
Gilad waits on Hamas cease-fire okay
Video: PA Prime Minister Fayad: Hamas has rejected a cease-fire with Israel
slideshow: Gaza op, Day 18
The Jerusalem Post could not confirm the report.
On Tuesday, the IDF pushed deeper into Gaza City and launched pinpoint raids in the southern Strip as Defense Minister Ehud Barak announced that his top aide would head to Cairo to try to secure a cease-fire that could end Operation Cast Lead.
IDF reservists enter the Gaza Strip, Monday.
Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Office
Defense officials told The Jerusalem Post that Egypt had made progress in its talks with Hamas and that the head of the Defense Ministry's Diplomatic-Security Bureau, Amos Gilad, would head to Cairo on Thursday to evaluate the cease-fire proposal and present Israel's conditions.
The officials said Jerusalem was hoping to secure a guarantee from the Egyptians that they would invest resources and efforts in stopping the weapons smuggling from Sinai into the Gaza Strip under the Philadelphi Corridor.
One Israeli proposal, supported by the IDF, calls for the erection of a barrier surrounding the Egyptian side of Rafah, to be manned by Egyptian soldiers who will not allow weapons smugglers into the town. Israel has proposed a barrier consisting of two fences surrounding the Philadelphi Corridor and encompassing Egyptian Rafah, which would be accessible by a single road controlled by the military.
The idea was suggested several years ago by then-National Security Council head Giora Eiland.
"If the Egyptians provide us with guarantees that the smuggling will stop, the operation could be over by the end of the week," a top defense official told the Post. "It is all up to the Egyptians right now."
Gilad will hold talks on Thursday with Egyptian Intelligence Minister Omar Suleiman, and one of the issues will be an Egyptian request to increase the number of soldiers it has deployed along the border from 750 to several thousand. Gilad has expressed fierce opposition to the request, but other defense officials in Israel said Tuesday that the request to relax the troop limits set by the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty needed to be considered.
"It is unclear why Amos Gilad is so adamantly against allowing Egypt to increase its force along Philadelphi," one official said. "If this is what the Egyptians want, then why not just give it to them?"
While diplomatic activity picked up speed on Tuesday, the IDF continued to push deeper into Gaza City as reservist units took over responsibility for several areas in the Strip. At least 50 Hamas gunmen were killed since Monday evening.
Rocket fire also dwindled, with some 15 rockets and mortar shells striking Israel - the lowest since Operation Cast Lead was launched on December 27 - by Tuesday evening.
"The operation is continuing on its 18th day with the aim of restoring quiet for southerners and curbing weapons smuggling," Barak said Tuesday. "We are working on both these goals, with an eye on diplomatic initiatives."
Lt. Aharon Karov from the Battalion 890 of the Paratroopers Brigade was critically wounded by an explosion inside a booby-trapped home in northern Gaza during a early-morning operation. Two other soldiers sustained light wounds, and by evening, the officer's condition had slightly improved following an intensive and complicated operation.
Karov, a resident of Karnei Shomron, was called up to join the fighting in Gaza a day after his wedding, less than two weeks ago.
Meanwhile, the IDF commenced heavy shelling of targets on Gaza City's outskirts early Tuesday, as soldiers continued to push deeper into the urban center. Ground troops battled Palestinian gunmen in a densely populated Gaza City neighborhood.
Military sources said the objective of Operation Cast Lead - weakening Hamas and restoring Israel's deterrence - had not yet been accomplished, and that the army would continue its push into Gaza City to hunt down Hamas operatives and infrastructure.
The purpose of deepening the operation, officials said, was to increase the pressure on Hamas and to buy time to see if the Egyptian proposal materialized into a cease-fire.
Overnight in northern Gaza, Hamas gunmen fired at troops from a mosque. The soldiers returned fire, and the IAF then bombed the mosque's courtyard after spotting the armed men.
The air force bombed some 60 targets overnight, including seven weapons storehouses, 15 Kassam launch pads and 10 Hamas outposts.
On Tuesday, an additional 50 targets were hit, including 30 tunnels.