THE WASHINGTON TIMES TEL AVIV — Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak invited Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to a regional summit next week, a strong show of support for the embattled Palestinian leader by a leading moderate Arab government in the region.
This time the Philistines didn't wait for Samson; they've sent their temple crashing down on their own heads.
Recent violent events in the Palestinian refugee camps of Lebanon, as well as the internecine Palestinian fighting raging in Gaza, are a stark reminder of the inherent instability of the current Palestinian political culture and the rise of extremism within the population.
President Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had a grand old time on Tuesday, as they talked of ways to transform Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas into something he's never been: a competent leader who is willing and able to effectively combat Hamas. Messrs. Olmert and Bush correctly noted that Mr. Abbas has spoken out in favor of moderation and had plenty of positive things to say about the importance of strengthening "moderates," however defined. Left unexplained thus far is how to ensure the U.S.-Israeli plan to bolster Mr. Abbas' Fatah organization by lifting sanctions, training its army and providing it with access to hundreds of millions of dollars worth of frozen tax revenues actually goes to fight terrorism rather than bolstering it.
THE WASHINGTON TIMES EREZ CROSSING, Israel — Fears of an impending humanitarian disaster in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip are mounting, with Israel's military under growing domestic pressure to open border crossings for relief supplies to enter.
THE WASHINGTON TIMES President Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert yesterday declared that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, a U.S.-backed moderate who ousted the militant Islamic group Hamas from a unity government earlier this week, is the one true leader of "all the Palestinian people."
THE WASHINGTON TIMES The Bush administration yesterday lifted economic sanctions and a diplomatic embargo against the Palestinian Authority after its expulsion of the Islamist group Hamas, which seized the Gaza Strip last week.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Alan Johnston's kidnappers have threatened to "slaughter" him if Hamas tries to rescue him, but Hamas sources say the comments are little more than bluster ahead of an imminent handover of the long-held BBC correspondent.
RAMALLAH, West Bank — Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas swore in an emergency Cabinet free of Hamas members yesterday, prompting an immediate promise that the new government will have the "full support" of the U.S. government.
