Exerpt:
“For the first time Monday, Olmert held a meeting of the “Syria cabinet,” which was established last week and comprises 11 members of the security cabinet. The Syria cabinet heard intelligence assessments about Syria, its relations in the Arab world, its strategy, its military deployment on the Golan Heights, and the domestic and regional standing of Bashar Assad.
According to the reports, the Syrian army is busy improving its capabilities but its deployments are “defensive,” according to a senior political source in Jerusalem.
The meeting Monday focused on intelligence assessments. The IDF’s preparations on the Syrian front will be discussed at the Syria cabinet’s next meeting, which will take place after Olmert returns from a visit to Washington.
Political sources in Jerusalem stressed yesterday that Israel has no intention of seeking a broadening of UN activities on the Golan Heights. The mandate of UNDOF (United Nations Disengagement Observer Force) will be brought before the Security Council this month for a routine extension.”
Link: http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/869817.html
Hamas launched a full-scale attack Tuesday afternoon against Fatah security bases and positions in Gaza, and succeeded in taking over a number of them, Israel Radio reported.
Hamas-affiliated television said that the organization overtook the entire northern section of the Gaza Strip, the report stated.
Israel Radio also reported that a top Fatah military official sent a message to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas stating that security forces were holding their ground, but calling on the Fatah leader to order an end to the current policy of restraint, allowing troops to return fire.
Ismail Haniyeh unscathed in RPG attack
Less then an hour after the attack, Abbas called for an immediate cease-fire.
In response to the Hamas assault, Fatah gunmen kidnapped a deputy Cabinet minister from Hamas on Tuesday.
The fate of Deputy Transportation Minister Faidi Shabaneh, 46, was not known. Members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, a violent Fatah offshoot, said Shabaneh was not harmed, denying claims on Hamas Web sites that he had been killed by his captors.
Hamas said Shabaneh was seized by gunmen after he emerged from his office in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
More: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1181570255159&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Piecing the fragmentary accounts together — looks like Hamas is winning, which puts Condi’s strategy of “Pick your favorite terrorist and back him with money and arms” is in serious jeopardy....
Mortar shells fired at Abbas’ office in Gaza
YNet ^ | June 12, 2007 | Ali Waked
Posted on 06/12/2007 9:20:34 AM CDT by Alouette
Chaos in Palestinian Authority reaches new peak: Hamas takes over Fatah bases, headquarters in all of northern Gaza Strip, conquers other wide parts of area. Palestinian president meets with Fatah leaders to discuss possibility of quitting unity government. Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades calls on members to take to streets
Ali Waked and agencies Latest Update: 06.12.07, 16:41 / Israel News
A loud explosion was heard Tuesday afternoon near the office of Palestinian President Mamhoud Abbas and some of the Palestinian Authority’s security headquarters in Gaza City, Palestinian sources reported.
It later turned out that mortar shells were fired at Abbas office.
The Palestinian president plans to meet with senior Fatah members on Tuesday evening to discuss a possibility of quitting the unity government.
The al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, Fatah’s military wing, announced a state of high alert among its members, and instructed all of its cells to take to the streets of Gaza and face Hamas members.
On Tuesday afternoon Hamas fighters captured several positions from the rival Fatah movement and threatened to step up the offensive after a rocket-propelled grenade hit the home of the Hamas prime minister.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas accused his Hamas rivals of staging a coup.
“All information points to a trend in which some of the political and military leaders of Hamas are planning a coup against the legitimate institutions, thinking they will be able to control the Gaza Strip by force,” Abbas’ office said in a statement.
There were no injuries in the early-morning attack on Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh’s home - the second in two days. But the attack underscored the increasingly ruthless nature of the fighting, which has killed 18 people in recent days. Exasperated Egyptian mediators said the bitter rivals turned down an appeal to meet for truce talks.
Fatah spokesperson Ahmad Abd al-Rahman said the organization’s central committee was reconsidering its part in the Palestinian unity government due to the violent clashes.
Hamas’ military wing, the Izz el-Din al-Qassam Brigades, published a warning to Palestinian security officials affiliated with Fatah not to report for duty due to the infighting in Gaza.
The warning said that any security official seen in the streets would be “suspected of participating in the injury of the Palestinian people and may get hurt”.
Exchanges of fire between the rival factions continued, with witnesses reporting of an attack by Hamas gunmen on the home of Fatah’s spokesman in the Strip, Maher Miqdad. Two Hamas members were injured during the assault.
In the early hours of Tuesday morning three teenage girls belonging to the same family, as well as a 70-year-old woman, were killed in the infighting.
Palestinian sources later reported that Fatah gunmen shot and killed a Hamas member, raising the number of dead in clashes between the two parties since Monday to 18.
According to the reports, the man who was killed was identified as Amro Rantisi, the nephew of Hamas leader Abd al-Aziz Rantisi who was assassinated by the IDF in 2004.
Gun battles were also reported in the Shati refugee camp on the outskirts of Gaza City.
Earlier, Hamas gunmen stormed and seized control of a Fatah-affiliated mosque; the Islamist group has declared a heightened state of alert.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1848895/posts