Mideast Conflict

  • Israeli troops patrol the streets of the Balata refugee camp in April 2008. Two Palestinians were wounded when Israeli troops opened fire on stonethrowers in a West Bank refugee camp, security sources have said.(AFP/File/Jaafar Ashtiyeh)
    Israeli fire wounds two Palestinians in West Bank AFP - Thu Jul 17, 4:40 AM ET

    NABLUS, West Bank (AFP) - Two Palestinians were wounded on Thursday when Israeli troops opened fire on stonethrowers in a West Bank refugee camp, security sources said.

  • Throwing stones : Palestinian youths use sling shots to throw stones at Israeli forces during a demonstration against the construction of the controversial Israeli separation barrier in the West Bank village of Nilin near Ramallah. (AFP/Abbas Momani)
    Israelis uneasy over prisoner release The Christian Science Monitor - Thu Jul 17, 4:00 AM ET

    JERUSALEM and NAHARIYA, ISRAEL - Israel received two black coffins on Wednesday containing the remains of the soldiers abducted in a Hezbollah raid at Israel's northern border two summers ago – a surprise attack whose aftereffects are still reverberating.

  • A Palestinian woman throws flowers on a young girl dressed to look as a bride during a mass wedding ceremony in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza Strip, Thursday, July 24, 2008. More than 100 couples took part in the event which was organized by the Islamic Association. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa)
    Despite delays, prisoner swap leaves Hezbollah emboldened The Christian Science Monitor - Thu Jul 17, 4:00 AM ET

    Naqoura, Lebanon - Hundreds of jubilant Lebanese endured hours of blazing heat in the coastal village of Naqoura Wednesday to welcome home five detainees released by Israel in a prisoner exchange that Hezbollah, Lebanon's militant Shiite group, is hailing as a new "victory" over the Jewish state.

  • Lebanese Hezbollah fighters hold Hezbollah's yellow flag during a miiltary parade in honour of a prisoner swap with Israel July 16. The remains of some 200 Arab fighters handed over by Israel in the prisoner swap were carried to the Lebanese capital on Thursday in a triumphal cortege.(AFP/Ramzi Haidar)
    Triumphal cortege in Lebanon for fighters handed over by Israel AFP - Thu Jul 17, 3:51 AM ET

    NAQURA, Lebanon (AFP) - The remains of some 200 Arab fighters handed over by Israel in a prisoner swap with Hezbollah were carried to the Lebanese capital on Thursday in a triumphal cortege.

  • Zvi Regev (R), the father of Israeli reservist Eldad Regev, embraces his other sons Benny, Eyal and Ofer during the funeral in the northern city of Haifa July 17, 2008. Thousands attended Israeli funerals on Thursday for two slain soldiers, one of them Eldad Regev, returned in a prisoner swap with Hezbollah and their grief contrasted with Lebanon's joy over guerrillas freed in the deal. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (ISRAEL)
    Israel's Prisoner Swap: Pain, Closure Time.com - Thu Jul 17, 1:30 AM ET

    Israel retrieves the bodies of the two soldiers whose capture sparked the 2006 Lebanon war - but at a humiliating cost.

  • Hezbollah members hand over the bodies of two Israeli soldiers to the Red Cross to be exchanged for Lebanese prisoners held by Israel at Naqoura border point with Israel, Wednesday July 16, 2008. Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrillas handed over the bodies of two Israeli soldiers and trucks carrying the remains of some 199 Lebanese and Palestinian fighters began crossing into Lebanon on Wednesday — setting in motion a dramatic prisoner swap between the bitter enemies. Family and friends outside the homes of the two captured Israeli soldiers burst into tears early Wednesday when TV images showed two black coffins believed to contain their remains. Though officials had suspected Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev were dead, the sight of the coffins was the first concrete sign of the young men's fate. (AP Photo/Issam Kobeisy/Pool)
    Israeli critics question lopsided prisoner swap AP - Wed Jul 16, 5:31 PM ET

    JERUSALEM - Critics of Israel's lopsided prisoner exchange with Lebanese guerrillas said Wednesday that such deals only encourage more hostage-taking — a fear underscored by Gaza militants who said the swap proves that kidnapping is the only language Israel understands.

  • In this photo released by the Israeli Government Press Office Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert hugs Karnit Goldwasser, wife of Israeli soldier Ehud Goldwasser next to his coffin at Shraga army base in northern Israel, Wednesday, July 16, 2008. Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrillas handed over two black coffins Wednesday containing the bodies of Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, and Israel freed the killer of an man and his 4-year-old child, part of a dramatic prisoner swap that promised to boost the radical Islamic militia and close a painful chapter from Israel's 2006 war in Lebanon. Standing left is Israel's Defense Minister Ehud Barak.(AP Photo/ GPO, Avi Ohayon, HO)
    A look at Israeli-Lebanese prisoner swaps AP - Wed Jul 16, 5:28 PM ET

    A look at Israeli-Lebanese prisoner swaps:

  • Lebanese Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah (R) speaks next to freed Lebanese prisoner Samir Kantar (L) at a stadium in Beirut's southern suburbs. Nasrallah appeared in person today at public celebrations for the release of five Lebanese prisoners from Israel in the southern suburbs of Beirut.(AFP/Mussa al-Husseini)
    Nasrallah appears in person at Beirut celebration for prisoners AFP - Wed Jul 16, 5:20 PM ET

    BEIRUT (AFP) - Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah appeared in person at public celebrations in the southern suburbs of Beirut on Wednesday to claim victory following the release of five Lebanese prisoners from Israel.

  • Freed Lebanese prisoners at a glance AP - Wed Jul 16, 2:30 PM ET

    A look at five Lebanese prisoners freed by Israel on Wednesday as part of an exchange deal with Hezbollah:

  • In this photo released by the Israel Prison Authority, Lebanese militant prisoner Samir Kantar, center, is seen with Israeli border police officers before leaving the Hadarim prison near the Israeli coastal city of Netanya early Wednesday, July 16, 2008. Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrillas handed over two black coffins Wednesday containing the bodies of two Israeli soldiers and Israel prepared to set free one of its most notorious attackers, in a dramatic prisoner swap that promises to boost the radical Islamic militia and close a painful chapter from Israel's 2006 war in Lebanon. (AP Photo/Israel Prison Authority,HO)
    Lebanese gunman at center of Israel prisoner swap AP - Wed Jul 16, 11:16 AM ET

    JERUSALEM - The Lebanese gunman at the center of Israel's prisoner swap with Hezbollah spent three decades in an Israeli prison for one of the grisliest attacks in the country's history.

  • Lebanese prisoners (from left) Maher Kurani, Mohammed Sarur, Samir Kantar, Hussein Suleiman and Khaled Zidan line up as an Israeli prison guard processes them for release at the Hadarim Prison in central Israel. The five Lebanese prisoners freed by the Israeli authorities have crossed into Lebanon, a Hezbollah official told AFP.(AFP/HADARIM PRISON)
    Five prisoners freed by Israel cross into Lebanon AFP - Wed Jul 16, 10:47 AM ET

    NAQURA, Lebanon (AFP) - Five Lebanese prisoners freed Wednesday by the Israeli authorities, among them triple murderer Samir Kantar, have crossed into Lebanon, a Hezbollah official said.

  • Turkey believes that both Israel and Syria are committed to peace, Foreign Minister Ali Babacan (pictured on July 13) said ahead of a fourth round of indirect talks between the two sides under Turkish auspices.(AFP/File/Gerard Cerles)
    Turkey sees Israeli, Syrian commitment for peace AFP - Wed Jul 16, 9:47 AM ET

    ANKARA (AFP) - Turkey believes that both Israel and Syria are committed to peace, Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said Wednesday ahead of a fourth round of indirect talks between the two sides under Turkish auspices.

  • Lebanese prisoner Samir Qantar (3rd R) and four other prisoners wait before their release from Hadarim prison, near the coastal city of Netanya, July 16, 2008. REUTERS/Israel Prison Service Handout
    Hezbollah delivers remains of two Israeli soldiers Reuters - Wed Jul 16, 7:52 AM ET

    LEBANON/ISRAEL BORDER (Reuters) - Hezbollah handed the bodies of two Israeli soldiers to the Red Cross on Wednesday to be exchanged for Lebanese prisoners held by Israel in a deal viewed as a triumph by the Lebanese Shi'ite guerrilla group.

  • These pictures released by the Regev and Goldwasser families shows two Israeli soldiers Eldad Regev (left) and Ehud Goldwasser who were abducted by Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah in 2006. Israel has positively identified the bodies of the two soldiers handed over by Hezbollah at the beginning of a prisoner exchange, public radio said.(AFP/HO)
    Israel positively identifies bodies of two dead soldiers: radio AFP - Wed Jul 16, 7:48 AM ET

    JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israel has positively identified the bodies of soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev handed over by Hezbollah as part of a prisoner exchange on Wednesday, public radio said.

  • In this Oct. 27, 2006 file photo, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, right, reads a book along side Dr. Miriam and Sheldon G. Adelson during a ceremony to honor donors at Yad Vashem Holocoust memorial in Jerusalem. A New York fundraiser and a Las Vegas gambling czar have become major headaches for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, raising new questions about the relationship between Jewish Americans and the Jewish state. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis, Pool, File)
    Olmert's woes raise questions of ties to US Jews AP - Wed Jul 16, 3:17 AM ET

    JERUSALEM - A New York fundraiser and a Las Vegas gambling czar have become major headaches for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, raising new questions about the relationship between Jewish Americans and the Jewish state.

  • Britain bans military wing of Hezbollah AP - Tue Jul 15, 6:14 PM ET

    LONDON - British lawmakers voted Tuesday to include the military wing of Lebanese-based group Hezbollah to Britain's list of banned terrorist organizations, charging it supported terror activities in Iraq and the Palestinian territories.

  • Israelis hold posters of soldiers Eldad Regev (centre) and Ehud Goldwasser (right), held by Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Gilad Shalit held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, during a demonstration in Jerusalem last month. Israel's cabinet has given the final go-ahead for a prisoner swap with Hezbollah, despite complaining that the Lebanese Shiite movement had not fully kept its side of the bargain.(AFP/File/Menahem Kahana)
    Israel gives green light for Hezbollah prisoner swap AFP - Tue Jul 15, 4:23 PM ET

    JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israel gave the green light on Tuesday for a prisoner swap with Lebanon's Hezbollah after pardoning its longest serving Arab prisoner to bring home two of its soldiers, dead or alive.

  • Israel and Lebanon to Swap Prisoners Tomorrow U.S. News & World Report - Tue Jul 15, 3:32 PM ET

    Israel's cabinet has given final approval to a controversial new prisoner swap with Lebanon.

  • Palestinian delegates at a Mediterranean summit in Paris came under "extremely heavy pressure" to drop their objections to the final declaration, the Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Maliki said Tuesday.(AFP/File/Adem Altan)
    Palestinians pressured at Mediterranean summit: minister AFP - Tue Jul 15, 1:17 PM ET

    PARIS (AFP) - Palestinian delegates at a Mediterranean summit in Paris came under "extremely heavy pressure" to drop their objections to the final declaration, the Palestinian foreign minister said Tuesday.

  • Israel arrests 7 Hamas activists in West Bank AP - Tue Jul 15, 12:54 PM ET

    NABLUS, West Bank - Israeli troops arrested seven Hamas activists Tuesday, including two municipal council members, in a widening crackdown on the Islamic militant group in Nablus, residents said.

  • European Union Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, right, stands next to Middle East Envoy Tony Blair as they address the media after a meeting at the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels, Tuesday, July 22, 2008. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)
    Blair postpones Gaza visit, cites specific threat AP - Tue Jul 15, 11:05 AM ET

    BEIT LAHIYA, Gaza Strip - Mideast envoy Tony Blair on Tuesday called off what would have been the first visit of a top Western diplomat to Hamas-ruled Gaza, after Israel's Shin Bet security service said he might come under attack there.

  • Palestinian protestors clash with Israeli security forces in the West Bank village of Nilin earlier this month. A Palestinian military tribunal has handed down death sentences to two men from the occupied West Bank for spying for Israel, a security official told AFP.(AFP/File/Abbas Momani)
    Two Palestinian 'collaborators' sentenced to death AFP - Tue Jul 15, 10:47 AM ET

    RAMALLAH, West Bank (AFP) - A Palestinian military tribunal sentenced two men from the occupied West Bank to death on Tuesday for spying for Israel, a security official told AFP.

  • Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. International Middle East peace envoy Tony Blair, seen here, has cancelled what would have been his first trip to the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip because of a security threat, his spokeswoman has said.(AFP/File/Toru Yamanaka)
    Blair cancels first trip to Gaza over 'threat' AFP - Tue Jul 15, 10:25 AM ET

    GAZA CITY (AFP) - International Middle East peace envoy Tony Blair cancelled what would have been his first trip to the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip on Tuesday because of a security threat, his spokeswoman said.

  • Palestinian Hamas militants take part in a training exercise in Gaza June 24, 2008. (Mohammed Salem/Reuters)
    Middle East envoy Blair cancels Gaza visit Reuters - Tue Jul 15, 6:06 AM ET

    ISRAEL-GAZA BORDER (Reuters) - A security threat forced Middle East envoy Tony Blair to cancel a trip to the Gaza Strip on Tuesday that would have marked the highest-level diplomatic visit since Hamas took control, a spokesman said.

  • Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. International Middle East peace envoy Tony Blair, seen here, has cancelled what would have been his first trip to the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip because of a security threat, his spokeswoman has said.(AFP/File/Toru Yamanaka)
    Blair cancels Gaza trip, cites threats against him AP - Tue Jul 15, 4:23 AM ET

    GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - A spokeswoman for Mideast envoy Tony Blair says threats against the former British prime minister have caused him to cancel a planned trip to the Gaza Strip.

  • Israeli army vehicles patrol a street during a military operation in Nablus. Israeli troops arrested 12 Hamas members in a dawn raid in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, a Palestinian security official said, as part of a widening crackdown on the movement.(AFP/Jaafar Ashtiyeh)
    Israel arrests 12 Hamas members in West Bank AFP - Tue Jul 15, 3:21 AM ET

    NABLUS, West Bank (AFP) - Israeli troops arrested 12 Hamas members in a dawn raid in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, a Palestinian security official said, as part of a widening crackdown on the movement.

  • Hezbollah attack victims' relatives sue 2 banks AP - Mon Jul 14, 6:28 PM ET

    NEW YORK - A group of Americans, Canadians and Israelis who claim Hezbollah rocket attacks injured them and killed relatives have accused two banks of helping finance the terrorist attacks and have sued them for $650 million.

  • French President Nicolas Sarkozy applauds as he attends an event. The US State Department gave cautious support Monday to a Mediterranean summit in Paris aimed at spurring on Palestinian-Israeli peace negotiations.(AFP/Gerard Cerles)
    US cautiously supports Mediterranean summit AFP - Mon Jul 14, 2:44 PM ET

    WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US State Department gave cautious support Monday to a Mediterranean summit in Paris aimed at spurring on Palestinian-Israeli peace negotiations.

  • Siham Kantar, the mother of Samir Kantar, a Lebanese prisoner held in Israel, shows his pictures at her home in the mountain town of Abey, 16 kilometers (10 miles) south of Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, July 14, 2008. The mother of Lebanon's longest held prisoner in Israel who is serving a multiple life terms said Monday she is counting the seconds for the moment she has been waiting for decades. The return of Samir Kantar after nearly 30 years in prison. (AP Photo/Ahmad Omar)
    Lebanon to celebrate prisoners' return from Israel AP - Mon Jul 14, 1:58 PM ET

    ABEY, Lebanon - The last time Samir Kantar's mother saw her son, he said goodbye and told her he would be back in two days.

  • The Syrians Take Paris Time.com - Mon Jul 14, 12:05 PM ET

    President Bashar al-Assad's Visit to the French capital is another victory for Syria, a reward for indirect talks with Israel. But is peace in sight?

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