Why did Israel attack Gaza with such brutality? Did Israeli officials think, even for a fleeting moment, that their army's attacks could halt, as opposed to intensify, Palestinian rockets or retaliatory violence?

Only a handful of residents are allowed to drive in, limiting the import of goods, while Israeli troops restrict further the amounts of flour, meat, and vegetables allowed in, according to residents.

From 27 February to the afternoon of 3 March, 106 Palestinians were killed in the Gaza Strip. Contrary to the Chief of Staff’s contention that ninety percent were armed, at least fifty-four of the dead (twenty-five of them minors) did not take part in the hostilities.

Hundreds of schoolchildren who witnessed a deadly explosion and its aftermath in Baghlan Province, northern Afghanistan, on 6 November are suffering mental and psychological scars, health specialists and affected residents say.

As the race for the United States presidential nominations progresses, the stances of and attitudes towards both Republican and Democratic candidates continue to bring up causes for concern, in terms of their past behavior, current appeal and general trustworthiness.

The Hebrew verb "lekhassel" - liquidate - in all its grammatical forms, currently dominates our public discourse. Respected professors debate with academic solemnity when to "liquidate" and whom. Used generals discuss with professional zeal the technicalities of "liquidation", its rules and methods.

That is an iron rule: an insurgency supported by the public is bound to win. The occupier can kill indiscriminately or adopt more humane methods, torture captured freedom fighters to death or treat them as prisoners of war - nothing makes a difference in the long run.

Reports that the target Israeli fighters struck in Syria last September 6th was a nuclear reactor being assembled with North Korean help cannot be substantiated, according to a report by investigative journalist Seymour Hersh.

Now Palestinian women, once more, have led Palestinian civil society in a most meaningful and rewarding way. Just when Israeli defense minister Ehud Barak was being congratulated for successfully starving Palestinians in Gaza to submission, ordinary women led a march to break the tight siege imposed on Gaza.

In what human rights groups are calling a "devastating" decision, the Israeli High Court issued a verdict on 30 January rejecting a petition by 10 groups and clearing the way for Israel to cut electricity and fuel supplies to the Gaza Strip.

In a protest organized by a coalition of left-wing movements, over 1,000 people from Israel demonstrated at the Erez border crossing on Saturday in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the residents of Sderot, under the slogan: "Stop the siege on Gaza.

In his final state of the union address, which his handlers touted as his last big effort to reclaim his legacy, George W. Bush repeated the same tired phrases and hackneyed platitudes he has often advanced as deep thinking and serious policy in the past.

The Gaza Strip is the largest prison on earth. The breaking of the Rafah wall was an act of liberation. It proves that an inhuman policy is always a stupid policy: no power can stand up against a mass of people that has crossed the border of despair.

Gaza is under siege! Hundreds of commodities needed for maintaining daily life are not allowed into the Strip, by order of the Government of Israel. Even the entry of water filters has already been prevented for over half a year.

The newswires announced it ahead of time. On January 6th we learned of Bush’s trip to the Middle East, just as soon as his very Christian Christmas holiday break was over.

Many residents of Qalandia refugee camp, just outside Ramallah, felt more frustrated than excited by the recent visit of US President George W Bush to Israel and the West Bank. Others were simply apathetic.

Behind a luxurious five-star hotel and close to Bethlehem, residents of Aida refugee camp – home to nearly 5,000 people – say their lives have been adversely affected by the Israeli restrictions on movement, in particular the Barrier built around the city.

Nearly 4,000 people have fled their homes in Iraq’s northern semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan over the past two weeks in the wake of Turkish bombardments of rebel hideouts.

The vast majority of the people of Israel, Palestine, the United States and the world want something done to bring peace with justice to Israel and Palestine, and feel there is a chance the recently concluded Annapolis conference can accomplish something toward that aim.

The meeting in Annapolis last month marks the transformation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict into a component of the battle for hegemony in the Middle East between the United States and Iran.