A leading Israeli analyst said Hamas has been preparing its forces for an expected Israeli incursion into the Gaza Strip, Middle East Newsline reported. Jonathan Spyer, a senior researcher at the Global Research in International Affairs Center, said Hamas was adopting Hizbullah’s strategy of asymmetrical warfare meant to significantly improve its combat abilities.
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Israel has just carried out a major aerial exercise, putting a hundred or so F-15s and F-16s into the skies over the eastern Mediterranean, evidently a rehearsal for a strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities. The move follows the statement earlier this month by Shaul Mofaz, Israel’s deputy prime minister, that an Israeli attack on Iran’s [...]

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Is there a significant chance that Israel will attack by year end Iran’s nuclear facilities? The German magazine Spiegel argues so in a two-part article “Mission Doable“ and “‘We Will See a Middle East in Flames’“ (hat tip to Fabius Maximus):
While the Europeans continue to pin their hopes on diplomacy and are convinced that [...]

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Damascus suspects Israel decided to return to negotiations due to its failings in the Second Lebanon war and the realization that it could not live securely among its neighbors without peace, Syrian President Bashar Assad told an Indian newspaper.
“The Israelis used to think that with time they were going to be stronger and any opposition [...]

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Nor is it only the Israelis who are concerned. Egyptian and Saudi leaders also expressed their worries about Iran’s nuclear ambitions when Bush met with them on the trip, several White House aides say. “People in the region really want to see it solved peacefully,” says a senior White House official, “but they’re also concerned [...]

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The Israelis are also worried, and former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made repeated statements about an “Iranian threat” that must be dealt with decisively. He does not mince words. According to Netanyahu, we are obliged to believe those who promise to wipe us out. He points to the example of Hitler, who publicly [...]

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The question many Israelis are now asking is that, if the Syrians, whose every move is closely monitored by Israeli spy satellites, were able to achieve so much progress with their nuclear programme, how much does the West really know about the true extent of the Iranian programme, much of which is hidden away at [...]

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