A senior Fatah leader said here on Thursday that the Israeli-Palestinians proximity talks did not yield any progress that meets previously set conditions.
The meeting between US President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington on Tuesday did not provide any good signs, Nabil Shaath, a Fatah Central Committee member, told reporters in Cairo after meeting with Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa.
Shaath and Moussa discussed the Middle East peace process and ways to achieve the Palestinian reconciliation and end the Israeli embargo imposed on the Gaza Strip since 2007.
"There has not been any progress through the indirect talks, and thus, a meeting (of the Arab Peace Initiative Follow-up Committee) requested by the Palestinian National Authority and was agreed to by Secretary-General of the Arab League, will take place soon," Shaath said, adding "that meeting will assess the whole situation and will make an Arab decision on the issue."
According to the Fatah leader, the Palestinian decision will be submitted to the Arab Peace Initiative Follow-up Committee's meeting scheduled for July 29, to coordinate a concerted Arab action.
A Qassam rocket landed near a building in one of the communities in the Sdot Negev Regional Council early Wednesday, causing damage to a packing-house. There were no reports of injuries.
Avi Aptelboim, head of the community's emergency squad, reported that "a Color Red siren was sounded at around 4 am, followed by a rocket which landed inside the community, near the packing-house. The packing-house sustained heavy damage and it won't be operated today. There were no injuries, thank God." "The rocket landed right next to the packing-house.
The equipment near the packing-house was damaged, and the building itself sustained damage from shrapnel," said one of the residents.
Maze Cartoon of the Afghanistan hand-off between Petraeus and McCrystal.
Cartoon maze sports analogy of an NFL football handoff between Petraeus and McCrystal as generals for the war in Afghanistan. Created by Yonatan Frimer
Click here for a printable, hi-res version of this maze
Click here for the maze solution
Visit Team of Monkeys . com for more maze cartoons by Yonatan Frimer
WASHINGTON - US PRESIDENT Barack Obama yesterday removed his top US commander in Afghanistan following a public flap over the general's controversial remarks to a magazine.
The unceremonious exit of General Stanley McChrystal injected greater uncertainty into the troubled war effort, taking place just as the United States was about to launch a major offensive in and around the key southern Afghan city of Kandahar, the stronghold of the Taleban.
Gen McChrystal, who derided the Obama administration and its handling of the war in Afghanistan in a lengthy profile in the Rolling Stone magazine, was summoned to the White House yesterday to explain his remarks.
After a 30-minute face-to-face meeting, Mr Obama said he accepted the resignation of the petulant general and relieved him of his command of US forces in Afghanistan. 'It was a difficult decision, it saddens me to lose a soldier who I've come to respect and admire,' said Mr Obama, noting that the decision was not prompted by the 'personal insult'.
'But war is bigger than any one man or woman. Difficult as this is, it is the right decision for our national security.'
