Click refresh to see new updates during the day.
For other liveblogging see The Muqata.
Shavua tov (good week) to all. I’m back after a restful Shabbat, catching up on the day’s events. Here are the main stories:
-
- The IAF bombed more targets, including four smuggling tunnels and a weapons storage facility. Rumor has it that a Hamashole may have suffered a scratch.
- Head Hamashole Mahmoud Al Zahar emerged from hiding, showing his ugly face in public for the first time in 3 weeks, wart and soiled-underpants intact. And you just have to love this:
Gaza’s top strongman appeared in public Saturday for the first time since Israel launched its offensive against Gaza’s Hamas rulers six weeks ago.
Mahmoud al-Zahar led a Hamas delegation to a new round of ceasefire talks in Egypt. Apparently fearing Israeli assassination, al-Zahar had been in hiding during the three-week offensive and even after a tentative ceasefire took hold in mid-January.
Some strongman.
- The Palestinian Health Ministry accused Hamas of commandeering a number of hospital wards in the Gaza Strip for the purpose of converting them into interrogation and imprisonment compounds. Why does this come to mind?
- Turkish news channel CNN Turk reported that a deal to secure the release of Gilad Shalit may be reached by Tuesday. Fancy that, a news channel called CNN Turk. I can already think of two reasons to hate it.
- The UNSC informed Cyprus that the cargo of the Iranian ship seized en route to Gaza violates UNSC resolution 1747, which forbids the trafficking of weapons with Iran. While Cypriot officials have not said what exactly the cargo was, or what will be done with it, it will not be returned to Iran.
Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)
11:25PM: The father of Gilad Shalit is skeptical about news of an imminent deal to secure the release of his son.
9:34PM: Hamas is claiming that UNRWA will be resuming its aid to Gaza after “overcoming some of the misunderstandings” of last week, the “misunderstandings” being Hamas’ theft of the aid.
UNRWA is denying Hamas’ claim. Obviously, another “misunderstanding.”
9:15PM: During the last minute of the first quarter of Thursday evening’s Euroleague basketball match between Barcelone and Maccabi Tel Aviv, some pro-palestinian protesters decided to once again make a mockery of sport.
8:28PM: Egyptian paper Al-Ahram has reported that Iran was responsible for last week’s attempt to bring millions of dollars to Hamas in the Gaza Strip via Egypt.
7:45PM: Another day, another baby to scare.
