British Foreign Office 'unrelentingly pro-Palestinian' says Israel
The Guardian

Israel has reacted angrily to a confidential Foreign Office document accusing it of illegally expanding Jewish settlements and routing the West Bank barrier to prevent east Jerusalem from becoming the Palestinian capital. Officials described the document, drafted for an EU foreign ministers meeting earlier this week, as "anti-Israeli" and said it was further evidence the Foreign Office is "unrelentingly pro-Palestinian". Britain makes more formal protests to Israel over its actions in the occupied territories than any other country.

The document warns Israeli actions are jeopardising peace and risk radicalising Palestinians. It recommends several measures to resist the Israeli tactic, including politically symbolic actions such as moving meetings with Palestinian officials from Ramallah to east Jerusalem. {snip}



Prime minister plans to draw 'the final shape of Israel'
Daily Telegraph


Sixty years after the state of Israel was created, Ariel Sharon is effectively drawing its final borders, say his advisers, diplomats, friends … and the cartographers.

They believe that Mr Sharon, who as a general played a leading role in the expansion of Israel's borders in successive wars since 1948, is now - as a politician - determined to set the country's hitherto elastic frontiers in stone.

What is more, judging by his track record and the way public opinion is shifting, there is a real chance that he may succeed.

In 2002, he ordered the construction of the controversial separation barrier - an 18ft high combination of concrete wall and chain fence that snakes through the West Bank. Over the summer his government successfully oversaw the withdrawal of the thousands of Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip. {snip}

Israeli settlers destroy Palestinian olive trees
Reuters

Jewish settlers cut down and uprooted hundreds of olive trees on Palestinian farms near the West Bank city of Nablus on Sunday, residents and Israeli police said.

Settlers from the most radical enclaves in the occupied West Bank have often attacked farms since the start of a Palestinian uprising in 2000, in which settlers have often been targeted by militants. Settlers say that the land, which Palestinians want for a state, is theirs by biblical birthright.

Residents of Salem said dozens of settlers from Elon Moreh chopped down hundreds of the town's olive trees, the main source of income for 5,000 residents. {snip}

Size of Sharon's new Knesset faction nears that of Labor
Haaretz

MK Michael Nudelman (Yisrael Beiteinu) on Sunday became the 17th legislator to announce he is joining Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's new party, Kadima, bringing its total faction number to three short of Labor's 20 seats.

The Likud, which had 40 seats before Sharon's departure last week, remains the largest party in the Knesset, but now only has 26 Knesset seats. Labor is second, and Shinui, which was the third largest party, has 14 seats in the Knesset.

Since its creation last week, Kadima has attracted 14 MKs from Likud, as well as MK David Tal of One Nation and MK Haim Ramon from Labor. {snip}

Gaza joy as 'gate of hope' open
The Australian

 Amid joyful and raucous scenes, almost 1600 Palestinians crossed from Gaza into Egypt on Saturday after Israel agreed to hand back the keys to the gates it had strictly controlled for 38 years.

Several thousand more Gaza residents queued yesterday to take advantage of the now Palestinian-controlled crossing at the southern border town of Rafah, in the wake of the landmark agreement. Thousands more are expected to follow this week as the crossing builds towards an around-the-clock operation. {snip}