The European foreign ministers also "strongly deplored" the firing of rockets on Israeli territory and called on the Palestinian leadership to bring an end to such acts.

The Associated Press quoted European diplomats as saying that Ireland, Sweden and Spain lobbied in favor of the stern declaration that was issued, while Germany, the UK and the Czech Republic opposed publicly condemning Israel.

The Mayor of Beit Hanoun, Muhammad Nazek Al-Kafarneh, said during a press conference he held after the recent massacre, that the Israeli soldiers participating in the so-called "Autumn Clouds" operation in the city used the ocassion to steal Palestinian property: money, gold, cellphones and other valuables.

- The total value of things stolen from private persons and households amounts to over 200,000 dollars.

The mayor also enumerated the loss and damages which the Israeli terrorists caused in the city of Beit Hanoun:
- The loss due to damages to water equipment is 350,000 dollars.
- The loss due to damages to the infrastructure for processing wasted water is 450,000 dollars.
- The loss due to damage and destruction of Palestinian houses amounts to 2,5 million dollars.
- The loss due to damages to road infrastructure amounts to 3,5 million dollars.
- The loss due to damages to the public gardens and the children gardens amounts to 200,000 dollars.
- The loss and the damages of the electricity net are 2,5 million dollars.
- The losses to the economy of the city amounts to one million dollars.
- The loss due to damages to the communication net amounts to 1,5 million dollars.
- The loss due to damages to public property amounts to 1,5 million dollar.

The mayor said that the Israeli terrorists destroyed 25 public facilities of the city, and other 25 facilities were damaged partially. He gives the amount lost due to these damages as half a million dollars.

Further, mayor Al-Kafarneh said that 40 shops were destroyed completely; the loss due to the destruction of these shops is 200.000 dollars.

The losses of the city in the sectors of agriculture and health are not counted among the losses given above.

A soldier and an officer of the IDF, preparing for the "Autumn Clouds" operation. Any information such as exact ID, unit, nationality ... of these two soldiers for eventual future indictment and prosecution as war criminals will be greatly appreciated. (pic credit: arab newspapers)

Moneer Al Hroub, the husband of Andaleeb, has been wanted to the Israeli security since five years for his activities with the resistance.

Soldiers repeatedly broke into the house of Al Hroub and voiced repeated threats to arrest his wife is he does not surrender to the Israeli forces.

Baiting a prisoner by arresting a relative in barred by the international Law, but recently several incidents were exposed to the media indicating the Israeli soldiers have been abusing family members of wanted activists and arresting their wives, sisters or mothers in order to force them to surrender.

The practice of "baiting" -- arresting the family member of a wanted person in order to get that person to surrender -- is an internationally condemned practice that is in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, to which Israel is a signatory.

On March 312006, Israel carried a military offensive dubbed "ongoing pressure" in Nablus city, suburbs and refugee camps of Nablus.

The 15,000 residents of Nablus city and its four refugee camp have become almost used to the daily schedule of the Israeli army, which invades nightly after midnight, and stays in town until dawn, firing randomly and ransacking Palestinian homes. The Army has also invaded during the daytime, arresting and detaining the mothers and wives of alleged resistance fighters.

Amongst the arrestees identified were the mothers of fighters Sufyian Qandeel, Hani Ewejan, Sami Estaita, Ameen Lebada and the wide of Nasser Akoub, the wife and the mother-in-law of the fighter Fadi Qfesha, in addition two youths, Hussam Mefleh and Nidda Ameera, who were rounded up during Wednesday's invasion.

All of the arrestees were taken to the Israeli occupation army camp Huwwara, where they were subjected to 10-12 hours of interrogation.

The wife of fighter Nasser Akoub said, "We were all questioned separately, the Army took photos of us and threatened to re-arrest us again if the wanted fighters do not surrender."

She added, "the army threatened to arrest me and my sons to force Nasser to turn himself in."

Palestinians who join the resistance generally leave their homes, and families do not know their whereabouts.

"We reject the two-state solution, which is the vision of U.S. President George Bush, because it represents a clear recognition of Israel," Barhoum said.

"Our position in this regard remains unchanged. We reject joining in any government that recognizes Israel."

In an apparent breakthrough only two days ago, Hamas and Fatah, which lost power to Hamas in elections last January, agreed to replace Hamas's Ismail Haniyeh as prime minister with Mohammed Shubair, 60, a moderate U.S.-educated research scientist and university administrator. It was hoped such a move might end the western economic blockade.

Yuval Diskin, head of Israel's Shin Bet security service, said Hamas would benefit under the arrangement because "it would continue to exert control from behind the scenes while skirting responsibility for the outcome of the new government's policies."

The United States and its partners in the Quartet of Middle East mediators imposed the boycott to pressure Hamas, which took office in March, to recognize Israel's right to exist, renounce violence and accept existing peace deals.

The United States and the European Union regard Hamas as "a terrorist organization" and have cut off direct aid to its administration. As a result, the Palestinian government has largely been unable to pay its 165,000 workers since April.

In another development, Israel is on the brink of a policy U-turn that would authorise 1,500 armed Palestinian soldiers based in Jordan to move into the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Daily Telegraph reported.

It reverses years of strict military sanctions imposed by Israel on the territories because of "fears that weapons provided to Palestinians would end up being used for attacks on Israeli targets."

An Israeli woman settler was reportedly killed Wednesday morning after home-made Palestinian rockets landed on Sderot, Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz said, adding another man was seriously wounded by the rocket firing and some residents in the town suffered form shock.

Meanwhile, three Palestinian militant groups announced they have fired a number of rockets into Sderot city.

Al-Quds Brigades, armed wing of the Islamic Jihad (Holy War) movement, "launched two mid-range rockets at the settlement at 8:05 a.m.", a Jihad spokesman told a local radio.

Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades of the ruling Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) also issued a written statement, saying they have fired two rockets into the same town half an hour ahead of the Jihad attack.

The Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) also claimed its responsibility for launching two more rockets.

In early November, Israel unleashed a major military offensive into northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun, saying the border town was the launching site of numerous rocket attacks against Israel,

Instead of halting rocket firing by Palestinian militants, Israeli artillery shells killed some 19 civilians in Beit Hanoun on Nov. 8, which is the deadliest single attack on Palestinian civilians in the past several years.

Natanyahu was responding to reports Monday that President Ahmadinejad declared that Israel was destined to "disappearance and destruction" and that Iran had full nuclear capability. "Time is running in our favor."

The General Assembly, an umbrella organization of American Jewish communal organizations is a traditional pilgrimage for Israeli politicians of all shades of opinion

According to an account by Peter Hirschberg, in Wednesday's Haaretz (An Israeli newspaper), Netanyahu amplified his remarks in an interview on Army Radio on Tuesday night.

Netanyahu insisted that Israel had the capability to wipe out Iran. "I don't want to analyze the capability required to eliminate [the Iranian nuclear] threat, but this capability exists..This capability is eroded over time, and if we wait years then obviously this capability would not exist anymore ... but right now I disagree with the claim that nothing can be done against Iran."

When asked by Israeli radio host Razi Barkai if Bush could afford embarking on another "military adventure" after Iraq, Netanyahu replied,

"... Israel would certainly be the first stop on Iran's tour of destruction, but at the planned production rate of 25 nuclear bombs a year ... [the arsenal] will be directed against 'the big Satan,' the U.S., and the 'moderate Satan,' Europe."

"Iran is developing ballistic missiles that would reach America, and now they prepare missiles with an adequate range to cover the whole of Europe," he added.

"No one cared then and no one seems to care now," he said, again drawing on the Nazi parallel - Netanyahu warned that Tehran's nuclear and missile program "goes way beyond the destruction of Israel - it is directed to achieve world-wide range. It's a global program in the service of a mad ideology."

"What happens in Iran affects what happens in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, not the other way round," he said.

"There is still time. All ways (to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons) must be considered. We can't let this thing happen."

Current Prime Minister Ehud Olmert drew fire from Democrats Monday by publicly praising the war in Iraq. Clearly many Israeli leaders are panicked that the political fallout from the anti-war tsunami will weaken U.S. resolve. And an emboldened Amadinejad is giving them good reason. Expect a major PR effort to lobby for action against Iran.

It's a scary tinderbox.