MOUNT ARAFAT, Saudi Arabia (AP) -- In his tent in the desert outside the holy city of Mecca, Suleiman Ibrahim still couldn't believe his luck. His wife, sitting nearby, broke down in tears of joy Thursday as he recounted the day they learned they would perform Islam's hajj pilgrimage.

''The whole family started singing and congratulating me,'' said Ibrahim, a furniture maker from the southern Egyptian city of Sohag who was one of tens of thousands of Egyptians picked in a government lottery to make the pilgrimage.

''Hamdiya cried then, too,'' the 45-year-old said, nodding to his wife.

Ibrahim was among nearly 3 million Muslims from around the world who massed in tent cities on the outskirts of Mecca on Thursday for the start of the annual hajj. For many, it is a once in a lifetime chance to cleanse their sins in one of the most important rites of Islam.

This year's hajj takes place amid increasing worries across the Islamic world -- over the bloodshed in Iraq, violence in the Palestinian territories and a new war in Somalia.

Amid those crises, tensions have increased between the two main sects of Islam, Sunni and Shia, whose members come together in the five days of hajj rituals centered around Mecca, birthplace of Islam's Prophet Muhammad.

''We will not allow sectarian tensions from any party during the hajj season,'' Saudi Arabia's interior minister, Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz, told reporters ahead of the rituals.

The Islamic affairs minister, Sheik Salih bin Abdulaziz, stressed that point Thursday, telling pilgrims: ''The pilgrimage is not a place for raising political banners ... or slogans that divide Muslims, whom God has ordered to be unified.''

But for most pilgrims the top concern was faith, not politics.

On Thursday morning, hundreds of thousands opened their pilgrimage in Mecca by circling Islam's holiest site, the Kaaba, the black cubic stone that Muslims face when they perform their daily prayers.

''For us it is a vacation away from work and daily life to renew yourself spiritually,'' said Ahmed Karkoutly, an American physician from Brownsville, Texas. ''You feel you are part of a universe fulfilling God's will. It's a cosmic motion, orbiting the Kaaba.''

Pilgrims filled the streets surrounding the Kaaba, some prostrating in prayer, others browsing outdoor markets to buy perfumes, fabrics, prayer beads and other souvenirs. In gleaming malls overlooking the Kaaba, pilgrims visited stores like the Body Shop or lined up at the Cinnabon.

The crowds then streamed into the tent cities set up outside town, wearing seamless white robes symbolizing the equality of mankind under God and chanting, ''Labbeik, allahum, labbeik'' -- Arabic for ''I am here, Lord.''

The heartier ones walked, carrying food, water and luggage. Others packed into buses and minibuses, some riding on the roof alongside baggage, as vehicles jammed highways in the hajj's annual epic of traffic control.

Most pilgrims went to Mina, a region in a desert valley 8 miles from Mecca. Ibrahim and tens of thousands of others went directly to Mount Arafat, where all pilgrims will gather Friday for the first major ritual of the pilgrimage.

Much of the day was spent settling into tents, with people from each Muslim country getting their own section of the sprawling temporary city.

''I've been hoping my whole life to be able to make this journey. Four times I didn't make the lottery, but this time God smiled on me,'' Ibrahim said, sitting on a foam mattress among suitcases.

In his tent, three fellow Egyptians debated the proper way to perform the complicated rituals. ''Ask Sheik Hassan, he'll know,'' one of them said, and another quickly called the cleric traveling with their group on his mobile phone.

Some pilgrims climbed a hill on the edge of the tent city to pray at the top. Indonesian women helped each other clamber up the rocks. A Syrian woman wept as she held up her hands, praying for an ill relative. A crowd of Libyans chanted: ''We have sinned, Lord. You are our heart, keep us from sin.''

Saudi authorities estimate nearly 3 million pilgrims are attending this year's hajj. More than 1.6 million come from abroad. The rest are Saudis or foreigners who live in the kingdom.

More than 30,000 police and other security officers fanned out around the holy sites to help smooth pedestrian traffic in hopes of avoiding the deadly stampedes that have marred previous pilgrimages.

A stampede last year killed more than 360 people at Mina during a ritual symbolizing the stoning of the devil. The rush began when some pilgrims stumbled over luggage.

Saudi Arabia spent more than $1 billion over the past year to renovate the stoning site, where the crowds hurl stones at three stone walls symbolizing the devil.

After last year's stampede, the huge platform on which pilgrims stood to throw rocks was torn down and replaced by one with more exit and entrance ramps. In the coming years, the complex will be expanded to offer multiple levels for the stoning.

On Friday, pilgrims will spend the day and night in prayer and meditation at Mount Arafat, the site where Muhammad gave his final sermon in 632. They then return to Mina for the stoning ritual.

As a Palestinian-American, I am appalled that many people meeting in Teheran claim to support Palestine while denying or trying to minimize Jewish suffering. Few at the conference articulated that the Holocaust did happen, was horrendous, and it needn't be denied in order to support Palestinian human rights or to oppose Zionism (throughout I refer to political Zionism not cultural Zionism).

This is not surprising, considering that Zionists constantly and intentionally conflate Zionism with Judaism. This is accomplished in many ways, using Jewish symbols for Israel, choosing a national anthem that speaks of Jewish yearning (even though 20% of the population is not Jewish), emphasizing Israel as a Jewish state, speaking of "the Jewish people" as united in support of Israel, even though most Jews are not Zionists, and countless other ways.

But to me the most dangerous Zionist myth that contributes to anti-Jewish ranting in Teheran and beyond is that political Zionism is the defender and protector of Jews against a hostile (gentile) world. The truth is otherwise, and is now well documented in declassified archives, in Zionist archives, in letters and books, and it is rather "inconvenient" (to put it mildly) to political Zionists.

In 'Mein Kampf', the only Jews admired were the Zionists. Hitler called it a "great movement out of Vienna" that helped him dispel the doubts he had as to whether Judaism simply represented another religion or was a nationality (and thus did not belong in Europe). After the 1935 Nazi racial laws were introduced, the Zionist Federation of Germany was the only Jewish group allowed to function, with offices open in Berlin until 1942. This is not surprising, considering that they (ZFG) wrote to the new Nazi regime that "Zionism believes that a rebirth of national life, such as is occurring in German life through adhesion to Christian and national values, must also take place in the Jewish national group".

Edwin Black's book "The Transfer Agreement: The Dramatic Story of the Pact Between the Third Reich and Jewish Palestine" is an eye opener on the tragic practical results of this convergence of these two segregationist ideologies. In the US, a powerful Zionist lobby scuttled efforts to bring Jewish refugees from WWII; this is documented in books by Jewish leaders and intellectuals like Alfred Lilienthal and Morris Ernst.

The future first Israeli Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion, rejected plans to save Jewish children, telling a meeting of Labor Zionist leaders on 7 Dec. 1938: "If I knew that it would be possible to save all the children in Germany by bringing them over to England, and only half of them by transporting them to Eretz Yisrael, then I would opt for the second alternative. For we must weigh not only the life of these children, but also the history of the People of Israel." Iraqi Jew (and ex-Zionist) Naiem Giladi exposed this and other of Ben Gurion's scandals in a book by that title. (e.g. Zionist underground forces bombed Jewish targets in Baghdad to achieve Zionist objectives of driving Jews to Israel).

Sigmund Freud wrote a letter rejecting putting his name in support of the Zionist project on psychological grounds: "Whoever wants to influence the masses must give them something rousing and inflammatory and my sober judgment of Zionism does not permit this... It would have seemed more sensible to me to establish a Jewish homeland on a less historically-burdened land. But I know that such a rational viewpoint would never have gained the enthusiasm of the masses and the financial support of the wealthy. I concede with sorrow that the baseless fanaticism of our people is in part to be blamed for the awakening of Arab distrust."

In a letter published December 1948 in NY Times by Alfred Einstein and 26 other leading American Jews we read: "The discrepancies between the bold claims now being made by Begin and his party, and their record of past performance in Palestine bear the imprint of no ordinary political party. This is the unmistakable stamp of a Fascist party for whom terrorism (against Jews, Arabs, and British alike), and misrepresentation are means, and a "Leader State" is the goal." Begin went on to become Israeli Prime Minister and his party morphed into the Likud, and its allies in the US became the neoconservatives who pushed for the war on Iraq.

The horrors of what happened in Europe as a result of 19th century nationalism fed the ethnocentric nationalism known as Zionism, and was used to justify the ethnic cleansing and destruction of Palestinian society. It is now destabilizing Western Asia and encouraging other narrow chauvinistic ideologies (e.g. Bin Laden's Pan-Islamic nationalism mirroring Zionism by claiming to represent members of a particular religion wherever they live).

The Iraq study group report recognized the centrality of the Israel/Palestine question to the spiraling mayhem and loss of US credibility, but failed to suggest the only change that would make a difference: a shift in US foreign policy goals and strategy to promote human rights and International law. The latter four words are ironically missing from both the "Road Map to Peace in the Middle East" and the "Report of the Iraq Study Group."

-Qumsiyeh is author of "Sharing the Land of Canaan: Human Rights and the Israeli/Palestinian Struggle". He served on the faculties of Duke and Yale Universities.

References/Books

Edwin Black, The Transfer Agreement: The Dramatic Story of the Pact Between the Third Reich and Jewish Palestine (New York : Carroll & Graf, 2001).

Lenni Brenner, 51 Documents: Zionist Collaboration with the Nazis (Barricade
Books, 2002)

Lenni Brenner, The Iron Wall: Zionist Revisionism from Jabotinsky to Shamir (London: Zed Books, 1984).

Marc H. Ellis, Israel and Palestine: Out of the Ashes, (London: Pluto Press, 2003).

Naeim Giladi , Ben Gurion's Scandals (Flushing: Glilit Pub. Co., 1995).

Alfred M. Lilienthal, What Price Israel (IPS Reprint edition, 1969)

Tom Segev with Haim Watzman (Translator) The Seventh Million: The Israelis and the Holocaust, (New York: Owl Books, 2000).

Rabbi Moshe Shonfeld, The Holocaust Victims Accuse, Neturei Karta, USA, New York, 1977.

Other

Freud's Letter to Dr. Chaim Koffler Keren HaYassod, Vienna: 26 February 1930; posted at the Freud Institute in UK website: www.freud.org.uk./arab-israeli.html.

June 21, 1933 memo from The Zionist Federation of Germany, reprinted in Brenner, 51 Documents, p. 43.

Translated from German by Dr. D. S. Blondheim, Federation of American Zionists, 1916, Essential Texts of Zionism; Jewish Virtual Library
www.us-israel.org/jsource/Zionism/pinsker.html

Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf, Reissue edition (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1998), p. 56.

The agency declined to release the name of the suspicious person they associated with Jawad.

Department spokeswoman Joanna Gonzalez said it is standard practice to send a response letter to someone who complains. She said the agency does not track the number of apologies it issues. A Pinellas County jail internal investigation cleared deputies of wrongdoing.

"We followed the same protocol with her as with any inmate,'' Sgt. Jim Bordner said.

Jawad was traveling to Clearwater to visit her 16-year-old son, who lived with her ex-husband, Ahmad Maki Kubba. Kubba, an Iraqi exile and American citizen for 27 years, was praised last year by Gov. Jeb. Bush for organizing a group to vote in Iraq's election.

Kubba said his ex-wife's detention prompted his son to move to Spain.

"I lost my son because of what happened,'' Kubba said. "My son wanted to be in the U.S. Navy, and he speaks both English and Arabic. He would have been just what they are looking for. What they did to Jawad was unfair and is hurting America.''

Dror Etkes, who monitors settlement activity for Peace Now, said he was "surprised" by the report, and wasn't aware of any large
movement of trailers over the past six months.

"This doesn't match what I know about what's been going on in the West Bank in recent months," Etkes said.

Despite declarations by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz, there has been apparently no progress toward dismantling outposts.

Since the beginning of the month, nearly 90 trailers were placed illegally in the West Bank. A Defense Ministry aerial survey found new mobile homes in illegal outposts such as Givat Assaf, near Beit El, and Amona, near Ofra. Some of the new mobile homes were also placed in veteran settlements.

The Yesha Council of settlements says the number is lower than the 200 stated by the Civil Administration and that most of the buildings spotted in the latest aerial survey were simply never identified before.

The red tape and foot dragging in dismantling outposts is creating a legal tangle as demolition orders expire, which will further delay the eventual resumption of evacuation procedures.

Construction celebration

Peretz was accorded an extraordinary honor on Thursday when The New York Times devoted a front-page headline to his activities. The newspaper drew attention to Peretz' authorization to populate the abandoned outpost Maskiot in the Jordan Valley, and construct 30 new houses there for Gush Katif evacuees. The NYT expressed restrained astonishment at the move, which came just a few days after Olmert promised a gesture to the Palestinians. The paper noted this would be the first Jewish settlement to be built in the territories in the past 10 years, and that it comes with the authorization of a minister considered a political dove.

These flaws are also manifested in Israel's commitment to ease conditions for the Palestinians and in the government's approach to violations of the Gaza truce. The defense minister is finding it difficult to leave his mark on the system he heads. He is being manipulated by the army, which is not showing him much respect in return.

Immediately upon taking up his position this May, the defense minister said taking down the illegal outposts would be a central issue during his term. On his first visit to the Central Command, he promised to deal firmly with outpost inhabitants who attacked their Palestinian neighbors. In other declarations that month, he committed himself to re-examining the construction policy in the territories and ordered preparations for the first outpost evacuations. In June, the Nahal Brigade trained to evacuate settlers from Havat Maon. The abduction of Gilad Shalit at the end of June and the outbreak of the Lebanon war two weeks later shelved the plans and took the outposts off the agenda. Ever since the end of the war, there has been a building celebration in the West Bank. Civil Administration reports have been piling up on the minister's desk: The 10 mobile homes placed in June rose to about 50 in October and 90 this past month.



Ostensibly, the Israel Defense Forces are preparing for an evacuation. From time to time Peretz's bureau issues soothing releases to the left, stating the minister is determined to take down outposts. However, even Peretz knows this is no longer expected to happen. The prime minister told the Italian media two weeks ago that the political situation does not currently enable the evacuation of outposts.

The army has yet to present the minister with evacuation plans. When Peretz expresses a desire for progress, the IDF responds that conditions are not yet ripe. The excuses change: the scars of the war in the north, then the olive harvest and finally Hanukkah and Christmas.

Peretz, hoping to avoid a forced evacuation, tried to establish a secret channel with the settler leadership. Yesha heads Bentzi Lieberman, Pinhas Wallerstein and Ze'ev Hever showed up for some non-committal conversations at the Defense Ministry, but meanwhile the settlers leaked news of the channel's existence. Meanwhile, Peretz's bureau discovered late that the prime minister has a channel of his own with the Yesha Council. MK Otniel Schneller (Kadima), himself a settler, discussed an arrangement with Yesha heads whereby 26 outposts would become part of nearby settlements.

Wallerstein and Hever come to the Defense Ministry, gossip a bit with the officials, gather information about the army's intentions for them and refuse to commit to anything. The real negotiations are going on in Schneller's channel. Peretz's associates don't have the slightest clue about these negotiations, and Olmert's bureau is denying any connection.

Easements any minute

The defense establishment zigzagged this week regarding easing conditions in the territories. The "Peretz plan" for easements is in fact the Spiegel plan, and was formulated by a former aide to the defense minister, Brigadier general (Res.) Baruch Spiegel. The original document is dated November 29, 2005.

The plan calls for the dismantling of 49 dirt barriers, among them a few permanent roadblocks. It was translated into English and won enthusiasm from the American administration. Then, GOC Central Command Yair Naveh convinced Chief of Staff Dan Halutz to block it. As an alternative, Naveh proposed creating a separate road system for Palestinian traffic in the West Bank. The price is in dispute. Naveh is talking about approximately NIS 40 million. Defense Ministry sources are convinced his plan would cost at least NIS 150 million, making it unfeasible.

In the meantime, Peretz has replaced Shaul Mofaz as defense minister, and the whole matter has been neglected. In recent months, Peretz's political aide Hagai Alon - who replaces Spiegel as "assistant for matters concerning the Palestinian fabric of life" next week - has been trying to breathe life into the barrier plan. The army refused to cooperate, and even refused to send officers to meetings on the issue. Then, in the wake of the meeting between Olmert and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, the urgent need for gestures cropped up, and the dust was shaken off the Spiegel plan.

Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh helped persuade Peretz to adopt the plan. Over the course of several meetings this Monday, Peretz accepted the plan, then accepted Naveh's reservations, and in the end, after a stormy discussion with Sneh, returned to his assistants' position. On Tuesday Olmert agreed with Peretz. The army was given a week to submit reservations. If there is no interference from the weather - or a suicide bomber - the barriers will begin disappearing next week. It is still but a drop in the bucket.

Yair Naveh, who this week determinedly and persuasively opposed Sneh, is a key figure in this story. The GOC is the father of the "separation" system, through which Palestinian movement in the West Bank has been severely limited over the past two years. In effect, Israel has cut off almost all movement between the northern, central and southern West Bank and between Samaria and the Jordan Valley. The move stemmed from an operational constraint: The IDF was having difficulty dealing with the Islamic Jihad network in Jenin and Tul Karm, which was sending suicide bombers across the Green Line.

In this context, the general provided the settlers with dozens of roads nearly devoid of Palestinian traffic. Taken along with about 600 barricades and dirt barriers scattered throughout the West Bank, very often without coordination among the various brigade sectors, insufferable restrictions on Palestinian civilians resulted. But Naveh says his primary and main responsibility is preventing the murder of Jews. Given the general consternation over the failure in Lebanon, the IDF perceives the Central Command as the only contractor of success. The terror threat in its sector is "contained" - that is to say, usually blocked before it reaches Tel Aviv - the system is functioning well, and it spares the chief of staff superfluous headaches.

The bottom line: As always, the field dictates the policy. Barricades may be taken down, but a new warning will quickly bring them back, and only the inhabitants of nearby Palestinian villages will know. The sergeants commanding the barriers, the brigade commanders and the major generals are more influential than any deputy minister or assistant sitting in Tel Aviv.

President Moshe Katsav met with victims of Qassam attacks and Gush Katif evacuees on a visit to Ashkelon on Thursday. He also toured the strategic facilities in the city which have come under rocket attacks in recent days.

The president also met with the family of Sderot resident Adir Bassad, 14, who was critically wounded in a rocket attack on the city on Tuesday. The teen's mother said her son's condition had improved and that he had begun speaking again Thursday.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert gave the Israel Defense Forces permission on Wednesday to attack rocket-launching cells in the Gaza Strip as long as they are identified shortly before the launching, but the Prime Minister's Office said the Israeli commitment to the cease-fire in Gaza still stands.

His decision to authorize only pinpoint operations while generally upholding a policy of restraint raised ire among senior IDF officers Thursday who argued that that the only effective way to curb rocket attacks was to send forces into the northern Gaza Strip.

But despite his anger, Olmert decided not to confront Livni, so as to avoid a crisis in their relations like the one that erupted between himself and Defense Minister Amir Peretz after the latter's telephone conversation with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.

Olmert's aides said that Livni had met unimportant figures.

Livni said that she believes it is her duty to examine ideas about the peace process with Palestinian and other Arab leaders, in order to know "what there is to talk about."

She refrained from broaching the Jerusalem issue or suggesting discussions on a final-status arrangement.

Spector told Channel 10 TV that Assad made the comments during their meeting in Damascus on Tuesday.

According to Specter, the Syrian president said: "If I know of one Syrian who is transferring weapons to Hezbollah - I will make sure to stop it."

When the senator asked Assad if he would be willing to exert his influence over the militant groups in the context of a peace agreement with Israel, the Syrian president responded that he would.

Specter and Assad also discussed peace negotiations with Israel. The senator said Assad asked to convey a message from him to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, asking him to tell the prime minister that "Syria is interested in peace negotiations with Israel."

But when pressed about whether there Assad had set any preconditions for the talks, Specter said "it got to be a little fuzzy." He said Israel would have to judge whether the offer was serious.

The Prime Minister's Office denied the senator conveyed a message from Assad, saying that Specter only presented his notes from the meeting with the Syrian president.

Roughly one and a half weeks ago, the Arabic-language satellite TV station "Al Arabiya" reported that Assad had sent a similar message to Olmert through German mediators.

According to the report, Assad promised to prevent the Damascus-based Hamas leadership from conveying instructions to Hamas leaders in the territories and prevent arms transfers to Hezbollah through Syria, in exchange for the renewal of peace talks.

While both Assad and Olmert denied the reports, this time it is the messenger himself who is confirming the message was conveyed.

Olmert said Thursday that he is open to "any murmur of peace" from Israel's neighbors.

In a speech to graduates of the air force pilot's course at a base in southern Israel, Olmert indicated he is softening his opposition. "The state of Israel is open to any murmur of peace from our neighbors and across our borders," he said.

"If our enemies genuinely want peace, they will find in us a fair partner, determined to establish relations of peace, friendship and reciprocity," he added.

Olmert's spokeswoman Miri Eisin, however, played down the comments. "He has constantly said that if we see anything different, a glimpse of change, then that would be interesting and could make a difference," she said.

However, Syria continues to support Israel's staunchest enemies - including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, as well as Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon, she added

Separately, the Yediot Ahronot newspaper reported that Olmert was prepared to hold back-channel talks on a blueprint for a final peace deal, as Abbas has proposed. Olmert spokeswoman Miri Eisin had no comment on the report.

The estimated 8,000 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails enjoy iconic status in Palestinian society, and Israel usually frees a small number at Muslim holiday time in a goodwill gesture. Last week, at their first official meeting, Abbas asked Olmert to do the same before the Eid al-Adha holiday, which begins on Saturday.

Olmert said he would consider it, Abbas aide Saeb Erekat said, but just hours before the Muslim holiday and the Jewish Sabbath were to begin, no release had been announced. "Right now, it's not on the agenda,'' so long as Cpl. Gilad Shalit remains in captivity, Eisin said.

Erekat interpreted Olmert's reluctance to mean he was unwilling to risk the wrath of Israeli public opinion by releasing Palestinian prisoners without assuring Hamas-linked militants would free Shalit, seized in a June 25 cross-border raid.

"It's unfortunate,'' Erekat said of the decision, adding that it would hurt Abbas' standing.

Olmert has said repeatedly since Shalit's capture that he would not free Palestinians before the soldier was released.

One of the Hamas-linked groups holding Shalit said Thursday that progress has been made toward a prisoner exchange, and media reports cited Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas as saying the soldier would be released soon. But neither said when a swap might take place, and such claims of progress have been made in the past.

In their landmark meeting on Saturday, Olmert agreed to ease restrictions on Palestinian travel in the West Bank and to release $100 million in frozen funds to the Palestinian Authority - moves that prompted outcries among hard-liners in Israel. Releasing prisoners before Shalit was freed would likely have angered Olmert's opponents even further.

"I think that a gesture that in normal times is accepted at holiday time must not happen today because it would be misinterpreted,'' Israeli Cabinet minister Zeev Boim told Israel Radio.

Shalit's father, Noam, who has been critical of the Israeli government's conduct regarding his son, said he advocated a pre-holiday release of Palestinian prisoners.

"I thought it might generate some positive momentum toward a final deal to free Gilad and other prisoners,'' he told Israel Radio.

In a letter in Arabic that appeared Friday in an East Jerusalem newspaper, Al-Quds, Shalit's parents assured their son they were doing everything to win his release and appealed to his captors to treat him well.

With regard to the peace talks, Yediot said Olmert had no intention of abandoning the internationally backed "road map'' peace plan that Israel and the Palestinians agreed to in June 2003. The plan, which calls for the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, stalled shortly after it was presented.

In Egypt on Wednesday, Abbas said he'd like the two sides to start closed-door talks on some of their most intractable disputes, including final borders, the status of Jerusalem and the fate of Palestinian refugees. He said he proposed such backdoor negotiations to Olmert at their weekend meeting, and that the Israeli leader promised to consider the suggestion.

Abbas did not spell out why he sought backdoor talks. But as one of the architects of the 1993 Oslo peace accord between Israel and the Palestinians, negotiated secretly, he is known to champion quiet, informal diplomacy.

Palestinian militants, meanwhile, fired eight rockets at Israel on Friday, the highest number in a single day since a Nov. 26 truce went into effect. On Wednesday, Olmert ordered the military to attack rocket squads, abandoning the policy of restraint it had adopted since the cease-fire.

So far, Israel, which waged a five-month campaign against rocket squads before the truce took hold, has not carried out any attacks.

One issue relating to the rise in the number of Palestinians killed has been the increased Israeli military activity against Qassam rockets fired from the Palestinian territories.

"Of the number of Palestinians killed during 2006, over half weren't participating in any hostile activity at all," Michaeli said.

"The number of Palestinian deaths, in total, went up by over three times."

Israeli rocket fire

"Most Palestinians were killed during military operations, of which Israeli military fire, attempting to hit Qassam rocket launchers in the territories, ends up killing civilians," Michaeli said.

Production of Qassam rockets began in September 2001, after the outbreak of the al-Aqsa intifada.

Michaeli also said: "There have been a couple of concrete cases where Israel attempted to assassinate Palestinian leaders, but ended up killing civilians.

"When a rocket hits an area, civilians naturally rush in to help the victims of the first missile, but end up dead from the second missile strike."

Disproportionate force

In the West bank, B'Tselem documents that many Palestinians have been killed by disproportionate force.

"Where Israeli soldiers are saying they're undertaking targeted killings, they are actually using lethal force against non-combatants," Michaeli said.

Israeli offensives increased in June [EPA]
"Israeli soldiers have killed people that present no danger to them. A 28-year-old labourer in the West Bank was shot dead while working his trade, for example.

"In Nablus, a group of children were throwing stones at Israeli tanks, and a group of soldiers shot directly at them. These are not primarily combat situations."

Attacks against non-combatants represent a clear contravention of international humanitarian law, he said.

Decline in Israeli deaths

The number of Israeli civilians killed by Palestinians so far this year was 17. Last year the number was 41

"This has more than halved for a number of reasons," Michaeli said.

Factors included "disengagement from Gaza in August, the evacuation of settlers, the separation barrier, and the fact that that Israelis have developed a greater capacity for thwarting suicide attacks", he said.

Air strike phenomenon

A new phenomenon in Gaza this year was the demolition of homes from the air. About 80 homes were demolished using this method.

Israel demolished 292 houses during military operations in the territories, 279 of which were in the Gaza Strip. These were home to 1,769 people.

"Of the number of Palestinians killed during 2006, over half weren't participating in any hostile activity at all"

"Israel tries to justify these attacks by saying that these houses are military targets," Michaeli said. "That there are weapons there, or attacks being planned there.

"But concrete evidence isn't given due to fears of compromising intelligence."

As of last month, Israel held 9,075 Palestinians, including 345 minors, in custody. Of these, 738 (22 minors) were held in administrative detention without trial and without knowing the charges against them.

"The American forces admitted, despite their initial denial, they had detained Iranian diplomats and pressure from the Iraqi government for their release fortunately bore result," IRNA quoted Hassan Kazemi-Qomi, Iran's ambassador to Baghdad, as saying.

The State Department said last week that "a small number" of Iranian diplomats were among those initially detained in the raids, but that they were turned over to Iraqi authorities and released.

A U.S. official had said that the arrest validated U.S. assertions about "Iranian meddling" in Iraq.

U.S. officials have long accused Iran of interfering in Iraq's affairs. Iran denies this, saying Iraq's security is in line with Iran's interests.

© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.

"We produce several items of defense industries in various fields. They are all indigenous and need no (assistance from) abroad," he added.

Najjar did not specifically refer to missile production, but said anything that the Iranian armed forces needed can be made in the Islamic Republic.

Iran, which denies Western charges that it wants to build nuclear weapons, has pledged to continue its nuclear work despite the sanctions.

Iran has missiles with a range of up to 2,000 km (1,250 miles) in its arsenal, putting arch-foe Israel within range. Iranian officials have also said its weapons can hit the whole Gulf region, an area where the United States, its main enemy, has military units.

© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.