1. PALESTINIAN KILLED ATTACKING ISRAELI GAZA COMMUNITY… Three Palestinians fired anti-tank missiles and rifles at the Israeli Gaza Strip community of Kfar Darom Thursday morning. The Israeli army says it killed one of the attackers. The assault began before dawn with a mortar barrage aimed at the community. Three armed Palestinians then took cover in an abandoned building and fired at least six anti-tank missiles at the community. Soldiers returned fire killing one while the other two escaped. An Israeli spokesman pinned the blame squarely on the Palestinian Authority.
2. ‘ABBAS VISITS PRESIDENT BUSH TODAY… U.S. President George W. Bush plays host to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud ‘Abbas at the White House today. Analysts for The Media Line report that while Palestinian expectations for the meeting have softened over the past weeks, they do not expect to come away empty-handed. President Bush is expected to okay putting the dismantling of terrorist organizations on the back burner until after this summer’s legislative elections – something that won’t bring joy to Jerusalem. The American President is also expected to make a gesture to repair the hard feelings that followed what ‘Abbas called a ‘humiliation’ when Congress channeled aid to Palestinians through Israeli organizations. ‘Abbas will tell Bush that P.A. finances are transparent now and the President is believed to be prepared to dip into his discretionary funds to make a symbolic donation directly to the P.A. What ‘Abbas won’t get is a letter of principles like Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon received in April 2004.
3. HIZBULLAH LEADER: WE HAVE 12,000 MISSILES THAT CAN HIT ALL OF ISRAEL… Confirming what intelligence experts have long believed, Sheikh Hasan Na’srallah said on Wednesday that his Hizbullah terrorist organization has an arsenal of 12,000 missiles that can reach, “All of the north of occupied Palestine, its settlements, airports, seaports, fields, factories and farms.” Na’srallah made his statement while celebrating the fifth anniversary of Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon, an event for which Hizbullah credits its reign of terror on Israel’s northern border. Na’srallah said the missiles are for defensive purposes.
4. WANTED: U.S. SPOKESMAN FOR PALESTINIAN MEDIA… The United States is spending millions of dollars cleaning up Palestinian water and building more classrooms. And the Americans want the Palestinians to know it. So the U.S. has launched a media campaign featuring happy kids to spread the word in the Palestinian Authority. But one thing is lacking: the ad agencies have not been able to find a notable Palestinian personality willing to be the spokesman for the American sell. The ad campaign is a project of a government agency called USAID. It’s already distributed more than $1.5 billion in the P.A. over the past decade.