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The Media Line Daily News Focus

Reported from Jerusalem

1. ISRAELI ARMY IN OPERATION AGAINST HAMAS, ISLAMIC JIHAD… Israel’s army launched raids against Hamas and Islamic Jihad targets in Gaza and Hebron early Thursday morning. Gunfire broke out when the soldiers surrounded the home of a local Islamic Jihad leader in Gaza, injuring five Israelis. Two Palestinians were killed. In Hebron, two Palestinians were killed when they fired on troops surrounding a building and the soldiers shot back. The target was also an Islamic Jihad member. On Wednesday, Israeli troops searched a hospital in Qalqilya looking for gunmen who had fired on vehicles traveling on the Trans-Israel Highway. No arrests were made.

2. YASIN: NO TRUCE WITH ISRAEL… Saying that paradise awaits “He who carries a bomb and blows himself up,” Hamas mentor Sheikh Ahmad Yasin ruled out any truce with Israel. In his first public appearance since the failed attempt by Israel to kill him, Yasin threw a wrench in the works of Ahmad Queri’, the new prime minister of the Palestinian Authority, to arrange a cease-fire between the various terrorist organizations and Israel. Yasin also charged that U.S. President George W. Bush has “declared war on Islam,” but that Muslims will defeat America.

3. PRISONER DEAL DRAWS CLOSER… Israeli Foreign Minister Sylvan Shalom, meeting with U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, said that Israel and the Hizuballah terrorist organization are closer than ever to completing a deal which would return a businessman to Israel along with the bodies of three soldiers who were kidnapped and killed, while about 300 Arab prisoners will go free. It’s a bittersweet deal for Israelis, who are pleased with the presumed release of Elhanan Tennenbaum and the return of the remains of three MIAs, but are angered by the government’s capitulation on the issue of Ron Arad, an airman missing for 17 years. Demands for his return or for information concerning his whereabouts and condition have apparently been dropped by the government. Adding salt to the wound, the two notorious Hizbullah leaders captured by Israel specifically to use as bargaining chips to obtain Arad’s release – Sheikh ‘Ubeid and Mu’stafa Dirani – will go free in a deal that ignores Arad. The Arad family has filed a 100 million shekel ($22.4 million) civil action against Dirani for his role in holding Arad for at least two years. They are also expected to try to prevent the release of ‘Ubeid and Dirani through judicial means. The government has also capitulated on another issue, and will be releasing Palestinian prisoners although it has long said such deals could only be made with Palestinian leadership.

4. 27 ISRAELI RESERVE FIGHTER PILOTS REFUSE TO FLY TARGETED ASSASSINATION MISSIONS… Twenty-seven reserve pilots of the Israeli Air Force – some on active duty – are refusing to fly missions “in civilian population centers,” including targeted assassinations. Air Force Commander Dan Halutz told Channel 10 television that those refusing orders will be prosecuted. He also tried to downplay the significance of the action, saying that, “we are talking about only 27 out of thousands of pilots.” He also said that the pilots had proper recourse through their commanders if they believed that an order was illegal and that they did not need to send a public letter before the fact. Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz, himself a former army chief of staff, called the letter entirely political and not a statement on morality. The Air Force pointed out that none of the 27 were ever involved in, or asked to be involved in, such a mission.

5. SHARON INVESTIGATION HEATS UP, TIES TO AUSTRIAN BANK PROBED… A new potential piece to the investigation of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his family has emerged, with word that the Austrian bank suspected of being the conduit for funds they used to reimburse illegal campaign contributions has business interests in Israel and the Middle East that the prime minister has the power to affect. Sharon and his sons are being investigated for financial wrongdoing and acts that constitute the crime of bribery under Israeli law. In particular, the bank has a substantial holding in the Jericho casino that will reopen upon a decision by the prime minister. Martin Schlaff, the bank’s partner in the casino venture, is lobbying for permission to open casinos in Israel, an idea favored by Sharon and actively being worked-on by his office. Schlaff is represented by the law firm of Dov Weisglass, who is perhaps Ariel Sharon’s closest confidant, and is also his bureau chief.

6. LABOR STRIKE IN THE OFFING… Charging that Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu broke agreements that he signed as recently as May, government workers announced that they would launch a general strike on Monday, the day after Rosh HaShana, the Jewish New Year. The strike will include workers in government offices, regional councils, government-owned businesses, the postal service and Ben Gurion Airport, the nation’s most important gateway to the world.