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UN endorsement of anti-Israel report on Gaza war buries peace process DEBKAfile Special Analysis October 16, 2009, 4:08 PM (GMT+02:00) Binyamin Netanyahu - personal defeat The UN Human Right Council's endorsement Friday, Oct. 16, sent the anti-Israel Goldstone war crimes report to the UN Security Council. Ultimately, this step could expose Israeli leaders to prosecution for war crimes. The damage was compounded by Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu's personal involvement in spearheading the campaign to have the report buried. Its endorsement has instead buried the peace process between Israel and Palestinian Authority - already shaken by Mahmoud Abbas' refusal to come to the negotiating table.  More...

Israel outraged by UN Human Rights Council endorsement of controversial Goldstone report October 16, 2009, 4:08 PM (GMT+02:00) Pointing the finger at Israel The Goldstone report which condemned Israel and Hamas for war crimes in the January Gaza offensive, reserving special criticism for Israel, was carried by a majority of 25 of the 47-member Human Rights Council in Geneva Friday, Oct. 16. Six nations including the US voted against, 11 abstained and 5 members, including France and Britain, did not take part in the vote. Israel has rejected the charges in the report and said the Human Rights Council resolution - drafted by the Palestinians with Egypt, Nigeria, Pakistan and Tunisia, on behalf of non-aligned, African, Islamic and Arab nations - threatens peace efforts.  More... Palestinian bomb-rocket workshop uncovered in Jerusalem's Abu Dis village DEBKAfile Special Report October 16, 2009, 3:56 PM (GMT+02:00) On Sept. 17, a Shin Bet-undercover police unit detained three Palestinians fabricating bombs and using pipes as components for rockets in a covert workshop in the Abu Dis village of Jerusalem, DEBKAfile's counter-terror sources report. They worked in the grocery storehouse under the direction of an engineer. The terror cell planned a rocket assault on Jerusalem and Maaleh Adummim.  More... Egypt jails family members of Hamas high-ups living in Cairo DEBKAfile Exclusive Report October 13, 2009, 8:09 AM (GMT+02:00) Gen. Omar Suleiman - fed up with Hamas High-ranking Hamas officials in Gaza keep their sons, brothers, wives, cousins living in comfort in Cairo. Monday night, Oct. 12, Egypt's Mukhabarat (security service) began quietly rounding up hundreds of these Gazans and throwing them into jail for "questioning," DEBKAfile's Middle East sources report. Intelligence minister Gen. Omar Suleiman finally got fed up with Hamas and its stubborn refusal to sign a reconciliation accord with rival Fatah blaming Iran and Syria.  More... First official probe launched against top Iranian opposition leader DEBKAfile Exclusive Report October 13, 2009, 7:26 PM (GMT+02:00) Leading Iranian reformer Mohammed Karroubi with supporters The probe announced Tuesday, Oct. 13, of one of the three presidential candidates defeated in Iran's June election looks like the first step toward using the tightly-controlled process of law to persecute the top dissenters who alleged that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was elected in a fraudulent poll. Former president Mohammed Karroubi is the first to pay the price for alleging that political detainees are subject to rape and torture.  More... Munitions store blown up at Hizballah's South Lebanon command center DEBKAfile Exclusive Report October 12, 2009, 8:33 AM (GMT+02:00) Israeli drone films weapons delivery ato forbidden storehouse A big explosion hit Hizballah's main command HQ in South Lebanon, near Tayr Felsay east of the port town of Tyre, at 0800 Monday night, Oct 12,DEBKAfile's military sources report. Senior Lebanese sources said there were at least 8 people killed or injured in the blast. The command center was located in the residential compound of senior Hizballah operative Saeed Nasser.  More...