Gaza militants say truce restored despite reports to the contrary

Gaza militants say truce restored

by Staff Writers
Gaza City, Palestinian Territories (AFP) March 13, 2014

Gaza's Islamic Jihad announced Thursday that an Egyptian-brokered truce had been restored following a brief but intense confrontation a day earlier when Israeli warplanes pounded the Strip after heavy cross-border rocket fire.
But the truce, which was to have taken effect at 1200 GMT, was being tested after the Israeli military reported further rocket fire from Gaza hours later.
An army spokesman told AFP four rockets hit Israeli soil during the evening and another two were intercepted midair by the Iron Dome missile defence system.
Three rockets had also struck during the morning, he said.
On Wednesday at least 60 rockets hit Israel.
No one has yet claimed responsibility for the Thursday rocket fire, but Gaza security sources linked what appeared to be a failed rocket attempt Thursday night to a Salafist splinter group.
They said the group may have been behind the explosion of a locally made projectile in the northern town of Beit Hanoun that injured five members of the same family, including a woman and two children.
Over the course of 24 hours, Israeli warplanes struck Gaza after militants fired scores of rockets over the border in the worst confrontation since an eight-day conflict in November 2012 between Israel and the Islamist movement Hamas which rules Gaza.
Although there were no casualties on either side, the violence was denounced by both Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and British Prime Minister David Cameron at a news conference in the West Bank town of Bethlehem.
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton added her voice.
"I strongly condemn the recent rocket attacks on Israel, for which the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which is listed by the EU as a terrorist organisation, has claimed responsibility," she said in a statement
"There can be absolutely no justification for the deliberate targeting of innocent civilians, and I call for an immediate end to such acts."
Behind the scenes, Egypt worked to secure the renewal of a truce agreement to scale back the hostilities, officials in Gaza said.
"An Egyptian-brokered truce went into effect at 2:00 pm (1200 GMT)," Islamic Jihad spokesman Daud Shihab told AFP.


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AL Jazeera

Attacks continue despite Gaza truce claims

Israeli air raids on camps of Palestinian armed groups follow new barrage of rockets fired from Hamas-ruled territory.

Last updated: 14 Mar 2014 03:38

 Israel has targeted suspected camps of Palestinian armed groups in the Gaza Strip following a barrage of rockets fired from the territory.
Thursday was the second straight day of rocket attacks and air raids after an Israeli military operation against members of Islamic Jihad.
Islamic Jihad said that an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire had been restored, but the truce, which was to have taken effect at 1200 GMT, was being tested by continued violence.
"Israel Air Force aircraft targeted four terror sites in the southern Gaza Strip and three additional terror sites in the northern Gaza Strip," a military statement released around Thursday midnight (2200 GMT) said.
Al Jazeera's Safwat al-Kahlout quoted Gaza-based medics as saying that three people were injured, one of them seriously, in the Israeli bombardment.
Behind the scenes, Egypt worked to scale back the hostilities, officials in Gaza said.
"An Egyptian-brokered truce went into effect at 2pm (1200 GMT)," Daud Shihab, Islamic Jihad spokesman, told AFP news agency.
Earlier, Khaled al-Batsh, an Islamic Jihad leader, said Egyptian officials had contacted Hamas, which governs Gaza, to "restore the truce" with Israel in force since November 2012.
However, an Israeli defence official said he was "not familiar" with any ceasefire arrangement.
Al Jazeera's Kimberly Halkett, reporting from Washington DC, said the Israeli government was not commenting on the ceasefire.


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Dozens of Ukrainian Police Defect and Vow To Protect The People ; Ukraine President Backs Down, Signs Peace Pact with Protesters

NBC News

DAVID MDZINARISHVILI / Reuters
Police officers from Lviv, Ukraine, appear on a stage after joining protesters in Kiev's Independence Square on Friday.

Dozens of Ukrainian Police Defect, Vow to Protect Protesters

By James Novogrod
KIEV, Ukraine - About 40 police officers defected to Ukraine's opposition and marched into the heart of the protest encampment in the Kiev on Friday, the day after violent clashes between demonstrators and security forces killed dozens.

"We wear this uniform, and in this uniform I made a vow to be a servant of the Ukrainian people," said Col. Vasyl Krykovskiy, the head of police in the district of Lviv. "I just have to be here and protect these people."

Reupping shot from earlier of the 40 police officers from western Ukraine marching through Kiev to join opposition: pic.twitter.com/Vz2Fm53Tvb
-James Novogrod (@JamieNBCNews) February 21, 2014

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Jeff J Mitchell / Getty Images an hour

Ukraine President Backs Down, Signs Peace Pact with Protesters

By Maria Stromova, Alexander Smith, James Novogrod and Jason Cumming

KIEV, Ukraine -- President Viktor Yanukovych signed a deal with Ukraine's main opposition leaders on Friday brokered to end the deadly violence that put the country on the brink of civil war.

He agreed to early elections and to surrender some of his powers after 77 people were killed as a geopolitical tug-of-war over whether Ukraine should embrace the West or Russia turned violent this week. (The agreement can be read in full by clicking here.)

Yanukovych said he offered the concessions to "restore peace and to avoid further victims of the stand-off" and addressed his statement to "compatriots."

The deal states that:

• Within 48 hours Ukraine must revert to its 2004 constitution, meaning some of Yanukovych's powers will be given to the parliament. This was passed by lawmakers shortly after the deal was finalized.
• A coalition government will be formed in the next 10 days and presidential elections will be brought forward from March 2015 until no later than December.
• Illegal weapons must be handed in and there will also be an investigation into the deadly violence that has dominated Kiev this week.

The agreement was signed by the three main opposition leaders, including former boxing star Vitali Klitschko. However, it was almost immediately rejected by the extremist Right Sector party, which has been blamed for much of the civilian violence since protests in Kiev's Independence Square began in November.

"We are inclined to consider Yanukovych’s statement as another whitewash," Right Sector said in a statement. "National revolution continues."

ANDRIY MOSIENKO / Ukrainian government via EPA

The agreement came after overnight negotiations with opposition leaders, European Union ministers and Russia.

But photographs of the document showed that the signature of Vladimir Lukin, special envoy of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was missing. Reuters confirmed that Lukin did not sign the deal and said there was no immediate explanation for his absence.

One of the European foreign ministers who helped broker the deal, Poland's Radosław Sikorski, said the agreement was a "good compromise."

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Syria crisis: US and Russia discuss possible ceasefires

BBC News

Mr Kerry (C) and Mr Lavrov (R) met in Paris, along with Mr Brahimi (L)

The US and Russia have discussed the possibility of "localised ceasefires" in Syria ahead of peace talks to be held in Switzerland next week.

Russia also said Syria was considering opening humanitarian access to besieged rebel areas.
A prisoner exchange is also under consideration, US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
The two men are in Paris to discuss arrangements for the Geneva talks.
"We talked today about the possibility of trying to encourage a ceasefire, maybe a localised ceasefire in Aleppo," Mr Kerry told a news conference after talks with Mr Lavrov and Lakhdar Brahimi, the UN and Arab League envoy for Syria.
Both Mr Kerry and Lavrov said they hoped ceasefires could be in place before the talks, along with plans for prisoner exchanges and the opening of humanitarian corridors.
Mr Kerry said it was up to the Syrian government to show they were serious.
"I'm pleased to say that Foreign Minister Lavrov indicated that he's had some conversations with the [Syrian] regime, that the regime may be prepared to open up a number of areas, specifically al-Gouta which we have been pushing for for some period of time, and it may be possible for convoys now to be able to access," he said.

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UPDATE 2-U.S. and Russia say Syria aid access and local ceasefire possible

Mon Jan 13, 2014 2:31pm GMT

By Warren Strobel
Jan 13 (Reuters) - Syria's government and some rebels may be willing to permit humanitarian aid to flow, enforce local ceasefires and take other confidence-building measures in the nearly three-year-old civil war, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Monday.
Kerry said that he and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov "talked today about the possibility of trying to encourage a ceasefire. Maybe a localized ceasefire, beginning with Aleppo," Syria's largest city. "And both of us have agreed to try to work to see if that could be achieved."
Syrian rebels backed by Washington have agreed that, if the government commits to such a partial ceasefire, "they would live up to it", Kerry said.
Given the history of failed attempts to end the war, which has killed more than 100,000 people and displaced millions, it remains far from clear that even a partial ceasefire can be achieved or, if it is, can hold.
It also seems unlikely to be honored by powerful militant islamist rebel factions, some of whom are at war with both Damascus and other rebel groups backed by the West and Gulf states.
But diplomats are trying to persuade the combatants to agree to a series of steps to improve the atmosphere for Syrian peace talks planned for Switzerland on Jan. 22.
Kerry spoke at a press conference in Paris with Lavrov and Lakhdar Brahimi, the U.N. Secretary General's top Syria envoy.
Lavrov, whose government backs Assad, said the Syrian government had indicated it might provide access for humanitarian aid to reach besieged areas. He specifically cited the Damascus suburb of eastern Ghouta, where 160,000 people have been largely trapped by fighting, according to the United Nations.
"We await similar steps by the opposition," Lavrov said.
Kerry expressed some scepticism that Assad's government would follow through.
"The proof will be in the pudding, as we say," he said. "This news of a possibility is welcome."

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