November18 th - December 6 th

1. November18th - December 6th

2. The Palestinian Arena

3. The Gaza Primary Elections • Nov. 30th – Hamas made public its electoral list towards the upcoming elections. The list includes the names of a number of prisoners and well known terrorists including Mahamud A-Zahar, Ishmail Hania, and Hasan Yusuf, all senior leaders of Hamas in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. • Nov. 29th – PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas was urged to halt the internal elections of his ruling Fatah party due to violent eruptions of rival Fatah gangs. This followed allegations of fraud in the voting process which Abbas has promised to investigate. • Primaries were held in five West Bank areas late last week and have resulted in a defeat for Fatah representatives.

4. The Rafah Crossing • Nov. 26th – Following the opening of the “Rafah”- Crossing some “Hamas”-terrorists, including high-ranking operational figures living so far abroad, have returned to the Gaza Strip. • Hamas leaders that have passed through the Rafah terminal include Sheikh Ahmed al-Milh, one of the founders of Hamas, Fadel Zahar, a high ranking Hamas official deported from Israel in 1991, and Rafik al-Hassant, a senior member of Hamas, wanted by Israel for more than a decade. Three additional Hamas fugitives infiltrated into the Gaza Strip.

5. Nov. 23rd – In a joint IDF, police and ISA operation in the village of Kalil, three Tanzim operatives were arrested. The three have been wanted by Israel for some time for committing shooting attacks against Israeli civilians and the IDF. Dozens of additional senior terrorists and terrorist sponsors were arrested this week. Nov. 28th – A terrorist cell run by Hamas was discovered by the ISA and the Israeli Police. Hamas uses the cell to collect “charitable donations” in Europe and North America and then uses the donations to finance terrorist activities in the city of Jenin. The exact whereabouts are still unknown. Nov. 28th – Head of Islamic Jihad in Jenin, Iyad Mahmad Abu El-Roub, was arrested in a joint IDF, Border Police and ISA operation. El-Roub is responsible, among other things, for the suicide bombing in Hadera in October that killed 6 Israeli civilians, and for the bombing at the “Stage” nightclub in Tel Aviv in February in which another 4 Israeli civilians were killed. Counter-terrorist activity

6. Executed terror attacks • Nov. 28th – After two weeks of relative calm, an anti-tank missile was launched from the Gaza Strip into Israel. No injuries or casualties were reported. • Dec. 2nd – A Qassam rocket was fired in the afternoon from Gaza landing in the western Negev. Overnight, another Kassam landed in an open field near Sderot. • Dec. 3rd – Three rockets were fired from Gaza into Israel. Two landed near Kibbutz Karmiya south of Ashkelon and one in Moshav Netiv Ha’asara. • Dec. 4th – Three Kassam rockets were fired into the western Negev. The first two rockets were fired early Sunday and exploded in Moshav Shuva near Netivot. The third landed at approximately 22:30. No civilians were injured although several were treated for shock.

7. Attack on Netanya • Monday December 5th at approximately 11:30, a suicide attack was carried out at the entrance to the Hasharon shopping mall in Netanya. • Five Israeli civilians were killed and 48 others wounded, 4 severely. • The explosive killed the security guard and 3 others instantaneously and the fifth victim died soon after he reached the hospital. • The suicide attack was carried out by PIJ (Palestinian Islamic Jihad).

8. The Lebanese Arena

9. November 21 Hizbollah launched a barrage of mortar shells, anti-tank rocket and Katyusha fire towards IDF outposts in the Mt. Dov area and the Galilee panhandle. • Hizbollah launched two simultaneous operations aimed at kidnapping IDF soldiers in the Alawi village of Rajar and at an Israeli outpost on Mt. Dov. • Hizbollah also fired mortar and short-range rockets towards the city of Kiryat Shmona and Metulla at the border line where a shell landed on a civilian home. • In these attacks, two soldiers were seriously injured, one moderately, and seven more were lightly injured.

10. Friday, November 25th Israel returned the bodies of three Hizbollah terrorists who were involved in Monday’s attempt to kidnap IDF soldiers. The bodies were transferred through the Naquora Crossing by IDF, Red Cross and UNIFIL officials. Families of the terrorists and Hizbollah officials were present at the border as the bodies were being saluted and handed over along with a brass band playing Lebanese and Hizbollah anthems. “death to America, death to Israel” they chanted. A decision was made to return the three bodies following a request made by the Lebanese government.

11. Nuclear Developments in Iran

12. Iran plans to construct two more nuclear power plants through an international tender, said Iran’s top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani. 4th of December - Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and cabinet ministers stated that a nuclear reactor will be built in Khuzestan province in southwestern Iran. The Parliament has asked for the construction of 20 nuclear plants. UN nuclear supervisor, Muhammad el-Baradei has demanded Iran would refrain from escalating its actions.

13. EU-Mediterranean Anti-Terror Code • On Monday November 28th The European Union, Israel and its Arab neighbors endorsed an anti-terrorism code of conduct in the city Barcelona. • The code commits the EU, Israel and its neighbors to “prevent terrorists accessing money and weapons, to disrupt their plans and disrupt their networks and to bring them to justice by strengthening international cooperation”. It adds that the response to terrorism must be “proportionate and solidly anchored within international and domestic legal frameworks that ensure respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms”. • The forum was set up 10 years ago to bring EU members, Middle East states and North African countries together, and allows multilateral dialogue between Israel and its Arab neighbors.

14. With the PA general elections approaching, Chairman Abbas is facing increasing internal conflict, both from within his own FATAH party, as well as from the Palestinian terrorist organizations. Hamas has presented its electoral list which marks the first concrete step towards a grave breach of the fundamental principles of democracy and endangers the future stability in the region. Comments

15. The opening of the Rafah border crossing involved a number of security risks which Israel was ready to take in order to improve the Palestinian quality of life. Despite so, the terrorist organizations have taken advantage of the opportunity to illicitly smuggle senior leaders back into the Gaza Strip. Unless this flow of terrorists is throttled, they will pose an ever growing threat to the power base of the PA and, by means of their continued incitement and attacks against Israel, to the regional stability as a whole. After the achievement of the Barcelona Declaration of Intentions, it is now expected from all participating parties to strive to translate the stated intentions into policy and action aimed at the actual fight against terrorism. Comments

16. In continuation of Iran's relentless attempts to advance its nuclear weapons program, new reports have surfaced concerning their plans to begin construction on two facilities, as early as March '06. One of these facilities is purportedly being financed by Russia. The count-down has officially begun and unless there is a more concerted effort on the part of the international community to halt Iran's march towards nuclear weapon's production, the Middle East and vast regions of Europe and Asia will find themselves under the imminent nuclear threat. Comments