US extends flight ban to Israel for another 24 hours July 23, 2014 The United States has renewed its ban on airlines flying to Tel Aviv for a further 24 hours, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said. A host of major US and European carriers suspended flights to Ben Gurion airport in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv on Tuesday, after a rocket strike on Tuesday is reported to [...]
Israel’s elections are another nail in the coffin for Middle East stability March 22, 2015 Let us be clear. It isn’t that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu managed to win an upset re-election victory in Israel’s parliamentary elections last week that spells the definitive end of the Middle East peace process; it’s the manner in which he did so. With the last opinion polls before the election showing him decisively losing [...]
The UK is creating a social media army January 31, 2015 The wars of the future will not be fought on the battlefield or at sea. They will be fought in space, or possibly on top of a very tall mountain. In either case, most of the actual fighting will be done by small robots. The Simpsons missed one important point: the wars of the future [...]
Cameron gets tough on Israel with export review August 4, 2014 Prime Minister David Cameron has toughened his stance on Israel in the wake of a number of attacks that hit UN-run schools in Gaza. Israel accuses Hamas of placing Palestinians in harm’s way. The UN relief and works agency has twice found rockets hidden in its Gaza schools. Yet criticism of Israel’s tactics has heightened [...]
Israel and Hamas step up fighting as death toll of civilians mounts July 29, 2014 Fighting in Gaza between Israel and Hamas yesterday intensified, even as diplomats stepped up efforts to bring the 24-day conflict at least to a temporary halt. Electricity was cut to the city of Gaza and many other parts of the Hamas-controlled territory after Israeli shelling of a power plant destroyed tanks holding about three million [...]
As the conflict in Gaza continues, are we seeing a realignment of the Middle East? July 31, 2014 Carly Beckerman-Boys, visiting fellow at the LSE’s Middle East Centre, says Yes. The Gaza conflict has shone a light onto heightened tensions and muscle flexing between regional Arab leaders. Their jockeying over whether to force or entice Hamas into a ceasefire has made old and new regional dividing lines far more visible. Egypt, Jordan and [...]
British Airways continues Israel flights as US and European airlines suspend operations July 23, 2014 British Airways is one of the only major European airlines still flying into the Israeli airport Ben Gurion in Tel Aviv. A number of major US and European carriers have suspended flights to the country after rockets from Gaza were fired closed to the airport raising safety concerns. BA’s twice daily flights to the destination [...]
New ceasefire effort for Gaza August 10, 2014 ISRAEL and the Palestinians agreed last night to an Egyptian proposal for a new 72-hour ceasefire in Gaza, officials from either side said. In a statement, Egypt’s Foreign Ministry urged “both sides to exploit this truce to resume indirect negotiations immediately and work towards a comprehensive and lasting ceasefire agreement”. Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri [...]
We’re staring into the abyss in Gaza: Only the US can halt this deadly cycle July 21, 2014 “If you want to make peace, you don’t talk to your friends. You talk to your enemies.” Moshe Dayan, Israeli politician and military leader IN GAZA, the inexorable logic of destruction continues apace. Since the Israeli ground incursion into the Hamas-dominated enclave began on Thursday, the death toll has risen tragically. Sunday was the worst [...]
Clegg calls for Israel arms exports ban as Warsi resigns August 5, 2014 DEPUTY Prime Minister Nick Clegg has called on the government to ban all arms exports to Israel amid concern that a 72-hour ceasefire agreed by Hamas and the Israeli government yesterday could break down at any time. Clegg was joined in his call to stop all UK exports of military equipment and arms to Israel [...]