Sergeant Gilad Schalit.

In the Middle East, an unusual exchange took place on Friday between Israel and the militant Palestinian organization Hamas, resulting in proof that an Israeli prisoner held for more than three years is still alive.

Hamas released a two-minute video showing Sergeant Gilad Schalit displaying a newspaper to show the date, September 14. He said he was in good health and that his captors were treating him well. He got up to show that he could walk.

Watch the video.

Before Hamas released that video, Israel freed 19 female prisoners who were greeted by hundreds of supporters as they returned home to the West Bank. Hamas is demanding freedom for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in return for Gilad Schalit’s release.

Should Israel agree to release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners to secure the release of one Israeli soldier?

Tell us what you think in the comments section below. Please remember to be respectful and on-point in your comments. Malicious or offensive comments will be deleted and repeat offenders will be banned.

U.N. investigators are now calling upon Israel and Hamas to conduct their own independent inquiries into the allegations. If not, the team is recommending the case be sent to an international war crimes tribunal. Israel has rejected that call, blasting the report as being “conceived in sin.” The Israeli government refused to cooperate with the investigation, saying the outcome was “prejudged.”

Much of the Arab press focused on the allegations against Israel, while downplaying the actions of Hamas. In Israel, the report was almost universally condemned.

Do you believe that either Israel or Hamas — or both — committed war crimes in last winter’s war in Gaza?

Tell us what you think in the comments section below.

Yossi Peled, a minister in the current Israeli government and a former general in the Israeli Army, joins Daljit Dhaliwal to discuss the Israeli government’s position on the U.N. report and the chances of Israeli military action against Iran.

A van carrying aid in Gaza City.

More than 1,300 Palestinians were killed in Israel’s 22-day Gaza offensive, and around 80 percent of Palestinians are reliant on aid.

The Israeli government does allow aid shipments into Gaza, but fears that opening the borders would allow Hamas to bring weapons into the area. U.N. aid workers in the Gaza Strip have asked Israel to ease restrictions on aid.

Michael Robin Bailey of the humanitarian group Oxfam describes their aid operation and the dangers faced by aid workers:

A truckload of Pampers is driven into the Kerem Shalom crossing ahead of us. One consignment of 36 wooden pallets piled to a height of 160 cm. Not enough to meet the household needs in Gaza where 170 babies are born every day. “We have seen a lot of Pampers and toilet rolls recently,” confides the Israeli army major who is assigned to liaise with the humanitarian community. Also macaroni and spaghetti now that they have been approved at the political level of the Israeli administration.

I am here with 13 colleagues from the humanitarian community, three middle ranking Israeli soldiers and the manager of Kerem Shalom. 20 adults earnestly discussing baby nappies and the security significance of pasta. Meanwhile inside Gaza 8,000 families are waiting for the materials to rebuild the homes that were destroyed nearly three months ago.

[...]Kerem Shalom’s operations manager says his main aim is getting humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza. However, he always gives priority to security, “If there is any danger for people, I will close the crossing immediately.” He describes how his operation is hemmed in. On one side, by problems getting his Palestinian workers to work on time, “Hamas is controlling everything, they hold up the workers coming from Gaza.” On the other hand he is ordered to manage up to 150 trucks a day although he says he could handle 400 or 500. “It depends on the policy.” Since June 2007, the Israeli government policy is that nothing other than humanitarian aid goes into Gaza.

Blogger Mona El-Farra, a physician living in the Gaza Strip, argues that civilians are paying the price:

It is dispropotional open war , civilians pay the price. [...]on my way walking to the Red Crescent Society , (i donot have fuel in my car ), it is only 25 mintues , while walking , i can cleary hear successive explosions, from diffrent parts of the city , and the drune on the sky , and also can clearly see the security forces soldiers, outside thier headquarters , as it is under threat of bombing by the israeli military forces ,

i had to walk very fast , expecting the worse , arriving my work to find out that we do not have enough fuel for the ambulance and the other work vehicles.

no fuel entered Gaza since 17 days , our storage has been exhausted , oh my god this situation will have its disasterous impact on different health facilities .

Medical workers as always work under great pressure , and while i am trying to arrange for medical shipment entry to Gaza , donated by MECA , i endure living in such dangerous situation , and lack of electricity , we have scarce power 6- 8 hours daily at the moment ,fresh and clean pumped water is big problem for most residents of Gaza

An Israeli blogger, “Alain,” replies to her post, placing the blame on Hamas:

Civilians pay the price, I agree (what about civilians in Sderot?), but maybe you should ask the Hamas to give answers. You can always blame Israel. As long as Hamas Fires missiles, Israel will respond and the international opinion will support it.

Maybe the people of gaza should ask the Hamas to behave like a government and not like a terrorist entity.

I know there are a lot of civilians like you that are longing for a real peace like a lot of israelis like me.

Worldfocus producer Mohammad al-Kassim interviews Dr. Sameeh Shbaib of Birzeit University in the West Bank.

On Wednesday, a second round of talks between leaders of the rival Palestinian groups Hamas and Fatah began in Egypt. The talks between the two factions are aimed at forming a national unity government that can better work for a common Palestinian cause.

The Islamist Hamas refuses to recognize Israel and has controlled the Gaza Strip since expelling Fatah forces in June 2007. After its victory in 2006 parliamentary elections, Hamas was given the responsibility to form a Palestinian government. This led to tensions and a power struggle with Fatah, a secular movement led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

Fatah is largely in control of the West Bank and supports the creation of a Palestinian state in a land-for-peace deal with Israel based on the 1967 borders.

Dr. Sameeh Shbaib lectures on philosophy and cultural studies at Birzeit University in the West Bank and recently sat down with Worldfocus producer Mohammad al-Kassim to discuss the ongoing talks in Cairo.

Mohammad al-Kassim: What’s your take on the first round Palestinian national reconciliation meetings in Cairo in mid-March?

Sameeh Shbaib: As Palestinians, we are faced with two different powers — Hamas and Fatah. Hamas is a Islamic political movement that has its own ideology, which is different that the national Palestinian political movement established in 1964. The Palestinian National Covenant [the charter of the PLO] has always been the sole representative of the Palestinian people. Hamas carries its own weight and is a real player in the Palestinian political structure and that comes from the majority it enjoys in the Palestinian national legislation. However, it does not speak for the Palestinian people

That’s why we have these deep differences. Hamas has its own view from all the international alliances and national political programs. If we look at the programs of the PLO, we see that they are secular programs and are not religious or partisan. The move toward Palestinian national reconciliation comes after pressure by Arab countries. As we see, there is an environment now among the Arab countries to set aside their differences. There is a thawing of relations is happening between two moderate nations (Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia) and the so-called rejectionist countries (Syria).

This new phase of Arab cooperation is reflected directly or indirectly on the Palestinian issue, which is in dire need of one unified voice. I hope that the national unity government will lift the blockade on Gaza and begin rebuilding.

MAK: Considering the deep divisions between Hamas and Fatah how strong will this government be?

SS: The positive thing about this government is that it’s going to be a transitional government with big responsibilities. The first is the lifting of the blockade and the rebuilding of Gaza. Second, making sure that legislative and presidential elections take place within 10 months or before the end of January 2010. Basically, what we’d have is a general election, which will decide the future of the Palestinian political system, and everyone would have to respect the results, despite the outcome.

MAK: If Hamas joins a national coalition government, will it be implicitly approving or agreeing to all the peace accords the PLO has signed with Israel?

SS: Not necessarily, and that’s because Hamas is a political party and the government is the executive coalition. All the accords that were signed between the Palestinians and Israel, were signed by the PLO and not by one Palestinian faction. And, Hamas is not a member of the PLO.

Hamas has a stronghold on the Gaza Strip.

MAK: If and when the national unity government is created, does this mean the return of the Palestinian Authority to Gaza?

SS: Yes, if an agreement is reached — and that’s what we hope — this transitional government will be a general unity government, which is part of an agreement that includes five major points. The security issue, election issue, the restructuring of the PLO issue and so on. As a result, this government will be able to spread its influence over the Palestinian territories, meaning Gaza and the West Bank.

MAK: What names are on the table as possible candidates for the prime minister position for the national unity government?

SS: In my opinion, it’s going to be an independent candidate that both Fatah and Hamas will agree to.

MAK: What were the motives behind the resignation the current Palestinian government led by prime minister Salam Fayyad? Was his resignation a result of the talks in Cairo or an internal fight?

SS: It doesn’t matter because this government came after the Hamas coup of June 2006. Then a state of emergency was declared because President Abbas desperately needed someone who could uphold the state of emergency and Fayyad took on this historical role. This government was created with certain goals in mind, and once they were accomplished, there was no more need for it.

MAK: What if a unity government fails? What are the implications of the failure on Palestinians?

SS: We hope and pray to God that when a Palestinian government is created, it does not fail in its mission and succeeds in rebuilding the Palestinian house, because its failure this time will be catastrophic. It will lead to a permanent division between the two territories. And the future of the Palestinian state will forever undecided and all Palestinians will lose.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user flyk3r under a Creative Commons license.

While Mitchell emphasized the necessity of a cease-fire, both Israel and Hamas attacked one other with rockets and bombs. Mitchell plans to meet with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas but does not plan to have direct contact with members of Hamas.

For more on George Mitchell’s mission, Worldfocus speaks with Jon Alterman, director of the Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

The president’s special representative, George Mitchell, arrived in the region today, even as the cease-fire was strained by new violence between Israel and Hamas.

Daniel Levy, the director of the Middle East task force at the New America Foundation, joins Martin Savidge to discuss Mitchell’s mission in Gaza, the U.S. approach to Syria and the president’s decision to do an interview with Al-Arabiya.

Other developments since President Obama’s inauguration on Tuesday include the decision to shut down Guantánamo and indications of a stronger stance with regard to China.

Gideon Rose of Foreign Affairs Magazine and Carol Giacomo of The New York Times editorial board join Martin Savidge to discuss the new direction of U.S. foreign policy.

There are still Israeli soldiers and tanks stationed near the border as the two sides attempt to work out a permanent cease-fire. Israel’s conditions reportedly include the release of a soldier captured in 2006 who is still being held by Hamas. Israel is also demanding the closure of smuggling tunnels on Gaza’s southern border with Egypt, some of which were back in operation on Wednesday despite weeks of bombing.

Martin Indyk, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel during the Clinton administration and the director of the Saban Center for Middle East policy at the Brookings Institution, joins Martin Savidge to speak about the challenges and opportunities facing the new Obama administration in the Middle East.

They discuss what the Obama administration can do in Gaza and how it will approach Hamas and Iran.

A demonstration in Amman in response to the war in Gaza.

The war in Gaza has generated strong reactions across the globe, particularly in Arab countries. Protesters have marched in support of either side, from Tel Aviv to London.

Rawan Jabaji is an associate producer for PBS’s “Wide Angle” and writes about visiting family in Amman, Jordan when Israel began to launch its offensive in Gaza. For additional resources, view the “Wide Angle” episode “Gaza E.R.”

In Amman, all eyes on Gaza

Missiles started falling on Gaza the day I arrived in Amman, Jordan, to attend my cousin’s wedding and visit with family members I hadn’t seen in eight years. Then a few days later, Israeli ground troops entered Northern Gaza.

From that moment on Gaza was all people talked about. CNN International, BBC, Al Jazeera, Al Arabiya–all the TV stations were reporting on Gaza around the clock. At family functions, my aunts, uncles, cousins and friends all engaged in heated discussions about the crisis. Every taxi driver had the radio tuned to the news. New Year’s Eve celebrations throughout the city were canceled in solidarity.

An estimated 60 percent of Jordanians are of Palestinian origin or descent—including my family. Palestinians were issued citizenship in Jordan following the wars of 1948 and 1967, when they fled to Amman as refugees. Historically, they’ve attempted to blend in, fearing that their Jordanian loyalty may be questioned.

But now, almost 60 years later, the children and grandchildren of Palestinian refugees, who were born and raised in Jordan, are showing their Palestinian pride. Events in Gaza have mobilized the youth to express solidarity by participating in rallies throughout the city, and by wearing the keffiyeh, the traditional checkered scarf that you’ve seen worn by hipsters on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

The black-and-white scarf is customarily worn by Palestinians, while the red-and-white version is worn in Jordan. Jordanians of Palestinian descent usually choose red, as part of their effort to assimilate. But at a hair salon I went to in Amman, the trendy hair dresser in Nike Dunks threading a woman’s eyebrows was wearing the black-and-white keffiyeh, and not around his neck, but around his head, in the traditional style usually only seen on older men. And in Amman’s most exclusive and chic mall, Al Baraka, young girls shopped for designer clutches sporting black-and-white keffiyehs togged around their necks.

During my stay in Amman, demonstrations and donation drives were taking place almost daily.

To read more, see the original post.

The views expressed by contributing bloggers do not reflect the views of Worldfocus or its partners.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user hopeless128 under a Creative Commons license.

Martin Savidge’s former cameraman, Adil Bradlow, captures footage of an Israeli tank. Photo: Martin Savidge

Worldfocus anchor Martin Savidge recalls his experience reporting from Gaza in 2002, when his determined cameraman faced the roaring engines of an Israeli tank to get a closer shot.

It was rush hour in Gaza and the tanks were bumper-to-bumper.

I won’t bother blogging about the current conflict in Gaza. The topic is so divisive that no matter what I write, it would be perceived as too this, or too that.

Instead, I’ll tell you about the first time I went to Gaza — in the fall of 2002, as a correspondent for CNN. It was another time of tension between Israelis and Palestinians, back when Israel still occupied the Gaza Strip and before Hamas took it over.

Late one afternoon, we were traveling back from an interview. We had a driver and interpreter. The cameraman was Adil Bradlow, and a still photographer friend of his from South Africa joined us.

It was rush hour and the two-lane highway outside Gaza City was heavy with small cars and commercial vehicles. Not all of Gaza is dense urban sprawl; there are open areas of land, and we were in one such place.

Suddenly, a hulking Merkava tank — the main battle tank of the Israeli Defense Forces — swerved across the road. Its large cannon swiveled on its turret like the head of a beast, as the body belched a huge cloud of white smoke.

Now, in many parts of the world, this would have brought traffic to a standstill. Not Gaza. It was clear that drivers were accustomed to this, and it surprised me how nimbly they maneuvered around the tank, risking a crushing death if they misjudged the spinning treads that ground up the asphalt along with the dirt.

Another tank immediately followed in its wake, and as we looked in the direction from where they came, we could see a whole line of Israeli armor moving in formation. There was no firing and no clear indication of what the Israelis were up to. But that didn’t stop us from demanding that the driver pull over so we could get out and film.

I had been in enough conflict zones by then to know that you don’t approach a military convoy on the move, even if you only hold a camera or notebook. It’s a good way to get run over or shot. So Adil set his camera up on a tripod and filmed the procession from 100 yards away.

It was then we noted the tank closest to us. It was particularly loud and releasing a lot of smoke. It lurched forward, then back…I recognized the motion. It was stuck and trying to free itself from the soft sand. By now, the rest of the convoy had pushed on ahead. The Israeli tank and the crew inside were suddenly alone and vulnerable, and the crowd of Palestinian drivers halted nearby knew it.

As the tank continued to try and free itself, Adil — who has spent a lot of time in Gaza — decided this was the perfect opportunity to get a really close-up shot of an Israeli tank. So he took his camera off the sticks, put it on his shoulder and marched in the direction of the stuck Merkava. I had just the opposite thought, and felt this was probably a good time to move away from the disabled tank, retreating behind the corner of a nearby abandoned gas station — hardly any shelter from the Merkava’s 120mm gun, but I felt safer.

Adil continued to advance, and it wasn’t long before the tank took notice, swinging its turret and lowering its barrel to meet him head on.

Adil didn’t flinch. In other wars, I have seen a camera person shot for far less. Adil just kept moving closer.

Suddenly, the hatch of the tank flopped open and the commander rose up with an M-16 rifle, firing it into the air. Others who had been emboldened by Adil’s lead quickly scampered back…but not him. I tried shouting to him to get back, but Adil couldn’t hear anything above the roar of the tank’s laboring engine. Having made his point, the tank commander dropped back inside.

The standoff continued until finally another Israeli tank returned and pushed the stuck Merkava out the hole it had sunk into.

I always thought Adil was kind of dumb — after all, he could have just zoomed in from a distance to get his close-up shot.

But to Adil, it wasn’t about the shot at all but rather about the message he wanted to send: That he wasn’t intimidated by the power of the tank.

- Martin Savidge

Egyptian and Palestinian negotiators met again on Wednesday in Cairo and came out of their meetings with the first public statements on a proposed cease-fire. While no Israeli representatives participated, an Egyptian official said they were “working with the Israeli side.”

At a brief news conference, a Hamas spokesman said his government still has reservations about the agreement.

Another spokesman for Hamas told reporters he was “optimistic now because there is no other choice for us.”

Daniel Levy, the director of the Middle East task force at the New America Foundation, joins Martin Savidge to discuss the Egyptian plan for a cease-fire, the Israeli military’s position and other prospects for bringing an end to the conflict.

Tamara Cofman Wittes, a senior fellow with the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at The Brookings Institution, joins Martin Savidge to discuss the effects of the Gaza war on moderate Arab governments allied with the U.S. and how this will impact American interests in the region as President-elect Barack Obama prepares to take office.

Worldfocus.org presents a webcasted radio show on Gaza with the help of BlogTalkRadio.

Worldfocus.org and anchor Martin Savidge host a panel featuring a range of voices and perspectives on Gaza, addressing questions submitted by Worldfocus viewers:

Ehud Eiran is a research fellow at the Belfer Center’s International Security Program at Harvard University. Prior to his studies, Eiran served as an officer in the Israeli Army and is currently a reserve major. He was a legal clerk for two Israeli attorney generals and assistant to Prime Minister Ehud Barak’s Foreign Policy Advisor.

Wendy Pearlman is a political science professor at Northwestern University specializing in Palestinian politics. She is currently finishing a book that examines fragmentation and violence in the history of the Palestinian national movement. She is the author of “Occupied Voices: Stories of Everyday Life from the Second Intifada.”

Ghassan Shabaneh is a professor of Middle East and international studies at Marymount Manhattan College. During his career, Mr. Shabaneh has done extensive field research in the Middle East, and most recently in the West Bank, Syria and Jordan. He is currently working on a book tentatively called “The Role of the United Nations in State Building: The Case of Palestine.” Watch his previous interviews on the Worldfocus newscast.

Charles D. Smith is a professor of Middle East history at the University of Arizona. He has written extensively on the Arab-Israeli conflict and is the author of “Palestine and the Arab-Israeli Conflict,” currently in its seventh edition. He is a former president of the American Research Center in Egypt and a former research fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He has lived and done research in Egypt, Israel, Lebanon and Tunisia.

Music courtesy of the Search for Common Ground.

Credits:
Host: Martin Savidge
Producers: Lisa Biagiotti, Katie Combs and Stephen Puschel

Anthony Cordesman, an expert on the Middle East, terrorism and defense policy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, joins Martin Savidge to discuss Israel’s consideration of a “phase three” in its war against Hamas and the smuggling of weapons into Gaza from Egypt. 

Nabil Abuznaid, a top Palestinian representative in the United States and an official with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), joins Martin Savidge to discuss public sentiment among Palestinians, the effect of the war in Gaza on Hamas’s popularity and Fatah’s role in resolving the conflict. 

The U.S. abstained from voting as it waited for the results of talks between Hamas and Israel mediated by Egypt.

Countries like France and Turkey are also involved in trying to mediate an end to the conflict.

Robert Pastor, a professor at American University and senior advisor to the Carter Center on conflict resolution in the Middle East, joins Martin Savidge to discuss diplomatic efforts by the United Nations and others to end fighting in Gaza. They discuss the rejection of the cease-fire resolution, communication with Hamas and the level of American influence in the region.

Bernard Barrett of the International Committee of the Red Cross speaks with Martin Savidge regarding these these claims.

The crisis has brought questions of international law violation on the part of Israel, as increasing numbers of Palestinian civilians die or suffer injury. Worldfocus speaks with Benjamin Krasna, Israel’s deputy consul general in New York, and lets him respond to these questions.

Hezbollah’s ally Iran is also a strong supporter of Hamas and has been very critical of Israel’s offensive in Gaza.

Hillel Fradkin, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute in Washington, joins Martin Savidge to discuss where the blame lies for the rocket fire and Iran’s involvement in the Gaza conflict.

They join Martin Savidge to share their knowledge of this divided region, in this third segment focusing on pessimism surrounding the current violence. They also reflect on their own interaction in the workplace.

See the first part of their conversation here: Israeli, Palestinian media show different sides of Gaza story.

See the second part of their conversation here: Producers recount personal stories from Gaza and Israel.

As the war in Gaza continues and tensions flare on both sides, Worldfocus takes a step back to examine the historical roots of the conflict and the background of the current war in Gaza.

Thank you for your responses. Worldfocus.org presents a webcasted radio show on Gaza with the help of BlogTalkRadio, addressing some of your questions.