Another senior commander of Hamas miltary wing has been killed in the Gaza strip as Israel's bombardment enters its second week.
The Israeli military says it's carried out more than seven hundred strikes on the territory since the war began. The Palestinian death toll has climbed to 437.
Mohamed Vall has the latest developments.
mkedar@mail.biu.ac.il Dr. Mordechai Kedar of Bar-Ilan University defends the Jewishness of Jerusalem, the Jewish capital for over 3000 years. He also defends the right of Israelis to settle in Judea and Samaria, the West Bank.
Gil Ronen
"We were here when your forefathers were drinking wine, burying their daughters alive and worshipping idols" -- this was just one of Bar Ilan University political scientist Dr. Mordechai Kedar's ripostes to questions by an Al Jazeera interviewer two weeks ago, in an interview that has received rave reviews from Israel-lovers the world over for its forcefulness. "They did not expect me to take the discussion to history and especially not to religion," Kedar told Israel National News. But discuss religion he did in the above video, reminding his interviewer that Jerusalem was not mentioned even once in the Koran and saying directly in fluent Arabic that "Jerusalem is not on the negotiating table," and that "Jerusalem belongs to the Jews, period."
"This was very aggravating" for the Al-Jazeera interviewer, Kedar explained, "because in the Islamic view, Islam came into the world to replace Judaism and Christianity, not to live side by side with them. And here, all of a sudden, the Jews are coming from exile and building their state again and G-d forbid they also regained Jerusalem." Judaism is thus regaining its meaning, and Islam is challenged by this, the Bar-Ilan professor explained. "The mere existence of the State of Israel and the fact that we are in Jerusalem is some kind of challenge to the legitimacy of Islam in their eyes," Kedar explained.
"This is not pro-Israel public relations," Dr. Kedar told Israel National News. "This is a battle for the Arab heart, which Israel is apparently losing because Israel gave up on the main tool which should have served it, which is an independent Israeli Zionist satellite channel in Arabic." Many Arabs, he said, would consider changing their views if such a channel were available.
Israeli jets are again bombing targets in the Gaza Strip. The air assualt is now into a third day. Warships have also been involved in the attacks, shelling the area around Gaza's port.
The death toll in Gaza has risen to 318. A UN agency says at least 51 of those victims were civilians.
Despite the onslaught, the Palestinian resistance continues. Rockets fired from Gaza have killed one person and injured seven in the city of Ashkelon.
Roza Ibragimova reports.
Palestinian families are wondering whether they will become the next target after four days of Israeli air raids on the Gaza Strip.
As Sherine Tadros reports, there are few places to hide, and civilian casualties continue to rise.
In the first episode of a special two-part film Rageh Omaar looks at why Islam has come to be described by some people as a "very American faith".
He traces its history in the US and talks to American Muslims about how their belief is compatible with the principles of American democracy.
A boat carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza has arrived in Lebanon after being turned back by the Israeli navy.
The Dignity set off from Cyprus on Monday carrying three tons of emergency and medical supplies.
Activists on board say it was rammed by an Israeli ship but the navy says it was an accident.
Mohammed Vall reports.
