WAR IN CHRISTMAS

The death toll from a weekend of Israeli airstrikes on Gaza has topped 300, Palestinian medical sources said Monday as a third day of air raids hit the Hamas-ruled territory.
Another 650-plus people have been wounded in the strikes, the sources said. The U.N. Security Council has called for an immediate end to the airstrikes, which began Saturday. But Israel says its objective is to stop an ongoing stream of rockets fired by Hamas militants into southern Israel, and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told Cabinet ministers Sunday that the situation "is liable to continue for some time."

Hamas, the Islamic militant group that controls Gaza, pledges it will defend its land and people in the face of what it calls continued Israeli aggression. Each side blames the other for violating an Egyptian-brokered cease-fire, which formally expired Friday, December 19, but in reality had been weakening for months.

Israel has struck more than 300 Hamas targets since Saturday, its military said. The Israel Defense Forces said Monday that more than 150 rockets have been launched into Israeli territory from Gaza since the campaign began. One of those hit a home in southern Israel on Saturday, killing one man inside.

Palestinian security and medical sources said airstrikes hit the Jebaliya refugee camp in Gaza early Monday, and a home near Hamas leader Ismail Haniya's residence was hit overnight. Hamas security sources said that raid targeted the home of a senior leader in the group's military wing.

The Jebaliya raid left five children dead in a home that was damaged when a nearby mosque was targeted, said Dr. Mu'awiya Hassanein. The Israeli military had no immediate comment on that claim.

And a few minutes after midnight, an Israeli F-16 fired rockets into at least one building at the Islamic University of Gaza, a Gaza-based journalist at the scene -- whose name was withheld for security reasons -- told CNN. There were no immediate reports of casualties from that strike, which the IDF said targeted "a center for weapon research and development."

The Palestinian television station Ramattan showed firefighters trying to put out a fire at a building identified by the Palestinian network as part of the university, while others sifted through large piles of debris and rubble.

"There was a loud series of explosions ... the entire apartment I'm in was shaking," said Sami Abdel-Shafi, a Palestinian business consultant in Gaza City. "It was scary and a very disappointing position to be in for the 'nth' time."

An Israeli military statement said the targets of the raid were "buildings that were used as meeting places for senior leaders of Hamas."

"One of the structures struck housed explosives laboratories that were an inseparable part of Hamas' research and development program, as well as places that served as storage facilities for the organization," the IDF statement said. "The development of these weapons took place under the auspices of senior lecturers who are activists in Hamas. Among the weapons that have been developed and manufactured at this site are Qassam rockets."

There was no immediate response from Hamas to the IDF statement.

President-elect Barack Obama's transition team is choosing its words carefully in dealing with Israel's assault on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The deaths of hundreds of Palestinians in Israel's deadly air assault on the militant Islamic group will further complicate Obama's challenge to achieve a Middle East peace — something that eluded both the Bush and Clinton administrations. David Axelrod, senior adviser to Obama, said the president-elect would honor the "important bond" between the United States and Israel.

"He wants to be a constructive force in helping to bring about the peace and security that both the Israelis and the Palestinians want and deserve," Axelrod said Sunday on CBS' "Face the Nation." "Obviously, this situation has become even more complicated in the last couple of days and weeks. As Hamas began its shelling, Israel responded. But it's something that he's committed to."

Pressed about how much support Obama will offer Israel, Axelrod said: "He's going to work closely with the Israelis. They're a great ally of ours, the most important ally in the region. ... But he will do so in a way that will promote the cause of peace, and work closely with the Israelis and the Palestinians on that — toward that objective."


The Bush administration has blamed the renewed violence on the militant Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, saying it broke a cease-fire by firing rockets and mortars deep into Israeli territory. The Arab world, however, has reacted with rage to the aggressive Israeli counterattacks.

It's unclear whether Obama will be as supportive of Israel as President George W. Bush has been.

Jon Alterman, head of the Middle East program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, speculated that Israeli leaders synchronized their retaliatory attacks to political calendars in both Israel and the U.S. More moderate politicians running in the Feb. 10 national election needed to appear strong against Hamas, and it was perhaps better to strike before Bush left office on Jan. 20 because they weren't as sure about what Obama's reaction would be.



"I think Obama will be supportive of Israel, but will bring a little more skepticism to it," Alterman said. "I think Obama will start from premise that Israel is an ally, but that we have to look at this fresh."

Bush, who is staying at his Texas ranch, spoke on the phone with national security adviser Stephen Hadley to receive an update on the situation and was being kept abreast of developments throughout the day, said Gordon Johndroe, a presidential spokesman. He said Bush would receive an intelligence briefing via a secured video hookup at the ranch early Monday morning and would be briefed then on any overnight developments.


According to an aide on Obama's transition team, the president-elect, who is in Hawaii, continues to closely monitor global events, including the situation in Gaza. He had an intelligence briefing Sunday and plans to talk with his incoming national security adviser, Gen. James Jones, and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, his nominee for secretary of state.

The aide said Obama appreciates the information the Bush administration is sharing with him. The aide requested anonymity because the Obama team is refraining from comment, saying the U.S. has only one president at a time.

FLYING SHOES

The Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at U.S. President George W. Bush in a supreme insult has suddenly become the talk of Iraq. The little known Shi'ite reporter said to have harbored anger against Bush for the thousands of Iraqis who died after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, had previously made headlines only once, when he was briefly kidnapped by unknown gunmen in 2007. TV reporter Muntazer al-Zaidi remained in detention on Monday, accused by the Iraqi government of a "barbaric act."

His employer, independent al-Baghdadiya television, demanded his release and demonstrators rallied for him in Sadr City in Baghdad, the southern Shi'ite stronghold of Basra and the holy city of Najaf, where some threw shoes at a U.S. convoy. "Thanks be to God, Muntazer's act fills Iraqi hearts with pride," his brother, Udai al-Zaidi, told Reuters Television, demanding that the Iraqi government free him. "I'm sure many Iraqis want to do what Muntazer did. Muntazer used to say all the orphans whose father were killed are because of Bush."

Zaidi shouted "this is a goodbye kiss from the Iraqi people, dog," at Bush in a news conference the U.S. president held with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki during an unannounced farewell visit to Baghdad on Sunday. The journalist then flung one shoe at Bush, forcing him to duck, followed by another, which sailed over Bush's head and slammed into the wall behind him. Zaidi was dragged struggling and screaming from the room by security guards and could be heard shouting outside while the news conference continued after momentary mayhem.

The Iraqi government said Zaidi had carried out "a barbaric and ignominious act" that did not correspond to the role of the media. "He tried to attack the visiting president," the media center of the council of ministers said in a statement. "At the same time that we condemn this ignominious act, we call on the television channel of this reporter to deliver a public apology for this act which sullies the reputation of all Iraqi journalists and the whole media." Al-Baghdadiya television demanded Zaidi's immediate release, "in accordance with the democratic era and the freedom of expression that Iraqis were promised by U.S. authorities."

It said that any harsh measures taken against the reporter would be reminders of the "dictatorial era" that Washington said its forces invaded Iraq to end. Zaidi, now in his late 20s, spent more than two days blindfolded, barely eating and drinking, after armed men forced him into a car as he walked to work in November 2007. He said at the time that the kidnappers had beaten him until he lost consciousness, and used his necktie to blindfold him and bound his hands with his shoelaces. He never learned the identity of the kidnappers, who questioned him about his work but did not demand a ransom.

Colleagues of Zaidi say he resented President Bush, blaming him for the bloodshed that ravaged Iraq after the invasion. It did not appear that he had lost any close family members during the sectarian killings and insurgency, which in recent months have finally begun to wane. A small number of supporters of anti-American Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr called for his release in Basra, the southern city that controls Iraq's oil exports. Larger groups of Sadrists also protested in Baghdad's Sadr City and in the Shi'ite holy city of Najaf. In Najaf, witnesses said demonstrators threw shoes at a passing American convoy.

But the president's message on progress in the region was having trouble competing with the videotaped image of the angry Iraqi who hurled his shoes at Bush in a near-miss, shouting in Arabic, "This is your farewell kiss, you dog!" The reporter was later identified as Muntadar al-Zeidi, a correspondent for Al-Baghdadia television, an Iraqi-owned station based in Cairo, Egypt. In Iraqi culture, throwing shoes at someone is a sign of contempt. Iraqis whacked a statue of Saddam with their shoes after U.S. Marines toppled it to the ground following the 2003 invasion. Bush told reporters later that he didn't think "you can take one guy throwing shoes and say this represents a broad movement in Iraq. You can try to do that if you want but I don't think that would be accurate."


Reaction in Iraq was swift but mixed, with some condemning the act and others applauding it. Television news stations throughout Iraq repeatedly showed footage of the incident, and newspapers carried headline stories. In Baghdad's Shiite slum of Sadr City, supporters of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr called for protests against Bush and demanded the release of the reporter. Thousands took to the streets Monday, chanting, "Bush, Bush, listen well: Two shoes on your head." Talking to a small group of reporters after the incident, Bush said, "I didn't know what the guy said, but I saw his sole." He told the reporters that "you were more concerned than I was. I was watching your faces." "I'm pretty good at ducking, as most of you know," Bush joked, adding quickly that "I'm talking about ducking your questions."

On a more serious note, he said, "I mean, it was just a bizarre moment, but I've had other bizarre moments in the presidency. I remember when Hu Jintao was here. Remember? We had the big event? He's speaking, and all of a sudden I hear this noise — had no earthly idea what was taking place, but it was the Falun Gong woman screaming at the top of her lungs (near the ceremony on the White House lawn). It was kind of an odd moment." The Iraqi government condemned the act and demanded an on-air apology from Al-Baghdadia television, the Iraqi-owned station that employs Muntadar al-Zeidi. Several people descended on the man immediately after, wrestling him to the ground, and it took a minute for security agents to clear the crowd and start hauling him out. As they dragged him off, he was moaning and screaming as if in pain. Later, a large blood trail could be seen on the carpet where he was dragged out of the room.

He was taken into custody and reportedly was being held for questioning by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's guards and is being tested for alcohol and drugs. Other Arab journalists and commentators, fed up with U.S. policy in the Middle East and Bush's decision to invade Iraq in 2003 to topple Saddam, echoed al-Zeidi's sentiments. Abdel-Bari Atwan, editor of the London-based Al-Quds Al-Arabi, wrote on the newspaper's Web site that the incident was "a proper goodbye for a war criminal."

In Iraq, nearly 150,000 U.S. troops remain in Iraq, protecting the fragile democracy. More than 4,209 members of the U.S. military have died and $576 billion has been spent since the war began five years and nine months ago.

HOT GREECE

The funeral on Tuesday of Alexandros Grigoropoulos, a teenager shot dead by police was expected to provoke more riots in Greece following three days of the country's worst unrest in decades. The 15-year-old boy's killing on Saturday night has fanned public anger at unpopular economic policies and scandals as the global financial crisis reaches Greece.

Thousands of protesters burnt and looted shops in central Athens and tear gas choked Syntagma Square outside the parliament as police clashed with left-wing demonstrators. More than 50 people have been hurt and scores of shops, banks and cars damaged. Police arrested about 150 people.

Greece's conservative government. "Today's picture is unacceptable for the level of our democracy," Interior Minister Prokopis Pavlopoulos told after a government meeting. The government denied reports it was planning to declare a state of emergency but Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis was due to meet the president and party political leaders to discuss the crisis. Protests have erupted in more than 10 cities across the nation of 11 million people, including northern Thessaloniki and the tourist islands of Crete and Corfu. Greeks overseas protested in London and Berlin.


Five men have been arrested in Britain. The Metropolitan Police said the men were being held in custody for a variety of public order offences. They were detained after taking part in a 40-strong protest outside the Greek Embassy in Holland Park, west London. The London protest began at 10am and had dispersed by 3pm, a Met spokesman said. He could not confirm the nationality of those arrested and he said nobody was thought to be injured.


On Monday night, rioting youths took control of central Athens and set fire to the huge Christmas tree. More than 130 shops have already been destroyed in the capital, dashing retailers' hopes that Christmas would compensate for Greece's darkening economic outlook. The shooting of Grigoropoulos kindled smouldering anger among Greek youths, resentful at a widening gap between rich and poor.



Two police officers have been charged over the shooting, one with murder and the other as an accomplice. Police said one officer fired three shots after their car was attacked by 30 youths The officer described firing warning shots but witnesses have said he took aim at the boy. A coroner's report on Monday said it was not possible to be sure.

NOT SO SWEET HOME

Israeli soldiers and police stormed a disputed building in the biblical city of Hebron, dragging out 250 young settlers in a raid meant to send a warning to Jewish extremists fighting to keep what they see as God-promised land. But activists responded with a wave of attacks on Israeli forces and Palestinians, even as Israeli politicians and some settler leaders denounced them.


This city of 170,000 Palestinians, with about 600 of the most extreme Jewish settlers living among them in small enclaves, is the traditional burial site of Abraham, the patriarch of both Jews and Muslims, and has been a focal point of Israeli-Arab violence for decades. Extremist settlers say they want to expel all Palestinians from the city and have sought to expand their footholds here as part of a militant campaign to pressure Israel to hold on to all of the West Bank.


Settlers moved in to the four-story building in March 2007 claiming they bought it from a Palestinian. The man denied selling it, and Israeli authorities did not recognize the sale as legal. Israel's Supreme Court ordered the house vacated last month, but settlers refused. In the surprise raid, some 600 soldiers and officers police rushed into the house and quickly began dragging out people one by one, their hands and legs held by teams of two or four officers. Settlers, including young girls, punched and hit soldiers. Security officers in full riot gear fired stun grenades and tear gas.


Extremists tried to force their way back inside, but soldiers, who cleared the structure in just 20 minutes, formed a human chain to keep them out. After losing the battle, the settlers rioted, setting fires near at least three Palestinian houses and burning nine cars. Palestinians cowered in their homes as settlers pelted the buildings with rocks. Jewish children went on a rampage breaking windows, while Palestinians on rooftops threw stones at settlers and Israeli security forces below.


About 35 settlers and soldiers were reported injured during the eviction, none of them seriously. Palestinian hospital officials said 17 Palestinians were wounded, including five by bullets. The Israeli rights group B'Tselem released video that appeared to show a settler shooting a Palestinian in the stomach at point-blank range, and Palestinians pelting the settler with rocks. In other parts of the West Bank, settlers threw rocks at Palestinian vehicles and burned an olive grove. The Palestinian governor in the Nablus region, Jamal Moheisen, warned that if Israeli forces did not bring the settlers under control, "we will call on the Palestinian residents to go out to the streets and fight back."


In a statement, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert warned that "violent elements" who attack Palestinians will "face a quick, stern response from security forces." After nightfall, settlers were still scuffling with Israeli forces and Palestinians. The raid on the building that settlers named the "House of Peace" was the first major West Bank eviction since a 2006 confrontation that injured dozens, but the violent reaction of extremist settlers suggested it might not be the last. Settlers have built more than 100 unauthorized outposts on West Bank, but despite promises to the U.S. that they would be removed, Israel's government has failed to take them down, instead building roads and providing services for some of them.


Though the government sought to intimidate extremists with the swift assault in Hebron, further defiance is likely to be the response from militant settlers. They believe God gave the West Bank to the Jews and no one has the right to take it away. About 275,000 Jewish settlers live among 1.8 million Palestinians in the West Bank. Israel wants to hold on to major blocs of West Bank settlements in a land-for-peace deal with Palestinians, offering to trade Israeli territory for about 10 percent of the West Bank.


Hebron is a crucible of the most extreme religion-driven settlers, and the only place with settlers and Palestinians in the same city. Clashes are frequent. Many of the most violent young Jews came to Hebron from other parts of the West Bank, including their leader, Daniella Weiss, a firebrand from the territory's north. Weiss has led shrill opposition to efforts to rein in the most aggressive settlers, backing their creation of the unauthorized settlements to try to prevent an Israeli pullback and creation of a Palestinian state.


Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said he ordered the army to evict the settlers after all attempts to persuade them to leave peacefully failed. Barak met with settler leaders earlier in the day, but they failed to reach an agreement. Some settler leaders reacted angrily to the raid. "This could have been done peacefully and legally. Instead Barak chose violence," said Danny Dayan, leader of the Settlers Council. "This surprised us completely."

HE WINS, BUT.......

Opposition gains ground in Venezuela elections. Venezuela's growing opposition and President Hugo Chavez's left-wing party shared the spoils from weekend elections, jostling for political advantage in the oil-producing nation on Monday. The multi-party opposition eroded Chavez's dominance of regional politics, winning six top posts that govern almost half of the population, although his Socialist Party took 17 state races -- a clear majority.The results may complicate Chavez's plan to change the law to run for re-election in 2012. The opposition beat that move in a referendum last year and gained further ground on Sunday.

Chavez said his party may promote reforms next year that would be put to a new referendum to change the constitution and allow him to stand for the presidency again. "If a significant number of Venezuelans think that is appropriate, well, then, that is up to them," said Chavez, who came to power in 1999 and has vowed to rule for decades. On Sunday, the opposition held onto the two states it won at the last regional elections four years ago, picked up three more and won the powerful mayoralty of the capital Caracas.

Opposition candidates were helped by widespread voter complaints Chavez has failed to control the high murder rate and Latin America's highest inflation. The overall mixed results triggered a public relations battle as each side fought to seize the momentum after an election where a high 65 percent of voters cast ballots. The outcome of the post-election tussle could determine whether Chavez has the backing to realise his re-election goal or follow through on threats to spread his nationalizations program by seizing assets from landowners or food companies. But still popular for spending freely on the majority poor, the man who calls former Cuban President Fidel Castro his mentor vowed to accelerate his drive towards socialism despite plummeting income from Venezuela's main export, oil.

Chavez, who campaigned frenetically saying his political future was at risk, claimed victory. It was "madness" to call the opposition the overall winner due to its gains, he said. "We dealt them another defeat, and a big one," he said. His party said the political map was still painted the red of Chavez's self-styled revolution and that his allies tallied about 1.5 million more votes overall than the opposition. Chavez said his party won 80 percent of the mayoralties.

But emboldened by its second electoral advance in 12 months, the opposition also celebrated that it now governs over Venezuela's most populous areas in a coastal "electoral corridor" that is often key to winning Venezuelan elections. The opposition's wins in major urban centres enhance its visibility and build up its credibility that it can meet voters' demands for better services such as trash collection. Leopoldo Lopez, a young opposition star who the government blocked from standing with legal technicalities, said the election showed Venezuelan politics had finally shifted after years of Chavez's dominance. "We need to build an alternative for a different Venezuela that brings people together in the centre," he said.

But Chavez, a former paratrooper who sought to polarize the election by threatening during the campaign to cut off funds -- or even deploy tanks -- in areas where "oligarchs" won, immediately went on the offensive on Monday. He warned he would keep his eye on one opposition governor, Enrique Capriles of Miranda state, recalling a legal case accusing him of supporting a failed coup against Chavez in 2002. The president, who shut an opposition TV station last year, demanded "severe sanction" against another channel for saying his candidate had lost in one race before it was official.

IT WAS NOT A DREAM AFTER ALL