Foreign Press Association blasts Hamas for threatening journalists. Jerusalem Post, Lahov Harkov, August 11, 2014

(It’s a good first step. If Hamas ceases threatening journalists, how many will begin to cover Hamas’ use of human shields;  how many have sufficiently strong ideological preferences for Hamas to prevent them from doing so?– DM)

Hamas has threatened to punish journalists who record Hamas firing rockets.

NDTV report of Palestinians assembling rockets in Gaza. Photo: YOUTUBE SCREENSHOT

Hamas is using threats and pressure to prevent journalists from providing objective reports, the Foreign Press Association in Israel and Palestine said in a statement Monday.

The organization said it “protests in the strongest the blatant, incessant, forceful and unorthodox methods employed by the Hamas authorities and their representatives against visiting international journalists in Gaza over the past month.”

“The international media are not advocacy organizations and cannot be prevented from reporting by means of threats or pressure, thereby denying their readers and viewers an objective picture from the ground,” the FPA added. According to the FPA, several members of the foreign media in Gaza were harassed, threatened or questioned about stories they reported.

In addition, the FPA vehemently opposes “a ‘vetting’ procedure that would, in effect, allow for the blacklisting of specific journalists,” which Hamas is trying to put into place.

On Sunday, Paul T. Jørgensen of Norway’s TV2 reported that “several foreign journalists have been kicked out of Gaza because Hamas does not like what they wrote or said.

“We have received strict orders that if we record that Hamas fires rockets or that they shoot, we will face serious problems and be expelled from Gaza,” Jørgensen added.

Also Sunday, Hamas said it will require foreign journalists covering Gaza to provide information about Palestinian translators and fixers, as well as the address where they are staying.

Egypt to put Morsi on trial for allegedly conspiring with Hamas, Hezbollah | Al Jazeera America.

Morsi is also accused of revealing state secrets to the groups and to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard
December 18, 2013 10:41AM ET

Mohammed Morsi, Egypt’s toppled president, faces charges which refer to incidents as far back as 2005, and carry the death penalty.Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters

Egypt’s top prosecutor referred toppled President Mohammed Morsi to trial Wednesday for conspiring with the Palestinian group Hamas, Lebanon’s Hezbollah and others to carry out a campaign of violence in the Sinai Peninsula and beyond to destabilize the country following his ouster.

Prosecutors claim that while president, Morsi and his aides revealed state secrets to the groups and to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. Morsi and 35 others, including the Muslim Brotherhood’s top three leaders, are also accused of carrying out combat training and other acts to undermine Egypt’s stability.

The charges, which refer to incidents as far back as 2005, carry the death penalty.

Mohammed el-Damaty, a defense lawyer for Muslim Brotherhood members, said the lawyers have not attended any of their clients’ interrogations and have no idea about details of the charges.

No trial date has been set in the new case. Morsi is already on trial on charges of inciting the murder of his opponents while in office. Morsi was removed from office in July by the military, following days of mass protests demanding he step down. Morsi spent months in an undisclosed location before he appeared in court to face the incitement charges in November. That trial resumes in January.

In a statement Wednesday, prosecutors said their new investigation showed that the Brotherhood’s international branch had carried out violent acts in Egypt to create chaos. Prosecutors said the Brotherhood prepared a plot that involved smuggling weapons into the country and smuggling their own members into the Gaza Strip to receive military training from Hezbollah and Iran’s Revolutionary Guard to carry out operations in the Sinai.

Prosecutors also said their investigation showed the Brotherhood received funds from foreign countries. Investigators said the plan began as earlier as 2005 and went into effect in 2011 during the turmoil that accompanied the uprising against former President Hosni Mubarak.

Morsi’s senior presidential aides, also members of the Brotherhood, revealed state secrets by emails to group members abroad, as well as to Hamas, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and Hezbollah, prosecutors say. They said Morsi was aware of the leaks.

Morsi is already under investigation over allegations he and the Brotherhood worked with the Palestinian militant group Hamas on a prison break that freed him and other members of the group during Egypt’s 2011 uprising. That attack killed 14 inmates.

At least 17 of the 35 people charged Wednesday with Morsi are on the run, prosecutors said.

The Associated Press

Turkish aid group steps up preparations to launch ‘Freedom Flotilla II’ for Gaza, Jerusalem Post, August 11, 2014

(Please see also We Con the World. — DM

The same organization that launched the ‘Mavi Marmara’ in 2010 says it will make second attempt to break Israeli blockade on the Strip.

Mavi Marmara, 2010 Photo: REUTERS

ISTANBUL – A Turkish aid group said on Monday it would send ships again to challenge the Israeli blockade of Gaza, four years after Israeli commandos stormed its flotilla bound for the Palestinian territory and killed 10 people.

The incident wrecked diplomatic ties between Turkey and Israel, once close Middle East allies but whose relationship had been tense since late 2008 over a previous Israeli military operation against Islamist militants dominating Gaza.

The Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH) said in an e-mailed statement that members of a “coalition” of pro-Palestinian activists from 12 countries had met in Istanbul at the weekend and decided to launch a convoy “in the shadow of the latest Israeli aggression on Gaza,” referring to the latest, month-long war. Fighting has abated under a 72-hour ceasefire deal.

“The Freedom Flotilla Coalition affirmed that, as most governments are complicit, the responsibility falls on civil society to challenge the Israeli blockade on Gaza,” it said.

An IHH spokeswoman did not elaborate. The group will hold a news conference on Tuesday, she said.

However, in a previous statement, the organization claimed that the Turkish navy would provide protection for the ship.

Nine Turks died in May 2010 in international waters after Israeli soldiers raided their vessel, the Mavi Marmara, leading a flotilla to break Israel’s seven-year blockade of Gaza. A 10th Turkish activist died in May from wounds suffered in the attack.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, who on Sunday was elected president, has been among the most vocal critics of Israel’s conflict with the Islamist Hamas movement that rules the Gaza Strip.

Hamas said to have executed dozens of tunnel diggers
By Marissa Newman August 11, 2014, 11:31 am Via The Times of Israel

(Imagine what they would do to us if they had the chance.-LS)

Any excavator who was suspected of collaborating with Israel was killed, Israeli website report

Hamas executed dozens of diggers responsible for its extensive tunnel system in past weeks, fearing the workers would reveal the site locations to Israel, a report on the Mako website’s army blog said.

The tunnelers, many of whom constructed the tunnels over the course of months, would dig for 8-12 hours a day, and received a monthly wage of $150-$300, according to the blog.

Sources in Gaza told the website that Hamas took a series of precautions to prevent information from reaching Israel. The terror organization would reportedly blindfold the excavators en route to the sites and back, to prevent them from recognizing the locations. The tunnels were strictly supervised by Hamas members, and civilians were kept far from the sites.

M., a former tunnel digger and Israeli collaborator, told the website that Hamas would strip search the workers to ensure they had no recording devices or cameras hidden on them.

“The people we met had their faces covered; no one knew them by their real names, it was all codes and first names. They didn’t want to take the risk that some of the diggers were collaborating with Israel,” he said.

A tunnel, within a civilian home, found by Golani soldiers in the northern Gaza Strip (photo credit: IDF Spokesperson’s Unit/ Flash 90)
A tunnel entrance, within a civilian home, found by Golani soldiers in the northern Gaza Strip (photo credit: IDF Spokesperson’s Unit/ Flash 90)

After the tunnels were completed, dozens were reportedly executed to prevent intelligence leaks to Israel.

“Anyone they suspected might transfer information to Israel on the tunnels was killed by the military wing,” a different source said. “They were very cruel.”

In 2012, a Journal of Palestine Studies article claimed 160 Palestinian children were killed while working on Hamas’s tunnel system.

The digging of tunnels began four years ago and has demanded 40 percent of Hamas’s budget, The Times of Israel has learned.

Tunnel diggers have been using electric or pneumatic jackhammers, advancing 4-5 meters a day. The tunnels found were reportedly mostly dug 18-25 meters (60-82 feet) underground, though one was discovered at a depth of 35 meters (115 feet). “That’s like a 10-story building underground,” one expert said.

Digging requires engineering and geological expertise, with tunnels usually dug through sandy soil, their roof supported by a more durable level of clay. As they are dug, the tunnels are reinforced by concrete panels, manufactured locally in workshops adjacent to each tunnel. These workshops have also been targeted by the IDF throughout its military operation.

Elhanan Miller contributed to this report.

ISIS In The U.S. – ‘Under-Estimator-In-Chief’ – Fournier: POTUS Wrong On ISIS, Libya, Putin – F&F, You Tube, August 11, 2014