GAZA, Oct 23 (Reuters) – The Emir of Qatar embraced the
Hamas leadership of Gaza on Tuesday with an official visit
breaking the isolation of the militant Palestinian Islamist
movement, to the dismay of Israel and rival, Western-backed
Palestinian leaders in the West Bank.

Israel said it was “astounding” that Qatar, a U.S.-allied
Gulf state whose oil and gas permit it to punch way above its
diplomatic weight, would take sides in the Palestinian dispute
and endorse Hamas, branded as terrorists in the West. The emir
had “thrown peace under the bus”, an Israeli spokesman said.

GAZA (Reuters) – The emir of pro-Western Qatar will become the first head of state to enter the blockaded Gaza Strip on Tuesday, in a high-profile visit breaking the isolation of the Iranian-backed Islamist movement Hamas that seized power in 2007.

Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani is officially visiting the Palestinian enclave to inaugurate reconstruction projects worth over $250 million, which an envoy of his oil-rich, conservative Arab emirate unveiled in Gaza last week.

GAZA (Reuters) – A restaurant run and staffed by deaf people opened for business in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, helped by Palestinians seeking to build a more inclusive society where people with disabilities can realise their full potential.

The stylish Atfaluna restaurant near Gaza port stands out in a city with few facilities for the disabled. Waiters and cooks use sign language, guests point to selections from the menu and what ensues is a spontaneous form of communication that organisers hope will break down bias and barriers.

GAZA, Oct 16 (Reuters) – Qatar on Tuesday launched a $254
million plan to rebuild and modernise Gaza, the biggest
injection of reconstruction aid for the Palestinian enclave
since it was devastated in an Israeli military offensive nearly
four years ago.

Projects announced at a news conference by Qatari ambassador
Mohammed Al-Amadi will require the cooperation of Israel and
Egypt to admit building materials and heavy machinery to Gaza,
which is under a partial blockade.

GAZA (Reuters) – Israel killed three Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, a day after two men identified as the most senior al Qaeda affiliates in the enclave died in an Israeli air strike as they rode a motorcycle.

In southern Gaza, a Palestinian gunman was killed and another wounded near the border with Egypt’s Sinai desert, hospital officials said. The Israeli military said the two, also targeted while on a motorcycle, had been planning to fire rockets into Israel.

Gaza (Reuters) – Two Gaza militants killed by Israel on Saturday were the most senior al Qaeda affiliates in the Palestinian enclave, and one had links to jihadi networks in Egypt, Jordan and Iraq, sources said on Sunday.

Hisham al-Saedni and Ashraf al-Sabah, who were killed by an air strike as they rode a motorcycle, were ultra-conservative Salafi Islamists.

Gaza (Reuters) – Two Gaza militants killed by Israel on Saturday were the most senior al Qaeda affiliates in the Palestinian enclave, and one had links to jihadi networks in Egypt, Jordan and Iraq, sources said on Sunday.

Hisham al-Saedni and Ashraf al-Sabah, who were killed by an air strike as they rode a motorcycle, were ultra-conservative Salafi Islamists.

GAZA (Reuters) – An Israeli air strike killed the Palestinian leader of an al Qaeda-affiliated group in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, Hamas and medical sources said.

Gaza Medics said a second militant was also killed in the strike. The after-dark attack targeted the two men who were riding a motorcycle in the northern town of Jabaliya.

GAZA (Reuters) – Palestinians freed from Israeli jails held their own version of the Barcelona-Real Madrid soccer match on Sunday to protest at the presence of a former captive Israeli soldier at the actual fixture.

The five-a-side kick-about in Gaza comprised mostly of Palestinian ex-prisoners that Israel swapped for Gilad Shalit. He was abducted by Gaza militants in a cross-border raid in 2006 and they held him for over five years.

GAZA (Reuters) – Officials of Gaza’s Islamist Hamas government turned up at a news conference by Human Rights Watch in Gaza on Wednesday to dispute an HRW report accusing Hamas of torture and other abuses of justice in the Palestinian enclave.

The surprise appearance by government representatives turned the news conference into an open debate, an uncommon display in the Gaza Strip where Hamas in the past would probably have remained aloof or prevented such a press event on its turf.