GAZA (Reuters) – Israeli aircraft struck militant outposts in Gaza and Palestinians fired rockets back Friday following deadly gun attacks along the desert border with Egypt that have raised tensions between Israel and the new rulers in Cairo.

Egypt formally protested and demanded Israel investigate the deaths of three of its security men, who, it said, where killed when Israeli forces hunted for the gunmen behind Thursday’s attacks. In all, more than 20 people have been killed.

GAZA (Reuters) – Israeli aircraft struck militant outposts in Gaza and Palestinians fired more than a dozen rockets into southern Israel on Friday as violence escalated following deadly gun attacks along Israel’s desert border with Egypt.

Tensions between Israel and Egypt also grew, with Cairo issuing a formal protest over the death of three of its security guards, who, it said, where killed when Israeli forces hunted for the gunmen behind Thursday’s roadside ambushes.

GAZA (Reuters) – Syria’s crackdown on government opponents has deeply embarrassed the Palestinian group Hamas, which is anxious not to anger its backers in Damascus while at the same time hoping not to alienate its supporters at home.

President Bashar al-Assad’s five-month purge of protesters has gathered pace since the start of August, causing thousands of Palestinians to flee a refugee camp in the city of Latakia this week as Syrian security forces attacked the area.

GAZA (Reuters) – The United States has suspended operations of the aid organizations it funds in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip because the Islamist group had demanded confidential information about their work, a U.S. official told Reuters on Friday.

“USAID-funded partner organizations operating in Gaza are forced by Hamas’s actions to suspend their assistance work. (They) were put on hold effective August 12,” said the official, who is based in the region.

GAZA (Reuters) – - “Cinema in Gaza is like writing on rocks with your fingers,” says Palestinian writer-director Sweilem Al-Absi.

It’s not just the dearth of funds, equipment and studio facilities that prompts such laments from film-makers in the Gaza Strip. Four years into Islamist Hamas rule, cultural censors are fraying the already threadbare local movie industry.

GAZA (Reuters) – Most safe-houses in the Gaza Strip are meant to provide protection for armed militants on Israel’s target list. Now Gaza is offering protected shelter to battered Palestinian women.

Its lone women’s safe-house, opened two months ago, has had eight clients, all guarded by police from the Islamist Hamas movement that runs the enclave and enforces a conservative though not radical Muslim religious code.

GAZA (Reuters) – A French yacht carrying pro-Palestinian activists sailed for the Gaza Strip Monday after other ships in a flotilla that had planned to challenge Israel’s blockade were grounded in Greece, organizers said.

They said the 17-passenger “Dignite-AlKarama,” having declared an Egyptian port as its official destination, left Greek waters Sunday and was on course to reach the Palestinian enclave by Tuesday.

GAZA (Reuters) – If pro-Palestinian activists unexpectedly manage to slip past Israel’s naval blockade on the Gaza Strip in the coming days, they might be surprised by what they see in the Hamas-controlled enclave when they disembark.

Roads are being paved, houses are being built, new cars have taken to the busy streets and shops are full of myriad products. Even the longtime scourge of unemployment is easing marginally, boosting living standards for a lucky few.

GAZA (Reuters) – Two months after announcing a surprise reconciliation deal to end years of feuding, rival Palestinian groups Hamas and Fatah remain at loggerheads, unable to implement even the easiest parts of their accord.

A senior Hamas official blamed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday for the deadlock, accusing him of being inflexible over who should head the planned unity government.

GAZA (Reuters) – Differences sharpened on Sunday over implementing a Palestinian reconciliation deal after the Fatah movement nominated Salam Fayyad to head a unity government and the Hamas Islamist group rejected him.

“It is certain that we will not accept Fayyad, neither as a prime minister of the unity government nor as a minister in it,” senior Hamas official Salah al-Bardaweel said, two days before scheduled talks with Fatah in Cairo on cabinet staffing.