January 19, 2010:
Lebanese media are reporting Israeli troops and aircraft unusually active on the border, with some Israeli vehicles seen crossing the border. Meanwhile, Israeli and American intelligence are warning Fatah officials in the West Bank to stay away from Gaza. Hamas is continuing its effort to dismantle Fatah power in Gaza, and more radical Hamas factions will imprison or kill any Fatah leaders they can get to.
Diplomatic relations with Turkey continue to get worse, as Turkish mass media run more programming demonizing Israel (showing Israelis as baby killers and generally inhuman and worthy of some kind of final solution.) The Islamic conservative government in Turkey is behind this, allowing Turkish Islamic conservatives to say whatever they want about Israel, and buying into the Arab "Israel Must Be Destroyed" attitude.
Hamas is being pressured by Egypt to reconcile with Fatah. To that end, Egypt is taking more aggressive action against Hamas smuggling tunnels, and smuggling in general. But Hamas believes that they can crush Fatah in Gaza, and undermine their rival in the West Bank as well. Hamas believes that Egypt should just open their border for Hamas, and is pressuring Egypt to do just that. But the Egyptians see Hamas as just another self-righteous bunch of religious fanatics out to conquer the world. Egypt doesn't trust Hamas, and the two are far from any kind of agreement.
Israel has begun work on a new electronic fence, along 250 kilometers of border with Egypt. This will be used to keep out illegal migrants, mainly, but also smugglers and terrorists. The barrier will cost about $6 million per kilometer.
January 18, 2010: Police raided a Jewish settlement in the West Bank and arrested nine Jewish radicals for attacking a mosque recently.
January 15, 2010: A mortar shell was fired from Gaza into Israel, but caused no damage or injuries.
January 14, 2010: In Jordan, a roadside bomb exploded near two cars carrying Israeli diplomats. No one was hurt, and Jordanian police began looking to find out who did it (al Qaeda and Hezbollah are the two most likely suspects.)
January 12, 2010: In Gaza, a Palestinian terrorist died when explosives he was handling went off. The Israeli campaign against terrorist leadership and technical specialists has made accidents a lot more common.
January 11, 2010: An Israeli tank fired into Gaza, and killed two Palestinian terrorists who were preparing to fire rockets into Israel.
January 10, 2010: In Gaza, an Israeli missile killed three Palestinian terrorists who were firing rockets into Israel.
January 8, 2010: In Gaza, Palestinian terrorists fired three rockets into Israel. In response, Israeli air strikes hit seven targets in Gaza, including several smuggling tunnels.
