Gaza = enemy entity
Israel's security cabinet has designated the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip as an "enemy entity", promising to limit imports into the Strip and reduce supplies of fuel and electricity. Hamas has equated the designation to a "declaration of war".
Visiting west Asia and meeting with Israeli officials, US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice has agreed with the decision to describe Gaza as a an "enemy entity", adding that Hamas is hostile to the United States as well as Israel.
Iran issue retaliation warning
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Sign up to receive toD's daily security briefings via email by clicking hereOfficials in Tehran claim that should Israel launch an attack on Iran, Iranian jets would be capable of striking back at Israeli targets. The warning comes after Israel's highly controversial raid on Syria earlier this month, which many analysts suspect was a "dry-run" for an eventual attack on Iran.
On toD, Europe risks irrelevance if it doesn't soften its approach to Iran.
Steven Clemons on Salon argues that it's unthinkable that the US will bomb Iran.
Parnaz Azima, an Iranian-American journalist prevented from leaving Iran for the last eight months on security-related charges, was finally allowed to leave on Monday. Iranian-American academic Haleh Esfandiari, who was locked in prison for four months, was released and allowed to leave the country several weeks ago.
The Iraqi disappeared
An Iraqi legal organisation has accused the country's government of concealing information on the many detainees in state custody. The Iraqi Lawyers' Association claims that at least 1,500 detainees are being held by the government without access to legal counsel or communication with their families.
William Greider at The Nation is encouraged by Baghdad's banning of the private security firm Blackwater, calling the episode an instance of the "puppet talking back".
The American Prospect wonders how long is "long-term" when it comes to the American presence in Iraq.
Crisis in Ogaden
A local NGO in the restive region of Ogaden in Ethiopia has accused the Ethiopian government of manipulating the recent visit of a United Nations fact-finding team. The Ogaden Human Rights Committee claimed that the government detained critics as investigators toured the region, and dressed local government officials as clan elders in interviews with UN officials. Ogaden has been the scene of a tough crackdown against ethnic Somali separatists, with both rebels and state officials accusing the other of terrorising the region.
Impressing Downing Street
The top two American military and political officials in Iraq, General David Petraeus and the ambassador Ryan Crocker, met with Gordon Brown today. Fresh from their presentations before Congress, Petraeus and Crocker sought to reassure British officials of progress in Iraq. Brown is known to be reluctant to maintain Britain's current role in Iraq.
