Concerns about Israel’s use of non-conventional and experimental weapons in the Gaza Strip are growing, with evasive comments from spokesmen and reluctance to allow independent journalists inside the tiny enclave only fueling speculation. The most prominent controversy is over the use of shells containing white phosphorus, which causes horrific burns when it comes into contact with skin. Jonathan Cook reports. Read more about Is Gaza a testing ground for experimental weapons? 

As Israel rejected the terms of the proposed United Nations ceasefire at the weekend, Israeli military analysts were speculating on the nature of the next stage of the attack on Gaza, or the “third phase” of the fighting as it is being referred to. Having struck thousands of targets from the air in the first phase, followed by a ground invasion that saw troops push into much of Gaza, a third phase would involve a significant expansion of these operations. Jonathan Cook analyzes. Read more about Blueprint for Gaza attack was long planned 

Criticism by international watchdog groups over the increasing death toll in Gaza mounted this week as the first legal actions inside Israel were launched accusing the army of intentionally harming the enclave’s civilian population. The petitions — over attacks on medical personnel and the shelling of United Nations schools in Gaza — follow statements by senior Israeli commanders that they have been using heavy firepower to protect soldiers during their advance on built-up areas. Read more about Criticism of Israel's war crimes mounts 

It is a gross misunderstanding of what is unfolding in Gaza to believe Israel’s motives are capricious. The politicians and generals have been preparing for this attack for many months, possibly years — a fact alone that suggests they have bigger objectives than commonly assumed. Israel seized this particular moment — with western politicians dozing through the holidays and a changeover of administrations in Washington — because it ensured the longest period to implement its plan without diplomatic interference. Jonathan Cook comments. Read more about Bombing to make the Gaza prison even more secure for Israel 

Israel’s deadly air campaign is paring down Hamas’s ability to function effectively as the ruler of Gaza. It is undermining Hamas’s political power bases. The lesson is not that Hamas can be destroyed militarily but that it that can be weakened domestically. Israel apparently hopes to persuade the Hamas leadership, as it did Arafat for a while, that its best interests are served by cooperating with Israel. The message is: forget about your popular mandate to resist the occupation and concentrate instead on remaining in power with our help. Jonathan Cook comments. Read more about The real goal of the slaughter in Gaza 

Of the three politicians who announced the military assault on Gaza to the world on Saturday, perhaps only the outgoing Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert has little to lose — or gain — from its outcome. Flanking the Israeli prime minister were two of the main contenders for his job: Tzipi Livni, the foreign minister and the new leader of Olmert’s centrist party, Kadima, and Ehud Barak, the defense minister and leader of the left-wing Labor Party. The attack on Gaza may make or break this pair’s political fortunes as they jostle for position against Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing party, Likud, before a general election little more than a month away. Jonathan Cook analyzes. Read more about Israeli electioneering with bombs 

Jewish peace groups have accused the Israeli police of fueling racism by canceling a “Jewish Pride” march by a far-right group that was to have taken place through one of the largest Arab towns in Israel. The police postponed the march, due last Monday, claiming they had evidence extremist residents of Umm al-Fahm in northern Israel would open fire on the marchers and police. Jonathan Cook reports. Read more about Arab town blamed for Jewish Pride march's cancellation 

Extremist settler groups currently involved in violent confrontations with Palestinians in the center of Hebron have chosen their next battleground, this time outside the West Bank. A far-right group know as the Jewish National Front, closely associated with the Hebron settlers, is preparing to march through one of the main Arab towns in northern Israel. Jonathan Cook reports from Nazareth. Read more about Hebron settlers take their fight into Israel 

A broad coalition of Jewish lobby groups has made a series of breakthroughs this year in its campaign to link the question of justice for millions of Palestinian refugees with justice for Jews who left Arab states in the wake of Israel’s establishment 60 years ago. Referring to these Jews as the “forgotten refugees” and claiming that their plight is worse than that of exiled Palestinians, the campaign has scored political successes in recent months in Washington, London and Brussels. Jonathan Cook reports. Read more about Jewish "refugee" lobby seeks to eclipse Palestinian losses