It looks like despite continued mortar fire, Israel is opening up its border with Gaza, which should at least allow some humanitarian aid to cross into the area.  It also comes during a time when Hamas, despite the continued shelling of Israel, blames the Israeli government for delays in talks over the release of Gilad Shalit.

The BBC reports:

GAZA, July 8 (UPI) — Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak Tuesday reopened border crossings between Israel and Gaza after earlier mortar fire prompted their closings.The Jerusalem Post, without naming sources, reported Barak made the decision to allow the movement of goods and humanitarian aid into Gaza at the urging of Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, who reportedly told Barak that reopening the crossings would help in negotiations with Palestinian militants Hamas, who control Gaza.

Of course, this may or may not end the hue and cry over “collective punishment.”  Perhaps Egypt should also do something about opening its borders with Gaza….

Israel and Hamas are meeting to secure the release of kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. A Hamas delegation was set to arrive in Cairo Tuesday to discuss Shalit as well as the option of reopening another crossing, the Post said.

“There are several small offshoots (of the major terror groups) in Gaza trying to disrupt the truce, but we have one address, and that is Hamas,” an unnamed Israeli security official told the newspaper. “We know Hamas has dispatched forces to track down these renegade cells, but (the group) is not (doing) enough.”

The question now is whether or not Gilad Shalit is even alive, or if Israel will move to trade more living terrorists for the body of a brave Israeil soldier.

The irony that I see in all of this is that Hamas is moving closer and closer toward actually being a government.  That they should have to “track down these renegade cells” is awfully reminiscent of the PLO as it moved away from overt terrorism and into the political sphere.  Of course, the reaction to this shift was the rise of Hamas.  Now that Hamas, too, may be moving toward pseudo-legitimacy, the cynic in me is simply waiting for the next major terror organization to rise up and fill those empty shoes.

This may be the cyclical sort of problem Israel will face when negotiating peace with terror groups.  By the time they are actually willing to negotiate peace, they’re no longer the ones who are making war.  A new group has risen, and a new negotiation period has to resume.  Imagine the IRA had made peace with the UK, and a new Irish terror group had taken its place…

Well, as per usual, the internet is buzzing with information, news, a wide variety of topics.  I’ve taken it upon me to find just a few of the most interesting, riveting, and thought-provoking bits.

CNN reported on the arrest of over 500 people allegedly linked to al Qaeda.  Liberals in America will be pleased to hear they won’t be going to Gitmo to suffer the atrocities of the American military prison system, but will instead be comfortably housed in Saudi prisons, where undboubtedly they will be treated with good, old-fashioned Wahhabi hospitality.

In a written statement, the ministry said the cell’s leader was found with a letter from al Qaeda’s second in command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, “urging him to raise funds and that [al-Zawahiri] will provide him with the personnel, whom they called the mujahedeen.”

(more…)

CNN today reported that high-level Hamas officials are stating that an imminent cease-fire with Israel is in the works, and could happen within three days.

Now, I’m torn on this.  First of all, we all know that Hamas can use open-roads, and a cease-fire, simply to rearm and regroup forces.  Then again, any move toward peace is a welcom one–if it really is a move toward peace.

Maybe if things with Syria were going better, this news might, just might, be a little more welcome, hopeful, promising.  Olmert, however, has been weakened by scandal, and it seems unlikely that anything done under his ministership will have any lasting value.

Egyptian sources have confirmed that the peace deal is to go into effect Thursday. (more…)