Civilians in Gaza and Israel Describe the Conflict | Newsweek International

MIDDLE EAST
Hamas and Its Discontents
Rod Nordland 1/20/2009 12:00:00 AM
It was 11:30 p.m. on Jan. 17, in a complex of apartment buildings at the Nuseirat refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, and Israel had just declared it would impose a unilateral ceasefire to begin at 2 a.m. The incessant sorties of Israeli jet bombers stopped almost immediately, but then suddenly there was a terrific whoosh, louder even than a bomb explosion. It was another of Hamas's homemade Qassam rockets being launched into Israel—and the mobile launchpad was smack in the middle of the four buildings, where every apartment was full, most of them with newly made refugees.
THE MIDEAST
Waiting For The Ceasefire
Rod Nordland 1/17/2009 12:00:00 AM
There is possibly nothing more unsettling than the sound of an F-16 overhead on its bombing run, when there are two or three seconds of a high whistling—hardly enough time to do anything but flop on the floor—followed by a massive explosion somewhere in this crowded refugee camp in Al Nuseirat, Gaza. It would later prove to not have been terribly close, but nonetheless the apartment tower shakes, windows rattle, teacups tinkle abruptly in the china cupboard. A look of animal-like panic suddenly distorts the chipmunk-cheeked face of 10-year-old Abdullah, who perhaps realizes, like so many other Gaza kids these past three weeks, that none of the adults in the room can do anything at all to protect him; they all look, at least momentarily, as scared as he does. He runs over to his father and sits close to him; his older brother, Hussein, 14, is already there. A few minutes later there's another whistle, another airstrike; half an hour later a third. Then a lull of a couple of hours, and late in the night a resumption; a dozen more at least before dawn.
What Makes Ahmadinejad Smile?
Fareed Zakaria 1/10/2009 12:00:00 AM
Explaining the size and scale of Israel's actions in Gaza, several prominent Israelis have argued that the real enemy they are taking on is not Hamas but Iran. The historian Michael Oren, who is currently serving as a press officer in the Israeli military, has argued along with Yossi Klein Halevi that "the operation against Hamas represents a unique chance to deal a strategic blow to Iranian expansionism." The logic is that Hamas is an Iranian client. Crush its military might and you will weaken Tehran and set back its agenda. But is that actually happening?
INTERVIEW
‘We Will Act Again’
Lally Weymouth 1/10/2009 12:00:00 AM
In spite of a U.N. ceasefire resolution passed late last week, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni was talking tough in an interview with NEWSWEEK's Lally Weymouth. She appeared confident that Israel had dealt a setback to Hamas, the Islamist group that governs the Gaza Strip and has been firing rockets into Israel. She warned that further provocations would be met with force. Excerpts:
MIDEAST
The Day After
Kevin Peraino 1/7/2009 12:00:00 AM
As Hamas fighters dig in against advancing Israeli troops in Gaza, the Islamists' security services are quietly working to prevent any uprising by forces loyal to moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Tens of thousands of security personnel belonging to Abbas's Fatah party still operate in the Gaza Strip, even after Hamas seized control of the strip in June 2007. The Fatah men collect their salaries, gather intelligence and occasionally organize protests in order tomaintain pressure onthe Islamists. While Abbas has condemned the Israeli assault as a "massacre," he has also accused Hamas of breaking its ceasefire with Israel by firing rockets across the Gaza border.
COVER STORY: MIDEAST
A Plan of Attack For Peace
Daniel Klaidman 1/3/2009 12:00:00 AM
In the remorseless logic of the Middle East, war is diplomacy by other means. This was true when Anwar Sadat launched a surprise attack on Israel in October 1973, a move that gave him the credibility and stature in the Arab world to make peace six years later with the Jewish state. It is also true today as Israel continues its assault on Hamas in Gaza, attacks that were prompted by Hamas missile strikes on Israel. The recent violence has reportedly cost more than 400 lives and left over 2,000 wounded; on Saturday, Israeli ground forces began moving in. Much of the outside world, not without justification, views the Gaza campaign as yet another atavistic explosion of Arab-Israeli violence that will, once again, set back the efforts for peace. But these strikes were not simply a reaction; they were a calculation.