According to the Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran radio, Nov. 4, the supreme Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamene'i appeared to distance himself from the statement of hardline Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinezhad that Israel should be "wiped off the map." Khamenei said: "neither throwing Jews into the sea nor setting the Palestinian territory on fire is in accordance with our Islamic principles."

Israel is continuing its collective punishment of the Gaza Strip with sonic booms from low-flying aircraft. Now that there are no longer settlers living in Gaza, this tactic is being used to pressure militants who fire mortars at Israel. The Israeli Air Force (IAF) started using sonic booms on Sept. 23.

Palestinians hit by sonic boom air raids: UN condemns night noise attacks as indiscriminate
Agencies say they cause trauma and miscarriages

From the Israeli settler news service, Arutz Sheva:

Dichter: Military Action Might Be Necessary to Block Iran Nukes
Sunday, October 30, 2005 / 27 Tishrei 5766

(IsraelNN.com) The former head of the Shin Bet security service told a Los Angeles conference on Sunday that the U.S. might have to attack Iran to prevent further nuclear development.

Avi Dichter told the pro-Israel AIPAC conference attendees that he does not believe Iran will end its nuclear development programs without considerable pressure from the U.S. and other Western nations.

For years, apologists for Israeli policy in the occupied territories, such as CAMERA, have claimed the system of "Jewish-only" roads did not exist, since they are intermittently open to Palestinian traffic. The system has been de facto and not de jure. According to the Israeli paper Ma'ariv, that may be about to change and become official Israeli policy, with a set of little-travelled Jewish-only superhighways scarring the West Bank, whilst Palestinians are consigned to use a system of smaller roundabout roads.

Plia Albeck, legal advisor to the Israeli government and known as the "mother of settlements," died Sept. 27 at age 68, according to the Oct. 7 edition of New York's weekly Jewish Press. In 24 years as head of the Civil Department of the State Prosecutor's Office, Albeck, an ultra-orthodox Jew, used her expertise to outline the legal framework under which Israel would seize land to build its settlements in the occupied West Bank. Under this framework, 1.5 million dunams, or approximately 370 acres—26% of the West Bank—was declared "state land," in order to be exploited for building Jewish settlements. Albek signed the documents that determined if privately held Palestinian land could be taken over by the Israeli government.

From Israel's largest newspaper, Yediot Aharanot. A year ago, several high school students in an upscale section of Tel Aviv chained themselves to the gate of their school to keep out an army recruiter. As one of their number, Uri Nathan, 18, prepared to enter the induction center to refuse to serve, his friends staged this provocative protest:

From Electronic Intifada, Palestinian psychiatrist Dr. Eyad El-Sarraj describes the effect of sonic booms from Israeli war planes on Gaza:

28 September 2005 -- During the last few days, Gaza was awakened from its dreams of liberation with horrible explosions which have shattered our skies, shaken our buildings, broken our windows, and threw the place into panic.

We have been bombed since Friday 23 September, day and night. Usually between 2:00-4:00am, between 6:30 - 8:00 in the morning during the time children go to school, and in the afternoon or early evening.

Surrounded by an uncertain climate following recent bombings and the assassination of Prime Minister Rafik Harriri, the Palestinian refugee community in Lebanon is feeling the pinch:

Pro-Syrian Palestinian group puts refugee camps on alert

29 September 2005
Daily Star

Beirut -- BEIRUT, Lebanon: In an unprecedented move, the leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, based in Syria, Ahmad Jibril instructed all PFLP-GC officials in refugee camps in Lebanon to be on full alert and be ready for mobilization at any moment.

According to Lebanese security sources, Jibril said this measure was due to the fact that Lebanese authorities took security measures along the road extending from Yanta in the western Bekaa to the Baalbek-Homs road where they set up checkpoints at more than 25 illegal entry points along the border.