Q&A: "There Are No Negotiations Between Syria and Israel"

"There are no negotiations between Syria and Israel in Istanbul - what is happening is an indirect exchange of messages via Turkey, to explore ways towards a possible negotiation," Syrian Information Minister Mohsen Bilal told IPS.

MIDEAST: Palestinian Village Takes On Israeli Military

Ambulances were again prevented Monday from entering the central West Bank village of Ni'ilin, near Ramallah, to evacuate the ill and the wounded. Supplies of medicines were running low, as confrontations continued with youths defying a four-day-old curfew imposed by the Israeli military.

LEBANON: Conflict Finds a Creative Side

Can beauty arise from conflict? When looking at the art scene in the Middle East, where a fault line of political instability stretches from Lebanon, Syria and Israel to Iraq and Iran, the answer seems to be a resounding 'yes'.

MIDEAST: Gaza Locked In Despite Truce

Despite a torrent of mutual recriminations, the fragile truce between Israel and Palestinian resistance faction Hamas survived into its third week. Israel, however, has been slow to fulfil its pledge - as laid down in an Egypt-brokered ceasefire agreement - to allow desperately-needed humanitarian supplies into the outdoor prison that is the Gaza Strip.

MIDEAST: When You Shoot the Messenger

The assault of IPS Gaza correspondent Mohammed Omer has left Israeli security personnel with a lot of explaining to do. And they are not doing a very good job of it.

LEBANON: Civil Wars Find New Fronts

An eerie calm reigns over the new demarcation lines drawn in northern Tripoli, the second largest city in Lebanon, which gets its name from the Greek 'tri-polis', or 'three cities'. One week after violent combat erupted between the Alawite minority from the Jabal Mohsen area and the Sunni community of Bab el-Tebbaneh - separated by the wide Syria Street - tensions still run high.

RIGHTS-US: Critics See Vendetta in Al-Arian’s Legal Limbo

Palestinian activist and former university professor Sami Al-Arian was arraigned Monday in U.S. federal court on two counts of criminal contempt for his refusal to testify in a grand jury investigation of a Northern Virginia Muslim think-tank.

ISRAEL: Silicon Wadi Shows the Way

Alex Argov is now onto his fifth high-tech company. A serial entrepreneur, Argov's latest product is an Internet-based telephone that scrambles messages, making it almost impossible to eavesdrop on a conversation.

MIDEAST: Sewage in Water Threatens Gazans

Gaza is being forced to pump 77 tonnes of untreated or partially treated sewage out to sea daily due to the Israeli blockade of the coastal territory. The fear is that some of this is creeping back into drinking water.

POLITICS: Poll Backs Greater U.N. Role in Mideast Peace

A majority of global publics say their governments should "not take either side" in the Israeli- Palestinian conflict, instead supporting a call for the United Nations to play a greater role in regional peace, according to a new international poll of 18 countries released here Tuesday.

MIDEAST: Israel Ponders the Price of Prisoners

An impending prisoner swap between Israel and Hezbollah has ignited a debate over the price Israel should be prepared to pay to get back soldiers who have fallen into captivity, and what this says about the country's moral fibre.

EGYPT: Muslim Brotherhood ‘Stronger’ After Party Election

Recent internal elections within the Muslim Brotherhood opposition movement were trumpeted in the local press as a victory for the group's "conservative" faction over its "reformist" rivals. But according to independent commentators and a Brotherhood spokesman, media claims of a split within the movement's ranks are unfounded.

MIDEAST: Israelis Assault Award Winning IPS Journalist

Mohammed Omer, the Gaza correspondent of IPS, and joint winner of the 2008 Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism, was strip-searched at gunpoint, assaulted and abused by Israeli security officials at the Allenby border crossing between Jordan and the West Bank on Thursday as he tried to return home to Gaza.

MIDEAST: Olmert Survives Again, For Now

Embattled Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert won yet another reprieve this week, just hours before the parliament was set to vote to dissolve itself in a move that would almost certainly have led to new elections and Olmert's ouster from office.

MIDEAST: Hamas and Hezbollah Gain, Almost Hand in Hand

Hezbollah's dramatic seizure of Beirut last month stunned observers and dealt a heavy blow to Washington's Lebanese allies. In Cairo, analysts compared the episode to last year's takeover of the Gaza Strip by Palestinian resistance faction Hamas, noting that both actions were pre-emptive - rather than offensive - in nature.

MIDEAST: Aid Pledged to Strengthen West Bank Police

International donors have promised to channel more aid to the Palestinian Authority (PA), particularly to strengthen the police and the judiciary.

MIDEAST: Israel Training to Attack Iran

Israeli defence experts were not surprised by a New York Times report over the weekend that the Israeli air force had recently conducted what appeared to be a rehearsal for an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities.

LEBANON: After Accord, the Inevitable Bickering Begins

A month has gone by since the May 21 Doha agreement between warring Lebanese factions, which ended a week-long civil conflict that erupted on May 7, and led to the death of 67 people. Painstakingly brokered in Qatar's capital with the support of the Arab community, the peace deal also stipulated the election of consensus president Michel Suleiman. But ever since, Lebanese politicians have been bickering relentlessly over ministries in the future government.

MIDEAST: Ceasefire Makes Israelis Uneasy

The rockets being fired into Israel from Gaza have stopped for now. So have the Israeli raids into the coastal strip. But the majority of Israelis are deeply sceptical that the truce with Hamas, which went into effect last Thursday, will endure. Many also believe that it represents a major achievement for the Islamic movement, not for Israel.

MIDEAST: Answering Attacks With Smiles and Smileys

East of Beit Sahour in Ush Ghrab, the tree line stops and the bronze, rocky desert begins. In a flat clearing on this hilltop, a small, abandoned military post is being slowly transformed from an assorted collection of cement-grey barracks into a virtual oasis for the region's children, families and tourists.

LEBANON: Wine Flows Under Hezbollah's Shadow

Pine trees adorn majestic mountain flanks separating south Lebanon from the Chouf region in the village of Jezzine. Amid the shrubbery, lush vines, their crisp leaves tinted emerald green, bear the promise of a future harvest as the grapes start to form on the twisted branches. Bordering known Hezbollah strongholds, wine production seems to be thriving, in an area where the peaceful co-existence between the culture of the vine and the 'party of God' is indeed a paradox.