In a rare show of the pot calling the kettle black, a military court in Gaza City on Tuesday sentenced a Fatah military leader Zaki al-Sakani to 15 years in jail, the Palestinian Ma’an news agency reports.

Zaki, 48, from Gaza City’s Shujaiyya neighborhood, was detained four years ago and held in a Gaza jail.

After Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in July 2008, the security services of Hamas stormed al-Sakani’s home in the Zaytoun neighborhood, but he escaped, Fatah sources said. Hamas forces confiscated his handgun, a homemade projectile, and several mortar shells and explosives, as well as a computer.

On July 25, 2008, five high profile leaders of the Hamas’ military wing were killed in an explosion near the beach in Gaza City and about 40 civilians were injured. Hamas then accused al-Sakani of being behind that explosion.

In August 2008, the Hamas-affiliated website Palestine Today quoted sources privy to the details as saying that security services in Gaza detained four suspects including Zaki al-Sakani, a Fatah-affiliated explosives expert.

Al-Sakani was in al-Shifa hospital when he was arrested and jailed, having survived an assassination attempt on himself a day earlier. A group of gunmen had opened fire on al-Sakani and he had undergone surgery before he was jailed by Hamas’ security.

Al-Sakani was wanted by Israel for his role in manufacturing explosives. As the second Palestinian Intifada had entered its second year, al-Sakani along with late Fatah leader Abdul-Muti al-Sabaawi designed the first homemade mortar shell and went on to produce hundreds of shells.

Israeli intelligence tried to hunt Al-Sakani down through several targeted assassinations, including one which injured him in Gaza City while he was launching mortar shells at an Israeli settlement, before the “disengagement” from Gaza.

And we’re off to the races again, with a big NY Times headline: State Department Rebukes Israel Over Settlement Activity, and yet another absurd tail chasing by the U.S., the E.U., Israeli and Jewish leftists, who are convinced that the true threat to the much yearned for 2-state solution is the fact that Jews will live in homes.

The most likely outcome, unfortunately, is that Prime Minister Netanyahu will capitulate, as he has done so many times before it’s an embarrassment to even mention it any more. Netanyahu is like your slightly slow nephew that you catch stealing ten dollars from your jacket pocket. You let him know that you know he did it, only to discover half an hour later that the kid stole the same ten dollar bill yet again.

Does he really think we don’t know he has no intention of actually building anything, that it’s all an election-month gimmick, after which he will surely find a fantastic explanation as to why he must not follow through (I’ll never, ever forget the post-Pillar of Defense appearance of the three tenors, Bibi, Ehud and Ivette, who told us they have achieved for us the very goal that 2 weeks earlier all three described as absolutely insufficient).

But, for now, Netanyahu has promised to start construction on thousands of new homes, 1,500 in Ramot Shlomo, well within Jerusalem proper, and 5,000 in E-1, also inside the Jerusalem municipality. And, again for now, he hasn’t reneged yet, so, who knows, maybe he became a Zionist overnight and will stick by his promises.

The world, fulfilling its own part in this bizarre dance, has taken its cue from the Palestinians, and started shrieking.

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad told Reuters on Monday that “Settlement activity is unilateral” – you heard that? Going to the UN for statehood in violation of the written “Oslo” peace documents – that’s not unilateral. Building in Jerusalem – that’s a deal breaker.

Fayyad continued, saying the move “is completely adverse to the continued viability of a two-state solution and the possibility for our people to continue to exist.”

Now, observe the following exchange between a reporter and U.S. Dept. of State’s Spokesperson Victoria Nuland, over the issue of the mutual violations of the peace accords:

Reporter: “Up until now, the Palestinians haven’t had any recourse when these settlements were being built. Now, as an upgraded member of the United Nations General Assembly, they do have the option of joining the International Criminal Court or other courts and pursuing this as a matter of international law. And the United States itself recognizes that the settlements are not legal. So what incentive do you have to offer the Palestinians not to try and seek this redress in an international court when you yourself are saying that it’s provocative and it’s not legal?”

See what happened here? By acting unilaterally and in violation of their signed contracts with Israel, the Palestinians will now have to ability to take Israel to court over its own violations of the same contracts.

Ingenious.

Now, in PA PM Salam Fayad’s play book, a viable Palestinian state must have East Jerusalem as its capital. Unfortunately, Fayad knows the score, but countless Israeli governments have failed to act on this essential issue: if Israel does not create facts in the field with mass construction in East Jerusalem, they’ll take it away from us. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but some Israeli prime minister, wishing to show how big hearted he or she is (think Tzipi Livni), will give it away – unless it’s built and populated with hundreds of thousands of Jews.

And so, on cue, on Tuesday, E.U. foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton joined the chorus of condemnation, saying that the European block was “deeply dismayed by and strongly opposes” the Israeli plans.

U.S. Dept. of State’s Spokesperson Victoria Nuland, in her much quoted press briefing appearance on Tuesday, was asked: You will have seen Prime Minister Netanyahu’s comments this morning that they will continue to build in Jerusalem, East Jerusalem included, because it is the undivided and eternal capital of Israel. You will probably also have seen that several European countries that are members of the Security Council are talking about drafting some kind of condemnatory language about this. So one, I’m wondering what your reaction is to the Prime Minister’s comments, and two, I’m wondering if you’ll sign on to the European expression of extreme displeasure.”

On Friday, an armed terrorist inside Gaza fired on Israeli troops at the border fence. IDF soldiers shot back, killing the terrorist. No Israeli troops were injured.

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With the fortieth anniversary of the massacre of Israeli athletes at the Summer Olympic Games in Munich, Germany rapidly approaching, Yishai presents a series of clips from “One Day in September”, a documentary made about the massacre and the events that led up to and resulted from the murder of Israeli athletes. Following the riveting clips, Yishai presents an interview with Ankie Spitzer, the widow of Andre Spitzer, one of the athletes that were murdered by Arab terrorists in Munich. Do not miss this segment!

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu assured Israelis on Sunday that Israel’s armed forces would protect residents of the south, as a tentative quiet followed a weekend of rockets lobbed on the region from Gaza.

“The IDF will act forcefully against those who are trying to harm us, and if necessary, will act with even more force,” Prime Minister Netanyahu said at Sunday’s cabinet meeting. “Our policy is to use force in order to return security and quiet to the residents of the South.”

The Iron Dome missile defense system intercepted five Grad rockets from Gaza on Saturday targeting the 113,000 residents of the city of Ashkelon.  Gazan-based terrorists launched 25 rockets against targets in southern Israel on Saturday, damaging a school and a factory and bringing the total number of rockets fired in the last week to 150.

A fragile Egypt brokered an even more fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas which appears to be in effect since the last Grad missile was launched at 10pm on Saturday.  Schools were open as usual on Sunday morning.

Despite the fear and tension which the rocket fire has caused in southern Israel, several residents and potential victims reported experiencing miracles which kept them and their families safe from harm.

The majority of the rockets in the six day barrage were aimed at the border city of Sderot, with others landing in the Eshkol, Ashkelon Beach and Shaar HaNegev Regional Councils.  A rocket which landed at a Sderot factory moderately-to-severely injured a 50 year old male factory employee who was hit in the neck and by shrapnel and evacuated by a Magen David Adom medical team to Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkeon.  The factory sustained heavy damage and two civilians were treated for shock.  A rocket which hit an empty school caused serious damage but no injuries.

Israeli security leadership held emergency meetings with the Prime Minister on Saturday, with security sources stating that “quiet will be met with quiet, but more rocket fire will be met with further fire.”

Several area residents were treated for shock, with IDF Home Front Command urging residents to remain close to bomb shelters.  Sderot mayor David Buskila convened a special meeting with police and Home Front Command officials on Saturday, demanding that the government protect the town, and reporting that the city’s center for victims of stress and anxiety was open for the public.

Israel responded to attacks by launching a targeted strike against Gaza terrorists, with the Israel Air Force killing one terrorist in northern Gaza near Jabaliya as he prepared to launch a missile, and killing another en route on a motorcycle to a rocket launching site outside Gaza City

Israeli Air Force jets bombed three Hamas military bases in Gaza on Saturday morning, injuring 20 according to sources in Gaza.

Israeli airstrikes have killed at least six Gaza terrorists since Monday.

21 year old Golani Staff-Sergeant Netanel Moshiashvili from Ashkelon was killed early Friday morning in a skirmish with a Palestinian terrorist that infiltrated into Israel from Gaza. The terrorist was also killed in the encounter.

According to Ynet, the terrorist approached the security fence near Kisufim at approximately 4:30 a.m., cut it, and snuck into Israel. A Golani unit rapidly deployed to the area, coming under fire by the terrorist. In the ensuing gunfight, the 21 year old soldier was shot, and soon after died of his wound.

Palestinian witnesses near Abassan, a village in Southern Gaza, reported hearing gunshots, and shortly thereafter, IAF jets flying overhead.

The IAF attacked multiple targets in Gaza in response. It is believed that this attack was actually another abduction attempt.

Last week, two soldiers were wounded when they were shot by sniper fire while patrolling the Gaza border. They were treated for mild injuries in a nearby hospital.

On the 28th of October, 1991, a bus carrying residents of Shilo to Tel Aviv was ambushed by Palestinian terrorists on Highway 60, just south of Tapuach Junction in the Shomron. The bus driver, Itzchak Rofeh, and a woman from Shilo, Rochela Druck, were killed in the attack. Later that night, women from the community of Shilo – friends of the woman who was killed – decided to establish a new Jewish community at the location of the murder. They called this a proper Zionist response to those who thought that they could chase the Jews out through the means of terrorism. They said, “On this site, where Jews were killed for living as Jews in their land, new Jewish life will grow.”

On that cold and rainy night, the women set up a tent on the side of a dark and winding road in between unfriendly Arab towns. I remember that night well. When we got word of what was going on not far from our home in Kfar Tapuach, we decided to go out and show our support to our new neighbors. The hike from Tapuach to the campsite was about two and a half miles. It was a very dark night. Along with a group of youth, we walked along Highway 60, winding down from the Tapuach Junction. It was so dark that we almost stumbled into the poor soldiers who had been stationed there to prevent more Jewish “settlers” from reaching the site. We managed to find our way around the checkpoint and reached the site as the first trailers were being unloaded onto the hill adjacent to the road. At about two o’clock in the morning, we tried to get some sleep in the trailer home, but as it was hastily placed on uneven ground, the floors were at such a slant that wherever we lay in the room, we would all roll into the same corner.

From day one, the founders of the community held open channels of communication with the government and negotiated permission for the encampment to be authorized in some manner. In the first stage, the government agreed to the idea that an educational institution would be allowed to operate at the site, which was situated on state-owned land, and not the property of any individual. The women of Shilo would manage the classes and events at the site, but would return to their homes at night, and the IDF would oversee the camp.
In a later development, the place was named “Rechelim” to commemorate Rochela Druck and another terror victim, Rachel Weiss. The plan was to make it a Nachal outpost, operated by the IDF. In a still further development, this was officially declared a “civilian community,” as had been the case with the founding of previous communities throughout Israel, in the history of Nachal.

In 2005, PM Ariel Sharon appointed attorney Talia Sasson to write a report on the expansion of Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria. According to the Sasson Report, Rechelim was one of 105 Jewish communities in the region that were lacking all needed official documentation and zoning rulings to be considered “authorized.” From that time on, Rechelim and all other communities on the list became known as “un-authorized” or “illegal outposts.”

This negative branding effectively caused the development of these towns to come to a complete standstill. This has, of course, been very difficult and confusing for the 50 families who have made their homes there. Many of them are living in homes that were built by Israeli government agencies and paid for with state-approved mortgages.

The classification of this community as an un-authorized outpost brought a stop to all government funding for basic services normally offered to all citizens of Israel. So, for instance, funds previously designated to build classrooms for the community’s pre-school were frozen for the past few years and diverted to other places. This has forced the residents to find other sources of funding for the building of local educational structures that normally would have been funded by the government, through taxes that these residents still pay, just like any other citizens. Homes that had been under construction, with all needed building plans and permits, were left at a stand-still because the town around them became “un-approved.” The families building those homes felt like the rug had been jerked out from under them.

As it later became clear, when Ms. Sasson ran for Knesset in the extreme left-wing Meretz party, she had abused the trust given to her in writing the said report, and used it to promote a very clear political agenda meant to impede the continued development of Jewish communities in Israel’s heartland.

The government’s decision this week to grant zoning permits to Rechelim in the Shomron, and to Beruchin in Sansana, in the hills of Hebron, is nothing more then repairing a wrong. After seven years in limbo, once again the residents of these communities can fulfill their dreams and the corporate dream of their nation – they can finally build their homes in Eretz Yisrael.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, speaking at a press conference in Gaza on Thursday, admonished the Palestinians for their persistent launching of rockets into Israel.

“Indiscriminate killing of civilians is unacceptable under any circumstances,” Ban said, a day after Palestinian terrorists fired eight rockets into southern Israel.