She was the strongest among them, the natural leader. So when the shelling stopped and the Israeli soldiers announced through loudspeakers that all residents should come out of their homes and head for the center of town, neighbors in Khozaa turned to Rawhiya Najar for guidance. ...more

February 16, 2009

His memories of Helen Keller are vivid, if not entirely favorable: She had big hands, a forceful personality and not much of a sense of humor. ...more

January 18, 2009

Israel declared a unilateral cease-fire Saturday in its 22-day offensive that turned Gaza neighborhoods into battlegrounds and dealt a stinging blow to the Islamic militants of Hamas. But Israeli troops will stay in the Palestinian territory for now and Hamas threatened to keep fighting until they leave. ...more

January 18, 2009

Israeli ground forces made their deepest foray yet today into Gaza's most populated area, with tanks rolling into residential neighborhoods and infantry fighting urban warfare in streets and buildings with Hamas militants who kept up their rocketing of southern Israel. ...more

January 11, 2009

The Palestinian Authority president urged both Israel and Hamas to agree to an Egypt-brokered truce Saturday, but he singled out the Jewish state, saying it would be responsible for a "waterfall of blood" if it didn't accept the deal. ...more

January 11, 2009

ON THE ISRAEL-GAZA BORDER - Israeli troops commandeered high-rise buildings in three eastern districts of Gaza City on Monday, expelling residents and shooting militants in the streets in its furious effort to break Hamas' fighting ability as European diplomats poured into the region seeking a cease-fire. ...more

January 6, 2009

ON THE ISRAELI-GAZA BORDER - Israeli troops and tanks, protected by heavy air, sea and artillery fire, sliced through the center of Gaza on Sunday, taking control of rocket-launching areas and surrounding the main city, as their government rebuffed diplomatic efforts to end the nine-day assault. ...more

January 5, 2009

With little sign that the departing Bush administration will press Israel to halt the ground invasion of the Gaza Strip, diplomats and political leaders throughout the Middle East and Europe are scrambling to find ways to bring an end to the violence. ...more

January 5, 2009

Palestinian militants sent a deadly barrage of missiles flying deep into Israel on Monday, demonstrating that Hamas still had firepower three days into Israel's punishing air offensive in Gaza. ...more

December 29, 2008