Nakba, the Palestinian catastrophe (1948)

Jerusalem, March 2, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) - Jerusalem Mayor, Nir Barkat, will to formally divulged today plans for the wholesale redevelopment of a section of Silwan neighborhood, involving the demolition of almost "88 illegally built Palestinian homes" and the relocation of those residents in new buildings, The Jerusalem Post reported.

According to the newspaper's Web site, the plan focuses on an area inside the southeastern neighborhood known as "Gan Hamelech" (the King's Garden). The area was labeled last month "the second most incendiary place after the Temple Mount" by a senior City Hall source.

The mayor is to detail the plans in a press conference on Tuesday afternoon. The plans were first reported by the Post last month.

On Monday, the paper reports, sources inside City Hall acknowledged that the mayor may be challenged over the timing of the announcement. There has been Palestinian rioting in Hebron, the Old City and East Jerusalem over last week's government decision to include Hebron's Cave of the Patriarchs and Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem on a list of national heritage sites.

However, the sources said that formally presenting the plans "clearly and transparently" was a necessary step, since they will become public later this month, when they are discussed at a meeting of the Jerusalem Local Planning and Building Council.

Click here to read complete article, Pal Telegraph, 2nd March 2010

Protected by armed Israeli police, hundreds of Israelis and Jews from abroad attempted to storm into the compound of al-Aqsa in celebration of the Jewish festival of Purim and to “ascend to the Temple Mount,” according to the Israeli colonial jargon.

Yesterday morning (Sunday 28 February), about two hundred Israeli armed policemen invaded the compound of the al-Aqsa Mosque in the Old City of Jerusalem to attack a non-violent sit-in, organized by Palestinians in the city in protest of an imminent invasion of the mosque by Jewish settlers for the Jewish holiday of Purim. According to testimonies on the ground, tens of Palestinians were injured by Israeli occupation forces that attacked the non-violent protesters with rubber-coated bullets, tear gas bombs and clubs.

The invasion of the al-Aqsa compound by Jewish settlers and Right-wing extremists on the first day of Purim has now become a customary event for Palestinian Jerusalemites. Protected by armed Israeli police, hundreds of Israelis and Jews from abroad attempted to storm into the compound of al-Aqsa in celebration of the Jewish festival of Purim and to “ascend to the Temple Mount,” according to the Israeli colonial jargon. Prepared for the event, around twenty Palestinians crowded the night of Saturday [February 27th, 2010] in order to defend any possible invasion through Bab al-Maghariba [Dung Gate], where an entrance to the compound is located and which is monitored solely by the Israeli occupation forces.

The clashes this morning rapidly spread to the other parts of Jerusalem’s Old City. Witnesses on the ground told the Alternative Information Center (AIC) that clashes between the Israeli occupation forces and Palestinian Jerusalemites have taken place in the market area and around the main gates that open into the Old City, namely Bab al-Amud [Damascus Gate] and Bab al-Asbat [Lions’ Gate]. The violent scenario this morning included an Israeli attack on a spontaneous and pacifist march of Jerusalemite school-girls in solidarity with the sit-in inside the al-Aqsa compound and which involved tear-gas bombs and Israeli policemen’s clubs.

The current events in Jerusalem are to be seen in light of the recent Israeli decision to include the Ibrahimi Mosque of Hebron and the Bilal bin-Rabbah Mosque [Rachel’s Tomb] in Bethlehem, two holy sites for Palestinians and which are located in the occupied West Bank, in the Jewish Heritage List. Immediately after Israeli Prime Minister, Benyamin Netanyahu’s announcement of this decision last week, demonstrations all around the West Bank commenced, in which Palestinians expressed their protest against the Israeli theft and exclusion policy of the holy and historical sites of Palestine.

At this moment, large numbers of armed Israeli forces are reported to be present in the area of the Old City and inside the al-Aqsa compound. It is also reported that Israeli forces are preventing any Palestinian below the age of 50 from entering the al-Aqsa compound, while foreign tourists can enter the area through the Israeli-only monitored entrance to the compound in the Bab al-Maghariba [Dung Gate] area.

Source : Alternative Information Center, 28th February 2010

At least six Palestinians have reportedly been injured after Israeli police forces stormed a holy site in Jerusalem to disperse Muslim worshippers.

Palestinian sources said that Israeli forces fired rubber bullets and tear gas at the worshippers holding protests in the al-Aqsa mosque compound on Sunday.

Israel said the situation was calm and denied that rubber bullets had been fired.

Micky Rosenfeld, the Israeli police spokesman, said that the police force dispersed about 20 masked protesters who were inside the compound.

The police said protesters had thrown stones at visitors to the complex.

The area, known to Muslims as the Haram al-Sharif, or the Noble Sanctuary, and to Jews as the Temple Mount, has been a frequent flashpoint for conflicts before, with even low-level scuffles escalating into drawn-out battles.

Sherine Tadros, reporting for Al Jazeera from Jerusalem on Sunday, said: "This was all sparked early this morning when - according to the Israeli police - there was a group of tourists entering the al-Aqsa compound in the Old City.

"They were pelted with rocks by the Palestinian demonstrators [who] decided to keep on with their resistance to the entry of these tourists into the Haram compound.

"That sparked clashes outside and near the area, which has resulted in an escalation ... outside the walls of the Old City."

Reporting later from the scene, our correspondent said: "There's a heavy police presence but it does seem calm now."

A visit to the al-Asa mosque compound in 2000 by Ariel Sharon, then an Israeli opposition leader and later prime minister, is blamed for igniting deadly clashes that escalated into the popular Palestinian uprising known as al-Aqsa Intifada.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/02/201022893324135262.html

The European Court of Justice has ruled that Israeli goods produced in the Palestinian territories don't deserve a customs break. The decision affects German drinks manufacturer Brita.

The EU's highest court ruled Thursday that goods produced by Israeli companies based in the Palestinian territories do not qualify for duty-free import into the European Union.

An EU deal with Israel allows the country's industrial products to be imported to Europe without customs duties. A similar deal with the Palestinian Authority applies to goods produced in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

The decision comes after German drinks manufacturer Brita applied to import soda water makers and drink syrups made by Israeli firm Soda Club, based in the West Bank settlement of Mishor Adumin, under the customs break. German customs officials ended up refusing the privilege.

The court's ruling now clarifies that only goods made within Israel's pre-1967 borders qualify. "[Israeli] products originating in the West Bank do not fall within the territorial scope of the [EU]-Israel agreement and do not therefore qualify for preferential treatment under that agreement," the European Court of Justice said in a statement.

The European Union does not recognize Israel's occupation of the West Bank, a controversial issue in the ongoing Middle East peace process, as legal. Instead, the EU supports the establishment of an independent Palestinian state as part of a negotiated agreement with Israel.

cmk/AFP/apn/dpa
Editor: Nancy Isenson

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,5286165,00.html

The Israeli occupation forces have been accused by a Palestinian Researcher of carrying out "thousands of experiments on Palestinian prisoners every year" which have lead to an increase in the number diagnosed with cancer. The specialist in Palestinian prisoners' affairs, Abdul Naser Ferwana, himself a former prisoner of the Israelis, claims that "more than five thousand experiments using serious drugs put prisoners' lives at risk".

According to Ferwana's research, dozens of former prisoners have been diagnosed with cancer months and even years after their release; some have died while others are living with the disease. He believes that the experiments prisoners have been exposed to in prison are the direct cause of the high incidence of cancer in this section of the population. Deliberate medical neglect by the prison authorities also cannot be ruled out, he added.

Ferwana accused the Israeli Ministry of Health of granting permits for conducting clinical trials for certain medication on detainees. He also accused the Israelis of building prisons and detention camps in the Negev desert, in particular, to subject the prisoners to environmental experiments and determine the effects on the environment and human beings in close proximity to the Dimona nuclear reactor and its toxic waste buried nearby. In early January the Israeli Environment Ministry published a report which warned of the presence of toxic waste, including nuclear waste and asbestos - both are carcinogens in the Negev area in which the prisons of Nafha and Reymon, and the Negev detention centre, are situated. This may, advised the ministry, cause malignant diseases including cancer due to being in the vicinity of the Dimona reactor.

He explained that the former Chair of the Israeli parliamentary science committee, Dalia Isik MK, who now leads the Kadima Party in the Knesset, revealed as long ago as July 1997 details of one thousand serious experiments and medication tests which are conducted on Palestinian and Arab prisoners yearly. She confirmed that she had an equal number of permits from the Ministry of Health to conduct such experiments on behalf of Israeli pharmaceutical companies. This was confirmed by Amy Leftat, Chief of the Division of Medicines in the Ministry of Health, in the same Knesset meeting. It was added that there is an annual increase in the number of permits of about 15 percent.

Mr. Ferwana pointed out that if there were 1000 experiments 13 years ago, with a 15 percent annual increase ever since, "then today we're talking about more than five thousand experiments a year", something that the Israeli occupation authorities have not denied and clearly have no intention of stopping. Coupled with the rise in cancers amongst prisoners and ex-prisoners, this is, he said, a clear indication that the experiments are ongoing.

The evidence of a prisoner who has a degree in nursing suggests that prisoners in Ramla Prison Hospital are given doses of toxic substances. The authorities there, it is claimed, are "indifferent" to the effects on prisoners' health.

According to statistics used by the researcher, the number of sick prisoners inside Israeli jails is now more than 1,500 with various illnesses, chronic and malignant, including dozens in need of urgent operations and special care. He pointed out that there are still an estimated 16 prisoners in Israeli prisons and detention camps suffering from various cancers. An accurate number can be ascertained if access is given to an independent medical research team in order to complete proper tests.

Source: Quds Press

The British Consulate are currently refusing visas to three Palestinian producers who have been invited to the Fairtrade Fortnight by Zaytoun, a Fairtrade Producer of Olive Oil.

Olive oil production keeps thousands of Palestinians out of poverty.

Gordon Brown has been quoted in The Guardian saying "Olive oil production provides an essential part of the West Bank economy. In buying this oil, British shoppers wil be helping the farmers of Palestine to make a living." and that he was "delighted" at the launch of Fairtrade week.

But the actions of the British Consulate are thwarting the efforts of these farmers.

Take Action!
1. Sign the Petition to be sent to the FCO

2. Write, email and telephone the Foreign Secretary David Miliband and the Prime Minister Gordon Brown to :-

    express concern at the actions of the British Consulate
    insist that the Visas are granted to the Farmers from Palestine
    * they are assisted in their visit

Rt. Hon. David Miliband MP
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
King Charles Street
London
SW1A 2AH

milibandd@parliament.uk

Constituency Office: 0191 456 8910
or Parliament 0207 219 3000 (Ask for David Miliband’s Office)

Fax  0207 008 2144

Rt. Hon. Prime Minister Gordon Brown
10 Downing Street
London
SW1A 2AA

T: 0207 219 3000 (Ask for Gordon Brown's Office)
F: 020 7925 0918

Please circulate this alert.

Click here for further info

Channel 4’s Dispatches is due to broadcast a damaging and misleading programme on Monday 1st March at 8pm. For nearly a year the programme had undercover reporters attending events (including private meetings) of Islamic Forum of Europe (IFE) and passing themselves off as Muslims and friends, but acting as agents provocateurs to solicit replies to use against IFE.

IFE is a mainstream community organisation with members hailing from different walks of life. Its activities and events are open to the public and publicised widely. No request was made by Dispatches to gain access to IFE’s activities or projects. Instead by using undercover reporters and ‘covert filming’, Dispatches has portrayed IFE as a secretive organisation, arousing much suspicion.

The Dispatches programme on 1st March is set to falsely portray IFE as an extremist and sinister organisation, and undo the years of good work in the community. The programme wrote to IFE few days ago asking for their response/comment on around 23 different issues and allegations, including links to Al-Qaeda  and engaging in “entryism” in an attempt to bring about an Islamic ‘coup’ within mainstream British politics, or achieve political domination.

As concerned citizens of this country, we strongly condemn this demonization of an organisation with a track record of transparency, integration and engagement. Moreover this programme is not only politically-motivated due to the upcoming elections, it is also Islamophobic in nature – preying on public fears about extremism.

Please protest against this divisive programme by registering your complaints to the producers of Dispatches, Channel 4, Ofcom (regulatory body) and John Fitzptrick MP who has been feeding drivel to Dispatches.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

1. Watch Channel 4’s Dispatches programme on 1st March at 8pm and register your complaint:

Call 0845 076 0191 and make a verbal complaint.

Send your written complaint to:
Channel 4 Enquiries
PO Box 1058
Belfast
BT1 9DU

Click here to register your complaint

Click here to go to the Dispatches website and comment on the programme directly



2. Call Ofcom

Call 0300 123 3333 or 020 7981 3040 and complain to OFCOM (the radio and television regulator). They are open Monday to Friday, from 9.00am to 5.00pm.


3. Send letters, emails and also phone Jim Fitzpatrick MP to complain. He comments form the basis of many of the allegations by Dispatches.

Address: Jim Fitzpatrick MP, House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA
Parliamentary Office: Tel: 020 7219 5085/6215 / Fax: 020 7219 2776                   
Constituency Office:  Tel: 020 7536 0562 / Fax: 020 7536 0572
Email: fitzpatrickj@parliament.uk




TEMPLATE LETTER AND POINTS

Please use the letter below as a template to register your complaint to Channel 4’s Dispatches:

Date…

Dear Sir/Madam,

I write to express my utter disgust and disappointment at Channel 4’s Dispatches “Britain’s Islamic Republic”, which levels wholly inaccurate and defamatory accusations on the Islamic Forum of Europe (IFE).

The documentary is not only Islamophobic in nature but it preys on public fears about extremism. The programme utilises emotive and provocative language and misleading information to create an impression that IFE is a sinister, secretive and anti-democratic organisation which condones and promotes violent extremism.

At a time of rising far right activism and an increased reporting of Islamophobic and racist attacks on Muslims, Channel 4 has acted wholly irresponsibly. The IFE is a mainstream Muslim organisation which has for many years worked to encourage active citizenship and community development. It is reprehensible that the Dispatches programme has made such a crude attempt at defaming the IFE. It appears that Dispatches has joined those in society who are hell bent on creating division, paranoia and distrust amongst communities.

Yours faithfully

[insert here your name and city]
----------------------------------------------

Additional Points for Individualised Letters and Points to Raise When Making Telephone Complaints.

You may also choose to incorporate some of the following in your letter of complaint If you are able to, please consider using the following points in your letter of complaint:


1. Coming so close to a general election, the documentary is politically motivated.

2. The programme will undoubtedly increase community tension and harm genuine attempts at community cohesion.

3. The documentary is a dishonest attempt at scaremongering and vilifying Muslim communities and religious institutions.

4. The documentary panders to the BNP and the Far Right

5. It begs the question; what is wrong with Muslims being politically engaged and active in civic society and the politics of the common good?

6. This dishonest portrayal of a mainstream Muslim organisation like the IFE will only contribute to further alienating young Muslims and draw them towards extremism.

7. Similar claims were made in the not so distant past against the Irish and Jewish communities.

8. This is part of a series of organised, vindictive and orchestrated witch hunts against Muslim personalities, institutions and organisations which aims at undoing the excellent work done by these.

9. This is irresponsible and reprehensible journalism by Channel 4, which makes a mockery of its stated aim of representing and celebrating Britain’s diversity and multi-culturalism.

10. The picture painted of IFE is contrary to our knowledge and experience of the organisation and indeed its track record.



Friends of Al-Aqsa is a UK based non-profit making NGO concerned with defending the human rights of Palestinians and protecting the sacred al-Aqsa Sanctuary in Jerusalem. This vision is supported by various international groups and organisations. Friends of Al-Aqsa was first established in 1997 and now has an international support base.

Young people who took part in the mass demonstrations against Israel's attack on Gaza in January 2009 are being handed down jail sentences for minor offences. A protest has been called this Friday 26 February at Isleworth Crown Court and there will be a public meeting, open to all, in Parliament next Tuesday 2nd March (details below).

Friday's protest and Tuesday's public meeting will be in support of those now being treated so harshly by the courts, and to defend our democratic right of protest.

Israel's barbarism which devastated Gaza and left 1400 dead, brought tens of thousands on to London's streets, including the demonstration of over 100,000 on 10 January 2009.

Numerous complaints were made about police aggressive behaviour on the Gaza demonstrations. Thousands of protestors were 'kettled' - illegally held for hours and only released after the police had obtained their names and addresses.

In the months that followed the demonstrations, over 90 protestors were arrested - most of them Muslims, many of them teenagers, often in intimidating dawn raids. More than seventy of those arrested were charged with disorder offences.

The courts are now hearing these cases. The defendants pleading guilty are being tried first and the sentences have been draconian. The judge has made clear that he is issuing deterrent sentences.

We are seeing first-time offenders receiving two and a half years imprisonment for minor offences which would not normally face custodial sentences.

It is hard not to conclude that this is a concerted attempt by the police and judiciary to  criminalise protest, intimidating in particular young Muslims.

Meanwhile, there has been no investigation into the aggressive and often violent policing on the Gaza demonstrations, despite the high level of complaints.

And while these young people are facing years in prison for protesting against Israel's war crimes, no one is being held to account for those crimes, which have been fully documented by reports from the United Nations, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and others.

Click here for the background to this case


1. DEFEND THE RIGHT TO PROTEST  SUPPORT THE GAZA PROTESTORS   ISLEWORTH CROWN COURT  
FRIDAY 26 FEBRUARY, 9.30AM  
36 Ridgeway Road, Isleworth TW7 5LP   (nearest tube Osterley on the Piccadilly Line)
For more info: contact the Stop the War office: 020 7801 2768, office@stopwar.org.uk

2. PUBLIC MEETING ON JAILING OF GAZA PROTESTERS
NEXT TUESDAY 2 MARCH 6.30 PM - 8.30 PM
Speakers include Jeremy Corbyn MP, George Galloway MP, Andrew  
Murray (Stop the War), Betty Hunter (Palestine Solidarity Campaign), speaker from British Muslim Initiative  
COMMITTEE ROOM 19, HOUSE OF COMMONS, LONDON SW1 (St Stephens entrance, allow plenty of time to get through security).

Organised by Stop the War, PSC, BMI and supported by CND, Friends of Al Aqsa.

Dubai's police chief says he is almost certain Israel was involved in last month's assassination of a senior Hamas official.

Dahi Khalfan Tamim says, if proven, an arrest warrant should be issued for the man in-charge of Mossad, the Israeli spy agency.

Robert Fisk is the Middle East correspondent for the British newspaper The Independent.

He says if Israel is behind the assassination, then Tel Aviv could find itself in a diplomatic crisis with some of its European allies.

Gaza – Ma'an – Israeli forces entered the Gaza Strip on Thursday after a soldier was injured by a bomb planted at the border, the military said, confirming reports of an incursion following a blast hours earlier.

"This morning, an IDF soldier was lightly injured when an explosive device was detonated against a force patrolling the Israeli side of the central Gaza Strip's security fence," a military spokesman told Ma'an.

"While searching the area, IDF soldiers discovered a second explosive device, which was detonated in a controlled manner by IDF sappers," the spokesman added. "The IDF holds Hamas responsible for maintaining the peace and quiet in the Gaza Strip."

Bulldozers demolished two homes belonging to Ali and Salem Suleiman Ibn Said northeast of Deir Al-Balah, both on the outskirts of Al-Masaddar, and large swaths of olive groves, relatives said by phone. The family reported the destruction of chicken coups, as well.

Residents told Ma'an they heard an explosion, reportedly an anti-tank shell, shortly before the bulldozers were seen. Forces reached 200 meters inside the central region near the Deir Al-Balah neighborhood, witnesses said, and remained in the area until late in the afternoon.

The Chinese news agency Xinhua cited Gaza security sources as saying militants set off explosives near an Israeli army vehicle as four tanks and a bulldozer entered the coastal enclave. The agency reported clashes, and said the homes were located 900 meters inside Gaza.

B'Tselem recently uncovered a number of cases in which minors aged 12-15 from Silwan, in East Jerusalem, were arrested in the middle of the night by police officers and Israel Security Agency agents accompanied by armed border policemen. In four cases documented by B'Tselem, the minors were taken from their beds and homes and brought, their hands cuffed, to interrogation at the police station in the Russian Compound, in West Jerusalem. The parents of the children were not allowed to accompany them. The minors were then interrogated on suspicion of stone throwing. Testimonies given to B'Tselem indicate that, during the questioning, the interrogators beat and threatened them. The detention of one of them, a 14-year-old, was extended for seven days. The rest were released. There are indications that several other minors were similarly arrested and interrogated.

The ongoing friction between residents of Silwan and the settlers in nearby Beit Yehonatan and security personnel guarding it, in which context Palestinian children in the neighborhood throw stones at the building, is apparently the reason for the arrests.

The authorities' treatment of the minors completely contravenes the Youth Law, as amended in 2008 (Amendment No. 14). Under the Law, a minor who is suspected of committing a criminal offense may consult as a rule, with a parent or other relative prior to being questioned, and the parent or relative may be present during the questioning. The Law also prohibits, other than in exceptional cases, questioning a minor at night, and states that, if the objective can be achieved in a less harmful way, the minor should not be arrested. In the present case, some of the parents were willing to undertake to bring the minors in the morning for questioning, and there was no need for the night operation.

The actions by the authorities severely violated the human rights of the minors, all of whom are Israeli permanent residents. A military-style operation conducted in the middle of the night, with the aim of detaining for interrogation minors aged 12-15 suspected of stone throwing is illogical and unjustifiable on any grounds. It is hard to believe that the security forces would have acted similarly with Jewish minors.

B'Tselem has sent urgent letters to the Jerusalem police commander, Maj. Gen. Ilan Franco, and to the head of the Department of the Investigation of Police, Herzl Shviro, calling for an end to police, ISA, and Border Police operations to detain minors in Silwan. If any child from the neighborhood is suspected of having committed a criminal offense, he can be summoned for questioning in the presence of an adult on his behalf. Also, the questioning must be conducted by youth interrogators.

UK government approved almost £4m worth of export licences for weapons and equipment in first nine months of last year

Britain is continuing to sell Israel a wide range of military equipment, including small arms ammunition and parts for sniper rifles.

Government departments approved nearly £4m worth of export licences for weapons and equipment with dual military and civil uses, according to the latest official statistics. The figures cover the first nine months of last year.

Most of the equipment approved for sale to Israel were components for big items. They include parts for ground-based radars, military aircraft engines, military aircraft navigation equipment, military communications and unmanned drones.

Among approved exports were electronic warfare equipment, ground vehicle military communications equipment and remote ground-sensor systems. They also included "components for sniper rifles", "small arms ammunition" and "test equipment for recognition/identification equipment".

Yasmin Khan of the anti-poverty campaigning group War on Want, said today: "The licensing of arms sales to Israel flies in the face of the UK's arms export guidelines, which prohibit the sale of military equipment that could be used for internal repression. The UK government remains complicit in Israel's human rights violations unless it prohibits the sale of all arms to Israel."

War on Want has called for a two-way arms embargo between Britain and Israel since the attack on Lebanon in 2006.

After the attack on Gaza last year, David Miliband, the foreign secretary, told MPs that all future applications for arms-related exports to Israel "will be assessed taking into account the recent conflict".

He said Israeli equipment used in the attack on Gaza "almost certainly" contained British-supplied components included components for US F16 combat aircraft, and Apache helicopters. They included equipment for radar on Israeli ships that could be used for fire-control against surface targets, and armoured personnel carriers adapted from Centurion tanks sold to Israel in the late 1950s.

The Foreign Office minister Ivan Lewis told the Commons strategic export controls committee last month that the government considered arms exports to Israel on a "case-by-case basis".

Official guidelines for arms exports say they would not be approved "where there is a clear risk that the export might be used for internal repression" or where they would "provoke or prolong armed conflicts".

There was no indication today that the government was considering an arms embargo on Israel as a result of the use of fake British passports in the assassination of a senior Hamas official in Dubai.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/feb/18/britain-selling-military-equipment-israel

Brown calls in police to investigate alleged identity theft by Mossad as Israeli envoy asked to explain how passports were in killers' hands. Assassination team now thought to number 18, including two women

By Kim Sengupta, Ben Lynfield and Donald Macintyre

The international furore over the assassination of a senior Hamas official sharply escalated yesterday with claims that he had been lured to Dubai by the Israeli intelligence services.

Security sources say that Mahmoud al-Mabhouh had changed his travel plans, leaving behind his bodyguards, for a "meeting" which may have been organised by Mossad, who had been tracking him for days before his death.

The killers' use of European passports has led to widespread calls for investigation, and the repercussions for Israel over its alleged involvement in the murder began yesterday, with Gordon Brown announcing an inquiry to be held by the Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca).

And in a sign of the increasing pressure on the Israeli authorities, the country's ambassador to the UK will appear at the Foreign Office today to face questions over how the passports of six Britons living in Israel were used by a team of killers to travel to Dubai.

It is believed that British investigators will be flying to Dubai in the next 24 hours to co-ordinate with the UAE authorities. No decision has been made, however, on whether they will be going to Israel and no approach had been made so far to the Israeli government. Neither the French nor the German government has yet indicated whether it will launch similar inquiries, although officials in Paris and Berlin said they would be liaising with British authorities and "expected" the Israeli government to furnish them with any relevant information.

It also emerged yesterday that there were as many as 18 people, including two women, involved in the murder of Mr Mabhouh, who was said to have been electrocuted and tortured before being suffocated. One line of speculation was that the reason for the relatively prolonged attack, after he was overpowered by four men, was an attempt to seek information.

The Israeli government meanwhile broke its silence over the assassination to insist that there was no reason to assume that Mossad was responsible for the death. Its Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman did not actually deny Israeli involvement but said: "There is no reason to think that it was the Israeli Mossad, and not some other intelligence service or country up to some mischief."

Mr Lieberman said that Israel maintains a "policy of ambiguity" on detailed intelligence matters, adding: "Israel never responds, never confirms, never denies."

And he denied that what happened could lead to diplomatic problems with the UK, insisting that "Britain recognises that Israel is a responsible country and that our security activity is conducted according to very clear, cautious and responsible rules of the game".

But not everyone in Israel is as supportive of the security services. There have been some calls for the Mossad head Meir Dagan's resignation over the affair. "If we did the identity theft then it was the most idiotic thing imaginable," said Zahava Galon, a former MP from the liberal Meretz party. "It's getting innocent people with no connection to the [assassination] act into trouble. These are people who woke up in the morning and didn't know what hit them. These people have a problem."

But Rafi Eitan, a former cabinet minister who as a Mossad agent took part in the 1960 capture of the Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann, suggested a foreign power "wanted to taint Israel". "The Mossad was not behind the assassination of Mahmoud al- Mabhouh, but rather a foreign organisation that is trying to frame Israel," he said. "It took the names of Israeli citizens, doctored the passports... and thus tainted us."

Mr Brown said: "We have got to carry out a full investigation into this. The British passport is an important document that has got to be held with care. The evidence has got to be assembled about what actually happened and how it happened and why it happened, and it is necessary for us to conclude that before we can make statements."

The Israeli government declined to comment on the British decision, and it remained unclear how effective such an inquiry is likely to be. Israeli officials in the UK can refuse to meet detectives with the claim of diplomatic immunity, and there was no sign yesterday whether investigators would get any official cooperation in Israel.

William Hague, the shadow Foreign Secretary, has sent a series of questions to the Foreign Secretary David Miliband, saying: "The reports that the identities of real British citizens have been 'cloned' to produce forged passports is a matter of great concern, since it raises the possibility that this could happen in other cases, including acts of terrorism. We need to know if the Home Secretary and the Foreign Secretary are confident that existing mechanisms are sufficient to prevent further such abuses from happening."

Questions and answers: What do we know so far about the Dubai assassination?

Q. What exactly happened to Mahmoud al-Mabhouh?

A. When the Hamas militant arrived in Dubai, he may have believed he was there to meet an Iranian arms dealer. Six hours later, he was dead, assassinated after a sophisticated operation involving 18 people. The hit squad had arrived in Dubai the previous day. After tailing Mabhouh from the airport, CCTV footage shows two of the group entering a hotel lift with him; one then followed him to find out in which room he was staying. Shortly afterwards, another operative booked the room opposite for that night. When the target left his room, four men crossed the corridor to break in, while others stood guard in the lobby. Mabhouh returned at 8.24pm; police say he was asphyxiated soon after. His killers left the hotel about 20 minutes later.

Q. Who were the people behind the operation, and why were there so many?

A. One theory suggests that having lured Mabhouh to Dubai on the pretext of an arms sale, the hit squad had expected him to be accompanied by a security team, who would also need to be eliminated. The identities of the assassins remain a mystery. All the passports of the initial batch of 11 suspects have been declared fake. So far seven people living in Israel, including Britons, have said that their identities were stolen, adding fuel to theories that Mossad was behind the assassination. Yesterday the existence of seven more suspects emerged: of those, two are believed to be Palestinian and are in custody; the other five, one of them a woman, used EU passports.

Q. Why would Israel want Mabhouh dead?

A. The Palestinian had admitted to a role in the deaths of two Israeli soldiers in 1989 during the first Intifada, and still played a senior role in Hamas. There has been speculation that he was at the top of a "hit list" of militants believed to be dangerous to Israel. And while the Netanyahu government yesterday said there was no proof that Mossad was behind the assassination, it refused to refute the accusation, citing a "policy of ambiguity". Some commentators in Israel have called for the head of Mossad to resign. The counter-argument is that the Dubai operation appeared too ham-fisted to be the work of Mossad, and that it is instead the work of Israel's enemies seeking to discredit the Netanyahu government.

Q. If firm evidence emerges implicating Israel, what will the consequences be?

A. The potential for diplomatic fall-out is clear, with Gordon Brown demanding an inquiry yesterday into how British passports came to be used. There have been similar concerns voiced in Dublin and Paris. The Dubai authorities are inevitably furious at the idea of the country being used as a staging ground for assassinations. Even Vienna has been dragged in, with the hit squad using pre-paid Austrian mobile phone numbers. Israel is already feeling the international heat after the critical Goldstone report into its conduct during the Gaza war, and will not want its critics to have more ammunition.

Archie Bland

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/death-in-dubai-the-plot-thickens-1902987.html