Israeli Arabs defiant on 'loyalty laws' The BBC's Heather Sharp reports from the Israeli-Arab town of Um al-Fahm, where residents are angry over two proposed laws apparently aimed at increasing their loyalty to the state of Israel. "They're welcome to jail us," says Suleiman Fahmawi. He is planning next year's Nakba march, even though it could be illegal. Every year, as Israelis celebrate their independence with flags and barbecues, he organises mourning marches to destroyed Arab villages.
In the 1948 Nakba, or "catastrophe", 700,000 Palestinians fled or were forced from their homes as Israel claimed its independence. A controversial bill backed by a government committee in Israel's Knesset last week is seeking to ban marking it in Israel. Next year's planned march is to the village Mr Fahmawi says his parents were forced from three years before his birth. They remained in Israel, meaning he was born into the conflicted situation of the state's Israeli-Arab minority - Israeli citizens who identify themselves with Palestinians. Obama upbeat on settlements issue. Israeli troops 'ill-treat kids' Israel arrested 9,000 Palestinians last year, 700 of them children A former Israeli military commander has told the BBC that Palestinian youngsters are routinely ill-treated by Israeli soldiers while in custody, reports the BBC' s Katya Adler from Jerusalem and the West Bank.
"You take the kid, you blindfold him, you handcuff him, he's really shaking... Sometimes you cuff his legs too. Sometimes it cuts off the circulation. "He doesn't understand a word of what's going on around him. He doesn't know what you're going to do with him. He just knows we are soldiers with guns. "A lot of the time they're peeing their pants, just sit there peeing their pants, crying. Eran Efrati is a former commander in Israel's army. In a discreet park in Jerusalem we meet to discuss allegations that soldiers like him often mistreat Palestinian minors, suspected of throwing stones. Mr Efrati - who left the army five months ago - says the allegations are true: Israel says stones can be deadly weapons Nightmares. Settlements 'end two-state hopes' Palestinians may have to abandon the goal of an independent state if Israel continues to expand Jewish settlements in the occupied territories, the chief Palestinian negotiator has said.
Speaking to reporters in Ramallah on Wednesday, Saab Erekat said it may be time for Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, to "tell his people the truth, that with the continuation of settlement activities, the two-state solution is no longer an option". Israel has rejected the idea of a de facto annexation of the occupied West Bank, incorporating the Palestinians as citizens, as a "demographic timebomb" that would make Jews the minority.
Citing a 2003 peace "road map", Abbas has made a cessation of Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank a precondition for resuming statehood talks with Israel. On Wednesday Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, called again for a complete freeze in Israeli settlement activity in the occupied West Bank. 'Unprecedented offer' "It is very serious. No freeze. Hamas and Gaza militants 'to end Israel rocket attack. Hamas says it has agreed with other Palestinian militant groups in Gaza to stop firing rockets into Israel. Fathi Hammad, who acts as Hamas interior minister, said the ceasefire aimed to prevent retaliatory attacks by Israel and build stability. But he said rockets would continue to be fired from the Gaza Strip in the event of any Israeli incursions. Hamas has observed a ceasefire for months, but other groups have carried out sporadic cross-border attacks.
The rockets usually cause limited damage and few if any casualties. Operation Cast Lead, the Israeli military offensive in Gaza last December and January, was intended to put a stop to the attacks, some of which have reached up to 46km (28 miles) into Israel. About 1,300 Palestinians and 10 Israeli soldiers were killed in the three weeks of fighting. Three Israeli citizens also died in rocket attacks during the operation.