Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi announced Nov. 17 that peace talks are progressing toward a ceasefire in the recent escalation of violence in Gaza and southern Israel. Mursi invited Qatar's Emir Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and former Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal to Cairo for ceasefire discussions after the recent violence broke the informal truce brokered by Egypt between Israel and Hamas in October. After rocket attacks by Palestinian militants into Israel this week, violence began to escalate on Nov. 14 with the killing of Hamas military chief Ahmed Jabari in a targeted air strike by the Israel Defense Forces. The next day Palestinian forces responded with rocket fire aimed at multiple Israeli cities and towns. Thus far, 45 Palestinians and three Israelis have been killed and hundreds more have been injured.

Dozens of Palestinians were injured as protests were held across the West Bank in support of Gaza under its third day of Israeli bombardment Nov. 16. At Kafr Kaddum village, a youth was hospitalized after a tear gas canister hit him in the back of the head. Hundreds of Palestinians, Israelis and foreign activists joined a march in the village, holding banners saying "Relief of Gaza." In Bethlehem, Israeli forces fired tear gas and a foul-smelling chemical liquid as protesters gathered outside Aida refugee camp to support Gaza—and another youth was hit in the head with a tear gas canister. In Jenin, a youth was wounded by rubber bullets in clashes with Israeli forces near the Jalama crossing into Israel. Protesters who gathered at the Enav checkpoint east of Tulkarem after Friday prayers were also met with rubber bullets and tear gas. Near Ramallah, four were arrested at a demonstration in Nabi Saleh and two Palestinians were injured in a protest in Bilin village condemning the assault on Gaza. Near Hebron, Israeli forces clashed with Palestinians at a weekly demonstration in Beit Ummar, dedicated in solidarity with the Gaza Strip. In Hebron city, political and religious figures led a march to the main square, demanding the Arab world do more to stop the bombardment of Gaza. Marches were also held in Ramallah and Nablus. (Ma'an News Agency, Nov. 16)

Israel's armed forces launched multiple air-strikes across the Gaza Strip Nov. 14, after killing Ahmad al-Jaabari, the head of Hamas' military wing the Qassam Brigades, in a missile strike on his vehicle in Gaza City. Palestinian officials said at least six people have been killed in the airstrikes, including a 7-year-old child in the Zeitun neighborhood of Gaza City, and an infant in home in the city's Shujaiyya neighborhood. Medics identified two of the casualties as Hamas fighters. Another 50 are reported injured. The strikes were aimed at Hamas police and security forces headquarters across the Strip. "We recommend that no Hamas operatives, whether low level or senior leaders, show their faces above ground in the days ahead," the Israel Defense Forces said in a Twitter message.

Noam Chomksy is held in such God-like reverence by the leftoid legions we get a kick out of calling him out on the things he gets egregiously wrong. Now he has just visited the Gaza Strip, and his screed about it on In These Times, "Gaza, The World's Largest Open-Air Prison," is of course getting gobs of attention. And it would serve as a basic primer on Israel's official choking of Gaza—if it weren't for some sloppy corner-cutting where the facts are concerned. Chomsky sets the background for the discussion in his usual terms:

A Turkish court on Nov. 6 opened a trial in absentia for former Israeli military commanders accused of killing nine Turkish citizens aboard a ship attempting to pass through the Gaza blockade in 2010. The Turkish judge began the proceedings with testimony from people who were on board the flotilla, as well as from relatives of the deceased. Prosecutors have demanded life in prison for the Israeli commanders involved in the May 2010 raid to enforce the naval blockade of the Gaza Strip. The case illustrates tension between Turkey and Israel, which have previously maintained close diplomatic ties. Israel has criticized the trial of the four Israeli commanders, dismissing the proceedings as politically motivated. Hundreds of protestors showed up outside the courthouse to voice their opposition to the actions of the commanders. Turkey has demanded an end to the Gaza blockade, a formal apology and compensation for the victims and their family.

The Sudanese government charged Oct. 23 that Israeli airstrikes were responsible for explosions overnight at the Yarmouk Military Industrial Complex, an armaments plant in the south of the capital Khartoum. Information Minister Ahmed Bilal Osman said four Israeli warplanes struck the factory, causing a huge fire and killing two. The Israel Defense Forces said that the military "will not comment on the report"; while the Prime Minister's office refused to say anything at all. Israel's daily Haaretz cited "opposition sources" in Sudan as saying the Yarmouk complex belongs to Iran's Revolutionary Guard, and is producing arms intended for use by Hamas. The account also claims that after the fall of Libyan leader Moammar Qaddafi last year, the Revolutionary Guard's elite al-Quds Force succeeded in smuggling dozens of anti-aircraft and SA-24 missiles from the Libyan army's crumbling arsenals to Sudan, in order to later pass them on to Hamas in the Gaza Strip. (BBC News, YNet, Haaretz, Oct. 24)

After a three-and-a-half-year legal battle waged by Israeli human rights group Gisha, Israel's Ministry of Defense turned over a document entitled "Food Consumption in the Gaza Strip—Red Lines," detailing the policy of restricting the entrance of food to the Gaza Strip. Two versions of the document, in the format of PowerPoint presentations, were provided to Gisha over the Sukkot holiday, after the Israeli Supreme Court rejected the state’s appeal against disclosing the document on Sept. 5. The documents, produced in January 2008, established the minimum caloric intake required for the survival of residents. They cited a daily average of 2,279 calories per person, which could be supplied by 4 pounds of food, or 2,575.5 tons of food for the Gaza Strip's entire 1.7 million population. The Israeli Defense Ministry, which fought to keep the Red Lines documents classified, had argued to the court that Israel had a right "to adopt a policy of economic warfare" against Gaza's Hamas leadership. (UPI, Oct. 18; Gisha, Oct. 17)

Israel's Supreme Court on Sept. 5 ordered the state to release the "red lines document" in which it purportedly established the minimum caloric intake required for the survival of residents of the Gaza Strip, as part of a policy in place until June 2010 that restricted the entrance of goods into Gaza. The document, dated January 2008, reportedly details the minimum number of grams and calories that Gaza residents would be permitted to consume, according to demographic data such as gender and age. The release date of the document has not yet been determined.