AFP is reporting today: “Israel vowed on Monday to keep hitting Gaza even as troops pulled out of the … territory after clashes that killed at least 120 Palestinians.”

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will travel to Egypt, Israel, the Palestinian territories and Brussels from March 3 to 7.

The following individuals are in Gaza, which is seven hours ahead of U.S. ET; phone lines to Gaza are intermittent.

Dr. MONA EL-FARRA
A physician and community activist in northern Gaza, El-Farra writes a blog titled “From Gaza, with Love.”

AMJAD SHAWA
Shawa is Palestinian NGO Network coordinator for Gaza. The network released a statement: “One of the people killed by an Israeli air strike was one of the PNGO staff in Gaza. Amjad Almrety was 26 years old.”
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MOHAMMAD OMER
A freelance photographer and journalist, Omer writes the Rafah Today blog from Gaza. He was on Democracy Now this morning.
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SAMEH HABEEB
Habeeb writes for various media outlets. He is also coordinator of the Popular Committee to End the Siege in Gaza.

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Background:
The Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz reported last week: “Sixty-four percent of Israelis say the government must hold direct talks with the Hamas government in Gaza toward a cease-fire and the release of captive soldier Gilad Shalit. Less than one-third (28 percent) still opposes such talks.”

For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; or David Zupan, (541) 484-9167