Hizbullah: We Will "Soon Liberate" Ghajar, Shaba Farms
According to Lebanon’s Daily Star on Friday, Hizbullah has threatened it will "soon liberate" the disputed Shaba Farms area and the divided village of Ghajar nearby. While speaking to supporters in the border town of Abbasieh, Hizbullah leader in southern Lebanon, Sheikh Nabil Qaouk, said diplomacy has been a failure and that force is the only means of getting back control of the areas.

Israel Opposes Syria on UN Nuclear Board
Israel will be closely monitoring the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna on whether the UN nuclear monitoring agency will allow Syria to join its Board of Governors. According to recent reports, Syria is lobbying to join the board as the representative of the Middle East and South Asia regional group.

Biden, Palin Agree on Supporting Israel in Lively VP Debate
During their much anticipated US vice presidential debate on Thursday, both Sen. Joe Biden and Gov. Sarah Palin declared their support for Israel but disagreed over whether the Bush Administration has pursued the right approach to resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Despite Petrodollars, Iranians Struggle To Make Ends Meet
Sitting atop the world's second-largest gas and oil reserves, Iran earned an estimated $80 billion in energy sales in the last fiscal year as fuel prices spiked. But that windfall has not reached most of the population, whose living standards have plummeted. Shaya, a print journalist in Tehran, is one of millions of Iranians feeling the pinch.

"Syria Restarted Its Nuclear Program"
According to an Asharq Alawsat report on Thursday, Syrian President Bashar Assad’s has resumed his country's efforts to develop a nuclear program after Israel supposedly bombed its secret nuclear reactor a year ago. Israeli military sources said that after the nuclear reactor bombing at Al-Kibar on September 6, 2007, Damascus changed plans and started an Iranian-modeled nuclear program, by starting construction on several facilities at the same time throughout Syria.

"Barak Favors Early Elections Over Coalition With Livni"
Labor chairman Ehud Barak favors going to elections over joining a Tzipi Livni-led coalition, his close associate MK Shalom Simhon, said Thursday. "I think that it would be right to advance elections... out of consideration for what is good for Israel. In closed conversations with me, he [Barak] has backed my position," Simhon told The Jerusalem Post.

Abbas Hopes Olmert’s Remarks A "Deposit" For Next Coalition
Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas said he hopes that departing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s recent comments over the need to cede the West Bank and parts of Jerusalem for the sake of peace will become a "deposit" as the starting point for negotiations by the next Israeli government.

Khamenei Claims Israel On Way To Destruction
According to Iranian state television, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday that Iran will maintian its support for the Hamas regime in Gaza and that Israel is moving towards destruction. Khamenei described Hamas leader in Gaza Ismail Haniyeh as a "mujahed," or holy fighter, and insisted "the Iranian nation will never let you [Hamas] be alone."