The situation of the civilian population in Gaza continues to deteriorate, after Israel imposed tighter sanctions on the people of Gaza, as a result of continuing rocket fire into Israeli towns. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on Israel to lift the blockade, saying that "food and other life saving assistance is being denied to hundreds of thousands of people." What is evident is that people should not be made peons in a difficult political situation.

Israel is once again trying to teach the Palestinians, especially Hamas, the Islamist group in control of the Gaza Strip, a lesson that it has repeatedly failed to do despite its overpowering military arsenal. One would think that the Israeli establishment, now in a state of disarray thanks to the discredited leadership of the outgoing prime minister, Ehud Olmert, would realize that a new approach is needed if it wants to live side by side in peace with the Palestinians.

After eight years of misguided policy by the U.S. George W. Bush administration in the Middle East, the time is overdue for an enlightened strategy to tackle the regions woes. This must include an approach that will bring hope to a region shattered by violence, consumed by conflict and division and filled with disdain toward the United States.

The news a few days ago that the United States is considering negotiations with elements of the Taliban in Afghanistan as part of a wider strategy to wind down the war in that country is stunning news, but not surprising.

AMMAN – The angry reaction in Damascus that followed an attack on a Syrian village by Iraqi-based U.S. forces is dissipating amid reports that the Syrian authorities may have preapproved the commando operation that apparently went awry.

AMMAN – Even as Iraqi forces take over security of one more province from U.S. troops, Baghdad is still attempting to negotiate a controversial security pact with the United States that Washington had already said was the final draft intended to legalize the U.S. military presence in Iraq beyond 2008.

Covering developments in Pakistan in recent weeks, Ive been struck by how many Pakistanis blame the United States for the disturbing turn their country is taking. Standing inside the gutted Islamabad Marriott late September, some eyewitnesses saved their most bitter remarks not for the suicide bomber, but for Washington.

AMMAN -- In an unprecedented military assault since the American-led invasion of Iraq more than five years ago, U.S. forces have apparently launched a cross-border attack into Syrian territory that killed eight people, largely seen in the region as a parting shot by the outgoing U.S. George W. Bush administration against Damascus.

BEIRUT -- Wasting little time in capitalizing on the continued unwillingness of the U.S. George W. Bush administration to provide the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) with the advanced equipment it says it needs, Hezbollah leader Sayed Hassan Nasrallah suggested late Friday that the government of Fouad Siniora should simply go to the international arms market and procure the desired equipment.

JERUSALEM -- Israels Counter Terrorism Bureau, a section of the Prime Ministers Office, has issued an urgent warning to Israelis abroad to be vigilant against possible kidnappings by Lebanese resistance organization, Hezbollah.