Middle East Roundup, Friday Edition

The EU has announced that it would recognize the Hamas/Fatah unity government. Thank you for caving in on this issue. It is a clarifying moment for all involved. Europe cannot be counted upon to deal with the threat posed by Islamic terrorism in a serious way when they have no problem turning a blind eye to the terrorists that comprise the Palestinian Authority. Hamas has repeatedly and undeniably stated that its ultimate goal is the destruction of Israel and that it refuses to accept any two-state solution, which happens to be one of the key features of European diplomacy to solve the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

Israel has said that they'd start to talk with the Palestinians if they accept the Quartet provisions, which also include a recognition of the state of Israel and a 2-state solution.

Meanwhile, Palestinian gunmen once again open fire on Israeli positions in Israel from Gaza, but no injuries were reported.

There is also word that Israel received a letter written by Gilad Shalit.

According to the Palestinian daily Al-Ayyam, Egypt has given Israel a letter written in kidnapped IDF soldier Cpl. Gilad Shalit's handwriting and addressed to Shalit's father Noam, Israel Radio reported Friday morning.

The report said a Hamas delegation from Damascus gave the letter to Egyptian officials in Cairo. Egypt then passed it on to former deputy Shin Bet head Ofer Dekel, who is in charge of dealing with the affairs of the kidnapped soldiers.

There's no word on when the letter was written, but the Israelis appear to be operating on the assumption that he's still alive.

Technorati: terrorism, fatah, Gilad, Shalit, Olmert, Eliyahu, Asheri, Ashri, Abbas, Regev, Goldwasser, PRC, Hamas, Gaza, palestinian, Israel, hizbullah, hezbullah, hezbollah, lebanon, syria.