Benjamin Netanyahu was presenting himself as a solitary, heroic figure.
"I considered, and I decided."
Speaking on the release of Gilad Shalit, the Israeli prime minister implied the prisoner swap deal had been entirely of his own making, and that his tough stance had prevailed.
"Talks took place in Cairo ... we stood our ground. When the majority of our demands were accepted, I had to make a decision."
It made for a great narrative, and an effective presentation, but was it true? Did Hamas finally give in to Netanyahu's demands?
Gershon Baskin provided some interesting perspective when he spoke to us on Tuesday.
From our headquarters in Doha, we keep you updated on all things Egypt, with reporting from Al Jazeera staff in Cairo and Alexandria. Live Blog: Jan28 - Jan29 - Jan30 - Jan31 - Feb1 - Feb2 - Feb3 - Feb4 - Feb5 - Feb6 - Feb7
11:55pm As unrest enters its third week, protesters forge close bonds and explore new ways of making their voices heard. A bakery nearby Tahrir displays cupcakes with the Egyptian flag. Pro-democracy protesters have been urging people to display the flags everywhere as a sign of unity.
11:34pm Mass protests continue across Egypt, a crowd is massing around parliament close to Tahrir [Liberation] Square. Al Jazeera speaks to Alaa Abdel Fattah, an activist and a blogger.
11:15pm Al Jazeeras online producer in cairo that can not be named due to security reasons reports on how central Cairo's Tahrir Square remains the heartbeat of the pro-democracy movement.
In the two weeks that have passed since Egyptians began street protests aimed at overturning president Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule, central Cairo's Tahrir Square has become the movement’s beating heart and most effective symbol.
Tahrir Square remains the heartbeat of the revolution, a young couple ties the knot there. [AFP]
Al Jazeera correspondent in Cairo reports on life in Tahrir Square
11:13pm Al Jazeera continuous to cover the events in Egypt under the strict and sometimes dangerous circumstances. Al Jazeera's online producer Gregg Carlstrom recalls the many perils he faced while reporting from the country in upheaval. "I asked several protesters why they were so angry, and they accused our coverage of bias against the government, of "hyping" the protests. (Al Jazeera has, of course, given ample airtime to the Mubarak government, the ruling National Democratic Party, and its supporters.)
10:00pm More than half of US citizens have heard 'a little or nothing' about the uprising and violence in Egypt, a survey by Pew Research has revealed. The article can be seen here.
9:50pm As the protests in Egypt continue, its neighbour Israel is keeping a close eye on developments. It is worried about its old ally, President Hosni Mubarak - but could be eyeing up a new friend in his deputy, Omar Suleiman.
9:42pm Omar Suleiman, the Egyptian Vice president, has been criticized by the White House for making remarks about Egypt was 'not ready for democracy'.
9:22pm Al Jazeera's correspondent in Cairo reported: "There are a lot of first time demonstrators today, Tahrir [Liberation] Square has been packed throughout the day. Parliament building is 500 meters away from Tahrir Square, around 1000 protesters have gathered there, and they say that they will try to stay there as long as possible .
They [Pro-democracy] protesters are camped there because they want to make sure that Parliament is cancelled because they don't think it is legitimate due to the vote rigging that took place in the last elections.
Here’s a little help if ambition ever drives you to one day hope to be a spokesman for the US government. Alternately, if decoding why very similar events can be officially responded to in completely dissimilar ways gets you as excited as it gets me - read on.
Secretary of state Hillary Clinton - after the watershed popular uprising in Egypt against Hosni Mubarak’s 30 year, authoritarian rule, where police have gunned down protesters from Cairo to Alexandra - urged "restraint on both sides".
Clayton Swisher, second from left, at a Washington DC event with Omar Suleiman, second from right.
Omar Suleiman is many things to Egypt: spy chief, eminence grise to President Hosni Mubarak, point man for Egypt's secret relations with Israel, and the bulwark between the Muslim Brotherhood and all the security services that stand in its way.
Now he is Egypt's unelected vice president.
Here I am in a photo next to General Suleiman circa spring 2005 when I was director of programs at the DC-based Middle East Institute. Standing with us are Egyptian ambassador to the US Nabil Fahmy and my boss at the time (and former US ambassador to Egypt) Ned Walker.
General Suleiman was our guest of honor for a breakfast event. It was a coup that we were able to get him to speak, albeit amongst a closed, hand-selected audience of Washington's foreign policy "I love Egypt" elite.
This was a first, Ambassador Fahmy reminded me, and looking back I understand why. Suleiman hates cameras and does his best to avoid media.
Day 3 of The Palestine Papers, Al Jazeera's months-long investigation into thousands of leaked Israeli-Palestinian negotiating documents, just went live - and today it's all about security.
The Madhoun assassination. The Palestine Papers include the hand-written notes of a 2005 meeting between Israeli defence minister Shaul Mofaz and Palestinian interior minister Nasser Youssef - in which they discuss the possible assassination of a leading member of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades.
West Bank map by the Palestinian Authority that was leaked in The Palestine Papers
Shockwaves went through the Palestinian diaspora after The Palestine Papers revealed how Palestinian Authority negotiators conceded a very limited right of return for refugees to Palestine.
According to the documents that were revealed on Monday, the PA conceded to settle on the return for only 100,000 out of some 5,000,000 refugees and their families.
From Lebanon to Egypt, Palestinians in the diaspora reacted with anger and disbelief to the revelations by Al Jazeera.
Mahmoud Zahar, a leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, immediately urged Palestinians to protest the PA's suggested concession.
In the Jordanian al Hussein refugee camp, one of 13 camps set up in the aftermath of 1948 and 1967 wars with Israel, refugees said the Ramallah-based authority has no right to dismiss the right of refugees to return to Palestine.
"Regardless of whether it was treason or not, we f
Al Jazeera’s release on Sunday of the Palestine Papers, a trove of documents related to Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, has led to reaction throughout the world.
The Palestinian Authority (PA) has gone on the offensive, with President Mahmoud Abbas calling the release “shameful,” and his adviser Yasser Abed Rabbo accusing Al Jazeera of launching a "smear campaign".
Former Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qurei said "many parts of the documents were fabricated, as part of the incitement against the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian leadership".
Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman, said the documents reveal the PA's "close collaboration with [Israel], and reflects its role in trying to kill off the Palestinian cause".
On Thursday, as I hurried into Gaza, that was the question everyone was asking – from news editors in Doha, to the guy who carries luggage through the Erez terminal, to the Hamas official who took my passport details.
If the donkeys in Gaza could talk this is what they would be asking: Is there going to be another war?
Maybe because I was there during the last assault people see me as a bad omen in Gaza ...
Hundreds of thousands of Jewish settlers of the illegal communities in the occupied West Bank cannot wait for September 26, 2010 to come. They will start building again as soon as the 10-month construction freeze expires. Some have started already.
The settlers did not need a pretext ... whether or not some of them were casualties in the last two attacks by Hamas during the so-called political process in Washington. They were preparing to build anyway come the end of September.
They have said that a failure on the part of the Israeli government to issue construction permits will be understood as an extension of the freeze, and that that will have serious internal political implications. And it will. Netanyahu is the master of walking a political tightrope at home ... but for how long?
As you approach Gaza's main dump by road you see a massive wall of trash looming over the plain.
It's crawling with around one hundred scavenger dogs and dozens of poor children, combing through the trash for anything they can sell.
In this cesspit of disease is 20 percent of all the donated medicine Gaza has received since the end of the January 2009 war with Israel.
The Health Ministry in the deposed government of Hamas and the World Health Organisation say this aid had already expired or was close to expiring, before it arrived in Gaza.
So now officials are left with the job of disposing of it. But how? Gaza doesn't have the proper facilities to do it, so it's dumped in a landfill and bulldozed along with the rest of the garbage.
![[QODLink]](http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images/2012/2/11/2012211114212966734_16.jpg "Yusuf Raza Gilani")
